I’ve been cooking this curry for years – it’s one of Clancy’s faves – yet as good as it tastes on the stovetop, it tastes better in a camp oven over flames. If you are going to cook it on your next adventure though, blend the spice paste up before you head out. Alternatively, make a big batch and keep some in the freezer that you can take with you.
The method I’ve given here is for a stovetop, but it translates just as well to fire. We last cooked it using the Oz Pig – mainly because it’s easier to control the heat and stir the sauce. If you’re using coals, you don’t need any on the lid.
Some notes on the ingredients
With regards to ingredients, as per usual adjust to your own taste – especially where the chilli is involved. We usually use a few large red chillis and leave some of the small ones with their seeds intact. The large red chillis won’t add a lot of heat to the dish, but they will make your paste more orange than yellow – not a big deal.
Candlenuts are something you might not have come across before – and something we’ve, in the past, left out to adapt the recipe for nut allergies. Sure, they add some authenticity to the dish, but on the other hand, they’re not really missed. If you can’t get candlenuts – which are available mostly at Asian supermarkets – macadamia nuts add a similar texture.
Belacan (Belachan) is another one you might not have come across before. It’s truly foul smelling stuff…when I say foul, I mean, really foul – another reason to mix up your paste before going on your adventure. You don’t want this stuff lying open in your tent/van/whatever.
It’s the sort of smell that seriously you wouldn’t know if it were off or not. Worse than smelly cheese, this doesn’t have the aroma of unwashed wet socks, but rather the stink of decaying shrimp. And that’s what it’s made from – fermented shrimp with a little salt. It’s then sun-dried and cut into blocks – although some stockists will sell it in a wet form that is also pretty manky.
Thankfully there are now some brands that are sold not only pre-roasted but pre-cut into individually sealed portion controlled sizes. Trust me, that is a breath of fresh air for the fridge.
So why would we cook with something that smells as gross as this? Simply because it adds that indefinable but absolutely necessary pungency to Malaysian cooking. (It’s also used widely in Thai, Laotian, Indonesian, Singapore and other South East Asian cuisines). It’s the belacan that gives sambal its potency, and the taste that allows the finished product to take you back to that Hawker’s Market in Penang.
Galangal is similar to ginger, but has a different texture and is more citrusy in taste. If you can’t get it, use more ginger.
Last night I couldn’t be faffed jointing a whole chicken (and our supermarket doesn’t sell free-range pieces other than drumsticks), so we used skinless thighs. If you are doing this, I would recommend taking the chicken out after the initial cooking period so that you have the time to develop the sauce in the way it needs to be developed. Then simply toss the chicken pieces back in for the final 10 mins or so.
Anyways, here is the recipe. It will serve 4 people easily with leftovers dependent on appetites.
What you need
For the paste:
- 8 red birds eye chillis, split & de-seeded. We like chilli so leave the seeds in a few of these.
- 3 shallots, sometimes called French shallots. If you can’t get them, use red onions – 1 large one should be enough
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2.5cm each ginger, galangal, and turmeric (peeled & sliced). Galangal is similar to ginger, yet tastes very different.
- 5 candlenuts (These are hard to source in Australia, but macadamias are a good substitute. They taste like a combination between a mac and a brazil nut)
- 2 stalks lemongrass (the white part)
- 1 tsp belacan*
Smash this all with your mortar and pestle, or whack it into a food processor and whizz until it is a smooth paste.
You’ll also need:
- 1 whole chicken jointed (or about 1.5kgs chicken pieces) – we prefer free range chooks that have clucked and scratched their way through their (short) lives.
- 1 tbsp oil – we use rice bran or coconut oil
- 5 eschalots (sliced)
- 400ml can coconut cream
- Fish sauce to taste
- juice of ½ lime
- 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded, to serve (optional)
- Coriander to serve (optional)
Putting it all together:
- Heat the oil in a large frypan or camp oven and fry the paste over medium heat until it is brown and fragrant. This will take about 5 minutes, but trust me, you’ll know.
- Add the shallots and chicken pieces and coat in the paste before frying for another couple of minutes.
- Add the coconut cream, 100ml water, and cover the pan with a lid. Bring it up to a boil before reducing to a simmer for 20 minutes. (If you’re cooking it on a stovetop you might not need the extra water).
- Uncover and simmer for another 5-10minutes – or until the chicken is tender and the sauce has reduced to a dunkable gravy.
- Add fish sauce to taste, stir in the lime juice and scatter with kaffir lime leaves and (if using) coriander to serve.
Lunchtime Noodles
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Posted on January 11, 2019 by Jo
Strictly speaking, these aren’t, of course, only for lunchtime; you can have them whenever you want. In fact, they’re particularly effective after a heavy night – or so I’ve been told. In fact, the recipe they’re based on is Nigella’s Drunken Noodles – not that I’m assuming that La Lawson would indulge in too many nights where she needs an appropriate cure but…now, I’m digging that hole deeper!
I like these because they’re quick and easy to whip up from ingredients that you probably have lying around from other meals, and leftovers that could be in the fridge. And, let’s face it when you’re on holiday you probably have better things to be doing with your time than faffing about with cooking a midday meal.
This recipe feeds 2 but will stretch to more if you throw in some veggies and cold meat. We had some leftover chicken from the roast chook the other night, plus snow peas and capsicum (peppers) that we’d used last night in a noodle soup. It, therefore, made a substantial lunch for 3. There’s no coriander in the version I cooked today because my 20-year-old daughter doesn’t eat coriander – that’s a subject for a whole other story – and, to be honest, with the snow peas it had plenty of green without it.
Speaking of which, Ms 20 – who doesn’t cook – has declared that she’ll be making this dish on those times when we’re away and she has to fend for herself. It can, therefore, adapt to a uni student’s attention to detail (and budget) and be made, in need, with garlic and ginger from a squeezy tube or a jar, and a squirt of lime from a bottle in the fridge.
Which reminds me – this is more of an idea than a recipe, so don’t get too hung up on the quantities and feel free to adjust the spicing to your taste.
What you need…
What you do with it…
Clancy’s Caribbean- Style Rub
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Posted on November 28, 2018 by Jo
This is a quick and easy spice mix to knock together ahead of time and can easily be stored in an airtight container in a cool dark place.
The rub itself is infused with the flavours of the Caribbean and when combined it works well with pretty much any protein especially chicken, pork and fish.
Clancy’s tip….. place the rub in a ziplock bag and store it in the freezer to bring out when needed. No defrosting required.
What you need:
What you do with it…
Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, mixing well.
Place the rub mix into an airtight container or a ziplock bag and store until required. If stored correctly, it should keep well for a month.
Beetroot Salad
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Posted on November 5, 2018 by Jo
I have a few recipes for beetroot salads – and they all begin with roasting the beetroot. I take the simple way out with this – slice off the top and bottom of each beetroot wrap the lot in foil and roast in a moderate oven (180C) or camp oven for about an hour. You should be able to get a knife easily through the largest beetroot. If you want to get fancy, you can pop some unpeeled garlic cloves and some thyme or rosemary springs into the foil parcels before roasting.
Leave them wrapped in their little parcels until they are cool enough to handle – the skins will pretty much slide off – before cutting them into rounds.
Slice a Spanish or red onion into little half moons, placing them in a shallow dish, and drizzle over a few teaspoons of red wine vinegar. Not only does this bring out the pink, but it also makes the onions easier on the tummy – if you’re the type who has problems digesting onions. Leave them for at least 15 minutes.
Arrange the beetroot on a serving plate, top with the onions, a little of the vinegar and a good slug of decent olive oil.
Some chopped herbs – mint, basil or thyme – will complete your salad. I used Greek Basil to top mine – mainly because the leaves are tiny, the stalks soft, and the flavour a tad more intense than regular basil…and because I planted some and hadn’t yet had the opportunity to use it.
Other options
Cube your beetroot and serve with cubes of feta and some spinach, rocket or baby beet leaves. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkle some almonds over the top.
If you’re after a traybake beetroot salad, try this one. Peel the beetroot before cooking and cut into wedges. Pop into an oven tray with a few cloves of (peeled) garlic, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar – naturally, mix the oil, sugar and vinegar together first. Cook in a moderate oven (or camp oven) for 40-45 mins – or until soft and a little shrivelled. Discard the garlic – it was there to flavour the oil – and toss it all together with some rocket, feta and almonds or walnuts.
Clancy’s Sticky Chinese Pork
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Posted on October 27, 2018 by Jo
If you have a few hours spare (yeah right.., not with three kids to run around I hear you say), I strongly recommend this recipe. Served with rice and maybe a few Asian greens tossed about in a pan, this could quickly become a camp fave.
My protein of choice for this dish is pork belly (as the title would suggest), however, I’m sure it could be adapted for beef/brisket if preferred. Depending on your cut of meat allow some extra cooking time at a low low heat to get the meat mouthwateringly tender depending on your cut of meat.
Although this recipe takes some time to cook, there’s no marinating and no huge list of ingredients. The depth of flavour you get is from the slow cook.
Clancy’s Tip
As with all leftovers, make sure that it’s stored correctly – getting sick is not on anyone’s agenda!
Equipment Used:
What you need
For the Pork:
For the glaze:
What to do with it
Penne with Smoked Chicken and Peas
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Posted on October 24, 2018 by Jo
Ok, let’s talk about comfort food. Sometimes you just need it, right? And the ultimate in comfort food for me is pasta.
This recipe has it all – carbs, creaminess, the smokiness from the chicken…I could go on… It’s also an easy one to do when you’re on an adventure – as long as you have a gas burner, a frypan and something to cook your pasta in, you’re right.
This should feed 4 people generously – or 6 if you’re not in quite that much need of comforting. You can usually get smoked chicken at most supermarkets, but if you can’t get it – or don’t want to go to the effort of it – a couple of chicken breasts will do the job nicely instead. You will, of course, have to cook them through before chopping them up and adding it to the sauce. Also sage can be difficult to get hold off – especially in country supermarkets. Make do with parsley – or maybe even basil – in need.
As an aside, the pesto is a handy jar to keep in your fridge/esky. A couple of tablespoons stirred through some cooked spaghetti with a handful of grated parmesan and maybe a squeeze of lemon makes for a super-quick meal.
What you need
What you do with it
Saute the chicken pieces in a little olive oil until golden. Set aside.
In a pan deep enough to take all the remaining ingredients and have room for stirring, saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until the onion is translucent.
Stir in the sage and pesto.
Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half.
Stir in the chicken stock, cream and chicken, season to taste and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Add the peas to the sauce and cook a further 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente and drain.
Toss the pasta with the sauce.
Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve.
Clancy’s Steamed Pork Buns
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Posted on October 12, 2018 by Jo
This recipe is a must for when you are camping in the colder months. Not only will these warm your soul, but you’ll be sure to make new friends with little beauties around the campfire.
Don’t be put off by the amount of prep work to get these ready. The filling is easily prepared prior to your adventure and, once made up, travels well – refrigerated properly, of course. All you’re left to do is place your bamboo steamer into your cooking pot, pour some water into the base, and in 15 to 20 minutes you’ll be cracking open the wonderfully soft and fluffy sweet bread filled with the aromas of the sticky pork filling.
Pass the beer…stat.
What you need…
Equipment
For the dough
For the pork filling
What to do with it
The Filling
The Dough
Okay, this can be a little bit tricky, but it’s definitely worth the time and effort.
Putting it all together
Kapitan Chicken
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Posted on September 28, 2018 by Jo
I’ve been cooking this curry for years – it’s one of Clancy’s faves – yet as good as it tastes on the stovetop, it tastes better in a camp oven over flames. If you are going to cook it on your next adventure though, blend the spice paste up before you head out. Alternatively, make a big batch and keep some in the freezer that you can take with you.
The method I’ve given here is for a stovetop, but it translates just as well to fire. We last cooked it using the Oz Pig – mainly because it’s easier to control the heat and stir the sauce. If you’re using coals, you don’t need any on the lid.
Some notes on the ingredients
With regards to ingredients, as per usual adjust to your own taste – especially where the chilli is involved. We usually use a few large red chillis and leave some of the small ones with their seeds intact. The large red chillis won’t add a lot of heat to the dish, but they will make your paste more orange than yellow – not a big deal.
Candlenuts are something you might not have come across before – and something we’ve, in the past, left out to adapt the recipe for nut allergies. Sure, they add some authenticity to the dish, but on the other hand, they’re not really missed. If you can’t get candlenuts – which are available mostly at Asian supermarkets – macadamia nuts add a similar texture.
Belacan (Belachan) is another one you might not have come across before. It’s truly foul smelling stuff…when I say foul, I mean, really foul – another reason to mix up your paste before going on your adventure. You don’t want this stuff lying open in your tent/van/whatever.
It’s the sort of smell that seriously you wouldn’t know if it were off or not. Worse than smelly cheese, this doesn’t have the aroma of unwashed wet socks, but rather the stink of decaying shrimp. And that’s what it’s made from – fermented shrimp with a little salt. It’s then sun-dried and cut into blocks – although some stockists will sell it in a wet form that is also pretty manky.
Thankfully there are now some brands that are sold not only pre-roasted but pre-cut into individually sealed portion controlled sizes. Trust me, that is a breath of fresh air for the fridge.
So why would we cook with something that smells as gross as this? Simply because it adds that indefinable but absolutely necessary pungency to Malaysian cooking. (It’s also used widely in Thai, Laotian, Indonesian, Singapore and other South East Asian cuisines). It’s the belacan that gives sambal its potency, and the taste that allows the finished product to take you back to that Hawker’s Market in Penang.
Galangal is similar to ginger, but has a different texture and is more citrusy in taste. If you can’t get it, use more ginger.
Last night I couldn’t be faffed jointing a whole chicken (and our supermarket doesn’t sell free-range pieces other than drumsticks), so we used skinless thighs. If you are doing this, I would recommend taking the chicken out after the initial cooking period so that you have the time to develop the sauce in the way it needs to be developed. Then simply toss the chicken pieces back in for the final 10 mins or so.
Anyways, here is the recipe. It will serve 4 people easily with leftovers dependent on appetites.
What you need
For the paste:
Smash this all with your mortar and pestle, or whack it into a food processor and whizz until it is a smooth paste.
You’ll also need:
Putting it all together:
Smoked Salmon and avocado salad
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Posted on September 25, 2018 by Jo
You know those weekend days when the skies are blue, the sun is shining and it’s almost warm enough to dip your toe in the pool, but absolutely beach weather? On days like that, you want a lunch like this. One that you can prepare quickly, that won’t weigh you down, that works brilliantly with white wine or water, and that, most importantly, leaves room for pizza or fish and chips at the beach for dinner.
It requires no flames, no special equipment, and can be on the table in 10 minutes. We bought all the ingredients at our local farmer’s market that morning, but if you don’t have a farmer’s market nearby, everything is readily available from most supermarkets.
As an aside, this works just as well with prawns or leftover shredded barbecue chicken.
Finally, a note on quantities. This will feed 4 if it’s part of a shared meal, or 2 if it’s all you’re having.
What you need
What you do with it
Bun Cha – Vietnamese Pork Salad
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Posted on September 21, 2018 by Jo
Now that Spring is upon us we’re looking for something lighter and cooler. Vietnamese-style noodle salads like this one deliver on both counts – yet are full of flavour and won’t weigh you down. We like this for lunch on a weekend or a light dinner when we’ve over-indulged a tad.
This noodle salad uses little pork patties – which you can quickly and easily put together in the morning and set aside in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. But you can also use shredded poached or barbecued chicken – it’s a great use of leftovers – or lemongrass-marinated beef. If you’re making the latter, slice about 400g beef into strips and marinade for 30mins in a paste made of 1 lemongrass stalk, 3 cloves garlic smashed or chopped finely, a teaspoon each of fish sauce and caster sugar.
Before I get into the recipe proper, a note about convenience. Obviously fresh is best – and that goes for herbs, spices, etc, but if you’re on the road, camping out or in a van, you’re probably not going to carry the sort of kit you have at home. That’s where those squeezy tubes of ginger, garlic and lemongrass that you find in the veggie section of the supermarket can be lifesavers. I’ll give you the instructions for the fresh stuff, but feel free to take shortcuts too. Just saying.
Vietnamese Salad Dressing
What you need
What you do with it
*A note on the chilli – we like things spicy so tend to leave some seeds in or include all or half of a small Thai style chilli as well. Your call.
The Pork Patties
What you need
What you do with it
Mix it all together…preferably with your hands. I like to also pick up small amounts and slam it back into the side of the bowl. I have no idea what it does but it does help the mix become quite pliable and sticky.
With wet hands roll into 16 small balls and gently pat to flatten.
Cook in a pan over your burner or on a barbecue. They should take about 3 minutes each side.
The Herb Noodle Salad
What you need
200g rice vermicelli noodles
1 bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
1 bunch fresh coriander, leaves picked
1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts
We also use basil or Thai basil or Vietnamese mint – depending on what’s available – and assorted salad leaves. I don’t like bean sprouts but apparently, everyone else does so while they won’t appear in my salad, they might show up in yours.
What you do with it
Place the vermicelli in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water and stand for 2 minutes or until tender. Drain well.
Arrange all your leaves onto a platter with the noodles, top with the patties and pass around the dressing.
Product Test: Cast Iron vs Spun Steel
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Posted on September 10, 2018 by Jo
I guess I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy when it comes to cooking over a fire or on coals. There is simply one tool of choice, and that is the cast iron pot – or so I thought.
During a recent conversation around a casual campfire a friend asked, ‘why do you continually persist to cook with – and carry around – a cast iron product when spun steel is now so readily available on the market?’
A good question – and one that I didn’t have the answer to.
To be honest, I hadn’t heard of spun steel, but even if I had, there’d be no way it could replace the already tried and tested cast iron pot right?…..or could it?
This prompted me to look online for a spun steel pot and being the impulsive person I am, to the joy of Mrs Clancy, it was on my doorstep four days later.
With the snip of the two securing straps around the cardboard packaging, my brand new shiny spun steel pot – along with some basic care and preparation instructions (more to come on this in an upcoming post on caring for your camp oven) – was released.
Weight
The first thing I noticed was just how light the pot was even though it was a 12qt in size compared to my 9qt cast iron. This is a definite “pro” straight off the bat for spun steel.
Let me literally weigh this up for you – the cast iron 9qt pot weighs in at 8.8kgs compared to the 12qt spun steel pot – which is less than half the weight at 4.1kgs.
Strength
Another big tick for spun steel is the strength and durability. Whilst not tested, I have no doubt the spun steel pot can be dropped, dinted, manhandled and thrown around without suffering any serious damage. The cast iron, on the other hand, needs to be treated with a little more love and care. I know this too well having dropped my beloved and well-seasoned cast iron pot only to have it shatter into many pieces. Not good when I consider the meals and memories made from one single pot.
Temperature
So how do they compare when cooking?
To start with, the spun steel gets up to temperature a lot faster than cast iron, however, it is difficult to maintain a constant temperature over a long cook. On the other hand, cast iron takes longer to get up to temperature, though seems to maintain a more even and constant heat even whilst away from the fire – making it idea for that low and slow cook.
Added Extras
One nifty advantage with the spun steel pot is its lid – which doubles as a handy frypan over the fire source.
Conclusion
Both pots serve a purpose. Quick simple meals will be best catered for in the spun steel pot, however, for a long and slow cook, I’d still much prefer to use cast iron – I can relax around the fire trusting a steady cook rather than continually checking that my pot’s heat is correct.
So it will definitely come down to use and preference next time you are planning a trip away. For me, the 4kg weight difference isn’t a big enough persuader to put me off my trusty cast iron – although it has me thinking twice…I may just have to find the room to pack both.