Grilled asparagus

Spring is the season for asparagus. The French prefers white asparagus versus the green ones. I grill them on a metal griddle pan to concentrate their sweetness. It is served with home made mayonnaise using egg yolk, melted butter, salt, lemon juice and mustard powder. 

 

Veal liver with nut crust

Another healthy dish that is easy to prepare.

Season veal liver with salt and pepper, cover both sides with coarsely grinded nuts. Sear each side for around 2 minutes, serves with a salad. 

Rack of Lamb and soup

A hearty meal with grilled rack of lamb and vegetable soup.

1. Boil pre-soaked soya bean with vegetables like leek, carrot, daikon, a piece of bay leaf and star anise, add in rack of lamb and cook until meat is tender. Keep boiling soup for at least 2 hours to soften soya bean, season with salt.

2. Make a paste of mustard, honey and soya sauce, brush thickly on the surface of rack of lamb, grill for around 5 minutes until golden. 

Steak and carrot

It is easy to eat well without spending a lot of time in cooking, this is such a dish.

1. Sear steak on both sides, season with salt and pepper.

2. Cut carrots into slices and cook in butter and salt until soft.

3. Serve steak, carrot with a handful of salad. 

Mushroom in coconut and kafir lime sauce

Another dish tasted in a Lao restaurant, very simple ingredients but very rich flavour.

1. Wash and cut mushrooms into bite size pieces.

2. Remove middle vein from kafir lime leaves, cut into very fine shreds. Cut shallot into thin slices.

3. Cook shallot in medium hot oil until soft but no colour. Turn to high heat, add mushroom and stir-fry until soft. Add coconut milk, reduce to thicken, add cornstarch if necessary. Season with salt and white pepper. Mix in kafir lime leaves just before serving. 

Pork patties with tamarind sauce

1. Grill shallots, garlic and chili peppers on a hot flame until the outsides are charred and flesh soft.

2. Cut lemon grass into slices, wash handful of coriander, spring onion and basil, pound in a pestle and mortar together with 2/3 of grilled shallots, garlic and chili (optional). Mix with minced pork, dessicated coconut (5:1), season with salt, a little bit of brown sugar and pepper. Using wet hands, shape into patties, brush with oil,  and cook on barbeque or in oven.

3. Mix two spoonfuls of tamarind paste with half a cup of hot water. After resting for half an hour, sieve to remove stones.

4. Pound in a pestle and mortar  the rest of the grilled shallots, garlic, chili and an inch of chopped ginger, add in tamarind sauce, season with salt, brown sugar and fish sauce to arrive at a sour, sweet, savory taste.

Spicy cucumber salad

A variation of the Lao's spicy green papaya salad, I prefer cucumber over green papaya because it is more tasty and juicy.

1. Use a 'julienne' peeler to shred cucumbers into thin long strips, mix in a good pinch of salt, let it rest for 1 hour.

2. Pound in a pestle and mortar grilled shallot, garlic and chili. Mix in cherry tomatoes being cut into quarters, season with salt, fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice to get a spicy, salty and tangy flavour.

3. Wash a handful of coriander, basil and mint, tear into small pieces. Roughly chop roasted peanuts or cashew nuts. Mix the sauce, herbs and nuts with drained cucumber. 

Smoky eggplant with nut paste salad

A dish I have tasted in another restaurant: the smoky flavour of eggplant and the nutty sauce compliment each other. It is a clever re-interpretation of the local smoky eggplant dip, the chef turned it into a salad dish.

1. Grill eggplants, shallots, garlic and chili peppers on a hot flame until the skin is charred black and the flesh soft. Let them cool down and peel off the charred skin, cut eggplants into bite size pieces and lay flat on a plate.

2. Using a pestle and mortar, mash up shallots, garlic and chili (optional), handful of chopped coriander, spring onion, finely sliced lemon grass. Mix with crunchy peanut butter, season with salt, brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice until you get a fragrant, mildly salty, sweet and sour flavor. Add water if the mixture is too thick.

3. Spread the sauce on top of eggplant.