Jason Dell Recipes Using New Zealand Produce at FHA

Well-known New Zealand chef Jason Dell made an appearance at the New Zealand booth at Food Hotel Asia 2012. He demonstrated a few dishes using New Zealand produce, and I was fortunate to be invited as a food judge/critic along with Violet Oon.

Some of you may remember Jason during his days at Graze at Rochester, but he's now with the Regent Bali, which will open Sept 2012. I first got to try his cooking at the New Zealand ambassador's lunch.

New Zealand is renowned for its fresh and quality produce ranging from seafood, meats, fruits and specialty products like honey. Jason is showing us king salmon from New Zealand, which is sweetly buttery and yet light-tasting.

They have generously shared with us the recipes for the following dishes:

1. Pan Asian inspired Kumara (a sweet potato), Coconut and NZ Mussel Salad with Hot & Sour Dressing
2. Singapore Style Noodles with Manuka Smoked New Zealand Lamb
3. Curried Mussel and Kumara Fritters with Green Chili and Apple Salsa

After the jump.



PAN ASIAN INSPIRED KUMARA, COCONUT AND NZ MUSSEL SALAD
with HOT AND SOUR DRESSING

Salad

• 1 pkt of NZ ½ shell mussels
• 80ml tamarind water
• 1 stick lemongrass, minced
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, minced
• 1cm piece of ginger, minced
• 3 shallots chopped fine
• 2 long red chilies, cut into fine julienne
• ¼ cup thread coconut, toasted
• 1 kumara (sweet potato) roasted whole with skin on, chopped (or substitute pumpkin)
• 1 cup fresh coriander leaves, torn
• 1 cup mint tips, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup peanuts roasted, rough chopped

Hot and sour dressing

• 120ml lime juice
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 birds eye red chilies, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chilies flakes
• 1 tbsp of palm sugar

Garnish

• ¼ cup fried shallots
• ½ cup kumara, julienne and deep-fried
• banana leaf for serving

Method

To prepare the Hot and Sour dressing place all ingredients into a jam jar and shake well to
combine. Add the hot and sour dressing and the tamarind water into a clean bowl. Add the
mussels and marinate these for approx. 10 minutes. Add the lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger,
shallots, chilies, coconut, kumara, coriander, mint and peanuts. Gently toss to combine.

Line a serving bowl with a square of banana leaf in the bottom then arrange the salad on top.
Garnish with crispy shallots and the julienne of crisp sweet potato. Serve.

NB: You can substitute the mussels for other seafood species such as prawns, scallops.
You may also prepare this dish using smoked fish fillets, including - snapper and salmon.






SINGAPOREAN STYLE NOODLES
with MANUKA SMOKED NEW ZEALAND LAMB

Ingredients

• 400 gm packet thin Singapore noodles
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 500 gm lamb mince (smoked over native manuka woodchips prior to mincing)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 cm ginger, peeled, finely grated
• 1 carrot, peeled, cut into julienne
• 1 yellow capsicum, cut into julienne
• 1 orange capsicum, cut into julienne
• 400 gm can baby corn, drained and halved lengthwise
• 150 gm assorted mushrooms, thinly sliced
• ½ bunch gai-lan, approx. 200g (Chinese broccoli), trimmed, chopped
• 150 gm snow peas, halved
• 1 cup snow pea shoots
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup kecap manis (Indonesian soy sauce)
• ¼ cup oyster sauce

Garnish

• 1c thinly sliced spring onions

Method

Cook your favorite noodles according to packet directions. Drain well. Heat half of the oil in a hot
wok or frying pan. Add the lamb mince in two batches. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes or until
browned. Remove, and keep aside. Heat the remaining oil in the same hot wok/frying pan. Add
the garlic and ginger, stir-fry for about 1 minute or until very fragrant. Add the carrot, corn and
assorted mushrooms. Stir-fry until all the vegetables are tender. Add the gai-lan, snow peas and
water. Return the lamb mince to the wok, add the oyster sauce, kecap manis and the cooked
noodles. Toss until well heated through. Divide among serving bowls. Garnish with spring
onions.



Additional recipe for media – Not part of demonstration


photo courtesy of BBS

CURRIED MUSSEL AND KUMARA FRITTERS
with GREEN CHILLI AND APPLE SALSA

These are fabulous little party foods and fantastic for a lazy Sunday brunch. They can easily be
made well ahead of time and stored in your fridge for a day or two. Even better would be to use
clams or pipis in a combination – whatever takes your fancy. But if you are not a fan of mussels
or perhaps you have an allergy to shellfish, you may like to substitute the mussel meat quantity
with flaked cooked fish or smoked salmon.

Curried mussel and kumara fritters

• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 50ml cream
• ½ tsp curry powder
• 10ml thai fish sauce
• 4tbsp coarse polenta
• ¼ cup spring onions, finely sliced
• 32 cooked mussels, removed from the shells, cut in half
• 300g kumara (sweet potato) cut into 1cm dice, boiled

Green chili and apple salsa

• ½ green chili, seeded, finely chopped
• small red onion, finely sliced
• 20ml fresh lime juice
• 30ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 granny smith apples, cored and finely diced
• salt and black pepper

Garnish

• ¼ cup spring onions, finely sliced
• ½ cup crème fraiche or sour cream
• Fresh rocket leaves

Method

Mix the eggs, cream, curry powder, fish sauce, polenta and half the spring onions in a bowl. Add
the mussel meat and the kumara then stir well to combine. Make one fritter at a time. Heat a
15cm frying pan and lightly brush it with cooking oil. Add spoonful’s of the mussel mixture into
the center of the pan and cook to a golden brown on one side, then carefully flip over and cook
for 2 minutes more on the other side. Place on an oven tray and keep warm in a moderate oven.
Serve fritter with spoonful of the salsa and a small spoonful of crème fraiche on top. Dress with
rocket leaves.

To make salsa, mix together all ingredients, including the other half of the spring onions.
Season lightly with salt & pepper and set aside for flavours to develop for 10 minutes.

Makes 4 large fritters or 10 smaller canapé size bites.


Thanks to New Zealand Trade & Enterprise for inviting me as a guest taste-tester!

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