Not all recipes from the “River Cottage Veg” cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall were a huge success though…
This creamy and spicy mushroom/coconut milk/peanut dip is typically served cold at Cambodian weddings. According to Hugh, it is also lovely to serve hot with some rice, so we decided to make it a supper for the grownups. I found a digital version of the recipe for you on the River Cottage site.
What worked and what didn’t:
Well, this one sure isn’t a looker. It is even safe to say that it one of the visually least appealing dishes I ever made.
When I posted the above picture to some of my friends, I got the following reaction: “Sounds nice, but it looks like an “after” picture”….
When plating, the first try with a “moat of brown sauce” didn’t make it much better either…
Heated it is best described as a creamy sauce with small squishy cubes of mushrooms. It definitely lacks a bite and therefore does not make it very enjoyable to eat. The flavor is okay: the kick from the chili pepper really belongs in there and the richness of the sauce is cut by the lime juice (but do use it sparingly as not to overpower the whole sauce). I however needed to double the peanut butter quantity to prevent it tasting too much of coconut milk.
I forgot to taste it when cold, but the consistency seemed great to serve as a dip (with some flatbreads or something like that).
Recipe accuracy:
The recipe serves 2. It was both easy to follow and to prepare.
Suggested tweaks:
Nope.
Verdict: 7/10; unlikely that this dish will be made again as a warm sauce.
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