Memories of Chiang Mai

Two of my most favourite people in the world have just spent a couple of days eating and drinking their way around Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. They seemed to find it amusing to keep me up to date with the occasional message or photo here and there to torture me in my obvious absence. Clearly unable to join them I was thrown into the mood for a good Pad Thai last night, and as I'm yet to discover a source of really good Thai food in DC yet (suggestions most welcome) I decided the best bet was to chuck one together at home. It's been more than 12 months since I was last in Thailand, but it has a smell you'll never forget. The fragrances attached to the food there is instantly recognisable and utterly forgettable, and I do recall the best Pad Thai I had was in Chiang Mai. If I had a bottle of Thai whisky I'd have rounded it off with a glass as they did (!) but anyway, this rather lengthy but totally worth it recipe is for Randal and Paula...

Pad Thai

Serves 2

25g tamarind paste
3/4 cup boiling water
2 tblsp fish sauce
2 tblsp palm sugar
1 tblsp rice wine vinegar
100g rice stick noodles
150g marinated tofu, recipe follows
1 to 2 tblsp peanut oil
1 cup chopped spring onions
2 tsp minced garlic
2 whole eggs, beaten
2 tsps salted cabbage
1 tblsp dried shrimp
75g bean sprouts, divided
1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped, divided
Freshly ground dried red chilli peppers, to taste
1 lime, cut into wedges

Place the tamarind paste in the boiling water and set aside while preparing the other ingredients.

Combine the fish sauce, palm sugar, and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the rice stick noodles in a mixing bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Once the other ingredients are measured out into separate bowls, drain the water from the noodles and set them aside. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch wide strips.

Add the tamarind paste to the sauce and stir to combine.

Place a wok over high heat. Once hot, add 1 tblsp of the peanut oil. Heat until it shimmers, then add the tofu. Cook the tofu until golden brown, moving constantly, for no longer than 1 minute. Remove the tofu from the pan to a small bowl and set aside.

If necessary, add some more peanut oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Add 2/3 of the spring onions and then the garlic, cook for 10 to 15 seconds. Add the eggs to the pan; once the eggs begin to set up, about 15 to 20 seconds, stir to scramble. Add the remaining ingredients in the following order and toss after each addition: noodles, sauce, cabbage, shrimp, and 2/3 of the bean sprouts and peanuts. Toss everything until heated through, but no longer than 1 to 2 minutes total. Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining spring onions, bean sprouts, and peanuts. Serve immediately with the ground chilli peppers and lime wedges.

Marinated tofu

150g extra firm tofu
1 1/2 cups soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder

Wrap the tofu firmly in a tea towel. Place the wrapped tofu into an 8-inch cake pan. Top with another cake pan and weigh down with a 5-pound weight. (Bags of dried beans or grains work well.) Place in refrigerator and press for 12 to 15 hours.

Place pressed tofu in a 2-cup container. Combine soy sauce and five-spice powder and pour over tofu. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning once. Remove the tofu from the marinade and use immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 days.

The meatball sub

There's this magical place in Arlington called the Italian Store where you really need some great local knowledge to find this one out. It's filled with the whole range of usuals from decent oils and vinegars through a reasonably authentic but simple cheese selection to a few banks of freezers offering a range of filled pastas. you can take this or leave it, but the whole reason for this place, and where all the fuss was, is their sandwich counter. That was exactly where all the noise, people, smells and activity was and I being in particularly safe hands through the whole process needn't have worried a bit. There is however a confusing quantity of varying subs, sandwiches and pizza flying out of this section, but it's the Philadelphia style subs, I have on very good authority,  are what it's all about. The fillings are all there to be had. A great selection of terrific looking prosciutto, sopressata and salami, plenty of the expected cheese offerings, and dressings, and even a few tomatoes and peppers to cut the meat and cheese duopoly. Seeing as I've never really come across the meatballs in sauce in bread thing before at close quarters, this it had to be - the Italian style meatball sub. My photo doesn't really do it justice, but that said, this is hardly the most photogenic food group going around, suffice to say, it never really stood a chance after the first bite.

Here's a quick meatballs in sauce recipe of mine. If you would, take these, split a submarine roll in half lengthwise and scrape out enough of the centre to create a hollow. Pack the meatballs in there and wrap tightly. Chill yourself a bottle of Californian Chardonnay from Columbia Valley, take all this outside, light a candle and talk rubbish for a couple of hours. it is a dinner option, honestly, needs nothing other than that really. 

Meatballs with spiced tomato sauce

Serves 6

The meatballs and tomato sauce freeze well, so I often double up the quantities to have a meal ready on stand-by for a hungry family. You can use a variety of herbs in the mince mixture; basil, thyme or rosemary also work well. This always used to be a basic with tagliatelle till I discovered the sub...

50g fresh breadcrumbs
100ml milk
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tblsp olive oil
500g each beef and pork mince
4 tblsp freshly grated parmesan
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Handful of sage and parsley, leaves finely chopped

For the tomato sauce

2 tblsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tblsp tomato purée
800g chopped tomatoes
250ml dry white wine
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion for about 8 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and stir over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add the cumin and chilli flakes and cook for 30 seconds more. Stir in the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, white wine and seasoning, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until rich and thick.

While the sauce is simmering, prepare the meatballs. Put the breadcrumbs in a small bowl and add just enough milk to cover. Leave to soak. Meanwhile, fry the onion and garlic in one tablespoon of the oil for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. When cold, stir in the breadcrumbs, along with the mince, parmesan, lemon zest and herbs. Season generously, then mix well.

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Shape the mince mixture into large meatballs. Heat the remaining oil in a sauté pan and brown the meatballs on all sides for about 5 minutes. Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish and place the meatballs on top. Cover loosely with foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Maryland blue crabs

• This evening was spent amongst some truly great people enjoying terrific conversation, laughter and proper eating company. All the while consuming a disgraceful quantity of Maryland blue crabs, steamed and coated in their Old Bay Seasoning. Magical and moreish. Sickly spicy, yet insanely addictive. I think between 5 adults and an awesome 6 year old kid we easily took apart the best part of 70+ crabs in a near 4 hour session. Beyond the weird yet wonderful seasoning, the sweet meat of these gorgeous crabs was just amazing. Now these spice recipes are closely guarded secrets, so in an attempt to put something of note up here, I've gone for the best crab dish I think I've ever had prior to tonight. Consider this my second best offering till I work this spice mix out. The photo was before the assault took place, quite horrified by the state of the table at the end of dinner, so leaving that out for now...
• 
  
• Serves 4
• 
  
• 4 blue crabs
• 3 tsp tamarind pulp
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 chopped onions
• 1 5cm piece fresh ginger
• 2 birdseye chillies
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 3 tblsp oil
• 3 tblsp sugar
• 2 tsp tomato puree
• 
  

This Singaporean dish is a total classic and, like all classics, it is superb served simply with nothing more than a bowl of plain steamed rice.

• 
  
• Boil a large pot of water and drop in 4 green blue swimmers, if you're anywhere near the Chesapeake you'll know what to do. Boil them rapidly for 4 minutes then tip the contents of the pot into a colander to drain. When cool enough to handle, chop crabs into quarters with a cleaver or large knife, leaving legs attached to body. With a hammer. gently crack the claws and areas of harder shell. 
• 
  
• Put 3 teaspoons tamarind pulp to soak in the cup boiling water. Finely chop 2 onions, grate 5 cm piece fresh ginger, finely slice 2-3 birdseye chillies (or to taste) and chop 3 spring onions. Mix 2 teaspoons cornflour with a little water. In a large wok or pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil and stir fry onion, ginger and 2/3 of the chopped chillies for a couple of minutes. 
• 
  
• Add crab pieces and strained tamarind water, lower heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Lift the crab out onto a serving dish and to the mixture in the wok add 3 teaspoons sugar and 2 of tomato paste. Stir, add dissolved cornflour and stir again until the mixture thickens. Pour over the crab, garnish with the rest of the chillies and the spring onions and serve.

Roast quail with parsley risotto

Serves 4

When planning today's lunch at the Embassy (last night with the late evening sun still giving off that warm glow you never want to go away) I was thinking light risotto, simply roasted quail, little bit of salad from the garden - you know the scene. But with storm clouds above earlier today, I basically took the below recipe and beefed it up a little.

I removed the legs and breasts of the birds and took the thigh bones out of the legs leaving them as little drumstick lollipops. These I slow roasted with some baby onions, garlic and thyme, finishing off with a splash of good sherry vinegar and a few leaves of spinach from the garden. The breasts were simply seared quickly, 2 minutes max, and left to rest while the risotto was finished with just a heap of roughly chopped parsley for a slightly earthier feeling. The juices in with the legs and the onions made enough sauce to finish the whole thing off nicely.

Either approach makes a substantial first course, before a lighter fish main course maybe, or a good lunch with salad leaves dependant on the weather I guess. The heart of the dish being the risotto, which is finished differently from the standard saffron job, and gives a fresher taste for me.

4 fresh quails

Salt, pepper and a little olive oil

For the risotto

1 tblsp olive oil

1 tblsp chopped shallot

150g risotto rice

75ml white wine
500ml chicken stock
50g grated parmesan

For the parsley puree
200g parsley, washed
200ml olive oil
1 little lemon zest
a small clove garlic, crushed

Preheat the oven to 200ºc/gas mark 6

Make the parsley puree by blending the parsley with the olive oil, lemon zest, black pepper and crushed garlic. It should be completely smooth and a dark, rich green colour.

For the risotto, heat the olive oil, and then sweat the shallot before adding the rice. Season. Gently cook this for a few minutes – you don’t want the rice to colour. Add the wine and reduce right down before pouring in a third of the stock.

Re-boil, cover and leave until the rice absorbs all the liquid. Pour in the remaining stock and bring to the boil. Simmer very gently for a further 10 minutes – the whole operation from raw will take around 35 minutes, until the rice grains are just cooked but still a little firm. If the stock dries out, add more water.

Take the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan followed by 2 tblsp parsley puree. The risotto will turn bright green, but this will soften to something more appetizing by contact with the heat for 1-2 minutes. It would turn muddy brown eventually, if left for an hour. You want it to taste fresh and herbal, so quite a strong colour is the aim so that you know the herb is still vibrant.

Season the quails and brush with a little olive oil. Heat a dry frying pan until it is quite hot and then colour the quails on each side. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast until done (for around 20 minutes). Rest the quails before carving into legs and breasts.

Lay each quail over a pile of risotto and pour on cooking juices.

Dill pickled salmon with mustard mayonnaise

Serves 8

This recipe serves tangy marinated salmon with a rich, homemade mustard mayonnaise, a reliable yet winning combination. Although it seems a lot of ingredients, the assembly is actually very straight forward.

Pickled salmon

900g salmon fillet, skinned and boned

Pinch of salt

Pinch of sugar

Juice of half a lemon

Lemon wedges, to serve

Rye bread, to serve

Marinade

1 bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped

2-3 strips of lemon peel

5g flat leaf parsley leaves only

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 carrots thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

25g mixed peppercorns

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground black pepper

400ml clear malt vinegar

400ml dry white wine

Mustard mayonnaise

2 egg yolks

1 tblsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp sugar

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp white wine vinegar

8 tblsp dill leaves, finely chopped

Slice the salmon fillet into 4 cm thick slices. Sprinkle with the salt, sugar and lemon juice.

Mix all the marinade ingredients, apart from the malt vinegar and white wine together in a mixing bowl and stand for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and wine, mixing well.

Pour the marinade into a large sealable container. Add the sliced salmon, seal and refrigerate overnight. To make the mayonnaise, whisk together the yolks, mustard and sugar in a bowl. Add the oil in a steady trickle, whisking until blended thoroughly. Once the oil has been added, mix in the vinegar and the dill.

Serve the pickled salmon with lemon wedges, mustard mayonnaise and sliced rye bread.

Roast chicken with wild garlic

Serves 4

Wild garlic, sometimes found as ramsons, is starting to show up around now. It has all the silkiness of spinach leaves and a soft scent of young garlic. The leaves appear in the wild in early spring but can increasingly be found in farmers markets too. Any garlic stall will have them for the next few weeks. I think at this early stage they can be wonderfully floral without showing too much pungency as full blown garlic often can.

A good-sized chicken for roasting (about 1.5kg)
50g butter
olive oil
1 lemon
a couple of bay leaves
a glass of white wine
A good handful of wild garlic leaves per person

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Mash the butter with a little olive oil and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Massage it into the skin of the chicken. Cut the lemon in half and tuck them inside the bird with a bay leaf or two.

Roast the chicken for about an hour till the skin is golden and the juices run clear. (Pierce the chicken at its thickest point, if the juices have blood in them, continue cooking. If they run clear it is ready.)

Remove the chicken to a warm place and let it rest, covered loosely with foil. Put the roasting tin over a low gas; when the roasting juices start to bubble pour in the wine and scrape at any pan-stickings so they dissolve into the juices.

Throw in the garlic leaves, stirring into the hot juices so that they start to wilt and soften. Check the seasoning then serve the juices and softened garlic with slices of the roast chicken.

Vanilla shortbread

Makes 30 fingers

I know it's a day late for Burns Night, but yesterday was a wee bit busier than I expected it to be, so forget the haggis, I'm over it too, let's make some proper shortbread.  My Nana wouldn't exactly dissaprove of the vanilla addition here, but suffice to say the remainder of the recipe is all hers. Totally worth doing at any time of the year, and a hundred times better than anything out of a packet.

100g icing sugar
200g plain flour, preferably Italian OO
100g cornflour
200g very soft unsalted butter
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
vanilla or ordinary caster sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3. Put the icing sugar, plain flour and cornflour into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the double-bladed knife and give them a quick blitz (just to save you sieving, which is my most-hated job in the kitchen) before adding the butter along with the vanilla seeds you've scraped out of a pod.


Process again until the soft mixture coheres and begins to form a ball, loosely clumping around the blade. Turn this out on to a Swiss roll tin and press to form an even (or as even as you can make it) layer, using fingers or the back of a spoon, or both. Be patient, it will fit smoothly.

Using the tip of a sharp knife cut the pressed-out shortbread into fingers. I make two incisions lengthways - i.e. to form three layers - and then make 10 cuts down - so that you end up with 11 fingers per layer. Obviously, the aim should be to cut at regular intervals but don't start getting your ruler out. Just go by eye: uniformity is the province of the conveyor belt not of home cooking. Use the tines of a fork to make little holes in each marked-out biscuit: I press down about three times, diagonally, on each finger.


Now that you've pressed, incised, and punctured, slide the Swiss roll tin into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, by which time the shortbread will be pale still, but not doughy. Expect a little goldenness around the edges, but shortbread should be not crisp but melting.


Remove the tin from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes or so, before removing, with a palette knife and your fingers, to a wire rack. Sprinkle with sugar and leave them to cool completely before storing in a tin.

Brussels sprout and goat’s cheese souffles

Serves 4

Sprouts aren't just for Christmas don't you know, and if you still have a few knocking around in the fridge, I strongly suggest a bash at this recipe. There may also be some reminders of vast clumps of cheese still hogging fridge space sinse the festive season, so for a bit of glam with leftovers, this is as good a place to be. This is for a twice-baked soufflé, which is a good starting point if you haven’t made many soufflés before. The sprout flavour is really nice and subtle and blends in beautifully with the goat’s cheese.
 

25g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
225ml milk
Half a small onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
4 cloves
25g plain flour
175g Brussels sprouts, trimmed
3 eggs, separated
100g soft goat’s cheese, cut into cubes
1 tblsp finely grated Parmesan
½ tblsp Worcestershire sauce
200ml double cream
50g Emmenthal or Gruyère cheese, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 170c/Gas 3. Brush the insides of four 150ml ramekins evenly with the extra softened butter, in upward strokes. Chill until ready to use. Pour 200ml milk into a pan and add the onion, bay leaf, star anise and cloves. Heat to scalding point, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse until cold. Strain into a clean pan and discard the aromatics.

Meanwhile, mix the butter and flour into a paste and chill for about 30 minutes. Cook the Brussels sprouts in a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes until tender, then drain and refresh in ice-cold water. Drain again, blend in a food processor with a splash of the remaining milk until smooth and set aside.

Place the pan of infused milk on the heat and gradually whisk in the butter paste, adding small pieces at a time, until you have a thick sauce. Season, then leave to cool for 3-4 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks, goat’s cheese, Parmesan and Worcestershire sauce. Fold in the sprouts and check for seasoning. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and leave to cool.

Bring a kettle to the boil and have ready a deep roasting tray. Whisk the egg whites to medium-stiff peaks, whisk a third of them into the sprout mixture to loosen, then carefully fold in the remainder. Fill the prepared ramekins with the mixture and gently level the tops with a palette knife.

Immediately stand the ramekins in the roasting tin. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up their sides and bake the soufflés for 25-30 minutes. Remove the dishes from the water and leave to cool.

Just before you are ready to serve, heat the oven to 230c/Gas 8. Run a knife round the inside of each ramekin to loosen the soufflé. Turn them out upside-down on to individual ovenproof serving dishes and drizzle the cream around. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top and bake for about 8 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.

Roast duck, lemon and honey

Serves 2

As a Christmas time alternative to the predictable old turkey, why not try and get your hands on a small wild duck which will serve two nicely, but do try to choose a fat one as they are not always the meatiest of birds. Big meat eaters may want one each.

You will need some stock for this, ideally game or poultry, but I used a vegetable stock last time and it did the job well. As a side dish I would be tempted to serve a pile of lightly cooked spinach. It is very good with the sweet, slightly citrus gravy.

1 nice duck, about 500g or so
1 lemon
2 tblsp liquid honey
30g butter, melted
150ml stock

Set the oven at 200°C/gas 6. Squeeze the lemon juice into a mixing bowl, then stir in the honey. Add a pinch of sea salt and a generous grinding of black pepper, then put the duck in a roasting tray and pour over the honey and lemon and stock.

Brush the butter onto the duck, roast for about 10 minutes, baste with the pan juices, then lower the heat to 180°C/gas 4 and continue roasting for 30-35 minutes until the bird is golden. Its flesh will still be slightly pink.

Remove the duck from the roasting tin, pour the juices from inside the bird into the tin, then put it somewhere warm to rest. Place the roasting tin over a moderate heat.

Bring to the boil and reduce over a high heat for three or four minutes. Season carefully with salt and black pepper then pour over the duck and serve

Partridge with pumpkin and wild mushrooms

Serves 2

I had a terrific little partridge dish last week at Le Cafe Anglais at Whiteleys in Bayswater, really the first good robust bit of properly cooked game I've had this winter, the sacrifice taken for choosing to live in year round sunshine I guess. Our game season is frighteningly short, and all must be explored in this period, in the kitchen it has to be the time of year where bold flavours make their strongest appearances. The great thing about the little partridge is in the hands on picking and sucking of bones that is totally necessary to extract all the meat from its sticky little frame. This recipe suggestion is ideal for small game, the cooking in a parcel method rarely throws out a tough bird as the self basting process should knock that on the head, but if in doubt a couple of rashers of bacon wrapped around the beasts will do no harm at all.

2 oven-ready partridges
1 medium sized onion
60g butter
1 celery stalk
200g pumpkin
a few sprigs of thyme
50g fresh wild mushrooms such as girolles
80g small chestnut mushrooms
a little dry Vermouth and Cognac

You will also need a couple of sheets of greaseproof paper large enough to loosely wrap the birds.

Peel the onion and slice it into thin rings. Melt half the butter in a shallow pan and cook the onion till soft and tender, stirring from time to time. Meanwhile cut the celery into slices, add them with the thyme leaves to the onion and continue to cook till they have softened slightly. Peel the pumpkin and cut the flesh into small dice, about 1cm in diameter, then cut the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces, stir into the onion and continue to cook gently for another 8-10 minutes or so. The pumpkin wants to be just cooked but not mushy.

Lay the sheets of paper out and divide the mixture between them. Put the empty pan back on the heat, add the remaining butter, then, when it starts sizzling, put the birds in, breast-side down. Let them cook for a couple of minutes till their skin is golden, then turn and colour the other side. Lift the birds out and put them in the middle of the pumpkin mixture.

Pour over a couple of slugs each of dry vermouth and Cognac then pull the paper up around the birds and scrunch the edges together to seal. Lift the parcels onto a baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes until the parcel is golden brown and puffed up. The partridge should be golden and juicy.

Let the birds rest a little, 10 minutes if you can wait, and simply decant all bag contents onto a plate, juice and all. You will no doubt strt with a knife and fork, but I challenge anyone not to resort to fingers shortly thereafter.

Lamb shanks with broad beans

Serves 4

If it's not a pie, it's got to be a braised dish, and lamb shanks don't often fail to hit the mark. This was last night's number, cooked the day before and reheated gently to devour - better depth of flavour and maturity on the 2nd day for sure. The juice, as much as the meat, is where this dish really is, rich and heady, mopped up with anything and everything that comes to hand, one of those nights where someone to offer a belly rub at the end of it all perfects the ultimate dining experience, for me anyway...

1 tblsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 fresh bouquet garni (sprig each of parsley and thyme, and a bay leaf)
400ml white wine
400g new potatoes
400g shelled broad beans, individually skinned (see below)
2 tblsp chopped fresh mint
3 tblsp crème fraîche

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly oil a roasting tin, add the lamb shanks and season, then place in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic and bouquet garni to the roasting tin and roast for a further 20 minutes.

Add the wine and new potatoes to the lamb, mix well with the juices and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. Add the prepared beans and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

When the lamb is cooked through, remove from the roasting tin and keep warm. Place the tin directly on the stove top and bring the juices to a simmer. Stir in the chopped mint and crème fraîche.

Serve the lamb shanks in wide bowls and ladle in the vegetables and juice.

Note: to skin fresh broad beans, plunge them into a pan of boiling water for 4 minutes, then drain and peel off the skins. If using frozen beans they can be peeled once defrosted.

Prawn laksa with noodles

Serves 4

Last night was a laksa, beer, sofa and a couple of badly pirated dvd's at home, and should anyone have experienced a better combo than that, I need to know about it as soon as possible please. Laksa is as comforting as it is fragrant, as rich as it is satisfying and way easier than you realise once you get the balance of spice and acid in the soup just right. If you increase the quantity of noodles to 200g in this recipe, it can be served as a main course. Don’t be put off by the length of this, all but the final cooking of the prawns can be done well in advance

20 whole raw prawns (about 675g)

6 tblsp sunflower oil

1 litre good chicken stock

2 onions, halved and finely sliced

3 tblsp toasted sesame oil

4 large shallots, finely diced

2 Thai chillies (or to taste), finely sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely diced

1 tblsp peeled ginger, cut into fine shreds

100g creamed coconut

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

2 tsp Kikkoman soy sauce

170g dried vermicelli rice noodles

2 large handfuls of coriander leaves

2 limes, halved

Twist off the prawn heads and peel away their shells. Heat 2 tblsp sunflower oil in a noncorrosive saucepan over a high heat. Add the prawn heads and shells, then stir-fry briskly for 2-3 minutes until they turn pink. Add the chicken stock, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain and set aside.

Heat the remaining sunflower oil in a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions and stir-fry for a minute before reducing the heat to medium-low. Sauté for 15 minutes, stirring regularly, until they turn slightly crisp and golden brown. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and spread them out on kitchen paper to drain.

Clean the peeled prawns by running a knife down the length of their backs and removing the black digestive thread. Cover and chill.

Pour the sesame oil into a large saucepan and set over a medium heat. Add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, then fry for 6 minutes until golden. Melt the creamed coconut in hot water in the sachets, then mix into the shallots with the prawn stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for a minute before adding the fish sauce, soy sauce and raw prawns. Simmer gently for 3 minutes until the prawns are pink and cooked through.

Prepare the noodles in hot water according to packet instructions, then divide between four soup bowls. Add the coriander leaves to the piping-hot soup, pour over the noodles and sprinkle with the fried onions. Serve immediately with the lime halves, or season the soup with lime juice to taste, then serve

Hainan chicken rice

Serves 4

A local specialty from the island of Hainan off the coast of China but revered through all of South East Asia, and my kitchen last night... The chicken should be just cooked, something we in the West can be totally paranoid about, but should the meat be at all dry, it is a complete failure. I could eat this for hours, and often go back, as I did quite late last night, for another couple of chunks of chicken and some cold rice - my garlic breath this morning told me a good evening was had...

Chicken

1 whole chicken, about 2kg

1 tsp salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 slices fresh ginger, peeled

4 spring onions, trimmed

3 litres water

2 tblsp sesame oil

Sliced tomatoes for garnish

Sliced cucumbers for garnish

Coriander sprigs for garnish

Chicken rice

400g long grain rice

2 tblsp peanut oil

5 shallots, peeled and minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 litre reserved stock from cooking Hainan chicken

1/2 tsp salt

Wash chicken and remove excess fat. Rub the inside of the cavity with salt. Smash garlic and ginger slightly with the flat of a knife. Tie spring onions into a knot. Place garlic, ginger, and spring onions inside the chicken cavity.
Bring the water to a boil in a pot large enough to hold the chicken.

Add the chicken, breast-side down. Simmer, covered, 30-40 minutes, turning chicken halfway through the cooking process, until chicken tests done (juices from thigh should just run clear when pricked with a fork).

Carefully remove chicken, draining liquid from body cavity back into the pot. Reserve the stock to make chicken rice. Plunge the chicken into ice water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and tighten the skin. Drain, rub with sesame oil, and let cool to room temperature.

To serve, chop chicken into bite-size pieces (the Chinese do this bone and all) and arrange on a platter. Garnish with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and coriander sprigs.

To make the chicken rice, wash the rice and drain in a colander. Let stand 1/2 hour to dry.

Heat oil in a wok. Add the shallots and garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add rice grains and stir-fry 3-4 minutes, until glossy and fragrant.

Transfer to a saucepan. Add the chicken broth and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until the liquid level evaporates to the level of the rice and steam holes appear. Turn heat to low. Cover and simmer for barely 10 minutes.

Serve the chicken with the rice, with chilli and garlic oil, dark soy sauce and chilli sauce, and a bowl of the remaining broth finished with a little chopped coriander.

Hot and sour scallop soup

Serves 4

Don’t let the long list of ingredients discourage you from trying out this delicious hot, sweet and sour soup, to which I’ve added fresh scallops as an elegant treat. As with most Chinese cooking, you will need to spend a little more time preparing the ingredients, but the actual cooking time is quite short.

1 litre fish or chicken stock

3 tblsp rice vinegar

3 tblsp light soy sauce

1 tblsp sweet chilli sauce

2 tsp caster sugar

5 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into thin strips

2.5cm fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped

300g pack firm tofu, cut into small cubes

4 scallops, halved diagonally

225g tin bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained

2 tblsp cornflour, dissolved in 3 tbsp water

1 large free range egg, beaten

2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced on the diagonal

Place the stock, vinegar, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the mushrooms, carrot, ginger and garlic, and adjust the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms and carrots are just tender.

Add the tofu, scallops and bamboo shoots. Stir in the cornflour mixture. Simmer until the soup is lightly thickened and the scallops are just cooked through, about 2-3 minutes. Slowly pour the beaten egg into the soup, gently stirring in a circular motion to create small ribbons of egg.

Ladle the soup into bowls, sprinkle with the spring onions and serve at once.

Manakeesh

Having just come back from the most amazing weekend in Beirut, I can now safely say that a properly made manakeesh for breakfast is one of the true culinary finds I've made this year. If you don’t have time to make your own bread, I guess you can use a pita instead, but trust me on this one, if close to perfection is sought, you might as well gloss over this recipe and plan your next holiday in Lebanon, the only way to do this kind of food justice is to go to the source.

250g all purpose flour
20g fresh yeast or 2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
about 125ml warm water
2 tblsp olive oil

In a large non-metal bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Form the mixture into a mound and create a well in the centre. Pour the warm water and sugar into a bowl and when the sugar has dissolved, crumble in the yeast.

When the yeast is frothy, pour it into the well in the flour. Mix it together with your hands or a wooden spoon. You’ll end up with a dry, crumbling mixture that isn’t much like dough. Cover and set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes.

Now add 2 tblsp olive oil and knead it into the dough. Add a little more warm water and knead it in to create a more dough like consistency. You’re done when the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball, place in a lightly greased bowl and turn it over again to make sure the top is greased. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

When the dough has risen, turn in out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until the dough becomes firm again. Now you’ll need to decide whether you want one big manakeesh or several small ones. Take the amount of dough you want (a small section or the whole thing), and roll it out with a rolling pin until it’s a little less than half an inch (about half a centimeter) thick. Move the dough rounds to a lightly greased baking sheet and pinch all the way around the edges to form a raised edge.

Now add your toppings, place in an oven pre-heated to 200c and bake for barely a few minutes.

Manakeesh toppings should be applied fairly thinly, for an authentic taste, don’t pile them on thick.

Olive oil and za’atar. Spread a thin coating of olive oil over the top of the bread and then spread on a layer of za’atar.

Cheese - jibne and akkawi or ricotta will work fine. Avoid Greek feta, though, as it tends to be too salty. Another option is to spread on some labneh after baking, while the bread is still warm.

Vegetables - a mixture of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and olives.

Minced lamb - sauté the lamb in vegetable oil until lightly browned, then add finely chopped tomato, along with pepper and parsley if you like, spread it on the bread, and pop it in the oven.