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Archive for the ‘Asian’ Category

Healthy Thai Prawn Stir-fry with Ginger and Scallions

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , on 27 May 2011| 2 Comments »

This tastes so much better than it looks and it looked really good on the plate when served, but by that stage we were so starved we ate it instead of taking pics! So much healthier than a Thai takeaway and dead-on tasty. The marinade is a really neat trick which we’ll definitely use again.

  • 200g raw, peeled tiger prawns
  • 1 green chilli, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, crush 1 and finely slice the other 2
  • a bunch of coriander, separate the leaves from the stalks and save both
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • juice of a lime
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 3 cm piece of ginger, finely slice and then shred it
  • 8 scallions, finely sliced
  • a red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 85g water chestnuts, sliced (we couldn’t find these and it was fine without them!)
  • 100g beansprouts
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • pack of egg noodles to serve
  • lime wedges
Whiz the chilli, crushed garlic, coriander stalks (snip them with scissors to make them small) and caster sugar in a small food processor. Add half the lime juice and the fish sauce and then pour over your prawns.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok, add the ginger and scallions and fry for a minute. Add the red pepper and fry for another minute or until it starts to soften. Add the water chestnuts and bean sprouts and toss until the sprouts start wilting. Add the soy sauce and plenty of black pepper and tip the lot into a serving dish.
Heat a bit of oil in the wok and toss your egg noodles until hot. They’ll pick up some of the juicy and crunchy bits from the veggies. Mix them into the serving dish with the vegetables.
Lift the prawns out of their marinade and cook in wok with the remaining oil for a minute or two or until they turn pink. Add the marinade and swirl it around in the wok to heat it. Tip everything over the vegetables and noodles. Add the coriander leaves and remaining lime juice before you serve. Put some lime wedges on the side of the plates.
Wine Suggestion: We had a glass of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc which went really well. The fruit was juicy and counter-acted the chilli instead of fighting against it which can happen. It was fresh and zingy.

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Carrying on with the Indian theme …

Posted in Asian, Australia, Food, Riesling, Vegetarian, Wine, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 12 March 2011| 1 Comment »

We were so enamoured by the Keralan Prawns two nights ago we looked for more lighter Indian dishes and found these in our newest cookbook: “I love Curry” by Anjum Anand. We admire Anjum’s style as she makes traditional dishes lighter, but never loses flavour or authenticity; these are no exception.

As with all Indian dishes (and any other that we cook when we have the time) we like to prep the ingredients before we start cooking. It really helps in this case; the recipes aren’t difficult but there are many elements and sometimes quick additions with the spices. We have little bowls to gather each bit together which makes it easy.

Our other suggestion is to blanch the vegetables for the Curry, then prepare the rice. As the rice simmers you can then prepare the rest of the curry.

Creamy almond vegetable curry – serves 3-4

For the vegetables:

  • 125g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes  – we used new ones which held their shape well
  • 60g carrots, peeled and sliced into half moons
  • 70g broccoli cut into small florets
  • 60g mangetout
  • a large handful of peas – frozen are perfect

For the curry:

  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil plus 1 tsp
  • 60g blanched almonds
  • 6 cloves
  • 6 green cardamom pods
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 15g fresh root ginger, peeled weight, grated to a paste
  • 4 fat cloves of garlic, grated to a paste
  • a generous tsp of ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • 4 tbsp plain yoghurt
  • salt to taste
  • 6 tbsp single cream
  • 8 cherry tomatoes, halved

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. After 5 minutes add the carrots and cook for another 5-10 minutes until cooked. Scoop out the potatoes and carrots and add the broccoli and then 3 minutes later the mangetout and peas. After a minute drain and set aside.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a small pan and fry the almonds until nice and golden. Crush straight away in a pestle and mortar to a fine powder.

Heat the rest of the oil in a large non-stick saucepan and add the cloves, cardamom and caraway.

After 20 seconds add the onion until starting to turn golden at the edges.

Scrape in the ginger and garlic pastes and saute gently for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is just golden.

Add the ground spices and yoghurt and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Cook for 5-8 minutes until the oil separates out.

Add 250ml of water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 10-12 minutes.

Add the blanched vegetables, salt, cream, tomatoes and crushed almonds. Cook for a few minutes until it all comes together.

Check the seasoning and serve with Indian bread or the pilaf below.

Aromatic rice pilaf – serves 4

  • 220g basmati rice, rinsed
  • 2 good tbsp of ghee (we used 1 tbsp of butter and 2tbsp of vegetable oil instead)
  • 1 good tsp cumin seeds
  • 10cm cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 small onion, sliced
  • 1/2 tsp of turmeric
  • salt to taste

Tip the rice into a large bowl, cover with water, and leave to soak. (If you’re cooking the curry then prep and blanch the veg while the rice is soaking).

Heat the ghee or alternative in a saucepan, add the cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom pods and cloves and sizzle for 10-15 seconds. Then add the onion and cook until turning gold at the edges.

Drain the rice and add to the saucepan with turmeric and salt. Cook for 1 minute, stirring.

Add 400ml of water, then taste the water and adjust for salt.

Bring to the boil, cover and reduce the heat to the lowest it will go. Cook undisturbed for about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve when your’re ready. Don’t take the lid off before then!

Wine Suggestion: A dry Riesling. We had a Grosset, Polish Hill 2007 from the Clare Valley. We’ve tasted this a few times and been underwhelmed but this one was a bit older and it really comes into its own with age. So if you have a recent vintage stick it in the cellar for a few years.

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Keralan Prawns

Posted in Asian, Food, Indian, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , on 10 March 2011| Leave a Comment »

Our cooking’s been very healthy this week but tasty too so don’t despair. It’s nice to find an Indian dish which isn’t full of calories and doesn’t take forever to make. This is very nice but do add a bit of salt at the end to bring the flavours out and balance the spice. We wished we’d had some naan breads or chapatis so you might want to get some of them too.

Serves 2

  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • oil
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 2 cm piece of ginger, grated
  • dried red chilli crumbled or some chilli flakes
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 200g raw peeled prawns
  • some low fat natural yogurt

Get your rice on first as this is quick.

Cook the onion gently in a little oil in a frying pan for about 5 minutes or until starting to soften.

Add turmeric, garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for another few minutes or until it smells good.

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes – add a splash of water if you need it.

Stir in the prawns and cook until they turn opaque.

Add a bit of salt to season and serve with rice, bread and some yogurt on the top.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Chinese side dish: Broccoli with Cashews & Oyster Sauce

Posted in Asian, Food, Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 15 February 2011| 4 Comments »

Stir-fried broccoli with cashews & oyster sauce – serves 6

  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 100g unsalted cashews
  • 2 heads broccoli, cut into small florets (we cut up the stalks too)
  • 3 tbsp oyster sauce, or more if you like

Heat a little bit of the oil in a wok and toast the cashew nuts until they start to turn golden. Tip them out of the pan, then add the rest of the oil.

Stir-fry the broccoli for a couple of minutes until it turns bright green. Add a splash of water, then cover with a lid and steam for about 4 minutes or until the stems are tender – watch that it doesn’t dry out!

Push the broccoli to the side of the pan and pour the oyster sauce into the other side. Bring to the boil and stir into the broccoli. Toss in the cashews and serve with Chinese food (we had spring rolls and prawn toast).

Original recipe from BBC Good Food.

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