Happy Accidents

Today's entry is brought to you by the letter 'Q', most aptly exemplified in 'Quixotic'.

Sometimes the best intentions go astray, and sometimes that is a very good thing indeed.

I have been away from the stove and larder of late and in my half remembered impressions of prior recipes I made an error. I had the notion of reproducing this lovely thai salad one again lifted from the 'Thai Vegetarian Cookbook', which I have referred to previously.

In preparation I acquired some green mangoes which I understood to be the principal part of the recipe. Ooops! The original happened to be green papaya. A bit of a different...um...fruit, but no matter!! Onward Ho!!

Green Mango Salad with Apples

2 green mangoes (not a different variety mind you, just unripened)
1 garlic clove
2 small red thai chilis (substitute whatever chilis you like, you may want to cut down to 1 if you're shy of fire)
1 tbsp roast peanuts
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp light soy sauce (or what some might call regular, not dark)
1 tsp sugar (I used brown)
1 apple (original recipe was tomato, I didn't have any)
2 large leaves of lettuce (original recipe was chinese cabbage, again none on hand)

1. Peel the skin off them mangoes and shred them with a grater. Set aside.

My mango peels and denuded mangoes looked kind of pretty so I snapped a shot of them too.

You will have to manoeuvre your way around the flat mango pits and try not to shred too much of the stringy stuff near the pit itself.

2. In a mortar, lightly pound the roughly chopped garlic, add the chilis (you'll want to seed them unless you like things really hot) and lightly pound again. Add the peanuts and lightly pound again. Stir occasionally and don't go too crazy here or you'll have produced a spicy form of peanut butter. Perhaps good for other applications but not so much here. ;) Don't have a mortar? You can improvise. I have faith in you.

3. Toss your peanut mixture in with the mango shreds.

4. Incorporate that and then chop up your apple and add that too.

5. Incorporate once again. Lay out your lettuce leaves in the bottom of a bowl and decant your salad on in there.

There you have it. Easy peezy, and deelish as it turns out. Who knew asian fusion was so easy. You can scoop up wads of this tasty mixture with the lettuce or shovel it in with a fork if you like. The lettuce is nice and you may wish to set aside a couple extra leaves for scooping purposes.

On this occasion I didn't settle with an appetizer alone so I did up this too:

Turmeric fried rice with ready-fried tofu (also lifted from Vactcharin Bhumichitr's Thai Vegetarian Cookbook) You may want to find yourself a copy. You can't have mine.

2 tbsp oil (I prefer peanut for these thai applications)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (I went with 2 actually)
1 small onion (I used the bottom parts of some leftover scallions I had)
1 carrot, diced
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 tsp sugar (again, I used brown)
3 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more)
1/2 cup ready-fried tofu (you can get this at an asian grocery, or use what you have, or fry yourself in advance)

To garnish

1 spring onion
1 medium tomato (would be good, again didn't have one)
3 inch hunk of cucumber cut into 1/2 inch slices (again, would be good, again...none for me)

One needs to cook the rice so I prepped all the other ingredients ahead of time after setting the rice to cook.

Pre-prepped layout.

Post prep.

Post-punk prep.

*Ahem

1. In a wok or frying pan heat the oil until it is good and hot. About 3/4 high. I set to 8 on my electric stove.

2. Add the garlic and fry until golden brown. Happens quickly, be ready with the other stuff.

3. Stirring all the time, add the onion, carrot, turmeric powder and cooked rice. Stir thoroughly. I like to use the chef's flip. I find it most effective. Be careful though. Turmeric will stain anything it touches.

4. Add the sugar, soy sauce, and chili powder. Stir thoroughly. Add the beancurd (tofu), stir and warm through then turn on to a serving dish.

5. Sprinkle with chopped spring onion (green parts, or both if you like). Arrange the tomato and cucumber at the side of the dish (if you have such things).

There you have it. Seen here served alongside the tasty salad. You could probably eat the fried rice with lettuce leaves or cabbage or what-have-you if you like, and go sans cutlery. :) Enjoy!