BootsnAll Travel Network



Round-the-World Shopping in Reading

Farmer’s markets and local, seasonal produce are all very well, but after a while I feel like I start growing cobwebs eating English peasant food. I miss a good curry. And I miss the vibrancy and bustle of multy-cultural Deptford, the closest market to the Ghetto. But while London is close, it is just out of reach. So for my dose of bustle, it will have to be Reading.

John’s weekly visits to the university are my opportunity to mix with the city crowd. He drops me off just inside the Ring of Death of urban motorways that circle the city centre (it is the same in Basingstoke—a 60s urban planning oddity). There, within strolling distance from the station, is a tiny market. If I squint, it feels almost as if I’m back in Deptford.

In an area where so many ethnic groups collide, the idea that food should be ‘local’ soon sails out of the window. Among the cabbages and potatoes, a plethora of exotic produce is on offer: mangos from Equador, citrus fruit from the Mediterranean, curry leaves from India (yes, fresh curry leaves! 50p a bag. I put them in the freezer and they’ll last me until spring), plantains, eddies and sweet potatoes from the Carribbean, gourds and legumes from all over Asia. And in the specialist delis along the street I stock up on coconut cream from Thailand, dried cloud’s ear mushrooms from Singapore, banana sauce from the Phillipines, fish sauce from Indonesia, dried herbs from Turkey and 13 different flavours of noodles from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea and Malaysia. But my greatest joy was the discovery of a shop that sells sausages, pickled herring and dark, moist rye bread from Scandinavia, Poland and Germany.

There you have it—a truly global shopping trip.

Indonesian Spare Ribs; Aubergine & Okra Curry; Fried Plantain & SE Asian ‘Slaw

Indonesian Spare Ribs
Adapted from a favourite Tiger Lily stand-by:

2-3 hot green chillies; 3 cloves garlic; 2.5 cm ginger; 2 tbsp jaggery (or 1 tbsp brown sugar); 1 small onion; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tb ketchup; 25g tamarind pulp, dissolved in a little hot water and sieved, or 2tsp tamarind extract; 1 tsp tumeric; 1 tsp salt; 1kg spare ribs

Crush the garlic and ginger with a little salt, chop the onion and chillies and blend all the sauce ingredients into a paste. Rub it all over the ribs and fry them in a little oil in a large wok. Cover as the liquid bubbles out and simmer for 20 minutes, then lift the lid and boil off the moisture until the ribs are left with a syrupy coating. Check and adjust the seasoning. Brown in a hot oven or grill/BBQ until crispy.

Aubergine & Okra Curry
250g baby aubergines; 100g Okra, topped and tailed; 1 onion; 2 cloves garlic; salt; 2-3 tomatoes, skinned (score cross-wise opposite stalk end and scald with boiling water for 10 seconds); 6-8 curry leaves; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground cumin; 2 hot green chillies; oil

Slice and fry the aubergine in a heavy pan with a good slug of oil until browned on both sides. Take care when handling as they tend to get mushy. Chop the onion and fry until lightly browned. Crush the garlic with salt and add, with the chillies and okra, for the final 3 minutes. Add the spices and curry leaves for the final minute. Take care not to burn but do not stir too vigorously or the okra will ooze. If necessary, losen burnt-on spices with a little splash of cold water.
Carefully stir in the tomatoes and aubergine, cover and simmer over a gentle heat for 10 mins. Take the lid off to reduce surplus liquid for the final few minutes.

Fried Plantain
A Blast from the Past—every time I leat this and close my eyes I’m back on the campsite in Bangui!

2 large, ripe plantains (yellow, flecked with black); salt; palm oil (the orange-red, solid stuff)

Peel and cut the plantain into strips. Heat the oil in a heavy pan until just before smoking point (palm oil burns easily, so watch it) and fry the plantain until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and serve sizzling hot. These things can also be rubbed with the oil and BBQ-ed.

SE Asian ‘Slaw
1 bunch sping onions, trimmed; ½ mooli (or small turnip—not swede!), peeled; 1-2 small cucumbers, de-seeded; 1 medium carrot; ¼ small white cabbage; 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander stalks; 1 tsp nam pla (fish sauce); 1 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tsp rice vinegar; ½ tsp dry mustard; scant tsp caster sugar; ½ tsp pepper or chilli powder; 2 tbsp light oil

Finely shred the veg and mix it all together.

There you have it—a completely unseasonal dinner.

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