Kimbap (Korea)

Ingredients:
Dried seaweed (nori) sheets
2 cups cooked rice
2 tsp sesame oil
Pinch of white vinegar
2 tsp salt

TRADITIONAL FILLINGS
1 carrot, julienned
cucumber, cut into long strips
2 eggs
1/2 pound of spinach, parboiled
pickled radish, cut into strips
Crab (optional)
Sausage strips

Preparation:
When rice is almost cooled, mix with sesame oil, vinegar and salt. Stir fry carrots briefly with a dash of salt. Stir fry cucumber with a dash of salt. Whisk eggs until evenly yellow and fry into flat omelet. Cut cooked egg into long strips. Stir fry the sausages and blanche the spinach in hot water and remove and keep aside.

Using a bamboo sushi roller or a piece of tin foil, lay the dried seaweed shiny side down.

Spread about ½ cup of rice onto 2/3 of the seaweed, leaving the top 1/3 bare. Lay the first ingredient down around 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the seaweed. Lay the other fillings down on top. Roll from the bottom pressing down to make the fillings stay in.

As you continue to roll towards the end of the bamboo mat, spread a tiny dab of water along the top seam to hold the roll together. Set aside and continue with other seaweed sheets. Cut each roll into 7-8 pieces.

Best had immediately.

FISH AMOK (Cambodia)

Ingredients for kroeung paste
5 dried red chilies (soaked, drained and chopped into a paste)
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp galangal (cut small – if not available, use ginger)
1tsp lemongrass (thinly sliced)
Zest of 1/4 kaffir lime
Capsicum – (1/2) chopped into small bits -to be added later.
1 tsp salt
Directions for kroeung paste
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend to a thick paste. Alternatively (and more traditionally) this can be created with a mortar and pestle.

Fry the above paste in 1 teaspoon of butter till fragrant. Cool and keep aside. Add chopped capsicum and salt.

Ingredients for amok
3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp kaffir lime leaves
3 chili peppers
500 g fish (any meaty fish)
3/4 cup coconut cream
1/4 cup additional creamk – kept aside
1 egg, beaten

Slice the fish thinly and set aside.

Slice the kaffir lime leaves and cayenne peppers thinly. Stir the kroeung paste into 1 cup of coconut milk. When it has dissolved, add the egg, fish sauce and sliced fish. Then add the remaining coconut milk and mix well.

Make the banana leaf cups, and add the fish mixture and steam for 15-20 minutes, then put the coconut cream on top and the thinly sliced kaffir leaves and cayenne peppers. Steam further until the mixture is solid, but still moist.

When ready, turn the amok over onto a plate and wipe away excess liquid with a napkin.

Chicken Lok Lak

Hi folks.  This is a delicious Cambodian recipe that I picked up when we were in Siem Reap. You can use Beef or Shrimp too.  It was a favourite with Devon, who liked to order it everytime.  If it was not on the Menu, it was a disappointed Devon that quietly ate whatever was served.   It is more like Chicken Stir Fry but ‘Lok Lak’ or Luc Lac’ is what it was called there.  It is usually served on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and with steamed rice, potato wedges and a small bowl of Pepper Sauce on the side.   A piece of chicken is wrapped in a piece of the lettuce leaf, dipped in the Pepper Sauce and then eaten.  I barged into the hotel kitchen and watched how the chef made it.  It was done in a huge very hot iron wok and took less than two minutes to be ready.   When I made it,  I increased the cooking time and tweaked it a wee-bit to suit our taste.

Easy, quick and delicious….. now that’s what you looking for, right ?

- Chicken -500 grams (boneless and sliced into bite sized bits)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt to taste (go easy on the salt –as soya sauce already has salt)
- 1-1/2 teaspoon crushed black pepper
- 1 teaspoon  chilli sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon red chillies –coarsely crushed
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoons soya sauce
- 1 tablespoon  Oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, chopped
- Lemon – 1 big
- Spring Onion and lemon grass –for garnish
- 2-3 tablespoons oil for frying the meat

For the pepper sauce:
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 large lemon

(For Pepper sauce – mix all together and serve in small-mini sized bowls)

Preparation

- Mix sugar, salt, pepper, oil, soy sauce, chillie sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, lemon juice, crushed chillies and garlic in a mixing bowl, add chicken and marinate for 1-1/2 hour.
-  Add 2-3 tablespoons of oil to a wok or non-stick heavy-bottomed pan,  sautee onion until brown and add marinated chicken and stir fry on high heat 5 to 10 minutes, until done. It is meant to be dry, however if you need it a little moist, just sprinkle little water and stir-fry for some more time.

-Garnish with chopped spring onion and lemon grass.

Serve on a bed of cucumber , tomatoes and lettuce (I did not have it so managed without it); accompanied with  rice and potato chips/wedges.

For rice :

2 cups rice – boiled and drained.
1 teaspoon of soya sauce
Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon of crushed pepper
A bunch of spring onions- chopped along with green stalks
Salt to taste
Butter – 2 tablespoons

In a wok add butter and sauté the spring onions,  add crushed pepper, soya sauce and cooked rice.  Add in the lemon juice and stir.  Add salt if required.  Garnish with a few spring onions and serve hot.

Serves 3-4.