MYANMAR TIMES Issue 685 | July 8 - 14, 2013 | Page 50

the pulse food and drink 51
www. mmtimes. com

the pulse food and drink 51

Rice salads: Quick, easy and healthy

phyocooking @ gmail. com

I

LOVE making rice salads as a change of pace from traditional rice and curry dishes. They make a refreshing and tasty one-bowl dish. They can be vegetarian or can be made to satisfy the meat-lover as well simply by adding sausages, minced meat or bacon.
In this week’ s first recipe, I have used curry powder in a rice salad. Its golden colour makes an attractive presentation next to the fresh green appearance of the snow peas, and the aroma smells yummy. Frying the curry powder carefully in oil gives an even nicer smell to the dish.
Curried rice and snow pea salad. Photo: Phyo
PHYO ' S COOKING
ADVENTURE
For added flavour, you can cook the rice in chicken stock or vegetable stock rather than plain water. If you do, make sure to use stock without any MSG. Finishing off the rice with a few dashes of sesame oil or fried peanut oil means you won’ t miss that artificial taste one bit.
This week’ s second recipe is a light and refreshing rice salad. Fresh herbs are so nice to eat with plain rice dressed with a small bit of oil and balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. The sharp flavours of herbs are calmed by the sweetness of the raisins and nutty taste of walnuts, making this rice salad the perfect accompaniment for a BBQ dinner.
CURRIED RICE AND SNOW PEA SALAD INGREDIENTS( SERVES 6) 2 cups uncooked rice
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock 1 cup water 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup frozen peas 150-200 grams snow peas 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds salt and pepper to taste
DRESSING 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice
PREPARATION
Wash the rice and dry well. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the curry powder quickly and fry until the aroma comes out. Add dry rice and toss, making sure all grains are evenly coated with curry powder. Transfer rice to a rice cooker and add frozen peas, stock and water to cook. You can also choose to steam them instead. When rice is cooked, spread gently on a large plate or tray to cool. Meanwhile, mix ingredients for dressing thoroughly. Bring 1 cup water to a boil and blanch snow peas for 3 minutes. Remove them and run them under ice-cold water to prevent them from overcooking. Drain and dry. In a large bowl, combine rice, snow peas and pumpkin seeds, then sprinkle the dressing over. Toss gently with salt and black pepper for taste.
RICE SALAD WITH HERBS AND WALNUTS INGREDIENTS( SERVES 6) 2 cups rice 1 cup loosely packed mint leaves 1 cup loosely packed basil leaves 1 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves
1 cup loosely packed coriander leaves 5 spring onions( white parts only) 1 / 3 cup walnuts in shells 1 / 3 cup raisins
DRESSING 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice
PREPARATION Cook rice in a rice cooker or by steaming, and spread gently on a large plate or tray to cool. Meanwhile, pick the leaves off all herbs, discarding stems. Wash leaves and pat dry. Crush walnuts, discard shells and roast nuts. Mix ingredients for dressing. Add salt and black pepper for taste.
TIPS Take care when frying curry powder so you don’ t burn the powder or
Rice salad with herbs and walnuts. Photo: Phyo
yourself. When the oil is hot enough, take the pan away from the stove before adding the curry powder. Stir well and when you put the pan back on the stove, bring the heat back up slowly. In the second recipe balsamic dressing can be used instead of lemon juice. An easy way to mix either dressing is to put the ingredients in a jar and shake well.
QUOTE
“ Rice is great if you’ re really hungry and want to eat 2000 of something.” Mitchell Lee“ Mitch” Hedberg( 1968- 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his unconventional words of wisdom.
NEXT WEEK Italian style pumpkin and prawn rice.

BBQ chicken to rival KFC

DEEP fried chicken is pretty hard to beat and remains a favourite to the Myanmar palate.
It’ s no surprise that yet another BBQ chicken brand is set to open in the country. The BBQ Chicken restaurant will open its first store in Myanmar on July 12 on Bogyoke Aung San Road in Yangon, and will serve, yep, you guessed it.
The chain has been made famous throughout Korea and will be franchised in Myanmar through the privately owned Myanmar Culinary Holdings Company.
“ Management, the chefs and I have all studied at the BBQ Chicken University in Korea and we will open our restaurant instilling the highest standards,” company representative, U Naing Win Aung told a press conference on July 4.
BBQ chicken, Korean-style. Photo: Zarni
The company even provided samples of the“ Golden Olive Chicken” to the media gathered there.
The chicken was fried in olive oil and the ingredients encompassed more than 30 ingredients from Korea – delicious but possibly so many ingredients that they actually cancelled each other out in the end. The main difference is the franchise’ s ability to introduce different types of condiments to the palate, such as using vinegar to contrast the sweetness of the chicken. I think it would go well with a cold beer and a hot bowl of rice.
There will be more western-style offerings on the menu, but go for the chicken. It’ s the standout item.
BBQ Chicken restaurant has two floors and seats about 150. Pricing will finalised at the open.
– Lwin Mar Htun

Golden view to golden food

TIM MCLAUGHLIN
tmclaughlin @ gmail. com
THE newly opened Golden View restaurant is hoping to lure Myanmar diners to teppanyaki- Japanese form of cuisine that involves cooking on an iron grill, known to American diners through the popular chain Benihana. Golden View is making a strong case with excellent food that is reasonably priced.
Beef, chicken and prawn teppanyaki is priced at a comparitively low K4500 and comes with rice and a large portion of grilled vegetables. Ample sushi rolls include the well known favourites including California, spicy tuna and volcano and hand-rolled temaki. Sushi prices range from K2000 to K8000. Fruit juices are available for K1500- the green apple is especially good- and the homemade black sesame ice cream is on the house.
The flare from the cooks is limited: No onion volcano or flying prawns on display but the food is great. The beef and chicken were both prepared perfectly with plenty of delicious sauce. The volcano roll and shrimp temaki were well above the quality of sushi found at any other mid-range Japanese option in Yangon.
Unfortunately, the location on the busy U Aung Myat Street in the Golden View Tower opposite Kandawgyi Park means it gets little foot traffic and parking is difficult.
Diners will find themselves in a near empty restaurant to which they can see two ways: either as a place lacking atmosphere, or as a great VIP space where they get great service. You will almost certainly be able to get a grill-side seat and the large cooking surface makes it ideal for large parties. True to the name, the top floor has a very nice view of the golden Shwedagon Pagoda.
An additional perk: A 10 percent discount is being offered throughout monsoon season.
No 23 Golden View Tower( A), corner of U Aung Myat Rd & 123 St, Shine Condo, Yangon. Telephone: 09 508 0466
Food:
8
Drink:
9
Service:
10
Atmosphere:
7
X-factor:
8
Value for money: 9
A teppanyaki chef controls the flames. Photo: Tim McLaughlin
Total score:

8.5 / 10