Category: Recipes

Ramen soup base

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

The ultimate quick weeknight soup for noodles

  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 tbsp chilli oil
  • 1 stock cube of your choice
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • 1 tsp sugar
  1. Combine ingredients and decant into the bottom of two bowls
  2. Add about 400ml boiling water and stir together
  3. Add cooked noodles
  4. Top with all the toppings – try rare steak, blanched mange tout, soft boiled egg, coriander, chopped spring onion

Lentil salad

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Boring name for an excellently punchy, hearty salad for a weekday evening supper. Also the perfect way to use up bits and bobs in the back of the fridge. Feel free to improvise around a theme!

  • 1 pouch beluga lentils or puy lentils
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 red onion, cut into eighths
  • 2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
  • 3 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
  • Handful of fresh parsley and mint, chopped
  • 100g feta, crumbled
  • Handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted in a dry pan until they puff up
  • Red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Grill, bake or airfry the whole red pepper at high heat until blackened. Then peel the skin off, de-seed and slice into chunky squares
  2. Do the same with the onions, tossed with a smigden of oil and salt
  3. Then mix everything together and dress with oil and vinegar

One pot Hainanese chicken rice

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Manages to be the most delicately delicious and comforting meal, whilst also being a super-simple weeknight dinner. Not authentic, but well worth eating anyway. Feeds 4

  • 350g basmati rice, washed
  • 600ml boiling water mixed with 1 chicken stock cube, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 0.5 tbsp turmeric, 1 tbsp sesame oil and a pinch white pepper
  • 4 spring onions, trimmed and lightly squished
  • 6 slices ginger
  • 4 garlic cloves, squished with the side of your knife
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and squished with the side of your knife
  • 8 small chicken thighs
  1. Put a large saucepan or deep frying pan with a lid over a high heat
  2. Brown the chicken thighs in a little oil briefly over high heat. Then remove from the pann
  3. Add the rice, stock, spring onions, ginger, garlic and lemongrass
  4. Stir together, bring to the boil and place the chicken thighs on top
  5. Pop the lid on and turn down to a simmer
  6. Cook for 20 mins, then leave off the heat with the lid on to steam for a further 10 mins
  7. Remove all the bits from the rice and slice the chicken
  8. Serve the rice and sliced chicken with some sliced cucumber and dipping sauces – this could include chilli vinegar sauce, a sweetened soy sauce (like kecap manis) and a dip made of finely minced coriander, spring onion and ginger with a couple of tbsp hot oil poured over

Firecracker baby corn

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Sweet, tasty – and spicy enough to knock your socks off

  • 400g baby corn, cut into chunky pieces
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
  • 3 spring onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 birdseye chillis, finely chopped
  • 3 dried chillis
  • 60ml sweet chilli sauce
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the corns for 3 mins, then drain
  2. Heat veg oil in wok over the highest heat, add the garlic, ginger, spring onion, chilli and dried chillis
  3. Stir fry for 1 min, then add the parcooked baby corn and cook for another 2 mins
  4. Turn the heat down to medium, add the sweet chilli sauce, soy sauce and rice vinegar, plus 2 tbsp water. Stir and cook for 1-2 mins until glossy and coated

Serve with rice, alongside poached chicken, pork belly, crispy tofu or toasted cashew nuts

Smoky tomato bean casserole with double-corn polenta

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Sounds boring and worthy, tastes amazingly comforting and delicious. Best eaten sitting on the sofa after a long day

  • 1 tsp butter
  • 2 tsp veg oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 400g passata
  • 1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 3 shakes worcestershire sauce
  • 1 heaped tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp pul biber (or a pinch of dried chilli flakes)
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried sage
  • ½ tsp brown sugar
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tin of beans, drained (I like borlotti because they’re chunky and they look nice)
  • 1 tin (or pouch) of cooked black lentils or beluga lentils
  1. Put a saucepan on a medium heat and warm the oil and butter together
  2. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 7-8 mins until soft and golden
  3. Add all the rest of the ingredients except the beans and lentils. Stir thoroughly, bring to a bubble and then simmer for 30 mins
  4. Add the beans and lentils, stir in and cook for a further 15 mins
  5. Serve with polenta (or rice, or pasta or bread or whatever – it’s tasty with anything)

While the beans cook, make your polenta

  • 400ml vegetable stock, or water
  • 100g fine quick-cook polenta
  • 1 heaped tbsp butter
  • 80g sweetcorn (tinned or frozen and defrosted)
  • 20g parmesan, finely grated
  • Salt and pepper
  • Grated nutmeg
  1. Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan
  2. Pour in the polenta and whisk in to ensure it’s smooth. Cook for about 10 mins, stirring all the time
  3. Once cooked, add the corn, butter, cheese and nutmeg, season with salt and plenty of black pepper
  4. Taste for seasoning and serve in a deep bowl with your bean casserole and some green veg on the side

Incredibly crunchy crackly pork belly

~ Sophie ~ 2 Comments

Imagine the most deliciously tender meat, crowned with the crackliest, crunchiest crackling ever. That’s what this is.

  • 500g piece of pork belly (no bones)
  • 2 tsp shaoxing rice wine
  • ½ tsp five spice powder
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp fine salt
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar
  • 150g fine salt
  1. Combine the five spice, pepper and salt
  2. Turn the pork belly skin-side down and rub the flesh with shaoxing, then sprinkle with the spice powder all over except the skin
  3. Flip the pork right-side up and place in an open container. Dry the skin off with paper towels and leave uncovered in the fridge overnight to properly dry out
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 150C fan (170C) and remove pork from fridge
  5. Put the pork onto a sheet of foil and fold the sides up around it to enclose the meat snugly, leaving a rim sticking up around ½ cm above the pork skin
  6. Place your pork package on a baking tray and brush skin with rice vinegar. Then carefully spread the salt over the skin in an even layer, trying not to let too much fall down the sides of the package
  7. Roast for 1½ hours, then remove the pork from oven and transfer the foiled pork onto a chopping board
  8. Turn oven up to 240C fan
  9. Remove the foil and scrape the salt off, thoroughly brushing the top to remove all of it
  10. Place the now-nude pork on a rack over the same baking tray and, once the oven is to temperature, roast for a further 30 mins until the crackling is golden and crispy
  11. In high excitement, turn the crackly pork onto its skin-side to cut into squares. Try not to eat it all before it gets to the table

Serve with rice, pak choi and a vinegary-spicy dip or sauce to counteract the salty fattiness

And by all means exchange the SE Asian flavours for Western ones for a different kind of dish

Mayak eggs

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Korean marinated eggs. Silky smooth, savoury, spicy. It’s like Eggs 2.0

  • 4 eggs
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce
  • 4 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 birdseye chilli, sliced
  • 1 spring onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  1. Put the eggs in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, put the lid on and bring to the boil. Then turn the heat right down and simmer for 6 mins. Remove the eggs, run them under the cold tap for 1 min and then peel the shells off
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients together in a large jar, add the peeled eggs and leave in the fridge for 48 hours to marinate before eating with sticky rice and cucumber salad.

Chocolate brownies

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A magical concoction gifted by Katherine, whose recipe writing style is quite different from mine! But the results speak for themselves – brilliantly rich, chocolatey brownies – and super-simple to make.

  • 150g dark chocolate
  • 170g butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 150g soft light brown sugar
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Pinch of salt
  1. Pre-heat oven to 170C fan (190C) and line a baking tin
  2. Melt the chocolate and butter, stir together
  3. Whisk eggs for 2 mins until pale and fluffy
  4. Add the sugar and whisk for another 3 mins
  5. Fold in the ground almonds, vanilla, salt, melted butter and chocolate
  6. Scrape into the lined tin
  7. Bake for 40 mins until the top is cracked
  8. Cool in the tin, then turn out and cut into squares
  9. Store in the fridge if you’re not going to eat them straight away

Granola

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Crunchy clusters of oats, nuts and seeds. Not just for breakfast – for general scrunchy munching when you have a snacky moment

  • 200g jumbo rolled oats
  • 100g chopped hazelnuts
  • 50g flaked almond
  • 50g mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower)
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seed
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • ½ tsp flaky salt
  • 120 ml maple syrup
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 large egg white
  • 150g raisins
  • 50g rice crispies
  1. Pre-heat oven to 140C fan (160C)
  2. Combine all ingredients except the egg white, raisins and rice crispies in a large bowl, tossing to coat evenly
  3. Whisk the egg white until frothy then stir into the granola mixture
  4. Spread it in a single layer on a lined baking sheet (not too spread out though, it all needs to be touching so it can form clumps)
  5. Bake for 30 mins and then use a large spatula to turn over sections of the granola carefully
  6. Rotate the pan and bake for a further 20 mins until golden
  7. Once it’s evenly browned and turn the oven off and leave it in there with the door ajar until it’s cool
  8. Once completely cool, break the granola up into spoon-sized pieces. Stir in the raisins and rice crispies
  9. Store in an airtight container

Bubbles!

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The very thing for running around in the sunshine after.

  • 40ml cheap, runny washing up liquid (the thicker ones might be better for washing up, but they make smaller bubbles so…)
  • 200ml water
  • 10ml glycerine
  1. Mix these ingredients together well
  2. Test the mixture by creating a large bubble – bend a clean metal coat hanger into a roughly circular hoop and dip the hoop in the mixture and lift it out. A thin bubble film should be suspended in the hanger which, if you swing the hanger around in an exuberant circle, should make a big bubble.
  3. If no film forms on the hanger, add some more detergent and mix together again. If a good-sized bubble doesn appear when you swing around, add a little more glycerine.

Essentially you can make any amount with the proportions 4 parts detergent / 20 parts water / 1 part glycerine