Quick Vs Long Lockdown recipes: Wild Garlic Soup Vs Pulled Pork Bao Buns

Lockdown means more time for me to experiment in the kitchen. Lots of friends have asked for the recipes, so each time I'll be posting a simple versus a longer recipe; choose depending on your mood and how adventerous you're feeling!

Short recipe - Wild Garlic and Potato Soup (feeds 2 hungry people for main course)

Collect some wild garlic on your next "daily lockdown walk" and whip up this easy soup, bursting with flavour. Be quick - it's not in season for much longer!

Chop up 1 onion and cook slowly with a dollop of oil in a cooking pot for 10 mins until soft and golden. Add 3 large potatoes peeled and cut into cubes, then 1.5L of vegetable stock. Bring to boil, then simmer for 15-20 mins. Add 1-2 handfuls of wild garlic leaves (depending on how garlicky you want it!), then blitz in a liquidiser until smooth. Serve with wild garlic flowers for garnish. Done!

Inspiration: Recipe adapted from 'Taste of The Wight' website.


Longer recipe - Pulled Pork Bao Buns

Ideal to nurture over a lazy lockdown weekend day; I promise it will be worth the wait...

Korean Pulled Pork (meats serves 8)

Make the rub by mixing in a bowl 6 chopped garlic gloves, 8cm piece grated fresh ginger, 1 tbsp. chilli flakes, 2 tsp. ground cinammon, 1 tsp. ground cloves, 1 tsp. smoked paprika, 2 tsp. fennel seeds, 1 tsp. crushed mustard seeds, 3 big dollops of tamarind, 2 tbsp. sweet vinegar (rice wine/apple cider), 4 tbsp. oil, salt and pepper. Rub all over whole pork shoulder and pop in fridge for a couple of hours.

Lay the shoulder in a roasting tray on top of a row of celery sticks. Add 350ml beef stock to tray. Cover meat with foil and cook for approx. 5 1/2 hours on 140C, basting every now and then, and let your mouth water at the delicious smell filling your kitchen! (Please adjust cooking times to your own oven). Once cooked, leave to stand and then shred. Voila!

Pickled vegetables

Great colour and flavour to add to your dish. Slice up or make peelings of radish, cucumber, carrot - whatever vegetables you fancy, and place in a bowl just covered with any vinegar (I used rice wine) mixed with a tbsp or 2 of sugar. Pop in fridge, then drain off liquid when ready to serve.

Bao buns

In a small bowl, add 1/2 tbsp. caster sugar, 3.5g instant yeast and 1/2 tbsp. warm water. Stir and leave for few mins. In another bowl, mix together 1/2 tbsp. caster sugar, 250g self-raising flour, 75ml milk, 1/2 tbsp. oil. Add the yeast mix, plus another 50ml warm water. Mix into a dough, knead for 10 mins, then leave to prove in a covered oiled bowl until doubled in size (at least an hour).

Once proved, divide dough into 12 balls, then make each ball into a flat oval shape using hands. Brush both sides with oil, then fold each ball in half (looks a bit like a clam), cover and prove again for up to an hour.

Steam the buns for 10 minutes. Fill your buns with pork and pickled veg and eat the rewards!

Inspiration: Pulled pork recipe is adapted from 28bysamwood website, Bao bun recipe is from an old issue of Asda Good Living magazine.

Happy Cooking!