SOUTHEAST ASIAN TREAT
With
its medley of flavours, fresh herbs, veggies, spices and meats, Southeast Asian
food lends itself to inventiveness
The MHAD
noodles at the Republic of Noodles are addictive. But as I twist them over my
fork for what I promise, silently, is going to be the last bite, I find that I
have left the chef a little perplexed. “So, why are these MHAD?” I ask chef
Himanshu Sachdev of Lemon Tree Premier, Hyderabad. (Is it a polite way of
saying “mad”? because clearly the recipe is that kind of mix-inall-you-can
concoction that you sometimes come up with on, well, mad, bingey nights.)
The noodles, it turns out, are named after the person who contributed the inventive recipe that mixes in both regular and crispy noodles (use equal amounts and put the crispy ones on top after the noodles have been tossed and seasoned) with dark and light soy sauce plus a dash of oyster, chicken mince and veggies. In any case, it’s a recipe that shows why the noodle is such a beloved dish.
Think Global, Act Local
Whether it is soba or udon, the flat pad thai, vermicelli, thin Singapore-style, or even instant “two minute” ones, noodles are one of the most versatile singlebowl meals you can cook and consume. Though every region in Asia does its own street version (including “upma” made with seviyan in India), you do not need a fixed recipe for any of these. Just choose your strands, bung in veggies and meats and sauces and seasoning. Stir fry the lot and a glorious, almost instant meal is ready.
While “chowmein”, cabbageinfested, can be wonderfully tempting at streetside halwai shops, my all-time favourite noodle is the pad thai. Alas, nothing can really replicate the freshness and flavour of the Thai street and night markets which serve these best. This summer if you are travelling to Thailand, make sure that you fill up on pad thai — and do not shy away from nam pla or fish sauce, vital to all Thai food.
One of my friends is a Thai girl married to a Bengali, living in Delhi. Her pad thai recipe uses tamarind juice, fish sauce, fresh red chillies, a pinch of sugar and a little Aromat as seasoning for the noodles (Thai food balances all flavours — sweet, salty, chilli, sour). These are tossed with beansprouts, spring onions and crushed peanuts. You can add prawns, chicken or tofu according to your choice. Voila.
Street Smart
At a recent Asian street food festival at The Oberoi, New Delhi, on the other hand, I came across another, robuster pad thai version; with a Vietnamese twist. I asked chef Anshuman Bali for the recipe: Flat rice noodles (85 gm), tamarind pulp (15 gm), fish sauce (2 ml), soy sauce (5 ml), Sriraja chilly sauce (5 ml), garlic (10 gm), galangal (10 gm), tomato puree (10 gm), lemon grass (10 gm), kaffir lime leaf (5 gm), bird eye chilli (2 gm), Aromat seasoning and pok choi (100 gm). Clearly, this version uses a lot more herbs and seasoning.
But if noodles are the most common and popular street food in Southeast Asia, where the fusion of diverse flavours, fresh herbs, plenty of seafood and veggies mean that food is cheap but high on quality, there are other top picks too. From the Vietnamese Banh mi sandwiches — the best example of fusion food (French baguette encloses spicy Asian meats which could range from pork belly to meat balls in tomato sauce), to the fresh Thai salads (who can resist a fresh som tam, raw papaya crushed on stone) to Malaysian and Indonesian satay, roti canai (that is like our layered, lachcha parantha — an Indian import), the laksa assam (assam means sour), fresh spring/summer rolls....
Indonesian is one of the most interesting cuisines in the region with its Dutch, Indian, Muslim and Malay influences. It is also relatively unexplored by Indians — even though so many of us travel to Bali. The bedrock of most dishes here is the sambal, which can be so much more than your regular chilli paste (ulek). In fact, there are Indonesian restaurants that specialise in different types of sambals (used both as condiments and to flavour anything from rice to satay) and patrons queue up for these.
Summer Break
My favourite sambal recipe incorporates: chillies (10), onions (200 gm), garlic cloves (3), macademia nuts (12; try substituting with peanuts), powdered galangal (1 tsp), shrimp paste (2 tsp; get it off the shelf or you can leave it out too), palm sugar (3 tsp), tamarind liquid (125 ml), a bit of lemon grass, coconut milk (200 ml), oil (2 tbsp) and salt. Blend it all together. Use it in your nasi goreng rice (cooked with meats, strips of omlette, and Indian masalas like ground coriander and cumin powders) or as a marinade for satay.
A Thai raw mango salad, on the other hand, is apt for summer. Finely julienne raw mango and use a dressing of fresh red chilly and garlic (roughly muddle them together), lemon juice, fish sauce and palm sugar. If you like, crispy fry some fish and serve it on top for a delicious meal.
•
The Chinese Influence
Southeast Asian cuisine is influenced by the two big civilisations: India and China. If you like Chinese flavours, nothing can be better than using bean sauce, which revs up any dish instantly.
The noodles, it turns out, are named after the person who contributed the inventive recipe that mixes in both regular and crispy noodles (use equal amounts and put the crispy ones on top after the noodles have been tossed and seasoned) with dark and light soy sauce plus a dash of oyster, chicken mince and veggies. In any case, it’s a recipe that shows why the noodle is such a beloved dish.
Think Global, Act Local
Whether it is soba or udon, the flat pad thai, vermicelli, thin Singapore-style, or even instant “two minute” ones, noodles are one of the most versatile singlebowl meals you can cook and consume. Though every region in Asia does its own street version (including “upma” made with seviyan in India), you do not need a fixed recipe for any of these. Just choose your strands, bung in veggies and meats and sauces and seasoning. Stir fry the lot and a glorious, almost instant meal is ready.
While “chowmein”, cabbageinfested, can be wonderfully tempting at streetside halwai shops, my all-time favourite noodle is the pad thai. Alas, nothing can really replicate the freshness and flavour of the Thai street and night markets which serve these best. This summer if you are travelling to Thailand, make sure that you fill up on pad thai — and do not shy away from nam pla or fish sauce, vital to all Thai food.
One of my friends is a Thai girl married to a Bengali, living in Delhi. Her pad thai recipe uses tamarind juice, fish sauce, fresh red chillies, a pinch of sugar and a little Aromat as seasoning for the noodles (Thai food balances all flavours — sweet, salty, chilli, sour). These are tossed with beansprouts, spring onions and crushed peanuts. You can add prawns, chicken or tofu according to your choice. Voila.
Street Smart
At a recent Asian street food festival at The Oberoi, New Delhi, on the other hand, I came across another, robuster pad thai version; with a Vietnamese twist. I asked chef Anshuman Bali for the recipe: Flat rice noodles (85 gm), tamarind pulp (15 gm), fish sauce (2 ml), soy sauce (5 ml), Sriraja chilly sauce (5 ml), garlic (10 gm), galangal (10 gm), tomato puree (10 gm), lemon grass (10 gm), kaffir lime leaf (5 gm), bird eye chilli (2 gm), Aromat seasoning and pok choi (100 gm). Clearly, this version uses a lot more herbs and seasoning.
But if noodles are the most common and popular street food in Southeast Asia, where the fusion of diverse flavours, fresh herbs, plenty of seafood and veggies mean that food is cheap but high on quality, there are other top picks too. From the Vietnamese Banh mi sandwiches — the best example of fusion food (French baguette encloses spicy Asian meats which could range from pork belly to meat balls in tomato sauce), to the fresh Thai salads (who can resist a fresh som tam, raw papaya crushed on stone) to Malaysian and Indonesian satay, roti canai (that is like our layered, lachcha parantha — an Indian import), the laksa assam (assam means sour), fresh spring/summer rolls....
Indonesian is one of the most interesting cuisines in the region with its Dutch, Indian, Muslim and Malay influences. It is also relatively unexplored by Indians — even though so many of us travel to Bali. The bedrock of most dishes here is the sambal, which can be so much more than your regular chilli paste (ulek). In fact, there are Indonesian restaurants that specialise in different types of sambals (used both as condiments and to flavour anything from rice to satay) and patrons queue up for these.
Summer Break
My favourite sambal recipe incorporates: chillies (10), onions (200 gm), garlic cloves (3), macademia nuts (12; try substituting with peanuts), powdered galangal (1 tsp), shrimp paste (2 tsp; get it off the shelf or you can leave it out too), palm sugar (3 tsp), tamarind liquid (125 ml), a bit of lemon grass, coconut milk (200 ml), oil (2 tbsp) and salt. Blend it all together. Use it in your nasi goreng rice (cooked with meats, strips of omlette, and Indian masalas like ground coriander and cumin powders) or as a marinade for satay.
A Thai raw mango salad, on the other hand, is apt for summer. Finely julienne raw mango and use a dressing of fresh red chilly and garlic (roughly muddle them together), lemon juice, fish sauce and palm sugar. If you like, crispy fry some fish and serve it on top for a delicious meal.
•
The Chinese Influence
Southeast Asian cuisine is influenced by the two big civilisations: India and China. If you like Chinese flavours, nothing can be better than using bean sauce, which revs up any dish instantly.
::
Anoothi Vishal a Delhibased food writer &
curates food festivals ET130505
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