Jo’s Vegan Thai Banquet

Due to the whole world (mainly my MacBook charger) conspiring against me, things have been wee bit quiet on the blog of late. To make up for it I’ve hit back with a cavalcade of vegan delights. I made this last Saturday for nine of my favourite people: Heather, Chelsea, Nathan, Jane, Erik, Kat, Malcolm, Oliver, and Kieran. Malcolm and Jane don’t eat anything with a face, so I went against my beliefs – The Holy Church of Steak, Butter, and Cream. Needless to say I’m quite smug about the whole thing.

After a mental night at the Wake the President album launch I was a little worse for wear in the Asian food store the next day. Luckily I turned it around with wine, wicked banter, and only one minor fire. Oops!


Spring Rolls From Scratch

For the filling stirfry the following ingredients in groundnut oil for 5 minutes:
[I made a ridiculous amount of filling, enough for about 35 spring rolls, so I wont even bother with quantities]

beansprouts
grated carrot
ginger
garlic
dried shitake mushrooms (soaked in water for 20 minutes first)
vermicelli
soy sauce

Then soak the spring roll wraps (available in all good Asian food stores) in water before lying each flat on a chopping board. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the filling mixture, and put a small handful in the corner of the wrap. Then wrap each portion of filling up like a beautiful present, and fry in smoking hot oil for two minutes. Drain the spring rolls on kitchen paper before serving with sweet chilli dipping sauce.


Thai Yellow Curry

I first made this at New Year with king prawns, but I think it worked just as well with veggies. If you use meat or seafood for this curry you should also add in a glug of fish sauce. Luckily I remembered not to use it in the vegan version! Easily serves 10.

For the paste:
6 red chilies
1 thumb-size piece of ginger, sliced
8 cloves of garlic
3 tsp. ground cumin
3 tsp. cinnamon
3 tsp. dried turmeric
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
12 dried kaffir lime leaves
3 cans of coconut milk
juice from 2 limes
3 Tbsp. tomato paste


Instead of MEAT:

2 large cooking onions
2 courgettes chopped into pieces
3 stalks lemon grass
6 potatoes, chopped into small chunks
2 green and 1 red peppers
2 packs of mange tout and babycorn (gotta love the babycorn)
3 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2 loose cup fresh coriander to serve

Slice, dice, and combine the ingredients for the paste in a bowl first, before starting the veggies cooking, then mix them all up in a big pot, simmer, and cover for an hour. Remember to fish out the lemongrass before serving – it’s just in there for the flavour.


Oliver’s Secret to Perfect Rice

Sick of sloppy starchy rice? Make like Dr Oliver Cram, and whisk the rice in water to remove all of the starch. Drain and repeat until the water runs clear. Then cover the rice in about an inch of water, and bring to the boil. Take it off the heat and cover until you have perfect fluffy rice.


Banana Bonanza

bananas (1/2 per person)
spring roll wraps – left over from the spring rolls you made earlier
runny honey
flaked almonds
ground nut oil

Soak the spring roll wraps in water as before, use them to wrap up the banana halves. Fry in a pan of hot oil for two minutes, and drain on a piece of kitchen paper. Then top with honey and a handful of flaked almonds. Yum!


To top off the night, Kieran made a (non-vegan) chocolate chip cake, and I made vodka and cokes. More of that next time when I get the bowtied babe to share one of his delectable cake recipes. Russian Chocolate Cake with Beetroot anyone?