This piece was written on Dharawal land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.
Being ill with the flu has not helped with the homesickness! But luckily, last week, before I got ill, the ocean gave me some solace in the way of FINALLY calming down. This means I had my first snorkel of the winter season.
exploring the usual stomping ground - blackwoods, dharawal country!
Before long though, the surf was pounding and I had to think of something else to do.
everyone in town was out watching the surf. it was huge!
So, my friend Selena and I went out to forage and pickle some seaweed! It was quite a chilly afternoon, and we braved the incoming tide for some beautiful Neptune’s necklace among other seaweeds. I ended up having the pickled seaweed with my miso ramen one day. The flavour was distinctive and tasted just like the ocean. A dish fit for a mermaid!
I was going to give you a seaweed pickle recipe, however, fresh seaweed isn’t very accessible to everyone, so I’ve decided to give you another dish from home. Char Siu Fan (叉烧饭) is one of Hong Kong’s trademark dishes, served in canteens across all of its islands. It’s usually made with pork, but today we’ll be using seitan! You also don’t want to miss out on the geung yung (姜葱酱) aka scallion ginger oil! The simple, tangy, salty goodness is a perfect contrasts to the sweet, sticky char siu!
ingredients.
350g prepared plain seitan (I used this one from Woolies)
1/4 cup sugar
Generous pinch salt
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 drop red food colouring
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp hot water
For the geung yung:
1/4 cup neutral oil
3 spring onions, minced (white and green sections)
1 tbsp ginger
Generous pinch salt
how to.
Combine all char siu ingredients and marinate seitan in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 220 degrees. Add char siu and bake for 20-30 mins. In the last five minutes, switch to grill to get that caramelisation.
Meanwhile, heat oil until very hot. Switch to low and fry spring onion and ginger for 2 minutes. Switch heat off and leave in pan.
Carefully slice char siu and serve with rice and a generous scoop (or three) of geung yung. Enjoy a taste of Hong Kong!
that looks as awesome as I imagine that surf was!
and gosh, foraging seaweed - I am loving it!!
(seriously, my mind is obvs on foraging these days since it's summer here!)
hope you're feeling better!
Yes! I remember seeing the vertical ovens in HKG that cooked pork, very excited to try a vegan version! 🌱🙌🏽