Everyday ingredients can often be transformed with just a little inspiration, and I’ve recently been getting that from Nanban, Tim Anderson’s new book. I’m now entranced by Japanese home cooking, and this week’s dumpling dish, which has had rave reviews from my children over the last few weeks, is one of the results. As for today’s second dish, I adore caramelised onions, but there are only so many times I want to eat French onion soup, so here I’ve folded them into pasta with yoghurt and blue cheese to make a comforting plateful, which is just what’s needed as the nights draw in.
Chicken dumplings with sesame avocado rice
This Californian-style rice is very moreish, and is made even more addictive by the addition of golden chicken dumplings. Ask the butcher to mince the chicken for you if you don’t have a meat mincer (it’s a great addition to the kitchen arsenal: look for one online). Serves four to six.
300g brown rice
1kg minced chicken thigh (the meat from about 8 chicken thighs)
25g fresh ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, peeled and grated or finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper (white, ideally)
2 ripe Hass avocados
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds (I like to use both black and white)
The juice of 2 limes
3 tbsp sunflower oil
200g shiitake, portobello or chestnut mushrooms, roughly sliced
1 pinch dried chilli flakes (optional)
For the marinade
100ml chicken stock
100ml soy sauce
100ml mirin
30g brown sugar
1 clove garlic, crushed
10g ginger, finely sliced
Rinse the rice a few times, then leave to soak in water while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Mix the minced chicken with the ginger, garlic and half the spring onions. Season with salt and pepper, white if you have it. Wash your hands, then pat the mixture into oblong patties about the size of a small madeleine, or two walnuts side by side: you want about four patties per person. As you pat each one into shape, put it on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper, then put in the fridge to firm up.
Put all the marinade ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, until rich, glossy and slightly sticky.
Put the rice in a pan, cover with double its volume of water, salt generously and bring up to simmering point. Simmer for 15 minutes, cover, turn the flame to its lowest setting, and leave the rice to finish cooking in its own steam. (If there is any water left in the pan once the rice is cooked, drain it.)
Dice the avocado and toss it in the sesame oil, seeds and lime juice.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Brush the patties with the marinade and fry in batches for four minutes a side, until golden and just cooked through (keep them warm in a low oven). Once the chicken is cooked, add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and fry the mushrooms on high heat for five minutes, until golden. Sprinkle with chilli, if using, and season with just a touch of salt and pepper.
Toss the mushrooms, remaining marinade, avocado mix and the rest of the spring onions into the rice, and serve topped with the chicken balls.
Tagliatelle with blue cheese, tahini and caramelised onions
This pasta dish is really simple, and very comforting: munching your way through the silky noodles, sweet onions, nutty tahini and salty blue cheese is like being enveloped in a warm duvet. Serves four to six.
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
30g butter
900g onions, peeled, cut in half and sliced thin
Salt and freshly ground pepper
450g Greek yoghurt
3 tbsp tahini
450g tagliatelle
300g frozen peas
100g good blue-veined cheese
Put the oil and butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan on a medium-high heat, then add the onions, season well and cook, stirring, for five minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low, and leave the onions to cook, stirring frequently so they don’t catch, until soft, golden and caramelised – about 20-30 minutes.
Strain the yoghurt, to get rid of any excess moisture, then put in a bowl and beat in the tahini.
Bring a big pan of well salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente; add the peas three minutes before the pasta is done. Strain, and reserve 250ml of the cooking water. Put the pasta in a bowl.
Beat half the reserved pasta water into the yoghurt mix, and season with pepper (white, if you have it). Toss the yoghurt mix into the pasta and set aside for a minute or two; the pasta will keep absorbing moisture from the sauce. Add more of the cooking water until you have a loose, silky pile of pasta coated with a creamy sauce. Check the seasoning (be cautious: both the cheese and the onions have salt). Pile the pasta into a heated serving dish and crumble over the cheese. Top with the golden onions and serve at once.
And for the rest of the week…
Make double the amount of the dumplings: they freeze well, and make a handy last-minute supper. I like to make lots of the marinade, too, because it’s also lovely on salmon and adds great flavour to stir-fries. Use any blue cheese for the pasta – I often use leftovers, but if you do buy some in specially, why not try a new cheese? And if you pick up a blue sheep’s cheese such as Crozier blue, maybe try sheep’s milk yoghurt in the sauce.
• Thomasina Miers is co-owner of the Wahaca group of Mexican restaurants.
Join Thomasina Miers and Wahaca’s Day of the Dead fiesta at Tobacco Dock, London E1, on 7 November; go to wahaca.co.uk/dotd for details.
