<some_sarcasm> Sometimes I hear people say things like “I’m craving vegetables because my body is telling me I need them” or “I believe my mind is more at ease when I use coconut oil because I am clinically insane.” Like, you just have to listen to your body and it…
Snacks and Sides
Warm Sweet and New Potato Salad with Smoked Paprika
In my home I am mostly in charge of all food related activities, with a couple of exceptions. Since I am a demon in the morning and can barely manage the coffee I need to shift me from a state of falling over and running into walls to a state…
Spicy Chargrilled Vegan Israeli Couscous Salad
When I was last in Luang Prabang, I took a cooking class at Tamarind restaurant. At the class I learned how to make a simple jiew, a dip to be eaten with sticky rice, that contained little more than a few chargrilled grilled vegetables, salt and a pinch of monosodium…
Chargrilled Asparagus with Lemon & Sea Salt
Springtime is one of my favourite seasons in the UK, and that’s mostly down to that brief window of time when asparagus is harvested locally. Everyone goes mad for it, and with good reason, but what confuses me is how dull its preparations often are. Soggy and limp. Drowned in…
Gochujang and Smoky Horseradish Vegan Mayonnaises
Previously I’ve made garlic lime mayonnaise (which is ace on banh mi), but the combination of vegan mayonnaise flavours seems endless. One of my favourite condiments for spice and wow factor is gochujang, a Korean chilli paste, so when considering the next mayo variation this seemed an obvious choice. Vegan…
Noochy Deep Fried Okra Chips
I have so many opinions about everything, but I’m still unclear on how I feel about okra. I don’t dislike it, but it wouldn’t be my first choice from a menu with other options. I love nattō, so it’s not like I’m opposed to slime as a texture in food….
Stir Fried Pickled Mustard Greens With Tofu
I first tried this stir fry in Phuket after randomly pointing to a few items on a vegan buffet so large that my decision-making gears nearly broke (and they barely function to begin with). I recognised the flavour of pickled mustard greens and excitedly asked for the name of the…
Best Roasted Mushroom Recipe
This recipe is based one by America’s Test Kitchen, only simplified and made vegan friendly. These are the best roasted mushrooms I have ever eaten.
A different sort of salad: Burmese Pennywort
After months of travel I have finally returned to my home kitchen. September saw me in Southern Florida and Thailand, while October moved me to Burma. November was an exploration of Thailand’s Isaan region and a return to Laos, a country I visited and loved ten years prior. My last…
Soy Rinds
Pork rinds are a popular snack in Thailand, especially as an accompaniment to nam phrik relishes and som tum (papaya salad). There’s a commercial version in Thailand made from what I believe is a combination of soy and mushroom protein that I’ve yet to see anywhere else, but frying yuba…
Khao Tang (Thai Fried Rice Cakes)
So simple it hardly qualifies as a recipe, these Thai fried rice cakes (khao tang) are made by shaping steamed sticky rice into rounds before baking, sun-drying, or dehydrating the cakes. Once the crackers are completely dry, they are deep fried and used as vessels for different spreads and relishes….
Lon Tao Jiao (Fermented Soybean Dip)
We’ve already discussed nam phrik, the textured spicy Thai relishes pounded with a pestle and mortar. The other sauces in Thai cuisine are lon, which can be considered a softer relish, and are usually cooked. These sauces tend to include a fermented element, such as the fermented soybeans in the…
