2015 Cooking Club Week 33: Mammy IBC's Kedgeree

ibarelycare

Kedgeree is a traditional Victorian breakfast dish, with Indian origins. This is a very non-traditional version of it, which my mam has been cooking my whole life (and we eat it for dinner ). As a child I just referred to it as "spicy rice" and when I started cooking it myself as an adult I learned that the traditional dish was quite different to my mam's. Boiled eggs instead of fried, haddock instead of smoked coley, and different spices and veg.

However my mam's simple version is still my favourite, and it's something I cook very regularly. It's incredibly easy, and best of all, incredibly cheap to make! This recipe serves four people for about a fiver


Mammy IBC's Kedgeree (serves 4)

Ingredients:



Olive oil/vegetable oil
200g rice (of your choosing - I used brown as it's what I had)
250g smoked coley (Aldi sell fillets in 250g packs)
1-2 tsp of cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like it!)
2 eggs
1 onion
1 green pepper
100g mushrooms
Salt to season


Method:

1. For best results, cook the rice in advance, and let it cool. However I'm not always this organised so if you're the same, put your rice on now to cook.

2. In a large pan, cover the coley with boiling water and let it poach by simmering gently over a medium heat for 10 minutes.



3. While the fish is poaching, prepare your veg - dice the onion and pepper and cut the mushrooms into strips. PROTIP: own better knives than I do. Neatly prepare your veg on a chopping board, stand back and admire your handywork.



4. When the coley is cooked, remove it from the water onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Use two forks to gently flake the fish. It should fall apart very easily if it's cooked properly. Check for bones at this stage too. The coley I get in Aldi actually rarely has bones, although I did find a few this time



5. Fry off the onions in a little oil in a wok until they start to soften, and then add your peppers and mushrooms. Stir fry the veg for about 4 more minutes, or until they are at a consistency that you like (personally I like the peppers quite soft in this dish).



6. When the vegetables are done, place them aside in a bowl, and wipe your wok with some kitchen roll. Add 2 tbsp of oil to the wok and allow to get very hot. While the oil is heating, beat your two eggs together in a bowl. When the oil is nearly smoking, add your cooked (and cooled preferably) rice to the wok and stir-fry for about 3 or 4 minutes until it's heated through. Push the rice to the side of the wok and pour your beaten eggs onto the other side. Don't touch them for about 10 seconds until they begin to set, and then start quickly swirling the egg with your wooden spoon (or utensil of choice), and break it up and then mix it through with the rice.

I don't have a picture of this step because it just looked messy...

7. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and add your coley and into the egg fried rice. Add 1-2tsp* of cayenne pepper, season with salt, and mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.

*This is the first time I've ever measured the amount of cayenne pepper I use. I usually just shake it in and taste to see if it needs more. I put 2tsp into mine and it was quite spicy, just the way I like it.

Serve in bowls, and enjoy

confusticated

Interesting - I often make egg fried rice for my tea if I've got leftover rice, this looks like a good way to make it a more legitimate full meal. Not a huge fan of smoked fish though, would it work with fresh fish just grilled do you think? Or poached I suppose, but I've never poached fish!

ibarelycare

confusticated wrote: »

Interesting - I often make egg fried rice for my tea if I've got leftover rice, this looks like a good way to make it a more legitimate full meal. Not a huge fan of smoked fish though, would it work with fresh fish just grilled do you think? Or poached I suppose, but I've never poached fish!

I'm sure it would! The smoked fish gives it a nice flavour, so if you used fresh fish you might want to add different spices for more depth. Tumeric maybe.

Roald Dahl

This is the third time that I have made this kedgeree.

I did it both with the fried egg and boiled egg. As I don't have cayenne pepper I used some curry powder instead.

It makes a lovely weeked breakfast.