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The sous vide is teaching me something that no one else has managed before. No, it isn’t punctuation or maths, this new found skill is patience. And using my new Polyscience sous vide kit from SousVideTools.com requires bags of it – it’s been a case of learn some or be disappointed with dinner. And when dinner doesn’t go to plan I turn into a pain in the ass. And no one (least of all poor Mathew) wants that.
The arrival of our sous vide kit from SousVideTools.com has brought with it much excitement mixed with a little bit of fear. It’s a scientific way of cooking but my brain doesn’t work in a particularly scientific way, so I’ve been venturing into unfamiliar territory where my kitchen instincts have all but left me. With my hob and oven I know what’s what – how long things take and at what temperature, but with the sous vide it’s a totally new ball game.
Heady, fragrant, aromatic and cleansing. Pho is one of my top noodles dishes of all time. There are a couple of ways you can make it; as a labour of love or a quick hit – both ways yield excellent results.
Whether it’s one of a few dishes being eaten on an evening in, or devoured all on its own at the end of a night out.
There are some evenings I’m happy to spend hours in the kitchen preparing and cooking meals, and then there are times I want to put in minimal effort but still get maximum results. This is one of the dishes I can turn to for just that.
Our house was full of foods from all over the world. I remember the pantry being stocked not with crisps, biscuits and treats like my friends homes were, but things like vine leaves, yellow bean paste, kimchi, black rice and smoked mussels. It didn’t make quick snacks very easy, but thanks to my dad meals were delicious, inventive and adventurous. I always felt very lucky on the food front.
Cheap to make, incredibly juicy, full of asian flavour and very easy to put together. Make more of them than you think you’ll need - I promise you they’ll all be scoffed.
A few years ago I worked in Leeds, and in moving into my Yorkshire home-from-home I was delighted to discover that Amie (the Cornish girl I was sharing with) was as hooked on noodles and oriental food as I am.
Read moreWe got ours on recommendation from our good friends Jon and Eva, Jon’s a BBQ aficionado and if Weber’s his choice then it’s good enough for me.
Read moreBut as a lean and economical meat I’m keen to get more of it into our eatings.
I know the dhal family are classed as accompaniments and curry evangelists might think me a bit of a pansy for saying that, but I just can’t help it.
In this brothy noodly concoction you’ll find ginger, sake, lemongrass, soy, miso and star anise, ingredients found in dishes all over the far east - they come together in this one aromatically and harmoniously, in fact, the flavours here are so delicious you’d think they were made for each other. Slurp.
So when the carrot of disco-by-post was dropped in front of me by Wrighty in exchange for a summery Japanese dish, I had no choice but to deliver.
If you’re a noodle addict (like me) you’ll know what I mean, this is one of the best noodle dishes you can get. It contains delicious umami flavour, slurpy broth and long and slinky and wiggly noodles all spiked with prawns and crab sticks, a bit of Japanese seven spice pepper and some greens. Food for me doesn’t get much more fulfilling.
When feeling a little run down (or in my case, like you’ve been overdoing things), chicken noodle soup really does hit the spot. But yeah, you might have guessed, in my world it’s got to be oriental.
Because of this dishes popularity, and of course because I love oriental food, I’ve decided to do another one in a slightly different way, and to show a number of different things that can be cooked from it. Hopefully this will please the thrifty, greedy and chili addled among you (and I don’t know about you, but I fall in to all three categories).
Szechuan peppercorns are very potent and clean tasting, almost mentholated, so they work really well with a big kick of ginger and green chilli, helping the chicken pack a punch in it’s fragrant liquor.
I’ve eaten them a few times in Vietnamese restaurants and have always really liked them, though the best time I tried them was in Thailand, not from a street vendor or somewhere only the locals go, but in Bangkok airport between flights.