Asian coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, lime and sesame seeds #187

Asian coleslaw is a great fresh, crunchy and sometimes spicy variety of coleslaw that also can be served like a small appetizer or tapas even if you usually serve it as a side dish. In comparison to regular coleslaw this is very different, much fresher in both texture and flavor.

I use white cabbage as my base for the salad and then add what I might have at home, this time this was carrots, spring onion and a bunch of herbs but you can use celery, apples, beets, pears, papaya and a bunch of other vegetables.

Same goes for the dressing, in this recipe I used sesame oil, olive oil, lime juice and chili but you can use soy sauce, lemon, vinegar, sriracha, oyster sauce and make the salad equally good but different for every time you serve it. Only downside from regular coleslaw is that this one won´t keep for very long, I usually serve it the same day, you can save it one or maybe two days but it won´t be as good as on the first day. If you still want to prepare you can make the dressing and cut the vegetables a day ahead and dress the coleslaw a few hours before dinner time.

Asian coleslaw with cabbage, carrots, lime and sesame seeds

white cabbage
carrots
spring onion
lime
sesame seeds, roasted
sesame oil
olive oil
dried chili, strips or flakes
cilantro
chives
salt, pepper

The veggies

Wash the cabbage and slice thin, remove any big stems before, add to a big bowl and sprinkle with salt, leave for one hour. This make the cabbage softer and it will loose some of it´s water. Discard the water from the cabbage. Peel carrots and cut to thin strips, slice the spring onion and roughly chop the cilantro and chives. Combine all the vegetables in the bowl.

The dressing

With dressing you´ll need some measurements, for this dressing use 3 parts olive oil, 2 parts lime juice and one part sesame oil.

Combine olive oil and sesame oil,  wash limes and grate the skin into the oil, then squeeze and add the lime juice. Add the chili, sesame seeds and season with salt and pepper.

Final steps and plating

Combine the dressing with the vegetables and check the taste, adjust if necessary. Serve on small plates with a lime on the side or as a side. Good luck!

Calamari salad with sesame seeds, fennel, cucumber & chili #182

Hello, it´s time for some calamari, this time I am serving it in a salad with Asian flavors. It is fairly simple to make, the base is chopped cucumber, fennel and seared calamari and then I added toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, sesame oil, chili and some seaweed. 

The salad keeps for a few hours in the fridge so it is a good dish to have prepared beforehand, also if you´re serving guests who are not big fans of calamari it is a great way to learn to like it since it´s not the dominant flavor of the dish. Some people don´t like the texture of calamari either and since it´s chopped and seared it is not so noticeable.

Calamari salad with sesame seeds, fennel, cucumber & chili

calamari, fresh or frozen

sesame seeds

fresh red chili

cucumber

fennel

sesame oil

dried wakame seaweed (can be found in most Asian food stores)

olive oil

salt, pepper

fresh cilantro

fresh lime

Chop the calamari into cubes and sear in a frying pan with some vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper. Once cooked add the calamari to a bowl and dice the cucumber and slice the fennel and add to the bowl. Dice the chili and cilantro and add together with some olive oil, sesame oil and lime juice.

Bring water to the boil in a pot and add some dried wakame seaweed, let it simmer for one minute, discard the water and rinse the wakame in cold water, then chop the seaweed and add to the salad.

In a dry pan roast the sesame seeds until they are golden, once done add to the bowl and combine all ingredients, adjust flavors using oil, salt, pepper and lime if necessary. Be a bit careful with the chili since it takes a while for the flavors to come forward.

New Years recipe ideas with Asian flavors

New Years Eve is coming up and if you haven´t decided on what to serve I have picked some of my own favorite recipes from Delicious Tapas and have some great suggestions for you!

This is the sixth and final post in this series and it will be focused on Asian flavors and inspiration

All recipes can be found in their original post that I have linked for each dish. I haven´t suggested any dessert but since I´m not that much into desserts. But if I have to recommend something I would go for any great ice cream, because who doesn´t love ice-cream?

New Years menu with Asian flavors

Appetizers - these appetizers is quite light in flavor and is a great start to any meal.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds and soy dipping sauce
Calamari with cilantro, lime and spring onion
Mussels with Thai flavors

Starter

Scallop in dashi with wakame and chili oil

I love this dish, the sweet scallop in combination with the wakame and dashi makes it one of my own favorites and I think it´s perfect as an Asian inspired starter.

Main course

For the main course it´s time for some meat, soy braised ribs with some Momofuku quick pickles and rice balls on the side.

Soy braised ribs with chili and cilantro
Momofuku quick salt pickles
Rice balls with cilantro and chili soy dip

Braised pork belly with soy & cucumber & fennel salad #121

Braised pork belly is one of the tastiest and cheapest part of the pig you can serve and if you do it right it will be simply amazing. It´s quite easy to get the belly tasting good, all it needs is loads of time. The ways of seasoning the belly is numerous but I chose to make it a bit asian with japanese soy this time because I like how it matches the crisp raw salad of the cucumber both in flavor and texture.

Since braising pork belly isn´t to much work once you got it in the oven or pot you can make a big batch and save some for dinner, tacos or some nice sandwiches. The extra effort in time is almost nothing but the reward to have some pre-braised belly waiting in the frigde.

Braised pork belly with soy & cucumber & fennel salad

pork belly

japanese soy

beef stock

fish sauce

dried chili

water

salt, pepper

honey

cucumber

fennel

lime juice

sesame seeds

sesame oil

olive oil

Cut of the skin of the belly if it´s still left on, the season to belly with salt and pepper and then sear it on all sides until golden. Remove from the pan and transer into a pot and add the japanese soy, beef stock, fish sauce, dried chili and honey and then cover with water. Leave to simmer under a lid until tender, this takes about 4-6 hours, however it´s almost impossible to let i cook for too long so up to ten hours is not a problem. Once done remove the meat and reduce the liquid until it´s a thick sauce.

Cut the cucumber and fennel in thin stripes and combine with sesame seeds, olive oil, lime juice and a few drops of sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the pork belly and plate it, drizzle with some of the cooking sauce, serve the salad on the side.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds & soy dipping sauce # 73

Vietnamese spring rolls works great as a tapas or appetizer, fill it with whatever you like. These ones are filled with cucumber, paprika, spring onion and roasted sesame seeds but feel free to add or replace any of it. Most fillings work fine but crunchy vegetables and shellfish are my favorites.

Vietnamese spring rolls with sesame seeds & soy dipping sauce

Vietnamese spring roll paper

spring onion

paprika

cucumber

sesame seeds

sweet chili sauce

Japanese soy

sesame oil

Cut the vegetables lengthwise, roast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until golden. Combine the vegetables with a little bit of sesame oil and the seeds. 

Dip the spring roll paper one at the time in almost boiling water, remove and place on a cutting board. Place the vegetables in the center of the paper and carefully roll the paper around the vegetables. Using a sharp knife trim the edges of the roll and cut the roll into bite size pieces. Combine sweet chili sauce with a dash of soy and some sesame seeds. 

Rice balls with cilantro & chili soy dip # 41

Rice balls with cilantro & chili soy dip

Cooked basmati rice
Fresh cilantro
Dried chili flakes
Japanese soy sauce
Sesame seeds
Sriracha sauce (or any other hot chili sauce)
Sesame oil

Finely chop the cilantro, save some leafs for decoration. Combine the chopped cilantro with the rice and form round balls.

Combine soy, sesame seeds, sriracha sauce, sesame oil and chili flakes into a dip. The soy is the base so this should be the dominant flavor and go easy on the sesame oil because it can easily get to dominant.

Decorate with some sesame seeds, cilantro leaves and chili flakes. Good luck.

Seared duck breast with soy & carrots # 16

Seared duck breast with soy & carrots

Duck breast
Carrots
Japanese soy sauce
Honey
Sesame seeds
Salt, pepper

Fry the duck breast until medium rare, make sure to fry the fat until crispy. Set aside and leave to cool. Whisk soy with honey to a sweet and salty sauce. Cut the carrots and slice the duck breast. Serve each slice with carrot, soy and honey sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Seared beef with cilantro, carrots & sesame seeds #5

Seared beef with cilantro, carrots & sesame seeds

beef

fresh cilantro

carrot

sesame seeds

salt, pepper

japanese soy sauce

Sear or grill the beef, slice the carrots thin. Slice the beef and season with salt, pepper and soy. Garnish with carrots, cilantro and sesame seeds.