The Lost Ingredient

[desperance]

My blind spot. Let me show you it.

For the last several days - having sprouted mung beans to my satisfaction - I have been designing meals-to-make-with-beansprouts. And, almost without exception, I have been forgetting to add the beansprouts.

Two days ago, there was the Singapore noodles. Yesterday, there was the fried rice. Today, there was the pho.

I think it's partly because these are all dishes that have a lot of separate ingredients going in more or less at the last minute, and it's easy to forget one, especially if it's sitting in a jar on the worktop at your back rather than on the chopping-board at your side; but mostly it is because I have an inherent flaw, which is that I can't remember stuff. Stuff like the-reason-I'm-cooking-this.

Still. All these things were nice without the beansprouts, and there is still hope. Even if the beansprouts are actually starting to sprout little leaves now...

And, pho is not the only use for beef stock. Tonight - at anef's inspiration - we have mushroom and leek and fennel risotto, with roasted bone-marrow on the side. If I die of it, well. I go gloriously.

Comments

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

Eats sprouts and leafs

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Last night chez le marquis.
The marquis 'Supper's ready.'
La marquise, wandering into the kitchen, 'What are the spring onions for?'
The marquis. 'Oh, those were meant to go in with the lettuce...'

Meanwhile, what can I do with leftover boiled rice other than stir fry it?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I was watching "Great British Menu" last night, and one of those Michelin-starred chefs sent his dish off to be judged, and then his competitor-chef said "Oh, what are these...?" - and yup, they were a crucial ingredient, that he had simply forgotten. We are in good company, the marquis and I. We have Michelin-starred skillz, we do...

Leftover boiled rice? Um, rice salad? Rice cakes, sweet or savoury? Rice balls, fried or steamed? Soup...?

[anef.livejournal.com]

I think it's in Tampopo that there's a recipe for a rice omelette, which I occasionally try to recreate. Fry rice in frying pan in sauce (I use chilli and garlic)until crunchy, then do the omelette thing. The difficulty is getting the rice crunchy enough.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I am on the very verge (having just got in, late, from a day in Macclesfield) of more-or-less reproducing that: except that my rice will be fried with the chilli and garlic like a stir-fry, and the eggs will be fried and dropped on top.