Thai Flavours Kohlrabi with Minced Pork (泰式芥蘭頭炒豬肉)

At this point, I will admit that I'm not sure what kohlrabi is called in Chinese, so I hope my dodgy memory serves me correctly here - because Google Translate said something I didn't recognise at all... I also have no idea whether kohlrabi features in Thai cuisine, but there was fish sauce, chilli and sugar in it, so it was more Thai than anything else.....

I would like to see kohlrabi available more widely - it's relatively easy to grow, and has a mild, slightly cabbagey taste. I like to cut it into sticks, stir-fry it, then add some water to the wok, cover and steam it until it still has some bite. You can add all sorts of flavours to it (but not fermented tofu!). With the minced pork, I fancied chillis, then the fish sauce seemed a logical addition.

 

Ingredients

• 2-3 small kohlrabi (I bought one large, but the small ones are a bit less fibrous)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced (leave the seeds in if you want heat)
• 150g pork mince
• 2cm cube ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• A pinch of ground white pepper
• 1-2 shakes of light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornflour + additional for thickening
• A few drops sesame oil
• Sunflower oil for frying

Serves 4

 

Instructions

• Squeeze the grated ginger juice over the minced pork. Add a shake of ground white pepper, 1 tsp corn flour, 1-2 shakes of light soy sauce and a few drops of sunflower oil. Cover and leave to marindade for at least 30 minutes
• Cut the top and bottom off the kohlrabi, and peel the skin layer off. Slice in half down the length of the kohlrabi, then cut down the length into sticks, approx. 1cm square at the top
• Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a wok until very hot. Add the pork mince and stir-fry until it is sealed, and has taken on some colour
• Add the kohlrabi, chopped garlic and chilli to the wok and stir-fry rapidly for a minute or two, until the ingredients are mixed, aromatic and coated in oil. Take care not to let the garlic catch and burn
• Add the Thai fish sauce, sugar, and 50ml water. Bring the mixture to the boil, then cover and boil gently for 7-8 minutes, until the kohlrabi is soft, but retains some bite
• Thicken the sauce by adding 1/2 tsp cornflour mixed with a little water, if required, and bringing back to the boil
• Remove from the heat, add a few drops of sesame oil. Stir and serve immediately

Thai Flavours Kohlrabi with Minced Pork (泰式芥蘭頭炒豬肉)

Stir-Fried Cabbage with Bacon (煙肉炒椰菜)

I'm sure that there's some cabbagey-bacony dish in many cuisines - something like it always pops up on the Christmas table, and I have happy memories of having lunchtime teppan-yaki cabbage and bacon in the food court downstairs in the Metro Tower in Shanghai, when I worked there back in 2001.

We've been away for a week, and 3 days before we went, my parents emptied their fridge into mine (they were going away too). This led to much frantic peeling, chopping and freezing, and heartbroken chucking of fruit and veg into the composter. Some things I left in the fridge, including a sweetheart cabbage which I'd picked up for 10p or something in my local Waitrose on a Sunday afternoon. I used this in tonight's dish, coupled with the remainder of a packet of pancetta and it was lovely - but standard white or green cabbage and streaky bacon would be just as tasty.

Ingredients

• 1/2 sweetheart cabbage, shredded into 5mm strips
• 3 strips of pancetta or streaky bacon, cut into 5mm strips
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
• 1 slice of raw ginger, peeled and bashed with the flat of a cleaver
• 1/2 tsp chicken powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 50ml water
• Few drops sesame oil

Serves 2 as a side dish

Instructions

• Heat a wok or heavy-based frying pan until very hot. Add the pancetta/bacon and fry (without disturbing it too much) until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Drain away the oil, until approx. 1 tbsp remains in the pan. If you do not have this much oil from the pancetta or bacon, top up with sunflower oil
• Heat the pan back up and add the slice of ginger. Fry quickly for 30 seconds to flavour the oil, then add the shredded cabbage. Stir-fry quickly for 1 minute until the cabbage is glossy - take care not to burn the cabbage
• Add the garlic to the pan and stir-fry quickly for 1 minute, before adding the chicken powder, sugar and water. Mix to combine, cover the pan and lower the heat, until the water is boiling but not too vigorously. Boil for 4 minutes until the cabbage is softened but still with some bite
• Add the pancetta or bacon back to the pan and heat through. Remove from the heat, then add a few drops of sesame oil and mix in
• Remove the slice of ginger and serve immediately in a warmed dish

Stir-Fried Cabbage with Bacon (煙肉炒椰菜)

Easy Japanese Curry

I was disproportionately excited to see a box of S&B Curry in my local Sainsbury's - in the past I'd have to ask friends and family who went to Liverpool or Manchester more frequently. I found the blog "Just Hungry", which looks great - and has a recipe for Japanese Curry Powder, for anyone who would like to make their own. For this recipe, I used a ready-made curry mix. You can add pretty much anything that you like by way of meat or vegetables, but good staples are carrots, onions and waxy potatoes. Other additions might include cauliflower, broccoli, pulses, spinach, pepper, beans.... the list is endless. In this house, it usually tends to be a combination of whatever vegetables are in the fridge at the time, but I do like the addition of chick peas for added texture.

S&B Medium Hot Curry Mix

The toddler held his bowl out for seconds - high praise indeed!

Ingredients:

• 100g Japanese curry mix
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped into bitesize pieces
• 100g waxy potatoes (I peeled mine, but it's optional)
• A handful of fine beans, topped and tailed and cut in half
• 1/2 a cup of dried chickpeas and 1/2 a cup of yellow split peas, soaked overnight, then refreshed in water and boiled vigorously for 20 minutes - alternatively use tinned pulses
• 2 skinless chicken breasts, sliced into bitesize pieces
• Sunflower oil for frying
• Approx. 450-500ml water

Serves 6

Instructions:

• Heat the sunflower oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan and stir-fry the onions for a few minutes, until softened
• Add the chicken and stir-fry until sealed
• Add the carrots, potatoes, chick peas and split peas, and the water. Bring to the boil, cover and boil gently for approx. 20 minutes
• Add the green beans about 8 minutes before the end of the above phase
• Break up the curry mix into blocks and add to the mixture. Stir until all of the curry mix is dissolved and you have a glossy, thick stew
• Serve with rice

Japanese Chicken and Vegetable Curry

Japanese Chicken and Vegetable Curry