Jeowly good pickings

armchairtravellingfoodiesunite — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 14:24:00 GMT

Sabadi (Hello). This is a sneaky little post script to my scholarship entry...I had techi issues (I'm over 18), panicked and thought I was going to miss the deadline so sadly rushed it in. The plan was to give recipes for the entire feast, not just the Amok. Here goes.

Technically speaking, the dishes do not go together as the Amok is Cambodian and the jeow and sticky rice are from Laos. However, as the competition is about travel stories and our memories and therfore our stories have medled and become one, I thought it apt to combine the dishes.

In far Northern Laos, we trekked into a hilltribe village and spent the night in Poh's home. We were welcomed with open arms and a chicken was bought and bled in our honour. I'm not sharing that recipe.

My 15 year old daughter had brought the UNO cards and after a few rounds of show and tell, half the village was playing UNO like pros. Such a fabulous way to overcome the language barrier. I spent some highly valued time in the kitchen with Poh, pounding the jeow and steaming the sticky rice, both of us smiling enthusiastically at each other. I was in heaven.

The delicious eggplant jeow we ate, was made by roasting the vegetabels over hot coals, removing the balckened skins and then pounding them in a timber mortar. They do not waste a single scrap of food so there was no removing of chilli seeds - this dip was spicy hot.

The dinner we shared that night with our wonderful hosts was chicken stew, eggplant jeow and sticky rice.

Eggplant Jeow and sticky rice

Ingredients

serves 4 as part of a complete meal

Eggplant Jeow

2 small Asian eggplants or

1 x 500g aubergine

2 small cloves garlic, skin on

1 long red chilli

1/4 teaspoon fish sauce

Green part 1 small spring onion

1/2 cup chopped coriander leaf & stems

Sticky rice

300g Glutinous rice

Water

steamer

For the eggplant jeow

Line gas hob with foil so that you do not make too much mess in the cooking process.
Pierce the eggplants all over and spear lengthways with a skewer.
Turn the gas to medium and balance aubergine on the hob over a wire rack.
Spear the chilli & garlic - place over the hob.
When skin blackens, turn slowly. Repeat until all blackened. Remove from hob & allow to cool.
Meanwhile chop coriander and spring onions.
Pound chilli, salt & garlic in a mortar & pestle.
Add eggplant & coriander and pound until consistency resembles a soft paste.
Add fish sauce and spring onions. Pound gently.
Adjust to taste.

Method

For the sticky rice

Rinse the rice 2 or 3 times in cold water and then soak for 4 - 10 hours.
Drain and rinse 3 times again under cold water.
Place rice in a steaming basket. The Laos bamboo steaming basket is called a huat khao but you can also use a flat Chinese bamboo steamer lined with muslin or a clean chux.
Steam 20 minutes on medium heat. Do not let water evaporate. Toss rice (if using the huat khao) so that the rice that was on the bottom is on the top.
Steam a further 5 - 6 minutes. When ready, the rice should be soft and sticky but not mushy.
For this step, you can use a large bowl, benchtop or as my friends in Laos did, a recycled cement bag made from woven polypropolene - food safe? most likely not!
Choose your vessel and transfer your rice to it. Using a flat wooden spoon, spread the rice gently and then fold the rice back onto itself. The aim is to cool it a little so that it does not become too mushy as it continues to cook with residual heat.
Repeat for a few minutes then place rice in sticky rice baskets (Lao aep khao - bamboo.) Alternatively, place in a thermoserver or banana leaf lined bowl. Top with banana leaf.

To serve

There are no courses in Laos dining. It is very rare to entertain and imbibe in a decadent intake of food. Sticky rice is a staple in the country and in the Mhoung and Khmu villages where it is eaten with every meal. Indeed in some instances it is the meal, accompanied by a meagre serve of jeow or sauce. When dining out, all dishes are brought to the table at once.

Passport & Plate - Amok Trey - Cambodian fish curry

armchairtravellingfoodiesunite — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 17:05:39 GMT

Ingredients
Kroueng
20g fresh Galangal
100g (2 large sticks) lemongrass, white part only
20g (2 large cloves) garlic
50g (2) eshallots
2 long red chilies
2 small red chilies
30g fresh turmeric or 1 tablespoon ground
4 double Kaffir lime leaves very finely sliced + 4 extra
2 teaspoons shrimp paste
2 tblspns peanut oil
1.5 tblspns fish sauce
900ml coconut cream, reserving a little for the top
250g Snake or french beans, cut into 3cm batons
2 handfuls spinach leaves, sliced
600g firm white fish*, sliced thinly on the diagonal
3 eggs, whisked

How to prepare this recipe
Method
For the Kroueng, roughly chop galangal, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, eshallots and chillies. Pound in a mortar with a pestle to a fine paste (or chop in a food processor).
Add shrimp paste and pound until well combined and very smooth.
Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan, add kroueng and fish sauce. Cook until fragrant, reduce and cook further 5 minutes on very low heat.
Add half coconut cream and 4 whole kaffir lime leaves. Stir, cooking gently for 10 minutes. Add remainder of coconut cream, simmer very gently for 5 minutes, then cool slightly.
Add the beans and cook a further 5 minutes.
Add fish. Stir well. Simmer 3 - 5 minutes. Reduce the heat. Stir in spinach and allow to cool a little.
Stir in eggs and mix vigorously. Return to the heat and cook gently until the sauce has thickened a little
At this stage, you can transfer the amok to an oven proof dish, drizzle over coconut cream and cook in the oven or in a steamer @ 180C for 25 - 30 minutes.
Alternatively, you can finish off on the cooktop and transfer to a serving dish.
Garnish with a splash of coconut milk, shredded kaffir lime leaves and finely sliced chilli.
Serve with rice.

The story behind this recipe
In 2013, my husband Rob & I took our tweenie daughters to Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam on their very first international holiday. We wanted to show them how the other half lived - shake them up a little - ground them. During our 6 week journey, we were charmed by the people, humbled by their histories, captivated by the scenery & entranced by the vibrant flavours of the cuisine. We trekked & stayed in Hmong & Khamu villages in the mountains, never again taking rice for granted. Our tiny, wiry hosts pounded the husks from their home grown mountain rice by foot. We travelled by boat across the Tong le sap from Siem Reap, soaking in the busy river life of the floating villagers. We stayed in small locally run hotels, our travel clothes still boasting coloured cotton, used to identify them as ours in the wash, remind us of an unforgettable adventure. We backpacked student style, eating street food, crispy chilli crickets carried on the heads of the Cambodian women at the bus stops, Phoh sitting on milk crates in the pop up restaurants in Hanoi & BBQ fish at the night markets in Luang Prabang. We were in awe of the temples in Siem Reap, our emotions were stripped bare by S21 & the Killing Fields of Cambodia & we were humbled by the work of the many NGOs & former child soldiers now clearing Cambodia of land mines. Our eyes & hearts were opened. We laughed & cried & came home changed. As I type, I am overcome with emotion. Every time I make this feast, it all comes flooding back & I yearn to return. I couldn’t pick just one dish, so here is our Cambodian, Laos feast - a mix of the simple & the sublime. The Eggplant jeow recipe is courtesy of Poh, our hostess in the remote Hmong mountain village in Laos, & the decadent amok, one of our favourite dishes in Cambodia, we learnt to make in an al fresco cooking school in Siem Reap.

Running Amok in Cambodia

Jeowly good pickings

Passport & Plate - Amok Trey - Cambodian fish curry