It's Hip To Be Square

Frittata Orientale con Ripieno Misto
Asian Omelette Parcel with Savory Mixed Filling

Sometimes I combine the strangest of ideas in a recipe... or ingredients that at first glance may not appear to "go" together. But this combination of a traditional Thai omelette, a spicy but sweet cucumber salad and a fiery Serbian relish, are indeed a wonderful mix that make for a perfect light lunch on a hot Summer's day... this is cross-over cuisine folks! Get ready to mix things up!

The filling for this little folded omelette is made of a few simple, everyday ingredients- leftover meat (in this case pork), carrots, onions, peas... whatever you have handy. It is a great way of making good use of those bits and pieces floating around in the fridge that don't seem to be enough to make a full meal. They are. And this is how...

Let's start by chopping up a little meat into a fine dice. The traditional choices in Thailand are pork or chicken, but I am sure anything would work- even bacon come to think of it and maybe even shrimp. Hmm- I like that idea! Will have to hold that thought for next time!

Now finely chop some mixed vegetables- whatever you have available or whatever you prefer, making sure that everything is of a similar size. A Thai colleague of mine taught me how to make these little parcels and she kept the seasoning very plain, using only salt and pepper, and then served the finished parcels with a sweet chili sauce. Very simple and yes, very tasty. But I decided to try to make my egg-parcels a little bit more flavorful...


I started off by getting the meat hot and sizzling, with no added fat, in a Teflon pan. As soon as the meat began to give off its juices, I added the other ingredients along with a pinch of cumin seeds, a little Chinese 5-spice powder, a little honey, a little oyster sauce and a drop of sesame oil. I fried this for maybe 5 minutes and then put it to one side to cool.

The next step is to beat 2 eggs and to pour them into a hot frying pan and to make a simple omelette. As soon as the egg has set and the bottom is good, but the top still moist and semi-liquid, add your filling to the middle of the omelette. Now, moving swiftly, fold over the 2 sides of the omelette to seal it up and then the top and bottom edges. As the egg on the inside of the omelette begins to cook and set, the omelette with seal nicely into a compact little parcel. It's as simple as that!

I served mine with a little salad made of cucumber, spring onions and mild green chilis. I cut the cucumber into thin sticks of around 2" in length, salted it lightly and let its juices accumulate (between 5-10 minutes), then drained these off and then added the finely sliced scallions, a drizzle of honey, a good squeeze of lime juice, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a hint of sesame oil. I wanted to keep the flavor crisp, fresh and light. 

The red paste you can see is called Ajvar and it is a tangy and spicy mix of paprika and eggplant- perfect with the mild and unseasoned egg omelette. The somewhat bland and simple flavor of the egg harmonizes very well with the tasty filling and the tangy topping, making this a wonderful if strange menage a trois... but what's not to like about that? Absolutely nothing- that's what!