Open my fridge, and you’ll discover a load of ‘trick’ condiments for injecting meals with flavor, the trick being fermentation and its deep effect on cooking. Fermented substances, of which miso is a shining star, have more than one layer and severe depth, which saves on time and effort developing that complexity yourself. My miso jar is available in particularly handy for cooking veggies without any help from animal-based products. It gives food – even desserts, notably while the caramel is involved – an umami taste and an unmistakable, yet very delicious, funk.
Potato and gochujang braised eggs (above)
Here, eggs are baked nestled internal a massive rösti with a crisp backside, giving you an ideal brunch aggregate. Try to stick to ½cm batons for the greens and not grate them, due to the fact you received’t get the crispness you’re after. You can try this with a sharp knife or, more without problems, a mandoline or a food processor with an appropriate attachment. Be sure to source a very good to excellent gochujang (a fermented Korean red pepper paste), because they’re a lot punchier than most supermarket brands.
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Using a bit of olive oil, gently grease a 28cm nonstick sauté pan that has a lid, then put it in the oven to warm for 5 minutes.
In a massive bowl, toss the first six substances and a quarter-teaspoon of salt until well lined (you could need to put on rubber gloves). Remove the pan from the oven, tip in the potato aggregate and spread out evenly, then return the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, rotating the pan as soon as halfway, till golden brown and crisp on the pinnacle.
Use the lower back of a dessertspoon to make 8 wells inside the potato mixture, then crack an egg into each well. Cover the pan and put it back in the oven for eight minutes, or till the whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny (if you want, use a small spoon and punctiliously peel away the white film over the yolks to show their shade). Season the eggs with a bit of salt.
While the eggs are cooking, blend all of the salsa components in a small bowl. To serve, drizzle the salsa all around the eggs and potatoes and serve immediately from the pan with the lime wedges alongside to squeeze on the pinnacle.
Leeks with miso and chives
The punchy dressing is the superstar right here, and it pairs brilliantly with the slight sweetness of the leeks. It’s also first-rate tossed with new potatoes or drizzled over fish, fowl, or tofu. The fried leek tops and garlic upload aroma and crunch, but in case you need to save yourself from deep-frying and/or time, take them out and serve the leeks with the dressing by itself.
Remove the tough outer layers of the leeks and wash them properly to take away any grit. Cut off and reserve the green tops so each leek is about 22cm lengthy. Finely slice 60g of the reserved tops into skinny, 8cm-long strips. Rinse the leek vegetables once more, to make sure you’ve removed any grit, then drain and dry thoroughly with a kitchen towel.
For the miso and chive dressing, pound the ginger and 1 / 4-teaspoon of flaked salt in a mortar (or with the flat of a knife). Put in a small bowl with all of the remaining dressing components besides the oil, stir nicely to mix and set aside.
Take a pot that’s large sufficient to preserve the leeks lengthways, 1/2-fill it with lightly salted water, then place it on medium-high heat. Once the water is simmering, add the leeks and turn down the heat to medium. Put a lid that’s smaller than the pan on the pinnacle of the leeks to weigh them down and keep them under the water’s surface, then simmer lightly for 20 minutes, or until a knife goes through without difficulty, but they may still be protecting their form. Transfer the leeks to a colander and stand them up vertically so they drain very well.
Put the vegetable oil in a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat and line a plate with kitchen paper. Toss the dried, sliced leek tops in a teaspoon of cornflour. Once the oil is hot (170C on a thermometer), fry the leek tops for approximately two minutes, stirring with a fork, till golden and crisp. Transfer to the covered plate with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with flaked salt.
Toss the sliced garlic within the closing sector-teaspoon of cornflour and fry for about a minute, stirring often to maintain the garlic slices separate, until crisp and golden brown. Add to the plate of fried leeks and sprinkle with more flaked salt.
Arrange the braised leeks on a platter and spoon over the dressing. Drizzle with the olive oil and top with the fried leeks and garlic. Sprinkle with the more chives and serve.
Sticky bananas with brown sugar and lime
This punchy dessert has the entirety – sweetness, acidity, saltiness, and umami, which makes the creme fraiche crucial for rounding out the flavors and mellowing them a little. The bananas you use should have almost completely yellow skins, with only the faintest bit of brown spotting. If you don’t have a spice grinder, it’ll be impossible to grind the rice sufficiently, so leave it out or use chopped toasted peanuts as an alternative.
