April 10th
2006
How much time do you need to say “yes” to a short notice invitation for a casual Friday evening get-together, especially considering a promising fish curry being on the menu? Sub second response time! The only thing that beats having a fellow foodblogger (as well as cookbook author, journalist and cook) just around the corner, is being able to share the occasional culinary experience with someone who knows his trade. It doesn’t always have to be a full fledged late night debauchery until the wee hours of the morning (not that that’s bad thing ;), a delish dish, a happy crowd and one or two glasses of wine (or “interesting” Asian beer) can already be a perfect recipe for an excellent time.
Oh and by the way, there are only few things that leave N. speechless, one of them being S.’s gigantic wall of cookbooks, and we’re not talking hundreds but thousands of them – an assorted collection of every culinary masterpiece one could possibly think of… she still raves about it :)
One of the conversations we had that evening, was about those green…, yeah right, green somethings. Interestingly looking vegetables(?), S. had bought at an Asian store, that we really couldn’t figure out. Raising questions about what they are and what they’re typically used for or with?
I’ll let you in on my theory: At first I thought of some type of pepper/bean…on closer examination, they looked more like blossoms. Living on the edge, of course I had to try; reminding me of endive, they have quite some bitter taste to them. Now imagine, seven foodies gathered around a wok with deliciously smelling fish curry, exchanging confused looks, wondering about what they were actually nibbling on…
So what is it??
O.
Some kind of lotus flower? I remember seeing something like that in laos....
Hello! I just discovered your site today and find it great! The photography are really beautiful (colors and texture) and i know your site is about food but can i know what kind of "appareil photo"' you use??( excuse me i'm searching for the right word in english....."camera"?)...
FAnny
Ich bilde mir ein, sowas schon mal gesehn zu haben, die Idee mit der Blüte finde ich noch am nachvollziehbarsten. Farblich passt's auf jeden Fall perfekt zu eurem letzen Post. Aber wie das Ding sich nun nennt? Keine Ahnung ;(
was doing a project on plants last year and the pic above looks something like sesban or agathi(?) but I might be wrong as the image above looks very green.
They look a bit like the inside of zucchini blossoms, but that's not an Asian food as far as I know. Interesting.
Those are Rat Tail Radishes. It's one of, if not the only, radishes where you don't eat the root- these grow as pods just like peas on a vine.
Hope you enjoyed them, they can be hard to get, at least where I live.
Very interesting... it looks like something in the edamame family. How did it taste? I'm very curious now too!
Not radishes but flowers, actually. They are called Dok Kae, a type of tropical flower used in thai cooking, most often in a sour coconut-free curry called Gang Som. They add a slight bitterness and astringency to the dish.
The pistils inside these flowers are very bitter, you should take them out before cooking. I posted a Gang Som recipe on Chez Pim recently.
You can make Gang Som with Dok Kae, either on their own or in combination with other vegetables. Just add Dok Kae at the very last moment. They don't need cooking, just wilting a bit at the end in the hot curry before serving.
You can also use in a Thai Yum salad -blanche them first- with shrimp or pork, tossed in a dresing made of lime juice, fish sauce, and Thai chillies.
Oh, yes, and my favorite, stuff each flower with a mixture of shrimp and pork, give it a quick dip in a light batter, and deep fry like a tempura. Yum.
Sorry for a very long note here. Just couldn't help myself.
cheers,
Pim
Thousands of cookbooks!?!?! Impressive..
Never seen the pretty jade-coloured thingy before though:(
some sort of flower bud i believe. Looks similar but i cant remember the name.
Beautiful somethings, I never saw them before! Will have to look out for them on my next stop at the Asian market. Must try everything once ;)
Ah yes, like Pim said. dok kae = sesban or agathi blossom (sesbania grandiflora). Here is a pic i found:
http://www.supatra.com/pages/thaiveggies3.html
[...] Schließlich , es war fast vier: Eintopfgratin. Streuselgemüsekuchen. Auflauf Crumble. Nennt es, wie Ihr wollt. Uns hat es geschmeckt. Und wem das alles zu schnöde für einen Sonntag ist, der kann bei den Nachbarn von delicious:days beim Exotenquiz mitmachen, das aus einem freitäglichen Spontanfischcurry hier im Kochbüro hervorgegangen ist. Oder sich bei zwei feinen Rezepten mit grünem Spargel schon mal für den Frühling einkochen. Irgendwann wird er schon kommen. « Von der Suppe zur Platte zur Pasta[das Mittagessen davor] [das Mittagessen danach] [...]
The picture made them look so green that I was almost sure they were rat tail radishes (here is a picture), but I will concede that they look more like dok kae after looking at the link Ginger provided. Regardless, if you ever have the chance to try them, pick up some rat tails!
Thanks everyone for playing along…
And Dok Kae it is. Thanks Pim for shedding some light on this truly exotic ingredient (really like your series on Thai food/ingredients!), and Ginger M for digging out the link! Funny enough: not exactly sure what we were looking at that evening, we had discussed different ways of potentially using it - tempura-like was one of them.
Oliver and Nicky,
I'm happy to be of help. I envy that you have them in your markets. I've never seen them in the US at all. Next time I'm in London or Paris I'll cook with them and post some classic recipes on the blog.
Thanks Ginger for the link.
cheers,
Pim
Wow, Pim, you rule.
These look like shishito peppers. They taste great grilled!
It looked quit the same as Indonesian Bunga Turi or the Turi Flower, there's a pic of it here http://ditsayur.hortikultura.go.id/algal/Tanaman%20Sayuran/slides/Bunga%20turi%20putih.html.
The Indonesian usually use this for a dish called Pecel, some kind of salad pour with hot nut sauce as a dressing.
This flower is eaten in west bengal state of india also..its called Crane Flower there..donno how many Bengali dishes have similarity with Thai dishes..someone make some research..
Tastes very slightly bitter... when eaten raw or fried..
generally fried in India..but in Thai..use it in soup
...Since I am from Bengal,I found it surprising to get it in the supermarket her in Thailand..
One of our favourite restaurants in Bangkok does a great dok khae salad with flossed pork, shallot and chilli. Yum. I wish we could get them here.
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Sorry, I don't have the slightest clue. Never seen it, never ate it. But now I'm curious, too! Looks beautiful though!