When there’s leftover meat in the fridge, but no plan written down, curry is my go to meal. Whether it’s Indian, Thai or otherwise, curry is almost always the answer. My recipe for Leftover Chicken Laksa stays within that pseudo-tradition, transforming cold meat into something worth devouring.
Tom Kha Gai – literally, Chicken Galangal Soup – is a coconut-based Thai soup famed for its subtle sweet and sour flavour profile. Though usually eaten as a curry – spooned onto rice – tom kha gai also works well as a noodle soup; the form it takes in the recipe below.
As far as root vegetables go, celeriac performs rather admirably as a base ingredient for soup – its creamy texture makes for a very satisfying spoonful, while its strong flavour pairs favourably with all manner of foods. The robust flavourings of Thai cuisine, in particular, combine remarkably well with this enlarged hypocotyl (celeriac isn’t actually a root, though it does have them) – hence this particular recipe.
Fish is something only very rarely eaten in our house. One reason for this is because it tends to be relatively expensive. However, one must remember that there are always cheap ways of eating most things (see my advice section). For instance, if one is looking for a fillet of succulent white fish, why not use coley instead of cod? There is always a reasonably priced alternative to that which is most in vogue. Trout is much cheaper than salmon and one must never forget the varieties that most don’t like the look of, such as gurnard. Remember, in the world of fish, it doesn’t have to look good to taste good; use the misplaced shallowness of other’s to your advantage.
Asparagus is probably the most popular spring-time vegetable. However, as one might imagine, there are other vegetables coming into season at this time of the year. After all, we don’t live exclusively on asparagus in the way that the Irish in the nineteenth-century lived, almost comically so, on a diet composed almost entirely of potatoes. The subject of this post, purple sprouting broccoli, is one of the most interesting of the current seasonal treats. This rather attractive vegetable, or brassica to be more precise, is beautiful both inside and out. In my opinion, purple sprouting broccoli is a far more interesting ingredient than asparagus in both its taste and appearance. This variety of broccoli is also, as it happens, far cheaper than asparagus. Indeed, it works out at a little less than half the price.