Tag: rice

• 

  Welchy’s Roasted Stuffed Capsicums

  I’ve been out of action for quite some time…finishing studies and moving on with new adventures in my life meant that writing was pushed to the back burner – but cooking was still on the fore front of my mind!

  Cooking for me is a release. Where some might read a book, go for a drive, gym, game, knit or garden…I cook. It’s a safe haven and an adventure all in one and it can be both disappointing and exhilarating depending on how game your ambition is.

  Our grocer had bags of capsicums going out for $1.50 so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try out a recipe that’s been teasing me for some time. These are Greek style stuffed capsicums that can be eaten on their own or with salad and some delicious toasty bread.

   

  Serves 4             10 minutes prep       1 hour cooking time

  Ingredients:

  • 4 large capsicums
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 500g mince
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
  • 400g can chopped/diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup white long-grain rice
  • Salad to serve (optional)

  Method:

  Step 1

  Preheat oven 180C fan-forced. Slice tops from each capsicum and put aside. Scoop out seeds and membrane and discard. Stand capsicums in a baking paper-lined roasting pan (if they don’t stand up thinly slice off the bottom until they stand – be careful not to cut through the capsicum so the filling falls out).

  

  Step 2

  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large non- stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add garlic. Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 5 minutes or until browned.

  Step 3

  Add herbs, tomato, rice and 1/2 cup cold water. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken. Remove from heat.

  Step 4

  Divide mince mixture evenly between capsicums. Place 1 reserved top on each stuffed capsicum. Drizzle with remaining oil. Bake for 45 minutes or until capsicums have softened and skins start to darken. (If after 40 minutes the skins have only just blistered, turn the heat up high in the oven for the last 5 minutes but be sure to watch so they don’t burn).

  

  Step 5

  Serve immediately with a side salad, or enjoy on it’s own!

  Happy Eating xo

  

  Katie

  Related Links:

  • see more Welchy posts here

  Written by

  lilwelchy

  ·

  June 6, 2017

• 

  PK Makes Nagi’s ‘Chinese Restaurant’ Chicken Satay

  I love old school Anglicised ‘chinese restaurant’ chicken satay.

  Perth is very lucky now to have cafes and restaurants that serve all manner of global cuisines from the cultural traditional through to really clever fusion. However, growing up in Perth we were not spoilt for choice eating out, there was only Pizza Hut, Red Rooster and the local ‘Chinese Restaurant’.

  This dish is far from traditional chinese cuisine but it hits fond childhood food memories. It is quite frankly the best satay chicken I have ever had.

  There are 3 main preparation steps that look a little daunting at first but the recipe is actually really easy. With all credit to Nagi of www.recipetineats.com for the way she created and laid the recipe out.

  All I am trying to do is spread her amazing work :).

  Note:

  • I have converted the powdered ingredient quantities in the original recipe to use whole grains using my own crazy rule of thumb.
  • I have gone heavy on the onions and garlic as per my childhood memories.

  You will be:

  1. Prepping and tenderising the chicken
  2. Making the satay seasoning
  3. Making the satay cooking sauce
  4. Cooking the chicken
  5. Serving

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • Chicken:
      • 2 chicken breasts (a little over 500g)
      • 2 tsp baking soda
    • Satay Seasoning:
      • 1.5 tsp coriander seeds
      • 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
      • 3/4 tsp white peppercorns
      • 0.5 tsp tumeric powder
      • 0.5 tsp chili powder (I used store bought Kashmiri chili powder but you can make your own with this FoodHack.)
      • 3 tsp curry powder (any will do and extra points for home-made)
      • 1 tsp table salt
    • Satay Sauce:
      • 3 – 4 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I used http://kraftnuts.com.au/range/2/peanut-butter-smooth just to increase the trip down memory lane)
      • 3 tsp raw sugar
      • 2 tsp soy sauce (light or normal but not thick like ketjip manis)
      • 3 tsp rice vinegar
      • 2 tsp hot sauce (I used Eaglobe piment sriracha)
      • 1 tsp fresh lemon grass (very finely diced)
      • 2/3 cups coconut milk
      • 1/2 cup water
    • For the wok:
      • A good slug of peanut oil
      • 1 – 2 large brown onions
      • 4 garlic cloves
  •  Equipment:
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a bowl for the chicken to tenderise in
    • a mortar and pestle
    • a small bowl for the spices
    • a small whisk or fork
    • a small mixing bowl for the sauce
    • a wok or deep fry pan

   Steps:

  Prepping and tenderising the chicken

  1. Slice the breasts in a long-wise fashion and then cut the flat slices in half.
  2. Pop the slices into a bowl and sprinkle them with the 2 tsp baking soda (Nagi says this tenderises them and I can confirm that it really works).
  3. Pop them back into the fridge while you make the seasoning and sauce.

  Making the satay seasoning

  1. In a mortar and pestle grind the:
     • 1.5 tsp coriander seeds
     • 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
     • 3/4 tsp white peppercorns
  2. When you have the your desired amount of grind add the ground spices to a bowl with the:
     • 0.5 tsp tumeric powder
     • 0.5 tsp chili powder
     • 3 tsp curry powder
     • 1 tsp table salt
  3. Give everything a quick mix.

  

  Making the satay cooking sauce

  1. In a different mixing bowl mix until smooth the:
     • 3 – 4 Tbsp Peanut Butter
     • 3 tsp raw sugar
     • 2 tsp soy sauce
     • 3 tsp rice vinegar
     • 2 tsp hot sauce
     • 1 tsp fresh lemon grass (very finely diced)
     • 2/3 cups coconut milk
     • 1/2 cup water
  2. Add the satay seasoning and mix again.
  3. Refrigerate if you are not cooking the chicken until later in the day.

  Cooking the chicken

  1. Bring the chicken and sauce out of the fridge.
  2. Chop up the 2 brown onions and mince the 4 garlic cloves.
  3. Add a slug of peanut oil to your pan and bring it to medium heat.
  4. Prepare any garnish (I went with some fresh sliced jalapenos and spring onions from my PK’s Working Garden).
  5. Add the onions and garlic to the hot oil and keep everything moving until they soften.
  6. Add the chicken slices and keep it moving until the chicken is beginning to brown.
  7. Add the satay sauce and stir fry until the sauce has reduced to your desired thickness (say a few minutes).

  Serving

  A bit of rice, some chilis, a side of asian greens in oyster sauce (e.g. Choy Sum) and I am in heaven.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • Recipes using chicken
  • More Chinese cuisine

  ---

  Please consider subscribing to a weekly email summary of our posts or check us out on Facebook @growitcatchitcookit.

  [mc4wp_form id=”15771″]

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  April 25, 2017

• 

  PK Makes Rick Stein’s Chettinad Chicken

  This is by far my favourite recipe from the TV series and book, ‘Rick Stein’s India’ (see BBC link here).

  In my family’s version we keep the heat factor low and serve it with lightly steamed vegetables to keep it kid friendly. Well that is what my wife (who hates chili and curries in general) tells everyone but you didn’t hear it from me. Also in my defence, she shouldn’t have bought me a book full of curry recipes :).

  

  Despite the shameful lack of chili and heat, our version of this dish is still amazingly dry, peppery and oh so flavoursome. I think it loses some of the colour that so defines these type of curries however. I hope I am forgiven though as the result is very tender, sticky chicken calling out for some rice and sides of your favourite green vegetables :). Edit: I now use ground annato seed to impart a natural red colouring but one without the heat of chillis.

  A couple of recipe notes:

  • This dish calls for the use of a lichen called dagarful and I beg you to try it. I used cinnamon as a substitute originally but I have used the real deal in this post and there is no going back.
  • I use my home-made chicken stock instead of water.
  • Please check out my masla making tips in PK’s Curry Paste Kit before you start.

  You will be:

  1. Making the dry masala.
  2. Cooking the chicken.
  3. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • Dry Masala
      • 1 Tbsp fennel seeds
      • 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
      • 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
      • 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
      • 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder (go 1 Tbsp or more if allowed)
    • Chicken
      • 1kg skinless boneless chicken thighs, chunky sliced, short ways
      • 200g red shallots, diced
      • 200ml home made chicken stock
      • 50ml olive oil
      • 1 tsp fennel seeds
      • 8cm cinnamon stick
      • 1 Tbsp dagarful, rinsed and rough chopped (or an extra 3cm cinnamon stick)
      • a very large handful of curry leaves (the more the better)
      • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
      • 4cm ginger, peeled and grated
      • 1 tsp raw sugar
      • 1 tsp table or ground rock salt
  •  Equipment:
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • a frypan
    • a dry mixer
    • a deep frypan for the chicken

  Steps:

  Making the dry masala

  1. In a frypan, dry roast the 1 Tbsp fennel seeds, 1 Tbsp cumin seeds, 1 Tbsp coriander seeds and 1 Tbsp black peppercorns.
  2. Allow to cool and then and to your dry spice mixer.
  3. Add 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder as well and then give it a quick pulse.

  Spice heaven:

  

  Coarsely ground dry masala (looks and smells amazing):

   Cooking the chicken
  

  1. Peel and dice the 200g of red shallots.
  2. Chop the 1kg of chicken thighs short ways to get roughly 2.5cm chunks.
  3. In a deep frypan heat the 50ml olive oil.
  4. Add the 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 Tbsp dagarful and the 8cm of cinnamon stick and stir for a few minutes.
  5. Add a very large handful of curry leaves and the 200g of red shallots. Stir until the latter are soft.
  6. Add the 1kg of chicken and stir for a few minutes.
  7. Add and stir for a few minutes the:
     1. dry masala
     2. 4 cloves garlic
     3. 4cm ginger
     4. 1 tsp raw sugar
     5. 1 tsp table salt
  8. Add the 200ml chicken stock.
  9. Cook for about 45 minutes or until the sauce is much reduced and sticky.

  I love the colours of this dish’s ingredients:

  

  Sauté the spices, red shallots and curry leaves:

  Add the chicken, stir and then add the garlic, ginger, sugar, salt and dry masala:

  Cook until the sauce is thick:

  

   

  Serving

  1. Cook your favourite rice, mine is basmati :).
  2. Steam some green vegetables for a splash of colour.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are more Indian cuisine posts and Rick Stein recipes:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  December 13, 2016

• 

  PK Makes Beef in Oyster Sauce

  This was simply the best stir fry I have ever cooked. I literally sighed when I first tasted it and you couldn’t wipe the smile of my face.

  I knew it was good because everyone came back for seconds, even my toddler :).

  This dish caught my eye because it calls for tenderising, with a mallet or rolling pin, beef eye fillet (tenderlion) steaks. I can see you shaking your head but trust me it is a transformational part of the recipe. The meat literally melts in your mouth!

  My hat off to the BBC chef Ching He Huang and her simple but flavoursome recipe. I modified it slightly by leaving out the chili (at my family’s request), adding a lot more vegetable variety and served it with basmati rice rather than sautéed mushrooms.

  Ching’s “… approach is to demystify the notion that Chinese cooking is complicated and time consuming by demonstrating traditional recipes that can be easily adapted for the home cook…”.

  Mission accomplished mate!

  As per my normal practice, I marinaded the beef first thing in the day. In this case I did it to make it easier, having everything ready to go, when I cooked the meal in the evening. That said, this dish will blow you away even if you just flash marinade the meat for a few minutes.

  You will be:

  1. Bashing and flash seasoning the beef.
  2. Prepping, quickly stir frying the vegetables and putting them aside.
  3. Quickly stir frying the beef and combing everything as you serve.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients (as the only main it served 2 adults and a hungry toddler very well):
    • 350g beef eye fillet steaks
    • 1 tsp light soy sauce
    • 1.5 Tbsp oyster sauce
    • a pinch of raw sugar
    • ground rock salt and ground black peppercorns to taste
    • 2 slugs of peanut oil
    • 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
    • 300g baby spinach leaves
    • 1 carrot, chopped into matchsticks
    • a handful of snow peas, sliced or whole
    • 1 Tbsp dry Sherry
    • 1 cup of your favourite rice (mine is basmati)
  •   Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • several sheets of baking paper
    • a bowl for marinading the meat
    • a tenderising mallet or a rolling pin
    • a wok or deep fry pan
    • a serving dish

  Steps:

  Prepare the beef

  1.  Place the eye fillet steaks in between two sheets of baking paper and bash the stuffing out of it with a rolling pin or tenderising mallet. I know right :).
  2. Very thinly slice the bashed beef and place into a bowl.
  3. Season with the:
     • 1 tsp light soy sauce
     • 1.5 Tbsp oyster sauce
     • a pinch of raw sugar
     • ground rock salt and black peppercorns to taste.

  

  

  

  

  Prep and stir fry your vegetables

  1. Add a slug of peanut oil to the frypan and get it nice and hot.
  2. Chop and slice all of the vegetables.
  3. Add the 3 cloves garlic (finely diced) and chopped chili to taste if you like it hot.
  4. Add the 1 carrot (sliced into sticks).
  5. Add the handful of snow peas.
  6. Keep everything moving all the time and then when you think it is time chuck in the 300g baby spinach leaves.
  7. As soon as the spinach leaves wilt and become warm put the whole lot into a serving dish. I sometimes cover them to keep everything piping hot.

  

  

  Stir fry the beef:

  1. Add another slug of peanut oil to the frypan and get it nice and hot again.
  2. Add the now seasoned beef slices and stir fry for a few minutes at most, remember that they will continue to cook after you take them out of the pan. We don’t want them to be chewy.
  3. Pour the 1 Tbsp dry Sherry over the meat and quickly toss everything.
  4. Add the now cooked beef to the cooked vegetables waiting in the serving dish.

  

  Serving:

  Serve immediately  :).

  

  Thanks again to Ching,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  November 17, 2016

• 

  PK Makes Ching He Huang’s Beef in Oyster Sauce

  My hat off to the BBC chef Ching He Huang and her simple but flavoursome Beef in Oyster Sauce recipe.

  This dish caught my eye because it calls for tenderising, with a mallet or rolling pin, beef eye fillet (tenderlion) steaks. I can see you shaking your head but trust me it is a transformational part of the recipe. The meat literally melts in your mouth!

  

  Ching’s “… approach is to demystify the notion that Chinese cooking is complicated and time consuming by demonstrating traditional recipes that can be easily adapted for the home cook…”.

  Mission accomplished!

  You will be

  1. Bashing and flash seasoning the beef.
  2. Stir frying the vegetables
  3. Stir frying the beef
  4. Serving

  You will need

  • Ingredients (as the only main it served 2 adults and a hungry toddler very well):
    • 350g beef eye fillet steaks
    • 1 tsp light soy sauce
    • 1.5 Tbsp oyster sauce
    • a pinch of raw sugar
    • ground rock salt and ground black peppercorns
    • 2 slugs of peanut oil
    • 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
    • 300g baby spinach leaves
    • 1 carrot, chopped into matchsticks
    • a handful of snow peas, sliced or whole
    • 1 Tbsp dry Sherry
    • 1 cup of your favourite rice (mine is basmati)
  •   Equipment
    • a chopping board
    • a long sharp knife
    • several sheets of baking paper
    • a bowl for marinading the meat
    • a tenderising mallet or a rolling pin
    • a wok or deep fry pan
    • a serving dish

  Steps:

  Bashing and flash seasoning the beef

  1.  Place the eye fillet steaks in between two sheets of baking paper and bash the stuffing out of it with a rolling pin or tenderising mallet. I know right :).
  2. Thinly slice the bashed beef and place into a bowl.
  3. Season with the:
     • 1 tsp light soy sauce
     • 1.5 Tbsp oyster sauce
     • a pinch of raw sugar
     • ground rock salt and black peppercorns to taste.

  

  

  

  

  Stir frying your vegetables

  1. Chop and slice all of the vegetables.
  2. Add a slug of peanut oil to the frypan and get it nice and hot.
  3. Add the 3 cloves garlic (finely diced) and chopped chili to taste if you like it hot.
  4. Add the 1 carrot (sliced into sticks).
  5. Add the handful of snow peas.
  6. Keep everything moving all the time and then when you think it is time chuck in the 300g baby spinach leaves.
  7. As soon as the spinach leaves wilt and become warm put the whole lot into a serving dish. I sometimes cover them to keep everything piping hot.

  

  

  

  Stir frying the beef

  1. Add another slug of peanut oil to the frypan and get it nice and hot again.
  2. Add the now seasoned beef slices and stir fry for a few minutes at most, remember that they will continue to cook after you take them out of the pan. We don’t want them to be chewy.
  3. Pour the 1 Tbsp dry Sherry over the meat and quickly toss everything.
  4. Add the now cooked beef to the cooked vegetables waiting in the serving dish.

  

  Serving

  Serve from a central dish and let everyone take what they need. Make sure there is plenty of rice and good conversation. 🙂

  

  

  Thanks again to Ching,

  PK

  Here are some more Chinese and asian fusion posts: 

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  November 17, 2016

• 

  Bish’s Chicken Congee for the Soul

  The health benefits of your favourite comfort foods should not be underrated. Traditional recipes especially because they have been handed down  from generation to generation for a reason.

  Special guest blogger Bish writes:

  I’ve been crook most of the week, and as a result I ended up cooking one of my “comfort” foods, congee, or rice porridge.

  The thing is, when you are feeling sick, you really don’t feel like doing much, and you sure don’t feel like taking photos of the food you are doing for a potential blog down the road, so PK is going to have to steal some photos from elsewhere to illustrate this post.

  Congee is eaten in many parts of the world, and it’s called all sorts of other things in other languages, but in my house (and my mother-in-law’s house) it gets called congee. My mother-in-law and I do bond a bit over cooking and gardening and she’s taught me a few things over the years – like adding dried scallops to my congee while it is cooking.

  Anyway, congee has to be one of the simplest dishes to cook and (placebo or whatever) always makes me feel better.

  You’ll need:
  • Uncooked white rice
  • Stock (like Ben’s medicinal chicken broth or PK’s slow cooker chicken stock)
  • Other stuff you might want to throw in, like dried scallops
  • Condiments – soy sauce, sesame oil, dried shallots and white pepper are my favourites

  To make it:
  When I cook up a batch of stock, I freeze it into those takeaway containers that you have lying around, and so there’s always a few of these stored in the freezer – I should label them “in case of illness, make congee with this”. So I’ll start on the assumption that you have some in the freezer…

  Here we go:

  1. Take the frozen block of stock out of the freezer, and chuck it in a saucepan on low heat.
  2. Go take some more cold and flu medications while it defrosts, and turn up the heat a little as you get more liquid.
  3. When it comes to the boil, chuck in the optional bits you like, and a cup or two of uncooked rice. The amount you put in depends on how much you want to heat, as you’ll probably need to play with the liquid ratios anyway – two cups would do about four big bowls of congee.
  4. Intermittently come back and take a look at the pot – if it is too dry, add water (or if you have more stock, add more stock), if it is too wet, you can chuck in a bit more rice – but I tend to need to add more water than rice. It’s done when the rice has broken down into a sort of slurry (I know that’s not appetising).
  5. Turn off the heat and ladle out a bowl full of it. Then you want to finish it off; add in a splash of soy sauce (watch how salty your stock was), a few drops of sesame oil, white pepper and dried shallots. Then go and rug up, and sit and eat it all up. Usually, I then go and have a sleep for an hour or two and then come back, turn the pot back on, warm up the congee, and eat more, then repeat.
  6. If there’s still some left in the pot that evening, I throw it in the fridge overnight (pot and all) and then have it again for breakfast.

  This is not the most amazing recipe in the world or anything, but if you are feeling lousy from a cold or whatever, it’s really easy to make and it does seem to help me get over colds and flus quicker.

  I’m going back to bed now.

  Bish

  Here are more southeast asian inspired cuisine and posts from Bish:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 27, 2016

• 

  Bish’s Chicken Porridge for the Soul

  Comfort foods’ health benefits should not be underrated. Traditional recipes especially because they have been handed down  from generation to generation for a reason.

  Special guest blogger Bish writes:

  I’ve been crook most of the week, and as a result I ended up cooking one of my “comfort” foods, congee, or rice porridge.

  The thing is, when you are feeling sick, you really don’t feel like doing much, and you sure don’t feel like taking photos of the food you are doing for a potential blog down the road, so PK is going to have to steal some photos from elsewhere to illustrate this post.

  Congee is eaten in many parts of the world, and it’s called all sorts of other things in other languages, but in my house (and my mother-in-law’s house) it gets called congee. My mother-in-law and I do bond a bit over cooking and gardening and she’s taught me a few things over the years – like adding dried scallops to my congee while it is cooking.
  Anyway, congee has to be one of the simplest dishes to cook and (placebo or whatever) always makes me feel better.

  You’ll need:
  • Uncooked white rice
  • Stock (like Ben’s medicinal chicken broth or PK’s slow cooker chicken stock)
  • Other stuff you might want to throw in, like dried scallops
  • Condiments – soy sauce, sesame oil, dried shallots and white pepper are my favourites

  To make it:
  When I cook up a batch of stock, I freeze it into those takeaway containers that you have lying around, and so there’s always a few of these stored in the freezer – I should label them “in case of illnesss, make congee with this”. So I’ll start on the assumption that you have some in the freezer…

  Here we go:

  1. Take the frozen block of stock out of the freezer, and chuck it in a saucepan on low heat.
  2. Go take some more cold and flu medications while it defrosts, and turn up the heat a little as you get more liquid.
  3. When it comes to the boil, chuck in the optional bits you like, and a cup or two of uncooked rice. The amount you put in depends on how much you want to heat, as you’ll probably need to play with the liquid ratios anyway – two cups would do about four big bowls of congee.
  4. Intermittently come back and take a look at the pot – if it is too dry, add water (or if you have more stock, add more stock), if it is too wet, you can chuck in a bit more rice – but I tend to need to add more water than rice. It’s done when the rice has broken down into a sort of slurry (I know that’s not appetising).
  5. Turn off the heat and ladle out a bowl full of it. Then you want to finish it off; add in a splash of soy sauce (watch how salty your stock was), a few drops of sesame oil, white pepper and dried shallots. Then go and rug up, and sit and eat it all up. Usually, I then go and have a sleep for an hour or two and then come back, turn the pot back on, warm up the congee, and eat more, then repeat.
  6. If there’s still some left in the pot that evening, I throw it in the fridge overnight (pot and all) and then have it again for breakfast.

  This is not the most amazing recipe in the world or anything, but if you are feeling lousy from a cold or whatever, it’s really easy to make and it does seem to help me get over colds and flus quicker.

  I’m going back to bed now.

  Bish

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 27, 2016

• Rice

  Traditional Japanese varieties

  Basmati

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 23, 2016

• 

  Easy Thai Beef Salad

  I love southeast asian salads. They are a feast for your eyes and your taste buds. The range of flavours is so diverse, you will never get bored of them.

  The key to a good beef salad is a great dressing and a good cut of beef that is thinly sliced and not over cooked. I hope you enjoy making the nam jim dressing and building the salad at the table like my family does. 🙂

  Notes: I have shown my timing preferences below for serving the salad with warm beef slices. Of course, if you prefer cold meat in this dish, you can make them in any order and well ahead of time. Oh and don’t forget to bring your steaks out of the fridge a little earlier so they are approaching room temperature as they go in the fry-pan.

  STEPS:

  1. Make the Nam jim dressing
  2. Roast the rice
  3. Gather the salad ingredients
  4. Cook the beef steaks
  5. Serving Suggestions

  You will need:

  • Nam jim Ingredients (repeated here for your shopping list):
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chilli
    • 5 coriander roots (cilantro)
    • 3 garlic cloves
    • 2.5cm piece fresh ginger root
    • 3 Tbsp fish sauce
    • 3 Tbsp lime juice
    • 1 Tbsp palm sugar
  • Roasted Rice Ingredients
    • 100g of basmati or jasmine rice
    • 1 Tbsp of rock sea salt
  • Salad Ingredients
    • several large cabbage leaves (1 per person)
    • 2 cups baby spinach leaves
    • 1 handful of coriander leaves and stems
    • 1/2 large red capsicum
    • 1/3 of a burpless cucumber
    • 1 red shallot
    • 1 spring onion
    • 6 cherry tomatoes
    • 1 cup bean sprouts
    • 1 handful of mint leaves
    • 1 medium carrot
    • 1 handful of snow peas
    • your favourite fresh chilis (optional)
    • unsalted peanuts to taste (optional)
  • Steak Ingredients
    • small eye fillet steaks (1 per person)
    • ground black pepper to taste
    • table salt to taste
    • kecap manis or soy sauce (optional)
  • Equipment
    • an oven tray
    • a mortar and pestle
    • a chopping board
    • a small serving bowl for the roasted rice
    • a large salad bowl
    • a large frypan

   Make the Nam jim dressing

  

  Steps:

  1. Make the Nam Jim dressing as per PK’s Favourite Nam Jim Dressing.

  Roast the rice

  Steps:

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200° C.
  2. Spread the rice grains across an oven tray and cook for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  3. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
  4. Grind 1 Tbsp of rock sea salt in a mortar and pestle.
  5. Add the cooled roasted rice grains to the mortar and pestle and grind to your desired consistency.
  6. Add the finished product into a small serving bowl.

  Gather the salad ingredients

  Steps:

  1. Wash and dry all of the vegetables.
  2. Put the cabbage leaves aside, you won’t need them until serving time.
  3. Keep the 1 cup of bean sprouts aside for the same reason
  4. To a large salad bowl add:
     • 2 cups baby spinach leaves
     • 1 handful of hand torn coriander leaves and stems
     • 1/2 red capsicum fine sliced (deseeded and pith removed)
     • 1/3 of a burpless cucumber sliced and quartered
     • 1 shallot fine sliced
     • 1 spring onion fine sliced
     • 6 halved cherry tomatoes
     • 1 handful of hand torn mint leaves
     • 1 medium carrot fine sliced  (I use a potato peeler to make thin strips)
     • 1 handful of hand torn snow peas (chop the ends off each first.

  Cook the beef steaks

  

  Steps:

  1. Preheat your fry-pan and add a splash of olive oil. You could barbecue them outside of course but I prefer a fry-pan when cooking eye fillet steaks.
  2. Cook the eye fillet steaks to  medium rare and allow them to rest, optionally adding a bit of kecap manis or soy sauce at this point.
  3. Thinly slice the cooked steaks.

  Serving Suggestions

  Steps:

  1. Place a whole cabbage leaf on each plate.
     • Fill to the brim with the salad ingredients.
     • Add the beef slices.
     • Throw some bean sprouts over the top.
  2. Serve along with the roasted rice and Nam jim dressing, sliced fresh chillis and unsalted peanuts.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are more southeast asian inspired cuisine and salad posts:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  June 18, 2016

• 

  PK’s Thai Beef Salad

  I love south east asian salads. They are a feast for your eyes and your taste buds. The range of flavours is diverse and so hard to get right sometimes. The pay off is worth it though and this particular dish is no exception. It is now a family favourite and lends itself well to any communal meal.

  I have shown my timing preferences below for serving the salad with warm beef slices. Of course, if you prefer cold meat in this dish, you can make them in any order and well ahead of time. Oh and don’t forget to bring your steaks out of the fridge a little earlier so they are approaching room temperature as they go in the frypan.

  STEPS:

  1. Make the Nam jim dressing
  2. Roast the rice
  3. Gather the salad ingredients
  4. Cook the beef steaks
  5. Serving Suggestions

  You will need:

  • Nam jim Ingredients (repeated here for your shopping list):
    • 1 tsp powdered kashmiri chilli
    • 5 coriander roots (cilantro)
    • 3 garlic cloves
    • 2.5cm piece fresh ginger root
    • 3 Tbsp fish sauce
    • 3 Tbsp lime juice
    • 1 Tbsp palm sugar
  • Roasted Rice Ingredients
    • 100g of basmati or jasmine rice
    • 1 Tbsp of rock sea salt
  • Salad Ingredients
    • several large cabbage leaves (1 per person)
    • 2 cups baby spinach leaves
    • 1 handful of coriander leaves and stems
    • 1/2 large red capsicum
    • 1/3 of a burpless cucumber
    • 1 red shallot
    • 1 spring onion
    • 6 cherry tomatoes
    • 1 cup bean sprouts
    • 1 handful of mint leaves
    • 1 medium carrot
    • 1 handful of snow peas
    • your favourite fresh chilis (optional)
    • unsalted peanuts to taste (optional)
  • Steak Ingredients
    • small eye fillet steaks (1 per person)
    • ground black pepper to taste
    • table salt to taste
    • kecap manis or soy sauce (optional)
  • Equipment
    • an oven tray
    • a mortar and pestle
    • a chopping board
    • a small serving bowl for the roasted rice
    • a large salad bowl
    • a large frypan

   Make the Nam jim dressing

  

  Steps:

  1. Make the Nam Jim dressing as per PK’s Favourite Nam Jim Dressing.

  Roast the rice

  Steps:

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 200° C.
  2. Spread the rice grains across an oven tray and cook for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  3. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool.
  4. Grind 1 Tbsp of rock sea salt in a mortar and pestle.
  5. Add the cooled roasted rice grains to the mortar and pestle and grind to your desired consistency. I personally like the result to be variably granulated and not fully powdered.
  6. Add to a small serving bowl.

   

   

  Gather the salad ingredients

   

  Steps:

  1. Wash and dry all of the vegetables.
  2. Put the cabbage leaves aside as you won’t need them until serving time.
  3. Keep the 1 cup of bean sprouts aside for the same reason
  4. Slice and then
  5. To a large salad bowl add:
     • 2 cups baby spinach leaves
     • 1 handful of hand torn coriander leaves and stems
     • 1/2 red capsicum fine sliced (deseeded and pith removed)
     • 1/3 of a burpless cucumber sliced and quartered
     • 1 shallot fine sliced
     • 1 spring onion fine sliced
     • 6 halved cherry tomatoes
     • 1 handful of hand torn mint leaves
     • 1 medium carrot fine sliced  (I use a potato peeler to make thin strips)
     • 1 handful of hand torn snow peas (chop the ends off each first.

  Cook the beef steaks

  

  Steps:

  1. Preheat your frypan and add a splash of olive oil. You could barbecue them outside of course but I prefer a frypan when cooking eye fillet steaks.
  2. Cook the eye fillet steaks to  medium rare and allow them to rest, optionally adding a bit of kecap manis or soy sauce at this point.
  3. Thinly slice the cooked steaks.

  Serving Suggestions

  Steps:

  1. Place a whole cabbage leaf on each plate.
     • Fill to the brim with the salad ingredients.
     • Add the beef slices.
     • Throw some bean sprouts over the top.
  2. Serve to the table and let each person add as much or as little  of the roasted rice and Nam jim dressing as they like.
  3. Have sliced fresh chillis and unsalted peanuts on the table for just the same reason.

   

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  June 18, 2016