SE Asia comes to St Clair

Hmm, not quite the tropical beaches of Phuket or the curling breaks of Indonesia...

Last Thursday eve was definitely DIY Manfood. Presented with assorted vegetables including mung beans and daikon radish, the MFM valiantly put their origami skills to the test and created fresh spring rolls that passed the taste test and managed tokeep all the fillings inside as well. Fresh flavours were the main stars; you can't beat the zing of mint and coriander and lemon to give your tastebuds a kick.

I do have to admit that I showed rather less prowess dealing with the vegetables as I managed to score myself rather deeply with the new mandolin I unveiled 2 weeks ago. Fingers remain intact however, and I did manage to keep the blood out of the vermicelli...

Prior to doling out rice paper wrappers, we worked out way through the many varied ingredients for the satay marinade; despite the declaration by one MFM that he was quite prepared to eat the beef raw, it was left to sit for an hour or so. The non-gloopy sauce was also deemed a hit, and showed again how a dash of lemon can heighten a myriad of flavours.

I hope you will all have a go at the crumble at least once this week, it's so easy and not at all sinful - all that fruit must count for something!

I thought I'd include here a list of what I would consider the most essential ingredients for basic Chinese/Malaysian/Thai cooking, things every pantry should have; some of the ingredients can be bought fresh and kept in the freezer. We haven't used all of these yet, but will do so over the next while.

General:

peanut oil

long grain rice

rice noodles (flat, vermicelli)

fresh ginger

fresh garlic

spring onions

whole, fresh chillies

lemons

Chinese:

light soy sauce

dark soy sauce

oyster sauce

rice wine

Guilin chilli sauce

char sui sauce

Thai:

fish sauce

lemongrass

kaffir lime leaves

tom yum paste

curry pastes

coconut cream

Malaysian:

kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

ground coriander

ground cumin

good curry powder

Next week we'll be doing hearty, quick, simple dishes packed with flavour. Break out the fruity ales and some gutsy reds. See you next week!