Soup with Yotam: Butternut squash and red pepper soup recipe

I think I'm pretty much averagely heterosexual as far as men of my generation go. Despite Claire's frequent accusations that I like super gay music I don't think many people would question my sexuality upon meeting me (recent exception at Edinburgh Festival- however it did later turn out that with my friends Kev and Pesh I had unknowingly stumbled into a club called "Gaybourhood" so I can understand the confusion).  I also don't fall into the metrosexual camp- clothes and fashion hold almost no interest to me, I like low maintenance hair cuts and  I have no interest in having anything waxed thank you very much.


Having now established my straight credentials I feel comfortable talking about my latest celebrity man-crush (previous editions have included Robert Downey Jr and Thierry Henry). I am currently a little bit taken with Yotam Ottolenghi (and, I suppose, his business partner Sami Tamimi) and his recipes. I think this started with his New Vegetarian recipe blog in the Guardian which I discovered six months ago and have used extensively since. I love how fresh his cooking looks and tastes- lots of fresh herbs, lemon and garlic. At the same time it manages to feels contemporary, new and entirely suitable for home cooking.


I was delighted to receive a copy of the first Ottolenghi cookbook for my birthday this week from the wonderful Chris and Jenny- thanks Guys! So last night I used it for the first time to cook for Claire and her parents- whom we are visiting in Wetherby. It went down a treat and I think we are now going to make this same mezze for friends when we are away in the Lake District next week...


We had-

Butternut squash and red pepper soup (our recipe- all the rest are Ottolenghi)

Cucumber &poppy seed salad

Burnt aubergine with yellow pepper and red onion

Aubergine wrapped gnocchi with sage butter

Grilled mackerel with green olive celery and raisin salsa (before and after salsa hides the fish)

This was a successful first foray into my new cookbook and I am sure I will be wittering about it some more in future.


Today though I am going to share the recipe for the soup. Claire and I have been slowly improving this soup over recent months and we think it quite delicious. It is also very filling and cheap to make so if you are looking to save some money in January...




Butternut squash and red pepper soup


You will need (serves six, but keeps well and heats up nicely as part of a packed lunch)


2 small-medium butternut squash (or one large squash)
3-4 red peppers (I used long romano peppers last night but usually use bell peppers which are less sweet)
2 large red onions (roughly chopped)
1 white onion (roughly chopped)
3 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)
1 red chilli (deseeded, finely chopped)

3 tbsps paprika/smoked paprika (adjust depending upon quality/strength/age of paprika)
1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
1 litre vegetable stock (or chicken if you prefer)

chives (finely chopped)
juice of a lime (add more if your soup tastes too sweet from the peppers)
corinader (roughly chopped- save some for garnish)
grated parmesan
salt and pepper
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.


2. Wash your butternut squash, chop the ends off and then chop it into chunks, removing the seeds from the bulbous end in the process. No need to peel- the skin is perfectly edible if roasted. Tip- get a long thin squash rather than one with a big round end. Easier to prepare the long bit as it has no seeds!


3. Use a little olive oil to lightly coat your chopped red onions, peppers and squash, whack in the oven for 20-30 mins until nicely roasted.

4. Use this time to prepare your white onion, chilli and garlic. Once chopped begin to fry these together with a little oil in a large pan. Stir occasionally,


5. Once your squash, red onions and peppers are ready add them to the pan and mix up. Cook for 5-10 mins or so stirring occasionally.


6. Add your stock, mixing well, and then add your paprika (and ground coriander if you want!) and mix well. Allow to cook for another 10 minutes.


7. Blend the soup until it is a smooth consistency. I usually use a food processor but used a hand blender last night and it was OK. 


8. Taste the soup, it's likely to be quite sweet from the roasted vegetables. Add lime juice and taste again, adding more if necessary . Season liberally with pepper and add a little salt (I use a little, you may wish to add more) Add your chopped chives to the soup, followed by coriander and stir.

9. Allow soup to cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes before serving. Grate a little parmesan over each bowl and garnish with leftover coriander leaves. Serve!


(I have been known to add milk to this which does change the soup somewhat but I'm not sure it is necessary. Crumbling goats cheese in rather than parmesan is a nice alternative).

recipe ends




I've got a half written blog about Scotch eggs from last week's birthday do but have been lacking inspiration. Sadly I didn't get to take many post pub photos- too busy chatting! I did get one from the afternoon's prototype scotch egg though- here it is. The pies we made were pork vindaloo, jerk chicken and Indian spinach and sweetcorn. If there is much demand for more pie/egg blogging I will have a bash. Let me know in the comments below!

Pies and scotch eggs are imminent

It's been a long time since I last wrote a blog. I will demonstrate this by reminding you of some things which have happened in this time:

A tyrant destroyed - end of the line for Muammar Gadaffi

Big Apple - purveyor of overrated technology dies (not sure why I'm trolling on my own blog- sorry iFans)

Little Britain- Cameron's lack of attention in GCSE diplomacy sidelines UK in Europe

Borderline- Theresa May just about holds onto her job

But you didn't come here for my ill-informed and deliberately provocative take on recent world events did you? Or course not! You're here to read my witterings, look at photos and then not read recipes!

Believe it or not the reason I haven't blogged for so long is because Claire and I have been very busy. Actually busy, not just sitting on the sofa watching TV busy.

We have: been to Blackpool to see transvestites dance; visited Amsterdam on a stag do (steak, beer, Jagermeister and Dragon™ since you ask); hen do in Newcastle; investigated the town of Reading in most unseasonal weather; decided to buy a house in 2012; worn a morning suit for the first and, possibly, last time; ushered, (first time) bridesmaided (second) and DJ'd (umpteenth) at a wedding; said farewell to some dear West London friends; hung out with some awesome, shiny, new people (Max!); registered a website name; bought a stupid amount of Sci-Fi books; and, most significantly on a day to day level, left 3 jobs between the pair of us...

We've worked with some lovely people over these 3 jobs. Sad to say farewell, but change is usually good. Here's to you former colleagues ! Thank you Mr Haden, Mr Whittles, Ms Torney, Ms Fitton, Mr Preston, Super Shems, and Mouse.

(some of these are not my photos)

Pictorial representations of the jobs we have left

OK, excuses for lack of blogging made, and I'm off work for three weeks with plenty of time for blogging, so let's move on. Now it's my birthday in the next few days and I suppose it is a big(ish) one. One that ends in a zero. The lovely Claire has arranged for a visit to a local pub tonight to celebrate, no mean feat this close to Christmas when everyone is so busy, so I've decided to make some pre/post pub snacks for people. I've got a bit carried away and now have plans to make three kinds of snack pie and scotch eggs. I did a lot of the work last night but they are all a work in progress so not any photos yet. I am committed to writing about each one over the coming weeks though. Watch this space!

The carp play the harp: Fish pie recipe

I've not seen many Disney films. I vaguely remember seeing Cinderella at the cinema, possibly in Darlington, as a youngster. Other than that I've seen Toy Story, if Disney-Pixar counts. Oh, and I watched the Lion King on the plane to Malaysia last year. I enjoyed it.

Despite this Disney-deprivation (I jest, watching Flight of Dragons over and over again was far more educational I'm sure), I'm still fairly familiar with the songs from the films of the house of mouse. I was trying to think of a suitable title for this blog and thought of the Little Mermaid and looked the lyrics up on the interweb. Hence the title.

Now I don't want to be called a pedant but there is a problem with the lyrics to this song. Carp are freshwater fish. They would not be playing the harp 'under the sea'. They would be dying as the saltwater burned through their gills. I just hope no carp, or other fish were harmed in the making of that song. Parents, think of that before subjecting little Jake or Sophie to Disney eh?

Focus Iain, focus. What was I going to write about? Ah yes, fish, and not the cartoon kind. This blog is the closest I have done so far to my current profession, in the subject matter at least. Having spent the past eighteen months working in a team called ‘Sustainable Fisheries’ I feel I must urge you to try and avoid unsustainable fish. If you’re in any doubt as to the origins of a fish in a fishmongers or restaurant, then ask! This website is a good place to arm yourself with some basic knowledge...

When people think of British food the first thought is often ‘roast beef’ but I like to think the humble fish pie possesses at least the same level of Britishness. Fish pie just screams ‘British home cooking’ to me and brings back memories of dinner with the family as a youngster. This dish also gives a great excuse to eat loads and loads of peas. I usually try and eat fresh vegetables but peas are an exception as they are still delicious when eaten from frozen and always useful to have in the freezer in case of sprained ankles or other swelling (confession- when I was little I used to steal frozen peas when my mum was cooking them and eat them still frozen. Mmm crunchy). Peas go so well with fish pie that when my friend John (shameless plug here- go buy his book!) served them together it converted Mel (of knitting stall fame) to liking peas. So there you go.

I usually make a fairly simple fish pie, but for some reason a couple of Sundays ago I made one that was a bit more extravagant. I’m not sure if I preferred it, but it was nice for a change!

Pastry Fish Pie

You will need

1.      Some fish, you want a mixture of smoked fish (or smoke flavoured and dyed yellow or red most likely if bought in a supermarket) and white fish and most combinations work, but try and choose sustainable species/origin combinations. I love shellfish so always add some of them too.  I used:
700g coley (aka saithe) fillets. Good, wallet-friendly, whitefish.
175g cooked mussels (mussels are a proper guilt-free and delicious food, super sustainable and farmed with almost no ill effects)
250g kipper (smoked herring) fillets
220g cooked and peeled coldwater prawns
300g smoked haddock fillet

2.      Some green vegetables and herbs. I used:
        2 leeks, chopped finely
        140g baby spinach (I might try some curly kale instead next time)
        Large handful of dill chopped up (Some people are funny about dill. Substitute parsley if it is         not for you)
 
3.      A topping of some kind. Mashed potato is traditional, but this time I used a  packet of shop bought puff pastry (I’m all for homemade stuff, and will make shortcrust pastry, but have never tried puff pastry. If anyone has an easy way of making it please shout!).

And...
50g plain flour
100g butter
700ml milk (I used semi skimmed)
4 boiled eggs (entirely optional)
Salt and pepper to season
Grated nutmeg
A whisked egg to brush on the pastry

What to do
If you are adding boiled eggs, get the boiling process underway so they have cooled down for later. They will need to be peeled and chopped before you can add them. I put this first as it is the kind of thing I forget to do.

Check your fish fillets for bones. Pull any out you can find. I used Claire’s cosmetic tweezers for this. Oops (she has many pairs so I wasn’t in as much trouble as you may imagine).

Rub a tiny bit of your butter over a large pan, put your fin-fish (not shellfish) in the pan. Pour your milk over the fish so it is covered. If this proves impossible, don’t fear, there is no harm in dividing the fish into batches and repeating this step. Better to take a bit longer and poach it properly than fit it all in the pan! Grind a generous amount of pepper into the milk, followed by some grated nutmeg. You could add a bay leaf too if you like.

Heat up the milk and turn down the temperature to a simmer before it boils. After 7 or 8 minutes remove the fish. If you need to cook a second batch of fish, place that in the milk for another 7 or 8 minutes.

Once all your fish is cooked you may want to remove the skin before breaking it up into suitably small pieces.

Then put your poaching liquid (likely to be a bit coloured now from the smoked fish) through a sieve to take out any fishy remnants.

Now you need to make a roux with your butter and flour. Melt half the butter in a large saucepan (I highly recommend a non-stick pan for this purpose). Add the flour gradually and constantly stir with a wooden spoon, even after all the flour is added. After a short while it will turn into a light brown thick liquid. Add the sieved poaching milk to the saucepan and mix thoroughly. Cook the combined liquid for 10 minutes or so, with the heat turned low.

Melt the rest of your butter in a pan and add the chopped leeks. Stir occasionally and cook until soft.

Meanwhile wilt your spinach (add to a pan of boiling water for a minute or so and stir) drain and set aside.

When your leeks are almost ready add your fish pieces to your pan of simmering milky liquid along with your chopped dill. Add salt and pepper, you’re best placed to know how much you like. Keep this simmering gently over a low heat.

Once the leeks are cooked add them, the spinach and the shellfish to the fishy-milky pan and stir in gently, so as to avoid breaking up the fish too much. Your pie filling is now complete! Transfer it to a suitable ovenproof dish.

Roll out your puff pastry so it covers the pie completely and is sealed at the edges of the ovenproof dish. If you have some leftover you may want to decorate the top of the pie, or call in a child or creative girlfriend to do so. After this is finished, whisk an egg and brush it over the pastry.

Heat an oven up to 200 degrees Celsius. Whack your pie in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry has risen and is a beautiful golden colour. Eat your pie! Preferably with peas (or peas with mint, yummy.)

 

And finally....

Last night I had some delicious food in Potli, a new Indian restaurant in Hammersmith. I was quite excited and immediately knew I had to write a blog about the place. Annoyingly I didn’t have my camera with me, but this gives me an excuse to go back next week for another round of awesome curry. Watch this space!

My first ever guest post

Hey you guys. I did my first ever guest blog recently and here it is on the ever wonderful bush birdie site. It focusses on two of my favourite local shops.

I've had a lot on recently and blogging was on the backburner, but that has now changed and I am resolving to get back to regular posting. Huzzah!

It's the way we bake it that makes it: Baked falafel recipe

Hello there readership - if indeed you're still reading, it being a nearly two weeks since the last post. I have a new resolution to do shorter blogs rather than the lengthier essays that you may be accustomed to on here! Or perhaps just do some shorter posts in between so that I don't leave you hanging like someone who goes in for a high five and doesn't collect it.

I like falafel. It's super tasty vegetarian fast food. Wars have been fought over who invented it and what exactly should go in it. FYI my stance to date has been to not include fava beans.

Until recently, I was convinced that it was a healthy alternative when you're in a hurry or just want a middle eastern snacklet. A few months ago, Claire and I experimented with making our own falafel.  We did it the traditional way and fried it. I came to the conclusion that it is perhaps not as healthy as I had assumed and have since been experimenting with healthier ways of making it. The problem has not been replicating the flavour as we have been basically using the same mix, but trying to achieve a similar texture to the traditional falafel.

Here follows my best attempt yet at a healthy version of falafel.

Baked falafel

This makes enough for four people, but the mix also keeps well in the fridge for a good few days.

Main falafel mix
2 x 400g cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
Large handful parsley, washed and chopped (but dry it afterwards)
Large handful coriander, washed and chopped (but dry it afterwards)
3 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp plain flour
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder

Olive oil - for lubricating the baking tray

Depending on how you want to eat this you may also need:

Something to put the falafel in (Khobez or pitta bread?)
Some salad stuff, (cucumber and tomato slices perhaps.)
Some saucy stuff (hummus, tzatziki, chilli sauce all good options)
Extra stuff to jazz it up if you're feeling posh such as halloumi or feta.

Put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend for 20 seconds. Mash it around with a spoon for a bit and blend for a further 20 seconds. You do not want this to be smooth, you want there to be chunky bits still in. This will help give your falafel good crunchiness when you come to eat it. This is also why you do not want too much water to get in, i.e. from your washed herbs. Scrape the mixture out into a bowl, taste a little bit and add more salt if you like things salty. Cover with some clingfilm, and put in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

You could use this time to prepare some salad to go in your final falafel wrap or make hummus.

Preheat your oven to 210 degrees C. Get a baking tray and brush a thin layer of olive oil over the base of the tray. Get out your falafel mix and using a rounded spoon (an ice-cream scoop if you have one, I use a measuring spoon) scoop falafel out onto the tray (see photo at top of post). Also brush a bit of olive oil on to the top of each of the patties. Bake for 10-15 minutes then turn them over and cook for the same amount on the other side. The outsides of the falafel should be starting to get a bit crunchy when they are ready.

Serve with whatever you have chosen! 

Now if you've missed my usual local ramblings, watch this space in the next few days...

The Fabric of Society

It's been an eventful few weeks since my last post. I've been to Edinburgh Fringe - highly recommended by the way - and returned home to find London in turmoil, ripping itself to pieces. Like many Londoners I've been watching the news and worrying as police sirens whiz past. So far, touch wood, where I live has been relatively unaffected by the riots. Thanks, at least in part I like to think, to the sense of community here. London is infamous for being a lonely place if you want it to be, despite the great number of people. In Shepherds Bush ignoring your neighbours is made that much harder by the people that live here. Walking down Uxbridge Road you will get nodded to and smiled at by the characters in the shops, even in the middle of Ramadan when many are understandably a bit more grumpy than usual!

This Saturday's Bush Festival on the Green promises to be riotous celebration of the different communities which make up the cultural melting pot which is the Bush. And, as you know from my previous post, wor Claire is running a stall with our friend Mel selling knitting and other homecrafts. Tonight I was recruited to take some photos of the goods on offer so I will give you a sneak preview of what you can get your hands on...

I'm sure these items will go down a storm in our close-knit community, but just in case you're wavering; if you turn up early enough Claire has promised to knit readers of my blog mice to order in colours of their choice! Huzzah. The stallholders will also be bringing along spare knitting needles if you want some tips or just to sit down and enjoy a natter and a knit in between all the other fun activities.

Other ongoings at the festival include:

• Face Painting
• Live Music
• Dance lessons
• Other craft stalls
• Capoeria
• Drum workshops

and many more... (see http://www.bushfestival.org/)

Well guess what I was promised in exchange for taking some photos? Mel's  speciality-Jerk Chicken!

And as many of you know, Shepherds Bush is renowned for the quality of the Carribean food available here and I will certainly be having some Jerk Chicken on Saturday at the festival! If I can get one of the guys serving food at the festival to share their recipe, well, I might even post it on here in future. See you on Saturday!

Laksa part two and a Bush Festival plug

Do you remember my first ever post? In which I discussed starting a blog and what I could write about it? One of the options was Shepherds Bush, the fascinating area of London in which I live, but I decided that a few of the blogs I follow already did a great job of covering activities in the area. One of the blogs I was talking about was Bird In The Bush (also linked in my blog list on the right of your screen, unless you’re on a mobile).

It can pay off to have useful up to date information on the area you live, especially when you live in London where the word 'local' can very quickly lose its meaning. Blogs such as Bird’s are a great way of finding out what’s going on. This was recently evidenced by a chain of events which, via me reading the Bird In the Bush blog, resulted in the lovely Claire (my ever suffering partner) and a friend running a crafts stall at the upcoming Bush Festival. A side effect of this is that my house (and the tube, and the bus and everywhere) has now become a full time knitting factory for the next few weeks as home crafts are crafted for the craft stall.

Bush festival is on Saturday August 13^th on Shepherds Bush Green, so get yourself down there! If you have any questions about Bush Festival have a look at their website or post a comment below and we will try and point you in the direction of an answer...

Now it may seem like I’m plugging my girlfriend’s stall and Bush Festival, but really this has just been an introduction allowing me to be smug and mention that my new shiny blog was featured in one of Birdie’s recent posts. I am very pleased about this. Anyway I will now proceed deactivating narcissism mode for today and getting on with the laksa recipe....

There are lots of different types of Laksas and I’m going to try and explain a few different ways you could prepare it over the coming weeks. The version I make most often involves chicken, prawns and beansprouts. By all means substitute out the chicken to make this pescetarian. I would suggest squid or cuttlefish would go well. You can also add extra veg to make it go further, pea aubergines can be a nice addition.

A much more fish orientated laksa recipe will follow- maybe even tomorrow!

Curry Laksa Ingredients

Oil, for frying (I use groundnut oil when I have it in)

400ml of Coconut Milk (from a can is most convenient)

300 ml good quality Chicken or Vegetable stock (If using bought stock I like knorr stock cubes or Marigold bouillon)

A small handful of curry leaves (I tear them up and add them to the stock)

300g noodles (Most noodles will work fine within reason, ie don’t try and use your pot noodles, that’s just silly)

300-400g chicken, chopped into bite size pieces (I recommend skinless thigh fillets)

200g fresh king prawns

150g Bean sprouts or trimmed green beans

3 tbsp Oyster sauce

3 tbsp Fish sauce

1 tbsp Palm Sugar

juice of 1 Lime

5 kaffir lime leaves (shredded by hand or knife)

Handful chopped coriander

small handful chopped mint (very much optional)

To garnish (all optional)

Chopped coriander leaves

Dried anchovies, shallow fried (buy in packs from oriental supermarkets)

Sambal

Crispy fried shallots (buy in little tubs from oriental supermarkets)

boiled egg (halved)

Method

Heat up your oil in a wok or large pan. Once the oil is hot add your laksa paste and stir fry it until it is giving off lovely aromas, this should take 4-5 minutes. Add your coconut milk and stock (with curry leaves in). Continue stirring and then add your chicken. Bring the liquid to the boil and then reduce the temperature until the broth is simmering. Leave it like this for 5 mins.

Meanwhile place your noodles in boiling water. They should cook in 4-5 mins. Move them into a container or into serving bowls.

Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice to the laksa in the wok. Stir thoroughly and taste. If it needs more salt add more fish sauce, if it needs more flavour add a bit more oyster sauce, if it needs sweetening add more sugar and if it needs to taste more sour add more lime juice.

Add the beansprouts followed by the lime leaves, chopped coriander and mint. Stir well. Let it cook for another 3 minutes.

If you are frying dried anchovies as a garnish do this now.

Add your prawns.  Stir thoroughly for another minute.

Serve over the top of noodles in a bowl. Garnish with fried shallots, fried anchovies, coriander and sambal.

I sometimes put the garnishes on little serving dishes and let guests do their own garnishing.

Traditionally this would be eaten with chopsticks and a soup spoon.

This recipe laksa certain something

Shortly after moving back to Newcastle after my stint in Manchester I moved into a house in Forest Hall with one of my oldest friends TL. Now T isn’t my oldest friend through age, rather he has had the misfortune of knowing me since I was four when we started school together many many moons ago. We coincidentally (I think, unless there’s something he’s not telling me!) then went to University together, lived together (as this blog describes), lived on the same street before I moved to London and he moved to the countryside. Now he keeps chickens and grows vegetables whilst I get tube-rage and write blogs which probably tells you more about the differences between London and County Durham than anything else.

Right, so I was up to us moving in to Forest Hall. Now 21 year old men are not really known for their cooking abilities and we were no exception. We were (and are) both big fans of food, despite T weighing about half as much as me, but our lack of kitchen ability and funds limited our culinary forays somewhat. This coupled with the fact that any money we did have was quickly spent on other things such as compact discs and going to pubs, lead us to one inevitable conclusion.

Soup.

Canned Heinz vegetable soup in fact. I occasionally ventured into the Heinz tomato soup world but this was scoffed at by T who was not so keen on this one vegetable (technically fruit, I know) alternative. We had quickly assessed the food options available in local shops and by far the best value one was a can of soup paired with a loaf of brown bread. I suspect this meal cost as little as a pound.

(Rather depressingly my google image search for 'Heinz vegetable soup' brought me to 'www.a-taste-of-britain.de' website. What must Germans think of us if our best food is an American produced canned soup? Then again the sauerkraut sat at the back of my fridge since Eurovision isn't disappearing quickly or a fair representation of German food)

These days I very rarely eat canned soup but I still get my soup fix through making my own. I am now a big fan of home-made soup. Looking back it seems a bit ridiculous that we bought  super salty factory soup when it is both cheaper and tastier to make your own.

My soup making has evolved from making my Mum's winter chestnut speciality, through other root vegetable soups (oh and Jamie O's mushroom soup gets an honourable mention) to eventually starting on South East Asian soups. I love South East Asian food, and the soups are no exception. These kinds of dishes allow me to combine my love of soup with my love of spicy food. Win-win.

I promised you a laksa recipe a few posts ago and here we are. I'm classifying laksa as a soup although I think some folk may take umbrage to that, but I've just written a soup related intro so tough. There's a million different recipes for laksa, but this one is a good compromise between authenticity and ingredient availability in West London.

I'm going to split this into two, so expect the second half later today. For now I'm going to talk about the laksa paste. Half the challenge could be assembling the ingredients I'm afraid, this one requires quite a few things that you may not keep in your kitchen as standard. Don't dash off to the shops immediately though! If you're going on a trip to a Thai or Asian supermarket it might be worth waiting for the rest of the recipe...

Shepherds Bush Laksa Paste

Right, there's some ingredients in this that some of you may not be familiar with so I'll talk about them a wee bit and give some tips on where to get them, focussing particularly on shops in the Bush.

Kaffir lime leaves

The kaffir lime grows on a thorny, bush-like plant in South East Asia and both the fruit and leaves of the plant are used for cooking. I've never come across the fruit itself in the UK but the leaves are relatively easily obtainable. These leaves have a delightful aromatic citrus quality and can really transform a dish. They are typically cut or torn up before being used. I always give them a sniff before putting them in any food as the smell is wonderful.

As I understand, it is illegal to import fresh leaves into the UK as there could be non-native fauna of some description hitching a lift on the leaves, but there are dried and frozen leaves available. Now you can get the dried leaves in most supermarkets but in my opinion they are pretty rubbish. The frozen leaves on the other hand are pretty good and will keep for ages in your freezer, but you may have to make a visit to your local Thai or Asian supermarket to pick them up. If you live in the Bush, you have two local options that I'm aware of: Sri Thai on Shepherds Bush Road sells big bags of frozen leaves for about £2, bargain- mine has lasted me ages. 

Alternatively you can walk down to Thai Smile on Kings Road in Hammersmith near Ravenscourt Park tube station. Thai Smile sell little packs of frozen leaves for about 80p but this will work out considerably more expensive in the long run. If you really must, you can get dried leaves in the big supermarkets but I highly recommend seeking out the frozen ones.

Belacan (shrimp paste)

This stuff smells like death. If you sniff the jar or a spoon of the raw stuff it will send a shudder down your spine. I've never been in a zombie apocalypse but I imagine it may smell a bit like this. Yuck. Once cooked however it provides a really distinctive earthy flavour and is an essential part of many Malaysian dishes. It's made from sun dried shrimp so isn't vegetarian friendly. Best bet for getting this is Thai supermarkets, Sri Thai and Thai Smile both sell different sized jars of the stuff. I buy big ones which last me ages. I think the big jars are about £4. I may have seen this for sale in Waitrose in Westfield but I may be imagining it and in any case I doubt it's great value.

Dried Shrimp

Doesn't need much explanation this one. Buy in oriental shops. Soak in water and then drain before use.

Lemongrass

You'll most likely have come across lemongrass before. I avoid the dried sticks and the pastes as it's easy enough to find some fresh sticks . You can even pick up fresh lemongrass in Morrisons these days, but at 80p for two sorry looking sticks I'd make the journey to Sri Thai and pick up a bundle of 12 big sticks for £2.09. You can whack 'em in the freezer if you're not going to be using all of them quickly. When you're using lemongrass you should remove the woody outer layers. Then chop up the bottom third of the stick after removing the end.

Galangal

This is a rhizome, like ginger, and the two do look fairly similar. Galangal has similarities to ginger but with a bit more citrus and the flavour sometimes seems more delicate. It doesn't seem delicate though when trying to chop it up- it's hard stuff so get out your best knife and be careful.

Morrisons now occasionally sell fresh galangal and, unlike their lemongrass, seems decent value. You still may be better off going to a specialist shop though. I freeze the galangal I'm not using in the near future. Cut off the outer skin like you would ginger and chop finely.

Fresh turmeric

Another rhizome! You'll be aware of the powdered turmeric that is available in all supermarkets and Indian shops but you may not have seen the fresh rhizome. Once you remove the outer layer it reveals a bright orange flesh with a fascinating smell and taste- it reminds me of a spicy carrot. Now this ingredient gives things great taste and colour- including your fingers and clothes if you are not careful. Unless you're not bothered about having fingers like an Oompa-Loompa I suggest caution when preparing fresh turmeric. I often get my fresh turmeric in Morrisons as it seems like good value. If you can't get it there pop to Sri Thai or your local Thai supermarket.

Ingredients:

As is can be quite a pain collecting all the fresh ingredients for this, I recommend making a big batch. This makes enough for about six big servings of the final laksa. You could quite happily double the quantities and freeze what you don't use for next time.

2 tsp of curry powder

2 tbsp of red chilli powder

2t bsp of coriander powder

1 tsp of salt

1 tbsp of sugar (play with this amount depending upon how sweet you like it- I use palm sugar available from Sri Thai in tubs)

12 little Thai fresh chillis (seeds and all- this makes for quite a spicy laksa so do feel free to reduce quantity or remove seeds) 
8 dried chillis (again reduce if not keen on spiciness)

 4 tbsp of dried shrimps (soak in water and then drain)

18 candlenuts or macadamia nuts (I go to the Asian costcutter on Queensway for candle nuts, but to be honest Macadamia just as good and easier to find)

10 kaffir lime leaves (central rib removed, leaves ripped into small bits)

5cm of fresh tumeric (peeled, chopped)

8cm of fresh ginger (peeled, chopped)

8cm of fresh galangal  (peeled, chopped)

8 big shallots, roughly chopped

6 cloves of garlic  (peeled, chopped)

2 tbsp of dried shrimp paste or belacan

4 stalks of lemongrass (remove outer layers, chop up bottom third)

Method

Easy peasy. Now purists would use a pestle and mortar to make this. I don't want RSI though so usually use a food processor. Add all the ingredients and whizz until it is a smooth paste. I've sneakily taken a photo in the pestle and mortar though (it's more photogenic than our magimix).

I'll tell you how I use the paste in second post to be published shortly.

I'm not the only fan of local shops! I recently stumbled across this, in which Nigella Lawson talks about two Bush businesses...

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