Kanom krok, Laos: food I've never eaten

One day I'd love to visit Laos, and making kanom krok made me even more keen. They are small coconut pancakes, vegan without any modifications, also commonly found as street food in Thailand.

I made the pancake batter up ahead of time and left it in the fridge for a couple of hours. It seemed quite thin. I combined coconut milk (the thickest parts from a can that had separated in the fridge) with rice flour, desiccated coconut, some leftover cooked rice, and brown sugar in the blender. For the filling, I whisked coconut milk (again, the thick part) with a little white sugar and cornstarch. Lacking a proper kanom krok pan, I made do with a muffin tin and the oven on high. I heated the tin to melt coconut oil in each one first, then poured the batter in. It sizzled.

Baking these until they had a small skin on top took about 7 minutes. I pulled them out, added the filling, topped with sweetcorn and spring onion, and put them back in for another 12 minutes or so. I could/should have probably cooked them slightly longer to make the edges crispier.

They were delicious, if a little soggy or droopy. I waited just long enough for the tin to cool enough to hold it with a tea towel before removing them with a spoon. They came out surprisingly easily and had more structural integrity than they looked like they should. I got eighteen in total out of the mix, and most of the first twelve were eaten before the second batch were done. An eater-of-eggs who tried them swore they would have passed as eggy desserts without question.

They were easy and quick to make, and so so good, I'll definitely be making them again.

🏷 travel food vegan worldle recipe laos nottravel

Sat 7th of May 2022 at 5:53pm (+01:00)

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Kasknopfle, Liechtenstein: food I've never eaten

This week I checked out cuisine from Liechtenstein, and came across kasknopfle or spaetzle. I more or less followed this recipe for a veganised version.

The texture of the batter was surprisingly compliant. I used a chopping board and bench scraper to make strips to drop into the boiling water. The main mistake was making them far far too big. But they nonetheless cooked quickly and tasted fine.

I layered the dumplings/pasta with grated not-cheese. In lieu of dried onions to top with, I used the tops of home-grown onions, which caramelised a bit in the oven, and baked it all together. I would have just eaten that alone, but I was feeding my brother too who has greater quantity and diversity requirements for his evening meal, so I served it with breaded chicken-of-the-woods from my freezer (the closest thing I could think of to thematically appropriate schnitzel) and steamed broccoli from the garden.

There were plenty of leftovers, and they reheated well for a substantive lunch.

🏷 food vegan worldle recipe liechtenstein nottravel

Fri 6th of May 2022 at 6:22am (+01:00)

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Cherchem, Mauritania: food I've never eaten

I read about the iron ore train in Mauritania and added that to my definitely-to-do list. But probably not any time soon. In lieu of that, I made what felt like either a hybrid of or transition between African and Middle Eastern food: cherchem. Recipes online were consistent more or less with the spices that go along with the millet (which, incidentally, I like way more than cous cous, but all my brother can connect it with is that my parrot used to eat it / scatter it everywhere) - mint, oregano, thyme, bay, coriander, garlic and paprika. Plus some tomato paste, and boiled up all together. I served it dolloped on top of salad for lunch.

🏷 worldle recipe mauritania nottravel

Mon 18th of April 2022 at 8:57pm (+01:00)

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Babenda, Burkina Faso: food I've never eaten

I make 'West African style' peanut stew fairly regularly, so what else is there to this collection of hearty and rich cuisines? Babenda from Burkina Faso immediately jumped out at me as something I'd love to try. Funky smelling fermented locust beans? Sold. They're called soumbala, dawa dawa, or iru, and after failing to find them during a brief trip to London I ended up ordering some off ebay, dried.

I looked through a few recipe variations, and most closely used this one. Of course, no anchovies for me, but locally foraged seaweed (dulse in this case) gives it that salty fishy edge.

The first step is to blitz everything in the food processor: peanuts, iru, spices, and also the uncooked rice. I was using sushi rice, because that's all we ever have in, and it didn't break down much. Also probably because the tiny food processor was too full.

Then I simmered everything until it seemed cooked, and stirred in some homegrown bitter greens. I think I added too much chilli, using both dried and fresh.

I loved it. Everyone else who tried it agreed it was funky and weird, and didn't seem convinced. They did eat it all though.

🏷 food vegan worldle recipe burkina faso nottravel

Fri 15th of April 2022 at 8:33pm (+01:00)

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Ugali, Tanzania: food I've never eaten

I have tried sadza in Zimbabwe, made from sorghum flour. The Tanzanian variation on a similar side dish is ugali, made from maize. Every 'recipe' I found seems to be different, but I felt the most coherent instructions on WikiHow. I already had maize flour from when Grain & Sustain had run out of gram flour and offered me that as an alternative.

I used one part maize flour to four parts water and mixed them slowly together. The texture was smooth, and it held together without being sticky once it had cooled enough to touch. Dave said he would have believed me if I told him it was mashed potato, but he isn't very discerning. I served it with a vegetable and bean stew.