Читать книгу Mini Contemporary Asian Favourites - Carol Selva Rajah - Страница 5

Basic Recipes

Basic recipes are just that: simple recipes for cooks that will make life simpler in the kitchen. It is what every experienced cook knows and what every beginner would like to know. Simple stock recipes and pastes are included. It all seems like common sense until you have to do it yourself. I have included instructions for cooking rice as I did not know how to do this, when I was married. I produced a fabulous dinner but had to ask my husband to show me how to cook the rice—and he never stopped reminding me about it!

Garlic Oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger juice (from grated fresh ginger)

1 tablespoon oil

1 Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing them well.

2 Set aside to infuse for 30 minutes before using.

Makes 3 tablespoons

Preparation time: 5 mins + 30 mins to infuse

Sambal Oelek Chilli Paste

The action of grinding a chilli paste is “oelek” or “ulek” in Malay. Commercial brands like the Indonesian ABC brand are good, but this sauce is so simple to make that you should try it. Remember to bring it to boiling point, then allow to cool before storing.

1 onion, sliced

5 cloves garlic

2.5-cm (1-in) fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

12 red finger-length chillies, deseeded

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon shaved palm sugar or dark brown sugar

⅓ cup (100 ml) vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt, to taste

1 Grind the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies in a food processor or mortar to a smooth paste.

2 Heat the oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the paste over medium heat until fragrant, 3–5 minutes. Season with the sugar, vinegar and salt.

3 Remove from the heat and cool, then store refrigerated in a sealed jar for up to 2 months.

Makes 1 cup

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 5 mins

Thai Orange Curry Paste

A versatile curry paste for chicken, fish or scallops. This is a lighter but tastier curry paste which is simple to make especially if you have larger and sweeter red chillies. I would suggest making double the quantity and freezing the extra for later use.

10 dried red finger-length chillies, stems discarded, soaked in hot water until soft

1 teaspoon salt

5 small Asian shallots

1 tablespoon dried prawn paste (belachan), dry-roasted (page 3)

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1 Grind the dried chillies in a food processor or mortar until smooth.

2 Add the rest of the ingredients and grind until well blended. Store frozen in a sealed jar.

Makes 1 cup

Preparation time: 15 mins

Steamed White Rice

Different varieties of rice have different textures when cooked. Jasmine and basmati rice grains are firm and separate while Japanese rice is soft and fluffy. Sticky (glutinous) rice cooks into a dense mass. Before cooking the rice, Asians always rinse it not once but several times, rubbing the grains between their fingers to remove the starchy outer coating on the grains so the rice will be “fluffy” when cooked.

200 g (1 cup) uncooked short-grain rice

1½ cups (375 ml) water

1 Place the rice in a large bowl and cover it with water. Stir the rice briskly for about 10 seconds, then hold the grains in on one side of the bowl with your hand and carefully pour away the milky water. Repeat this process several times until the water runs clear, then drain the rice.

2 Transfer the washed rice to an electric rice cooker, add the water and switch on the rice cooker. Fluff the cooked rice with a fork to separate the grains before serving.

3 If you do not have an electric rice cooker, place the rice and water in a heavy sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let the rice boil for 1–2 minutes, then cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10–15 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit covered for 10 minutes before removing the lid.

Makes 200 g (2 cups) steamed white rice

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Lemongrass Fish Soup

This stock is the base for the soup in Fish Soup with Lemongrass, Coriander and Lime (page 24).

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 kg (2 lbs) butterfish or catfish fillets

2 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised

⅓ cup (100 ml) fish sauce

8 cups (2 litres) Asian Fish Stock (page 8)

8 cups (2 litres) water

1 Rub the turmeric powder on both sides of the fish fillets.

2 Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a stockpot, until the fish is cooked. Remove from the heat, strain and reserve the clear stock.

3 Remove and discard any bones from the fish. Process the deboned fish to a paste in a food processor. Set aside.

Makes 10 cups (2.5 litres)

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

Asian Fish Stock

Simple to make if you have leftover fish bones or prawn shells, and certainly more authentic than using commercially prepared fish stocks which may contain MSG. I use amchoor or mango powder for a change instead of lime juice.

4 cups (1 litre) water

300 g (10 oz) fish bones, or fish head, cleaned well

2 teaspoons dried mango powder (amchoor), or 300 g (10 oz) prawn shells

1 spring onion

1 Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a stockpot. Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes, skimming off the residue that floats to the surface.

2 Remove from the heat, strain through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Allow the clear stock to cool completely before refrigerating or freezing.

Makes 2½ cups (625 ml)

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Asian Chicken Stock

Make friends with your butcher to obtain the boned carcass of chickens or the knuckle joints to make a stock, with some vegetables and ginger to add flavour. Remove the residue that floats to the top as it cooks.

8 cups (2 litres) water

1 kg (2 lbs) chicken bones or ½ chicken

1 onion or 3 spring onions, chopped

1 celery, sliced

6 black peppercorns, freshly cracked

5 cloves garlic, chopped

2.5-cm (1-in) fresh ginger, peeled and bruised

2 stalks lemongrass, tender inner part of bottom third only, bruised

1 Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a stockpot.

2 Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, skimming off the residue that floats to the surface.

3 Increase the heat and return to a boil for 10 minutes then remove from the heat. Strain through a fine sieve and discard the solids. Allow the clear stock to cool completely before refrigerating or freezing.

Makes 6 cups (1.5 litres)

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

Mango Plum Salad with Ginger Dressing

The sweet and sour perfume from the plums and mangoes combine with ginger makes a light and summery foil for many of the hot and spicy flavours that confront you in Asian foods.

2 semi-ripe mangoes, peeled and stoned, flesh sliced

½ teaspoon salt

6 ripe plums (not blood plums), peeled, stoned and cubed

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced (optional)

Pistachio Ginger Dressing

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3 red finger-length chil lies, deseeded and chopped

Juice of 2 limes

2 teaspoons fresh ginger juice (pressed from grated fresh ginger)

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

60 g (½ cup) chopped dry-roasted pistachios

Makes about 2 cups

Preparation time: 15 mins

1 Place the mango slices in a bowl, rub the salt into the mango slices to draw out some of the water. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels.

2 Combine the Pistachio Ginger Dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix until the sugar is dissolved, adjusting the seasonings.