COLUMNIST: DINA WATT
In a pan, add 2-3 tbsp of vegtable oil. With the hob set stove to medium, throw in chopped garlic, saute for about 1 minute then add the minced meat. Season well with Chinese five spice, salt, pepper, and soya sauce. Mix them all well until the minced meat is cooked. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Once it is cooked, set aside to let it cool down.
While waiting for the minced meat to cool down, make the sauce which is the most important part of this south east Asian-inspired dish.
First, add castor sugar to the warm water. Mix it well until diluted, then throw in chopped chillies, chopped garlic, and the juice of the two limes. Lastly, splash some fish sauce into the sauce. Taste it and see if it needs more sugar or salt or lime juice. Once it is ready, pour the sauce into small bowls for serving.
On a serving plate, first place the rice noodles. Then add the minced meat on one side. I also like to add my own pickled red cabbage. For garnishing, I usually use cut carrots, radishes, coriander leaves, mint leaves, a few lettuce leaves, cucumber, and whatever else is in season from the garden. You can also add crab sticks, crab meat, prawns, fried tofu, or salmon as suits your preference.
First, cut off the bottom parts of the strawberries then hollow the inside. Next dip the strawberries (bottom side down) into the Nutella. Continue doing so, then leave them inside the freezer for about 30 minutes until the chocolate is frozen.
While waiting for the chocolate to freeze, we will make the cheesecake mix. Into a bowl, add cream cheese together with vanilla essence and icing sugar, mix them well.
Take out the frozen chocolate strawberries then start filling them with the cheesecake mix. You can put the cheesecake mix into a piping bag, but I only use a teaspoon to do the fillings.
Last but not least, sprinkle some Biscoff crumbs on the top of each strawberry, and enjoy!
Dina Watt, an Indonesian, now living in Aberdeenshire, is known as the Indonesian Cook. Dina’s love of nature and gardening fuels her passion for cooking using home-grown ingredients. She appeared on BBC's 'Beechgrove' in 4 episodes in 2021.
In her column, Dina shares her own adventurous recipes for delicious home-cooked meals that are easy to make using home-grown, seasonal fruits and vegetables from her own kitchen garden. She is passionate about using every bit of the plant in order to practice zero-waste principles.