Page 22 - ALG Issue 2 2021

cooking
with Erin
May is full of all of the promise of crops to come, but still not too much coming out of the ground. For this reason, I have chosen recipes that highlight fresh herbs, lettuce leaves, first radishes
and spring onions which you may have ready to harvest. I hope you enjoy.
Båhn Xeo
Vietnamese
Sizzling
Pancakes
Serves 4-6, batter keeps well for 4 days in fridge or freezes.
These pancakes are a delicious way to eat a healthy serving of fresh seasonal vegetables. Sliced radishes, shaved carrots, spinach leaves and fresh herbs are all wonderful and crunchy in this dish.
50g mung beans (soaked overnight) 500ml water
125ml coconut milk
150g rice flour
50g cornflour 3/4 tsp turmeric 1/2 tsp salt
2 spring onions
300g bean sprouts
To serve
Sliced radishes
Shaved carrots
Spring onions
Fresh herbs like Thai basil, coriander or mint
Lettuce leaves
For the dipping sauce
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp shoyu, soy sauce or 1 tbsp tamari for gluten free
1 tbsp brown sugar or palm sugar, more to taste
4 tbsp water
1 clove garlic, finely grated or made into a paste
1 tbsp grated ginger and squeeze for juice only
1 red chilli, finely chopped, seeds optional
In a small bowl, soak the dried mung beans in water overnight. Drain the beans and transfer them to a blender. Add the water, rice flour, cornflour, turmeric and salt, and puree until
very smooth. Transfer the mung bean puree to a large bowl and whisk in the coconut milk and spring onions. Do not add the coconut milk to the blender as sometimes it will curdle. Let the batter rest for at least 20 minutes to an hour or refrigerate overnight.
For the sauce, mix together the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a 25cm/10inch very good non-stick frying pan, that has a lid, to a high heat. Stir the batter well and pour a large ladle full of it into the pan; tilt and swirl the pan to coat the bottom with a very thin layer of batter, letting it come up the side of the pan. Add a bit more batter if it does not reach the sides, but do not make the pancake too thick. Scatter a handful of the bean sprouts over the pancake and drizzle oil around the edges.
Sliced radishes, shaved carrots, spinach leaves and fresh herbs are all wonderful and crunchy in this dish
Cover the frying pan and cook over moderately high heat until the bottom of the pancake is golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Fold pancake in half and slide the pancake onto a plate and serve with lettuce leaves, crunchy veg, herbs and the dipping sauce. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, serving the pancake as soon as they are cooked. They are best eaten right away but can be kept warm in a low temperature oven.
The pancakes are meant to be torn and placed on a lettuce leaf, topped with herbs and vegetables and then folded up in the lettuce leaf and eaten like a taco with your hands. Dip in sauce, tilt head and take a big bite.
*To skip soaking the mung beans overnight, simply place in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and then let soak for 1 hour. Drain and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
22 Allotment and Leisure Gardener
Erin is a chef and teacher based in Stroud. Each issue, she will be sharing with us a few of her delicious recipes for using allotment produce. www.naturalcookeryschool.com
Photographs: ©Michael Ruggier