COLUMNIST: DINA WATT
Carrot has always been seen as a humble vegetable but this first recipe of mine will show you how to prepare carrots, a simple root vegetable, into a fantastic soup with an oriental touch. I have been busy foraging some chanterelle so I am going to put them to use in order to elevate the dish.
My second recipe allows you to enjoy the cold weather in the garden with a Korean BBQ dinner style. This is so much fun with the family or guests as it is a kind of ‘cook your own’ kind of dinner.
In a big pot over a medium heat, pour in the olive oil. Add chopped garlic, onion, and thyme. Simmer for about 1-2 minutes until they turn golden then add celery, chilli, potato, and carrots. Gently mix together and leave to cook for about 5 minutes before adding the coconut milk and water.
Bring the pot to the boil. Season well with salt, pepper, and vegetable stock.
The secret is to then add just a dash of fish sauce. I promise this will elevate your dish, bringing the umami taste into the soup.
Leave all the vegetables to cook for about 15 minutes, and then mix them all well with a hand blender.
For garnish, I add some sautéed chanterelle which I foraged to elevate the dish.
Make the most of your homegrown vegetables and celebrate it with this super trendy Korean BBQ style dinner. It might need a bit of time to prepare but the execution is much easier than it looks.
I am not going to specifically write the amount of vegetables needed, use as much of your homegrown vegetables as you wish.
As I have mentioned before, this is more of a ‘cook your own’ kind of dinner.
Once all meat and tofu are marinated, set them aside.
Clean, chop, and slice the courgette, peppers, and onions into thin slices, or however you like them. Clean the lettuces as they are going to be used as wrappers.
Peel the garlic, there is no need to slice or chop them because you grill them just the way they are.
For spring onions, I slice and quickly marinate them with Korean sauce gochujang. You do not have to use a lot, for a bunch of spring onions, only use 1 teaspoon of gochujang. Rub them all well with the sauce and place it into a bowl. The Spring onion kimchi is ready so set it aside.
You can start cooking all the meat, tofu, and vegetables on the hot plate. I usually make an invisible line to separate which side is for grilling vegetables, which side is for meat, and so on.
They will not take a long time to cook: the meat around 3-4 minutes on each side and vegetables 2 minutes on each side. For pork, once cooked, thinly slice the meat into bite-size.
Take a big leaf of lettuce and spread on a smear of gochujang sauce. Add spring onion kimchi, add grilled vegetables, then a clove of garlic if you like, before adding the meat or tofu. Wrap it all well with the lettuce. You can also add a tiny bit of rice into the wrap for more carbs. Enjoy the burst of flavours!
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.
