Recipe List
Roast Tomato and Pickled Lemon Relish
Sriracha Mayonnaise with Spring Onions
Kombu Stock (or ‘Dashi, No Tuna’)
Thai-style Roasted Chilli Paste
Online Stockists and Suppliers
I WAS INITIALLY HESITANT about referring you, the reader, to additional, component recipes throughout the book, feeling it somehow disingenuous to put you to the trouble… but the same staples feature again and again, woven through the pages, and they warranted a separate home. Here you will find a mixture of core tools and spirited extras to thread into your cooking. My vegan alternative to fish sauce, for example, is used repeatedly, wherever that hit of umami-funk is required (here). Of course, you can substitute a 50:50 mix of soy sauce and water to thinner, yet comparable effect, or even use the original if you eat fish, but with so many East Asian recipes in the book a laudable alternative was essential.
Nowadays, I find myself turning to pastry less frequently, but it still features regularly enough to be a staple. So a handful of steadfast dough recipes, suited to most uses and dietary requirements, find their home here, to be used as the basis for sweet and savoury tarts and pies (here).
And beyond these fundamentals there are optional extras in the form of quick relishes and condiments. These are the key to quirky cooking, adding characterful flourish and dash. You could use bought alternatives in most cases, but home-made is invariably better if you have the time and, besides, there is nothing complicated here. True preserving is an art, using carefully sterilised vessels and ingredients in bulk… but I wanted something more immediate and, arguably, more vibrant than jarfuls of long-simmered chutneys that can sit in your cupboard for all eternity. Hence, the emphasis here is on bold flavour and quick results in small batches, often with a healthy dose of chilli heat. Freedom from the tyranny of long-term preserving means adding far less sugar, compensating with intense flavour from the produce itself. The same principles apply as in general vegetarian cookery: roasting, griddling and occasionally charring the ripest produce will drive off water, exaggerating natural sugars and concentrating precious flavours, to give a fierce and true result. Tomatoes and both sweet and hot peppers, full of the flavours of summer, make the ideal candidates for naturally sweet jams and relishes and I have used them with abandon.
Most of these recipes are incredibly versatile; the idea being that if you make, say, a tomato and preserved lemon relish (here) to go with falafel, you can enjoy it with vegetable fritters or flash-fried halloumi over the following days. Pickled Sour Cherries (here) are adaptable enough to go from cheeseboard to salad or bruschetta or, as I’ve suggested in the Grazing chapter, to scatter on slightly bitter tahini and sweet, nutty kibbeh. Here lies the ingenious contrast and balance in a well-considered dish and the value of a relish. Some others, as with the Sriracha Mayonnaise with Spring Onions (here), feature to provide a quick-fix when inspiration is low or a straightforward supper needs extra pep.
A note on stock: it is a staple used throughout the book, adding subtle and satisfying layers of flavour. It would be impressive if you made your own every time. I keep a large tub of Swiss Marigold vegetable bouillon and use it often, favouring the light, powdered mix over greasy stock cubes. Having said that, a home-made broth can make an enormous difference to a dish. If you have the freezer space and the occasional time to spare, making a concentrated master stock is a nourishing way to use up leftover or tired vegetables, trimmings, peelings and herb stalks, and is so simple it hardly warrants a recipe proper. Working on a simple ratio of 1kg aromatic vegetables – always including celery and onion – to 2 litres of water, simmer gently for thirty to sixty minutes, then strain through a fine sieve. Use as is, or reduce down by half to freeze and dilute later. It will keep for a week in the fridge or for a three-month stint in the freezer. Customise your broth as you wish. For example, mushrooms add umami flavour; whole spices enhance when used judiciously; root vegetables and tomato purée bring sweet depth; while the peelings from aromatic ginger and lemongrass lend an East Asian flavour profile, perfect for noodle soups. Add classic French flavour with a bouquet garni, made by tying bay, thyme, parsley and a few black peppercorns up in a piece of leek leaf. If you need a robust, characterful stock, as I did in my pho recipe (here), roast or sauté larger vegetable pieces in a little oil to caramelise and concentrate their flavours before simmering, and be generous with the mushrooms. Only avoid members of the cabbage family, courgettes, green beans and potatoes in stocks: the last is too starchy and the others too pungent.
Interestingly, cookery writer Heidi Swanson brought my attention to a home-made bouillon, garnered in turn from Pam Corbin’s Preserves: River Cottage Handbook no 2. It uses a food processor to blitz a scant 1kg of chopped, stock-friendly vegetables (leeks, fennel, celery, onions, celeriac, carrots) with a couple of tablespoons of chopped, sun-dried tomatoes for depth, a few garlic cloves, a handful of soft herbs and 250g salt to a paste. The high salt content prevents this freezing solid, so keep it in the freezer, ready to add to simmering water whenever light stock is needed. Just keep an eye on the salt used in the rest of the recipe, to prevent over-seasoning.
This fresh, sour and salty relish contains no added sugar, so it won’t keep for very long. It is fantastic with halloumi or baked feta (here), or anything from the fritter/kofte family. Shades of the Middle East in the spicing lend it well to other foods from that part of the world, though it is approachable enough to lift most savoury dishes.
MAKES 1 JAR
– 600g plum tomatoes, deseeded and coarsely chopped
– 2 preserved lemons, rind only, shredded
– 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
– 2 tbsp sundried tomato paste
– 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
– 1 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed
– pinch of chilli flakes
– sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
– handful of coriander leaves, chopped (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Combine all the ingredients except the coriander in a small roasting tin.
Bake, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft, reduced and beginning to brown. Stir halfway through the cooking time to redistribute. Stir with a fork to break the relish down and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cool to room temperature and leave as is, or blitz until smooth if you prefer. Stir in the coriander, if using. Transfer to a clean jar and let cool. Cover with a lid, chill and use within 1 week.
Considering the punch this little jam packs, the amount of sugar added is minimal. You can leave it out, but remember the jam may need a little less acid for balance and will only keep in the fridge for a few days without the sugar’s preserving qualities.
Use in sandwiches and wraps, to go with quiches, tarts, omelettes or fritattas… or, indeed, anything egg-based and savoury.
MAKES 1 JAR
– 6 sweet red peppers (ideally the sweet, thin-skinned Romano if you can find them cheaply), halved, cored and deseeded
– 2 mild red chillies, halved and deseeded
– 550g (about 7 medium) fragrant, ripe vine tomatoes, halved through their middles, seeds scooped out
– thumb of root ginger, peeled and finely grated (including the juice)
– 50ml rice wine vinegar or white wine vinegar
– 20g palm sugar or unrefined brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Lay the pepper halves and chillies, skin-sides up, in a single layer in one roasting tin and the tomatoes, skin-sides up, in a second tin (they can be muddled together a little more than the peppers).
Roast both trays for 30 minutes or so, making sure the pepper tray is at the top of the oven, until the skins are shrivelled and the peppers are blackened. All should be soft, so, if your peppers were particularly hefty, give them another 10 minutes in the oven. Cover the peppers with a baking sheet so they steam and set both trays aside to cool.
Peel off the tomato and pepper skins, not worrying too much about stubborn shreds and pieces of peel here and there – the odd black smoky bit is in fact a flavour advantage – and leaving the chillies unpeeled. Put all the flesh in a saucepan with the ginger, vinegar and sugar and heat through, stirring constantly to break the peppers down. Simmer down over a medium-high heat, stirring often, until jammy and thick (this should take about 10 minutes). Transfer to a clean jar and let cool. Cover with a lid, chill and use within 3 weeks.
Home-made mustards are usually hot and sharp compared to bought jarfuls and this is no exception. The finished mustard won’t be completely smooth unless you own an incredible blender, but that is part of its charm.
This is also good with chopped dill stirred through it, in which case increase the honey quantity to make a version of a Swedish mustard sauce.
MAKES 1 SMALL JAR
– 100g yellow mustard seeds, or a mixture of yellow and brown
– 120ml white wine vinegar
– 120ml dry white wine
– 2 tbsp honey
– ½ thumb of fresh turmeric, finely chopped, or ½ tsp ground turmeric
– ½ tsp sea salt
– 1 tsp finely grated horseradish
Combine all the ingredients, except the horseradish, in a non-metallic bowl. Cover and leave in a cool place (not the fridge) for 2–3 days, so that the mustard seeds can swell and soften.
Blitz until smooth in a powerful (small) blender. You may need to add a splash of hot water to get the blades moving. Add the grated horseradish and blitz again, but don’t expect the mixture to be completely smooth as most blenders won’t be able to achieve that. It will thicken on standing. Use straight away or cover, chill and try to use within 1 month (it will keep happily for 3 months, but the flavour fades).
Scatter these sweet-salty caramelised nuts over salads, grain bowls, or cakes and puddings.
MAKES ABOUT 120G
– 100g walnut pieces
– 2 tbsp sesame seeds
– 3 tbsp brown rice syrup
– small pinch of sea salt
Have a baking tin lined with non-stick greaseproof paper ready. Put the walnuts in a large frying pan and toast over a low heat, stirring often, until just beginning to turn golden. Add the sesame seeds to the pan and continue to toast until the seeds are lightly browned. Increase the heat, add the rice syrup and toss through to coat. Scrunch the salt over and continue to cook until the nuts are evenly glazed. Pour on to the non-stick greaseproof paper in an even layer and set aside to cool. Once completely cool, roughly or finely chop as needed. Keep in an airtight tin in a cool place for up to 4 days.
A pot of magic to keep on hand, ready to spoon over fritters or falafel, or to spread over warm flatbreads to keep salad leaves in place before rolling. The taste of the finished sauce will depend entirely on the tahini you use, so make sure it is as fresh as possible and not too bitter, and stir the jar well before using.
MAKES 1 JAR
– juice of 1 lemon
– 1 garlic clove, crushed
– 3 tbsp light tahini
– 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
– sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine the lemon juice, garlic, tahini and olive oil in a small saucepan, gradually stirring in 100ml of just-boiled water to thicken the sauce to the consistency of double cream. Season generously and heat through very gently over a low heat. Add a little more water to make a thinner dressing, if needed.
Keep chilled for up to 2 weeks, letting down with a little hot water and re-warming gently in a saucepan before using.
As with most pickles and relishes in this chapter, these fragrant and spicy cherries have myriad uses, but you might want to start by adding them to a cheeseboard, or a salad of peppery leaves, blue cheese and pecans.
MAKES 1 JAR
– 300g dried sour cherries
– 120ml red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
– 1 tsp sea salt
– 1 tbsp coriander seeds
– pinch of crushed chilli flakes
– 4 fresh bay leaves
– 50ml maple syrup
Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan with 50ml of water and bring to the boil over a medium-low heat, stirring often. Once bubbling, remove from the heat, pour into a clean jar and cover. Set aside to cool completely, Chill and use within 1 month.
This North African spice mix is wonderful sprinkled over soft-boiled eggs or split, baked sweet potatoes. Stir in a pinch of finely chopped fresh oregano leaves before using, if you like. Try za’atar blitzed with roast almonds and spiked with extra herbs as a seasoning for polenta chips (here), or add dried chilli, lemon juice, oregano leaves and olive oil to make a dressing for roast vegetables, feta or salad.
MAKES ABOUT 100G
– 4 tsp cumin seeds
– 50g black or white sesame seeds
– 4 tsp dried oregano
– 4 tsp ground sumac
– 1 tsp sea salt flakes
– ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Put the cumin and sesame seeds in a large frying pan and toast over a medium heat, tossing the pan for a minute or so, until the seeds are fragrant and a shade darker (hard to judge if you use black sesame seeds! Go with your nose). Tip into a mini food processor, spice grinder or mortar and pestle and add the dried oregano, sumac, salt and pepper. Blitz or grind as finely as you wish. Keep in a cool, dark place in an airtight jar for up to 1 month.
The obvious trouble with being puritanical about using only fish sauce in South East Asian recipes is that it excludes non-fish eaters. (How many times in other recipes have I read ‘don’t even think about substituting soy sauce’? All very laudable, but so tiresome for vegetarians and vegans.) This method gives you a complex, umami-rich, vegan substitute.
MAKES ABOUT 200ML
– 5g dried mushrooms, preferably cloud ear or shiitake
– 2 tbsp salted, fermented black beans
– 2 umeboshi plums (or you can substitute 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar)
– 1 tsp miso paste, ideally a mild yellow or white
– 75ml light soy sauce
Cover the mushrooms, beans, plums (if using) and miso paste with 200ml of just-boiled water and mash roughly with the back of a spoon. Set aside to soak for 10 minutes. Strain the soaking water through a fine sieve, pressing down firmly, and stir in the soy sauce.
Transfer to a clean jar and cover. Chill and it will last for a few weeks.
Admittedly, this is a little bit trashy, but it’s excellent as a dip for baked potato skins, hot vegetable fritters or crunchy lettuce leaves. Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise is the ideal choice if you can track down a squishy packet; it is made with rice wine vinegar and has a mild, sweet flavour.
ENOUGH FOR 4 AS A DIP OR ACCOMPANIMENT
– 4 tbsp mayonnaise
– 2 tbsp sour cream, or mild natural yogurt
– 1–2 tbsp sriracha sauce, to taste
– squeeze of lime juice
– 3 spring onions, finely chopped
– sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl (add the second tbsp of sriracha for a stronger kick) and season to taste. Keep, chilled and covered, for up to 4 days.
Tuck a spoonful of this umami-rich relish with its slight mineral tang into grain, noodle or salad bowls, stirring through as you eat.
MAKES 1 SMALL JAR
– 1 square of toasted nori seaweed
– 4 tbsp maple syrup or brown rice syrup
– 2 tbsp mellow brown or yellow miso
– 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
– 1 tbsp finely grated root ginger
Snip the nori into fine little shreds with scissors. Stir through the remaining ingredients, cover and chill for up to 2 weeks.
Use this as a dipping sauce for summer rolls or fritters, as a salad dressing, or to pour over noodles and rice. If you haven’t made any of the Vegetarian ‘Fish’ Sauce opposite and can’t track down a comparable bought version, substitute light soy sauce mixed with an equal amount of water.
MAKES ABOUT 240ML
– 2 tbsp unrefined caster sugar, or to taste
– 60ml Vegetarian ‘Fish’ Sauce (opposite, or see recipe introduction), or to taste
– 60ml rice wine vinegar
– 1 birdseye chilli, finely sliced, or to taste
– 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
– juice of 1 lime, or to taste
Pour 100ml of water into a small saucepan and tip in the sugar. Warm through over a low heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, add the ‘fish’ sauce and vinegar, stir well and set aside to cool. Once cool, stir in the chilli, garlic and lime juice. Taste to check you like the balance of sweet, hot, salty and sour, adjusting as necessary. Use straight away or keep chilled and covered for up to 5 days.
This is a relatively primitive version of the Indonesian chilli paste, with only a subtle hint of lemongrass. You can make the paste more complicated with garlic, ginger, sugar and lime zest and you can also simmer the liquid to reduce. A robust mortar and pestle is essential to crush and break the chillies down.
MAKES A TINY JAR
– 1 lemongrass stalk, well-trimmed
– 8 large red chillies, halved, deseeded and roughly chopped
– 1 tsp sea salt, or to taste
– 3 tbsp lime juice or rice wine vinegar
Remove the outer layers from the lemongrass to reveal the soft core. Chop this roughly. Put half the chillies and lemongrass in a mortar and pestle and add half the salt. Pound to a rough purée. Scrape into a bowl and repeat. Stir in the lime juice or vinegar and taste. It should be extremely fiery and sharp, but a little bit sweet from the chillies. Add a little more salt if you like. Cover and keep chilled for up to 2 weeks.
Use this mild but savoury stock as a base for gentle Japanese-inspired noodle soups or mellow brothy rice bowls.
MAKES 1 LITRE
– 1 piece dried kombu seaweed
Snip the kombu with scissors to make a few cuts in it, releasing the flavour. Put the kombu in a saucepan and cover with 1 litre of water. To deepen the flavour, set aside to soak for anything from 2 hours to a day. Place over a low heat and very slowly bring to the boil. As soon as the liquid begins to bubble, remove the soft kombu with tongs. Strain the broth through a muslin-lined sieve and let cool. Cover and chill if not using right away and keep for up to 2 days.
Keep a bowlful of these on hand for any Vietnamese salad, summer roll or noodle bowl.
MAKES 1 MEDIUM BOWLFUL
– 90g unrefined caster sugar
– ½ tsp sea salt
– 180ml rice wine vinegar
– 200g carrots, peeled and shredded
– 200g daikon and/or small regular radishes, peeled and shredded (or sliced, in the case of small radishes)
Combine the sugar, salt and vinegar with 100ml of water in a bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the vegetables and set aside for 2 hours. The pickles can be drained and eaten at this stage (rinse them for an even milder flavour), or chill them for 2–3 weeks. Their flavour will become more intense as the days go on.
… Or satay by another name; this is an addictive and versatile sauce, so I always make it in generous quantity. Serve it with Asian-style omelettes, crisp tofu or fried rice, as a dressing for noodles or a dip for crunchy vegetables.
MAKES ABOUT 500ML
– 2 shallots, finely chopped
– thumb of root ginger, peeled and finely grated
– 2 red chillies, finely chopped
– 1 tbsp groundnut oil
– 1 garlic clove, crushed
– 1½ tbsp palm or brown sugar, or to taste
– 150g unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
– 2 tbsp light soy sauce, or to taste
– 2 tbsp tamarind paste, or to taste
– 400ml can of coconut milk
Gently fry the shallots, ginger and red chillies in the oil for 5 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Now add the garlic, sugar and peanuts and cook for 5 minutes more, until the nuts are deeply golden and caramelised. Stir in the soy, tamarind and coconut and simmer for a few minutes.
Purée as finely as you like with a hand-held blender, or in a food processor. Season with a little extra soy if needed and/or up the tamarind or sugar. Return to the pan to heat through gently before serving. If making this in advance, it will thicken on cooling and will need a splash of water to thin it out when reheating.
It will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Sambal Oelek (Chilli Paste), Kombu Stock (or ‘Dashi, No Tuna’), Quick Vietnamese Pickles and Caramelised Peanut Sauce
These should prove useful pastry variations in your day-to-day cooking. As a rough guide, 175g pastry will line a 20cm tart tin. To cover the top, too (to make a pie) you will need 225g. About 420g pastry will generously line (or make a lid for) a 26cm tart tin or ovenproof dish, while the whole batch of gluten-free pastry here – about 520g – lines a 28–30cm tin.
An excellent, everyday pastry. Not wheat- or gluten-free, but characterful and reliable.
MAKES ABOUT 420G
– 250g wholegrain spelt flour
– ½ tsp fine salt
– 125g unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to aerate. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. (Or you can rub the butter in by hand, in a large mixing bowl.) Tip into a bowl and add 2½ tbsp of iced water with a table knife, cutting it into the pastry. Add a drop more water as needed to bring it together into a ball, leaving the bowl clean. Knead briefly to combine, form into a disc, wrap and set aside in a cool place to rest for 30 minutes before rolling out.
You will need to visit a health food or good East Asian shop for this. You can substitute coconut butter for the dairy kind, but it has a strong taste. If you can’t get on with that taste, but want a dairy-free pastry, use the same amount of olive oil by weight and freeze for 1–2 hours in an empty yogurt pot. Blitz or rub into the flour, being careful not to overwork. This pastry will be slightly flaky, short and flavourful.
MAKES ABOUT 520G
– 120g brown rice flour
– 60g glutinous rice flour
– 120g arrowroot powder or tapioca flour
– ½ tsp fine salt
– 200g unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
– iced water
Combine the flours in the bowl of a food processor. Add the salt and pulse to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs with no visible pieces of butter. Tip into a large mixing bowl and cut 3 tbsp of iced water in with a table knife. You may need to add up to 2 tbsp more to bring the dough together. Form into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 30–60 minutes or up to 3 days, or freeze for a month, before rolling out between sheets of non-stick baking parchment.
A buttery, delicate pastry with a nutty taste and none of the bother of making a classic puff.
MAKES ABOUT 420G
– 220g wholegrain spelt or regular wheat flour
– ½ tsp fine salt
– 150g unsalted butter, frozen solid
Put the flour and salt in a bowl and stir with a balloon whisk to aerate. Wrap the end of the butter in foil so that you can hold it without it melting. Coarsely grate it straight into the flour, dipping the end of the butter block into the flour if it softens. Lightly toss it through the flour with a knife. Sprinkle 3 tbsp of iced water over, cutting in with the knife. Add 3–5 tbsp water to form a dough. With your hands, lightly bring the pastry into a ball that leaves the bowl clean. Divide into 2 and flatten each piece into a disc. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes before rolling out.
White spelt, or regular plain flour, is just as good here, but the water quantity may vary. The coconut flavour is noticeable (and delicious if you are a fan), so this ‘short’ pastry is ideal for sweet recipes. For a subtler taste, use refined coconut butter.
MAKES ABOUT 420G
– 250g wholegrain spelt flour
– ½ tsp fine salt
– 1 tbsp coconut sugar or unrefined brown sugar (optional, if making sweet pastry)
– 125g extra virgin coconut butter, chilled and roughly chopped
Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to aerate. If you want to add sugar, stir it in here. Add the coconut butter and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. (Or you can rub the butter in by hand, in a large mixing bowl.) Tip into a bowl and add 2½ tbsp of iced water with a table knife, cutting it into the pastry. Add a drop more water as needed to bring it into a ball, leaving the bowl clean. Knead briefly to combine, form into a disc, wrap and set aside in a cool place to rest for 30 minutes before rolling out. If using this to line a tart tin, leave the sides overhanging and trim after baking, not before, to prevent shrinkage.
A vital component of Son-in-Law Eggs (here) and excellent on plain fried eggs, too, or use this distinct and tangy sauce/dressing/chutney in any number of Asian-inspired recipes. Making tamarind purée from blocks of sour tamarind pulp takes barely two minutes and is completely worth it, both for the superior, intense flavour and the value for money. I don’t rate the ready-made purée in puny jars.
MAKES 225ML
– 75g seedless tamarind pulp from a block
– 45g palm sugar, or to taste
– 4 tbsp Vegetarian ‘Fish’ Sauce (here, or use a bought version), or substitute 2 tbsp light soy sauce mixed with 2 tbsp water, or to taste
Put the tamarind pulp in a bowl and cover with 200ml of boiling water. Stir and mash with a spoon to make a rough purée. Push this through a sieve into a little saucepan, scraping with the back of the spoon to force all the liquid through and leaving the seeds and fibres behind.
Add the palm sugar and vegetarian ‘fish’ sauce (or soy and water) to the pan and warm through gently for a couple of minutes, stirring often to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Taste and adjust the salt and sugar as needed; the sauce should be thin in texture and should taste predominantly sour and sweet, with a salty back note. Cover and cool, then keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Scatter this intense salt over vegetables before roasting, or combine it with butter and spoon into baked sweet potatoes.
MAKES 50G
– 4 fresh bay leaves, roughly chopped
– 4 tbsp sea salt
– leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme
– finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
– 1 tsp chilli flakes
Put the bay leaves in a mortar and pestle, or the small bowl of a food processor. Add a good pinch of the salt and pummel or blitz until the salt turns green and the leaves are reduced to very small pieces. Add the thyme and lemon zest and blitz or pummel again. Stir in the remaining salt and the chilli. Keep in a lidded jar in a cool place for a couple of months.
This makes a brilliant and incredibly hot, oily paste. No bad thing, of course, but I’m just warning you about the heat levels. You could substitute a milder chilli, if you prefer a less explosive mouthful. Add spoonfuls of this paste to stir-fries, soups, congee, grain bowls and salads, to add fire. Add more oil to the paste to make it into a roasted chilli oil, if you think you will use that more often.
MAKES 1 JAR
– 150g bird’s-eye chillies
– 100g Thai shallots, unpeeled and halved
– 6 fat garlic cloves, unpeeled
– sea salt
– 75ml groundnut oil
– 2 tbsp palm or brown sugar
– 2 tbsp tamarind purée (see here)
– 1–2 tbsp light soy sauce
Set a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the chillies and cook, stirring occasionally, until shiny, brittle and ‘dry’ looking. Take your time; they will snap and crackle occasionally as they colour and blister. Tip out on to a plate.
Return the pan to the high heat and add the shallots and garlic cloves. Cook for a few minutes, turning now and then, until blackened in places and slightly shrivelled. Tip on to the chilli plate.
Rubber gloves are an essential here: slice the chillies in half, removing the stems and most of the seeds. Trim and peel the shallots and garlic. Either pound to a paste in a mortar and pestle, in 2 or 3 batches with a pinch of salt to help things along, or blitz in a mini food processor, stopping to scrape down the sides. Either way, you should have a slightly rubbly purée.
Put the oil in a wok or frying pan and set over a medium heat. Add the chilli paste and fry gently, stirring now and then, until darker and fragrant. This should take 4–6 minutes, so reduce the heat if it colours too quickly, as you don’t want the paste to burn. Remove from the heat and let cool. Stir in the sugar, tamarind and 1 tbsp of the soy sauce. Taste and add a little more soy sauce and salt if needed, depending on how much you used to pummel the chillies. Spoon into a clean lidded jar.
Keep chilled and use within 1 month.
Cool Chile
Proper corn tortillas and Mexican storecupboard ingredients. Fresh tomatillos when in season, and tinned all year round
www.coolchile.co.uk
Greens of Devon
Devon-based and family-run supplier of exciting and unusual edible flowers, herbs, shoots and garnishes. Beautifully packaged and tailored to your needs, according to what’s in season.
www.greensofdevon.com
Happy Kombucha
Embrace your inner hippie. Mail order starter kits for all kinds of fermenting, culturing, curing and sprouting, from kombucha scobies to live water kefir grains.
www.happykombucha.co.uk
Healthy Supplies
For every lentil, flour, grain and nut. Expansive range.
www.healthysupplies.co.uk
Natoora
Exceptional seasonal produce, frequently with Italian provenance. UK-wide delivery for most things, but London-centric for the most delicate items or frozen ingredients.
www.natoora.co.uk
Nom Living
Many of the illustrated recipes in this book are set off by the handsome, earthy ceramics kindly lent by Nom Living.
www.nomliving.com
Odysea
Greek ingredients online, including dried gigantes (giant) beans and excellent feta cheese.
www.odysea.com
Sous Chef
Enormous web-based shop for all manner of exciting ingredients and equipment, from noodles to yuzu to ramen bowls to piping nozzles. All the essentials.
www.souschef.co.uk
The Asian Cookshop
Huge range of Asian and East Asian ingredients, including fresh curry leaves when in season.
www.theasiancookshop.co.uk
Your local food market
Doesn’t have to be posh, doesn’t have to be farmers, buy what’s colourful and seasonal and buy it cheap!
