Raff is never happier than when he’s in a restaurant kitchen, learning tips and tricks about his favourite dishes from his favourite chefs, and pilfering the spoils to stuff down his neck. And Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing (stir fried crisp pork belly in spicy red curry paste) and Chat Thai Gateway’s Chef Oat are both high on that favourite list.  

So, when Chef Oat offered to teach him how to whip up the spicy dish at home, he practically cartwheeled in to the Chat Thai Gateway’s kitchen, ready to get his wok on.

Thanks to our lovely mutual friends at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the generous Chef Oat not only took Raff step by step through the process of making the popular Thai favourite at home, but shared his secrets to the best ever pork belly (boil it, dry it, salt it, roast it, fry it), and how to pimp up a can of store bought curry paste for maximum flavour, and to save time on cooking at home.

Padt Prik Khing is a Thai curry cooked and served drier than regular coconut milk based Thai curries. It is strong on spice with a hefty kick of chilli and Thai ginger (galangal) from the paste, so is best served with steamed Jasmine rice.

Here, with his blessing, we’re sharing Chef Oat’s incredible at home recipe for Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing.

Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing

May 23, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Cuisine Thai

Category Asian food Recipes

Ingredients

• 500gm pork belly
• 1 cup green beans (cut into 3cm batons)
• 2 tbsp pork crackling
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp
• 2 tbsp red curry paste
• ½ tbsp palm sugar
• 1-2 tbsp water
• 1 stem of Lemon grass, finely diced
• 1 tbsp of finely diced galangal
• 1 tbsp whole white peppercorns
• 1 tbsp roasted coriander seeds
• Kaffir lime skin (optional, if available)
• 1 tbsp salt
• Kaffir lime leaves
• 1 red chilli sliced

Instructions

1. Boil the pork belly for 15 minutes until the skin is translucent.
2. Place on rack for 30 minutes and allow to dry.
3. Brush the pork skin lightly with vinegar and rub with salt. Let it rest for another 15 mins.
4. Heat oven to 200 degree Celsius.
5. Place in a roasting pan in the oven for an hour or until crisp and brown
6. Remove from oven and pan fry the skin side. Set aside to cool, then slice.
7. In a mortar and pestle, pound dried shrimp.
8. Add pork crackling and pound until coarsely fine but not powdery, then set mix aside.
9. In the mortar and pestle pound lemongrass, galangal, whole pepper corns, roasted coriander seeds and kaffir lime skin into a paste.
10. Add the palm sugar and curry paste, and pound until blended.
11. Heat oil in wok and stir fry paste and fish sauce to remove moisture
12. Add the dried shrimp and pork crackling, then set aside
13. In the wok add a touch of oil and cook beans and pork for a minute to heat through.
14. Reintroduce curry paste and fresh chilli
15. Serve topped with finely sliced kaffir lime leaves and a side of steamed rice.

Tags

Asian food,

asian recipes,

sydney dining,

Thai food

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Mie Goreng is one of the ultimate Asian comfort foods, something whipped up in households across Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore. In fact, you’ll find the ubiquitous noodle dish popping up everywhere from street stalls to swanky restaurants.

Each of those countries has its own take on Mie Goreng, though the dish is traditionally made with Hokkein (egg) noodles stir fried with shallots, garlic, soy sauce, egg, vegetables, and a variety of proteins.   And while we’ve tasted many variations of the dish across Asia, it was as we ate our way through Bali’s many delicious street snacks, that we fell in love with the luscious noodles.

Good job too, because the oh-so-silky Indonesian Mie Goreng appears to be served for breakfast, lunch and tea… and who are we to say no to that? For us, it is near impossible to bypass the brightly coloured street carts hawking the irresistibly sweet, salty, spicy noodles, studded as they are with juicy strips of chicken, pork or beef and a smattering of prawns, and served accompanied with hot sambal. OK, I admit that that may be because we have zero self-control around food, but still…

Our own Indonesian Mie Goreng recipe has evolved from the many variations we’ve tried in Bali and we use both chicken and pork variations. It must be noted that in much of Indonesia Islamic halal dietary law forbids the consumption of pork but in majority Hindu Bali, pork is a staple, hence the use of it in our recipe, but you can substitute the meat of your choice.

This recipe is so simple, 12-year old Raff whips it up in our wok weekly, like a boss!  Enjoy.

Indonesian Mie Goreng Recipe

April 17, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Cuisine Indonesian

Category Asian food Recipes

Ingredients

• Mee goreng
• Peanut oil
• 2 eggs whisked
• 1 tbsp sambal oelek
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 2 tbsp kecap manis
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 thumb of ginger, finely julienned.
• 300g sliced pork belly (skin off)
• 12 peeled green prawns
• 1 cup sliced cabbage
• 1 cup bean shoots
• 440g fresh Chinese egg noodles
• 1/2 cup sliced spring onions
• Birdseye chilli sliced
• 1 lime

Instructions

1. Combine shrimp paste, sambal oelek, sesame oil, kecap manis and light soy sauce in a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat a splash of oil in a seasoned wok over medium-high heat. Add the egg and swirl around the hot wok to form a thin omelette. Cook until just set, transfer to a chopping board. Roll omelette and slice into 5mm ribbons and set aside.
3. Heat a little more oil to the wok and add pork, tossing until almost cooked.
4. Add peeled prawns and cook for a minute each side or until opaque.
5. Add cabbage and bean shoots and toss lightly
6. Add noodles and sauce mix and stir fry until evenly coated.
7. Add spring onions (reserving a tbsp full), and egg noodles and toss lightly.
8. Serve topped with slices of birdseye chilli, spring onions and a wedge of lime

Tags

Asian food,

Indonesian food,

Recipes

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A Sri Lankan-style breakfast is amongst the greatest meals this asbestos-tongued foodie has had the pleasure of meeting and eating. And, in my opinion, the undisputed stars of this Sri Lankan morning show are Sri Lankan egg hoppers.

Even in the morning Sri Lankan cuisine is fuelled by chilli, curry leaves, cinnamon and black pepper. And while no two breakfasts are ever the same, you can expect, at the very least, fragrant curries and dahls served with fluffy bowls of red heirloom rice or coconutty milk rice, a selection of sambols and chutneys and crispy roti and the ubiquitous hopper.

Hoppers come in a variety of styles. There’s the very popular idiyappam (string hoppers), a steamed lacy noodle pancake made from a hot-water dough of red or white rice meal. And then there’s appam, deep basket-like pancakes made from fermented rice flour and coconut milk.

On my recent  travels to extraordinary Sri Lanka, my  favourite version of these were hoppers topped with a fried egg and a generous dollop of sweet spicy Sri Lankan seeni sambol (a sweet, sour and spicy onion relish). In fact, I may have devoured my body weight in them and have been craving them every since.

Keen to introduce the family to the wonders of Sri Lankan egg hoppers, I decided to see if I could recreate the bowl-shaped breakfast beauties at home. I brought a couple of hopper pans back with me from Sri Lanka (you can purchase them online, though at a pinch you could use a small non-stick wok with a fitted lid) and after discovering no two hopper recipes appear to be the same, experimented with a hopper mixture until I managed to get it just the right lacy and crisp, yet slightly steamed texture.

The whole family are so hooked, Sri Lankan egg hoppers are now on the menu most weekends at Casa Eats World.

Sri Lankan Egg hoppers

April 16, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Cuisine Sri Lankan

Category Asian food Recipes

Ingredients

• 10 grams dried yeast
• 1 tbs sugar
• ¼ cup warm water
• 400 grams rice flour
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 400 ml light coconut milk
• 8 Eggs
• 2 egg whites, whisked
• Salt

Instructions

1. Add yeast and sugar to lukewarm water and let rest for 20 minutes to activate.
2. Place rice flour in a large bowl and form a well to add the activated yeast mix.
3. Add 400ml of coconut milk and stir.
4. Slowly add remaining light coconut milk, stirring constantly until the mixture forms a smooth batter. (Note: to get a good pouring consistency you may need to add up to a ½ cup of water.)
5. Cover bowl with a tea towel and let stand in a warm place for approximately 90 minutes to double in size.
6. When you’re ready to cook, stir whisked eggwhites into coconut mixture and add salt.
7. Heat hopper pan over a medium heat and add a ladleful of the mixture, and swirl to evenly coat sides of pan.
8. Add an egg and cover with lid.

Tags

Recipes,

Sri Lanka,

Sri Lankan food

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,issm

A fiery, sweet, sour and spicy onion relish, Sri Lankan seeni sambol is something you’ll find on just about every Sri Lankan table, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner time.

It’s no surprise that Sri Lankan’s love vegetarian dishes. The fertile island paradise is blessed with an arsenal of incredible vegetables, fruit and heady spices. Veggie curries, dahls and rice are all everyday staples, and generally come accompanied by roti style breads and papadums. Spices are also used with wanton abandon. So much so that on my recent Sri Lankan foodie adventures I was warned by restaurant after restaurant to order western versions of the local food. Of course, with my signature asbestos-tongued fearlessness I ignored that advice and spent the next week ordering every dish at the same blow-your-face-off level of spicy that the locals do, leaving my local hosts impressed and my tastebuds happily tingling.

Indeed, so enamoured was I of the spice laden dishes, I took the heat higher at every opportunity with massive dollops of the chilli-laden sambols and chutneys that accompany every meal.

But it was the addictively sweet and spicy Sri Lankan seeni sambol that was the one to followed me home, in recipe form at least.  In Sri Lanka, seeni sambol is made both with and without Maldive fish (a dried tuna fish that adds an umami flavour a little like shrimp paste) but for our vegetarian version we skip the fish. 

The kids and I make a big batch regularly, which we use as an accompanied to our favourite breakfast of Sri Lankan Egg Hoppers, as well as with scrambled eggs, as an accompaniment to rice and curries and as a toasted sandwich filling. I’ve even sprung spice-obsessed Raffles, sneaking spoonfuls of our version of Sri Lankan seeni sambol straight from the jar. Enjoy.

Sri Lankan Seeni Sambal

April 16, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Cuisine Sri Lankan

Category Asian food Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 tbs oil
• 3 medium red onions, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2cm peeled ginger, finely chopped
• 1 sprig fresh curry leaves
• 2 tbsp chilli flakes
• ½ lemon grass stick, bruised
• 3 cardamom pods, bruised
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• ¼ cup tamarind water
• 1 tbsp. sugar

Instructions

1. Heat oil in frypan over a medium heat
2. Sauté onions until soft and caramelised, then remove with a slotted spoon, reserving as much of the oil as possible.
3. Reheat frypan on low heat, add curry leaves, chilli, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, cloves, lemon grass and cook until fragrant.
4. Add the garlic, ginger and fry until soft.
5. Place the cooked onion back in the pan.
6. Add tamarind water and sugar and simmer gently until liquid reduces
7. Serve with hoppers, eggs or as a side with curry and rice.

Tags

Recipes,

Sri Lankan,

Sri Lankan food

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A paradise of golden sand, temples and sunshine, Indonesia’s Island of the Gods, is also a gastronomic heaven. Blessed with an abundance of fresh produce and a culinary culture that’s a fine fusion of indigenous tradition, bold Indonesian flavours and a smattering of Indian influence, I’m fairly convinced Bali’s deities’ all have very happy bellies.

Based around rice, noodles, fresh vegetables, meat and fish, all infused with spice, we can’t get enough and on our regular visits to Bali, I’m usually straight on the hunt for gado gado (peanut sauce smothered steamed vegetables) and Raff’s not satisfied until he’s shoving his face into a hot Sambal Udang (prawns in spicy sauce) and succulent Bebek Betutu (slow roasted duck cooked in banana leaves).

Sugarpuff, on the other hand, has a sate lilit (minced meat skewer) radar, and she’s been gobbling them down ravenously since she was a baby. Though this may be as much due to her obsession with anything on a stick as their smoky flavour and irresistibly peanutty sauce.

With regular visits to Bali with the kids and a tendency to bring home a country’s culinary highlights as a souvenir whenever we can, it’s not uncommon for us to whip up a wicked nasi goreng (fried rice topped with egg) or mie goreng (fried noodles topped with egg) at home. But the dish most frequently requested by the kids is perkedel jagung (or bakwan jagung), spicy Indonesian corn fritters that are a ubiquitous and cheap snack found all around Indonesia’s islands (at least when my ravenous twosome aren’t in town cleaning out supplies).

Perkedel jagung are quick to whip up and use easy to find ingredients, so I’m always happy to oblige. Indeed, so popular have they become that I rustle up a stack of my version of the sweet corn spiked fritters for brunch every other Sunday. Served up with either my homemade sweet mango chilli sauce or a quick salsa made from red onion, chilli, coriander, tomato and a hit of lime (which is far less traditional but damned delicious), they’re guaranteed to disappear in seconds.

Perkedel Jagung - Indonesian Corn Fritters

February 29, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Cuisine Indonesian

Category Asian food

Ingredients

• 2 x 420g cans sweet corns, drained
• 40g of rice flour
• 80g of plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 red chillies diced
• 2 spring onions, finely diced
• 2 kaffir lime leaves finely diced
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• 4 shallots finely chopped
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

1. Take half the corn kernels and the garlic cloves and use a mortar and pestle (or blender) to make a paste.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg.
3. Add the corn paste, spring onions, coriander, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, chilli, and remaining corn kernels and combine.
4. Add rice flour and plain flour, ground coriander, pepper and salt and mix well.
5. Heat an inch of oil in a pan on medium/low heat
6. Drop fritter batter into oil, flattening slightly with a spoon to even them out for cooking.
7. Cook, turning regularly, until golden all over, then sit aside on rack to drain.
8. Serve with your choice of accompaniments.

Tags

asian recipes,

Bali with kids,

Indonesian food,

Recipes

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Cambodian’s love a little charred protein. But they do things a bit differently to we Aussies when it comes to chucking another shrimp on the barbie. You see, they love stuff on sticks. And not just any old stuff… every old stuff.

In the interest of bringing the world to us while we’re in isolation and can’t get to the world,  we’re going to be cooking up as many of our favourite dishes from around the world. As well as some from places on our travel to do lists.

Today we start with a flashback to our beloved Cambodia, where we braved the local delicacies at Siem Reap’s 60 Road. This local street market stretches down a long road lined with street food sellers barbecuing up everything from skewered chicken and frogs to snakes and bull’s penis (yes, I did say bull’s penis). long the sides of the road, families gather on mats to enjoy an evening picnic with friends and family. There’s  even a small, rickety fun fair at the end.  Lucky for us we were accompanied by the lovely folks from Cooks in Tuk Tuks who were able to help us differentiate between the pork sausage and pork sword as we ate our way through an assortment of barbecued delights.

By far Raffles’ favourite barbecue treat was the tender and smoky, charred stuffed squid stuffed with pork mince and aromatics. And given we’re currently all out of bovine shclong, but do have squid tubes and pork mince in the freezer, plus fresh herbs in the garden, we’re whipping up our take on stuffed Cambodian-style squid, and it is taking us right back to that atmospheric eat street in Siem Reap.

Recipe: Stuffed Cambodian-style Squid

January 24, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Category Asian food International Recipes

Persons

4

Ingredients

• 12 x 12-15 cm squid tubes, cleaned, tentacles finely diced and put aside
• 100g pork mince
• 8 king prawns, minced
• 4 wood ear mushrooms, finely diced
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp. palm sugar
• 1 tsp. finely chopped lime leaves
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped coriander
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 50 grams glass noodles
• 1 lime, quartered
• Dressing
• 3 tbsp. fish sauce
• 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped palm sugar
• 1/2 stem lemon grass, pale section only, finely chopped
• 1 long fresh red chillies, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Instructions

1. Clean squid tubes then marinate in a tbsp. of oyster sauce while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Soak the noodles in lukewarm water for around 15 minutes.
3. Mix the diced squid, pork mince, prawns and wood ear mushrooms with a teaspoon of the oyster sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar and crushed garlic.
4. Stir-fry mixture for a few minutes, then add drained noodles to the mix and cook for a further two minutes.
5. Remove from heat then add lime leaves, coriander and spring onion.
6. While the pork mix cools, mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
7. Using your fingers, tightly stuff each the squid tubes with the cooled pork mixture leaving a little gap at the end to seal shut with a toothpick.
8. Cook squid in a frypan on high heat or over a charcoal grill for 6-7 minutes, turning, until it is cooked on all sides.
9. Cut cooked squid tubes into bit size pieces, drizzle with dressing and garnish with fresh chopped chilli, coriander and mint and lime quarters.

Tags

cambodia food,

Cambodia with kids,

cooking with kids,

kids in the kitchen,

recipe

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We love native Australian ingredients as much as we love Asian food. So combining the two in this chicken and lemon myrtle won ton noodle soup was always going to be a winner for this family.

When first stumbled across the idea for these at Sydney’s Blak Market. And so much did Raffles obsess over the delicious dumplings with a bush tucker twist that he begged me to try my hand at making something similar. As his devoted personal slave, I got my origami on and did just that… though, if I’m being completely honest, my capitulation had far less to with parental devotion and more to do with a desire for the nagging to stop.

While the end result isn’t an exact match, we love our fluffy pillows of fragrant goodness and our delicious and nutritious version of chicken and lemon myrtle won ton noodle soup has been on high rotation at Casa Eats World ever since.

Recipe: Chicken and Lemon Myrtle Won Ton Noodle Soup

January 2, 2020

by Aleney de Winter

Category Asian food Recipes

Ingredients

• For the wontons:
• 250g free range organic chicken mince
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 finely chopped lemon myrtle leaves.
• 1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 24 wonton wrappers
• For the broth:
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp finely sliced ginger
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 250 gm fresh egg noodles
• 1 bunch of bok choy chopped
• To serve:
• Chilli oil

Instructions

1. In a bowl mix together chicken mince, garlic cloves, lemon myrtle leaves, grated ginger, white pepper and sesame oil.
2. Place a wonton wrapper on a clean surface with one teaspoon of chicken mix in centre.
3. Brush edges with water and fold wonton over to enclose filling and form a rectangle.
4. Press edges together.
5. Lift top corners of rectangle up together and press to join (see image below)
6. Repeat using remaining wrappers and chicken mixture.
7. In a large saucepan bring stock, water, soy sauce and ginger to the boil.
8. Reduce heat to medium and egg noodles and wontons, cooking for three to four minutes.
9. Add bok choy and cook for around half a minute until wilted.
10. Serve with a drizzle of chilli oil, to taste.

Tags

asian recipes,

Native Australian food,

wonton noodle soup

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 It’s no big secret that Raffles loves a dumpling. And when I say loves, I mean with a passion equalled only by that of a seagulls for chips. In fact, if eating dumplings were an Olympic sport, he’d bring home Gold. In every event. Including the relay. 

This is a child who considers Xiao Long Bao (pork dumplings dripping with gingery broth) and Gyoza (Japanese pan fried dumplings) as important to his survival as oxygen. A boy who has been known to inhale 23 har gau (prawn dumplings) in one sitting and still ask for more, thinks that momo (Nepalese dumplings) are a food group and would bathe in a steaming bowl of wontons if given half the chance.

Steamed, fried or boiled I don’t think he’s ever met a dumpling he wouldn’t eat… by the bucketful. After our dumpling devouring adventures in Guangzhou, Raffles asked me if he could try making siu mai (dim sim) at home, I handed over the keys to the kitchen and let him at it.

Together we play around with different recipes and ingredients for the filling, adding a splash of this and a sprinkle of that until we came up with a winning formula.  The end result is so good, Raffles reckons they are just about the tastiest he’s ever had… which is handy given this Siu Mai recipe knocks out about 36 of the buggers. Which Raffles devoured (minus a taster or two for the rest of us) in record time.

Siu Mai

April 2, 2019

by Aleney de Winter

Category Asian food Recipes

Persons

36

Ingredients

• 400g fatty pork mince
• 260g raw prawn meat, roughly chopped
• 2 large shitake mushrooms (stalks removed), finely diced
• 2 tsp. caster sugar
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. Shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp. ginger minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. potato flour
• 1 egg white
• 3 spring onions, very finely chopped
• Pinch of white pepper
• Packet of Gow Gee Wrappers

Instructions

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Work together for 5 minutes to create a firm, springy texture.
3. Place a tbsp. of mixture into the centre of each gow gee wrapper.
4. Gather sides together leaving top open to form a cylindrical shape.
5. Place on a tray with baking paper.
6. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7. Steam in a lined bamboo steamer for 7-8 minutes or until cooked through.
8. Serve with soy and chilli sauce.

Tags

asian cookery,

Cooking,

dumplings,

food for kids,

kids can cook,

kids in the kitchen,

Raffles,

recipe,

siu mai

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Taiwan may be tiny but its culinary appeal is anything but. The country is arguably Asia’s best-kept travel secret, a clean, green island that’s blessed with tantalising scenery, a culture that is part ancient, part high-tech, and food scene that blew my mind. From fine dining to dumplings and my fave homely treat, Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken, there’s not a bad feed to be found… well, maybe Stinky Tofu, that stuff even beat me.

Taiwan’s Indigenous tribes occupied the island for thousands of years until the 17^th century when the Han Chinese began arriving. The island has since been colonised by the Dutch, Spanish and Japanese, until 1945, when the ocuntry was placed under the control of the Republic of China.  This revolving door of colonisation and immigration has resulted in a deliciously diverse cuisine that offers diners everything from Michelin-starred fine dining and innovative indigenous restaurants to atmospheric street markets and everything in between.

But for me, Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken was one of the stand out dishes on my glutinous pilgrimage. Not because it was better than the others (which were all rave worthy) but because this sticky, sweet, salty and oh-so-tasty comfort dish is one of the signature dishes of Taiwan, and I knew at first bite that I would be taking it home to my family.

I chatted up the folk in the know and with only the slightest cajoling managed to procure an approximation of the recipe. Did I mention that the Taiwanese are just about the nicest people on the planet? On my return (after picking myself up off the floor of Sydney Airport Arrivals, having been attacked and knocked to the floor by two small lunatics who were as excited to see their mama as she was them) and armed only with a vague hand-me-down recipe and the remnants of my alcohol damaged memory, I gathered the ingredients (fresh herbs, chicken, soy, sugar, ginger, wine and garlic) and whipped up my interpretation of Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken, with a child attached to each leg.

It was such a hit, it’s been on high rotation ever since.

Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken

June 12, 2018

by Aleney de Winter

Cuisine Taiwanese

Category Asian food Recipes

Ingredients

• 750 grams free-range chicken thigh fillets (cut into bite-size chunks)
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 15-20 whole garlic cloves (peeled)
• 12 ginger slices
• 80 ml sesame oil (plus 2 tbsp for frying)
• 80 ml soy sauce
• 80 ml Chinese rice wine
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 large handfuls of fresh Thai Basil (Thai Basil holds flavour and colour better than its European counterpart)
• 4 spring onions, cut into 5 cm lengths

Instructions

1. Coat chicken with 1 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tbsp cornflour and put aside for twenty minutes.
2. Heat wok until sizzling and add 2 tbsp sesame oil. Toss in whole garlic cloves and ginger slices and fry for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
3. Add chicken and fry for three minutes, until lightly browned.
4. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine and sugar and stir.
5. Bring mixture to boil then lower heat and allow chicken to simmer for 25 minutes. The sauce will thicken during cooking.
6. Increase heat, add basil and spring onions and cook for another two minutes.
7. Serve with rice.

Tags

Asian food,

Recipes,

Taiwan

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The food of Myanmar is a little more oily and a little less spicy than what we’re used to in Southeast Asia, and it is is not quite as diverse as foodie neighbours Thailand, China and India, but influences from all three mean there is an eclectic variety of flavour packed food. And while undertaking our #escapers17 adventures we want to try it all.

But, and there is always one of those, our time in Yangon is short and our schedule too tight to pack in all of the amazing things there are to do in Yangon, especially as Raffles and I decide to devote much of our time to face stuffing. We’re nothing if not resourceful and the Yangon streets we are racing about are heaving with makeshift sidewalk stalls selling all kinds of interesting, and mostly unidentifiable, foods. And we are quite prepared to risk indigestion by tasting as many of them as we can… on the run.

Like most of South East Asia, the food of Myanmar is based around a delicate balance of sweet, sour and salty notes and a slavish devotion to fish sauce and funky fermented ngapi (fish or shrimp paste).

Fermentation is quite the thing in Myanmar. Even tea leaves are not immune as, in this country, they are not only downed in a nice cuppa, but fermented and eaten in salad. National favourite Laphet Thoke (pickled tea leaf salad) is mouth-watering, the fermented tea leaves combined with chopped cabbage, dried shrimp, fish sauce, lime, dried garlic and roasted nuts, tomato and chilli to irresistible effect.

We are lucky enough to learn how to recreate the dish during a cooking class challenge at Inle Lake’s The Shan Restaurant and the recipe is one I am keen to share as soon as I track down the best place to buy pickled tea leaves in Australia.

Indeed, there is not much the people of Myanmar won’t attempt to turn into a salad (thoke). But these are not salads as Raffles and I know them (or regularly attempt to dodge). These are crunchy and refreshing with thinly sliced vegetables and loads of piquant green mango tossed in fish sauce, lime juice and topped with everything from nuts to dried prawns. And they are good.

Another extremely popular dish is Myanmar’s breakfast of champions, mohinga, a bowl of thick rice noodles in a soup made with river catfish, thickened with chickpea flour then sprinkled with deep fried fritters, which I slurp down happily every morning.

Teahouses too are a big part of everyday life in Myanmar. They are popular places for people meet to drink, eat and set the world to rights. The tea is steaming hot, milky and oh so sweet, thanks to the wads of condensed milk they dollop into it.

While meat and seafood dishes are abundant, there are plenty of options for vegetarians with many of the street foods we spy appearing to be based around variations of cabbage and bean curd.

Pockets of what appears to be bean curd skin are stuffed with cabbage, vegetables, pickled something or other and nuts, and are ridiculously tasty.

Another popular street snack is Mont Lin Ma Yar (husband and wife snacks), crispy rice pancake creations, which prove irresistible to both mother and son. The tiny savoury cakes are grilled as two individual halves and topped with quail eggs, scallions, or roasted chickpeas, then joined together to make little balls around the same size as Japanese Takoyaki. They are utterly addictive and we grab a bag every time we spot them.

Then there are the bugs!

While we’ve tried loads of them before, with varying degrees of success, Yangon’s insect offerings have Raffles gagging in the gutter.

But a couple of the city’s ubiquitous samosas soon sorts him out.

Much to our excitement, curries are also extremely popular and generally served with buttery paratha flatbread. They tend to be more sour and salty than what we’ve become accustomed to in Asia, but are really quite wonderful.

Craving one of the tamarind-spiked, sour and salty curries from our adventures, Raffles and I have hit the kitchen knock up our own take on Burmese cuisine with this delicious Burmese Pork Curry with Mango Salad. Enjoy!

Burmese Pork Curry with Mango Salad

May 18, 2018

by Aleney de Winter

Category Asia Asian food International Myanmar

Ingredients

• 4cm length of ginger, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 eschalots, chopped
• 1 tsp. ngapi (shrimp paste)
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. dried chilli flakes
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 kg pork neck, cut into 5cm chunks
• 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised and halved
• 2 tsp. fish sauce, plus extra, to taste
• 500ml chicken stock
• 500ml water
• 1 tbsp. palm sugar
• 2 tbsp. tamarind paste
• Juice of half a lime
• Steamed rice (optional) and lime wedges, to serve
• 1 green mango, peeled, julienned
• 2 eschalots thinly sliced
• 2 long red chillis, seeded, thinly julienned
• ½ cup mint leaves
• ½ cup unsalted toasted peanuts, chopped
• 2 tbsp. fried garlic
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. palm sugar

Instructions

1. In a mortar and pestle pound garlic, ginger, onion and ngapi until it forms a smooth paste.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium-high and add oil.
3. Add paste, chilli, turmeric and stir for one minute.
4. Add tomato paste and stir.
5. Add pork, stirring to coat meat, and cook for about 15 minutes, until pork is browned.
6. Add lemon grass and fish sauce and mix before topping with stock and water.
7. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce and cook, stirring occasionally, for around 1½ hours or until pork is tender.
8. Add palm sugar, tamarind and lime juice to taste and cook, lid off, for another 10 minutes to reduce sauce and serve.
9. For the mango salad mix lime juice, fish sauce and palm sugar thoroughly and set to one side.
10. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl, reserving fried garlic and nuts, and mix together gently with dressing.
11. Top with dried and nuts garlic and serve with curry and rice.

Tags

cooking with kids,

food for kids,

Inle Lake,

kids in the kitchen,

Myanmar,

Recipes,

world food,

Yangon

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Disclosure: While we had to work for it, competing in and completing challenges, Raffles & I were hosted by the fabulous folk at AccorHotels, Scoot Airlines, Tiger Air and Asia Holidays during the incredible Myanmar leg of our #escapers17 adventure. However, all opinions and stuffing of faces is our own.

The post Tasting Yangon and a recipe for Burmese Pork Curry with Mango Salad appeared first on boyeatsworld.