A cook, painter, author and MasterChef favourite, Poh Ling Yeow will undoubtedly lift any menu – and mood – with her new book. What I Cook When Nobody's Watching is all about celebrating creativity, great flavours and the simple pleasure of making food for yourself and others. Enjoy!
FISHFRAGRANT EGGPLANT AND BASHED CUCUMBER SALAD
My goddaughter, Cassie Lee, cooked this classic Szechuanese beauty for me after time spent in China teaching English and learning to speak Mandarin, and it's become one of my favourite ways to celebrate eggplant. If you stir-fry, it will brown more randomly, but I like to pan-fry every side of the batons.
SERVES 4
CUCUMBER SALAD
• 1 continental cucumber, bashed with a rolling pin or pestle until split, then roughly sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 125ml rice wine vinegar
• 55g caster sugar
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 bird's eye chilli, split in half lengthways
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• ¼ cup roughly chopped coriander leaves
SZECHUAN SAUCE
• 2 tbs doubanjiang (fermented chilli bean paste; found in the Asian section of supermarkets or at Asian grocers) • 2 tbs light soy sauce or tamari • 2 tbs Chinkiang vinegar • 2 tbs Shaoxing rice wine • 2 tbs water • 1 tbs wheatenor maize cornflour • 2 tsp sugar
