By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up minorgan@yahoo.ca
FOODS OF SOUTH EAST ASIA
Those of you who know me or have been following my weekly posts here know my love and my affinity for all things South East Asian.
Food has been my passion throughout my lifetime and I have always held the belief that in order to fully appreciate the food and cooking techniques used in different countries you have to visit these places personally to actually watch these foods being cooked by those that do it every day. Its only then when you have observe d and sampled all this for yourself either at the fabled food stalls in cosmopolitan Bangkok or I a small ethnic village tucked away in the mountains where the food is cooked simply over an open hearth.
This is what makes South East Asia so alluring for me, the excitement of what you may find around the next bend in the road. One day you may be enjoying all the accoutrements offered up by a huge cosmopolitan city like Bangkok and just an hour or so away by plane you can literally be thrust back into another time zone in the ethnic villages located in the mountain valleys of Sa Pa where the fields and terraced rice paddies are still tilled by water buffalo and planted and reaped plant by plant by hand.
No matter where you travel in this part of the world I am continually amazed at the beauty of all these South East Asian countries and overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality of its inhabitants to say nothing of the delicious food that I have sampled and prepared along the way.
There are few cooks that are able to bring this food to us observing all the traditional ingredients and authentic preparations. One of them is a Vietnamese cook who now lives in Australia. He has written a couple of wonderful cookbooks and runs a cortically acclaimed restaurant in Australia called The Red Lantern. His name is Luke Nguyen. He has also just completed a fascinating series now showing on GUSTO TV where he explores the cuisine along the Mekong River in China, Myanmar and Thailand. It is beautifully photographed and very informative as it follows his explorations of food found in all the small tribal villages along this mighty river.
This week’s recipes and photographs are by Luke Nguyen taken from these travels, they feature fresh ingredients and preparations that are both authentic and very easy to prepare in our own kitchens
To see more recipes from this fascinating trip along the Mekong River go to this link
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/program/luke-nguyens-greater-mekong
Dali Vegetarian Rice Noodle Stir-fry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 handful sliced Chinese cabbage
- 1 handful beansprouts
- ½ cup sliced garlic chives, cut into 4 cm lengths
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Yunnan chili oil (recipe below)
- 250 g rice noodle
- 2 pickled chilies, sliced
- 2 tbsp garlic water
- 2 spring onion, sliced
Yunnan chili oil
- 2 tbsp dried chilli flakes
- ½ cup peanut oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
To make the Yunnan chilli oil, place the dried chilli flakes in a bowl. Heat the peanut oil to 170°C. Pour the slightly cooled oil over the chilli. Set aside to cool. Add the sesame oil to the chilli oil.
Heat a pan or wok until smoking. Add the peanut oil and garlic, and sauté until fragrant. Add the cabbage, bean sprouts and garlic chives, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Season with the salt and soy sauce, and stir. Add the chilli oil and stir-fry for a further minute.
Add noodles and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pickled chilli and garlic water, and stir-fry briefly.
Add the spring onions.
Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with extra spring onions, if desired.
King Prawn and Tomato Curry
Ingredients
6 large king prawns, deveined, head and tail intact
5 red shallots, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cm ginger, peeled, chopped
3 dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, chopped
3 tbsp peanut oil
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp chilli paste
4 ripe tomatoes, sliced
saw tooth and Asian coriander, to garnish
Marinade
pinch of turmeric powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp fish sauce
Instructions
Marinating time 10 minutes
Place the prawns in a bowl. Add the turmeric, salt and fish sauce. Set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
In a mortar and pestle, pound the shallots, garlic, ginger and chilli to a fine paste.
Heat peanut oil in a wok or saucepan. Add the paste and turmeric powder. Sauté over low heat for 15 minutes until slightly caramelised. Add the chilli paste. Cook for a further 10 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and a dash of water. Cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Add the marinated prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning once.
Garnish with the coriander to serve.
Note: All ingredients in these recipes are readily available at Asian food markets.
Try the following two stores: Kim Phat corner Goyer and Cotes des Neiges and Fu Tai in Cotes des Neiges Plaza
