michelle picker cooks

Water spinach (water morning glory, water convolvulus or in South East Asia kangkong) is a semi-aquatic plant which grows in tropical climates and is eaten as a vegetable all over Asia. I’ve used it in many cooked dishes but I also like it raw. Here it’s paired with tender poached squid in a salad with a Vietnamese dressing.

If you can buy clean whole squid tubes your job is easier. Otherwise you will have to clean and rinse the squid to prepare it. Open the tubes and score the squid on the outside before cutting into pieces. To poach the squid bring some salted water to boil and briefly drop the squid into the water until it just becomes opaque. Remove from the water immediately and set aside. For the salad wash and cut the water spinach into shorter lengths, discarding any large or fibrous stems and place them in your salad bowl. Add a carrot, ideally shredded into long strips and 1 or 2 finely sliced red birds-eye chillies. For the dressing combine 1 – 1½ tablespoons of Vietnamese fish sauce, 1 minced clove of garlic, 2 teaspoons of caster sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix to dissolve the sugar and check the seasoning – it should have a good balance of salty, sweet and sour. Add the squid to the salad then add the dressing and toss well. Garnish with roughly crushed roasted peanuts.