Get on your bike …TO ASIA

Television’s Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers, have been on a Far Eastern adventure, and their kitchen will never be the same again
recipes by Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave MyersWe’re lucky lads. We’ve been off on our travels again – this time to Asia to discover all kinds of wonderful things to eat and cook. The trip has been our dream for years and it certainly did not disappoint. Asian food is fresh, tasty and exciting, with so many different textures and lively flavour combinations. This type of food is so much more familiar now in Britain. Who would have thought, a few years ago, that you would be able to find sushi in service stations and sandwich bars?

Ever since we started writing books and making programmes about food, we’ve wanted to make a trip to Asia. We were keen to find out about some of these great cuisines and learn authentic recipes and skills we could use at home. To be honest, the book we’ve come up with is one that we wanted for ourselves, something that will always be in our kitchens. We love Asian food more than ever now and we’d like to share our favourite dishes with you.

The Hairy Bikers’ Asian Adventure by Si King and Dave Myers, with photography by Andrew Hayes-Watkins, is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, priced £20 (eBook, £10.99).

recipes by Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers
Coconut and sticky rice pudding with lime and papaya salad

Serves 6 

  • 200g Thai sticky rice
  • 1 x 400ml can of coconut milk
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 50g palm sugar, roughly chopped
  • 5 kaffir lime leaves

For the papaya salad
  • 1 ripe papaya
  • juice and zest of 2 limes
  • 4 mint sprigs, to garnish

Soak the rice in 300ml of water for at least 30 mins or up to 4 hours, even overnight. Drain the rice and wash it thoroughly.

Take a bamboo steamer with a lid and line it with greaseproof paper, a banana leaf or some muslin. If using paper or a banana leaf, use a skewer to pierce it with lots of holes. You want plenty of steam to get through but don’t make the holes too large or the rice will fall out.

Pour water into a saucepan that the steamer can sit on or use a wok – the water should be about 5cm deep. Place the rice in the steamer and put on the lid. Bring the water to the boil, then turn down the heat and steam the rice for about 20 mins or until it is tender.

While the rice is cooking, pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan and add the salt, palm sugar and kaffir lime leaves. Warm the milk through over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5-7 mins so the flavours infuse, but do not allow it to boil.

Cut the papaya in half and remove the seeds, then peel the flesh and cut it into neat slices. Divide the slices between 4 plates or arrange them on a serving dish and add the zest and juice of the limes and the mint sprigs.

Once the rice is cooked, put it in a mixing bowl and gradually add three quarters of the infused coconut milk, a quarter at a time. Keep the final quarter for finishing the pudding. Mix well and leave to cool for 10-15 mins. Drizzle over the remaining coconut milk at the last minute and serve with the papaya.

Fiery Octopus (pictured top)

Serves 4

  • 300g frozen baby octopus, defrosted
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, thickly sliced
  • 5 shiitake mushrooms, sliced quite thickly (stalks removed)
  • 2 spring onions, cut in half
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • sprinkle of sesame seeds
  • 1 small red chilli, thinly sliced at an angle, for serving

For the spice paste
  • 10g fresh root ginger, grated
  • 3 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
  • 2 tsp gochujang (Korean red chilli paste)
  • 1½ tsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp gochugaru (Korean red chilli powder)
  • ½ tsp golden syrup
  • 1 tsp mirin

If you buy frozen octopus it will come ready-cleaned. Simply rinse it in cold water, pat dry with kitchen paper, then set aside. If you buy fresh octopus, ask your fishmonger to clean it for you.

To make the spice paste, put all the ingredients in a bowl, mix well and set aside.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add the octopus, bring the water back to the boil and blanch for 1-2 mins, then drain. Allow the octopus to cool slightly, then remove any dark skin – just pull it away from the flesh. Cut the octopus into quarters or if you have very small octopuses, cut them in half and then into bitesized pieces.

Place a frying pan or wok over the heat and add the vegetable oil. Fry the sliced onion for a couple of minutes, then add the pieces of octopus and the spice paste and cook for another 2-3 mins.

Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 mins, then add the spring onions and sesame oil. Stir for about 30 seconds to combine the ingredients.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the fiery octopus, then garnish with slices of red chilli and serve.

recipes by Hairy Bikers, Si King and Dave Myers
Miso Baked Black Cod

Serves 4

  • 4 x 200g thick black cod fillet, with skin on
  • vegetable oil, for greasing
  • 2 limes, quartered

For the marinade
  • 4 tbsp white miso paste
  • 6 tbsp sake
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 10g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar

Put all the marinade ingredients in a plastic or glass bowl – it must be non-metallic because of the vinegar in the marinade – and mix well. Add the pieces of fish, cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

When you’re ready to cook your fish, preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Lightly oil a non-stick baking tray, then place the fish, skin-side down, on the baking tray. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the fish and put the tray in the oven.

Bake for 10-12 mins, depending on the thickness of your fish. Meanwhile, preheat the grill. Remove the fish from the oven, spoon over the remaining marinade and put the tray under the hot grill until the fish has turned a lovely golden brown.

Serve at once with lime wedges on the side and some of our Asian greens.