Poor Man's Food #1

So I've made a few expensive purchases; we all splurge a little now an then.

The only problem is that on a chef's salary, it means making a few sacrifices. Like not having money for food on my days off!

Fortunately, I planned for this day and stocked on the bare essentials before running out of dosh:


Fried eggs with smoked paprika, soy sauce and pickled veg on rice

Pickled veg is the original poor man's food; used to preserve vegetables that's about to die - it keeps, and is so versatile with any rice dish: it is what the pickles is to the hamburger; it will add flavour to that simple dish that just needs that extra layer of flavour to stimulate your senses.

So, my pickled veg recipe:

2x Lebanese cucumber - halved, deseeded, cut into shards
1/2 carrot - peeled, cut into shards
1 knob ginger - thinly sliced
1 wom bok leaves - roughly chopped into shards
400mL jap rice vinegar
100g Sugar
pinch of salt

Salt the sharded cucumbers and leave to drain for 2 hours (to draw out the moisture). Meanwhile, heat the sugar and vinegar together until bubbles appear, then cool. Combine everything into a jar, and voila - ready for that next emergency!