Toronto’s bad boy chef spills the beans. And NOW’s got the scoop – and a recipe.
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“I’m finally doing what you told me to do 20 years ago,” says an excited Greg Couillard down the blower, just back from a three-week working-holiday abroad.
The notorious chef who invented fusion cuisine on Queen West at The Parrot (and several other long-gone beaneries) has finally taken up Morris dancing?
“No, I’m writing a book!” the current Spice Room and Chutney Bar (spiceroommanyata.com) honcho informs. “I’m calling it Spice Meister – I mean, what else? – and it’ll be out in time for Christmas. There’ll be lots of pictures and all my famous recipes.”
Besides learning the secret to his acclaimed Caribbean-inspired Jump Up soup – Loblaws supermarket even sold it at one point – foodies will also find out how to make Vietnamese Kraft Dinner, the signature dish NOW profiled last spring.
How’d he ever come up with something so simple yet revolutionary?
“Oh fuck, it’s the way I do everything!” laughs the gregarious Couillard. “After hanging around in Kensington and Chinatown all these years, it seemed like such an obvious idea. Kraft Dinner to begin with such a hysterical concept. It’s a box of noodles and some orange cheese powder. Why not a box of noodles and some spicy lime green coconut powder?”
I’m surprised Couillard’s not writing a memoir a la Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling Kitchen Confidential. Couillard’s past is certainly colourful enough to warrant one. Why, back in the wild ‘n’ wooly 80s, he was known as the enfant terrible of the Toronto resto scene.
“Oh, there’ll be a few stories,” confides the irascible chef. “But I’m saving the juiciest stuff for my second book – The Good, The Bad and the Recovery.”
Until then, here’s his exclusive recipe for Vietnamese Kraft Dinner:
For the noodles:
1 850 gram package rice noodles, drained (pictured)
For the green masala:
1 bunch spinach, washed, patted dry, and chopped
1 bunch cilantro, washed, patted dry, and chopped
1 bunch mint, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 lime leaves (ribs removed)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
6 Thai bird chilies with seeds, chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon green curry paste
4 ounces vegetable oil
Puree masala ingredients in a food processor. (This makes more masala than the recipe requires. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers for later use).
In a large saucepan, bring two cups of chicken stock to a boil. Add a 14 ounce can of Aroy-D coconut milk (pictured), reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for five minutes. Add the drained rice noodles and 1 cup of the green masala. Mix well and remove from heat.
In a wok, quickly stir fry a half pound of halved bok choy, a sweet bell pepper cut into strips, and a half pound of either chicken, shrimp, or tofu in a tablespoon of vegetable oil and a dash of sesame oil. To finish, place noodles with sauce in warm bowls and top with stir fry. Garnish with crushed peanuts and fresh coriander. Serves four.
