Vegan nom banh chok (Khmer noodles)
and celebrating International Day of the Girl
Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary. ‘ Find archived recipes on my recipe index.
My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.
Today’s newsletter comes early because Friday October 11 is the International Day of the Girl and I wanted to take this opportunity to raise awareness about this incredible cause that is dedicated to protecting girls rights.
In the past few months, I have been learning about the work of Plan International Australia and the work they do to advance children’s rights and specifically equality for girls. The world is truly in crisis right now, and during times of instability, war and conflict, it is girls who are disproportionately affected.
As part of this work, I met Chethany, a youth ambassador in Cambodia, who told me about how the work of Plan International has created positive change in her community. I was struck by her wisdom and positivity. One of the most interesting things she told me was how Plan International also works with parents in Cambodia, to teach about “positive parenting”, and to change their “old mindsets”. Thank you to Chethany for the reminder that equality starts at home.
Plan International does work around nutrition, food security and ensuring girls are kept in school. In places like Cambodia, Plan have developed a transformative School Learning Garden and School Feeding program that has benefited more than 25,000 students and, most importantly, helped keep thousands of girls in school and shift harmful gender norms. The program is so successful, it’s now been integrated into the Cambodian national education curriculum. Importantly, Plan supports young women and girls such like Chethany to campaign for their right to an education, to push back against child marriage, and to help build a more equal society.
As a daughter and the mother of a daughter, all of this hits me hard. This is why supporting Plan Internationals International Day of the Girl campaign feels so personal. October 11 is its Annual Giving Day and all donations will be matched, which means every dollar will go twice as far in protecting girls rights and supporting them to forge their own destinies. If you are able to, donate here. Every dollar is meaningful. Thank you!
In my virtual chat with Chethany (see above), I did have a chance to talk about food. It was my great honour to learn a bit about Cambodian food, and specifically her favourite dish, nom banh chok, otherwise known as khmer noodles.
Nom banh chok is a yellow-green coconut-based fish curry that is garnished with fragrant herbs, seasonal vegetables, edible flowers, and wild herbs. My recipe this week is a vegan version, with tofu and eggplant, made with the ingredients I could find in Brooklyn. While it’s not traditional, it is super delicious and a delicious way to experience the dish that Chethany told me about.
COOK / EAT / SHARE
FINAL EVENT REMINDERS
NYC: If you are a paid subscriber, there’s just a few more days to register your interest for my midweek pop-up post here - I am hosting a FREE lunch for Substack paid subscribers on 26th October - there are only 12 seats at the table so submit an expression of interest and I'll pick names randomly.
PHILLY: Join me in Philadelphia this October for a beautiful TENDERHEART-inspired dinner developed by Chef Tyler Atkins at the beautiful new Bastia in Fishtown. This event is part of the annual Cookbooks and Convos, a celebration of chefs, authors and the Philadelphia Food Community. Reserve your seats here.
NEW RECIPE
Here’s a new one on NYT Cooking - sweet and sour cauliflower, which can be made in the oven or an air fryer.
THINGS TO COOK THIS WEEK
Monday: Tofu larb (I eat this with rice)
Tuesday: Cabbage, apple and tofu salad
Wednesday: Edamame pea pesto pasta (protein packed!)
Thursday: Crispy potato tacos (from Tenderheart but also on NYT Cooking)
Friday: Thai Green curry noodle soup
🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.
THIS WEEK’S RECIPE
Vegan nom banh chok (Khmer noodles)
© Hetty Lui McKinnon for To Vegetables, With Love.
Nom Bánh chok, often called Khmer noodles, is a common breakfast dish in Cambodia but can also be eaten at any time of the day. It is usually eaten warm or at room temperature.
Traditionally, the recipe uses galangal but I can’t find it anywhere near me, so I used ginger. I use this vegan fish sauce and of course, you are free to use regular fish sauce if you eat seafood (bear in mind, I only tested this with vegan fish sauce, so you may have to vary the amount). If you use light soy sauce or tamari, you might want to add a splash of lime juice, just to add some acidity (not necessary but nice).
If you can’t find the slim Chinese / Japanese eggplant, use a regular globe eggplant and slice it into 1-inch chunks.
Serves 4
neutral oil
4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock
2 Chinese/Japanese eggplants (300g / 10.5oz), sliced into 1 inch chunks
250g (8.8oz) thin rice noodles (vermicelli)
400ml (13.5oz) coconut milk
2 makrut lime leaves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vegan fish sauce, light soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon brown sugar
sea salt and black pepper
400g (14 oz) extra firm tofu, cut into cubes or triangles
2 baby bok choy, quartered through stem
Curry paste
2 lemongrass stalk, tender white parts sliced
1 long red chili, roughly chopped
1 inch piece turmeric, peeled and roughly chopped (or 1 teaspoon ground turmeric)
1 inch piece galangal or ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 makrut lime leaves
2 tablespoons neutral oil
Serving suggestions
cucumbers
basil or Thai basil
mint
bean sprouts
sliced red chili
To make the paste, place the lemongrass, chili, turmeric, galangal or ginger, garlic, makrut lime leaves and the oil in a small blender and blend until it is of course paste. Alternatively you can do this in a mortar and pestle.
Heat a large pot on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon oil and the curry paste and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the vegetable stock and eggplant, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook until the eggplant is tender, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the rice noodles and cook according to package instructions, until al dente. Drain and run under cold water until the noodles are cool.
To the curry base, add the coconut milk, makrut lime leaves, vegan fish sauce or soy sauce, sugar and season with salt and black pepper and stir to combine. Add the tofu and baby bok choy and cook, uncovered, until the tofu is warmed through and the baby bok choy is just tender, 4-5 minutes.
To serve, place the cooled rice noodles into a bowl and ladle the soup, tofu and vegetables over. Top with your chosen toppings and serve warm or at room temperature.
Io Vegetables, With Love is dedicated to vegetables and it is a joy to bring you a new recipe every week. Thank you to everyone who subscribes, especially to paid subscribers who make this work possible.
Thank you for shining a light on Cambodian cuisine and a great cause. I lived and worked in Cambodia for the last 5+ years (back home in Germany atm for a couple months of training) and it saddens me how Cambodia and also its cuisine is often overlooked among its Southeast Asian neighbors, as amazing as they all are. Num ban chok is actually my favorite as well 💛 especially with all the herbs and edible flowers that come with it when you're in Cambodia. But so many other dishes worthy of exploring, runner up for me is samlor kokor, a soup/stew thickened with toasted ground rice, very easy to skip the meat that usually comes in it. Recently, Ratanak Ros also published a cookbook on Royal Cambodian cuisine, the second cookbook of hers, after the beautiful Nhum (Eat) and I love that the books are published in both English and Khmer.
I’m so excited to try this. I lived in Cambodia for 2 years and recipes for Khmer food are few and far between. Thank you so much for sharing this!