You can always depend on Ottolenghi. By Ottolenghi I mean: Yotam Ottolenghi the chef; the brand Ottolenghi on items from spice rubs to ie cream; the recipe books by Mr Ottolenghi and his team; the delis and restaurants. From the first visit to his eponymous deli in Notting Hill nearly 25 years ago to my first of his cookbooks (simply called Ottolenghi: The Cookbook) I have always trusted anything from the Ottolenghi stable.
So tonight when I looked at a bunch of fresh tenderstem broccoli, I thought the best thing to do was to check for a recipe from my online database. When you buy a physical Ottolenghi cookbook, you also get the online book.
The original recipe is called Tenderstem Broccoli with Peanut Gochujang Dressing from Extra Good Things (published by Ebury Press, ISBN 978-1529109474). I must admit I wondered if the dressing could work since, being Malaysian, we know a thing or two about peanut dressing.
The broccoli turned out extremely well and the recipe below has been simplified to reflect the method I used to make it very fast to prepare and serve. I am already thinking of making it again.
Use crunchy or smooth peanut butter, both are fine
For crunch, add toppings of toasted white sesame seeds, crushed roasted peanuts and deep-fried shallots
For the Broccoli:
600 g tenderstem broccoli, washed well
For the dressing:
100 g crunchy all-natural peanut butter
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste)
1 teaspoon light soft brown sugar
10 g fresh ginger, sliced
2 garlic cloves
For the topping:
3 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
3 tablespoons deep-fried shallots
1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds
10 g chives, sliced into ½ cm lengths
How To Make:
Trim any dry ends off the broccoli stalks.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the broccoli and blanch for 3 minutes.
Remove the broccoli and place in a large bowl of iced water to cool down rapidly.
Drain the broccoli, dry with paper towel and leave to further cool in the fridge.
Whilst the broccoli is cooling, make the peanut dressing. Simply place all the ingredients in a small hand blender and blitz until you get a smooth dressing.
If you are starting with smooth peanut butter, you can simply place all the ingredients (grate the garlic and ginger first) into a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.
Store the dressing in a small plastic food storage bag, ready to pipe over the broccoli later. You will need to cut a small piece off the corner of the bag before piping the dressing.
When you are ready to serve, place the broccoli on a large serving plate. Drizzle over the dressing and top with the peanuts, shallots and sesame seeds. Finally, scatter over the sliced chives.
Building up the broccoli salad
