Purple Mountain Yam | Two ways (Yamaimo, 紫山芋)

This came in the delivery today. We couldn’t wait to immediately use it. We made two quick dishes from this: tororo rice with marinated yolks, and a pan-fried dish. Both are delicious and super easy to make

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰🕰
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

For the tororo rice:

2 egg yolks
Rice
A piece of purple yamaimo
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce

For the pan-fried purple yamaimo:

A piece of purple yamaimo
Salt
Nori
Olive oil

Method:

For the rice:

1. The night before, marinate two egg yolks in 2 tablespoon of Japanese soy sauce
2. Leave in fridge for 1 day
3. On the day, boil rice
4. Peel skin off a section of the yamaimo, but leaving some skin on so as to give you a place to hand on to (otherwise, the flesh is very slimy)
5. Grate the yamaimo over the rice, forming a thick goop
6. Add yolk into each bowl with a bit of the marinade
7. Garnish with nori, cut with scissors

For the pan-fried yam:

1. Peel and cut yamaimo into 1.5 cm slices
2. Pan-fry in olive oil on both sides, around 3 minutes each, until lightly browned and crispy
3. Season and serve with more nori

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Polenta Provençale

Crispy and soft, this fills you up without making you feel dreary. The trick is to boil the polenta with a mixture of milk and stock, rather than just water. Goes well with grilled fish and tomatoes. Like all “poor man’s food”, this can be served at all levels of sophistication, from dorm to Michelin star.

Serves 2

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

100ml polenta
200ml milk
200ml vegetable stock
Salt
Butter

For the condiment:

Some mushrooms
Some coriander leaves and stalks
Some tomatoes
1 teaspoon mustard
Olive oil
Small splash of white wine
Very small knob of butter
3 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon flour
Herbes de Provence
Rosemary

Method:

1. Combine milk and stock and bring to boil
2. Season with salt
3. Pour in polenta slowly with one hand while mixing vigorously with the other
4. After 3-5 minutes of cooking, polenta starts to cling to the sides of the pot, but still runny
5. Transfer polenta to a flat tray
6. Spread out evenly to 2cm in thickness
7. Leave to cool by the window
8. Meanwhile, quarter mushrooms and chop tomatoes into cubes
9. Combine all ingredients of the sauce and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes
10. If too thick, add more water
11. If not thick enough, add a little more mustard
12. Check seasoning
13. Divide polenta into slices and pan fry in a knob of butter until bottom is golden but not burnt
14. Turn and fry for another few minutes until bottom is also golden but not burnt
15. To serve, divide polenta slices onto plate and top with the sauce and a sprig of rosemary

Luxurious scrambled eggs with overnight croissant

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If you’ve got stale croissant that’s soggy and sad, this is a great way to revive it and turn it into something magical. This style of scrambled eggs is cooked over a water bath rather than direct heat. It takes almost 10 minutes to make, rather than the usual 1, but the result is luxurious, silky smooth, and worth every moment of it.

Makes 2

Time: 🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

1 stale croissant
2 eggs
Small knob of unsalted butter

Method:

1. Using a serrated knife, cut croissant into cross sections around 1 inch thick
2. Spread out on a dry pan and toast on medium-low heat, flipping once
3. Meanwhile set up a water bath using a pot of boiling water and a bowl on top
4. Maintain a slow boil
5. Crack eggs into the bowl
6. Whisk eggs constantly while cooking to incorporate as much air into it as possible
7. Once egg starts to thicken, keep a close eye to ensure lumps don’t form. If they do, remove bowl from flame to whisk, and then return to the water bath
8. Once the egg mixture turns into a paste-like texture, but still runny, remove from flame
9. Add a pinch of salt and a small knob of butter, and continue mixing
10. The eggs will set using the remaining heat from the bowl
11. Spoon scrambled eggs over toasted croissant slices and finish with some black pepper
12. Garnish with tomatoes or smoked salmon and serve

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta (Lite)

Contrary to what the name suggests, the creaminess from this dish doesn’t come from the cream, but from the thickening (“manticatura”) of fish oils, starch, and liquids. Sure there’s cream, but not a lot is needed. Perfect for a guilt-free, Saturday lunch, with side salads and scotch eggs. 

Makes 3

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪

Ingredients:

240g pasta (80g per person)
3 large garlic cloves
Several slices of frozen smoked salmon (there’s no need to use the fresh, expensive kind for cooking!)
Splash of white wine
50ml cooking cream
200ml milk
Salt
10g unsalted butter
Olive oil
Coriander or parsley
Lemon juice

Method:

1. Defrost smoked salmon in room temperature
2. Finely mince garlic cloves
3. Bring pot of salted water to the boil
4. Put pasta into the water – linguine is a classic choice
5. In a large pan, heat oil and garlic until garlic starts to bubble
6. Reduce heat to lowest to cook for further 2 minutes, until garlic softens and looses its spiciness
7. Add a splash of pinot grigio for a fundamental acidity to the dish
8. Add cream and salmon and bring to a light simmer
9. Add 3 ladles of pasta cooking water and continue to simmer
10. Once pasta is almost done – still a bit raw In the centre – transfer to the frying pan
11. Add half the milk, the butter, and mix rigorously
12. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 3 minutes until milk is absorbed
13. Uncover; add more pasta water and the remainder of the milk
14. Continue to simmer and flip the pasta on medium heat until sauce has thickened and the pasta is well coated
15. Check seasoning and add more salt is needed
16. Serve “family-style” on the table, with chopped coriander or parsley as garnish
17. Place lemon wedges on table for guests to highlight their dish with a squeeze of lemon juice, to their own liking — the lemon elevates the dish to a whole new level

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“Unwanted” Soup with Truffle Oil

This is a special soup made mostly with unwanted and discarded ingredients. You won’t find a much better cream soup than this. We were super inspired by a book called Bread is Gold by Massimo Bottura and friends, which sits next to our TV.

Makes 3

Time: 🕰🕰
Effort: 💪💪

Ingredients:

1 leftover romanesco stalk, or 2 broccoli stalks
Discarded onion peels
Discarded celery fibres/peels/ends
Discarded carrot peels/heads/ends
Leftover cheese rinds (comté, parmiggiano)
2 garlic cloves
1 spring onion
Water
80ml cooking cream
10g butter
Truffle oil

Method:

1. Up to a week before, boil discarded onion, celery and carrot bits in around 500ml of water for 30 minutes, then store in fridge until the day: this is your “garbage” stock
2. On the day, chop up romanesco/broccoli stalk(s), garlic, and spring onion
3. Add spring onions and garlic to a pot and sweat in butter until softened, around 5 minutes
4. Add romanesco/broccoli stalks and stir to coat
5. Add stock from step 1 and enough water to not risk the pot drying out
6. Bring to boil and simmer until stalks are soften enough to blend – around 30 minutes
7. Remove soup from flame and blend with handheld blender until smooth, adding water bit by bit where necessary until the liquid is able to circulate, but still rather thick
8. Add half of the cream and blend further until frothy
9. Return to the flame; add cheese rinds and simmer until flavours from the rinds are released, around 20 minutes
10. Stir in the remaining cream and bring to temperature
11. Rigorously check seasoning and adjust with salt until just right – this is a heavy soup which can carry quite a bit of salt without tasting overboard
12. Fish out the rinds (optional)
13: Divide soup into bowls
14. Finish with a swirl of truffle oil

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