Green chilli dipping sauce

Perfect for barbecued prawns, or beautiful griddled whole squid.

Or perhaps some pan-fried sea bass with crispy skin (cook in a hot pan with a little oil for four minutes skin side down, turn and cook for two-three minutes then back skin side down for another one to two).

Any seafood really! 🍤 🦑 🐟 🦐

This is really spicy and sour and delicious and will keep in a jar in the fridge for about a week.

2-3 bird eye green chillies (you can use red I just wanted a green sauce) - chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

3 tablespoons fish sauce

The juice of 3 juicy limes

1.5 tablespoons caster sugar (or granulated white sugar is fine it just doesn’t dissolve as quickly)

small handful of fresh chopped coriander leaves (sometimes I add a few chopped mint leaves too)

Put the chillies and garlic into a mortar and pound with the pestle to muddle and mush them somewhat together.

Remember that you’re going to be eating this raw so make sure the pieces are chopped quite small.

Add the fish sauce and lime juice and water and stir in.

Then add the sugar and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Throw in the coriander and mix it in.

Taste and see if you want to adjust any of the flavours to get the perfect balance of spicy, sour, sweet and salty for you.

Drizzle a little over the seafood to serve and leave for people to add more to their own taste 🌶 🌿

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Luxurious spicy sour Thai seafood salad

What happened was that the grocery shopping arrived and one thing I always have is frozen seafood in the freezer.

Usually whole (cleaned, gutted) squid, big raw prawns and some scallops. Er, right now, the freezer box is so full of ice I can’t even get at the squid. And yes, I actually have a small under-counter fridge with just a freezer box at the top. I like that it’s under the counter and looks neat in the kitchen and also I don’t like to store (hoard) too much food so it works for me. Unless the freezer box is totally iced closed of course.

The newly arrived bags of frozen prawns and scallops were not going to wait for the freezer to defrost either!

I used some of them for an unexpectedly luxurious lunch for a normal Thursday, making them into a quick stir fry with gorgeous chorizo, a little chilli and a little spring onion and had it with rice.

I then poached all the rest by bringing a pan of water to the boil with a crumbled stock cube and some slices of fresh ginger, added the seafood (defrosted by then) and simmering very very gently for 3-4 minutes. Cool and it’ll keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

OK, it’s not the prettiest way to use seafood but I definitely didn’t want to waste it.

Friday was therefore another unexpectedly luxurious lunchtime treat of a Thai seafood salad, or yum talay.

To make a deliciously indulgent, summery salad for one, you’ll need:

the juice of one juicy lime

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2-1 teaspoon sugar (granulated or castor)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

cooked seafood - whatever and how much you choose. I have prawns and scallops

lettuce (I used little gem), cut in half and shredded

a few cherry tomatoes, quartered

a shallot, peeled and sliced into nice long slices, not diced

fresh herbs (optional) - whatever you have and like. I had coriander, mint and basil

Mix all of the dressing ingredients together (lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, chilli flakes) in a large bowl and stir to dissolve the sugar. Taste and add more of any of the ingredients to make it perfect for you.

Add the cooked seafood straight into the dressing and then the lettuce, tomatoes and shallots.

Mix it all together - you can use a spoon if you prefer but I like to use my (clean) hands to slightly massage it all in.

Add the fresh herbs, if using, and mix again.

Pile onto a plate and eat.

Perhaps have a glass of rosé with it if it’s sunny and you fancy it!

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Salmon with sesame, honey + other good things

Well, here in London it was a grey, cold, windy and absolutely lashing rain kind of a Saturday.

And I had salmon in the fridge so was definitely going to make it into something for dinner - hate food waste, so that’s it, if there’s salmon and it needs eating, that’s what I’ll have.

I usually like to cook salmon on the griddle so it’s crispy on both sides and have it like this with a spicy sour sauce.

But something about the rainswept day just made me want something softer somehow.

So I made this and it was soft and it was good with rice and the sauce was enveloping and warm and just right.

You don’t need to wait for a day indoors though, I think this would be lovely almost any evening for dinner - perhaps with a salad if the weather is a little cheerier though.

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I made this just for me but actually the sauce would have probably just about been enough for two, so add and subtract as you choose for your perfect quantity and for your taste - you really can’t mess it up or get it wrong, it’s always going to taste good!

Get the salmon fillet out of the fridge and if you like to take the skin off, then do so now.

Personally, I like to take most of it off but leave about an inch at the end as a treat for when it’s all crispy and crackly … but, I forgot it wouldn’t go like that if baked so I’d probably remove the whole of the skin next time. Up to you!

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For the sauce, you’ll need:

1-2 teaspoons runny honey

1-2 teaspoons coconut oil (but you could use another oil instead)

2 teaspoons light soy sauce

1 clove of garlic, squashed and minced

a small piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon or so of sesame seeds

1/2-1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/2 a juicy lime

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OK, I know this is where it starts looking like too much hard work to be bothered to do but I PROMISE it takes only a minute or two to do the heating/saucepan-y bit.

You just put the honey, oil and soy sauce into a little pan and heat gently until it’s melted, and then add a slosh of water and mix it all together and then take it off the heat.

THAT’S IT. Hard part done.

Then add all the other sauce ingredients to the sauce - either in its pan or mixed together in a different bowl - and stir to combine.

I couldn’t resist a little taste too - so good.

And next, just a dish for the salmon to go in, lined with a big piece of foil.

Tip most of the sauce onto the salmon, keeping just a little back.

Then fold up the foil so the salmon is in a little parcel with enough space for the sauce and fish to steam - don’t wrap it up tight, let it have room.

Put the salmon parcel in its dish into a medium oven - I have a gas oven and it was on Gas Mark 6 - for about twenty minutes.

I then tipped the salmon and sauce out of the foil into the dish to put under the grill for a further five minutes.

I take it out of the foil as the foil could catch alight. Also keep an eye on it while under the grill as that sweet, sticky sauce could potentially catch too.

What I was after was for it to all just cook a bit more and maybe even caramelise a little.

Pour over that last remaining bit of the original sauce - I just love that there’s a fresh kick somehow by adding this to the beautiful marinated cooked flavours.

Serve with rice and finished with some chopped spring onion and fresh coriander leaves, if liked.

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Thai coconut peanut prawn lettuce wraps

Perfect to hand round with drinks, or as a light lunch or even as a starter, these little prawn lettuce wraps are really simple but delicious.

I like cooking my prawns to have them slightly warm in the wrap, but you can always buy ready cooked of course if you prefer.

Quantities are kind of up to you and a bit play-it-by-ear, but to make one plate of these I used:

1 little gem lettuce, stalk removed and a couple of outer leaves removed too that didn’t look very good

2-3 dessert spoons of dessiccated coconut

2 -3 dessert spoons of peanuts (I used salted ones as that was what was in the shop), chopped into small pieces

1 small clove of garlic, peeled and finely minced

a small-ish piece of ginger, enough to peel and grate a teaspoon or so

1/2 teaspoon (more or less of course to your own taste) of dried chilli flakes

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 spring onion, chopped finely

chopped fresh coriander leaves

some raw prawns, defrotsted if frozen - I think I used 12 or so

2 teaspoons fish sauce

the juice of 1/2-1 lime (and another lime to serve)

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First get all the ingredients out and prepared so it’s all ready to go and put the lettuce leaves onto the serving plate.

Put a non-stick pan over a medium heat, add the coconut and toast until a light brown. Stir constantly and watch it closely - it’ll be the one second you look away that it suddenly burns!

Remove from the heat and set aside.

Into a bowl put about 2/3 of the chopped peanuts and set aside the remainder to add later.

Next into the bowl goes the garlic, ginger, dried chilli flakes, sugar, spring onion and most of the coriander leaves, again keeping some back to add later.

Stir and put the bowl aside for now while you cook the prawns.

Cook the prawns in a non-stick frying pan with just a few sprays of cooking oil and a little splash of water until they turn from grey to pink and are just cooked through (about 2-3 minutes).

Remove the prawns from the pan and allow to cool just a little, then chop into small pieces.

Add the prawns to the bowl, plus the fish sauce and lime juice, and now add most of the toasted coconut too, but leave a little back to garnish.

Stir it all together and check how it tastes - does it need anything else? A little more chilli, lime or fish sauce perhaps?

If not and you’re happy with it, spoon the prawn mixture into the lettuce leaves.

Garnish with the reserved coconut, peanuts and coriander, and add a few lime wedges to the plate in case anyone wants to squeeze more over.

I really hope you try and like this one - it’s going to be my summer party / suppers go-to I think!

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Chilli, ginger, lime, coconut sauce with salmon

This recipe just keeps evolving … I love it when this happens and one flavour inspires another or you think of a different way to cook it.

It started with a quick and easy beef rendang-style curry (so, so good).

And then one day that’s what I WANTED to eat but didn’t have beef (or lemongrass) so it became this chilli, lime and coconut chicken dish (also good!).

So next I thought I try making a version as a sauce and have it with a piece of fried salmon, and yep, this worked too.

I’d like to try it again but couldn’t resist sharing straight away although I often refine recipes a little bit on making them again (and again) so will come back and add to this if I have anything to update.

Also these pictures aren’t the best so I’ll change them for better ones when I next make it!

This is really simple too - it looks a lot of ingredients but

Make the sauce first …

Here’s what you’ll need to make enough for two (or one with leftover sauce, as I did:

a small piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1/2 a teaspoon turmeric powder (when I first made this, I didn't have any, so just leave it out if you don't either)

a couple of lime leaves, torn from the stalks and chopped into very small pieces (if you don't have lime leaves try the zest of a lime)

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1-2 red birds eye chillies (depending on your taste - I like it spicy!), finely sliced

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 whole cloves, or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

cooking oil

1/2 tin coconut milk (or like me, find a cute mini-tin!)

1 stick of cinnamon, or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 - 1 juicy lime (to your taste - I like lots of lime)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

green vegetable as liked - I had green beans and some asparagus tips

salmon fillet/s

Thai basil or coriander (if liked) to garnish, and extra chilli slices if you want!

Put the ginger, turmeric, lime leaves, garlic, chillies, coriander, cumin and cloves into a mortar, add a splash of water and use a pestle or rolling pin to pound into a beautiful paste.

Add a little oil to a pan and when hot tip in the spice mixture so it sizzles. Stir and add a splash of water if needed to stop it sticking.

After a few seconds, when it’s smelling amazing, add the coconut milk then add the cinnamon, lime juice, sugar and salt.

Bring to the boil and then throw in the vegetables and cooked until done to your liking - I think I cooked them for three minutes.

Remove from heat while you cook the salmon. I had a pretty huge fillet and cooked it for four minutes on each side.

Serve with rice or noodles if you want of course, or have it on its own …

Top the salmon with the sauce and garnish with Thai basil or coriander and extra slices of chilli if wanted.

Next time I think I’ll cook the green vegetables separately and make it all look a bit prettier - but it tasted good!

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE …

Crispy peppery seafood stir fry

What I was thinking of was lovely crunchy deep fried prawns in a light batter ... and then what I was thinking was that I wanted something similar but also not deep fried.

Oh and ALSO what I was thinking was that usually those deep fried prawns have the batter around the shell - and I just don't like eating the shell plus I have a bit of a horror of un-de-veined prawns.

So the combination of prawns with veins in, and the shell on AND deep fried .... just wasn't going to work.

(OK ... when I say a 'horror' of not having de-veined prawns, if I'm throwing them in the food processor to make something like my prawn balls, then OF COURSE I don't de-vein them first, I just throw them in and mix with the other ingredients. I just don't like to SEE the vein. Just to clarify :) )

I tried this a couple of times and I was a bit too heavy-handed with the white pepper at first, but yesterday I got it right ... right being just how I like it ... and so I want to share.

I always have frozen seafood in the freezer as it means there's always going to be something good to eat and for this I decided I wanted a variety of seafood, not just prawns after all.

I have prawns, defrosted and de-veined. And I have squid - I much prefer the tubes of squid I can then score and cut into smaller pieces that roll up - but my online grocery shop delivered rings, so I kept them.  I also usually have beautiful big scallops - but again the grocery shop this time delivered these tiny ones and actually I'm a bit smitten with them.

While defrosting all the frozen seafood in a bowl of cold water, I made a little Vietnamese-style dipping sauce and cooked my rice as the cooking of the seafood itself is really quick.

I made an easy little kind-of-batter with:

2 tablespoons cornflour

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/5-1 tsp (to your taste) ground white pepper

1-2 birds eye chillies (to your taste), very finely sliced (I prefer red, but the grocery shopping .... you get it)

Just mix it all together and when the seafood is defrosted and rinsed, tip into the batter and mix with your hands to cover the prawns, squid and scallops (or whatever you're using).

Then put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add some sprays of oil or pour a little oil to coat and when good and hot add the seafood.

It should sizzle immediately - so maybe try one piece to see if it's hot enough before tipping it all in.

Space it out so that nothing is on top of anything else and if there's extra batter add that on top of the seafood - it goes lovely and crisp.

Cook for about three minutes, turning a few times, until cooked and browned.

And that's it!

Serve with the cooked rice and I like to top this with some sliced spring onion and chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Drizzle over some of the dipping sauce, pour a glass of something cold and good ... and eat.

This is now a favourite 'storecupboard' meal for me - I really love making 'something from nothing - when it looks like there's nothing in the cupboards or fridge and then I can make something as quick and easy - and delicious as this!

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ... 

Chilli squid with noodles

I've been experimenting this week with how I make sauces, just simple sauces I mean, I suppose just the flavour element really - usually I'll add the flavours straight to the pan, but then I got to wondering if sometimes it would work better to have them separate.

So instead of adding the chilli, garlic, ginger etc to the sea bass I made the other night, I fried the sea bass first and then made the sauce to pour over it.

It worked so beautifully, I thought I'd next experiment with adding the sauce to the pan, but combining the flavour ingredients together first rather than adding directly one at a time.

Oh and I thought I'd also give my rice noodles a little flavour bath to infuse even more layers of flavour!

And this chilli squid with noodles dish is now my current favourite thing to make.  I know it might look a lot of ingredients, or steps, but don't be put off, because it's actually really simple.

To make a huge bowl for a greedy one, or two smaller portions perhaps to have alongside something else, you'll need:

a couple of raw squid tubes - I always have a bag of frozen ones from the supermarket in the freezer and just defrost for ten minutes or so in a bowl of cold water

FOR THE NOODLES

a layer of dried rice noodles, soaked in boiling water (off the heat) for a couple of minutes

1/4 a cup or so of boiling water

1/3 or a piece of a chicken Knorr stock cube

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

FOR THE STIR FRY SAUCE

1 tsp demerara sugar

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tsp chilli paste in oil (if you don't have a local Asian supermarket, it's easy to make your own chilli paste)

THE STIR FRY FLAVOUR INGREDIENTS

a piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 red birds eye chilli, finely chopped (use less or more to your taste of course)

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

THE VEGETABLE INGREDIENTS

some vegetables - I had green beans which I cut into smaller pieces and carrot, again cut into smaller pieces - but you could add red or yellow peppers or sugar snap peas or whatever you like

a few cherry tomatoes, halved - I added these just because they needed eating but I really liked them in this dish, so will definitely include in future too

PLUS ...

a few sprays of cooking oil, or a tablespoon or so of cooking oil

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Cut open the squid tubes when defrosted (if frozen) and pat dry with kitchen paper then score on both sides to create a criss-cross effect before cutting into smaller pieces - rectangles, triangles, whatever you like!

Add the boiling water, piece of stock cube and dark soy sauce to a little pan, bring to the boil, stir to make sure the stock cube is mixed in well, remove from heat and add the noodles and then just leave them to soak up additional flavour while you prepare the rest.

Add all the stir-fry-sauce ingredients to a little bowl and stir to combine so it's ready to use, and prepare the ginger, chilli, garlic and the vegetables. Keep the tomatoes separate as they'll go in last.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add the cooking oil and then the ginger, chilli and garlic. Stir and cook for about 30 seconds until it smells good - keep stirring so it doesn't stick and add a splash of water if needed.

Add the vegetables and cook for two minutes, stirring - add a little more water if needed to stop it sticking.

Then add the squid and cook for another couple of minutes - some of the pieces will roll up into tubes and they'll all look lovely where the diagonal pattern was made.

Add the stir fry sauce and the tomatoes and cook for two minutes more, then add the noodles from their 'bath' - but leave any liquid that doesn't come with them behind, you don't need all that liquid.

Cook for another minute to get the noodles hot and everything stirred together - and then just tip out into a bowl to eat! 

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ...

Sea bass with a ginger, chilli, garlic sauce

A couple of things, seemingly random ... firstly, I didn't really used to use ginger a lot, I found it too strong and it wasn't a favourite flavour.

And then, I started grating it on the smallest grating size of the grater and now I LOVE it! 

Secondly, I've been thinking about how I tend to add all the sauce/flavour ingredients in with fish or meat as I stir-fry and cook, and decided to do tonight's sea bass in two stages.

So I cooked the fish in a non-stick pan with a few sprays of my spray cooking oil, skin-side down for I think it was four minutes to get lovely and crisp, and then turned and cooked for another minute.

Remove the fish from the pan and then put the pan back over a medium heat with a few more sprays of cooking oil, plus some grated ginger, finely chopped garlic and birds eye chilli (amounts of each to your taste - I had one garlic clove, one chilli and a heaped teaspoon kind of sized amount of grated ginger).

Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds, then add a splash of water, a slosh of light soy sauce, another of fish sauce and a pinch of sugar - and i added a sliced spring onion too.  Cook for a minute or so more adding a little more water if you want more of a sauce, and then pour over the fish.

You could have with rice, noodles, potatoes, whatever you like, but tonight I served this very simply with some steamed green vegetables, a wedge of fresh lime and toasted some flaked almonds quickly in a dry pan to sprinkle on top.

I really love it when something so simple tastes so good! 

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ...

Thai green mango salad / som tam mamuang

I love som tam, the traditional spicy sour Thai salad made with green papaya ... and I often make my version using courgette in place of green papaya.

But this one, made with green mango ...

I'm sorry as I always like to give a substitute and try to avoid specialist ingredients as much as possible, but for this one it's green mango or bust.

I don't make this very often, but when I do I take some care over it - there's something very special to me about a green mango salad.

WhenI lived in Thailand, we had a huge mango tree, with it's branches spread above the decking by the pool.

We had a non-stop supply of sour green mangoes which were dipped into a sauce so fiery, sour, salty .... with fermented fish heads, crabs legs, all sorts of things.

And it was so good!

When the mangoes were ripe, there were fruit flies, we wanted to get rid of the fruit ... and every person who visited left with a carrier bag full of ripe mangoes - imagine, that many mangoes we had to give them away by the bag-load. 

But now, it's a little more special for me to make green mango salad and there's also something I find very elegant about it too.

It's the sweet, sour flavours I think, and that it just works best with prawns or other seafood, so as I said ... I just take that little bit more care than I sometimes do when cooking. 

I don't find it a chore, but actively enjoy each little step, from toasting the almonds (that I prefer in place of traditional peanuts as peanuts aren't nuts but actually legumes, and have more calories than nuts and don't have the good fats either), to blanching the green beans.

I want every single element here to be perfect.

And I also create the salad vegetables together with the dressing - it saves time, washing up, and also - so I believe - blends everything so perfectly that the whole dish comes together as one, all those elements combined into one perfect salad.

Green mango salad for two (perhaps served with rice) or for one greedy one (probably without the added rice) ....

LET'S GO!

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1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) demerara sugar

4 tablespoons water

flaked almonds

green beans, ends removed 

a few small tomatoes, quartered

2 or 3 spring onions, sliced

1 medium green mango

some raw prawns, defrosted if frozen, and a whole squid tube, defrosted if frozen

1 garlic clove

1-2 birds eye red chillies

1 tablespoon fish sauce

the juice of one juicy lime

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Put the sugar and water into a little pan, bring to the boil slowly and when boiling stir to dissolve the sugar and then remove from heat and cool.

Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, add a handful of flaked almonds and toast for a few seconds, shaking all the time - it'll take maybe 30 seconds - then remove from heat.

Get the vegetables ready: slice the ends from the green beans and cut into inch-long pieces; quarter the cherry tomatoes; slice the spring onions.

Peel the mango and then chop into long thin slices - the easiest way is with a julienne peeler - and put to one side.

Put a saucepan of water on and when boiling add the prawns for a minute or so until almost done, then add the green beans for a minute to blanch, then remove from heat, and cover with cold water to prevent them from cooking further.

If adding squid, cut the tubes, score on both sides, and cook on a hot griddle pan for a minute or so each side. I love how the tubes roll up! 

Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic and chilli into a rough paste but not a pulp.

Then what I like to do is make the salad veg and dressing all as one - so add the green beans, tomatoes and spring onion and pound again.

Tip in the sugar syrup, the fish sauce and the lime juice and stir and pound again, to meld it all together.

And then it's just all about putting it together! Add the salad veg/dressing to the green mango and toss with (clean) hands.

Pour it all into your serving bowl or plate and place the prawns and squid on top, and then lastly the toasted almonds.

Elegant, delicious, delicate at the same time somehow as having those huge hot and sour flavours ... this is a special one.

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ... 

Eating for overwhelm // white fish with ginger + onions

A lovely soothing dinner to ease a stressful day.

Working under stress, at a fast pace, can mean feeling nauseous and dizzy - and here's where ginger can help.

Onions are good for the heart and reducing high blood pressure, but my belief is also that eating for your heart also nurtures the heart emotion, that overwhelm that can come with stress.

And white fish is soothing on the digestive tract, soft and soothing to eat too.

Serve with a little white rice (which is easier to digest than brown) and with a green vegetable stir-fry, with a little chilli and soy sauce, to give hope and vibrancy  ...

This is a good choice for a dinner to wind down, take some time, allow yourself to relax, let all that jumpiness and tightness unwind a little.

I use my beloved remoska electric cooker for this, but you could put the fish into foil parcels on a baking tray or just straight into an ovenproof dish with a lid - and cook in a medium heat oven.

Here's what you'll need for two:

2 white fish fillets (cod, hake, haddock - up to you)

cooking oil

2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and grated

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tablespoon light brown demerera sugar

4 teaspoons fish sauce

the zest and juice of a lime

1 onion, peeled and finely sliced

coriander leaves to garnish, if liked

Put the fish into the remoska, foil or oven-dish and add a few sprays (or a couple of teaspoons) of oil, then the ginger, garlic, sugar, fish sauce, lime zest and juice and a splash of water and cook in a medium oven for 20 minutes or so - check that it's cooked through.

Cook your rice and any vegetables you'e serving with this ready for when the fish has cooked.

Five minutes before the end of the fish cooking time add a few sprays or a little oil to a non-stick frying pan and cook the sliced onion until soft and golden.

Serve the fish with rice and vegetables and topped with the fried onion and coriander leaves.

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YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ...

Yum talay (Thai seafood salad)

Sometimes I don't think what I do is really 'cooking'. Not 'proper cooking'!

I don't really weigh things out, it's never very precise, and you HAVE to taste and taste and see what tastes good to you. 

I see it as less 'cooking' and more 'faffing about playing with food'.

It's ALL about having fun and really ENJOYING making something good to eat - that's usually simple and quick too.

This recipe is a perfect example ... lots of playing and very little actual cooking. 

And it tastes really good.

I love seafood and I love hot and sour flavours - and the lemongrass and lime leaf makes this just really delicious - so full of flavour.

Thai seafood salad - let's get started.

I made a big bowl just for me - so adjust the quantities of course depending on how much you're making.

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Here's a list of the ingredients I used, but read through the whole recipe and see where you might adapt or change according to what you've got and what you like.

frozen prawns and squid, defrosted

1 tablespoon demerera sugar plus 3 tablespoons cold water

1-2 birds eye chillies

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1-2 limes

1 carrot, peeled and julienned

a few slices of white onion

2 spring onions, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 stick of celery, chopped

1 stalk of lemongrass

1 lime leaf, torn to remove the stalk

extra wedges of lime, to serve

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You can use any fish or seafood you like (or happen to have).  I always like to have prawns and squid in the freezer as it's just so easy then to make something to eat - and generally I have scallops too but not today. Defrost before using - seafood defrosts quickly in a bowl of cold water - then rinse with fresh cold water and pat dry on kitchen paper.

You need to cook the fish first before adding it to the salad - do this any way you like.

The quickest way for my prawns and squid to cook would be to drop them quickly into a pan of boiling water and cook for only about a minute or less ... I did do the prawns like this - they're ready when they've gone from raw grey to completely pink!

But I wanted my squid to have a bit more texture too it and I just like cooking it on the griddle and watching it roll up! (Yep, 'faffing about playing with food').

So I scored my squid tubes, opened them out and cooked them on a very hot griddle and squeezed lime juice over them as they cooked.

Once the fish and seafood is cooked, just leave to one side to add at the end.

The next part of playing with food is to make the dressing - I added one tablespoon of demerera sugar to three tablespoons of water in a little saucepan and brought it slowly to the boil, stirred to dissolve the sugar and removed from the heat to cool. You could stand the saucepan in some cold water in the sink if you want to cool it more quickly.

I pounded up two birds eye chillies (use 1-2 depending on your taste) then added a tablespoon of fish sauce and the juice of a really juicy lime, then the sugar/water mixture.

Stir it all together and taste - see if you need to add anything else. It might need a little more lime juice depending on how juicy your lime was! 

Do make this dressing to YOUR taste. I like it very spicy and very sour so use lots of chilli and lime, but you might prefer a sweeter dressing, so just taste and play and experiment.

Next - the salad.

Use what you like really!

I had carrot, some white onion, a couple of spring onions, a tomato and some celery - but you could use anything you like.

Very finely slice just the bottom third of a lemongrass stalk (having removed the tough outer layers) and also finely slice a lime leaf and add to the salad. 

If you can't get these then do make it anyway, but the lemongrass and lime leaf are SO GOOD do get them if you can! I'm lucky that my local supermarket sells them so hopefully yours does too.

Add the dressing to the salad, mix well, and tip out onto a plate or bowl and add the seafood

Serve with extra lime wedges to squeeze over.

And that's it!

One delicious, authentic, Thai seafood salad - easy and fun to make and very little actual cooking!

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Thai-inspired salmon tray-bake

So tray bakes ...

Well, first ... I was at my sister's in Cornwall the last few days, walking on this beach ... 

Spending time with my family, laughing and playing, and also lots of time creating, writing and cooking.

It's very different cooking for a family than for one or two adults (usually) and it made a really lovely change.

I especially liked the simple and delicious tray bake we made last night - just putting chicken thighs into a dish with cherry tomatoes on the vine, a couple of chopped rashers of bacon,, a garlic clove, minced, and new potatoes - served with steamed tenderstem broccoli.

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And all the way home, five hours on the train, I was half thinking, half brewing, what I could do for a Thai-inspired version of an easy one-pot tray-bake.

I had a friend coming for dinner tonight, so she was going to be my guinea pig!

I wasn't sure to be honest that it would work.

BUT we LOVED it!

And I'm SO utterly thrilled it was so good, and so simple too!

Current favourite easy dinner!

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OK, what you need for two people:

Some new potatoes, however many you want to eat! (I think I allowed 5-6 each)

Approx 150 ml coconut milk (I had this cute 165ml tin so used that)

150 ml stock made with chicken or veg stock cube

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced (put half aside)

a small (maybe a thumb sized) piece of ginger, minced (put half aside)

zest and juice of one lime

I red birds eye chilli, finely chopped

2 fillets of salmon, boneless and remove the skin if you can

some green veg - I had broccoli, asparagus and a couple of sliced spring onions

coriander leaves, chopped, to serve - if liked

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I used my trusty remoska to make this, but you can just use a glass/pyrex dish or roasting dish - and pre-heat the oven first to a medium heat.

Slice the potatoes quite thickly and arrange in a layer over the bottom of the remoska or dish.

Mix the coconut milk, stock, sesame oil,  1/2  the garlic and 1/2 the ginger and pour over the potatoes.

Then add the zest and juice of a lime, and the chopped red chilli.

Stir and cook for around 20 minutes. 

You will need to make a decision here as to the right time to add the fish and vegetables based on how cooked your potatoes are.

Mine needed 30 minutes cooking plus another ten for the fish and veg, but I think if you're using a pre-heated oven you'll only need 15-20 for the first part, so do check and use your own intuition (and knowledge of your own oven).

When the potatoes are 5-10 mins away from being done, add the salmon, the vegetables and then the remaining garlic and ginger.

Cook for another ten minutes of so until done.

Remove from heat and add a handful of chopped coriander leaves, if liked.

Serve either in the dish it's been cooked in, or if you're using a (kind ugly but the BEST) remoska like me, then serve in a bowl, maybe with extra lime wedges on the side.

We really loved this!

I hope you do too.

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Scallops + chorizo

Pork and seafood just go together ... here in a hot and sour salad, here in Singapore noodles, and tonight in a super-simple - but also luxurious - scallop and chorizo dish.

I always have seafood in the freezer - prawns, squid and scallops - as it defrosts really quickly in cold water and then cook quickly too, so there's always something good for dinner.

So I just put some scallops in a bowl of cold water to defrost and prepared the other ingredients: 

cooking oil

one garlic clove, crushed and minced

a red chilli, diced

a few slices of chorizo

a couple of spring onions, sliced

some sliced red pepper

one shredded little gem lettuce

and/or cooked rice to serve

Put a pan on a medium heat, add a little cooking oil (I use a spray oil) and add the garlic, chilli and chorizo.

Cook for a few minutes letting the chorizo release that lovely colour - and  do add a splash of water if you need to so nothing sticks and the garlic doesn't burn.

Then add the scallops ... I once read that scallops are 'helpful' when they cook in that when one side is done it will naturally come away from the pan and you're able to turn them, but I think you'd need to be using more oil than I am for this to work!

I just cook them for a couple of minutes each side and add a little splash of water as I like to have a little sauce in this dish.

When the scallops have had a couple of minutes on each side, throw in the spring onions and red pepper and cook for a two or three more minutes.

And that's it! 

You could serve with some plain rice, or you could try what I like - which is to add shredded lettuce (mine was little gem but any would do) to the pan and stir in to wilt.

I really like this.

I love cooked lettuce, that lovely braised lettuce done the French way with petit pois and mint, and one day decided to just add lettuce into a pasta ragu, or an Indian-style curry - and I liked it hence trying it today in this dish too!

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Prawn, tomato, rocket // easy summery pasta

Simplest summer pasta.

I used to make this all the time, then somehow forgot about it and my sister recently reminded me of it as she'd made it (it was a recipe of hers originally I think).

Quantities are vague really, it doesn't really matter (except what tastes good to you) but for two people, I used:

cooking oil (I use a spray oil)

1 small white onion (finely diced)

1 clove garlic (squashed and minced)

1 red chilli, diced

1/3 chicken stock cube (I always use Knorr)

Water

A glass of white wine

2 ripe tomates, core removed and diced

King prawns - I had these lovely head-and-tail-on jumbo prawns and used four for each person - but any large prawns will be good

A couple of handfuls of rocket

Cooked pasta, to serve (I make this first and add at the end but you might prefer to time it so it all comes together! I also use gluten-free but of course just use your own favourite)

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Put a frying pan over a medium/low heat and add a tablespoon of cooking oil, or a few sprays of oil, if you're using a spray oil (if you are, you may well need a little splash of water too to stop the ingredients sticking so just add a little as needed).

Cook the onion, garlic and chilli slowing until softened - this always takes longer than I think (anywhere up to ten minutes).  Keep stirring to stop it sticking and add a little water if it looks like it will.

Crumble in the piece of stock cube, a slosh of water, and the wine and bring to a simmer.

Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes - it should be good and juicy so add another slosh of water if it needs loosening at all.

Add the prawns to the simmering mixture and cook for a few minutes until either hot through (if the prawns are already cooked) or until the grey raw prawns are completely pink and cooked.

Add the rocket and immediately turn off the heat but keep stirring to wilt the rocket.

You can serve with the pasta or - as I usually do - add the cooked pasta to the pan to re-heat as it'll be slightly cooled if cooked earlier, and stir to combine.

Season to taste and enjoy! 

There's something very elegant about the simplicity of this dish - as in fact with my other favourite summer pasta with prawns + lemon.

Hope you love them too.

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Thai prawn + ginger noodles

This is a lovely recipe - it's a BBC Good Food recipe, shared with me by a friend and the original recipe is HERE if you'd like it.

I love the sauce made with red curry paste, orange juice and zest - so good, and such a great idea.

I did adapt it a little and because I hate precise measurements (and don't think they're needed with this way of cooking) I've made them a little bit easy-going :) 

What else did I just adapt a little?

First, the noodles - the recipe calls for sen lek -  lek means small so the original uses thin noodles.  I prefer the wider rice noodles so that's what I used - my message as always is to use what YOU choose.

Whichever you choose, soak or prepare the noodles according to your pack instructions, so they're ready to stir fry.  Always run your soaked noodles under a cold tap until they're completely cold to stop them going gloopy and sticky.

Oh and beansprouts - I don't really like them so left them out, but I'll add here in my recipe where to add them if you're using them.

The only other thing is basil - in my opinion this should say Thai sweet basil (horapha) as Mediterranean tastes totally different and won't work at all. So I'd say if you can get Thai sweet basil, then that would be amazing, but if you can't just leave it out, and don't use Mediterranean basil. 

And the coriander - I know a lot of people don't like it so if you don't, don't let that put you off this delicious, simple dish - just don't add coriander! It's still going to be very, very good.

OK, so I thought I'd try this one out just for me to see how I got on with it before I make it for anyone else, but now I can't wait for tomorrow dinner to cook it! 

For my one portion, so just double for two, I used:

Some lovely rice noodles, soak or prepare ready for stir-frying, according to pack instructions

Zest and juice of half an orange (zest first before halving - not being patronising, just making sure no-one else is sometimes as dizzy as me)

1/2 - 1 tablespoon red curry paste, depending on the strength of your brand of curry paste (you don't want it overwhelming but you do want to taste it)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon Demerara sugar (I didn't have any so just used white granulated)

1 tablespoon water

2 teaspoons cooking oil, or cooking oil spray (I used 20 sprays)

A small piece of fresh ginger, about thumb-sized, peeled and grated (it makes about 1 teaspoon)

I large garlic clove, squashed and minced

1/2 red pepper, sliced

a handful of mange tout or sugar snap peas, halved lengthways

a handful of beansprouts - optional, if liked

a few prawns, however many you want to eat, I had 7

a handful of Thai sweet basil, chopped - if you can get it - if not, just leave out

a handful of coriander leaves, chopped - optional, if liked

Stir together the orange zest and juice, red curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and water to make a sauce and set aside.

And get the other ingredients ready to go.

As I'd used the grater for the zest, I used it again to grate the ginger - which I prefer to having larger pieces, but am usually too lazy to get the grater out! (and yes I realise that that really IS lazy) - anyway that's why my ginger and garlic has little flecks of orange in with it!

Put a pan or wok over a medium heat, add the oil and then 2/3 of the ginger/garlic and fry, stirring all the time for 30 seconds or, as all Thai recipes say, 'until it smells good'.

I added a tiny splash of water too as garlic burns so quickly and wanted to make sure that didn't happen.

At any time in your cooking if it needs loosening a little, just add a splash of water. It's good to cook when things are moving fluidly and happily.

Add the red pepper and cook for another two minutes, stirring all the time.

Then throw in the sugar snap peas or mange tout and after stirring to ensure everything's mixed add the curry sauce mix.

I turned up the heat a little and added a splash more water and when it started to simmer, turned the heat back down to medium and added the prawns (add the beansprouts now too if you're using them).

Cook until pink - about two - three minutes - then throw in the last of the ginger/garlic, stir and add the noodles.

Stir to combine and make sure the noodles are hot, then remove from heat and serve, topping with coriander if using.

I really, really like this!

Great flavours - and one I'll be making again (and again).

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Smoked salmon pinwheels

These little deliciousnesses are Jane Swift's contribution to #ShareFoodStories - and I'd love to hear yours too.

Email me at rachel@rachelwalder.com and send me a recipe that means something to you, and the story behind why you've chosen it.  It could be something special, something celebration, or a favourite family meal that just is full of meaning for you. 

I'd love to share as many as I can.

Food has so much behind it - it's not just fuel for our bodies. Recipes are handed down through families, are part of what create families and sharing our food stories is about creating our history too.

And Jane shared her food story - salmon pinwheels.  

The story is here.

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The recipe right here: 

thin sliced soft brown bread

butter, soft and ready to spread

smoked salmon

fresh lemon juice

black pepper

Cut the crusts off the sliced bread, and spread with butter.

Carefully separate the layers of smoked salmon and lay a piece over each slice of bread.

Generously squeeze lemon juice on top,and a grind of black pepper.

Then roll the bread and salmon - to create a spiral of salmon within the bread - and tightly encase in foil so that it holds it's shape.

Best left in the fridge overnight, but an hour or so will do if you want to eat them sooner.

When you take the rolls from the fridge, unwrap them and cut into maybe four small sushi-sized spiral bites from each slice of bread. 

Eat and enjoy (preferably accompanied by a glass of something fizzy!). 

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Simple sea bass supper

This is so good.  Sea bass is so soft and delicate, I like to cook it very simply but then add a delicious dressing.

I cooked the fish in my remoska for 20 minutes, with just a sliced spring onion, a crumble of a piece of stock cube, the juice of half a lime and a very little water, but you could cook it in foil parcels on a baking tray in the same way.

The sauce is the best!

It's this one, it's a Jamie recipe and I adapted it a bit with mango for my fish tacos but as the mango I had wasn't soft enough I used kiwi fruit as in the original version.

Cut a green chilli in half lengthways and peel and halve a kiwi fruit, then cook in a hot dry frying pan for a couple of minutes each side until charred. 

Blend with a handful of coriander leaves, the juice of a lime and a splash of water. 

Please do try this, it's SO good!

I had a quick stir fry of green vegetables (topped with a squeeze of lemon) to go with the fish and the dressing, and this is now my current favourite dinner.

You know when you make something new and then just keep making it all the time?

Yep, it's like that.

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Easy-peasy kinda-kedgeree

The other morning I really, really fancied kedgeree. But not having any fish in the house, I made a vague approximation - just chilli and garlic, leftover rice, a couple of rashers of grilled bacon and a boiled egg. Added a few drops of soy sauce and done ...

And it was surprisingly good!

Kinda kedgeree

Cheat's kedgeree

I've still got a hankering for kedgeree though, and today made this 'cheat's version' - it couldn't really be simpler, especially if you use tinned tuna, or already-cooked leftover fish like the sea bass I had.

This makes a really good + quick meal - perfect for brunch or a simple supper.

For two, you'll need:

4 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

0.5-1 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp curry powder

Some hot cooked rice - you choose how much! 

Cooked white fish or a tin of tuna

2 eggs, boiled for 6 minutes, run under cold water to stop them cooking further and then shelled

Parsley and lemon wedges, to serve

Cook the spring onions in a frying pan with a little oil or butter (I'm using 20 sprays of my 1-cal spray oil plus a tiny splash of water) with the chilli flakes and curry powder.

Cook for a minute or or - don't let them stick or burn, add more oil or water if necessary.

Stir in the rice - and add the fish. Cook, stirring, until it's all hot through.

Turn out onto plates, adding an egg each and some chopped parsley (if you have some) and lemon.

It might be the 'cheat' version, but it's still really good! 

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Simplest seafood stir-fry with lime + chilli

Late Sunday morning.

Realise need to eat and that, having been up for several hours (well, from 7.30am and now it's 10.45am.

I really need brunch.

Time for my own personal take on Masterchef's 'invention test' (the one I'll be looking forward to most should I ever get on it).

I have: a rasher of smoked back bacon; a packet of cooked seafood mix (squid, prawns and mussels); some asparagus tips I picked up cheaply yesterday as they were put on offer as they became out of date. 

So ... time to rustle up the simplest seafood stir fry! 

It all goes together well - pork and seafood HEART each other big time. 

This is super-simple but it IS spicy and it IS very lime-y.

I actually think lemon might be nicer - and I rarely use lemon!

Cook your rice first so it's ready and then prepare the ingredients:

1 garlic clove, minced

a small piece of ginger, minced

1-2 bird eye chillies, squashed and chopped

1-2 spring onions, sliced

cooking oil, or Frylight spray oil 

1 bacon rasher, fat removed and chopped(I had smoked but whatever you have is good)

some mixed seafood (probably around a small bowlful or around 200g)

if you have them asparagus tips are good, but you could use another vegetable

1 lime

fish sauce

sugar

oyster sauce

cooked rice and chopped coriander leaves (if liked) to serve

I use my Frylight 1-cal oil spray as I'm losing weight at the moment, but you can just use a tablespoon of cooking oil if you prefer- and if so, you probably don't need the splash of water, but see what you think and add it if you need to.

Put a frying pan over a medium heat and add 20 sprays of 1-cal spray oil and then put in the garlic, ginger, chillies and spring onions.

Stir for around 20 seconds until it smells good and then add the bacon and stir for another 20 seconds - add a splash of water now, or earlier if you think it needs it.

Cook for another 20 seconds or so and then add the asparagus tips (if using) and cook for a minute. Add another small splash of water if needed at any time.

Tip in the seafood, stir and squeeze in the juice of the lime. 

Add a splash of fish sauce and half a teaspoon of sugar then cook, stirring all the time, for a couple of minutes until the seafood is hot all the way through.

Add a little glug of oyster sauce and cook for up to another minute until it's all hot and good.

Turn off the heat, add the coriander (if using) and serve with rice. 

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Soy steamed sea bass (or other white fish!)

This dish is too good not to share right away, but next time I make it I'll take some better photos and come back and change them! 

It's because I used cod fillets and they broke up when cooking - it still tasted delicious though I do prefer it with sea bass.  

This dish is a favourite Tiniest Thai Diet recipe - there's no fat at all used in cooking it.  It's a great 'diet' dish too as no-one would guess that you were on a diet if you served them this. 

I made it at a recent supperclub and everyone loved it!

What makes it special is the dried porcini mushrooms that gives a lovely sort of earthiness to the flavour, and then the bacon just goes so well with the fish.

It's super-easy to make too - to serve two you'll need: 

a small handful dried porcini mushrooms

1 rasher smoked back bacon, trimmed of any excess fat

2 spring onions

2 tsp sugar

4 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 fillets of sea bass, or other white fish

Put the dried mushrooms into a small bowl of warm (not hot) water and leave to soak for about 15-20 mins. I never measure the amount of water but it's probably half a mug or so.

While the mushrooms soak, dice the bacon and slice the spring onions. I don't know why I sliced them in rounds today as I prefer the look of them sliced in long thin strips - like here when I made this the last time!

When the mushrooms have soaked, drain and keep the liquid. Throw away any really tough mushroom stalks and slice the rest.

Add the sugar and soy sauce to the mushroom liquid and mix.

I use my beloved remoska (honestly, one of the best presents I've ever asked for - I must have had it over ten years and use it every week) for cooking the fish, but a pan with a well fitting lid (or foil) over a low heat would work well. You want to poach and steam the fish gently, just barely a simmer.

Put the fish in whatever pan you're using, pour over the liquid mixture and add the bacon, spring onions and mushroom pieces.

Cook gently for about 20 minutes, turning the fish carefully once (more carefully than I did as I broke up the fish) and add a splash more water if it's needed.

Serve with rice.

I made a quick vegetable stir fry today too if you're wondering what's in the bowl in the dark picture! 

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