Comfort and joy

Global flavours give seasonal ingredients new life

Drawing on flavours from around the world, Rose Prince makes the seasonal ingredients of even the coldest months sing. Photographs by Yuki Sugiura. Food styling by Valerie Berry

There is a masochistic joy to be found in watching holiday adverts. From the depths of the sofa, with the wood burner alight, we see a television project white sands and shimmering blue oceans into the room. I’m covered in an extra blanket while, on the screen, a perfectly tanned and nearly naked couple skip into the surf.

We might have several more weeks of short, cold days ahead of us, but I can make my own getaway – in the kitchen. In February, a seasonal cook has the perfect excuse to bring global comfort into cooking.

Seasonal vegetables may be quite scarce, and the game-bird season over, but I have a store cupboard full of seasonings and sauces that will lift whatever home-grown produce I can find into the realms of those appetising adverts.

For a starter or light meal, Malaysia meets our local greengrocer’s in golden, spiced peanut sauce, oozing over warm purple sprouting broccoli, the youngest potatoes and semi-softboiled eggs from the farm down the road. This is a version of gado gado, one of my favourite tepid salads, so nutritious and so comforting.

Sunshine is added to a sautéed sea bass from the south coast in the form of lemongrass, lime and coriander. With these flavours – a little sour and slightly salty – close your eyes and you could be eating on a beach, with your feet in the sand.

We have been cooking plenty of braised beef recently. Ragu with egg pasta through January, and some classic stews with watercress and suet dumplings. But for my worldwide feast, the beef is transformed with that all-round umami taste, taken from fermented soy, mushrooms and lightly pickled carrots. Served over noodles, this is food to console, inspired by Japanese home cooking.

My February pudding combines pink forced winter rhubarb from Yorkshire with babas, yeasty buns from France that are usually soaked in rum syrup. In this version, the syrup is made with the fresh juice of pink grapefruit, matching the Schiaparelli pink of forced rhubarb. If that does not bring a glow into the February kitchen, perhaps it really is time to pack a suitcase. Fried spiced sea bass with lime, lemongrass and ginger serves 4 You can put this together in half an hour: a mild spice rub for white fish that will not overpower its delicate flavour, and a dressing in which to dip the crisp pieces.

for the fish

2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp ground paprika 4 sea-bass fillets (600-800g in total) 1 tbsp grated ginger 1 tbsp grated garlic 2 tbsp gram (chickpea) flour, or cornflour oil, for frying

for the dressing

1 tbsp soft brown sugar 1 lemongrass stalk, very finely sliced 4 tbsp lime juice 2cm piece of ginger, cut into small matchsticks 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

to serve

leaves from 2 coriander sprigs Mix the turmeric and paprika with a teaspoon of salt in a small bowl. Lay the fish fillets on a plate, skin-side down, then sprinkle the spice mixture all over the flesh and place the fillets in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together all the dressing ingredients, then set the dressing to one side.

Mix together the ginger and garlic for the fish. Take the fillets out of the fridge

We might have several more weeks of short, cold days ahead of us, but I can make my own getaway – in the kitchen

and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Spread the ginger and garlic mixture all over the flesh, then sprinkle on some gram flour or cornflour. Sprinkle more flour on to a dry plate or board, then put the fillets on it so the skin sides also get a coating.

Put half a centimetre of oil in a large non-stick frying pan and heat until it sizzles if a tiny drop of water is added. Place the fish fillets, flesh-side down, in the oil and fry for two minutes. Turn and fry for a further two minutes, or until the flesh is firm.

Serve scattered with coriander. Hand round the dressing at the table. Winter vegetables with spiced peanut sauce serves 4-6 The peanut sauce for the Malaysian salad gado gado goes especially well with new-season purple sprouting broccoli and the very first tiny new potatoes. I like to eat it with semi-soft-boiled eggs, but you can add grilled chicken or prawns to make this a bigger dish. The sauce recipe is based on the one in Ping Coombes’ excellent Malaysia: Recipes from a Family Kitchen (Orion, £25). I differ with her on the use of salted peanuts, because I think the broccoli is best with a less seasoned sauce.

for the sauce

300g unsalted, skinned peanuts

12g dried red chillies ½ onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, chopped 20g ginger, peeled and chopped 3 lemongrass stalks, cut in half widthways 6 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil 5 tbsp prepared tamarind paste 3½ tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 120ml coconut milk

for the salad

6 eggs 600g purple sprouting broccoli, tougher stalks trimmed 500g baby new potatoes (early Cornish or Jersey Royal indoor-grown are sometimes available in February), boiled until tender 1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and cut into matchsticks or julienned Grind the peanuts coarsely in a blender, then transfer to a bowl. Bring a small pan of water to the boil, add the chillies and simmer until soft. Drain, then split the chillies, removing the seeds.

Put the chillies, onion, garlic, ginger and the lower parts of the lemongrass stalks into the blender, and process with a little of the oil until you have a smooth paste.

Transfer the paste to a pan with the remaining oil and fry over a medium heat for five minutes. Add the tamarind, lemongrass tips, sugar and one and a half teaspoons of salt (or more to taste). Cook for 5-8 minutes, until the oil separates and the sauce turns darker in colour. Add the chopped peanuts, soy sauce, coconut milk and 400ml water. Simmer for 20-30 minutes over a low heat, then set aside.

Put the eggs in a pan with water. Bring to the boil, then time five minutes. Run cold water into the pan, then peel the eggs. Cut them in half.

Cook the broccoli in salted water, or steam, until tender – about five minutes. Place it on a dish with the potatoes then add the cucumber and eggs. Serve with the peanut sauce for people to spoon over at the table.

Braised beef with soy and quick pickled carrots serves 4 A refreshing take on a winter braise, to serve with egg noodles or brown and wild rice.

for the beef

4 tbsp duck fat 1.5kg lean stewing steak, trimmed of all fat and connective tissue, cut into bite-size pieces 4 large shallots, finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1 sweet red pepper, very finely chopped 1 tbsp tomato paste 100ml dry sherry or Shaoxing wine 750ml-1 litre beef stock 6cm piece of ginger, cut into small matchsticks 6 tbsp light soy sauce 2 tbsp soft brown sugar

for the carrots

200ml rice-wine vinegar 100g caster sugar 4 carrots, sliced into rounds or matchsticks 1 tsp black sesame seeds

to serve

egg noodles, brown rice or a mix of brown and wild rice Heat some of the fat in a pan and then brown the beef pieces in batches, setting each batch aside.

Wipe the pan clean, then add a little more fresh duck fat and gently cook the shallot, garlic and pepper until soft and sweet – this takes 10-15 minutes. Add the tomato paste and sherry or Shaoxing wine and cook for a minute.

Add the beef and stock, then cook very slowly for about three hours at a barely bubbling 80C, until the beef is tender but not falling apart.

Allow to cool, then skim off the fat. Remove the meat and set aside. Boil the sauce until slightly thicker, then return the beef.

Meanwhile, pickle the carrots. Put the vinegar, sugar and a teaspoon of salt in a pan and bring to the boil. Cook for five minutes, then add the carrots. Simmer until they are becoming tender but still crunchy. Remove from the heat, cool, and toss in the seeds.

To finish the stew, bring it back to the boil and add the ginger (save a little to garnish), soy and sugar. Season.

Simmer for a minute then serve over noodles or rice, with carrot to the side and a little ginger.

Babas with pink rhubarb and ginger makes about 12 buns You’ll need a bun tray or 12 baba moulds.

for the babas

200ml cold milk 7g easy-bake dried yeast

300g plain flour 2 whole eggs, plus 2 egg yolks 15g caster sugar 90g unsalted French butter, cold from the fridge, cut into ½cm dice, plus extra for greasing

for the baked rhubarb

500g forced rhubarb, cut into 4cm sticks caster sugar, to sprinkle

for the syrup

500ml pinkgrapefruit juice 400g caster sugar 6cm piece of ginger, sliced It is best to make dough in a mixer: combine the milk, the yeast and one third of the flour in the bowl, then leave for 20 minutes, until bubbling and active. Beat in all the remaining dough ingredients, except the butter, with a teaspoon of salt. Add the butter, bit by bit, with the mixer on a high speed.

Once the butter has been incorporated, continue to beat for five minutes. The dough will be wet but elastic in appearance and texture. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise for 1-1½ hours in a draught-free spot.

Butter the bun tray or moulds and heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Stir the yeast batter to knock it down in size. Using two tablespoons, one to scoop and the other to shape, spoon enough dough into each recess to fill it.

Leave the babas in a draught-free spot to prove. When they have doubled in size, bake them until puffed, crisp and golden – about 15 minutes. Remove from the tray or moulds and set aside.

Bake the rhubarb at the same time. Line a baking tin and place the rhubarb sticks on it in one layer. Sprinkle over a tiny amount of sugar, just to glaze, then bake for 10-15 minutes, until the rhubarb is just tender.

To make the syrup, boil the grapefruit juice, sugar and ginger together. Allow it to cool, then add the babas. Turn them from time to time, to soak them. Serve with the rhubarb and a little whipped cream.

With these flavours, close your eyes and you could be eating on a beach, with your feet in the sand

Bring vibrancy to sea bass with lime, lemongrass, ginger and turmeric (recipe overleaf)