Throw together

Not sure if this is really going to be a much of a recipe post. I have been doing a lot of stuff recently where I'm not sure if I should bother sharing it as it seems so simple, so expect a couple of easy ones coming up. I'm quite happy with a dry noodle stir fry I've been working on, lots of black pepper and Sichuan pepper, very moreish and not much too it. So to kick off these easy, kind of what my nights are like at the moment, throw together, haven't done much research, meals, here is pretty much my go to meal when I can't think of what to cook, items switch out here and there but the basis is pretty much the same, salad of some sort, protein, rice, greens, sauce.

The Rice:
Well don't take me as an expert on this, there are better written and researched cooking methods, this works for me and it's easy.

• Add jasmine rice to a pot, add cold water so it's covered by about an inch.
• Place on a high heat, when it has begun to boil place a lid on and reduce heat to low. 
• Time for 9 minutes.
• Drain quickly, don't be too fussy, and dump the rice back in the pot, put the lid back on.
• Leave to sit on a board until ready to serve.

The Pork:
This will of course depend on what kind of meat you have, I had some bone off sirloin that were about 20mm thick. The steaks were seasoned both sides with salt and cooked in a hot a cast iron pan with a little peanut oil for about 2 minutes a side, still pink in the middle, set aside on a board to rest. When ready to serve, slice and lay on a bed of odd flavour sauce and sprinkle with roasted peanuts.


The Bok Choy:
Prepare a little dressing first, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 garlic clove (crushed). Cooking this is dead simple, quarter and rinse the bok choy, after the meat has cooked place the greens in the pan cut side down and cook until browned, turn over and cook a little longer, transfer to a bowl and toss the sauce through.
 


Odd flavour sauce:
I've covered this recipe before.


Celery Salad:
Make up a batch of spicy dressing, cut up about 2 cups worth of celery and toss together.

Spicy dressing for cool crisp things

This is a mind blowing, can be sinus clearing, awesome dressing for celery and spring onions, or tossed though some noodles, spooned over steamed rice, really anything that needs a helping hand.

1 Tbsp Soy sauce (Japanese)
1 Tbsp Sesame oil
1 Tbsp Rice vinegar
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Chilli in oil*

Mix all together and store in a air tight jar until ready to use. Toss through some sliced celery and scallions topped with some roasted peanuts, makes a great refreshing side dish for a salty main.

* You can use just chilli oil, or fried chilli in oil, or chilli crisp. I make my own chilli oil, fill a jar about halfway with toasted chilli flakes (roast whole chilli in the oven until fragrant and blitz), top up with grapeseed oil, stir and bang to get rid of air pockets and fill up with oil, leave for at least a month. It's the chilli solids at the bottom of the jar I use for this recipe.

Odd flavour sauce

I try hard not to post recipes from books or that others have created as I feel it is important to keep this site my own content as much as possible, in saying that anyone who follows me on Instagram will see I am going through a bit of an Asian phase at the moment, I blame 101 Easy Asian Recipes by the good people behind Lucky Peach, it’s truly an awesome book that has certainly educated me, the section on pantry staples has certainly made trips to the local Asian marts a lot more enjoyable, I actually feel like I know what I'm seeing on the shelves now. Aside from the chineasy cucumber salad, cold spicy celery, and my now go to chicken dish, Adobo chicken, I am obsessed with the Odd Flavour sauce contained within the pages, it goes with friggin everything and makes a dish taste better than the sum of it’s parts. Lacquered Roast Chicken with the above sides, rice and this sauce is heaven, a perfectly cooked pork chop with rice and the sauce is a quick throw together meal that certainly punches above it’s humbleness. The sauce has a good chilli kick and numbing heat from Szechuan pepper, just the right balance of sour and salty, and that nutty sweetness you get from tahini.

So a recipe entirely not by me but from the pages of 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan, go buy a copy.

Odd Flavor Sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp tahini*
1 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp neutral oil
1 small spring onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Ginger, minced
1 Garlic clove, minced, 1 tsp
½ tsp chilli flakes**
½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed

* Sub in peanut butter if you don't have tahini.
** More if you desire, but don’t go crazy

In a heat proof bowl mix together the soy, tahini, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and salt. You’ll want the tahini to be pretty well mixed through and the sugar mainly dissolved, I find a fork better than a spoon.

Heat a small pot over a medium heat and add the neutral oil. When the oil is shimmering hot remove from the heat and add the spring onion, ginger, garlic, chilli and pepper, stir for about 10 seconds until aromatic. Tip into the bowl. Mix together and transfer to a jar.

Will keep a few days in the fridge.