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Whenever we cook rice we usually cook up double the amount we need, and freeze the rest. We use this rice in a few different ways. Usually it’s to make some sort of fried rice dish, because cooked and cooled rice really is the only type of rice to use if you want to make a decent fried rice. (It retains its texture and doesn’t go mushy like freshly cooked rice.) Cooked and cooled rice is also ideal for making hearty rice salads like this Asian-style rice salad.

We actually invented this rice salad just a couple of days ago. We both felt like a quick and satisfying lunch with Asian flavors, and we happened to have some leftover rice just sitting in the fridge. We couldn’t be bothered cooking, so we scoured our fridge and pantry for suitable ingredients to make an Asian-inspired rice salad.

One thing we didn’t have to worry about was seasonings (we’re always stocked up with Asian seasonings). But we hadn’t done a grocery shop for a few days, so we weren’t sure if we’d have a good range of fresh ingredients on hand.

Luckily we did have some ideal produce for Asian cooking: celery, red pepper, carrot, scallions, and a big knob of ginger root. All we needed was some sort of protein to balance out the flavors and improve the nutritional content. We chose one of our pantry staples — canned tuna — to fill that gap (cold shrimp, cold shredded chicken, or cashew nuts would have also worked well).

It only took us about five minutes to prepare the ingredients, which simply involved dicing the red pepper and celery, slicing the scallions and grating the carrot and ginger. Then we mixed those ingredients with the rice and tuna, and added a combination of seasonings we know work really well together — soy sauce, oyster sauce and toasted sesame oil.

The finished salad tasted surprisingly good, and really satisfied our craving for Asian flavors. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it too!

Asian-style Rice Salad

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side dish

2 1/2 tablespoons Chinese soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups cooked cold long-grain rice (leftover rice is ideal)
1 carrot — grated
1/2 stick celery — finely chopped
1/2 red pepper — deseeded and diced
1 scallion — finely sliced on the diagonal
6 oz (180g) canned tuna in oil — drained and flaked

MIX together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger and pepper in a small bowl. MIX together the rice, carrot, celery, red pepper, scallion and tuna in another bowl. TOSS the dressing with the rice mixture until well combined.

Well, spring has definitely been coming “in like a lion” this year— there are still a few raw and rainy days ahead as we wait for the nicer weather to arrive. And on days like these, there is nothing better than a bowl of soup.

I especially love a refreshing lime flavored soup to clear the head and warm the body during this transitional period. This tangy, Southeast Asian inspired lime soup makes a great light meal, is quick to prepare, and reminds us of warmer days ahead. Enjoy!

Zesty Lime and Salmon Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 12 oz. salmon fillet, skin removed and cut into bite sized pieces
• Juice of 2 limes, plus additional wedges for serving
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Handful of sliced cremini or button mushrooms
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced and quartered
• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped or torn
• 1 jalapeño or Serrano pepper, thinly sliced
• Sea salt

Directions:

In a large stockpot or saucepan, heat the oil and add in the garlic, mushrooms, onion, and pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock, lime juice, and fish pieces. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5-7 minutes until fish is cooked through (Skim foam from the surface of the soup as it appears). Stir in the cilantro and season to taste with sea salt. Ladle into bowls and serve with lime wedges on the side.

(Note: You can also substitute chicken or a different fish of your choice, or add a handful of rice noodles to each bowl before serving if you prefer a more filling soup.)

I like to spend a couple of hours on the weekend preparing a few food basics that, once made, take the hard work out of cooking meals for the week ahead — a strategy I refer to as ‘weekend cooking for weekday eating’. In addition to curries and soups I invariably make some kind of tomato-based Mediterranean sauce for its sheer versatility.

Apart from a classic bolognese sauce or a piquant puttanesca sauce, one of our favorites is this rich sauce made with a medley of vibrant red ingredients including tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red onions, red wine, and red chili. I really enjoy the process of making up batches of this sauce, it brings out the Italian mama in me, especially when I put on Italian opera while I’m cooking.

Producing my own homemade sauce rather than buying the store-bought stuff in jars gives me a feeling of self-sufficiency, and it’s healthier and cheaper as well. Just knowing that I’ve got a supply of this delicious and nutritious sauce on hand fills me with a real sense of satisfaction. Over the past week we’ve had this sauce drizzled over grilled fish on a simple couscous salad, and then a couple of nights later tossed with rigatoni, broccoli and canned tuna as a quick pasta meal.

The sauce can be stored in the fridge, covered for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Robust red sauce

Serves 4 (or enough to make the following 2 meals, each serving 2 people)

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 red onions — diced
• 4 cloves garlic — finely chopped
• 28 oz (840g) canned tomatoes — chopped
• ½ cup red wine
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ½ teaspoon dried red chili flakes
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 4 red bell peppers — deseeded and quartered

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onions for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. ADD the tomatoes, wine, rosemary, chili flakes, salt, pepper and sugar and bring to the boil. COVER, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. WHILE the sauce simmers, place the peppers (skin side up) under a hot broiler (griller) until the skin blackens all over, about 10 minutes. REMOVE and cover the charred peppers with a clean dishcloth or plastic wrap for 5 minutes to allow the steam to loosen the skins from the pepper flesh. PEEL off the blackened skin from the peppers and roughly cut the flesh into pieces then add to the sauce. PLACE the sauce into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Grilled fish with robust red sauce and couscous salad

Serves 2

• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic — minced
• 2 x 6 oz (180g) firm white fish fillets
• 1 cup couscous
• 2 small zucchini — quartered lengthways and very thinly sliced into quarters
• 1¼ cups boiling chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 scallion (green part only) — thinly sliced on diagonal
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint
• 2 oz (60g) crumbled feta
• ½ portion of the Robust Red Sauce recipe — heated

MIX together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic in a bowl. POUR half the lemon/oil mixture over the fish fillets and marinate, covered, in the fridge for 1 hour. COMBINE the couscous and zucchini in a bowl, pour over the boiling stock, cover and allow to steam for 5 minutes. FLUFF the couscous with a fork and toss with the scallion, parsley and mint. DRIZZLE over the remaining lemon/oil mixture and the crumbled feta and toss well to combine. SET the couscous salad aside while the fish continues to marinate. HEAT a cast iron grill pan over a high heat until very hot. COOK the fish fillets in the pan for around 3 minutes each side until just cooked. SERVE each fillet on a bed of the couscous salad and spoon the heated robust red sauce over the top.

Variations: Grill chicken breast fillets instead of fish. Serve any leftover couscous salad tossed with strips of smoked salmon and cubed avocado (drizzled with lemon juice to prevent browning).

Rigatoni with robust red sauce, tuna and broccoli

Serves 2

• 8 oz (240g) dried rigatoni pasta
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• ½ portion of the Robust Red Sauce recipe — heated
• 6 oz (180g) canned tuna in olive oil — drained and broken into chunks
• Shaved or grated Parmesan cheese to serve

COOK the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, adding the broccoli to the pot for the final 5 minutes of cooking. DRAIN the cooked pasta and broccoli, put the sauce in the bottom of the pot and top with the hot pasta, broccoli and tuna chunks. TOSS together gently to combine well and heat through. SERVE the pasta with a little shaved or grated Parmesan on top.

There’s something very satisfying about being able to whip up a restaurant-quality Thai curry at home. The key is getting the right balance of saltiness, sweetness, sourness, and heat. To achieve this balance we typically use a combination of ingredients including sugar (palm sugar is traditional, but we usually use brown sugar for convenience), lemon or lime juice, fish sauce, and Thai curry paste (which is made from fresh chili and various spices) .

You can make your own curry paste from scratch, but years ago my sister-in-law Vivian, who’s Chinese-Malaysian, introduced me to a range of authentic pre-made curry pastes that I’ve used in my cooking ever since. In fact it was her chicken curry — which was made using red curry paste — that got me hooked on Asian food in the first place.

So if you’ve got the time and inclination to make your own curry paste, go for it. But the results you’ll get from a good quality pre-made curry paste can be almost as good — with a lot less effort. But here’s a tip; when you’re buying pre-made Thai curry paste, check to make sure it’s made in Thailand. If it is, there’s a very good chance it will be made with authentic ingredients. Our absolute favorite brand is Mae Ploy.

For this curry, we used green curry paste (which is green simply because the main ingredient is green chili), and three of our favorite green vegetables: peas, zucchini and green beans. Fresh garlic, onion and cilantro add extra depth of flavor, and the succulent shrimp not only complement the taste of this curry, they also add a wonderful color contrast.

Thai Green Curry with Shrimp & Vegetables

Serves 2

2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
1 onion - finely chopped
3 teaspoons Thai green curry paste
2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 zucchini - sliced into ½ inch rounds
16 green beans - halved
1 cup jasmine rice
1/3 cup frozen green peas - thawed
20 uncooked shrimp - peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro (fresh coriander), and extra for garnish

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. ADD the curry paste and garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. ADD the coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, sugar, and salt, and bring to a boil. ADD the zucchini and green beans, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer uncovered for 12 minutes. WHILE the curry simmers, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. STIR in the rice, and keep stirring until the water returns to a boil. COVER the pot with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer gently for 15 minutes. ADD the peas and shrimp to the curry and simmer, uncovered, for another 4 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. GARNISH with the reserved cilantro and serve with the jasmine rice.

This recipe shows that you don’t have to have every spice under the sun to cook a good Indian curry. Nor do you need to be a connoisseur of Indian cuisine. Contrary to popular belief, making an authentic curry is actually pretty easy, especially if you keep the ingredients simple and use a few shortcuts.

For instance, I adore using freshly ground spices but don’t always have them on hand, so I keep a basic stock of ground spices at the ready. For this curry, apart from essentials like cumin, coriander and chili, I used the classic Indian spice mix garam masala, a flavorful blend of aromatic spices which added a warmness and slight sweetness to the dish.

In addition to the spices, I simply added canned tomatoes and coconut milk, as well as spinach, onion and garlic bought at a nearby farmer’s produce stall, plus a couple of fresh fish fillets procured from our local fishmonger, and a lemon from our own tree. Regional and seasonal food at its best!

Fish, Spinach and Tomato Curry

Serves 2

• 2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
• 1 onion - finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic - finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups washed, drained and roughly chopped fresh spinach
• 2 x 6 oz (180g) firm white fish fillets (such as snapper, cod or haddock)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. ADD the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add the cumin, coriander and chili and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. ADD the tomatoes, coconut milk, garam masala and salt and bring to a boil. REDUCE the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. WHILE the curry simmers, bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. STIR in the rice and keep stirring until the water returns to a boil. COVER the pot with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to very low, and simmer the rice gently for 15 minutes. ADD the spinach to the curry and cook, covered, for 4 minutes, then add the fish and spoon the sauce over the fillets. COVER with a lid, and simmer for another 7 minutes. STIR in the lemon juice and serve on a bed of the rice.

A favorite comfort food from my childhood is chawan mushi, an elegant, Japanese style steamed egg custard. (The name literally means something like “steamed in a teacup.”) I first encountered this dish at home at the breakfast table, when my mother would sometimes have a little fun and make chawan mushi instead of the usual fried or scrambled eggs. Silky and light, it melted in the mouth…I instantly loved it. Finding it at breakfast in the morning was always a happy, festive start to the day.

There are beautiful lidded cups that are designed specifically for cooking and serving chawan mushi. I own several and love them dearly, but you don’t necessarily have to use them…you can also use teacups or personal sized ramekins. My ever resourceful Taiwanese mom would simply add her egg mixture to a small rice bowl, cover it with a saucer, and then pop everything into a covered wok with a small amount of water on the bottom to steam. The resulting product always turned out beautifully.

As an adult, I still have a soft spot for chawan mushi, and find that it makes a stylish appetizer or light meal. I also think it would be just the thing to eat after a night of drinking or overindulging. Whenever you decide to eat it, whether it’s for a festive breakfast, a fun meal starter or something to pamper your post-party stomach…chawan mushi is easy to make and the perfect comfort food in a cup.

Chawan Mushi/Steamed Japanese Egg Custard

(Serves 2-3, depending on what cups you are using)

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups dashi stock
• 1 tablespoon light colored Japanese style soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon mirin

(Note: To make dashi stock—Take a 6-inch piece of kombu (dried sea kelp), wipe clean with a damp towel, and make a few cuts along the edges with scissors (This will extract more flavor from the kelp…more surface area exposed = more flavor). Add kombu to 5 cups of water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Just before it reaches a boil, remove the kombu and add 2.5 cups of dried bonito flakes. Turn off the heat and let sit for about 6 minutes or until the flakes sink to the bottom. Strain into a bowl through a piece of cheesecloth. The dashi stock is now ready to use or freeze (will keep in the freezer for about a month). You can also use instant dashi powder to make the stock.)

Filling:

• 1 sliced shiitake mushroom (fresh or rehydrated)
• 2-3 asparagus spears, sliced into pieces about 2 inches long.
• 2-3 shrimp, cleaned, deveined and with tail left on

(Note: Feel free to go ahead and change the filling ingredients according to your preference. Just be sure to limit it to no more than three, or it will overwhelm the delicate flavor of the custard. You could try water chestnuts, tofu, small cubes of chicken, crabmeat, baby corn…anything you think of or have on hand. Just go for it and have fun creating your own unique combination.)

Garnish:

• Mitsuba (Japanese parsley) or if not available, flat leaf parsley or cilantro

Equipment:

• A pot with steamer basket
• Cheesecloth or fine strainer
• 2-3 chawan mushi cups (or teacups/small ramekins and aluminum foil)

Directions:

Fill pot about halfway with water and bring to a boil.

Combine egg, dashi stock, soy sauce and mirin in a bowl and with smooth strokes, gently beat with chopsticks. Try not to create too much froth, because you don’t want a lot of air bubbles in your custard.

Strain egg mixture through cheesecloth or strainer.

Divide egg mixture among the chawan mushi cups.

Add a few slices of mushroom, one shrimp, and an asparagus piece (using an end piece that includes the pointy tip looks best) to each cup. Cover with lids if using chawan mushi cups, or cover with foil if using the ramekins or teacups.

When water in pot reaches a boil, place cups into steamer basket. Steam on high heat for 2 minutes, then reduce heat to low for another 10-12 minutes.

Test the surface with toothpick or skewer to check doneness…some clear liquid should form on top when prodded. Custard should be smooth and soft but not super firm. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look completely gelled, it is supposed to be a silken consistency. If it looks underdone, just keep on the steamer and re-cover, checking back at 1-2 minute intervals until it reaches the desired consistency. I have an old gas stove that is sometimes difficult to control accurately, so for me, there is a lot of “check and see” to this…sometimes that means an extra minute or two, sometimes it means an extra 10. Just make sure the flame isn’t too high or custard is not cooked for too long or it will get tough and unattractive.

When the custard looks done, remove from steamer, garnish surface with a leaf of parsley or mitsuba, and serve immediately. (Or for you Flickr addicts, that means immediately after you take all your photographs…you know what I’m talking about.)

Grab a spoon and enjoy!