Although fresh crab is always the best, it can be expensive and time-consuming to cook and pick. Here’s an Asian-style omelette to make with ready-picked blue swimmer crab meat from the store. For the filling, remove the crab meat from its container and add finely sliced spring onions, 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce and ground…… Continue reading crab omelette
Tag: asian food
cucumber and coconut salad
Here’s a simple and wonderfully refreshing salad to serve with any South-East Asian dish. First, and most importantly, buy a young coconut with very soft flesh. These can generally be bought already peeled and wrapped in plastic. Make 2 holes in the coconut and drain the water into a container. Break open the coconut and…… Continue reading cucumber and coconut salad
pandan chiffon cake
Here’s a wonderful Asian treat. This amazingly green and fantastically light sponge cake is popular throughout South-East Asia. Pandan leaf is often used to flavour desserts and, as in this cake, is often paired with coconut. I’ve bought excellent versions of this cake at Asian grocery stores but for a while there was a shortage…… Continue reading pandan chiffon cake
enoki mushroom and bean thread soup
This quick Asian style soup makes a deliciously satisfying meal. Nothing in this soup takes very long to cook. Prepare a light chicken or vegetable stock and add some finely shredded cabbage, enoki mushrooms and julienned carrots. After a couple of minutes add some bean thread noodles (mung bean vermicelli) broken into 10cm (4″ ) lengths, some sliced…… Continue reading enoki mushroom and bean thread soup
duck salad
A perfect summer meal or even a Christmas Day appetiser, this dish of crispy duck breast over a salad of buckwheat noodles and fresh vegetables has a variety of Asian influences. Rub some Hoisin (Chinese bbq) sauce onto the flesh of the duck breasts. Lay them on a plate flesh side down and score the…… Continue reading duck salad
sambal with okra and prawns on coconut rice
A spicy Yotam Ottolenghi recipe (with the addition of prawns) from his book PLENTY. To make the sambal combine 5 de-seeded fresh red chillies, 5 de-seeded dried red chillies, 100g (3½ oz) of red shallots, 1 diced clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons each of oil and water and ½ a teaspoon of salt in a…… Continue reading sambal with okra and prawns on coconut rice
asian style vegetable omelette
Although inspired by Vietnamese pancakes, this omelette is Japanese in style and the filling is more Thai. For each person allow one egg and ½ a teaspoon of cornflour (cornstarch). In a cup, mix the cornflour to a paste with cold water. In a bowl beat the eggs well and add the cornflour paste with some extra water.…… Continue reading asian style vegetable omelette
chargrilled chicken
Some more delicious Asian-inspired barbeque from Spirit House Restaurant’s cookbook HOT PLATE Asian-Inspired Barbeque. My husband David cooked this one. The marinade is made by pounding 100gm (3½ oz) of white sugar, 3 birdseye chillies, a teaspoon of white peppercorns and the bottom of 3 stalks of lemongrass in a mortar and pestle with 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce…… Continue reading chargrilled chicken
hot-pot
I love Vietnamese and Thai flavours so I decided to use these in a pork hot-pot. All the ingredients went straight into the pot: pork ribs, sliced eggplant, diced shallots and garlic, finely sliced chilli, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, stock, fish sauce and a little sugar. I put the lid on and baked it…… Continue reading hot-pot
michelle picker cooks 