Cookbook tested: Soul Food

You may have come across De Vrouw met de Baard at a food festival, where they sell amazing Asian fusion dishes. With their cookbook Soul Food, you can recreate these dishes at home – including the previously secret mystery sauces. FavorFlav’s Emma and Marieke test three recipes for you.

The name refers to the culinary duo Mas van Putten (the woman) and Carl Lemette (the beard). Both have Asian roots that clearly shine through in their dishes. They have given each recipe their own twist, but what all the dishes have in common is that they are comfort food. Food that makes you nostalgic, as they themselves call it, and we can’t argue with that.

Own twist

Curious what we mean by an own twist? The book includes recipes such as Caribbean risotto balls and French Chinese duck connection (Peking duck made from confit de canard with orange sauce). Different cuisines combined, but not far-fetched or overly contrived.

An ingredient used frequently is miso. Whether it is used in its pure form or in the white stripe yogho miso sauce. Either way, we love the salty and funky flavor of miso in everything.

Marieke makes the ikan lemon zucchini. I choose to make the citrus chicken pangsit and misokip. As a fervent dumpling maker and part Indo myself, these crispy dumplings with djeruk purut (kaffir lime leaf) appeal to me enormously.

Citrus chicken pangsit

The dumplings are delicious and incredibly surprising in terms of flavor. A large amount of kaffir lime leaf is added, making them wonderfully fresh, which pairs perfectly with the crispy fried exterior. Dip them in chili sauce and you have the perfect party snack. The recipe does not say how long or at what temperature the pangsit should be fried. Not a problem for me because I cook largely by feel, but I can imagine that a guideline would be helpful for many home cooks.

Misokip

Then it is time for the misokip. Like the pangsit, the recipe is easy to follow and once again results in a surprising flavor that is both fresh and full-bodied. While cooking, I did adjust a few things. For example, it says to sear the chicken first and then add the onions and wine at the same time.

Adding onions at the same time as liquid is something I would never do, because the raw onions would then boil and no longer have a chance to develop flavor. So I sautéed the onions first before deglazing them with the wine. The book also shows roasted tomatoes, which are not subsequently included in the recipe.

Wonderful sauce

The sauce tastes wonderful and is perfect for dipping large quantities of bread into. It would be even better if it were a little thicker, so next time I would reduce it further and stir in cold cubes of butter to bind it. Click here for the recipe.

Ikan lemon zucchini

Marieke: “A dish that is genuinely ready in no time, handy for weekdays. While cooking, I did add a little more santen and a little more water; otherwise I would have had very little sauce. I also cooked the zucchini for less than 5 minutes, because otherwise I was afraid it would become too soft. That crispness is precisely what is delicious in such a creamy dish. The flavor? A fresh sauce with some heat from the green chili and sambal. Perfectly balanced, in my opinion. Click here for the recipe.”

A little sharper

All the dishes were phenomenal in terms of flavor, but the recipes could have been a little more precise. Fortunately, if you use your common sense, you can get a long way and the results are incredibly tasty. But cooks who always follow recipes meticulously will have to adjust their mindset a little.

Image: Daan Verschuur

Soul Food
Mas van Putten & Carl Lemette
€ 22,50
Spectrum