.After a year long hiatus (and maybe more), it’s time for cooking the books! I put the shout out on twitter earlier in the month and you spoke, as you always do. The winning book this time was Mandalay: recipes and tales from a Burmese Kitchen by Mimi Aye.
I’ve followed Mimi on social media for a while and here food always looks absolutely mouthwateringly good. My sister got me her book for Christmas and I’m ashamed to say that this is the first thing I’ve cooked from it.
To recap, if you’re new to cooking the books, this is something I came up with to try and make better use of my huge collection of cookbooks. The concept is simple – every month I ask my social media followers to vote for one of three books from my collection. Once a winner has been picked I select a recipe at random, I make it and then I blog it!
Slight tweak: As we’re in lock down right now and I’m trying to use ingredients I have (rather than buying more), I actually chose the recipe based on what’s already in the cupboards. Once this pandemic has passed I’ll be back to randomly selecting what to cook!
The book itself is full of vibrant photography with sections devoted wholly to snacks, fritters and condiments (all my favourite things) as well as the more usual salads, soups, noodles, meat, chicken etc… There is also a glossary and stockist suggestions for some of the more unusual ingredients and these are an interesting read in themselves. Did you know for example, that Burmese tofu is made from chickpeas and turmeric and not soybeans? It looks totally different and no doubt tastes it too!
The recipe: Mandalay Bean Fritters (Mandalay Pe Kyaw)
Ingredients (makes 10-15 fritters)
- 1 tbsp of self-raising flour
- 400g of red kidney beans, from a tin
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp of rice flour
- Red onion, diced
- 1 tbsp of glutinous rice flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- Half tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- Half tbsp of vegetable bouillon, or 1/4 tsp MSG
Method:
- Drain most of the liquid from the tin of beans then pour the beans and any residual sludge into a large bowl. Roughly mash the beans with a fork, then add the rest of the ingredients (apart from the oil) and mix well
- Pour some oil into a large saucepan or wok until it is 5cm deep. Place over a medium-high heat until you can feel waves of heat coming off the oil with the palm of your hand
- Using a tablespoon, scoop one spoonful after another of the bean mixture into the hot oil until the surface of the pan is covered. Make sure the fritters do not touch. Let them fry for 2–4 minutes, until you can see them brown around the edges. Then flip and fry for another 2–4 minutes. Remove the fritters with a slotted spoon and drain on plenty of kitchen paper. Serve hot.
The verdict:
These Mandalay bean fritters are delicious. The dipping sauce was perfectly balanced too, with the sour tamarind cutting through the crispy deep fried fritters. Be patient and make sure you mash those kidney beans down so that the fritters hold their shape. And don’t be scared of the oil – it needs to be hot for them to fry properly! I can’t wait to try some of the curries and meat dishes from this book as I’ve heard nothing but good things and it all looks and sounds incredible. Hurry up lock down so I can get my hands on the ingredients!!
Keep an eye out for April’s cooking the books selection on twitter and instagram!
