By Adam Liaw
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received in cooking is that texture is more important than flavour when it comes to appreciating food. Don't believe me? I don't blame you. I didn't believe it either at first. But then I thought about it a little more and realised a few things.
Even for something as simple as hot chips, the difference between freshly fried chips and cold ones has nothing to do with their flavour. It's all about the texture.
Crunchy lamingtonCredit: William Meppem
When we order steak and specify whether we want it medium-rare or well done, what we're really talking about is the texture. When bread goes stale it's awful, but its flavour hasn't changed. It's still made up of the same ingredients, in the same quantities, and with the same amount of salt. It's the texture of stale bread that we hate, not its flavour. We can toast it and make it crisp and then it tastes fine.
Here are a couple of dishes to try that put texture front and centre.
Crispy fish and pineapple salad.Credit: William Meppem
CRISPY FISH AND PINEAPPLE SALAD
Serves 2
Traditionally made in Thai cuisine with crispy fish floss and green mango, this version does away with the hard-to-find ingredients for a simpler salad.
• 350g firm white fish fillets such as snapper or blue-eye
• ½ cup plain flour
• ¼ cup cornflour
• ½ tsp salt
• about 1litre of vegetable oil, for shallow frying
• 1 continental cucumber, peeled, deseeded and julienned
• 1 small carrot, peeled and julienned
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ½ cup Vietnamese mint leaves
• 1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into thin slices Dressing
• 1 tbsp lime juice or lemon juice
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1-2 tbsp fish sauce, to taste
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 bird's-eye chilli, finely chopped (seeds removed, if you wish)
For the dressing, combine all the ingredients and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add 2 tbsp of cold water and set aside for 5 minutes for the flavours to combine. Slice fish into 1 cm slices. Combine the flours and salt and lightly dust the fish slices, shaking off any excess. Heat the oil to 175°C and fry the fish slices for about 2 minutes until crisp. Remove from the oil and drain on a wire rack. Combine the cucumber, carrot, onion, tomato, Vietnamese mint and pineapple and toss with the dressing. Add the fish slices, toss again, and serve immediately.
Adam's tip: One of the most important ways we control texture in the kitchen is with our cutting. For a salad like this one, take your time to cut the vegetables as finely as you can. A little extra effort in cutting will make a big difference to the texture when you're eating.
CRUNCHY LAMINGTONS
Makes about 10
Everyone loves a lamington, but here's a recipe that swaps light and fluffy for chewy and crunchy.
• 100g coconut oil
• ½ cup caster sugar
• 2 tbsp rice malt syrup, or glucose
• 4 cups puffed rice cereal (such as Rice Bubbles)
• 2 cups shredded coconut
Ganache
• 250g dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 125ml pouring cream
Heat the coconut oil, caster sugar and rice malt syrup (or glucose) in a small pan over medium heat for 5 minutes until the mixture starts to change colour. Pour over the rice cereal in a heatproof bowl and stir to combine. Press firmly into a lightly oiled slice pan or deep baking tray and cool to room temperature. Slice into 5cm squares.
To make the ganache, heat the chocolate, coconut oil and pouring cream in a small saucepan, stirring until the mixture is melted and glossy. Stick a skewer into each puffed rice square and dip it into the ganache to coat. Tap off the excess ganache and sprinkle with shredded coconut. Allow to cool and serve.