Great Asian recipes including kimchi and udon by top cooks including Shuko Oda and Blanche Vaughan, all selected by Observer Food Monthly
Shuko Odas chilled udon with summer vegetable agebitashi
Serves 2
dried shiitake 3 pieces
dried kombu 25g (available at souschef.co.uk)
water 600ml
dried udon noodles 1 packet
usukuchi soy sauce 40g (available at japancentre.com)
soy sauce 30g
mirin 40g
sugar 10g
salt a pinch
courgette
aubergine 1
asparagus 2
bell pepper
okra 4
vegetable oil 1 litre
grated ginger to garnish
grated mooli to garnish
spring onion 1-2, chopped, to garnish
Make a vegetable stock by soaking the dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu in the water for 30 minutes.
Cook and chill the udon noodles as instructed on the packet, and put in a bowl.
In a pot, bring the stock to just before a boil, then remove the kombu. Put the pot back on low heat and season with the two variations of soy sauce (normal soy sauce is fine if you cant get usukuchi), the mirin, sugar and salt (adjust amounts to your liking).
Chop each vegetable into bite-size pieces. Deep fry the vegetables in 170-180C vegetable oil for about 1 minute, then drain out as much oil as possible on a kitchen roll.
Add the vegetables to the simmering stock and cook for a couple of minutes, then place in a serving bowl.
Serve the bowl of udon noodles with the vegetable soup on the side to dip. Add grated ginger and mooli, or chopped spring onion as a garnish on the soup.
Shuko Oda is head chef at Koya Bar, London W1
Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyos kimchi fried rice
The simplicity of this dish belies its wonderfully deep and tangy flavours. Rejina pretty much won me over the first time she cooked it for me. The flavours were so complex and addictive I could have sworn she had been slaving for hours, when in fact she had whipped it up in minutes.
Since then this has been a go-to dish. Perfect for when you have no time on your hands but still want a really flavour-packed meal.
For anyone who is wary of kimchi, and its rather pungent odour, this is the dish for you. The frying radically alters the flavour of the kimchi, mellowing it and rounding out all those hard-edged flavours that assault your nostrils every time you open the fridge. We dare you not to love this dish.
Serves 4
vegetable or sunflower oil 1 tbsp
kimchi 320g, chopped into bite-size pieces
kimchi juice 50ml, from the kimchi jar
gochujang chilli paste 2 tbsp
soy sauce 4 tsp
cooked short-grain white rice 600g
roasted sesame seed oil 3 tsp
eggs 4
spring onions 5, finely chopped
toasted sesame seeds 2 tsp
roasted crispy seaweed 1 sheet, shredded
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan over a high heat. When hot, add the kimchi and stir-fry for 3 minutes, keeping it moving the whole time, until it begins to caramelise. In a bowl, mix the kimchi juice, gochujang and soy sauce, then add them into the pan along with the cooked rice.
Mix everything together until well combined. Reduce the heat to medium-low and fry for another 3 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the flavours, then stir in the sesame oil and remove from the heat.
In the meantime, in a separate pan, fry the eggs to your liking.
To serve, mix most of the spring onions into the rice, then plate up with a fried egg on top and the remaining spring onions, sesame seeds and shredded seaweed scattered over the top. Serve immediately.
From Our Korean Kitchen by Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 25). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for 20
Skye Gyngells salad of beetroot, tomatoes, goats curd and radicchio
This is really just an excuse to put as many beautiful summer vegetables on a plate as possible. The sweet, earthy taste of beetroot works well with baby broad beans and ripe tomatoes, while the radicchio lends a contrasting slightly bitter note and the goats curd underpins the lightness. Chioggia beetroot, with its candy-striped flesh, is a lovely inclusion if you have it. Serve this salad as a first course, or with some freshly baked sourdough for a light lunch.
Serves 4
beetroot 12 small (ideally a mix of ruby, yellow and chioggia varieties)
red wine vinegar 2 tbsp
extra virgin olive oil about 50ml
baby broad beans 200g, freshly podded
radicchio leaves about 8 large
little gem lettuce leaves about 8
lemon juice of
ripe tomatoes 4-6, depending on size (ideally a heritage variety)
goats curd or young goats cheese 200g (a vegetarian goats cheese can be
used here)
black olives 2 tbsp, good quality, pitted (optional)
basil leaves small handful
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the basil oil
basil 1 bunch, leaves only
extra virgin olive oil 100ml
Scrub the beetroot well under cool running water, then place in a saucepan and pour on enough water to cover. Add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Lower the heat slightly and cook for about 35 minutes until just tender when pierced with a sharp knife.
Once cooked, drain the beetroot and place in a bowl. Add the wine vinegar and about 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss gently to coat the beetroot in the dressing. Set aside to macerate and cool.
Blanch the broad beans in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and refresh in cold water; drain well.
Put the radicchio and lettuce leaves in another bowl. Dress with the lemon juice, remaining olive oil and some salt and pepper, and toss lightly using your hands. Slice the tomatoes or halve them if small.
For the basil oil, pound the basil leaves using a pestle and mortar to bruise and break up, then gradually work in the olive oil you will have a lovely sludgy sauce.
To assemble, arrange the salad leaves on serving plates with the beetroot and tomatoes. Add the goats curd and scatter over the broad beans and the olives, if using. Spoon on the basil oil and finish with the basil leaves. Serve at once.
From Spring by Skye Gyngell (Quadrille, 25). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for 20
Blanche Vaughans tomato and gruyre quiche
The slow-roasted tomatoes in this recipe are the sort of ingredient that always has a use in the kitchen. Its worth making double quantities to add them to tomato sauces, vegetable soups or stews, spread them on toast or stir into scrambled eggs. They will keep for about three days in the fridge.
Ive used wholemeal pastry here the nutty flavour of unrefined flour suits the acidity of the tomatoes in this quiche and it can be used as an alternative wherever savoury pastry is called for. The addition of polenta flour gives the pastry an extra crunch, but can easily be replaced with an equal weight of wholemeal or plain flour.
serves 4-6
For the pastry
wholemeal flour 140g
fine polenta flour or semolina flour 20g
cold, unsalted butter 110g
sea salt tsp
egg yolk 1
cold water
For the roasted tomatoes
cherry tomatoes 300g, halved
sugar 1 tsp
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh rosemary and thyme 1 mixed tbsp, chopped
olive oil 1 tbsp
For the custard filling
single cream 250ml
eggs 4, plus 1 yolk
gruyre 180g, grated (a semi-hard vegetarian cheese can be substituted)
fresh thyme 1 tbsp, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To make the pastry, put the flours in a food processor with the butter and salt. Blitz for a few seconds, just enough to cut the butter into small chunks but before the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Tip the mixture into a bowl and add the egg yolk. Using a fork, stir to distribute the yolk as best you can, before adding cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture starts to come together. Using your hands, gather up any loose flour and lightly press the pastry to form it into a ball. The less you work the dough, the better it will be.
Wrap in clingfilm and put it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
While the dough is chilling, prepare the roasted tomatoes. Preheat the oven to 150C/gas mark 2 and put the tomatoes in a roasting tin that fits them in a single layer. Sprinkle with the sugar, salt and pepper and the chopped herbs and then drizzle over the oil. Roast for 1 hour until they look a bit wrinkled and they taste sweet and intense.
On a floured surface, roll out the pastry. I like to use a high-sided 20cm tart tin but the quantities here will also suit a shallower 23cm tin. Line the tin with the pastry, pressing gently into the sides of the tin. Cover the pastry with a layer of baking parchment and fill the shell with baking beans. Bake blind in the preheated oven for 15 minutes then remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes. Allow to cool while you prepare the filling.
Increase the oven temperature to 200C/gas mark 6.
Mix the cream, eggs, cheese and thyme in a large bowl and then stir in the roasted tomatoes. Taste and adjust the seasoning: remember if you plan to eat this cold, it will need more salt.
Pour the filling into the cooled shell and bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on depth of your tin). Test to see if its done by pressing in the middle; it should feel slightly firm, with a little wobble and the sides should be puffed and browned. If not, return it to the oven for another 10 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly and continue to set before cutting.
From Egg by Blanche Vaughan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 22). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for 15
Sri Owens rendang tempeh
Tempeh can be cooked for a long time without becoming soft or disintegrating, so it is perfectly suitable for making rendang. Rendang is traditionally eaten with sticky rice cooked in coconut milk, or with lemang, the same sticky rice, but cooked in a bamboo segment. It is just as good, however, with plain boiled rice.
Serves 8-10
shallots 6, finely sliced
garlic 4 cloves, sliced
fresh root ginger 2.5cm piece, peeled, roughly chopped
turmeric root 2.5cm piece, peeled and roughly chopped, or 1 tsp ground turmeric
fresh red chillies 6-10, deseeded, or 3 tsp chilli powder
galangal 1 tsp chopped or tsp laos powder (ground galangal)
coconut milk 2.3 litres
tempeh 1.4kg
salam leaf or bay leaf 1
fresh turmeric leaf or lemongrass stem 1
salt 2 tsp
Put the shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric root or ground turmeric, chillies and galangal or laos powder in a blender with 4 tablespoons of the coconut milk, and puree until smooth. Put this paste and the coconut milk in a large wok or saucepan. (It is generally more convenient to start in a pan, and transfer to a wok later.)
Add the tempeh and the rest of the ingredients to the pan, making sure that there is enough coconut milk to cover. Stir the contents of the pan, and start cooking, uncovered, over a medium heat. Let the rendang bubble gently for 1-2 hours, stirring from time to time. The coconut milk will by then be quite thick and, of course, much reduced.
If you started in a large saucepan, transfer everything to a wok and continue cooking in the same way for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. By now the coconut milk is beginning to reduce to oil, and the tempeh, which has so far been boiling, will soon be frying. From now on, the rendang needs to be stirred frequently. Taste, and add salt if necessary.
When the coconut oil becomes thick and brown, stir continuously for about 15 minutes until the oil has been more or less completely absorbed by the tempeh. Take out and discard the salam or bay leaf, turmeric leaf or lemongrass. Serve hot with lots of rice.
From Sri Owens Indonesian Food (Anova Pavilion, 20). Click here to order a copy from Guardian Bookshop for 16
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