Cooking Together – Vietnamese Chicken Salad, Lime Caramel Fish & Lemongrass Posset

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Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your evening and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas.

Menu: Vietnamese Street Salad, Vietnamese inspired Lime Caramel Fish, lemongrass posset.

Vietnamese Street Food  Salad

Ingredients: Serves 4

Try out different combinations

  • 3 chicken breast fillets (200g each) OR 150g roasted cauliflower and 150g firm tofu
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • add sea salt (and freshly ground pepper)
  • 90 grams bean sprouts
  • 20 grams Vietnamese mint (optional)
  • 50 grams Thai basil (or basil leaves)
  • 180 grams Chinese cabbage (finely shredded)
  • 90 grams raw carrots (peeled and cut into short, fine strips)
If making a veggie version ,jack fruit is great roasted and pulled – it looks like the chicken – we like to add some florets of cauliflower, also spiced and roasted and if you have any, roast & grate some extra firm tofu through the dish. 

For the dressing

  • 60 ml fresh lime juice
  • 60 ml fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoon rice vinegar (or Mirin)
  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar
  • 2 clove garlic (very finely chopped)
  • 3 red Asian shallots (or 1/2 red onion, finely sliced)
  • 2 small red chilies (very finely chopped)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas 7.
  2. Heat a frying pan over a high heat and, while the pan is heating, brush the chicken with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. For a Cauliflower and tofu version lightly coat in olive oil and season – roast the cauliflower for 25mins and pan fry the cubed tofu.
  3. Place the chicken skin-side down in the frying pan and sear for 2 minutes, turn and sear for another minute.
  4. Transfer the seared chicken to a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
  5. Remove and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.
  6. While the chicken is resting prepare the Vietnamese dressing. In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic, shallots and chili and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
  7. Shred the chicken or jack fruit into thin strips with your hands and place in a large bowl. Add in the bean sprouts, Vietnamese mint, basil, Chinese cabbage, carrot and Vietnamese dressing and toss to combine.

Vietnamese Lime Caramel 

Consistently popular at Food Sorcery, this dish is all about the sauce.  We love it with a piece of Hake, thick cut and firm, beautifully white when cooked, but you can cook it with salmon, chicken breast or thigh, cauliflower, king oyster mush and tofu also great.

Ingredients – Serves 2

  • 2 Hake Fillets 
  • 1 small disk palm sugar or 50g brown sugar
  • 1 tsp of Nam Pla, fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 can coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar 
  • 1 garlic clove grated
  • Grated to ginger to taste
  • 1 shallot finely sliced

Garnishes:

  • 1 spring onion, sliced
  • 1 large red chilli, finely sliced
  • Coriander, chopped
  • Lime juice and zest

Method

  1. Place sugar and water in a frying pan over medium heat. Stir, then when it bubbles and the sugar is melted (it looks like caramel), add the rest of the ingredients except fish.
  2. Stir, then put the fish skin down in the sauce 
  3. Adjust the heat to medium so it is simmering energetically.
  4. Cook for 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillet then turn and remove from heat.  Grate some lime zest into the pan and then roll and squeeze in lime juice.
  5. Place fish on serving plates, spoon over the sauce.
  6. Garnish accordingly and serve with rice or noodles

Red Rice or white rice – Gao Da San

This rice as a wonderful texture, it’s basically an unpolished rice and as a great fibre content for the diet, it can be eaten hot or cold as a yummy salad side. Serve with fish meat poultry or on its own perfect.

Ingredients: Serves 2

  • 140 g Red Rice or white rice (Rinsed)
  • 250 ml of water
  • 1 tbspTomato puree/katjup manis.

Method

  1. In a small saucepan bring the rice and water to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the water has been absorbed it’s fine to stir this rice. The rice should be soft yet with a slight chewy texture.

Lemongrass Posset

This is an Italian classic, and is great for a dinner party – as it can be made in the morning.

You could crush up biscuits of your choice and put in the bottom of the glass.  A classic Italian version would be an amaretti and serve a glass of amaretto on the side!

Ingredients: Serves 2

  • 300ml of double cream
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 1 stick of lemongrass

Method

  1. Chop the lemon
  2. Bring the cream and sugar to the boil (careful it should just boil but not boil over). Once you see it boil – stay there and boil for exactly 3 minutes.
  3. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lemongrass
  4. Strain this into a jug and leave to cool for 20minutes.
  5. If you wish to put a crumbled biscuit in the bottom of the receptacle – this is the time to do it. If not gently pour the cream into the glasses.
  6. Refrigerate for 6 hours minimum

We hope you enjoyed the class!

We really hope you enjoyed your class at Food Sorcery. If you have any questions for chef please do ask and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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