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Nick Nairn’s taste of Asia

Long before he became a Michelin-star chef, Nick Nairn was a sailor, spending seven years with the Merchant Navy where his tastebuds were awoken...
Long before he became a Michelin-star chef, Nick Nairn was a sailor, spending seven years with the Merchant Navy where his tastebuds were awoken...

“In 1976 on my first trip to sea, I arrived in Surabaya, Indonesia. I was 17 and the intoxicatingly exotic smells, the noise and the sheer number of people in the streets nearly overwhelmed me. Being a curious Scot, I of course rose to the opportunity to try food that wasn’t mince and tatties, and first up was nasi goreng. The totally alien flavours, topped with a reassuring fried egg, blew me away,” said Nick.

His latest classes at his cook schools, Nick’s Navy Days and Nick’s Asian Adventure, reflect his experiences. “What I’ve been keen to do for some time is create classes that relate to my personal experiences. My love of food came from my years in the Navy travelling around the world visiting Asia and Australasia. As I get older I am becoming more and more enamoured with Asian cooking and flavours as it was Asia that kickstarted my tastebuds. Now I’ve come full circle by recreating these experiences.”

For full details of the classes on offer visit: www.nicknairncookschool.com or why not take your tastebuds on a culinary adventure with these dishes he’s created for YL readers.

NASI GORENG WITH CHICKEN, KING PRAWN AND A
FRIED EGG

SERVES 4

yl-nik-Nasi Goreng

6 shallots, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

5g shrimp paste

1 red chilli, roughly chopped

3 eggs, just beaten

150g chicken breast

12 king prawns, preferably raw

15ml veg oil

600g cooked basmati rice, cold

Black pepper

3tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce, available in supermarkets)

1tbsp soy sauce

1 Chinese cabbage, or Savoy, chopped

1 spring onion, chopped

4 extra eggs, 1 per person, for frying

TO SERVE

Lime wedges

Coriander leaves

Sriracha sauce (unsweetened chilli sauce)
Chop the chicken breast into large-ish chunks and deep fry until just golden and cooked through. Set aside. When cooled, shred with two forks. Using a pestle and mortar, or blender, grind or blend the shallots, garlic, shrimp paste and chilli, seeds and all, to a fine paste. It should be a vibrant orange colour.

Heat the veg oil in a wok to a medium heat and stir-fry this spice paste for two minutes, until brownish and fragrant. Now move the cooked mix to the side of the wok and pour the beaten egg into the wok. Quickly scramble the egg for a minute. Start to mix the cooked egg with the spice mix, breaking them into smaller pieces. Add the cooked rice, a grind of black pepper, the kecap manis and soy sauce. Stir-fry everything quickly over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add the Chinese cabbage, prawns and cooked shredded chicken and continue to stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

You’ll need to fry an egg, sunny side up, per person, to your liking – I like them fried fast and hot so the edges go crispy but the yolk is still runny. Have these ready. Add the chopped spring onion to the stir fry. Mix well. Serve in warm dishes, sprinkled with coriander leaves and a lime wedge each. Finally top each portion with a well-fried egg and a drizzle of sriracha unsweetened chilli sauce.

 

MISO GLAZED SALMON WITH SUSHI RICE AND PICKLED VEG

SERVES 4

yl-nik-Miso Salmon

4 thick fillets of salmon, skinless and boneless

FOR THE MISO MARINADE

50g white miso paste

20g mirin

20g sake

20g sugar

FOR THE SALAD

Cucumber

2 shallots, finely sliced

1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced

5 black trompette mushrooms, soaked and torn into strips

Pinch fine sea salt

60ml sushi seasoning vinegar

2tbsp Japanese pickled ginger, roughly chopped

FOR THE SUSHI SEASONING VINEGAR

10 measures (eg 10x20ml) rice wine vinegar

6 (eg 6x20ml) measures caster sugar

1 (eg 20ml) measure table salt

FOR THE SUSHI RICE

80ml sushi seasoning vinegar

240g sushi rice

1tbsp black and white sesame seeds, toasted

A little oil to fry

Start with the salmon marinade. Combine the mirin, sake and sugar; bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar. Add the miso paste and return to the boil then simmer for three minutes. Pass through a fine chinois and cool. Gently toss the salmon fillets in the miso marinade, place on a tray and marinade for at least six hours.

For the sushi, the easiest way of producing an accurate seasoning vinegar for your sushi is to measure all the ingredients by volume. You can use whatever comes to hand, eggcups or buckets it will always work. Don’t worry if you make a little too much as it keeps exceptionally well, just eat more sushi! Simply combine all the ingredients.

For the rice, wash the sushi rice three or four times in cold water, and set aside in the colander for 30 minutes. Place the rice into a saucepan then add 600ml water. Cover and bring to the boil over a low heat. Boil for 8-10 minutes until the water has been absorbed, then remove the pan from the heat, keeping the lid on, and allow to finish cooking off the heat for 10 minutes more. Tip the rice into a wide bowl and fold in the sushi vinegar. When cool shape it into balls – or place in individual dariole moulds. To serve, warm the sushi rice in a steamer or microwave or pan fry the turned-out dariole moulds of rice.

To cook the marinated salmon fillets, wipe off any excess marinade. Sear briefly in a very hot pan with veg oil and remove to a tray. Rub the top presentation side with a little miso marinade and allow to dry for at least 10 minutes. Finish the cooking under a hot grill
until just cooked.

For the salad, prepare the cucumber by peeling it, halving it lengthways, removing the seeds and cutting it into 3mm slices. Now mix the cucumber, shallots, chilli and trompette mushrooms and sprinkle with the salt. Allow the vegetables to stand for 30 minutes then rinse in cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper. In a small pan, bring the vinegar with caster sugar to the boil, then pour it over the cucumber mixture. Allow to stand for an hour, then add the pickled ginger. Drain the pickling liquor off the vegetables when ready to serve.

Serve the salmon with the sushi rice topped with toasted black and white sesame seeds, pickled cucumber salad and garnish with a few dots of marinade.