Quinoa and Bulgar Wheat Salad
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[/x_text][/x_column][x_column bg_color=”” type=”3/4″ style=”padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; “][x_text]by London Food Editor, Jaime James[/x_text][/x_column][/x_row][/x_section][x_section style=”margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; padding: 45px 0px 45px 0px; “][x_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” bg_color=”” style=”margin: 0px auto 0px auto; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; “][x_column bg_color=”” type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; “][x_text]
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith my husband away on a week-long trip, I have been spending most days baking, chocolate-making, and recipe testing late into the night. To give my sore arms a bit of a break, I messaged a friend and fellow pastry chef who few weeks prior had mentioned a slow food market that only opens on Sundays.
It is tucked away in the courtyard of a beautiful hotel along Holborn High Street. On one occasion when the girls and I were out for lunch on a Saturday, we walked by and took turns to peep through the windows of the deli. There on a wood island lay a delicious spread of cakes and pastries. But the deli was closed to the public, perhaps only serving guests of the hotel. So we added Rosewood London to our list of places to eat.
As we approached, we saw stalls lined up along the walls of the hotel, parting only at the entrance to the courtyard, with stalls of beautifully arranged fruits, vegetables, herbs, sourdough loaves, juices, and more. We made our way straight towards the heart of the market, then turning left towards the charcuterie, passing cheeses and honey beer. We recognised a couple of the produce from Borough Market and continued on. And then I spied the largest duck eggs I’d ever laid eyes on! Free range and fifty pence each. I held onto the mega egg and my friend suggested I tried making salted duck eggs, a Chinese delicacy often eaten with congee. Happy with my four eggs, we walked on to the next stall where bottles of crimson red hibiscus drinks were oddly labelled ‘Sorrel’. Wondering how a leafy herb with a tangy sour taste matches with the sweet rosella, we stayed on to speak with the seller. Turns out sorrel is what it is known as in the Caribbean! Tasting it brought back memories of my mum at the stove with a big pot of rosella buds boiling away, turning the water deepest ruby.
As we continued on with our bottles of sorrel in their paper carry bags, it suddenly dawned on me that my obsession with food and farmers’ markets is more closely linked to Malaysia than I am aware of. In the last eight years we have relied on our trusty supermarket chains to supply us with our weekly groceries. And it’s been perfectly alright. But every now and then I feel the urge to pop out to a market and now I know why – they remind me of how I used to love going to the market with my parents and how much I miss that.
Quinoa and Bulgar Wheat Salad
Whenever I see the catch laid out at the fishmonger’s stall, I hear my father’s voice saying, “See how the eyes are clear? A dull eye is a dead giveaway it was yesterday’s catch. And remember to always check the gills.” He taught me how to tell between male and female crabs so that we would know which ones had roe. He knew all the fish by their species, and best of all, which were the most delicious ways to cook them. Black pomfret, small to medium sized, simply pan-fried, served with plain rice and a dash of sweet, dark soy sauce. The usually larger white pomfret however, must always be eaten on the day; steamed in a light soy marinade with julienned ginger. Those were precious trips to the market with my dad. I cannot wait to show him the food markets next summer.
In the meantime, I made a simple salad with the chive flowers and duck eggs I got from Slow Food Market. I added to it some ingredients already in my pantry and fridge, with only extra virgin olive oil as dressing, and salt and pepper to taste. As my dad believes, when you have great produce you only need simple cooking because the produce will speak for themselves.
Enjoy and have a wonderful summer!
- 50 g quinoa and bulgar wheat mix
- 2 cups water
- 50 g frozen peas
- 4 small beetroot, cut into wedges
- 2 duck eggs
- 1 large fennel, sliced
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- Small bunch of chive flowers
- Olive oil for roasting
- Extra virgin olive oil to dress
- Coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Toss the beet wedges in olive oil and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon sea salt, spread beets onto a non-stick sheet pan and roast for 40 minutes or until tender.
- In another pan, toss the fennel in olive oil and remaining ½ teaspoon sea salt and roast for 30 minutes or until tender and the edges are crisp and caramelised.
- In a saucepan, bring the water to boil. Add in the quinoa and bulgar wheat; cook for 9 minutes. Now add the frozen peas and cook for another minute. Drain with a sieve, and run cold water over the grains and peas to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
- In the last saucepan, bring water to boil and cook the duck eggs for 8 minutes. Drain and leave to cool before peeling and cutting into wedges.
- In a large salad bowl, combine the roasted beets and fennel, quinoa and bulgar wheat, peas, extra virgin olive oil, freshly cracked black pepper, and lemon zest. Toss and check the seasoning. Transfer the salad onto a serving dish.
- Gently place wedges of duck eggs and chive flowers over the salad. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped chives and extra virgin olive oil.
- Best served warm but also lovely as a cold salad for a hot summer’s day.
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It looks fantastic!