Now onto the letter K…

Beefsteak Plant:

Also called perilla mint, beefsteak plant is a traditional Asian crop used in cooking and is often planted as an ornamental. Rapid growing and invasive in natural areas across the mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere.

Beefsteak Tomatoes:

One of the largest varieties of cultivated tomatoes they are juicy and meaty and make a good base for fresh sauces and dips. They are also an ideal potato to stuff or are lovely coated in breadcrumbs as a lovely side dish.

Bladderwrack:

A seaweed which can be eaten whole either raw, cooked or steamed or dried and made into a tea…with a salty fish taste, it can be used sparingly in soups or dried for future use. It is rich in fibre, antioxidants and iodine.

Breadstick:

Also known as grissini, grissino or dipping sticks, are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, dry baked bread that originated in Italy. Eaten with soup or dips they are easy to make at home and lovely topped with some parmesan before baking.

Buldack:

Korean style fire chicken a heavily spiced BBQ chicken dish.

Burdock:

To herbalists, burdock root is a powerful medicine however the leaves, stalks and roots are very tasty if correctly prepared. Cut before the flower is open and stripped of their rind they are a delicate vegetable which when boiled is similar in flavour to asparagus…makes a lovely salad, eaten raw with oil and vinegar some years ago they were candied with sugar which we know as angelica used in baking to decorate cakes, biscuits and sweets.

Buttermilk:

Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream; however, most modern buttermilk is cultured.

Cempedak:

It is very similar to the much more common jackfruit, but while jackfruit is huge and oval in shape, a Cempedak is tubular and about the size of a rugby ball that’s been squished. I first discovered Cempedak in Phuket …The Cempedak fruit in the Thai language is called Champada (จำปา [th] ) which is a relative of the Jackfruit and often called the ugly cousin as when it is ripe the skin goes from green to a muddy brown colour.

It is not however as big as the jackfruit it is more the size of a rugby ball, cylinder in shape with a slightly squished in the centre.

Photo credit: anwarsiak***sibuk*** on Visualhunt / CC BY

Highly aromatic when ripe with the taste being a mix of banana and pineapple it is lovely eaten fresh or as we discovered very nice lightly battered and deep-fried…I do love the Thai batter as they use mainly rice flour which makes for a lovely crispy batter, not at all stogy like flour-based batters can be. Unfortunately, I don’t have an image of that as they were so very nice they were eaten before I could take a picture…Very yummy they were.

It has quite a large seed which can be boiled and eaten like a small potato.

The tree bark is used as a yellow dye to colour the monk’s robes.

The fruit is rich in Vitamin A & C plus heteriflavon C which is used to eliminate the cause of Malaria parasite. With a high water content, it is also rich in enzymes, bioflavonoid, ascorbic acid and rich in minerals and vitamins.

An around healthy fruit which although found predominately in the south of Thailand I am hoping I can find some here in the North.

Cheesesteak:

A cheesesteak is a sandwich made from thinly sliced pieces of beefsteak and melted cheese in a long hoagie roll. A popular regional fast food, it has its roots in the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Chopstick:

Are equal length pairs of sticks made from bamboo, metal or plastic and are used for cooking or eating utensils over most of East Asia…There is an art to using them which I have mostly perfected since living here.

However, depending on where you live the chopsticks may be slightly different each country has their own styles…

Crabstick:

Is an imitation crab meat made from fish meat to imitate shellfish meat…fresh crab is far healthier and has more nutrients…

Flapjack:

Made from rolled oats, brown sugar, golden syrup and fat they are traditionally cooked in a flat tin and cut into rectangles. Originating in the UK it is thought the word originated for flipping or flapping the cakes on a griddle.

Haddock:

A member of the cod family with firm flesh and a mild flavour. It can be purchased smoked or unsmoked…dyed or undyed…my favourite is traditionally dyed smoked haddock with a poached egg something I can’t get here and writing this I can taste it…sigh

A smoked haddock kedgeree is also a lovely dish with some hardboiled eggs.

Kanafeh:

Kanafeh is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made with shredded filo pastry, or alternatively, fine semolina dough, soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream or nuts, depending on the region.

Latticework:

Is the pretty topping you see on pies like mine pictured above…

Salak:

Also, know here as snake fruit…a fruit which is very common in and around South East Asia. The skin is very like the markings on a snake I tend to call it snake fruit rather than salak…

A species of the palm tree it belongs to the Arecaceae family. The fruits grow in clusters at the base of the palm. It is also known as snake fruit because of its reddish-brown scaly skin. The fruit inside is sweeter than honey and sour like pineapple and very juicy.

Because the flesh is slightly acidic it makes your tongue tingle. The fruit grows around the base of the tree so often when you buy it fresh they can be covered with dirt a little like potatoes when you dig them up…

They are also quite prickly to the touch and there is a knack to opening them but like everything once you have mastered that it is quite easy. Just be careful as this fruit has a fairly hard albeit thin skin it is just getting your nail in the right place and pressing quite hard. Like everything, once you get the nack it is easy…

This evergreen tree produces fruit all the year-round.

Facts about the Sala fruit:

It is quite beneficial as eye medication and is also known as the memory fruit.

It can be eaten fresh or cooked. It is also sold in cans, like candied fruit or unripe, it can be pickled.

To pickle Salak.

Let’s Cook!

It must be peeled and deseeded. Soaked in a water and salt solution for 1 hour, then rinsed and drained.

Resoak again for 1 hour, then wash and drain.

Put in a vinegar, salt and water solution which has been boiled and cooled and let to stand for 1- 2 days before eating.

N.B. Make sure your fruit is very fresh or the jam will have a dusty taste..not nice at all.

Shaddock:

Is another name for the Pomelo Fruit…Captain Shaddock of an East Indian Company ship introduced the fruit to Barbados the fruit was called Shaddock in English a name which stuck and it still remains a name used among some…Like many fruits and vegetables, names can vary from region to region.

Pomelo salad is one of my favourite salads in Thai it is called Yum Som O…

Spatchcock:

A chicken or game bird split open and cooked…we often cook our chicken this way as it cooks quicker thus being more tender and juicy.

That’s all for today I hope you have found something interesting and unknown…

Stay safe, have fun and laugh a lot as you know what I am going to say it is Free and proven to be good for your health…..Laughter aside…My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who have been or will be touched by this Covid-19 virus…the new lockdowns and restrictions..stay safe be aware and social isolate where required and we will beat this thing…xx

About Carol Taylor:

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

The environment is also something I am passionate about and although there are now no regular columns on my blog this year. It is important that we are mindful of the world we live in…We all need to be aware of our home’s carbon footprints…where does our food come from? How far does it travel…Simple to do but if we all did it…Not only would we support local businesses but reduce our carbon footprint…

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post  … xx