I love visiting the market at the Palms Centre on Victoria road (main road) in Salt River for an early quick breakfast and fresh produce to cook up a storm later that same day. This Cape Town market occurs every Saturday and they showcase traders mostly from the Platteland. Check out my introduction post on the Market at the Palms.
I visited the market with my friend, Kate, who’s part of my roller derby league’s officiating squad – the Cape Quaggas. She’s just as dorky and excitable about food as I am, so this was quite a fun mission. We got smoked dried sausage, gluten-free pasta with basil as well as waterblommetjies from the fresh vegetables trader.
With these ingredients, I made lunch with an Asian twist, using one of my favourite ingredients – Dark Sesame Oil, which is made from toasted sesame seeds.
Ingredients
- 1 King Oyster Mushroom or 4 Pink Oyster Mushrooms
- 2 Tbsp of Dark Sesame Oil
- 500g Waterblommetjies
- 1 Portuguese Chorizo
- 1 Onion (diced)
- 2 cloves of Garlic (pressed then diced)
- Cooking oil to cook with
- Salt
- White Pepper
- Fresh Basil
- Linguine Pasta
Method
1. Prepare your ingredients
2. Cook the pasta first – the pasta we bought was gluten-free and I found it took much longer to boil through compared to everyday pastas. Make sure to rinse your pasta through cool water once it reaches the right texture to retain that perfect bounce. You can always rinse it through warm-hot water just before serving.
3. Pan-fry the onions on a low to medium heat in 1 Tbsp of dark sesame oil and a little cooking oil.
4. Once the onions turn golden-brown add the garlic, waterblommetjies and add salt and white pepper to taste.
5. Add the mushroom slices, then cover the pan with a lid for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover the pan with a lid for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. (I prefer the waterblommetjies with a bit of a light resistance to the bite, similar to the crunch from blanched green beans)
6. While you wait for it to cook, use a small pot and pan-fry the chorizo slices in 1 Tbsp of dark sesame oil for a few seconds (as soon as the spices and fat dissolves into the oil).
7. Add the chorizo slices, excluding the oil, and fresh basil to the mushrooms and waterblommetjies mix and serve it on top of a pasta heap.
8. Drizzle the chorizo-infused dark sesame oil over the dish (the reddish oil splotches adds a cheeky and contrasting element to the dish).
Just by the way, I totally forgot to add the basil into my dish for the picture. This was originally posted here.
