Korean Rice Porridge | The Vegetarian

By the time the twelve magnificent courses were over, my wife had eaten nothing but salad and kimchi, and a little bit of squash porridge. She hadn’t even touched the sticky-rice porridge, as they had used a special recipe involving beef stock to give it a rich, luxurious taste.
The Vegetarian
Han King

It’s getting closer to spring and the days are still freezing. Most of my week has been spent in an office, hearing the rain outside and eagerly looking forward to the walk back to the station with headphones in and a good podcast playing.

I’ve been doing a slow reread of The Vegetarian this last week, snatching brief moments of time in my day before and after work to get through a few pages. The Vegetarian is a novel that is always horrifying to me every time I read it - I’m not exactly sure why. Han Kang manages to create such amazing visuals with her writing style, a style that left me shuddering a little at some descriptions. My cook for this week was the

While my parents were both great cooks when I was growing up - we never really ventured into any Asian style cooking at home. And I was never that adventurous later in my life, I feel like most of my culinary choices were somewhat basic, with any Asian influences limited to Pad Thai or fried rice. There are numerous amazing sounding dishes mentioned throughout The Vegetarian, and I chose to go with one that is (surprisingly) no vegetarian. This recipe was created to be plant based and is but can easily be adapted to one that is not.

Note: I used some leftover faux beef chunks I had. Because they aren’t really raw meat, I just shredded them into pieces before I marinated them. If you’re using real meat, I would slice into shreds and ensure you cook them well. This recipe can also be made with already cooked meat.

Korean Beef Rice Porridge
Serves 3
Ingredients
1 cup rice
8 cups of beef stock + 2 cups extra if needed
200g beef *see note
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
Spring onion, thinly sliced for garnish

1. Slice up whatever type of beef you’re using and cover with 1 tbsp the soy sauce and minced garlic. Leave to marinate for about 10 minutes.

2. Leave the rice to soak in water for at least an hour and then rinse off until the water comes clear.

3. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and add the marinated beef in once the oil is hot. Cook briefly until the meat is cooked through, add in the rice and the beef stock.

4. Leave on high until boiling, and then lower the heat so it is just simmering. Add in the remaining soy sauce.

5. Leave to simmer for around 30 minutes, adding in the extra stock if necessary. You want to keep quite a bit of liquid in the final product. Once the rice has reached the right consistency, quite creamy, serve straight away with the spring onions for garnish. Enjoy!

Katsudon | Kitchen

I peered through into the darkened windows of souvenir shops and I spotted the light coming from a small eatery that was still open. Through the frosted glass door I saw it had only one customer, who was sitting at the counter. I opened the door with a sense of relief and went in. I craved something heavy and filling, so I ordered deep-fried pork in broth over rice. ‘Katsudon, please,’ I said.
Kitchen
Banana Yoshimoto

An incredibly amount of influence into the books I read come from recommendations. Whether it be a book that a friend mentions casually, one that has a glowing review in a local paper or the multiple of recommendations that flood through the wonder that is instagram.

This month, I’ve been drawn quite heavily into Babbling Books' Women in Translation Month. When perusing both her and others suggestions for the month I came to the realisation that I already had a number of translated books in my shelf already - I just had no idea that they were. I picked a couple off the shelves and dedicated the week to a reread for inspiration of a dish to make and my attention rarely was drawn away from Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. There are so many mouth watering dishes that are described in detail throughout the story - much of what ties into the beautifully written tale. I think for the month of August, most of my literary inspired meals will be done within the realm of Babbling Books' Women in Translation challenge.

Katsudon was the main item that wouldn’t disappear from my mind, however. The above quote from the book just installs a sense of comfort and warmth with the dish - of a hearty and filling meal that is bound to bring a sense of satisfaction to anyone, eaten late at night in a tiny, empty store. When I first moved to Melbourne, I would eat the same dish, in a particular tiny storefront buried somewhere within China Town late at night after a long shift at the restaurant I worked at. After giving up meat I hadn’t thought of it in years until my reread of Kitchen when the urge to recreate the dish would not leave my mind.

It was everything I remembered about the dish from years ago, and myself and my housemate greedily devoured it while the rain poured outside and we clustered around the tiny heater in the lounge.

*Note: So, I used soy steaks that I sourced from a local Asian grocer. Pressed tofu would also work wonderfully for this I believe. Otherwise, it can be made with pork chops of course - I would recommend using a mallet or rolling pin to gently pound the meat thin if you do choose to use this.

Katsudon
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 x meat of choice *see note
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp plain flour
1 small brown onion, finely sliced
1 cup sushi rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
3 tsp mirin
2 tsp white sugar
2 tbsp finely chopped nori
1 3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 spring onion, finely sliced

1. Mix together the corn flour and water well, so no lumps are remaining. Set into a wide bowl, and do the same for the plain flour and panic breadcrumbs. You essentially want three seperate bowls for prepping the katsu.

2. Heat your oil in a shallow frying pan on a medium head until it reaches approx. 170C. You can test by dropping a few breadcrumbs in it - if they bubble and spin the oil is ready.

3. Dip each fillet (whatever you are using) into the flour first, followed by the corn flour mix and then the breadcrumbs, ensuring that it is well covered.

4. Drop each breadcrumb covered fillet into the oil, cooking each side for approx. 2 minutes or until a nice golden brown. Remove and sit on a piece of paper town to drain the excess oil.

5. Once they’re a little cooler, slice each piece into slices that are around 1 inch wide.

6. Now is a good time to get the rice ready. Since the sushi rice off to remove the excess starch and place into a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of the chicken stock. Cook on a medium heat until ready and place to the side. It should be ready around the time as everything else to be brought together.

7. Time to prepare the sauce. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken stock, nori, sugar, mirin and soy sauce in a pan and cook until lightly simmering. It should thicken slightly.

8. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cooked the finely sliced brown onion until soft.

9. Place the slices of katsu on top of the onion in the pan - drizzling the sauce over the top, cooking it all in the pan for around 2 minutes.

10. Split the rice between two bowls and carefully divide the katsu between the two, along with the remaining sauce and onions from the pan. Scatter with the sliced spring onion and enjoy!

Chicken Sandwich | Franny and Zooey

‘This is going to be a real little doll of a weekend," Lane interjects, "a chicken sandwich, for God's sake.’
Franny and Zooey
J. D Salinger

Franny and Zooey is a fascinating read - alike to most of J.D Salinger’s work it could be argued. It took me the better part of a month to finish the book. Which does seem a little ridiculous considering the size of it. I think I probably started that book at least fourteen times within a few weeks - trying to read snippets on the train to work in the mornings or over a coffee. Every time it failed to catch my interest and I found myself drifting to another book tucked into my bag.

I finally took a Saturday, situated myself in a cafe with a coffee and sat down with determination to finally, at least, start the book properly. I sat there for abut three hours and four coffees and finished the entire book in that one day. I believe it was about 30 pages in where I realised I wouldn’t be leaving until I’d finish this tale that had somehow become fascinating to me in that time.

Franny in the story orders a simple chicken sandwich - probably not what I’ve created below - but I couldn't quite bring myself to eat a plain chicken sandwich. My version is far more flavoursome, with a homemade vegan mayonnaise - which I made for the first time. It was so easy and I can’t believe I’ve been paying $6 a jar at the supermarket for the stuff when it took me less than five minutes to whip up at home.

In sticking with the Franny and Zooey, I actually did pair my sandwich with (multiple) martinis - a lack of any proper martini glasses left me sipping chilled gin from a coffee mug. But honestly, you’ve got gin, you’ve got vermouth - does the glass really matter?

Note: I used a faux chicken I found in a local asian grocer which required baking. If you’re going to use real chicken - I would recommend chicken breasts that have been poached.

Chicken Sandwich
Serves approx. 5
Sandwich
500g faux chicken, cooked to your liking *see note
3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
10 slices soft white bread
Salt
Fresh pepper
Mayonnaise (any leftover mayonnaise will keep for about a week in the fridge in a sealed container)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Salt

1. Pop the soy milk and vinegar in a blender and pulse for a few seconds to mix.

2. With the blender on low, slowly pour in the oil - gradually increasing the speed of the blender as you do so. The mayonnaise should begin to emulsify and thicken.

3. Have a taste and add in the salt to your liking.

4. Dice your cooked chicken up and place into a medium bowl with the chives, parsley, big pinch of salt and pepper and about 3 tablespoons of the mayonnaise and mix together until everything is nicely coated.

5. Lay out your slices of bread (buttering them is optional depending on how much mayonnaise is in the mix) and place a large spoonful of the chicken mix onto each one until its all used up - basically make a sandwich is the rest of the instructions.

6. These are great for lunchboxes or snacks and are super filling. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs | Breakfast at Tiffany's

She patted him. ‘Tend to your chores, Rusty. And when I’m ready, we’ll go eat where you want.’
‘Chinatown?’
‘But that doesn’t mean sweet and sour spareribs. You know what the doctor said.’
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Truman Capote

It may not have been the moral of the story, but the entire time I was reading Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I was experience a deep longing to attend one of Holly Golightly’s fabulous parties. Everyone crammed into a tiny apartment, steadily getting drunker until the urge to go out and binge on Chinese food finally overpowers all others thoughts? Yes, please.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a book that conjures up a world of cravings - to live as Holly Golightly does (before all the bad stuff happens at least), or even to approach the world with the outlook that the character does. Her life, documented in the pages, becomes as fascinating to the reader as it does to the narrator whose point of view we experience throughout. I always imagined that some portion of my life when moving to a city would mimic perhaps a little of a book like that - probably for the best that it didn’t. Melbourne is amazing enough that parties and entertainment every night would soon tire even the most extroverted.

Another unfortunate side effect of living in a city like Melbourne, is that there really is a vegan substitute for every craving you may have. There’s one particular restaurant in the middle of the city, hidden away upstairs that dishes out an all-vegan Chinese smorgasbord of dishes. It’s become an unfortunate habit to hole myself away in a booth when I’ve had a hard day - drowning my sorrows in tea, dumplings and a book.

*Note: I used vegan ‘ribs’ that I found at a local asian grocery. You can honestly use this sauce with whatever faux meat you have, or even cauliflower perhaps, and it will be delicious. If you’re using real ribs, follow the recipe the same, just bake for additional 15 minutes or so.

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs
Ingredients
500g spare ribs *see note
1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 rice vinegar
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Get an oven safe pan ready by layering the bottom with baking paper, placing your ribs in, side by side. Ensure that they don’t sit on top of each other. Put the pan to the side for now.

3. Combine soy sauce or tamari, brown sugar, rice vinegar, mustard seeds, and salt in a small saucepan. Put on a low heat.

4. Keep an eye on the sauce, stirring occasionally as it heats. It should begin to bubble and thicken. During this process, continue to taste and add more vinegar, sugar or soy where necessary. Remove from heat when consistency is alike to syrup.

5. Using a pastry brush, or just a spoon, brush the sauce over the ribs thoroughly, ensuring that all have a nice coating. You should still have quite a bit of sauce left over.

6. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 35 minutes. During this time, remove from oven every 15 minutes or so to reapply the same over the ribs. They should always have a nice sticky sheen to them.

7. Remove and allow to cool a little before eating. Enjoy! (Another glaze of sauce here works wonders as well, just to note).

Chicken Noodle Soup | Little Fires Everywhere

‘You slept a long time. That’s good. Do you think you can eat something?’ In the kitchen, Mia set a bowl of soup in front of her, and Lexie brought a spoonful to her lips: chicken noodle, salty, searingly hot. There was no sign of Peal, but the clock on the stove read 3:15. School had let out a little while ago. She must have told her mother everything, Lexie thought.
Little Fires Everywhere
Celeste Ng

The concept of comfort food is fascinating, usually something high in carbs, sugar or salt. It can be eaten when all seems hopeless and the thought of that delicious, carby meal at the end of your day is all that will keep you going.

Or, it can a meal that brings about a nostalgic emotion, a sentimental feeling attached to a type of food that brings about memories of childhood and feeling safe. In Little Fires Everywhere

It’s interesting growing up in Australia - your main media exposure as a child is to movies and television shows that are American. You grow up seeing all these comfort foods in shows that you’ve never heard of real. Foods like tomato soup with grilled cheese or chicken noodle soup.

In Little Fires Everywhere chicken noodle soup is the dish that Mia serves to Lexie during a day that is particularly bad. The description of the soup: salty, searingly hot, is the perfect fix to her day. It doesn’t solve anything - but it helps. I recommend this soup whenever you need a meal that's a little more grounding and will let you disappear from any problems for a few hours at least. 

Note: I used a soy based faux chicken I found at my local asian grocer - if you’re using real chicken, make sure you add another step of checking the chicken is cooked through at the end just to be safe.

Chicken Noodle Soup
Makes approx. 6 serves.
Ingredients
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 brown onion, diced finely
3 gloves garlic, minced
100g dried noodles/pasta
5 cups chicken stock
200g faux chicken, diced into large chunks *see note
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh pepper

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan and add in the onion, cooking until soft, around 3 - 4 minutes.

2. Add in the carrot, celery and garlic, cooking for another 5 minutes or so until they start to soften also. Remember to keep them moving during this time so they don’t stick and burn.

3. Add in the chicken stock, cover and bring to the boil. Leave to boil for around 10 minutes before adding in the diced chicken and dried noodles or pasta.

4. Leave on stove for another 10 minutes or until noodles have softened.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Butter Poached Radishes | The Tale of Peter Rabbit

First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes; and then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter

I can’t seem to stop falling down this nostalgia rabbit hole. Every single Beatrix Potter tale I read is bringing back a fresh wave of memories from my childhood days. So much that I’ve booked in to get a little tattoo done of Benjamin Bunny himself, my favourite character from any of the woodland animal tales.

I’m quite nicely situated in Melbourne, in a beautiful suburb within walking distance to the city. It has the fortune of hosting a local farmer’s market every Sunday that is worth a stroll through even if you don’t really need anything. I always find myself picking up the oddest vegetables and having to experiment with them later on. Which has resulted in realising that spaghetti squash is so delicious and I’m so bitter that barely anywhere in Melbourne seems to ever have it in stock.

Last Sunday I picked up some heirloom tomatoes, a rainbow mixture of zucchinis and some crisp radishes. Instantly my mind went back to The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and Peter’s foray of thievery through Mr. McGregor’s garden. I’ve already made some blackberry and apple muffins inspired by the children’s story - but the radishes drew out a more savoury option.

These butter poached radishes are a perfect accompaniment to a meal, as a side or even just a snack. They are so delicious with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Butter Poached Radishes
Serves 5 as a side dish
Ingredients
10 - 12 radishes, with the stems and greens cut off
1 cup melted butter
1 - 2 cups water
Sea salt
Black pepper

1. Arrange the radishes into a thick bottomed pan and pour in the melted butter and enough of the water so that the radishes are just covered.

2. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.

3. Bring the pan to a boil and then reduce to a low heat to continue simmering. Have a little taste of the poaching liquid at this time and add in more salt or pepper if necessary.

4. Allow to simmer for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until radishes are soft and losing their bright red colour (though, mine did not really for some reason). During this time remember to turn the radishes in the pan so all sides poach evenly.

5. Serve the radishes with a little of the poaching liquid and a sprinkle of salt. Best served straight away!