Peter
Goffe-Wood, who regularly
appears on TV as a celebrity chef, is Food Editor of GQ magazine
and is an internationally published freelance food and wine writer,
contributing to magazines such as Food & Home Entertaining, Hospitality
and Gourmet Traveller and is the author
of 'Blues Restaurant – Essence of Cape Town'.
SHOWCOOK
takes a bite from the East out of KITCHEN COWBOYS
Mystery, spice, heat, chilli, the Orient, the sub continent – if these
words turn you on, then this chapter is for you.
Rather than just banging in a bit of cayenne pepper or a couple of
birds-eye chillies to wake up a dish or to trigger your addictive chilli
rush, look to the East where heat is done with some class. Most of the
authentic ingredients are well within our reach these days, delve into a
little spice alchemy and conjure up some of these ethnic recipes.
There is always balance in Eastern recipes – where there’s pungency
there’s also depth like in Lamb Shank Vindaloo; where
there’s fire there’s also a subtle calming ingredient such as the
coconut milk in Thai Red Beef Curry with Jasmine Rice. But not
all of the dishes are designed to blow your head off; there’s also
fragrance, subtlety and complexity.
Beside the chance to dazzle the pants off your date with your newly
acquired sushi skills, you’ll be the talk of the dinner party set.
While exuding an essence of a thousand years of mystery, you’ll appear
suave and sophisticated. There will be a sense that you’ve read the
Kama Sutra – in the original Sanskrit – that you understand how to
wield the claw of the tiger and are conversant with the parting of the
lotus petal position, that your spring rolls were fashioned on some
distant stretch of the Great Wall, that blind monks taught you the gift
of catching salmon with your bare hands as they leap upstream.
And that ancient Samurai warriors painstakingly forged the blades you so
effortlessly wield as you scythe through your Asparagus Omelette Rolls.
ASPARAGUS
OMELETTE ROLLS
This fab appetiser is great as a stand-alone dish, but it also makes
groovy little canapés and is a brilliant vegetarian option when serving
sushi. As a variation, you could use smoked salmon instead of asparagus.
Serves 4
6 eggs
30 ml (2 tablespoons) mirin
5 ml (1 teaspoon) sugar
45 ml (3 tablespoons) Kikkoman soy sauce
vegetable oil, for oiling the pan
4 standard sheets nori seaweed
10 ml (2 teaspoons) wasabi paste
16 green asparagus spears, peeled and blanched
pickled sushi ginger and Kikkoman soy sauce, to serve
Beat together the eggs, mirin and sugar with
15 ml (1 tablespoon) of the
soy sauce. Pour a little into a hot oiled omelette pan and cook briefly
– the pancake should be paper-thin. Cut the nori sheets in half and brush with soy sauce. Place an omelette
on each piece of nori and dot it with a little of the wasabi paste.
Place two blanched asparagus spears on each pancake, then roll up.
Moisten the end of the nori with water to get the roll to stick. Cut on
the bias into bite-sized pieces and serve with pickled ginger and soy
sauce for dipping.
Wine Notes:
Serve crisp Sauvignon Blanc, something with a bit of fruit. Just be
careful with the powerful wasabi paste as it has a tendency to blow
everything away.
Thai Red Curry of Beef with
Jasmine Rice
Short of grinding your own curry paste, this is about as close as
you’ll get to the real thing. Be careful with the curry paste, though;
it packs a punch and you can always add a little later on if you feel
the curry needs more of a kick. Like salt, more chilli can always be
added but it cannot be removed once it’s in! Serves 4
500 g beef rump
3 x 400 g tins coconut cream
60 ml (4 tablespoons) That red curry paste
1 red onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
30 ml (2 tablespoons) finely chopped root ginger
30 ml (2 tablespoons) fish sauce
30 ml (2 tablespoons) palm sugar or brown sugar
2 red peppers, cut in large dice
100 g button mushrooms, quartered
2 lime leaves
100 g peas (preferably fresh, but frozen will do)
60 g (2 handfuls) basil
jasmine rice (recipe follows)
Trim the beef and slice into strips. Pour two tins of coconut cream into
a large saucepan and boil uncovered for about 15 minutes until the oil
separates from the cream. Add the red curry paste and fry for about 5
minutes until fragrant.
Throw in the onion, garlic and ginger, then add the fish sauce and sugar
and fry for about 5 minutes to deepen the colour. Add the diced peppers
and mushrooms, then the rest of the coconut cream and the lime leaves.
Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes.
Add the beef and peas to the sauce and cook briefly for about 5 minutes
until the beef is just cooked. (Cook the beef quickly, don’t stew it;
it must remain tender and juicy.) Just before serving, stir in the
basil. Serve the curry with jasmine rice.
Jasmine Rice
Makes 1 litre (4 cups)
500
ml (2 cups) jasmine rice
1 litre (4 cups) water
5ml (1 teaspoon) salt
Combine the rice, water and salt in a saucepan with a tightly fitting
lid. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pan
from the heat and leave the rice to steam (with the lid on) for 10
minutes more. Serve immediately.
Wine Notes:
Gewürztraminer, Bukketraube or any naturally sweet wine would work well
here. The sugar and fruit balances the spiciness of the curry. But if
you are not a fan of sweet wines, then try a crisp, cool lager.
For
further information contact:
LANNICE SNYMAN PUBLISHERS
P.O.Box 26344, Hout Bay, 7872
Tel: +27 (21) 790-3367 Fax: +27 (21) 790-1055
E-mail: tamsin@lannicesnyman.com
Website:
www.lannicesnyman.com
Orders: Fax +27
(21) 790-1055 or courtenay@lannicesnyman.com
