How do you switch from loathing something to loving it so much that it’s almost an addiction? I used to have a physical aversion to coriander, and would make my mother swear she hadn’t added any to the soup before I’d even consider eating it. A decade later, I couldn’t get enough of her garlic and coriander mayonnaise, which became a staple at home, both then and now. I can’t recall the journey between the two extremes, but I now regularly sprinkle fresh coriander over whatever’s on my plate. This might not always make total sense, but there are worse things to be hooked on. These three recipes are a great way to satisfy the cravings ...
The wild card starter (or breakfast): scrambled tofu with avocado and cucumber salad
After several trips to south-east Asia, I have finally seen the light and learned to like my breakfast every bit as gutsy as anything I have later in the day (a fiery laksa by the side of the road in Penang springs immediately to mind). With its chilli heat and lime zing, this dish delivers amply on that score. But if you don’t like assaulting your tastebuds first thing in the morning, serve this as a light supper instead. With thanks to my friend Claire Hodgson.
Prep 10 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 6
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely sliced
1½ tbsp harissa (or to taste)
700g silken tofu
Salt
6 slices sourdough, grilled or toasted
For the avocado and cucumber salad
½ cucumber, cut in half lengthways, deseeded and thinly sliced on an angle
2 green chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced
3 ripe avocados, peeled and thinly sliced
20g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp nigella seeds
Heat the oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high flame. Add the onion and fry for 10 minutes, stirring often, until caramelised and soft.
While the onions are frying, mix all the salad ingredients with a third of a teaspoon of salt.
Stir the harissa into the onions for a minute, then add the tofu and three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt. Use a potato masher to break up the tofu, so it looks a bit like scrambled egg, and cook for two minutes more, until hot. Serve on grilled sourdough with the salad on the side.
The easy side dish: sweet potato mash with herb and lime salsa
This mash or spread, which works both as a starter and as a side, is hardly any effort at all. The result, however, is wonderfully rich and punchy. After scooping out the flesh for this dish, I like to save the skins, and lightly roast them in the oven, for a crisp-like snack.
Prep 5 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 2-4
1kg sweet potatoes, skin left on and cut in half lengthways
For the salsa
5 tbsp olive oil
5g basil leaves, finely chopped
5g coriander, finely chopped
½ garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2 limes – zest finely grated (2 tsp), and juiced (1 tbsp)
Salt
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Season the sweet potatoes with two tablespoons of oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, then lay flesh-side down on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper and roast for 30 minutes, until very soft.
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, make the salsa. Put the remaining three tablespoons of oil and all the other ingredients in a bowl, add a good pinch of salt, and stir to combine.
Once cool enough to handle, take the skins off the sweet potatoes: they should slide off easily, but you can also scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
Mash the sweet potato with an eighth of a teaspoon of salt until smooth, transfer to a platter and make little dips all over the surface. Spoon the salsa evenly over the top and serve hot.
The DIY street food: Pork belly bánh mì (main picture)
Bánh mì is a Vietnamese street food: it’s a loaded baguette-like roll, often filled with fatty cuts of meat and lots of fresh herbs and pickles for balance. I’ve found that a supermarket bake-at-home baguette is the best vehicle here, because it needs to be crusty on the outside and very soft inside.
Prep 15-20 min
Cook 1 hr 20 min
Serves 4
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
8 fresh kaffir lime leaves, roughly chopped
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
100ml dark soy sauce
100ml maple syrup
1 carrot, peeled and shaved with a vegetable peeler
100ml rice wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
650g boneless and rindless pork belly, cut into 4 equal rectangular pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
60g creme fraiche
60g mayonnaise
½ cucumber, cut into batons
2 red chillies, finely sliced on an angle (deseeded, if you want less heat)
4 soft baguettes
30g fresh coriander, stalks and leaves
40g spring onions, finely sliced on an angle
1 tsp fish sauce
1½ tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put the first four ingredients in a spice grinder and blitz to a coarse paste (or use a pestle and mortar). Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the soy, syrup and 200ml water.
Put the carrot, vinegar and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt in a small bowl, massage together and leave to pickle for at least an hour.
Season the pork with half a teaspoon of salt and lots of pepper.
On a high flame, heat the oil in a large, high-sided, ovenproof and, ideally, nonstick saute pan.
Fry the pieces of pork for four minutes on one side and one to two minutes on all the other sides, until crisp and deep, golden-brown all over.
Pour the soy marinade into the pan, spoon it all over the pork to coat, cover with a tight lid and put in the oven to roast for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid and baste the pork well. Stir 200ml water into the pan juices, put the lid back on, then turn up the temperature to 230C/450F/gas mark 8 and roast for 30 minutes more, basting again halfway through (if the sauce isn’t thick and sticky by this point, reduce it on the stove top later). Take off the lid, leave the pork to rest for at least 15 minutes, then cut into 4cm x 2cm slices.
In a bowl, stir together the creme fraiche and mayo, then refrigerate.
To assemble the bánh mì, drain the carrot, a tablespoon of its pickling liquid. Combine the carrots, cucumber, chilli and reserved pickle juice, add a big pinch of salt and toss.
Spread the mayo over the bottom slice of each sandwich and top with some of the pickle mix. Put some meat and sauce on top, then scatter with coriander and spring onion. Drizzle with fish sauce, sprinkle on the sesame seeds and serve.
Photography: Louise Hagger for the Guardian. Food stylist: Emily Kydd. Prop stylist: Jennifer Kay.
