COLUMNIST: DINA WATT
Soup season does not have to stop during summer time - have you heard about a cold soup? You can serve it with green bean sushi (read on for the recipe). I personally like to serve this soup as an entrée before a BBQ.
If you are familiar with miso soup, this is Indonesian “miso soup”. Instead of using seaweed, we are going to use spinach. This is actually a cooling kind of soup. served at room temperature, so perfect for summertime.
500g spinach 2.5 litre of water 4 cloves of garlic2 shallots 1 small bowl of sweetcorn 1 teaspoon of chicken/veg bouillon
Start by filling a cooking pot with 2.5 litres of water. Add sliced garlic and shallots into the pot and bring it to boil before adding the sweetcorn. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes, then season with salt, pepper, and chicken bouillon.
Once the sweetcorn is cooked, add the spinach and close the lid. Switch off the stove so as not to overcook the spinach. As soon as the spinach turns bright green, that means it is ready. Open the lid to let the steam off.
Wait until it has cooled then serve as an entrée.
Talking of BBQ season, why not go a bit spicy this time with Korean spicy cucumber salad as a side dish?
Korean kimchi has become such a trend over the past few years and it is an amazing recipe. You can use any type of vegetable but my favourite vegetables to use are spring onions, carrots, Chinese cabbage, radish, and even lettuce.
4 cucumbers, sliced 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped1 tbsp gochugaru or chilli flakes 1 tbsp sesame seeds2 tsp soya sauce½ tsp sesame oil 1 tsp rice vinegar½ tsp sugar
Mix up everything in a big bowl and serve it directly. Simple!
This sushi made with green beans pairs nicely with my cooling spinach soup.
1 litre of cooked sushi rice5 seaweed sheets (nori)
10 green beans – blanched 1 carrot, cut julienne 2 beaten eggsSoya sauce
First, prepare an omelette with the beaten eggs and add 1 teaspoon of soya sauce. Fry with oil until cooked. Slice the omelette and keep it aside to cool off.
I usually do not use a bamboo mat, I use aluminium foil but I am going to tell you how to use a bamboo mat.
1. Lay out your bamboo mat with an optional piece of plastic wrap on top (to keep the mat clean)
2. Make sure that the dried seaweed (nori) has its rough side facing upward.
3. Evenly spread rice over the nori while leaving space at the top and bottom of the sheet.
4. Place your chosen ingredients in the centre, halfway between the top and bottom of the seaweed. This is when you place the fillings as you would prefer: green bean, carrot, and omelette.
5. Place your thumbs underneath the bamboo mat and lift the edge that is closest to you up and over the filling in the centre.
6. Curve the rest of your fingers over the bamboo mat and gently press along the length of the ‘log’. This motion presses the rice and the filling together and prevents the roll from being too loose.
7. Pull the edge of the bamboo toward you to fold it underneath your hands, then continue to roll sushi away from you until you have rolled past far edge of the seaweed sheet.
It is best to keep these ‘logs’ of sushi in the fridge for about 30 minutes before actually serving it. It is lovely to serve it with soya sauce, sliced pickled ginger, and wasabi.
N.B. Making sushi can be hard to begin with but with practice, you will be able to make a variety of sushi using the homegrown ingredients from your own garden. You will see how amazing it is to learn this special skill and cooking technique. Please check out my Instagram to see how I roll the sushi.
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.