Before going to Africa I went to this lovely place called Ohio for a culinary weekend at the
Hide Away Inn. I don't want to talk about the details of the weekend--in fact I'd like to forget the details of that weekend. However, the inn was adorable and the food--oh my--I could not
wait to finally have time in my schedule to make this soup and salad.
Thai food usually comes with a kick that, when well done, simply wakes up the taste buds to enjoy the lime-ginger-lemongrass-curry flavors that dominate Thai dishes. I've heard it said (so I can't take credit for this analysis) that Thais have perfected the sweet-spicy-savory flavor combinations.
Cucumber Salad:1 large cucumber
3 green onions, finely sliced
1/4 cup diced red pepper (I used green bell peppers--they are half the price of the red peppers for no reason that is apparent to me)
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro (I tore my cupboard apart and still couldn't find even dried cilantro, it's fine without)
1/4 roughly chopped dry-roasted peanuts (didn't have this either)
2 tablespoons lime juice (or juice from 1/2 a lime)
2 tablespoons fish sauce (don't mind the smell, your food won't taste that bad)
1/2 teaspoon oyster paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Wash and dice the cucumber. Add spring onion, peppers, and cilantro and peanuts (if you have them) to the cucumber in a large bowl.
In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients with a fork or whisk to make a dressing. If it turns out you don't have oyster paste lying around but you do have musaman curry paste collecting dust in the cupboard, replace oyster paste and cayenne pepper with curry paste (something likely to be incredibly spicy if it's anything like
this curry). The substitution worked out perfectly.
Coconut Lime Soup:
2 14-ounce cans of coconut milk
2 cups water
2 tablespoons minced ginger root
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce (this is what Thais use instead of salt, fyi)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
dash of cayenne pepper
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Bring coconut milk and water to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Mince ginger root in a garlic press and add to stock. Stir in lime juice, fish sauce, turmeric powder and cayenne pepper. Season to taste. Add half of the green onion. Simmer soup for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve and garnish with remaining green onion.
After two tries at deep frying without injury, I think I can call myself a professional. Even when these wontons inflated to the point at which I thought they just might explode, sending scalding hot stuffing in the direction of my eyes, I kept my cool.
These fried wontons come to you courtesy of the last page of May's Gourmet magazine. Believe me when I say that I was thinking about them even in Africa. I thought they might make the perfect appetizer for Sarah's slumber party. I chose the vegetarian variety, for which I already had nearly all the ingredients (I substituted coconut milk for actual coconut meat). However, I was a bit disappointed with the quantity of stuffing required for the wonton (it was probably me not following the directions). The recipe said it made 24 wontons, but I only came out with 18 with a meager teaspoon of the savory-sweet coconut sauce dropped in the middle of each round. My adaptation of the recipe adjusts the issue.
Indian Sweet Coconut Dumplings: adapted from Gourmet
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons blanched and chopped almonds
4 tablespoons sultanas
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
24 round wonton wrappers
Combine all ingredients (aside from wonton wrappers) in a small saucepan on medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer until sauce is thickened and liquid has nearly evaporated, it should take 15 to 20 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and let cool.
Lay the wonton wrappers out on a flat surface. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of sauce onto the middle of the wonton. Using a brush, spread water on the edge of the wonton wrapper. Fold wonton in half and pinch shut. Bring about 2 cups of vegetable oil to a boil in a medium frying pan--it should be about an inch deep in the pan. Carefully drop the stuffed dumplings into the hot oil, turning with a slotted spoon to brown both sides. Remove from oil when browned--it should take less than 5 minutes.
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