food to glow

A sponsored post.

A classic and deeply aromatic Vietnamese fish dish, enhanced with the goodness of Tenderstem®️ Royale. Use any variety of firm white fish, but definitely look out for this beautiful brassica, with its distinctive deep purple stems. It is exclusively available at Marks & Spencer Food Halls in the UK.

Want the recipe right away? Scroll on down.

When you think of Vietnamese food, broccoli, turmeric and dill do not immediately spring to mind. But trust me when I tell you that this admittedly oddball partnership is absolutely sublime. Based on an unusual but authentic Hanoi recipe, my iteration is surprisingly easy to make, too. In fact, I would even go so far as to say it is a perfect, midweek meal. Colourful, healthy, filling and full of flavour. 

What is Tenderstem® Royale? 

I am exceedingly lucky to work with some really fantastic UK food brands. So I was delighted to be asked by vegetable innovators Tenderstem®️ to create a unique recipe celebrating their bold new brassica baby, Tenderstem®️ Royale.

This purple beauty, available exclusively at Marks and Spencer Food Halls, has the tenderness, versatility and ease of cooking as the original green Tenderstem®️, but is a little more buttery tasting and mellow. And like the popular purple sprouting broccoli, it has deep purple stems. But unlike purple sprouting broccoli you can eat every bit of Tenderstem®️ Royale. No trimming, no hard chewy bits, no waste. This new Tenderstem®️ product will also be available year-round. So instead of just thinking wintry curries, noodle dishes, soups, gratins and hot side dishes, get creative with salads (both green and grain), stir fries and raw (I’m thinking carpaccio with my vegan aquafaba aïoli!).

Purple Power – the key to maximum nutrition 

The thing about the striking purple colour is that it’s not just there for show.

As many of you know, I am a cancer health educator. My “day job” is literally teaching people about the awesome disease-preventing and disease-fighting chemicals found in plant foods. And believe me when I tell you that purple edible plants are a big deal.

Anthocyanins, the phenolic phytonutrient responsible for the deep purple colour, possess anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-obesity effects, as well as prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

And purple brassicas? Well, I think they are just about the perfect plant food to eat. High in filling and disease-preventing fibre, loads of vitamin C, A and B6 as well as potassium, it’s a food we should all introduce into our weekly recipes. I know I will be.

To keep as much of the purple as possible I recommend a quick stir fry or sauté, such as in this recipe. Boiling loses most of the gorgeous colour. But, however you prepare it, Tenderstem® Royale is not only deeply coloured, it is deeply good for you!

How to make this recipe

First off, get to Marks & Spencer for a pack (or two) of Tenderstem®️ Royale. Pick up some fish there too, or check with your fishmonger for their best firm white fish. The recipe has both a marinade and a serving sauce, so mix those up – they are both very straightforward to make. The marinade of turmeric, pepper, garlic, ginger, fish or (soy) sauce, honey and grated shallot gets lightly massaged into the fish and left for half an hour while you wash the vegetables, and mix together the heavenly salty-sweet-hot nuoc cham dipping (or in this case drizzling) sauce.

Then you heat oil in a frying pan, dust the fish with rice flour (or any flour really) and shallow fry the fish until just cooked. Wipe the pan out and add a teeny bit more oil to quickly saute the Tenderstem®️ Royale, spring onions and dill – just three minutes should do it. Have some slippery, soft rice noodles waiting, as well as extra chillies, lime and dill. Serve all drizzled with the addictive-tasting nuoc cham sauce.

Vegan Tweak

If you are vegan or vegetarian, make this as a filling side dish by steaming about 400 grams of new/baby potatoes and marinating as for the fish. And of course use soy sauce instead of fish sauce. 🙂

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This recipe will give you a deeply flavoursome dinner for two in less than an hour, including the marinating time. To make it even quicker you can either prep the marinade and sauce in the morning to throw together at dinner time. Or, make the sauces a day ahead and coat the the fish in the morning to leave marinating in the fridge while you are out.

Find out more about Tenderstem®️ Royale on their website. And get your own supply of these purple-stemmed lovelies at Marks & Spencer Food Hall.

Fancy more South East Asian recipes?

Here are just a few for you. Check my Index for more!

Vietnamese Sticky Tofu Salad

Shiitake Ginger Broth with Gyzoa Dumplings

Easy Vegetarian Pho with 30-Minute Broth

Butternut Squash, Lentil and Lemongrass Curry

Creamy Thai 10-Vegetable Curry

Vietnamese Savoury Crepes (Bánh xèo)

 

**Remember to follow me on Pinterest and, if you make my Vietnamese Fish and Tenderstem® Royale, click on the pin below the recipe card and leave a photo of your make with a comment telling me what you think, or any awesome changes that you made. Similarly, any Instagram posts tagged @food_to_glow using my recipes will go on my Story if I see them. I’m always so proud when you share my recipes with the world. Yay!!!

Whether on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or of course here on the blog, I love to see what you do with my recipes, and I welcome your comments, star ratings, tweaks and suggestions.**

 

Are you a Tenderstem®️ fan like me? What will you make – besides this recipe! – with your Tenderstem®️ Royale?

RIPE FOR PINNING!