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how to prepare the basics

The preparation of various Southeast Asian ingredients (such as shallots, lemon grass, etc) is described in Southeast Asian Ingredients (page 212). Some other important tasks which are a little more complex or take longer to describe are discussed here in greater detail.

Banana Leaf

If you are fortunate enough to have access to a whole banana plant, cut off an entire leaf. Cut down either side of the thick central rib to obtain two long leaf halves, then trim these to the required size using a pair of scissors. Most cooks will have to make do with packets of either fresh or frozen banana leaf. To prepare banana leaf for cooking, wash the leaves, then cut to the size specified in each recipe. To make banana leaf pliable for folding around food or for fashioning into little cups, it must be softened by passing it briefly through a gas flame (you can watch the moisture starting to rise and the color turn brighter), or by soaking the leaves in boiling water until they soften. When using banana leaf as a wrapper, keep the upper, more shiny side on the outside. (Aluminum foil can be used as a substitute, but it does not provide the moisture, nor the subtle flavor, that are characteristic of banana leaf.)

Crushed Dried Chili Flakes

You can make these by dry-frying whole dried chilies (the large type, not dried bird's-eye chilies) in a wok, turning them until they darken and become crisp. Take care not to burn them, however, as they cook very quickly. After frying, discard the stem end, break the chilies into smaller pieces, and process both the chilies and the seeds in a spice grinder until they are coarsely ground. Cool, then store in an airtight container; they'll keep indefinitely in the freezer.

Coconut Milk

If you can obtain freshly grated or frozen grated coconut, it's worth making your own coconut milk, especially for desserts or cakes. Put about 4 cups of room-temperature grated coconut (about I large coconut or 400-500 g) in a bowl and add ½ cup (125 ml) of warm water. Squeeze with your hand for about a minute, then transfer the coconut and liquid to a cheese cloth set over a bowl. Grab the ends of the cloth together, tighten them and squeeze firmly to extract as much juice as possible to obtain thick coconut milk. To obtain coconut cream, let the thick coconut milk stand in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes, then spoon off the rich cream that rises to the top.

To get thin coconut milk, put the squeezed coconut back in the bowl, add 2½ cups (625 ml) of tepid water squeeze firmly with your hand for at least 1 minute (you could process it in a food processor at low speed for about 30 seconds if you prefer). Put the coconut back in the cheesecloth and squeeze firmly to extract all the liquid. For regular coconut milk, combine the thick and thin coconut milk without skimming off the coconut cream.

Freshly grated coconut and coconut milk are perishable, and will start to turn sour in a few hours. A pinch of salt slows the process (hence the faintly salty taste in many Southeast Asian cakes). However, even if refrigerated, coconut milk will be unusable after 24 hours unless first slowly heated to boiling point. Some cooks add ½ "to 1 teaspoon of corn-flour to coconut milk or cream and stir it slowly until it comes almost to the boil. It can then be cooled and kept refrigerated for a day or so. (See also Coconut, page 212)

Crisp-fried Shallots & Garlic, and Flavored Oil

Peel shallots or garlic and slice thinly and evenly; this is important so that they will cook evenly. Heat enough vegetable oil to cover the shallots or garlic in a wok. When it is just warm, not hot, add the sliced shallots or garlic and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown and crisp. It is essential to keep the temperature low otherwise the shallots or garlic will brown before they are cooked through; shallots may take around 6 to 8 minutes of slow cooking, garlic a little less. Lift out and dry on paper towel and when completely cold, store in an airtight jar; do not add salt as this will turn them limp. The flavored shallot or garlic oil is kept and used as a seasoning oil, drizzled over cooked food.

Dry-roasted Grated Coconut

This can be done using either fresh or desiccated coconut; the latter will turn golden much more quickly than freshly grated coconut. Put the coconut in a heavy dry wok and put over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden all over, about 8 to 10 minutes for fresh coconut, 3 to 4 minutes for desiccated. Remove immediately and cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Sometimes, roasted coconut is pounded while still hot until it turns into any oily paste.

Dry-roasted Peanuts

Roast the peanuts in a dry wok, preferably with the skins intact, in the same fashion as for coconut, for about 8 to 10 minutes. After cooking, leave the peanuts until cool enough to handle, then take outside and rub the skins vigorously to loosen the skin. Toss the peanuts a little, blowing to dislodge the skins (or let the wind do it for you).

Toasted Dried Shrimp Paste

Dried shrimp paste is almost always cooked, except in a few Thai dips. Sometimes, it is added raw to other pounded ingredients which are then fried or simmered, but more often, it is cooked on its own before being added to the dish. Even the most ardent shrimp paste lover will agree that it has an incredibly pungent smell during cooking, so to avoid having to do the job too often, and to have a stock of cooked dried shrimp paste on hand, I suggest toasting I to 2 tablespoons and keeping it in a sealed jar (you seldom need more than 1 teaspoon per recipe). Do not, however, use ready-toasted dried shrimp paste for dips and sambals; the full flavor of freshly cooked shrimp paste is vital for these.

One of the best ways to cook dried shrimp paste without the smell forcing everyone out of the house is to put the required amount on a piece of foil, folding over a flap and pressing down to make a thin layer. Tuck the edges of foil in loosely to make a packet, then set this on a wire grill directly over a medium gas flame, or under a broiler or grill. Cook for about 2 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for another couple of minutes. Open the packet to check that the shrimp paste has lost its wet, raw look and smells fragrant. If you don't have a grill or broiler, you can put the foil package into a wok or non-stick frying pan; it may need a little longer to cook.

Roasted Rice Powder

Put ¼ cup of raw long-grain rice in a heavy dry wok and put over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently until the rice is golden-brown all over, about 8 to 10 minutes. While still hot, transfer to a mortar or spice grinder and grind or process to a sandy texture; do not grind finely as it is important for it to have a crunchy texture. I prefer to use a mortar to be able to monitor closely just how fine the rice is getting; around 30 seconds of turning the pestle firmly is generally enough. When the rice powder is completely cold, store in an airtight jar.

Preparing Ground Spices and Seasoning Pastes with a Spice Grinder

If you're ever tempted to use ground spices bought in a bottle or plastic pack, just try this test. Lightly toast in a dry pan some whole spice seeds (coriander, for example) for about a minute, or until they start to smell fragrant. Transfer them to a spice grinder and process to a fine powder. Lift the lid and sniff the result, then compare this with commercially available ground coriander that was processed goodness knows how long ago, and has gone from the factory to the store to your cupboard and been kept there until you're about to use it. I'm certain that after doing this test, you'll be convinced that it's best to grind your own spices. Heating spices before grinding crisps them slightly, making them easy to grind, and it also helps release the fragrance and flavor in the volatile oils.

Freshly roasted and ground spices can be cooled before being stored in an airtight container in the freezer, where they keep every bit of their fresh fragrance. Since I use a lot of coriander and cumin, to save time, I prepare a batch of several tablespoons of freshly roasted and ground spices and freeze them; they do not freeze into a solid block but retain their powdery texture, and when used, taste as if they have been freshly toasted and ground.

Seasoning pastes are used in countless Southeast Asian dishes. When using a spice grinder (and, indeed, if using a mortar and pestle), it is important to slice or chop the ingredients before processing. If using dry spices as part of the paste, these should be ground first, then the fresh moist ingredients such as chilies, shallots, garlic, galangal, and lemon grass added.

If you are not including shallots, which give off a lot of moisture, you may need to add some liquid to the spice grinder to keep the ingredients turning. Process the ingredients to break them up, switch off the grinder and scrape down the sides and lid with a rubber spatula, and process again. Keep repeating this, adding a little oil, water or coconut milk (each recipe suggests which is appropriate) if needed. Don't overload the jar of your spice grinder; divide the ingredients into two or even three batches if needed and process each until completely ground.

Cutting a Chicken

The chicken is usually cooked still on the bone, and most cooks begin with a whole fresh chicken, which is cut it in to manageable portions before going into the cooking pot. You'll need a sharp heavy cleaver and a wooden chopping board for the task. In Southeast Asia, when you buy a chicken in the market, you get the whole bird, head, feet and all. Remove these, or start with a trimmed Western-style chicken. Cut off both the legs at the joint where they join the body, then cut each leg, separating the thigh from the drumstick, in half. Put these four pieces to one side. Cut off the wings, taking a generous portion of the breast where they join the body. Cut off the wing tips and reserve for stock. Cut lengthways down the body, to one side of the back bone, then chop across each half to make a total of six pieces. You will now have 12 pieces of chicken; if the thighs seem large, you could cut these in half so you have a total of 14 pieces.

Steamed Rice

Throughout Southeast Asia, where a meal is synonymous with rice, a common greeting is "have you eaten rice yet?" Steamed white rice — usually fragrant long-grain rice but sometimes glutinous or sticky rice — is most commonly cooked by the absorption method. In a few areas (such as Java), it is first boiled briefly in lots of water, then transferred to a conical woven basket, set over boiling water and steamed. Thousands of women in the cities and towns use a rice cooker; rural cooks and those who don't have a rice cooker follow this basic method for cooking rice. Choose a saucepan with a heavy base and allow ½ cup uncooked rice per person. This should be enough for four.

2 cups (400 g) long-grain rice, preferably Thai jasmine water to cover (see below)

Put the rice in the saucepan and cover it with cold water. Rub the rice with your hand for a few seconds, then pour out the cloudy water. Repeat this process two or three times until the water runs clear. This step is important as it removes any loose starch caused by the grains rubbing together during packing and transit, and helps make sure that your rice won't stick together in an unpalatable mess when cooked.

Add sufficient fresh water to the pan so that it comes up to the first joint of your forefinger when you set it on the surface of the rice. Cover the pan and bring the rice to the boil over high heat. Put the lid slightly to one side, lower the heat a little and continue boiling until all the liquid has been absorbed and you see small "craters" appearing on the surface of the rice; this will probably take around 5 minutes.

Lower the heat to the absolute minimum, cover the pan firmly and cook the rice for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, wipe off any moisture underneath, and fluff up the rice with a fork or chopstick. Cover the pan again, remove from the heat and stand 10 minutes, or up to I hour, before serving.

Basic Chicken or Pork Stock

This simple, lightly seasoned stock is the basis of countless soups and other dishes in Southeast Asia. Vietnamese cooks like to add a pinch of sugar; some cooks omit the peppercorns; others use either onion or spring onion, while some use both, and Lao cooks often add a whole fresh coriander plant (root, stems, and leaves). This is the recipe I normally use, taking care to keep the salt content low in case I want to season it with salty fish sauce later. I find it's worth making a double quantity and deep-freezing it in 2 cups (500 ml) portions for future use.

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, crushed and minced

2 chicken carcasses, chopped in half, any skin and fatty deposits discarded, or 1 kg meaty pork bones

10 cups (2.5 liters) water

1 medium onion, minced

2 spring onions, minced

4 thin slices ginger

10 black peppercorns

½ teaspoon salt

Put the oil in a very large saucepan and heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry over low heat until it turns golden brown. Lift out the garlic and discard, leaving the garlic-flavored oil in the pan. Add the chicken or pork and water. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface.

Add all other ingredients, cover the pan and simmer very gently for I hour. Remove the lid and continue simmering very gently until the stock is reduced by half, about another hour. It is important not to let the stock boil, or the result will be cloudy rather than clear. Strain the stock into a large bowl, cool, then refrigerate for several hours. Scrape off any fat that solidifies on the surface, then transfer the stock into a covered container. Refrigerate or deep-freeze.

Note: This basic stock can be transformed into a simple soup to serve with any rice-based meal. Season it with a little fish sauce, soy sauce or salt, a sprinkle of white or black pepper, then add a little of what you fancy: a few leafy greens; bean sprouts; diced bean curd; sliced fresh or soaked dried black mushrooms; a few fresh prawns or slivers of chicken or pork. Simmer until the ingredients are cooked, and serve piping hot.