Hello, been a while.
(Title music by the Godmother of Rock’n’Roll and a seriously fabulous lady, Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
So a few life changes since the last post – I’m afraid you’ll have to wait (yes! even more!) for the much-vaunted Part 2 of the Foodie Tour of Gangnam because, er… I no longer live in Korea, and while I did take that second tour and in fact visited that particular part of Gangnam a few more times, it was a long time ago and I don’t remember it well enough. I have no doubt we’ll return at some point in the next few years, and I’ll do my best to update you then.
In the meantime, after leaving Korea in August of last year, A and I returned to the UK for three months, including a quick visit to France and a weekend in Ireland, among much foraging, cooking, exploring and (in my case), re-filling my capacity for homesickness. I’ll write a couple of posts about things like foraging in the New Forest and market shopping in France at a later date (it’s here in cold hard HTML, so I have to do it…) as well as covering the second half of our trip, to A’s home in New England and the various foodie adventures we had there. Not the least of which, lobster!
Anyway, for now we are back in Asia, in Northern Vietnam – in fact, the internationally-minded among you may recognise the view from my kitchen window:
Despite my complete inability to capture the majesty and scope of the UNESCO World Heritage Site I live 300 metres from, the view is pretty stunning. The fact that the kitchen leaves something to be desired just means I have to be creative with space and resources.
Simplicity and fresh ingredients are the order of the day, then. Here are two of the quick suppers I’ve knocked up recently.
Salmon Burgers
Credit where it’s due, this recipe was originally from BBC Good Food , mucked about by me. Makes 4 decently sized burgers.
Ingredients
- 2 large salmon fillets, skin/bones removed, roughly chopped
- 1 large clove garlic
- 2-3 small shallots, roughly chopped
- 3-4 spring onions, green parts, roughly chopped
- 1-2 tsp red curry paste
- 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled (optional – I didn’t have any)
- 1-2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
Method
- Using a food processor, roughly pulse the salmon, garlic, shallots, green onions and curry paste (and ginger, if you’re using it). You don’t want a smooth paste, more a sticky-moist jumble.
- Add breadcrumbs a spoonful at a time. This should dry the salmon a little bit, giving the burgers a more even consistency, and binding them.
- Form the mix into patties about 1cm thick
- Medium heat, medium glug of oil, fry the burgers for 2-3 minutes each side – they won’t take long to cook through.
- Serve with the dressing and salad. A nice light supper, full of crunch and flavour.
Sides
- Soft rolls for the burgers
- Dressing: mix equal parts yogurt, thick coconut milk. Add some chopped dill.
- Salad: Peel thin strips from a medium carrot and half a cucumber. Mix 1tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp fish sauce, juice of half a lime. Dress veg, leave to stand while you make the burgers
Shrimp, Ginger and Garlic Stir-fry
Credit – look, I can’t make all this stuff up – to Steamy Kitchen for this one.
Ingredients
- 12-18 raw decent-sized shrimp, deveined
- 2tsp cornstarch
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
- 2-3 green onions, finely chopped
- 2tbsp Oyster sauce (Panda Brand is ubiquitous and good
- 1tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2tbsp good chili sauce, e.g. sriracha
Method
- Pat the shrimps dry if they are not already. Place in a bowl with the cornstarch and toss so they are evenly coated.
- Mix the Oyster sauce, soy sauce and chili sauce, and set aside.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or heavy-bottomed pan until it is nearly smoking. Carefully fry the shrimp for 1 minute on each side, then drain on kitchen paper.
- Let the oil cool to a medium heat. Meanwhile, finely mince the garlic and ginger.
- A good way to do this is to chop them into matchsticks and then tiny dice, then sprinkle with salt. The salt acts as an abrasive, allowing you to chop and scrape the garlic and ginger even more finely.
- Add the garlic, ginger and green onion to the pan, stir and fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the sauce, stir and add the shrimp. Cook for a minute more, then serve with egg-fried rice.
Sides
- Egg-Fried Rice – unfortunately, it just isn’t possible to ad-hoc egg-fried rice. The rice has to be cooked beforehand. If you don’t have a rice cooker or pressure cooker, you’ll just have to do it the old fashioned way and let it cool and dry a bit. No short-cuts, sorry.
- In a small glug of oil over medium heat, press about a cup/4-5 big spoonfuls of cooked rice and leave it be. Don’t mess around with it too much.
- Break an egg into a mug, add a few dashes of soy sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk (with a chopstick, for authenticity)
- When the rice has had 6-7 minutes, tossing once or twice, and is starting to get crispy, clear a space in the middle, pour in the egg and leave it. After the egg is cooked nearly all the way through, cut and mix it through the rice with your spatula.