There’s been a lot of focus on Asian flavours in my kitchen lately – now that Spring has arrived I’m craving lighter, zingier food so I’m stocking up on citrus fruits, chillis and lots of fresh vegetables.
My two favourite Asian shops are the Asia Market in Ballymount and the Eurasia store in Fonthill – as those of you who come to my classes are well aware! Both are like Aladdin’s Caves full of wonderful and exotic ingredients – and I have to admit a number of which I have no idea what to do with – I would love someone to take me on a tour and explain how to use these ingredients. I regularly buy something which necessitates a google search before I can use it ! (hints on using dried Japanese plums welcome!)
This week I went with a mission -and a list ! I held a ‘Taste of Asia ‘ class on Monday with a variety of dishes from India, China and Thailand.
All Set!
Then yesterday a group of lovely ladies came for a private ‘Demo & Dine’ lunch and the menu included:
- To Start:
- Dips with Naan bread and poppadums
- Rice Paper Rolls
- Beef & Ginger Lettuce Cups
- Crab & Sweetcorn Soup
- The Main Event:
- Kung Po Chicken
- Beef Curry
- Goan Style Prawn Curry
- Yellow Vegetable Curry
- And to Finish:
- Lime & Coconut Ice Cream
- Mango Ice Cream
- Rose Petal Sponge
Oh there may have been some chocolate beetroot cake too…..
The result? 12 very happy and full ladies armed with new recipe ideas 🙂
Which brings me back to the point of cookbooks and this week’s recipe – Crab & Sweetcorn Soup.
The ‘Hey Pesto! cookbook – a work in progress
This is one of the first dishes I tried to cook – I can’t remember where I got the original recipe from but it has been stored for years in my trusty Cookery notebook.
I know I cooked it in an attempt to impress a potential boyfriend a long time ago – I even remember buying chines style bowls, spoons and chopsticks. The soup was well received but I can’t say the same for the ‘relationship’- it was very short lived. The agonies of my early twenties!
Fast forward a ‘few’ years and I resurrected the recipe for dinner recently – this time I knew I’d made a better impression – the CT asked for more 😉
If you’d like to impress somebody or just be nice to yourself then may I suggest you try this…….
Crab & Sweetcorn Soup
What you need:
- 1tbsp oil
- 1 bunch spring onions, chopped
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 cm fresh ginger, grated
- 1 large tin of sweetcorn, puréed
- 1 litre chicken stock
- 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 1 packet crabmeat (approx. 140g)
- 1 egg, beaten
What you do:
- Heat the oil in a medium sized pan. I used my local rapeseed oil but you can use coconut oil
- Add the spring onions, chilli and ginger and fry for 2-3 mins.
- Add the puréed corn, the stock and the wine. If you don’t have Chinese rice wine use sherry instead. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer.
- Mix the cornflour to a paste using a small amount of cold water. Then whisk the paste into the soup.
- Add the crabmeat and heat through.
- Just before serving pour in the beaten egg, through a sieve (trust me!) , to form ‘strings’ .
- Serve garnished with fresh coriander and a drop of soy sauce.
