Rachel Khoo's Kitchen Not: Over 100 Delicious Recipes... (PDF) (2024)

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Rachel KhooRACHEL KHOO’S K ITCHEN NOTEBOOKOver 100 delicious recipes from my personal cookbookPhotography by David LoftusIllustrations by Rachel Khoo

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ContentsIntroductionStartersMainsSweetsHomemade TreatsEquipmentCook’s Notes & IngredientsAcknowledgementsFollow Penguin

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I carry a notebook everywhere, and it almost always ends up tattered, dog-earedand splashed with various food stains from eating my way around the world orcooking in my kitchen. The recipes, illustrations, kitchen titbits and tips that endup in my notebook are all something that I wanted to share. Recipes that reflectboth my culinary past and my present, the places I’ve been, my kitchenexperiences … a book that tells a story of how I cook in the kitchen.After writing two cookbooks that chronicled my exploration of la cuisinefrançaise, I felt it was time to show my true colours with this book. Mychildhood played a big part in forming my culinary DNA, but the experiencesand cultures I’ve exposed myself to in my adult life have also been formative inthe way my cooking style has evolved. The last several years have been packedtighter than a tin of sardines with adventures close to home and beyond. I’vevisited an eclectic range of places, from the Scandi-cool Stockholm and thefragrant delights of the East in Istanbul, to the slightly rough-around-the-edgesNaples, as well as rediscovering my home town, London, with its vibrant,energetic food scene.Even though I’ve lived in Paris for eight years, I am not ‘that French woman offthe telly’, as I’ve frequently been described since the Little Paris Kitchen TVshow aired. I’m quite proudly British (despite the many years of British foodbashing I endured in France), with a colourful culinary heritage, thanks to myMalaysian dad and Austrian mum. Living in Bavaria as a teenager has alsoplayed its part. My taste buds were stimulated from a young age with spices,flavours and smells from South-East Asia, sweet and heart-warming dishes fromAustria, as well as some British classics like roast beef andYorkshire puddings.Although I had a diverse culinary upbringing, my parents were not snobby whenit came to food. They understood the importance of nutritious home-cooked food

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and the ritual of sitting down for a meal every day as a family, but the odd fastfood treat or TV dinner was still allowed. My mum has always been a savvyshopper, never wasting a thing and ever-inventive with leftovers. Our so-called‘leftovers night’, a common thing at home, would often look like the foodieequivalent of a United Colours of Benetton commercial, with schnitzel,shepherd’s pie, rendang curry and stir-fried rice all on the table at the same time.When I look back, I think my parents were unintended foodie visionaries withtheir leftover fusion food. Eating Austrian dumpling soup with some char siuroasted pork and pickled chillies was not unusual in the Khoo household, andthis was back in the eighties, long before Korean tacos or kebab pizza were thenorm.I come from a creative background. I spent four years at art college, working onprojects where the main objective was to communicate an idea through aparticular medium, in my case graphic/web design and photography. I wasinitially drawn to food because it’s a way of expressing my creativity with anadded tasty bonus. Since I started writing cookbooks, I feel like I have hit thejackpot. It combines many of my passions: creativity, socializing and eating!

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The way I go about creating a recipe book is similar to the creative practice Ilearnt at art college. Just like an art project, it all starts with hands-on research,initial ideas scribbled in my notebook, which evolve into experiments and thenthe final piece. I like to travel, to meet people, to experience the food, theculture, the flavours, sights, sounds and smells first-hand, gathering theinspiration and research to feed my brain and tummy with ideas. Those ideas endup being an initial scribble and sketch in my notebook. Then, when it comes totaking the sketch from concept to recipe creation, chaos ensues in the kitchen,with pots, pans and many ingredients being thrown around. More often than not,the recipe does not turn out quite the way I imagined on paper. However, eventhe failures are usually successes: I might discover a new flavour combination,or texture, or cooking technique. If it’s really a total disaster, it ultimately helpsme to write a better recipe, as I’ll then understand better what can go wrong inthe kitchen. I always believe that failures are part of the process. It’s how youdeal with them that will eventually influence whether you succeed or not.The famous communication philosopher Marshall McLuhan once said that ‘themedium is the message’. A cookbook has a tactile and personal element that a

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medium is the message’. A cookbook has a tactile and personal element that arecipe on a tablet or TV show can’t have. Reading a tablet in the bathtub is alittle more risky than reading a book. But this goes beyond the physical objectfor me. I think of a recipe as a little snapshot of what I’ve experienced, andputting them together in a book is like collating a personal culinary diary.It’s a time-consuming process, but I love every part of it, from the research,recipe development and writing about my personal stories, to the photo shoot,where the book begins to take a visual shape. Writing a book may start off as asolitary activity, but the more the book progresses, the more essential it is towork with people you admire and find inspiring (more about them in theAcknowledgements). They all play a part in pushing me as a food writer andmaking the book the best it can be.My ideas start with a taste, a flavour and a sketch in my kitchen notebook, thenevolve from experiments in my kitchen back into the book and eventually (Ihope!) to your kitchen and your mouths. My culinary holy grail is to find mycookbook on your bookshelf with greasy fingerprints, food-stain splatters andyour own personal scribbles on the recipes.This book is a collection of recipes that were inspired by my travels, adventuresand food experiences, which I hope, ultimately, inspire you to cook