Norman Musa - Bowlful: Fresh and vibrant dishes from Southeast Asia

Pavilion

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by Pavilion

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

Text Copyright Norman Musa 2022

Copyright HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

Norman Musa asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN: 9781911682325

eBook ISBN: 9781911682936

Commissioning Editor: Cara Armstrong

Copyeditor: Stephanie Evans

Proofreader: Anne Sheasby

Indexer: Isobel McLean

Design Manager: Laura Russell

Photography: Luke J Albert

Food Styling: Nicole Herft and Holly Cochrane

Prop styling: Nicoel Herft

Art Direction & Design: Evi-O.studio | Susan Le

Design Assistants: Evi-O.studio | Katherine Zhang & Wilson Leung

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

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It is always a joy to cook Southeast Asian dishes that are packed with diverse ingredients, rich in herbs and spices and have such exquisite flavours. For someone like me who grew up in that part of the world, and is now living abroad cooking these dishes for friends and family, it brings back memories of my childhood, and of the exciting travels I embarked on to discover authentic regional dishes.

The region that comprises Malaysia where I grew up Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines, is rich with wonderful dishes and having been there to see the culture and culinary diversity for myself, it has always been my dream to share these experiences in the recipes I created for this book.

During my travels, I discovered a great number of similarities in the way that people across Southeast Asia enjoy serving their food in bowls. Ceramic bowls are a must for every household from small ones for noodles and rice, to medium and large bowls in which to serve dishes for everyone to share. For cafs and street food stalls, melamine-type bowls are the most common, as they do not damage easily and are economical too.

Bowlful includes 80 main recipes using methods that are accessible and easy to follow; there is a good selection of plant-based dishes, together with seafood, poultry and meat dishes. The recipes I have created are based on the daily home-cooked food of the region, plenty of street food dishes and some I have adapted using local Western produce, plant-based products and beans.

In addition to suggesting alternative ingredients for any that cannot be easily sourced, I also share many tips for cooking with Asian ingredients. The recipes are created for individual small bowls for two and four servings, and also for medium to large bowls for four or more servings.

Bowlful is ideal for beginner home cooks who want to learn more about Southeast Asian cuisine and gradually build up their confidence using Asian ingredients with all the dishes beautifully presented in bowls.

This region that encompasses people of multi-ethnic backgrounds and traditions with a vast range of cuisines makes it one of the most visited areas in the world for its food and culture.

Due to their geographical closeness, the cuisines of Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore and Indonesia share many common spices and herbs. The food of Vietnam is rather different, with many dishes focusing on fresh herbs, grilled meat or fish and soup dishes, compared to countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, where dishes are heavier, with a large number of herbs and spices included in each dish, as well as the extensive use of coconut milk in curries. Myanmar is different again, with distinctive curries cooked without coconut milk, while the Philippines is known more for its stews.

There are some dishes with certain similarities that have sparked debates on their precise origin, but this happens even when a dish has come from outside the region for example, Hainanese chicken rice, which was claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore, even though it was well-known that the dish actually came from Southern China. These discussions reflect this history of both migration to the region, and also colonization by foreign powers. For example, the Vietnamese dish, as derived from French influence, and dishes in the Philippines from Spanish cuisine.

Some parts of Southeast Asia were also on the historic Silk Road, with Malacca in Malaysia being a trading post for merchants to exchange commodities, and this greatly influenced the local cuisines, especially in Malaysia, which is regarded as the ultimate melting pot and embodies the very essence of diversity within the region.

Rice is a staple food in the region and is consumed every day as well as being eaten in different forms, such as noodles, rice paper and many more. A typical rice dish is eaten with others made of meat, seafood or vegetables.

Daily meals in the region start with breakfast, when rice and noodles are consumed as an option; then there is a light snack mid-morning; rice with a curry or stir-fry for lunch; a light afternoon snack, mostly comprising fried dishes; dinner is something grilled or fried at a food court or stretch of food stalls; and the day finishes with a late supper at the eateries that are mostly open 24 hours.

The warm and humid weather influences the eating culture greatly, with all the outdoor stalls and cafs for people to meet up with friends or spend time with family eating out. It is a common thing to see small children still awake past midnight eating with their families an eating culture or habit that you will not see in any Western countries.

The eateries that are open until the early hours cater for the foodies and the buzz from these noisy stalls and food hawkers, especially at the weekends, creates a wonderful atmosphere.

Choosing the right products to keep in your kitchen cupboard can be a bit tricky as there are so many products used in Southeast Asian cooking that you could possibly end up with a large number of ingredients that you only use once or twice.

The recipes I have included in this book are mainly intended as weekday meals, with the idea that they are something simple that uses easily sourced ingredients. I hope this encourages you to cook dishes from the book two or three times a week and if you do that, you will use up the items in your cupboard more quickly.