EPISODE 94

I love this as a light, summery twist on a typical mayo based potato salad, it’s a very interesting, yet unobtrusive flavour combination. If you can’t find Thai basil (which has a fresh slightly liquorishy taste), you can use mint, cilantro, or Italian basil, it will still be delicious, just differently so. This is wonderful at any temperature. Leftovers are also great fried up in a little bit of vegetable oil for fabulous Asian style home-fries.

Ingredients

• 800g new potatoes (around 12), quartered
• 6 cups water
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2-3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds (white are also delicious, just nowhere near a pretty)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2-4 tablespoons Thai basil
• Pepper (optional)

Instructions

Bring the water to a boil, add the salt and potatoes, and cook until a knife can be easily inserted into potatoes, around 12 minutes. In a large bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, except for the thai basil. Drain the potatoes and add to the flavoursome liquid, stir well. When the potatoes are lukewarm, add in the thai bail. If you were to add the basil when the potatoes were hot, it would brown. Not the end of the world, but not the most beautiful aesthetically. Mix together and enjoy warm or cold. This just gets better as it sits.