Recipes

Purple and white sprouted broccoli are delicious; don't throw away the leaves. Eat it all! Here's Shu Hans' recipe for:

Dry tossed egg noodles with purple sprouting broccoli 
Serves 2
1 bunch purple sprouting broccoli
A pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 bundles of dried  egg noodles
1 tbspn fried shallots

For the dressing:
2 tbspn light soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbspn fried shallot oil
1 tsp chilli shrimp oil (optional)

Method
1. Trim any hard ends off the broccoli. Pour plenty of water into a pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling add a pinch of salt and the broccoli. Cook, uncovered until just tender; about 2 minutes. Remove from pan (keep the water in the pan), toss in the sesame oil and set aside.
2. Meanwhile put the dressing ingredients in a  large bowl and stir to combine.
3. Add the egg noodles to the pan of boiling water. It should take seconds; the noodles are done when they float to the top. Remove and rinse under cold water in a sieve. Return to the boiling water for a brief plunge before draining well and slipping into the bowl of dressing.
4. Toss well with chopsticks so that each strand is coated with the dressing. Divide between the bowls and top with the broccoli and fried shallots. This is great with green pickled chillies on the side.

This recipe easily adapts itself to other vegetables- bitter sweet leafy greens like kale or pak choi or asparagus in season.

There's lamb, there's hogget and there's mutton, each with a different flavour and maturity. Give mutton a try!

Mutton Satay with Tamarind Peanut Sauce    Makes 15 skewers
300g boneless mutton shoulder*
20 wooden skewers
For the marinade
10 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
4 stalks of lemongrass,white part only, bruised
2 slices of galangal
2 tablespoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
120g unrefined cane sugar
3 tablespoons groundnut oil
For the peanut sauce
1 heaped tablespoon tamarind pulp
200g skinless roasted peanuts
4 dried red chillies, soaked
leftover marinade (see method)
3 tablespoons groundnut oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar, to taste
big pinches of sea salt, to taste
To serve
cucumber slices
roughly chopped red onion
* You can also use lamb shoulder, beef steak or chicken thighs
Method
1. Cut the mutton into 2.5cm long strips about 2cm thick, or get your butcher to
do it for you. Blend or pound the ingredients for the marinade together to get
a fine paste. Place the meat in the marinade and let it sit overnight. Soak the
skewers in water overnight too, to prevent them from burning later.
2. The next day, thread the mutton pieces on to skewers, reserving the marinade.
3. Make the peanut sauce before you grill the meat, or if you have a minion to
help you, you could do both at once. Soak the tamarind in 250ml of hot water
for 15 minutes, until softened. Massage and squeeze to get the juices from
the pulp, then strain and discard the pulp. Place half the peanuts in the food
processor and pulse to roughly chop. Set aside. Finely grind the remaining
peanuts – these ground peanuts help to thicken the sauce. Set aside.
4. Blend the soaked chillies with the reserved marinade to make a rempah spice
paste. Fry the paste in the groundnut oil slowly over a medium low heat,
until fragrant. Pour in the watery tamarind paste, along with the ground and
chopped peanuts, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste with sugar
and salt, then reduce by boiling, or thin out with water as needed. The sauce
should be deep golden and have a rich, but pourable consistency.
5. When ready to cook, fire up your barbecue, or preheat the oven to 190ÅãC/
gas 5. Grill the mutton skewers over indirect heat until nearly cooked
through, about 4 minutes each side, then shift them over to a high heat and
grill for about 1 minute on each side, or until golden-brown and charred.
Alternatively, cook in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn the oven setting to
‘grill’ and grill until lightly charred, flipping the skewers midway.
6. Serve the satay straight away, with plenty of peanut sauce and slices of
cucumber and red onion.

Wild garlic is plentiful in spring and very adaptable.  
Fried Rice Vermicelli with wild garlic, mushrooms & egg
Serves 3–4
200g dried bee hoon (thin rice vermicelli noodles)
2 handfuls of dried shiitakemushrooms
about 150ml warm water
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
a handful of dried shrimps
2 free-range eggs
sea salt, to taste
½ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons lard or groundnut oil
100g shallots, chopped
a bunch of wild garlic (about 200g)
a large handful of beansprouts (about 100g)
For the seasonings
2-3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1ablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Method
1. Soak the noodles in cold water for 20 minutes, plus or minus 10 minutes
depending on how thin your noodles are, until soft and pliable. Drain well.
2. Soak the dried mushrooms in half the warm water along with the oyster
sauce. You are essentially marinating the mushrooms so they become plump
with sweet salty juices. Soak the shrimps in the rest of the warm water for
15 minutes.
3. Drain the mushrooms and shrimps, reserving both soaking liquids; they will
form the basis of your savoury broth for the noodles to cook in later. Slice
the mushrooms thinly.
4. Beat the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper, then pour into a small heated
frying pan to make a thin cr.pe-like omelette. Let set, and flip when golden.
Slice into strips.
5. Melt the lard in a medium-hot wok. When the lard is hot, fry the shallots and
shrimps until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for a minute, then
pour in the the soaking liquid, soy sauce, sesame oil and plenty of white pepper.
6. Bring everything to a bubbling simmer, then add the drained bee hoon. Using
your chopsticks, constantly jiggle and toss the noodles so that each strand
soaks up the delicious broth.
7. Stir in the wild garlic towards the end, cooking until wilted. Finally add the
beansprouts and the omelette strips, give a few final tosses and serve.

Note: With careful calculations made to avoiding more washing up, you can
essentially use one single pair of chopsticks from start to finish – beating the
eggs, frying the ingredients, tossing the noodles, and finally eating your meal.