Wild Thai Stylee

While I love the flavours of Chinese and in particular Sichuan cooking another cuisine that I absolutely adore is Thai.

Thai food consists of a balance of hot (spicy), sour, sweet and salty. Usually by using the common ingredients of chilli, tamarind or lime juice, palm sugar and the wonderfully underrated fish sauce. This combination results in an absolute flavour explosion for the taste buds! There is something about the flavours in Thai food that make it taste incredibly fresh and light even when eating a coconut milk laden curry. Another wonderful ingredient is the rice stick noodle. These noodles retain a lovely chewy texture when cooked and absorb the flavours of the dish without losing their own texture, that is of course if correctly cooked! When I say cook that is slighlty incorrect as rice stick noodles need to have boiled water poured over them and left for about 10 minutes to soften. Don't boil or you will lose the lovely silky texture and it was be mush! It is also worth remembering that if you are going to fry the noodles in sauce as in this dish that if you soften them for too long you will definitely overcook them once frying.

Using the above as a base for the essence of the dish I have put together a noodle dish that has that great Thai tang! After playing around with other Thai style noodle dishes I have settled on this which goes perfectly with a cold beer! I would usually stir through a load of coriander but as S doesn’t quite have the same feeling about coriander as I do i.e. put as much as possible into pretty much every dish, I use it as a garnish and leave it off his plate completely. Which is actually OK with me as I get it all to myself!





Thai prawn & peanut noodles

200g rice stick noodles
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 whole fresh red chilli
2 tsp ground white peppercorns
1 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tbsp peanut oil
250g prawns
2 tbsp grated or chopped palm sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of ½ lime
100g crushed roasted peanuts
A handful of bean sprouts
1 Lebanese cucumber, washed and thinly sliced
Lime, coriander and sliced red chilli to garnish

Method

Bring a pot of water to the boil, turn off the heat and soak the rice noodles to packet instructions. Rinse under cold running water until cool and drain.

Finely chop the garlic and chilli.

Heat a wok over high heat and add the peanut oil, then the garlic and chilli. Stir-fry for a few minutes, stirring all the time. Now add the prawns and stir-fry a few more minutes until they are pink and cooked through. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, white pepper and the tamarind. Taste, it should taste sweet, salty and sour all at once. If it needs more salt add a little fish sauce or if too rich, just add a little water.

Add the noodles, bean sprouts and peanuts, mixing them well into the prawns, cook for a further minute, and toss in the cucumber.

To serve

Divide into individual bowls, garnish with a slice of lime, sliced red chillies, peanuts and coriander & serve.

Dan Dan Mian again

Previously I had stated that my much favourite noodle dish has many incarnations and that I would be trying them out periodically. On the Food Network I have found this version of the dish by Fuschia Dunlop.

This time it is using chicken stock and pork mince instead of beef. It is also served with the various parts of the sauce added directly to the bowl with the noodles and meat on top requiring a good stir when you get to the table. I quite like this method; it means the dish put in front of you has quite a different look to the one you eventually eat. I have also been told this is often the way the dish is served in China. The first picture is of the dish as served and the second is after stirring.

Back to the ingredients, when I made this dish I used pickled cucumber instead of the Tianjin preserved vegetable, I have been told this is a suitable replacement. If you can’t get hold of pickled Chinese vegetable, small gherkins can be used in place. I also used vegetable stock as it was what was to hand. And finally instead of bok choy I have used choi sum.

To my verdict, the flavours in this dish are wonderful which is why I keep coming back to it again and again. I would say this recipe felt a bit lighter but that could be because I stuck to the correct portions! The pickled vegetable definitely added an extra dimension; I think I will be trying this again!

Dan Dan Mian

Ingredients

For the noodles

250g Shanghai noodles
8 Bok choy, leaves only

For the sauce

4 tbsp Tianjin preserved vegetable, or pickled Chinese cabbage, available from specialist shops
1 tbsp groundnut oil
3 Spring onions, green parts only, finely chopped
3 tsp light Soy sauce

2 tsp dark Soy sauce
1 tbsp chilli oil, to taste
2 tsp Chinkiang or Chinese black vinegar, premium black rice vinegar, available from specialist shops
1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns
120ml hot chicken stock

For the pork

1 tbsp groundnut oil
100g minced pork
1 tsp shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp light Soy sauce

Method

Rinse the Tianjin vegetable in a sieve under the tap to get rid of excess salt, and shake dry. Heat the groundnut oil in a wok over a high flame, and then stir-fry the Tianjin vegetable until it is dry and fragrant. Set aside.

To prepare the pork topping, add the groundnut oil to the wok and heat through. Add the minced pork and stir-fry, splashing in the Shaoxing wine. Add the soy sauce and fry until the meat is cooked but not too dry. Set aside.

Divide the stir-fried preserved vegetable, the spring onions and the light and dark soy sauce, chilli oil, vinegar, Sichuan pepper and stock among four serving bowls.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the pak choy and blanch until just cooked. Place a couple of leaves in each serving bowl. Meanwhile, add the noodles to the boiling water and boil until cooked to taste. Drain the noodles and divide among the prepared bowls. Top each serving with a spoonful of the cooked pork.

Serve immediately. The noodles should be mixed into the sauce at the table, using chopsticks.

Sushi!

I have been having a total craving for sushi lately so I decided it was high time that I made some. I had a rough idea of what was required although the last time I made sushi was about 6 years ago so I found a handy website called http://www.sushiencyclopedia.com/ which gave my memory the boost it needed. So I made a list and off to the ever faithful Chinese supermarket to gather the necessary wares.

Originally I had thought a sushi party was in order but after getting a response from S along the lines of “Do I actually have to make any?” I decided to forge ahead myself.

I made California rolls, Salmon & Avocado rolls and my favourite Spicy Crab rolls some with avocado. While my sushi might not be the prettiest you’ve ever seen it did taste fantastic. The best bit is now I have all the ingredients at home to make it again! I won’t put the method for making sushi itself but the spicy crab was a winner, very easy to make and very tasty so see below for how to make that filling.

Spicy Crab Sushi

150g fresh crab meat or good quality tinned meat
1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (if you can’t get any Japanese mayo, you can use a good quality egg mayonnaise, in that case I would also add ½ tsp of soy sauce)
2 tsp Japanese chilli powder

Combine in a bowl and use as filling for sushi rolls.

Oodles of lovely spicy noodles

If I didn’t already mention it I am having a love affair with all things spicy that is refusing to die down. I’ve just come back from a week in France eating wonderful food, baguettes and cheese as far as the eye could see. Also carving up the slopes, well kind of, mostly with my knees, head and pretty much every other part of my body except for the snowboard itself but I am improving and maybe in a few years time I will get down a slope without causing myself grievous bodily harm. I do however recommend boarding in vast amounts of powder, it’s like falling over in a cloud but a little more difficult to get up out of, I somehow managed to get down a black run in this manner. While the food was superb, by half way through the week I was craving something, with you guessed it, a little spice! So after my long and laborious journey home, for those of you unaware there have been masses of snow falling all over France, cue closed airports and stranded holiday makers. I was one of the lucky ones after a four hour delay & a de-ice of the airplane we took off and landed in Liverpool just missing my transfer. After having a blanket handed to me from security I curled up in a corner and did my best impersonation of a sleeping person until my alarm sounded at 4.30am indicating my transfer would be there any minute, finally I arrived home at 6.00am and collapsed in bed dreaming of spicy noodles. I managed to satisfy my cravings that evening with a big bowl of Dan Dan. But during the week I have also been thinking about another dish that is much loved. Sichuan pork noodles, utilisation my absolute favourite noodle, the fresh rice noodle. These lovely silky noodles can be brought fresh from Asian supermarkets and have a delectable texture that really makes the dish. Once again this dish also uses Sichuan pepper for that lovely mouth tingling feeling. I always roast extra for sprinkling on top! As S doesn’t quite have the iron stomach I do and is still adjusting to all the chilli now in his life I will usually use a little less chilli in this dish and just add loads at the end to serve. I am usually sitting at the table tissues in hand, face bright red and streaming with tears and I have to say I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sichuan spicy pork noodles

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 thumb size knob ginger, peeled
• 1 1/2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tbsp of chilli paste (chilli oil can also be used)
• 3 tbsp sesame paste (you can also use Tahini or Peanut butter)
• 3-4 tbsp soy sauce
• 50ml peanut oil
• 1 bunch garlic chive flowers (or garlic chives), cut in 10cm lengths
• 250g pork mince
• 3 tbsp castor sugar
• 100-150ml water
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 400g fresh rice noodles

Method
Finely chop ginger and garlic, I often grate. Roast the Sichuan peppercorns in a hot dry wok, stirring all the time for 1-2 minutes, or until they start to crackle, become fragrant and darken. Remove from wok and grind in a mortar and pestle.

Mix in a bowl the chilli paste, sesame paste and soy. Heat the noodles in a pot of hot water & drain and have everything else ready to go.

Heat a wok until very hot. Add oil then the ginger & garlic, stirring all the time and cook for just a moment before adding the garlic chives. Cook until a little wilted then add the pork mince. Keep the heat high and keep stirring. Once the pork mince is cooked add the pepper, sesame/soy sauce mixture and sugar. Mix well and add some water to thin the sauce. Taste and correct the seasoning - you may want more chilli or soy, but if the flavour is too strong, add more water. Now stir in the hot rice noodles, sprinkle with the spring onions, extra Sichuan pepper and enjoy!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas and a 17 pound turkey...

Yes that's right, courtesy of my employer I was given a 17-pound turkey on Christmas eve. Due to this fact, S and I decided that we should host Christmas lunch to give his mum the day off. We had his mum, dad, brother and granddad. So a feast was definitely in order.

Now as happy as I would have been with noodles for lunch, with a turkey in hand, and the family expecting all the trimmings, that wasn't going to happen. So for the two weeks leading up to Christmas the TV was permanently set to the Food Channel for some inspiration and the internet was scoured for turkey cooking advice. In the end I combined a recipe from the Food Network and some advice from Jamie and the result was a mouth-watering juicy bird and complements to the chef.

Now while a roast lunch is one thing, what I wanted to do to make things special was the canapés (smoked salmon & cucumber bites, marinated mini boconccini with Parma ham, roast beef & horseradish cream blinis and goats cheese & caramelised onion blinis), the trimmings (perfect roast potatoes, parmesan parsnips, festive carrots, Brussels with bacon, skewers with stuffing balls and bacon wrapped chipolatas), and of course the dessert, which I am happy to admit is not my forte (I went with individual berry trifles with home-made custard). Oh this is making me want to eat it all over again!

I will post the recipe, which I doubled as my turkey was enormous. Once difference was that I added a little water to the bottom of the pan to help keep the bird moist. Also the best tip which I think made a massive difference was advice from Jamie Oliver. After the turkey is cooked, take it out of the oven cover it in foil and as many tea towels as you can get your hands on and leave to rest for at least an hour and a half (I left for two hours). Trust me it will still be piping hot when you serve it and in that time you have a free oven available to cook all the veg. Brilliant!

Creamy lemon, pancetta & rosemary turkey

4.5-5kg oven-ready turkey
25g pack each rosemary and thyme
2 lemons , finely zested
80g pack sliced pancetta , chopped
150g pot mascarpone
2 onions , thickly sliced

FOR THE GRAVY
1 tbsp flour
100ml white wine
600ml turkey or chicken stock

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Wash the turkey and pat dry. Strip the leaves from half the rosemary and thyme stalks and finely chop. In a bowl, combine the lemon zest, chopped herbs, pancetta and mascarpone. Season well.

Halve the zested lemons and stuff into the cavity, along with the remaining herb sprigs. Use your hand to loosen the skin lying over the breast of the turkey, to create a pocket. Push the mascarpone mixture under the breast skin to create a thick, even layer.

Put the onion slices into a large, flameproof roasting tin, place the turkey on top and cover loosely with foil. Cook for 3-3¾ hrs, until the juices of the bird run clear. Baste every 30 mins and uncover for the last 30 mins if needed, to brown the bird. When cooked, take the turkey from the oven, remove from the tin and leave to rest on a platter, covered loosely with foil, for 30 mins.

To make the gravy, pour away any excess fat from the roasting tin and discard the onion slices. Set the tin over a medium heat, then sprinkle over the flour. Stir through and cook for 2 mins. Slowly whisk in the wine and stock. Bring to a boil, scraping the bits from the bottom, then simmer over a low heat for 15 mins. Serve the gravy with the turkey.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and here's to a great 2010!!

To Dan Dan with love

Having recently moved to Manchester, well a year ago, and having lived in the UK for almost three years, I have been missing something. Good Chinese food or Thai or Vietnamese or Japanese for that matter. If it exists here it is hiding from me. I despaired that until I am back in Australia this food will allude me, that was until I stumbled across a Chinese cash & carry and decided I was going to cook my way through South East Asia and fulfill my love of noodles and all things Asian!

Since I have discovered this noodle dish I haven’t been able to stop eating it, so I thought it appropriate to start off my blog with my current favourite recipe. I will warn you though, it’s pretty spicy so if you can’t handle your chilli then you might want to skip it, but if you are like me then you will probably add more than the recipe states!

I am going through a Sichuan phase at the moment and cannot get enough of those wonderful peppercorns. Just ask S who I think would probably like it if I made steak and chips with a little more regularity! But I am working on him (and his taste buds), and I think it’s working, just the other day he asked if he could have dumplings for dinner which is a massive step for a British born, meat and three veg man. But back to the ingredients, those of you living in Australia should be able to get hold of most of this at your local Woolworths but for us here is Britain, it will require a visit to your nearest Chinese supermarket. I can’t say that is a bad thing I love wandering around buying random sauces and pastes, I even spend some lunchtimes just browsing in China town if I have nothing to do. I highly recommend it!

In the Sichuan province of China, they make this dish in huge buckets that they carry on poles over their shoulders. “Dan” means pole, so these are, literally, “pole pole” noodles. It is a traditional Sichuan dish that has many different variations. This recipe is a slightly modified Jamie Oliver recipe and one which I have become addicted to and must have at least once a week.

Since there are as many different versions of Dan Dan noodles as there are chefs, I have decided to start trying out some new recipes so keep an eye out, I will compare and let you know which I think makes the cut for the tastiest, if not most traditional! That will have to wait until I get to China and try it out for myself, until then, enjoy!



Dan Dan Noodles

Serves 4 (or 2 gluttons)
1 beef or chicken stock cube
500g minced beef (you can also use pork for this, although I personally think the beef works really well with the crunchy texture)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 small knob ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 long red chillies, finely sliced (I leave seeds in, but if you want less heat take them out, although I should probably mention that this dish isn’t for the faint hearted, it’s pretty spicy)
2 tbsp runny honey
400g fresh udon noodles
4 handfuls of mixed green veg (sprouting broccoli, bok choy, choi sum)
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbs chinkiang black vinegar
2 tsp freshly ground Sichuan pepper
5 tbsp good-quality chilli oil (I also occasionally add whatever other chilli sauces I have in the cupboard just to mix it up, I have a great selection from China town so will add a spoonful here and there)
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
Bunch of coriander, to serve (amount is to taste but I load it up as I love the flavour)
1 lime, quartered, to serve

Crumble your stock cube into a large pan of water and get it on the heat. Add the beef, garlic, ginger and chillies to a dry pan and, on a medium to high heat, keep moving it around until it’s golden and crunchy, about 10-15 minutes. Pour away any excess fat, then add the honey and toss until all the mince is nicely coated. Cook for about 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat.
Stir your noodles into the boiling stock and move them about so they don’t stick together. Cook according to the packet instructions. Roughly chop choi sum, quarter your bok choy and snap up the broccoli spears. Throw in the prepared greens with the noodles to blanch them. Drain the whole lot in a colander, reserving a mugful of the cooking water (I often reserve more as I like it quite soupy!). Tip your noodles, veg and the mugful of water back into the hot pan.
Add your soy sauce, vinegar, Sichuan pepper and chilli oil. Give it all a good mix with tongs and divide between 4 bowls. Sprinkle over the crunchy beef (you can reheat this at the last minute if you like), finish with a scattering of spring onions & coriander and serve each dish with a lime quarter to squeeze over. At this point I usually take the chilli oil and more Sichuan pepper to the table to top up the dish. I also recommend a big glass of water as the first mouthful of the broth usually has me choking on the chilli, it’s amazing and I am totally addicted!
Note: As I am a glutton I usually halve the mince in the above and make this for two people