Discover - Soul Spoon

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Amok Trey

Cambodia's national dish, the centrepiece of any Khmer feast and the proper-occasion food across the country. You start by pounding kroeung fresh in a mortar (the paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots, kaffir lime zest and coriander root that defines Khmer cooking, and that no shop-bought paste comes close to matching). The kroeung fries briefly to bloom its aromatics, coconut cream and stock loosen it, and eggs whisk in to set the eventual custard. Chunks of firm white fish fold through with chopped greens (traditionally noni leaves, with spinach or chard standing in), and the whole mix spoons into banana-leaf cups (or small ramekins). Twenty minutes in a steamer turns the custard just-set around the soft fish, and the banana leaves perfume everything. Served from the parcels with steamed rice and a wedge of lime.

Cambodian 55 minutes Serves4

Chuối Nướng

Sticky rice is soaked, steamed and pressed around small Asian bananas (Chuối sứ), wrapped in banana leaves and grilled until the rice forms a chewy crust. A coconut cream sauce thickened with a little cornflour and salt is spooned over the split-open bundles, and toasted peanuts and sesame finish the top. The contrast of crisp-burnt outside, soft hot banana, and cool coconut sauce is the whole point.

Desserts 2 hours 40 minutes Serves4

Firni

Firni is Afghanistan's set rice-flour pudding, served at Eid and at the end of long family lunches, scented with cardamom and rosewater and topped with crushed pistachios. The technique is simple but precise. Very finely ground rice flour (traditionally soaked basmati ground by hand, but shop-bought rice flour works well) whisks into cold milk to a slurry, gets stirred slowly into warming sweetened milk, and cooks until thick and creamy. Cardamom and rosewater at the end. Pour into shallow dishes (small individual ones, ideally) and chill until the surface sets to a light skin. Scatter with crushed pistachios or almonds and serve cold. Make it the day before so it has time to set properly.

Desserts 3 hours 40 minutes Serves6

Goan Chicken Biryani

Chicken thighs are marinated overnight in a yogurt-and-vinegar paste with a freshly-ground Goan masala (Kashmiri chillies, peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin and fennel) plus a touch of toasted coconut and ginger-garlic paste. Basmati is parboiled in salted water with whole spices. Fried onions are crisped and reserved. The biryani is built in layers: marinated chicken, rice, fried onions, saffron milk, mint, coriander, repeated; sealed under a tight lid and cooked under dum for 45 minutes. Distinctively Goan: palm vinegar in the marinade and a small splash of coconut milk in the layering.

Rice 3 hours 45 minutes Serves6

Goan Prawn Pulao

A bright green masala paste of coriander, mint, green chilli, ginger and garlic is ground with a splash of vinegar. Basmati is rinsed, soaked and drained. Whole spices and onion are softened in coconut oil, the prawns briefly seared and lifted out, then the green masala is fried into the onion before the rice is added to toast. Stock goes in for the steam; the prawns return at the end so they don't overcook.

Rice 1 hour 15 minutes Serves4-6

Indonesian Chicken Noodle Soup (Soto Ayam)

A clear, golden chicken broth fortified with a freshly pounded turmeric, lemongrass and shallot paste, finished with coconut milk and a squeeze of lime. The dish is built in three layers: a slow-simmered chicken stock, a fried spice paste that becomes the soup's backbone, and quick-soaked rice vermicelli to carry it all. Comforting and aromatic in equal measure.

Indonesian 1 hour 30 minutes Serves4

Jerk Chicken

A wet jerk paste: scotch bonnet chillies, garlic, ginger, spring onions, thyme, allspice (whole or ground), brown sugar, soy sauce, lime, oil, salt and pepper, pureed in a blender. The chicken (bone-in skin-on thighs and drumsticks, or spatchcocked whole bird) marinates for 12 hours minimum. Slow-grilled over indirect heat with a pile of pimento wood chips or allspice berries on the coals for the signature smoke; alternatively, an oven-bake at 180°C with a final blast under the grill, supplemented with allspice in the marinade.

Jamaican 13 hours 5 minutes Serves4

Jerk Meatballs in Coconut Curry Sauce

Two strong Caribbean flavours pulled into a single one-pan dinner: jerk on the inside (in the meatballs), curry on the outside (in the sauce). The meatballs are pork rather than the more common beef, which suits jerk better, pork carries the allspice-and-Scotch-bonnet seasoning the way it was historically intended (the Maroons of eastern Jamaica originally jerked wild boar, not chicken). Around them sits a coconut-curry sauce: shallot, garlic, sweet bell peppers, Jamaican curry powder bloomed briefly in butter, then full-fat coconut milk to mellow everything into something almost ice-cream-rich. The two flavours sit alongside each other rather than fighting, the jerk reads spicy-savoury, the curry reads sweet-aromatic, and a bite that includes both is genuinely better than either alone. Smell is curry powder bloomed in coconut milk, deeply Caribbean. One of the easier dishes here, 50 minutes start to finish, all in one pan, and a modern Black-American food-blogger creation rather than a traditional Jamaican dish; the cross-pollination is the point.

Jamaican 50 minutes Serves4

Khao Niao

Sticky rice must be the right variety: Thai glutinous rice (also called sweet rice, sticky rice, or kao niao, looks the same as ordinary white rice but opaque white when raw, not translucent). Soak the rice 4-12 hours in cold water until grains can be crushed easily between fingers. Drain. Steam over (not in) boiling water for 20-25 minutes in a traditional bamboo cone, banana leaves, or a steamer lined with muslin. Test by tasting a grain, fully cooked, chewy, slightly translucent. Transfer to a covered bamboo basket or wooden bowl for serving.

Sides 12 hours 30 minutes Serves4

Malaysian Curry Laksa (Laksa Lemak)

A two-part dish: a deeply concentrated prawn-and-chicken stock built from roasted prawn shells, layered with a freshly pounded laksa paste of dried chilli, galangal, lemongrass and candlenuts. The two are joined with coconut cream to create a glossy, fragrant broth that bathes rice vermicelli, tofu puffs and prawns. Finished at the table with sambal, lime, fresh coriander and bean sprouts.

Malaysian 1 hour 35 minutes Serves4

Malaysian Dhal Curry

Yellow split peas (chana dal) simmer with onion, turmeric and tomato until very soft. The lentils break down into a thick soup. Right at the end, a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, garlic and shallots is poured sizzling-hot over the surface. The aromatic oil seeps through; the dish transforms.

Malaysian 1 hour Serves4

Nasi Lemak

A platter built around fragrant coconut and lemongrass rice, served with a fiery sambal of dried anchovies and rehydrated chillies, then ringed with hard-boiled egg, sliced cucumber and fried peanuts. The sambal does most of the heavy lifting, sweet, sour, smoky and hot. The rice itself is gentle, designed to be a calming counterpoint to everything else on the plate.

Malaysian 1 hour 10 minutes Serves4

Pelau

Pelau is the Trinidadian one-pot, a meld of West African jollof technique with South Asian pilau influence and a uniquely Caribbean step: caramelising brown sugar in hot oil until it foams and turns dark mahogany, then dropping the seasoned chicken straight in so the meat takes on the colour and the slightly bitter-sweet edge of burnt sugar. This is the signature move of Trinidadian "browning" and it is what makes pelau pelau and not pilaf. Coconut milk, pigeon peas (gungo peas in some other islands), thyme, garlic and a whole Scotch bonnet finish the build. The rice cooks through the whole pot so it absorbs the chicken juices, coconut and burnt sugar, and the finished dish is mid-brown, glossy, mildly sweet, slightly spicy and packed with chicken on the bone. It is not difficult but the burnt-sugar step requires nerve: the sugar needs to go well past caramel into something that smells almost burnt, otherwise the pelau will be too sweet rather than savoury-deep. Cook in a heavy pot with a tight lid and resist stirring once the rice is in. Serve with coleslaw or a sharp green salad, a slick of pepper sauce and a slice of fried plantain.

Trinidadian 1 hour 40 minutes Serves6

Shwe Yin Aye

The shaved-ice dessert of Burmese teashops, the cold sweet you order on a hot afternoon when the temperature touches 35°C. You make four textures separately and chill them: a firm green agar jelly cut into small cubes, cooked sago pearls, lightly toasted white bread cut into one-centimetre dice, and a cool sweetened coconut milk. A dark palm sugar syrup ties everything together at the bowl. The bread is the unexpected element: toasted just enough to hold its shape, it soaks up the coconut milk like a sponge and turns the bowl into something halfway between dessert and breakfast. Crushed ice piled on top is non-negotiable. Eat fast before the ice melts and floods everything.

Desserts 2 hours 45 minutes Serves4-6

Thai Coconut Ice Cream

A custard-free, fully coconut ice cream. Coconut milk (full-fat) and coconut cream combine with palm sugar, glucose syrup (or honey, keeps the texture smooth) and salt; warm together gently to dissolve the sugar. Cool fully (4 hours fridge or an ice bath). Churn in an ice-cream machine for 25-30 minutes until thick and creamy. Transfer to a container; freeze 2+ hours to firm. Serve in small bowls or, for the Bangkok cart presentation, in halved fresh coconut shells, topped with any combination of: small banana slices, sticky rice, roasted peanuts, sweet red beans, palm-sugar syrup, toasted coconut.

Desserts 28 minutes Serves6

Thai Green Curry (Vegetarian)

A spice paste of green chillies and aromatics blends fresh (or starts from a good Thai paste with fresh additions). Coconut cream from the top of the can is cracked in the wok until oil splits out; paste fries; coconut milk loosens; vegetables, Thai aubergine, pea aubergine, bamboo shoots, broccoli, baby corn, go in by cook time. Tofu joins; the curry simmers briefly. Soy sauce (instead of fish sauce), palm sugar, lime leaves, Thai basil to finish.

Thai 50 minutes Serves4

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