Tuna in Tamarind Sauce (Pla Rad Prik)

 

MUNCH RATING: 2/5

 

A few months ago Steve and I went to a brilliant Thai restaurant near Richmond Park called Ayudhya. We had Monkfish in a tamarind sauce and it was called Pla Rad Prik. It was really tasty and the fish was beautifully cooked, but it was really spicy! I think traditionally the Thai fry a whole fish, but in the restaurant they fried pieces of monkfish.

 

Steve’s Mum bought us some tuna whilst in Tesco’s this week and I had to think of a good way to use it up. I’m not a big fan of tuna, so I thought this spicy tamarind sauce would be a good way to mask the tuna taste!

 

Well the sauce was good, but the tuna wasn’t. It just tasted so fishy and it put me off from eating it, so I left most of it. I will definitely make the sauce again, but I will use less chilli as it was a little bit too hot for us, even though I used only 1 chilli instead of the 3 that the recipe suggested!

 

Ingredients:

• Any meaty fish, cut into chunks
• Cornflour to coat the fish
• 1 shallot, coarsely chopped (I used ½ red onion sliced as that’s what I had in the fridge!)
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon tamarind
• 3 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 red or yellow chilli, sliced

 

Directions for the sauce:

1. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat.
2. Add the garlic, onion and chilli and fry until the onion is soft.
3. Then add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and soy sauce and about 100ml of water.
4. Mix well and let boil to reduce down to a thick syrup.

 

Directions for the fish:

1. In a dish, coat the chunks of fish in the cornflour.
2. Heat 2 Tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan, then fry the fish for about 5 minutes until golden brown.
3. When cooked, pour the sauce on top of the fish and garnish with spring onion brushes.
4. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• To make the spring onion brushes: take a spring onion and cut off most of the green part and discard, leaving about a finger length of the white part. Carefully trim off the root. From the greenest end of the spring onion, cut about halfway along the length a few times to make strips. Place the spring onions into a bowl of cold water and place in the fridge for about 10 minutes to make the strips curl. Lift from water and drain before using as a garnish.

Fish Pie

MUNCH RATING: 2/5

All the recipes I had for fish pie were for 6 to 8 people, so I've made a recipe to serve 2 which is easy to double/triple. I made individual pies using little tapas dishes.

They are an ideal dish to prepare in advance, as you make them and then refrigerate overnight. If you do this then I would let them come to room temperature before baking in the oven.

I used salmon and white fish, but some nice smoked haddock would be great in this too. If we'd had some small cooked prawns I would have added those too, but times are hard so we can't afford that luxury!

I served the pies with Creamy Cheesy Leeks which uses some of the white sauce for the pies and they're really delicious.

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C moderate/hot
• You will need: 2 oven proof dishes that can each hold 1/2 pint (250ml) 

Ingredients:
FOR THE FILLING 

• 250ml (1 cup) milk
• 25g (1 oz) butter
• 25g (1 oz) flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped - green and white parts separated
• 250g (9 oz) fish (I used 2 salmon portions with skins removed and 1 portion thin white fish)
• Salt and pepper

FOR THE POTATO TOPPING

• 500g (17 oz) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
• 25g (1 oz) butter
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• Salt and pepper 25g (1 oz) grated cheddar cheese (optional) 

Directions:

1. First make the potato topping: Boil the potatoes in water until soft and tender. Drain then mash with the butter and milk over a low heat. Stir in the green parts of the spring onions. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Now poach the fish: Pour the milk into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the fish and gently simmer for about 5 minutes, until just cooked. Lift the fish onto a plate to cool slightly and reserve the hot milk. Break the fish into large chunks, putting them into your dishes.
3. Next make the white sauce: Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the flour. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the reserved hot milk a little at a time, constantly stirring and simmer for about 5 minutes until you have a smooth, thick sauce. Add the white part of the spring onion. Allow the sauce to cool for a few minutes before mixing in the egg yolk. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the sauce over the fish, reserving about 4 Tablespoons for the leeks. (If you're using prawns then you would add then at this stage).
5. Assemble your pies: spread the mashed potato on top of the pies and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Put the pies onto a baking sheet and bake them for 15-20 minutes until the piping hot and they are nice and golden brown.

CREAMY CHEESY LEEKS:

1. Wash 2 medium leeks, cut in half lengthways and then slice thinly into half-moons.
2. Melt a knob of butter in a pan and add the leeks. Gently fry until coated in the butter and then add a splash of water. Fry the leeks until nicely softened.
3. Add the reserved white sauce and a handful of grated cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

PHOTOGRAPHY UPDATE: I used my new Photo Tent to take this photo and used 2 bedside lamps. I'm quite pleased with the result, but I am going to buy some angled desk lamps with trumpet bulbs as they produce white light (5000k daylight balanced neutral colour). Credit goes to Steve for a little Photoshop airbrushing!

Yasai korroke (Japanese vegetable cakes)

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

This is a recipe from the Wagamama cookbook which I've made before but not actually tried in the restaurant.

In San Francisco it's easy to find ingredients like Panko Breadcrumbs, I got mine in Safeway so I didn't have to make a special trip to Japantown for them.

• Makes: 6 cakes

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 1 large potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• salt and white pepper
• 25g (1oz) frozen peas
• 25g (1oz) canned sweetcorn, drained
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped (or use spring onion and skip step 4)
• 1 red chilli, trimmed and finely chopped (or some chilli flakes
• 3-4 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g (2oz) panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Put the potato and sweet potato in a pan of boiling water and cook for 10-12 minutes until tender. Add the peas for the last 2 minutes.
2. Drain, return to the pan, then crush slightly with a wooden spoon to create a lumpy mash.
3. Stir in the sweetcorn.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and chilli over a low heat for 6-8 minutes until soft.
5. Combine the onion and chilli with the mash in a large bowl, season and mix evenly.
6. Allow to cool slightly, then divide into 6 equal portions and shape into flat cakes.
7. Place the flour in a bowl, the beaten egg in another and the breadcrumbs in a third.
8. Dip each cake first into the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs.
9. Fill a pan two-thirds full with oil and heat to 180C/350F or until a cube of bread added to the oil browns in 30 seconds.
10. Deep fry the cakes for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crisp, then drain on kitchen paper. Alternatively you can shallow fry them, carefully turning them on all sides until golden brown - takes a bit longer but just as tasty!