Surf n Turf with Funk-Busting Star Fruit Salsa

Sometimes we get ourselves into a funk. We’re not sure where it came from or how long it’s going to stay and we just have to ride it out orr hope that something comes along to move it on. Even here in Thailand, despite the sunshine and the beaches and the delicious food on every corner, the funk can find its way in. In my case, it came along and gave me chronic bloggers’ block.

Until last Friday when I received my first ever home delivery ‘munching box’ of organic locally produced fruit and vegetables from Raitong Organic Farm.  Purple long beans, green eggplants, spinach, mangosteens, green mangoes, spring onions and other tropical leafy delights covered my kitchen counter and lifted the cloud instantly. The star of the show was undoubtedly the bright yellow star fruit. How can anyone be in a funk when they have organic star fruit beaming up at them?

Funk busted, my tummy started rumbling and creative juices flowing. This was the first time I ever cooked with star fruit. They have a sweet yet earthy flavour and a delicious crunch, which makes for the most delicate salsa. With a fat juicy steak and whopping great Thai prawns, it was a match made in heaven.

Time: 15 mins prep time, 5 mins cooking time + marinating time

Rating: Super easy

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 medium-sized steaks (I used sirloin)

4 tiger prawns

2cm fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic

Generous slug of olive oil

For the salsa:

1 star fruit

1 red bell pepper

1/3 of a cucumber (or two baby cucumbers)

1 spring onion

1 large red chilli (mild)

1 small bunch fresh coriander

Juice of 1 large lime

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Method

1. Start by marinating the steak and prawns. Crush or grate the garlic and ginger and place in a shallow dish with the olive oil. Peel and devein the prawns and place in the dish with the steak, making sure they are all covered in the marinade on both sides. Cover and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours.
2. Next make your salsa. Finely chop the star fruit, leaving one slice intact to use as a garnish. Chop the red pepper, spring onion, cucumber and coriander and combine in a bowl.
3. Make the dressing for your salsa. Finely chop the chilli and combine with the lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil. If you are making this ahead, don’t add the dressing until the last minute as it will make the salsa soggy.
4. Shortly before you are ready to cook the prawns and steak, remove them from the fridge to let them return to room temperature.
5. Heat some olive oil in a griddle pan until smoking. For medium-rare steaks, cook for about 2.5 mins on each side. Don’t turn them over until you get a good sear mark on the first side. Once they are cooked, remove and leave them to rest in a dish. This will let the juices run out before you serve. While they are resting, cook the prawns in the same way for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side (depending on their size). They should have turned from grey to pink and be cooked through but not rubbery.
6. Dress the salsa and toss.
7. Serve the steak, prawns and salsa together, using your star fruit slice as a garnish.

Speedy Steak Stir-Fry

“When in doubt, stir-fry” has become my culinary motto since moving to Thailand. Whenever I find myself stumped for inspiration about what to cook, or am confronted with a set of ingredients with no plan, I chop, throw in a wok over a high flame and hope for the best... and it usually works a treat. And I’m not the only one doing it – all over Bangkok, on every street corner are vendors throwing squid, pork, eggs, greens, noodles, rice and all sorts of tasty ingredients into giant woks and turning out delicious plates of spicy goodness.

A Bangkok stir-fry celebrity: King of the Sukhumvit soi 38 street food scene, he turns out delicious pad thais every evening with lots of dramatic flames and flamboyant flipping of the work. Definitely one for the list if you're coming to visit!

From watching these masters at work it seems that the secret lies in high flames and high energy stirring – stir-frying doesn’t take up much time but you have to give it your undivided attention to make sure everything is cooked evenly. And you also have to hold back on the liquids you season with – there should be just enough to coat but never so much that you’re boiling or steaming the food.

In Thailand meat tends to be consumed in tiny bite-sized pieces and in modest quantities. But I live with a man with very British meat preferences – it’s all about big hunks and lots of them. So this is a far meatier stir-fry than you’d be likely to find in traditional Thai cooking. It’s a delicious way to cook steak. With the veg cut thinly, the steak more thickly, and the garlic, chilli and ginger cooked a little first it really doesn’t need long in the pan. Avoid the temptation to over-cook – make sure the steak stays nice and tender and the vegetables crunchy.

Time: 30 mins

Rating: It doesn’t get much easier than this

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 medium-sized steaks (I used sirloin), fat trimmed

½ small onion/4 shallots

2 cloves garlic 1 large carrot

2 large red chilli

1 inch knob ginger

80g mushrooms

1 medium red pepper

100g asparagus (trimmed)

1 small bunch spring onions, white part only

2tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1tsp sugar

Garnish with fresh coriander and a handful of peanuts

Method

1. Heat the oven to a high temperature (about 200°C). Spread the peanuts on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 3-4 mins until browned, shaking the tray half way through. Remove the nuts and allow to cool. Once cooled, coarsely chop and set aside to use as garnish.
2. Then prepare your veg. Finely chop the ginger, garlic and chilli (deseeded). Finely slice the onion, carrot, pepper and mushrooms.  Cut the asparagus spears into quarters, and the spring onions into diagonal slices about 1cm in length. Slicing the veg quite thinly is important. This will make them cook quickly and prevents you over-cooking the meat.
3. Then cut your steak into chunky slices , about an inch and a half in length.
4. Heat a little olive oil in a wok over a high flame and add the garlic, chilli and ginger. Stir-fry for about 2 mins. Add the steak and stir-fry for no more than a minute, just until it is lightly browned.
5. Add all the other veg and combine before adding the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Keep stirring frequently over a high heat for about 5-7 mins until the carrots and asparagus have softened and the meat is cooked but still tender.
6. Remove from heat and serve with either steamed rice or egg noodles.
7. Garnish with roasted peanuts and roughly chopped fresh coriander.

Chunky Massaman Cottage Pie

I travel a lot for work, usually on my own, to countries where I barely know anyone. Often, along the way someone will invite me over for a home-cooked meal. After weeks of dining solo on restaurant food, to sit at a table and share a meal feels like food for the soul. I have long promised myself that I will pass on the hospitality karma and open up my home to people whom I meet travelling.

I was recently on holiday in Railay in southern Thailand where I made friends with some lovely Americans. When I learned that they’d be passing through Bangkok on their way back home I was only too happy to keep my promise to myself and I invited them over for dinner. But what to cook? I couldn’t decide between traditional Thai or English, so I fused the two and cooked them a quintessentially Tinglish dish, combining two classic food heroes from both countries – Massaman Curry and Cottage Pie. It doesn’t get more fusion than this!

Massaman is itself fusion food. It is a Southern Thai curry which is full of Indian influence in the dry spices, which were introduced to Thailand by early Muslim spice traders (Massaman translates as Muslim). Cumin, nutmeg and cardamom are fused with Thai flavours of coconut milk, lemongrass and fish sauce. It usually has potatoes in the curry, which is why cottage pie isn’t such a big culinary jump after all. Here's what it looks like served up in Railay:

I’ll be honest; this dish requires a fair bit of effort, mostly in making the curry paste, which is the backbone of the pie. You could always buy this ready-made but Massaman isn’t one of the more common Thai curries and not all supermarkets stock it. But trust me, the effort is totally worth it. Of all the things you can cook, I really believe that it’s hard to beat the satisfaction of making your own curry paste.  

This meal is fragrant, rich and comforting and I guarantee the smell will utterly seduce your guests – it screams, “Welcome, come in and make yourself at home”’. What did my American guests say? “Can I have some more please”.

Time: 1hr 40 mins (20 mins prep, 30 mins to make your paste, 30 mins to make the curry, 20 mins cooking time)

Rating: A fair bit of effort: Making the paste takes time and energy. But it’s worth it.

Serves: 5-6

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the potatoes.
2. Peel and chop the potatoes into equal chunks and set aside.
3. Cut the beef into chunks about 2cm in size, discarding any fat. Chop the onion into medium-sized chunks. Set aside.
4. Then make your curry paste. Dry roast the dry spices (the first 7 ingredients) in a pan on medium heat until fragrant, about 2-4 minutes, stirring frequently. You won’t see much change in colour but you’ll smell the spices warming. You want to smell them roasting, but not burning.
5. Pound the dry spices in a mortar & pestle until powdered, or grind in a food processor or coffee grinder, then set aside. Separately pound/grind the rest of the paste ingredients with the salt, starting from the toughest, working up to the softest (i.e. lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and finally shallots). This is the most time-consuming part of the process but it’s worth putting the effort in so you get a nice smooth paste. Then add the dried spice powder back in. Mix well. It should be a rich rusty colour and smell amazing.
6. Next, put the potatoes in the boiling water and cook them until tender.
7. While the potatoes are boiling, heat the oil in a large pan or wok over a medium heat. Add the curry paste and fry this until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.
8. Add the beef chunks and onion. Fry until the meat is browned, about 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
9. Add half the coconut milk. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Don’t stir very much, just enough to combine.
10. Meanwhile coarsely chop or crush the peanuts, either on a chopping board with a good knife, with a mortar and pestle or in a food processor. Add the peanuts, the rest of the coconut milk and the cinnamon stick to the curry and stir.
11. Let the mixture simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. The sauce should thicken and darken.
12. Your potatoes should have boiled by now. While the curry is simmering, make your mash. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan off the heat – make sure they are dry and well-drained. Mash vigorously to get rid of any lumps. Then using a wooden spoon beat in the milk, butter, egg yolks and seasoning. (I’ve never used egg yolk in mash before but I saw this on Gordon Ramsay’s shepherd’s pie recipe and thought I’d try it. It makes the mash creamy and gives it a nice colour). Set the mash aside and return to the curry.
13. Stir in the fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice. Taste – you may wish to adjust the flavour by adding more of any of these ingredients. Cook for another 5 mins and take off the heat. Finely chop the fresh coriander and stir in.
14. Remove the cinnamon stick and pour the beef curry into your baking dish. It may look a bit runny but it’ll all come good in the baking, don’t worry. Spoon the mash on top and smooth over. Using a fork, score lines into the top layer of the mash – this helps it brown in the oven.
15. Bake for 18-20 minutes until warmed through and slightly browned on top.
16. While the pie is baking, steam or stir-fry some green veg to serve on the side.
Cooking ahead? Get your paste made in advance, and the rest will be as easy as pie! The paste will keep for a few days in a sealed container in the fridge or you can freeze it.

Ingredients

For the Curry Paste:

4 tsp dried chillies

1.5 teaspoon black peppercorns,

3 teaspoon coriander (preferably seeds, if not powder)

3 teaspoon cumin (preferably seeds, if not powder)

6 cloves

12 cardamom pods, roasted

1.5 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 inch knob ginger

3 lemongrass stalks (only white part)

2 shallots (or ¼ onion)

5 cloves garlic

For the pie filling:

5 tbsp massaman curry paste (made fresh as above, or shop bought)

1.2kg beef (rump or sirloin)

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tin/400ml coconut milk coconut milk

1 large onion,

100g  roasted peanuts

3 tbsp brown sugar

3 inch piece of cinnamon stick

3 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)

Juice 1 lime

Small bunch fresh coriander

For the mash:

1.6kg potatoes

2 egg yolks

3 tbsp milk

½ tsp nutmeg

Knob butter

Salt & freshly ground black pepper to season

Green veg to serve (I used broccoli, but spinach or greens would be nice too). The curry is packed with flavour so you don’t’ need much on the side.

Thai Burgers with Spicy Sweet Potato Chips and Asian Slaw

A few weeks ago I had to go back to London for work. No sooner had I made it from the airport to the office, did I get the urge for proper British pub grub. So I dragged a couple of my colleagues off to Smiths of Smithfields in Farringdon, which is a restaurant run by John Torode, serving cracking pub grub at reasonable prices.

When my mum was pregnant with me, apparently she developed an insatiable craving for hamburgers and scoffed them at all hours of the day for most of the nine months. So I am convinced my love for a good burger started in the womb.

Imagine my dismay therefore, when I tucked into my burger and found it to be, well, a bit blah. I’m not blaming this on the burger or the chef. Honestly John, it’s not you, it’s me. I’ve changed since I’ve been in Thailand and I guess I just want other things. I want chillies. I want fresh herbs.  My palette has become accustomed to Thai cooking and I was missing a bit of fire in my belly.

Determined to rekindle my love for the burger, I set about figuring out how to spice things up a bit and Thai-up an old classic. I love this recipe, it’s straightforward to prepare but still lets you play around with new flavours and jazz up a classic dish. I've added a lime and garlic mayo too and also served some sweet chilli sauce.

By the way, if you are looking at the photo and wondering whether the chips are actually green and the burger bun purple, they are. Let me explain. I couldn’t find the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes here in Bangkok which I’m used to from the UK but a variety originating from Vietnam. They’re delicious, just a little on the green side. And I struggled to find burger buns but in the end I found ‘whole grain purple berry buns’ in a bakery chain called S&P. I’m not sure exactly what the purple berries were or why there were there but the buns tasted good. You’ve got to work with what you’ve got!

This is a delicious meal…but don’t take my word for it. I served it up to three of Bangkok’s most strapping and chiselled ex-pats and they gave it a big thumbs up.

Time: 1hr 10 mins

Rating: Moderate. Nothing is very difficult but there are a few components so you need to be organised

Serves 4

Ingredients

Burgers:

500g Good quality minced beef

1 large red chilli (medium spice)

3 cloves garlic

2 inches fresh root ginger, peeled

2 lemongrass stalks – only paler part at the bottom (about inch and a half)

Handful fresh coriander (leaves and stalks)

3 small shallots

1 egg

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

25g Handful breadcrumbs (use a few slices of stale bread, brown ideally)

Soft wholemeal or granary rolls

2 tomatoes

1/3 cucumber

Slices of onion

Rocket leaves

Chips:

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 teaspoon dried chillies

1 tsp Rock Salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Generous slug of olive oil

Asian Slaw:

200g white cabbage cut into thin strips

1 large carrot, either cut into thin strips or coarsely grated

1 large red chilli de-seeded

Small handful coriander

Small handful mint

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

Generous slug of olive oil

Small handful peanuts

Lime and garlic mayo:

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

Zest and juice of ½ lime

1 small clove garlic, crushed

Method:

1. Preheat the over to 200C
2. Start with the burgers so that they can rest a bit before you cook them and the flavours have the chance to infuse into the meat. Finely dice the shallots and place in a large mixing bowl. Then deseed and finely chop the chilli. Finley chop the ginger and coriander (including stems). Mince the lemongrass. Either finely chop and then mince in a mortar and pestle, or continue chopping until minced. This last bit is important – lemongrass has a fantastic flavour and aroma that to me screams Thailand. But it’s very coarse and properly minced it could feel chewy and unpleasant.
3. Next prepared your breadcrumbs. Either whiz the bread up in a blender, or chop with a good knife on a chopping board. It’s fine if the breadcrumbs are coarse.
4. Put all these ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add the mince, honey and crack the egg over the top.  Then combine all of the ingredients with your hands. If you’ve not done this before it may seem a bit gross but it really is the best way to mix all the ingredients.
5. Divide the meat into four equal portions and with your hands and shape into burgers. You’ll see flecks of colour from the shallots, chilli and coriander. Place the burgers on a plate, cover with cling film and refrigerate until you’re ready to cook them. You can do this several hours in advance, or even several days and freeze the burgers.
6. Next prepare the sweet potatoes. Chop off the ends of the potatoes and cut away a little from the edge of each potato length-ways so that you have flat surfaces. Don’t bother to peel them, it adds texture and colour and looks nice and rustic.  Then cut the potatoes into chips, about 6cm long and 1cm thick. Take time with the chopping; the chips should all be about the same size so they cook evenly and look neat. Place in a mixing bowl and pour the olive oil over them, mixing so that all the chips are coated. Then sprinkle over the salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Mix again to evenly season the chips.
7. Place on a baking sheet, making sure they are well spaced out. If they are all piled on top of each other they won’t crisp up so if you need to, divide them between two sheets. Put in the oven to cook. They will take about 40 minutes.  Take the tray out every ten minutes to turn the chips over. Remove after 45 mins or when the chips are soft all the way through and and nicely browned and crispy on the outside.
8. As soon as the chips are in the oven, start making your side dishes. Firstly, the slaw. First toast the nuts. Put them in a pan over a high heat, tossing regularly. Don’t take your eyes off them as they can burn quickly. Toast for about 3 or 4 minutes until they are nicely browned. Take off the heat and allow to cool. Then coarsely chop them or gently crush in a mortar and pestle. Set aside – add these right at the end so they keep their crunch
9. Slice the cabbage finely and grate the carrot. Place in a mixing bowl. Coarsely chop the mint and coriander and add to the bowl.
10. Mix up the dressing for the slaw: combine the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and olive oil in a jar. Finely chop the chilli and add to the mixture. Put the lid on and shake vigorously. Combine all the slaw ingredients and pour over the dressing. Don’t forget you need to be turning your chips!
11. Next, make the mayo. This is really quick and easy. Crush the garlic very finely and add to the mayo, stirring with a teaspoon. Stir in the lime zest and juice. Spoon into a small tub to serve and refrigerate until ready.
12. You also need to prep the garnishing for the burger. Slice the tomatoes. And deseed the cucumber and chop into small batons. Finely slice some raw red onion and set aside a few rocket leaves.
13. So now all of your sides are done and the chips will have been in the oven for a good half hour.  It’s time to cook the burgers. Pour a little olive oil into a frying pan or griddle pan. Place the burgers in the pan once the oil is hot.  Cook over a medium heat for about 4-5mins on each side if you like them a little pink inside. Add another minute or two per side if you want them well done all the way through.
14. Plating up this dish is fun, you can really go to town on the presentation, using different pots for the various sides. Stack the burgers in the buns with the tomatoes, onions, cucumber and rocket leaves. You can pile up the chips next to the burger or serve them in a small bowl. Spoon the slaw into a small bowl and sprinkle with the roasted peanuts. Serve the lime mayo and chilli sauce in little tubs or shot glasses.