Seven spice chickpea stew

July 21, 2024

   

We've had a kale and coconut salad in our repertoire for nigh on a decade, but I've never quite hit on the right accompaniment for it. It's textured, chewy and quite filling; sweet with coconut, salty with soy, and just faintly bitter from the green leaves. It needs some protein. I've cycled through various marinated tofu recipes, but they usually include more soy sauce and the overall effect is a bit too samey and salty.

This week I browsed through my bookmarks, thinking I'd try chickpeas instead, and I pulled up this recipe from The First Mess. It's kind of like the vodka pasta sauce I made last month: cooked-down onions, and lots of tomato mellowed out with coconut milk (rather than oat cream). I adjusted some of the recipe quantities to use up full ingredient packages. The coconut is a nice echo across the two dishes and the soft, thick texture of this stew is a welcome contrast. It's a comforting meal hot from the kitchen, and just as enjoyable at room temperature packed into a lunchbox. At last, I've made a match!

Seven spice chickpea stew 

(slightly adapted from a recipe on The First Mess) 

spice blend

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

stew

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 x 400g cans chickpeas, drained

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 x 400g can diced/crushed tomatoes

1 x 400mL can coconut milk

salt and pepper, to taste

Stir together the ingredients for the spice blend in a small dish and set them aside.

Melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened; this will take up to 10 minutes. Stir the spice blend into the onions for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste for a further minute. Stir in the garlic and chickpeas for half a minute. Add the balsamic vinegar, then the tomatoes, then the coconut milk, and season the stew with salt and pepper. Stir everything together thoroughly and allow it to simmer for at least 10 minutes. (I cooked it down a lot longer while my kale and coconut baked.)    

Sendok Garpu

July 14, 2024

   

Two years ago Laura recommended Sendok Garpu to us, and this year while in Brisbane we took the time to cross the Victoria Bridge and try it for dinner. Its arcade location, low stools and adjoining grocery section hint that it's aimed primarily at city-worker lunchers, but it still attracts plenty of diners and delivery orders for an early dinner.

The Indonesian menu is enormous (I've linked to 20 pages below!), with vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and spicy options well marked throughout. It was tough to prioritise. 

   

Laura had warned us that the food was very spicy, so we figured we should set ourselves up with cooling drinks. Michael's Es Kopi Gula Aren ($7) had high doses of sugar and caffeine, and kept him abuzz for some time. Es Soda Gembira ($6) was a new-to-me mix of raspberry soda and condensed milk. The carbonation-and-milk combo actually worked pretty well, and the flavour reminded me of jelly tips.

   

Michael focused on the range of rendang dishes on offer, and chose a vegetarian adjustment to the Mini Tumpeng Rendang ($29.95). Around a centre of yellow herb coconut rice, he received an excellent jackfruit rendang (instead of beef), garlic crackers (instead of prawn), chilli egg, crispy tempeh, a very hot shrimp-free sambal and salad. He loved it, and even wished for more rendang.

   

Instead, he satisfied himself with picking at my leftovers. I'd ordered the Ketoprak ($15.95), noted as a famous vegan dish in Jakarta, and available at three spice levels. The featured rice cake chunks are barely visible - they're steamed soft and starchy, not dense and bouncy like Korean rice cakes. They were tossed together with thin rice noodles, then topped with bean sprouts and a sweet, mild and thick peanut sauce. Around the edges I could pick at spongy tofu cubes, boiled egg (not vegan, in spite of that menu heading) and garlic crackers.

We were full, even satisfied, except that I'd noticed a poster advertising martabak (dessert pancakes) on the way in. Happily these were boxed up to take away, so we walked a serve back to our accommodation and enjoyed thick pandan pancakes sandwiching a cheese and condensed milk filling from the comfort of our hotel bed.

Sendok Garpu's CBD location didn't fit naturally into our other planned activities but we were so glad we made the effort to visit. The staff were very welcoming, the food was novel to us, and most of all it was tasty. We're likely to work it into the schedule when we're back in Brissy.

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The Hangry Chef was a big fan of the past Coopers Plains incarnation of Sendok Garpu.

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Sendok Garpu

Shop 6, 97 Elizabeth St, Brisbane CBD

(07) 4602 9979

story, recommendations 1, recommendations 2, entrees 1, entrees 2, set menu A, set menu B, street food 1, street food 2, rice dishes, wok dishes, soup, mains 1, mains 2, mains 3, mains 4, sides, sambal & extras, drinks, desserts  

https://www.sendokgarpu.com.au/

Accessibility: The entry is wide and the stairs up to the tables include a wheelchair lift. Tables are low with backless stools, quite densely packed with a wide pathway along one side. We ordered at our table and paid at a waist-height counter. Toilets are shared within the arcade and located two levels lower, accessible by both stairs and lift; an swipe card from the restaurant staff is needed to access them. The toilets are gendered and a large ungendered cubicle with supports is also available. 

Izakaya Midori

July 7, 2024

   

For the first time in over a decade I've had a weekend at the Gold Coast, and I made a special trip to Izakaya Midori for a meal. I'm familiar with this restaurant through Susan, who's posted at least ten reviews of it! (See collected links at the bottom of the post.) It's located in a little suburban shopping strip, yet the business has transformed their space into a small slice of Japan with nostalgic wooden surfaces, decorative knick knacks and functional accoutrements like wooden chopstick boxes and fabric-covered bag holders on the floor.

It's a rare joy to receive an entirely vegan menu of Japanese foods. Not only is Midori's standard menu extensive, but they also offer specials (including dessert!) and a kids menu. Gluten-free, pungent-free and soy-free dishes are well marked. I was ordering just for one, and wracked with all the dishes I'd be missing out on: edamame served three ways (boiled, smoked and as chips), okonomiyaki, fancy-frilled gyoza, mash-it-yourself potato salad, numerous ramen and don mains.

   

That said, I couldn't fault the dishes I did order. I started with a katsu sushi roll ($6.50, pictured top), served with pickled ginger and not wasabi on my request. I figured the wasabi tartare sauce within would supply enough heat for me. The mock-pork filling was thick and succulent, generously and crunchily crumbed. I noticed and appreciated that I was served just 1-2 teaspoons of soy sauce, precisely sufficient for my needs.

When I saw 'yuzu' on the specials list I was sold, ordering the yuzu 'kara & tofu' combo salad ($19, pictured directly above). What a spectacular rainbow of ingredients it held! Crispy-chewy mock chicken, soft battered tofu squares, unblemeshed avocado slices, refreshing cucumber and tomato, corn kernels, sprouts, pickled purple cabbage, plentiful bright salad greens, all lightly dressing with yuzu and sesame oil. I am a notoriously slow salad eater, and it was a pleasure to take my time over this one.

My lemon myrtle tea ($7.50) enabled me to linger a little longer and digest my meal - I like that they sell this local option alongside their matcha. If I had more time at the Gold Coast, I'd eagerly return many more times to order across Izakaya Midori's menu. Knowing that I didn't, I contented myself with revelling in one unrushed experience.

   

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You can read one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten posts about Susan's experiences with Izakaya Midori. It's also been covered by I Travel For Vegan Food.

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Izakaya Midori

Shop 7/50 Woodland Drive, Reedy Creek Qld

(07) 5645 6625

lunch menu, drinks, specials, dessert special, kids menu

https://izakayamidori.com.au/

Accessibility: Entry from the footpath is flat and there's a shallow ramp between levels inside. Medium-height tables and backed chairs are generously spaced. The toilets are shared with other businesses on the block; they're gendered, narrow and lacking any accessibility features.

Gochujang vodka rigatoni

June 30, 2024

   

I picked up a little carton of cheap Oatly cream from Cheaper Buy Miles kind of by accident (I thought it was milk) but luckily I recalled that Meera Sodha uses it quite often in her Guardian-published vegan recipes. Here's one of them: a riff on vodka pasta sauce, which I don't see around in Australia but I recall encountering often in the United States. The traditional recipes seem to cook onions in butter or oil, combine them with tomatoes and cream, then include some vodka to help blend the latter two ingredients and give the sauce a sharp, clean finish. Sodha makes the obvious substitutions to render it vegan, then adds in gochujang for some extra heat.

My Oatly and pasta packages were larger than the recipe called for so I inflated the recipe by inexactly rounding up most of the ingredient quantities. I also swished tap water around the passata bottle and the Oatly carton to get the last bits out and into the sauce; as a consequence, I decided that I didn't really need the reserved pasta water included in the recipe. Happily, pasta is the kind of food that can take this casual attitude to measurements, although perfectionists might like to adjust the ratios more carefully.

I liked that this pasta was brightly tangy, almost fruity. I paired it with some more earthy burnt butter and black garlic Brussels sprouts.

Gochujang vodka rigatoni

(slightly adapted from a recipe by Meera Sodha published in The Guardian)

2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

400g passata

1 1/2 tablespoons gochujang

1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup vodka

250mL Oatly vegan cream

500g rigatoni

Pour the oil into a large saucepan and set it over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes.

Add the garlic, stir for 2 minutes, then add the passata, gochujang, tomato paste and half of the vodka. Allow the mixture to bubble and reduce in volume for about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining vodka and the cream, cook for another couple of minutes, then turn off the heat.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta for 1 minute less than instructed. Save a cup of the pasta water and drain off the rest.

In whichever of the two saucepans is the best fit, stir together the pasta and the sauce and set them back on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add some of the pasta water if needed, but aim for a thick sauce that clings to the pasta. Season to taste and serve.

Cheesy baked rice cakes & kale

June 27, 2024

   

I bookmarked a lot of recipes in Tenderheart when I received it for my birthday last year but when I saw the photo of this one, I actually guffawed. Crisp-edged kale in cast iron under a blanket of golden-brown melted cheese? Yes. With rice cakes as the accompanying carb? That's a cool idea I would never have had. It seemed like a cosy winter dish so I saved it up until now. We've been experiencing colder days than I think I've ever been through in our 18 years in Melbourne, so it's definitely the right time.

Beneath that cheesy top layer there's a lot of stock and a couple of collapsed tomatoes - I was surprised at how soupy it all turned out! That moisture is important for cooking the rice cakes, but I'd be tempted to reduce it a little next time. I reckon using canned (instead of insipid winter) tomatoes might make for a thicker, richer sauce too. As I typed up the recipe, I noticed an instruction that I didn't on the day of cooking, which is to rinse the rice cakes to prevent them from sticking to each other - I'll definitely give that a go next time.

The use of gochugaru matches the rice cakes and adds some extra warmth without burn. Whether this dish turns out soupy or saucy, it's a whole lot of comfort. 

   

Cheesy baked rice cakes & kale

(slightly adapted from a recipe in Hetty Lui McKinnon's Tenderheart)

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon gochugaru

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon caster sugar

1 L vegetable stock

900g rice cake sticks, rinsed in water to separate

leaves from a bunch of kale, roughly chopped

170g tasty cheddar, grated

200g mozzarella, torn

If you've got a big dish that can transfer from the stove to the oven, use it! I don't, so I started with a large saucepan. Set it over medium heat, add the olive oil and then the garlic. When it's fragrant, add the gochugaru, tomatoes, salt, sugar and stock, stirring to combine. Cover the mixture with a lid and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 200°C.

Remove the lid from the saucepan and stir, squishing the tomatoes against the sides or even getting a masher in there. Add the rice cakes and kale, stirring until the leaves wilt. Stir in half of the cheddar and mozzarella. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese and then bake until melted and golden, 15-20 minutes.