Quick Pickled Bok Choy

Our weekly veggie boxes lately have been coming with a LOT of bok choy and I was at a bit of a loss when trying to figure out how to use it all. I'm not that much into bok choy, but had this thought one day that I could pickle it. I figured somebody must have done it before because everything is on the internet right? But when I did a quick search, apparently not. So I made up a quick pickle and gave it a go. It turned out so good that I pickle the bok choy straight from the veggie box every week. I can't tell you how long they'll last you in the fridge or cupboard, though. They don't last long in my house because my kids eat them straight out of the jar.

It's a very straightforward pickle. I used a warm pickle instead of hot because I didn't want the bok choy to get too "cooked", so it would retain it's nice crunch. Add any flavours you like - chilli, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves. Our favourite variety is the ginger ones.

I use these pickles inside rice paper rolls, with Asian salads or noodle dishes. They add a lovely fresh crunch to a sweet/sticky tofu dish.

Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the leaves? I add them into other dishes in small amounts but can't seem to use them up in the quantity that I have them! Suggestions welcome :)



Ingredients:
2-3 bok choy, stems only
1 cup, boiling hot water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (you could also use white wine vinegar or rice vingear)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt


Additional flavours (optional): chilli, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves. 

To Make:
1. Wash bok choy stems and cut into sticks. Put into a clean jar (pack them in tight because they shrink as they pickle).
2. Combine the boiling water with the sugar until dissolved and then add the apple cider vinegar and salt. 
3. Pour into the jar over the bok choy. If the quantity isn't quite enough you can top up with a little more vinegar and water to fill up the jar.
4. Put the lid on and store in the fridge overnight.

Makes approximately 1 x 500ml jar. 

Spinach, Mushroom & Sesame Udon Noodle Soup

We just came back from travelling in Singapore, which we absolutely loved. We had such a good time and I think it's probably the coolest Asian city I've ever visited, with a great vibe to the whole place. We will definitely be going back there. While we were there we did a bit of street market shopping. Singapore is by no means a cheap place to visit and travel, but I picked up a few knick-knacks to remind me of our time there. One of them were these cute pairs of chopsticks. My partner and I are both year of the Rabbit, so we picked up two pairs of rabbits and I got a pair of dragons for my best friend. In hindsight I should have got a pair for everyone - but maybe next time I'm in Singapore!

This beautiful soup is quick, easy and so very tasty and is a favourite go to quick lunch or dinner for me. Spinach is not a common addition to an Asian noodle soup, but the flavour and colour are so well suited. Don't scrimp on the sesame seeds, they are more than just a garnish!

Spinach, Mushroom & Sesame Udon Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

6 dried shitake mushrooms

2L vegetable stock

5 tbsp soy sauce

250g button mushrooms

150g oyster mushrooms

1 small tin of bamboo shoots

4-5 leaves of spinach (silverbeet)

2 small bunches of bok choy

2 tbsp mirin

4 x 200g packets of fresh udon noodles (or a large 800g pack)

4 tbsp white sesame seeds

Sesame Oil

To Make
 1. Put the dried mushrooms, soy sauce and the vegetable stock in your wok and set it to simmer while you do all the rest of your prep.

2. Prep the ingredients: slice the button mushrooms, slice the oyster mushrooms into strips, drain the bamboo shoots, chop the spinach into thin strips and chop the bok choy finely horizontally.

3. Once you’ve done all that (will take about 10 mins depending on how fast you chop) remove the whole shitake mushrooms from the stock and slice them.

4. With the stock simmering add the ingredients in the following order: shitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, bamboo shoots, oyster mushrooms, spinach.

5. Simmer for about 2 minutes once all the ingredients are in and then turn off the heat and add the bok choy and mirin.

6. Rinse the udon noodles gently under some hot water and put about 200g in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the hot soup on top of the noodles in each bowl.

7. Heat a non stick frypan over a medium heat and dry toast the sesame seeds until just golden brown.

8. Drizzle some sesame oil over each bowl and top generously with toasted sesame seeds.

Serves 4 .

Lumpiang Hubad

 

 

You might have noticed a lot of lumpia on the blog this month - here is another! Lumpia are Filipino spring rolls and they come in all varieties. I've already shared fresh (lumpiang sariwa) and gorgeous fried (lumpiang prito) spring rolls, you can find links to those recipes at the bottom of this post. Lumpiang hubad is essentially the filling of the rolls and the sauce, but without wrapping them up into rolls. Same great flavours, but a 'lazy' version which doesn't involve taking the time to roll them. The peanut sauce all over it is just delicious.

 

I've chopped my veggies bigger than I did when making the lumpiang sariwa and prito, because I knew I wouldn't be rolling it up. You can also just make a double batch of lumpiang filling and use half for rolls and half with peanut sauce like this for another meal.

 

 

Lumpiang Hubad

Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
400g hard tofu cut into cubes
1 cup sweet potato cut into cubes
1 large carrot, cubed
1 cup chopped celery
2 tsp vegan fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup sliced green beans
1 cup cabbage
Shallots, for garnish

For the peanut sauce:
2 cups water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp cornstarch

To make:
1. Heat oil in a large frypan or wok and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent and then add the tofu and sweet potato. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add the carrots, celery and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Once the carrot is tender, turn off the heat and stir through the green beans and cabbage. The residual heat will cook them just enough. 
3. Set the filling aside to cool a little, it can be warm but not hot when you wrap up the rolls.
4. To make the sauce: Combine 1 1/2 cups water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Once all the sugar is dissolved add the peanuts and garlic and simmer for 3-4 minutes. In a cup, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water with the cornstarch and stir until smooth. 
5. Stirring the sauce continually, add in the cornstarch. Stir continuously over a low heat until the mixture thickens up a bit. Remove from the heat. 
7. Arrange lumping hubad in a bowl and pour the peanut sauce over the top. Garnish with chopped shallots.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Float

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Pancit Canton

 



Filipino Pancit Canton

The Philippines is a fun country to explore, it's such a melting pot of different influences. A lot of Chinese influence has made it into their traditional dishes, and this is one of them. Pancit means noodles, so these noodles are called Cantonese Noodles in the Philippines. It's a dish of stir fried noodles with vegetables (and usually pork) similar to a chow mein. It has lots of variations, you can use any variety of mixed veggies, and a few different cooking methods. I love how easy this dish is because you cook the noodles in the broth, rather than separately, which makes it a great one-pot dish.

Filipino Pancit Canton

Ingredients
1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium-large carrots, cut into sticks
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup light soy sauce
750g dried wheat noodles
3 cups shredded green cabbage
A few handfuls of snow peas, trimmed
Generous grinding of black pepper

To Make
1. Soak shiitake mushrooms in one cup of hot water while you chop all your veggies.
2. Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the onion until just softened and then add the crushed garlic and cook for another few minutes.
3. Add the carrots, vegetable stock, soaked mushrooms, soy sauce and any liquid remaining from the mushrooms. Bring to a simmer and simmer until the carrots are just slightly softened.
4. Add the dried wheat noodles and simmer until he noodles are just cooked and have soaked up the liquid. Add the shredded green cabbage, snow peas and a generous amount of cracked pepper. The residual heat will cook them just enough. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Note: Depending on the thickness and variety of your wheat noodles, liquid quantities may be variable. If your noodles have absorbed all the stock but are not quite yet cooked through, you may need to add in a little bit more liquid - make sure it is boiling hot rather than cold. Alternately, you may find that the noodles are perfectly cooked but you still have quite a bit of liquid. In this case, mix 1 tbsp. cornstarch with 2 tbsp. cold water and stir just before you take it off the heat and add the remaining veggies.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Floats

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Any excuse to make spring rolls is good with me! These veggie spring rolls are particularly good and the vinegar dipping sauce was sensational! I tend to always have my spring rolls with sweet chilli, sweet and sour or chilli dipping sauce, so I wasn't sure how this vinegar sauce was going to turn out. It was so delicious, I think I'll make it for all my future spring rolls and rice paper rolls!

Lumpaing Prito
Ingredients
2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced sweet potato
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups sliced celery
1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 tbsp. Soy sauce (or vegan fish sauce)
1 cup sliced green beans
2 cups shredded green cabbage
20 spring roll wrappers
Lots of vegetable oil, for deep frying.

Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
1 small red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

To Make
1. Heat the 2 tbsp. oil in a wok and sauté the onion and garlic until just softened and translucent. Add the sweet potato, carrot and 1/4 cup water. Simmer for a few minutes and then add the celery and peanuts. Once the sweet potato and carrot are just tender (they can be just slightly undercooked), turn off the heat and add the soy sauce, green beans and shredded cabbage. The residual heat will just slightly cook them.
2. Cool the filling (while it's cooling, you can make your vinegar dipping sauce) and then roll up the spring rolls. Use about 2 heaped tbsp. per roll.
3.Once your rolls are all done, clean out the wok and then fill generously with oil. Heat the oil and then test it by throwing in a corner of spring roll wrapper - if it floats to the top and look like it's fizzing then your oil is hot enough.
4. Deep fry the spring rolls in batches until golden brown (if you prefer, you can shallow fry them and make sure you turn them while cooking to cook both sides). You will probably need to turn them over to cook both sides as they'll float on the surface. Once golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a bit of paper towel to absorb excess oil.
5. Serve hot with vinegar dipping sauce.

Vinegar Dipping Sauce:
1. Combine all ingredients and mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.

Makes 20 medium sized spring rolls.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Float

Pancit Canton

Lumpiang Sariwa

In the Philippines, spring rolls (or lumpia) come in many varieties with many fillings. Often it's ground meats, but can also be a mixture of vegetables. The rolls can be fresh, fried or even absent (I'll explain this in a later post). I love spring rolls in any form, so I took the opportunity to make several different types of Filipino Lumpia. These ones aren't so much Spring rolls as they are Summer rolls, as I've used easy rice paper rolls as a bit of a cheat. Usually Lumpiang Sariwa refers to spring rolls which are not deep fried and are made with a special kind of egg wrapper (halfway between a spring roll wrapper and a thin crepe?) . You can make your own wrappers, or you could use fresh spring roll wrappers (or indeed, frozen spring roll wrappers - just defrost and use them as they are without frying). The drawback of using spring roll wrappers is that they're usually square, and lumpiang sariwa are made with round wrappers which allow you to leave one end open so the lettuce can poke out and you get a glimpse of the yummy colourful veggie filling. If you want to try making your own wrappers, just google it. There are lots of websites with recipes and instructions. If you want to take the easy road, improvise with what you've got! Like this lovely rice paper version. 

Lumpiang Sariwa

Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup hard tofu cut into small cubes
1 cup sweet potato cut into small cubes
1 cup julienne carrots
2 tsp vegan fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup thinly sliced green beans
1 cup cabbage
5 lettuce leaves
10 rice paper rolls (or fresh spring roll wrappers)

For the peanut sauce:
2 cups water
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup finely chopped peanuts
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp cornstarch

To make:
1. Heat oil in a large frypan or wok and add the onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent and then add the tofu and sweet potato. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add the carrots and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Once the carrot is just slightly cooked, turn off the heat and stir through the green beans and cabbage. The residual heat will cook the cabbage just enough and finish cooking the carrots. 
3. Set the filling aside to cool a little, it can be warm but not hot when you wrap up the rolls.
4. Cook each rice paper roll wrapper according to the packet (usually by immersing in hot water for 30-60 seconds). Lay 1/2 lettuce leaf in the top middle of the wrapper and add about 1/10th of the filling. Wrap the bottom upwards and then roll the two sides over it nice and tightly, leaving it open at the top. Continue with the rest of the filling and wrappers.
5. To make the sauce: Combine 1 1/2 cups water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Once all the sugar is dissolved add the peanuts and garlic and simmer for 3-4 minutes. In a cup, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water with the cornstarch and stir until smooth. 
6. Stirring the sauce continually, add in the cornstarch. Stir continuously over a low heat until the mixture thickens up a bit. Remove from the heat. 
7. Arrange lumpiang sariwa on a platter and drizzle the peanut sauce over the top.

Makes 10 large rolls.

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Tofu Adobo with Pineapple & Bamboo

Coconut Mango Float

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Pancit Canton

Filipino Adobo Tofu with Pineapple and Bamboo Shoots

March is Philippines month on the blog, and I'm looking forward to sharing a lot of new dishes with you. As with a lot of Asian nations, the Philippines has a long history of association with a lot of different countries - all of which have influenced their cuisine. The resulting cuisine has Malaysian, Spanish, Chinese and even American influences which have contributed to their unique cuisine. Generally, I have to say, it's a very meaty country! They love eating their pigs over there and most of the recipes I found contained several part of the pig. But I found a smattering of lovely vegetarian dishes hidden amongst all the meat and have more than enough to share a month's worth of recipes with you.

I'm going to start with some Adobo Tofu. You might think of Spain when you hear the word adobo, and infact the adobo is quite well known and well used in America thanks to it's large hispanic population. But what you might not know is that when the Spanish explored the Philippines in the 16th Century, they discovered that the Filipino population had a very similar method of cooking with vinegar. Because it was so similar to the Spanish method, they named it adobo, despite the fact that it was indigenous to the region.

Filipino Adobo Tofu with Pineapple & Bamboo Shoots

Ingredients
500g hard tofu (sometimes called extra firm tofu)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 small pineapple (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup white vinegar (I used white wine vinegar, you can use palm vingear, coconut vinegar or any other variety of white vinegar)
1/3 cup light soy sauce
2 bay leaves
Generous grinding of black pepper
1 small can (220g) bamboo shoots (if you can find fresh shoot, even better!)

To Make
1. Squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the tofu and cut into cubes or triangles. Heat the oil in a wok and fry pieces until lightly browned on both sides. Remove and set aside.
2. Peel and chop your pineapple and set aside. Peel and slice your garlic and lighty fry in the remaining oil in the wok (you may need to add more if there is not much left) until just starting to go golden. Then add the pineapple and cook for about another 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the vegetable stock, vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves and black pepper. Bring to a simmer.
4. Add the tofu and drained bamboo shoots. Simmer for about 15 minutes. 

You can serve with rice and steamed vegetables. 
Serves 4. 

This month I'm featuring lots of delicious food the Philippines.

Check out my other Filipino recipe posts:

Lumpiang Sariwa

Coconut Mango Float

Lumpiang Prito with Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Pancit Canton

Onion Bhaji

Somtimes I get real cravings for onion bhaji, they're a such a treat in my book. I don't eat a lot of deep fried foods but you have to make some exceptions for things like these. The chickpea flour is really important for getting the right flavour, but if you can't get any you can substitute other flours. If you can though, try and use chickpea flour or they just won't be the same.

Onion Bhaji

Ingredients
6 tbsp chickpea flour
6 tbsp self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1-2 tbsp peanut oil*
2/3 cup ice water
2 onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Peanut oil*, for frying 

*If you have allergies, substitute vegetable oil

To Make
1. Combine the flours, salt and spices in a bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the oil and then gradually add the iced water, whisking constantly. 
2. Add the sliced onions and crushed garlic and fold through until the onion is completely coated in the batter. Let it all rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Heat plenty of oil in a saucepan or wok. Test the heat of the oil by dropping in a tiny amount of batter. If it floats to the surface the oil is hot enough, if it sinks to the bottom of the oil then it's not there yet.
4. When the oil is hot, add large tablespoons of batter to the oil and deep fry until just golden. This should take 4-5 minutes and  you'll need to flip them over after the first two minutes. Once cooked, remove and drain on a wire rack or on crumpled paper towel to drain as much oil off as possible. 
5. Fry the fritters in batches until you have used up all the batter. Eat hot! 

NOTE- These are best freshly cooked straight from the pan but can also be made in advance and kept warm (or even reheated) in the oven. 

Makes approximately 20 onion bhaji (this will vary depending on how big your spoonfuls are).

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Time to share with you another delicious recipe from the lovely cuisine of Myanmar. This sticky rice cake is so more-ish because it's incredibly tasty and not too sweet! Flavoured with peanuts, sesame seeds and coconut with the use of brown sugar to make a caramelised sticky treat. This is a nice one to get out for your new year celebrations, it's nice to bring in the new year by trying something new :)

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Thai sticky rice
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
1/3 cup raisins (optional)
2 1/4 cups water
Handful of peanut halves
1/4 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

To Make
1. Rinse the sticky rice with cold water and place in a large non stick saucepan. Add the brown sugar, sesame seeds, salt, chopped peanuts, raisins and water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let cook, covered, for about 25 minutes. When it is done cooking it will have absorbed almost all of the water. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes.
2.  Lightly grease a 9 inch by 9 inch (or similar) size dish and line the bottom of it with non stick baking paper. Gently stir the rice and transfer to the prepared dish. Press down lightly to evenly distribute and compress the rice. Sprinkle the peanut halves and coconut on top and gently press down so that they stick to the top.
3. Let stand for 30 minutes or so and then cut into squares to serve. Do not refrigerate. Store any leftovers on an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 1 x 9 in by 9 in rice cake, approximately 20-25 slices.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Vegan Fish Sauce

Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Burmese Tomato Salad

Gin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

Gin Thoke (Burmese Ginger Salad)

I came onto the blog today thinking to share another great Burmese recipe with you for Myanmar month, I was halfway through posting up my Burmese Sticky Rice cake when I realised that so soon after Christmas most people are probably well and truly dessert-ed out! So instead I'll share with you this rather special, very healthy and very fresh salad.

It's a ginger salad, yes, ginger. You might think that is a bit too strong to be a main ingredient in a salad, but this salad uses beautiful fresh ginger which you pickle yourself the night before making the salad. The pickling softens the ginger and smooths the punchy flavour and the end result is really so delicious. I served it up at my Burmese Dinner party and everyone absolutely loved it. It makes a perfect addition to a big meal because the fresh crunchy salad and zingy ginger are so refreshing and make a light and tasty accompaniment to heavier dishes.

Ingredients
1/2 cup grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup lime juice (or a mixture of lemon and lime)
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. peanut oil
1 small quarter green cabbage , finely shredded
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/2 green chilli, finely chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, finely chopped
2 tbsp. light soy sauce
1 tbsp. chickpea (besan) flour

To Make
1. Combine the grated ginger and lime juice in a jar and shake well. Let sit in the fried overnight, or for about 12 hours. If possible, take it out and shake it a couple of times during the 12 hours.
2. Dry roast the sesame seeds in a pan over a low-medium heat until slightly browned. Remove and set aside to cool. Heat the peanut oil in the pan and fry the garlic slices until they start to brown and go a bit crispy. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon to cool. Keep any remaining oil from the pan in a jar or small bowl.
3. Squeeze the lime juice from the ginger and add any juice squeezed out to the jar with the cooled garlic oil. Combine the shredded cabbage, tomatoes, ginger, chilli, peanuts and chickpea flour in a large bowl and toss to combine.
4. Add the soy sauce to the jar with the garlic oil and lime juice and shake to combine. Pour over the salad and toss through. Top the salad with the fried garlic chips and serve.

Serves 4-6 as a side salad.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Vegan Fish Sauce

Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Burmese Tomato Salad

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Burmese Tomato Salad

Growing up I was always a complete tomato fanatic, and I still find it pretty hard to go past a recipe for tomato salad! This Burmese one is one of the best I've ever made, definitely. It's flavoured by the quintessentially Burmese ingredients of sesame seeds, peanuts, chickpea flour and (vegan) fish sauce. One of my favourite things about tomatoes in salads is that they really soak up the dressing and take on all the wonderful flavours.

This makes a colourful and fresh addition to a family feast, potluck or gathering. The Burmese make it with fish sauce, but I've substituted my home made vegan fish sauce instead - you can, of course, use either.

Burmese Tomato Salad

Ingredients
1 tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tbsp. chickpea (besan) flour
4 tomatoes, roughly diced
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 green chilli, finely minced (remove the 'placenta' of the chilli if you want it mild)
2 tbsp. finely chopped coriander
2 tbsp. finely chopped peanuts
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. vegan fish sauce

To Make
1. In a small frypan, dry toast the sesame seeds until just golden. Set aside cool. Then dry toast the chickpea flour unto just starting to go golden, tossing frequently to ensure even toasting. Set aside to cool. At this stage you can also toast the peanuts, if you are using peanuts that are not already roasted.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and gently mix with your fingers. Serve.

Serves 4 as a side salad.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Vegan Fish Sauce

Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Gin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Vegan Ohn No Khao Swe (Burmese Noodles) with Chickpea Tofu

The first dish I'm sharing for Burmese food month is Ohn No Khao Swe, one of the countries most common and popular dishes. It's traditionally made with chicken, but I've substitited another Burmese food staple, chickpea tofu. I made my own chickpea tofu according to this recipe from a blog called Girl Eats World. I followed the recipe to the letter when I made it, so rather than reproduce her hard work I've linked to her original recipe. It was delicious and surprisingly easy to make! If you don't feel like doing it, you can substitute some bought tofu, although it won't have the beautiful flavour of the chickpea tofu.

The soup that these noodles and tofu are immersed in - oh my goodness - I don't think I have adequate words to express it! It's the tastiest curry soup I've ever made, no exaggeration! Really something special! It utilises my lovely home made fish sauce, as does many of the Burmese recipes I'll be sharing over December.

Vegan Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Ingredients
2 tbsp peanut oil
1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 shallots, sliced
2 onions, 1 sliced and 1 diced
2 tbsp chickpea (besan) flour
3 cups "chicken" stock (use a veggie based chicken stock or substitute with vegetable stock)
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp paprika (optional)
2 tbsp vegan fish sauce (plus more to taste, if you like)
1/2 batch chickpea tofu
300-400g Thin rice or wheat noodles 
Lime, cut into wedges to serve
Fried shallots, to garnish (optional)
Fresh coriander, to garnish (optional)

To Make
1. Heat oil in a large frypan or wok and cook the sliced onion until golden. Combine cooked onion, fresh ginger, garlic and shallots and make a paste (i.e. in a food processor or a mortar and pestle, add 1/3 of a cup of water if using a blender or food processor).
2. Cook the diced onion in the remaining oil in the pan for 2-3 minutes and then add your paste and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Mix chickpea flour with 1/4 cup cold water and add to the pan along with the 'chicken' stock, coconut milk, turmeric, chilli flakes and paprika. Bring to a simmer and then add the vegan fish sauce.
3. Cook your noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Once cooked, distribute evenly amongst four bowls (or, serve in one large bowl like in the picture above) and top with cubes of chickpea tofu. Ladle the hot soup/sauce over the noodles and tofu and garnish with lime wedges, fried shallots or coriander. Drizzle additional fish sauce over the dish to taste.

Serves 4.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Vegan Fish Sauce

Burmese Tomato Salad

Gin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Vegan Fish Sauce

After a couple of months of minimal blogging and no featured countries, I'm getting back into the swing of it. This month's featured country is Myanmar, which I was really excited about. You should be too, it's completely delicious and I have some great thing to share with you this month!

Fish sauce is pretty ubiquitous in Burmese cuisine, so it was an obvious starting point for this country. I'm not big on buying substitutes, they tend to be full of letters and numbers and sometimes don't even taste like the product they're trying to replace. So I figured I would make my own. 

Fish sauce has a couple of distinct elements - 1) salty, sour flavour and 2) rancid smell. I think this version does pretty well on both! I kept a bottle of the real stuff next to me on the bench while I was concocting it and I think actually they tasted pretty much the same. This vegan version won't be as clear as the real stuff, it goes a bit cloudy because of the miso, so remember to shake it up before you use it.

A lot of recipes for vegan fish sauce add sugar, however, when I was tasting the actual fish sauce I didn't get sweetness from it so I think it's not necessary at all & lets face it - less sugar in our lives can only be a good thing.

Vegan Fish Sauce

Ingredients

1 tsp red miso

1 tsp black miso

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup light soy sauce

1 tbsp pineapple juice

To Make:

1. Place the two types of miso in a small bowl or jar and add a little bit of the water. Stir vigorously to make a smooth runny paste with no lumps. 

2. Gradually add in the rest of the ingredients, stirring as you go to keep the consistency smooth.

3. That's it. Bottle it up and store in the fridge.

Use in any recipe which calls for fish sauce or just add to any Asian style dish.

Makes about 1 cup vegan fish sauce.

This month I'm featuring vegan recipes from Myanmar (Burma).

Check out my other Burmese recipe posts:

Ohn No Khao Swe with Chickpea Tofu

Burmese Tomato Salad

Gin Thoke (Ginger Salad)

Burmese Sticky Rice Cake

Quinoa Soba Noodle Salad with Bok Choy & Sesame

This autumn/winter I planted some bok choy for the first time, it grew quickly and beautifully into big gorgeous green leafy bunches of bok choy. However, I actually wasn't that sure what to do with it - because I've never been a big fan of it. I find it's a bit of a fine line between delicious crunchy fresh bok choy and slimy pieces of goo that get all stuck up in your teeth. It occurred to me that since I prefer it only super lightly cooked - maybe I shouldn't be cooking it at all? Turns out it makes a beautiful, crisp and fresh addition to an Asian salad. So - ingredient one: a big beautiful bunch of bok choy picked fresh from my garden.

Now - enter my next batch of ingredients. I have to say, I get plenty of emails from PR companies trying to get me to push products - as do most bloggers. I virtually never even bother to answer any of them, because I'm very picky. But the other day I got one from Spiral Foods, which was much more up my alley. They sent me a box of lovely foods to cook with:

It was quite an exciting piece of mail! I've got quite a few dishes floating around in my brain to make with all these lovely things, but the first thing I had to go for was the lovely packed of Quinoa Soba noodles. I've never had them before so I couldn't wait to try them out in combination with my beautiful home grown bok choy. The dressing is simple for 2 reasons - firstly because of the lovely flavour of the noodles, and secondly because the star of the dressing is the Spiral Plum Vinegar. Yum!

Quinoa Soba Noodle Salad with Bok Choy & Sesame

Ingredients
1 packet quinoa soba noodles
1 large lebanese cucumber
1 bunch of bok choy
1-2 tbsp pickled ginger sliced, sliced (to taste, it depends how much you like pickled ginger)
4 tbsp plum vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp white sesame seeds
1 1/2 tsp black sesame seeds

To Make
1. Cook the quinoa soba according to the directions on the packet, then drain and rinse with cold water.
2. While the noodles are cooking, slice the cucumber into strips and finely chop up the bunch of bok choy.
3. Combine the cold rinsed noodles in a big bowl with the cucumber, bok choy and pickled ginger. 
4. Combine the plum vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce in a jar and shake to combine. Toss the salad with the dressing and sprinkle generously with black and white sesame seeds.

Serves 4.

These products were sent to me by Spiral Foods.

I've submitted this recipe to the Vegan Virtual Linky Potluck - click here to see the other entries.

Sesame & Chilli Fried Potatoes

I'd sound like a broken record if I told you again how much I adore tahini - if you've ever read this blog before then you probably know it already! So I won't. Wait, I just did. Oh well.....

It's hard to pass up the opportunity to make fried potatoes of any variety - and these ones in particular. In this recipe you make a bit of a home made tahini with toasted sesame seeds and spices, fry it up with some potatoes & chillies and then sit back and eat it straight out of the pan with a fork. Or serve it up on nice plates to dinner guests - it's your choice!

Ingredients
500g potatoes
1/2 cup unhulled sesame seeds
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 green chillis, chopped
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder (just leave this out if you don't have any)
Juice of 1 lemon

To Make
1. Peel the potatoes and chop into wedges, keeping them all roughly the same size. Boil in water until just tender. Drain and set aside.
2. In a dry (preferably non stick) frypan, toast the sesame seeds until golden. Transfer to a food processor and blitz into a powder.
3. Heat the oil in a large (preferably non stick!) frypan, and add the chillies and fenugreek seeds. Fry until the fenugreek is golden brown and then add the spices and fry for a further 15 seconds. Then add the sesame seed powder and stir well, to make a paste.
4. Add the drained potatoes and toss well to coat in the sesame chilli paste.Turn the heat down to low and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. The potatoes should be cooked through, but not starting to break up yet.
5. Add the lemon juice, stir through and remove from the heat. Serve.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Nepal!

Check out my other Nepali/Nepalese recipe posts:

Tomato Achar

Aloo Roti (Potato Roti)

Semolina Halva

Vegetable Momo with Chilli Sesame Dipping Sauce

Chilli Grapefruit & Orange Salad

Saag Tarkari

Saag Tarkari (Easy Greens Curry) - using Brussels Sprouts Leaves & Kale

I love my veggie garden - I love planning what to plant, sowing the seeds, watching it grow and especially eating the spoils! But I'm not an amazing gardener; I don't have the experience, time or the money to have an incredibly productive garden. But each year I get better and better, I get more practice and I learn a bit of what works and what doesn't work (I learn a lot of the latter). Winter veggies are a challenge on my patience, because they grow so slowly! Last year I planted out a whole host of excited winter veggies. But I planted them too late in the season and didn't really water them enough, so I got virtually no rewards for my effort!

This year I had learnt my lesson (partly) and I made a better go of it. I planted (most) of them out nice and early, paid attention to the soil quality and made sure they got plenty of water. I planted out a whole variety of exciting winter vegetables and then I went overseas for 6 weeks (charging a friend with the duty of watering them!) and hoped that when I came back I would have lots of delicious vegetables to enjoy. Well - I did a little better this year!!

I got 2 lovely purple cauliflowers (although they were more like purple broccoli, but I wasn't complaining!), big bunches of Tuscan Cabbage (Cavolo Nero) and purple curly kale (both of which are still growing happily in my garden), lots of broad beans and some lovely English spinach. Not a bad haul, considering I neglected it for most of winter. I didn't have so much luck with some of my other veggies though - my broccoli were so small they were more like broccolini (we ate them anyway, of course) and I had no luck at all with my brussel's sprouts. It was very sad - but I know now to plant them much, much earlier! The plants themselves grew beautifully though and I had huge leafy plants - just no sprouts! As I pulled them up out of the ground I felt that it was a shame to let them go to waste, and they're essentially just like cabbage so I wrapped them up and put them in my fridge until I could decide what to do with them.

I'm sure you can see where I'm heading with this :) When reading up on Nepali dishes I came across a curry which is made with taro leaves or mustard greens, cooked up with chilli and spices in a simple but delicious dish. I don't have taro leaves or mustard greens - but I did have those brussels sprouts leaves bundled up in the fridge! I combined them with tasty curly green kale to make this dish of greens. You can use whatever greens you can get your hands on - spinach, chard, cavolo nero, kale, mustard greens, even Asian veggies like gai lan, choy sum and bok choy. It was delicious with the brussels sprouts leaves, so if you ever grow your own, don't let the leaves go to waste.

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
1 bunch brussels sprouts leaves (substitute any of the other greens listed above)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (you can do this to taste)

To Make
1. Wash the greens and tear or chop into medium sized pieces.
2. Heat the oil in a large frypan or wok. Add the chilli, garlic and fenugreek seeds and fry until the seeds are golden brown.
3. Add the turmeric and fry for another 15 seconds. Then add the greens and stir fry until they are just wilted (about 6-8 minutes should do it). Remove from the heat and stir through the lemon juice.
4. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 as a side dish.

This month I'm featuring lots of recipes from Nepal!

Check out my other Nepali/Nepalese recipe posts:

Tomato Achar

Aloo Roti (Potato Roti)

Semolina Halva

Vegetable Momo with Chilli Sesame Dipping Sauce

Chilli Grapefruit & Orange Salad

Sesame Chilli Fried Potatoes