Daf Dar’s shakshuka
Daf is our absolutely wonderful work program manager at Two Good Co headquarters in Eveleigh, a job she handles with unending grace and good humour. This recipe comes from her uncle, who put together a cookbook after her aunt died. They all shared a great love of cooking; in fact, Daf runs a little food stall with her dad, and this dish was on the menu for many years. Whenever she eats it, it takes her back to family.
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small brown onion, diced
5 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 green chilli (or as many as you like), thinly sliced
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder (or 1 chicken stock cube)
½ tsp smoked paprika
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 eggs
½ cup parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Crumbled feta and crusty bread to serve (optional)
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir for five to six minutes or until softened. Add the tomato, capsicum, garlic and chilli and cook, stirring regularly, for another six to eight minutes or until everything is tender. Add the sugar, stock powder, paprika and 60ml (¼ cup) water. Season to taste and stir well.
Reduce the heat to low, then use the back of a large spoon to create four little divots, evenly spaced, in the tomato mixture. Carefully crack one egg into each divot, then cover the pan with a lid and cook gently for 10 minutes or until the whites are just set and the yolks are still runny (or to your liking).
Once ready, remove from the heat, sprinkle with parsley and feta (if using), and serve straight from the pan with some crusty bread for mopping, if you like.
Kylie Kwong’s Lucky’s fried eggs with herb salad and caramel spiced soy sauce
Kylie Kwong is a long-term supporter of Two Good Co, one of the OGs! We have been lucky enough to eat at her beautiful restaurant Lucky Kwong and, although everything is delicious, it’s this egg dish that we keep coming back for. It’s simple, textural and a little bit luxurious. Perhaps you can taste the love that has been passed down to Kylie by her great-aunt. Dear Mrs Jang used to feed this to all the kids about 35 years ago and it is a version of this dish that Kylie serves to this day. It is delicious at any time of day: add some steamed jasmine or brown rice to make it more substantial and try serving with barbecued pork or sauteed mushrooms to make it more of a dinnertime meal.
6 eggs (see note, below)
375ml vegetable oil (1½ cups)
Pinch freshly ground white pepper
½ cup coriander leaves
½ cup Thai basil leaves
½ cup Vietnamese mint leaves
2 spring onions, pale parts thinly sliced
1 small red chilli, thinly sliced
2 tbsp caramel spiced soy sauce (recipe below)
Crack the eggs into a bowl, but don’t whisk them. Heat the oil in a hot wok over high heat until the surface shimmers. Pour the eggs into the hot oil – they will billow up. Cook for one minute without stirring. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 30 seconds. Carefully slide a spatula under the eggs and lift up while pouring the hot oil into a heatproof bowl. Put the wok back on the heat and cook the eggs for another 10 to 30 seconds or until the bases are firm and crispy, but the yolks are still nice and runny.
Gently ease the eggs out of the wok and on to a large plate, draining off any excess oil. Garnish with a pinch of white pepper, the herbs, spring onion and chilli. Drizzle with the caramel spiced soy sauce and serve immediately.
Kylie Kwong’s caramel spiced soy sauce
You will need to begin this recipe one hour ahead to allow the sauce to infuse.
220g sugar (1 cup)
150 ml light soy sauce or tamari
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
5cm knob of ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
2 tbsp malt vinegar
Place the sugar and soy sauce in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Do not allow it to boil over. Add the cinnamon, star anise, ginger and vinegar, reduce the heat to low and simmer for five to six minutes or until caramelised and slightly syrupy. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for one hour.
Discard the cinnamon and star anise. Pour the sauce into a jar (leaving the ginger in) and refrigerate until ready to use. The sauce will keep refrigerated for at least six weeks.
O Tama Carey’s turmeric and curry leaf scrambled eggs
O Tama is an outstanding cook and her Sri Lankan-inspired Sydney restaurant, Lankan Filling Station, is excellent. This dish is adapted from her mum’s recipe and it makes a delicious, spicy change from traditional scrambled eggs. It is a satisfying breakfast, brunch or a lazy dinner over rice; O Tama likes it with warm crusty bread, a side of roasted tomato and, sometimes, even some bacon.
5–6 eggs
½ tsp ground turmeric or 2cm knob fresh turmeric, scrubbed and grated
2 tbsp ghee
3 curry leaf sprigs, leaves picked
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
½–1 long green chilli, thinly sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl. If using ground turmeric, sprinkle it through the eggs and combine well.
Place a large frying pan over medium heat and add the ghee. Once the ghee melts and starts to shimmer, add the curry leaves and mustard seeds (careful, they will spit a little). Stir for 30 seconds or until the leaves look crisp.
Add the onion, chilli and fresh turmeric (if using), and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring regularly, for another three to four minutes or until the onion starts to caramelise.
Pour the whisked eggs into the pan and let them sit for a few moments, then use a spatula to drag through the mix from the bottom to the top of the pan. Keep cooking in this manner, folding rather than mixing the eggs, until cooked to your liking (bear in mind they will continue to cook after you remove them from the pan. Transfer to plates and serve immediately.
This is an edited extract from Change the Course by the social enterprise Two Good Co, available now (RRP $45); 50% of profits will be reinvested into the Two Good Foundation.
