FOR EAGER and ambitious comics seeking fame and fortune, Edinburgh is Mecca. The annual fringe festival can make or break an aspiring comedian. So when I caught up with the wonderful Isy Suttie, whose Pearl Dave show stormed the festival last year, I requested some advice for Edinburgh-bound funsters.
ASIAN SALMON STIR FRY
ISY SUTTIE
“Don’t stay on a campsite to try and save money, as you will get hammered and miss your show because you can’t charge your phone and your alarm doesn’t go off. Do go and see stuff other than comedy to remind yourself there’s a whole festival on.” Wise words.
Many of you will recognise Isy from her role as Dobby in Channel 4’s Peep Show but it is her own creation, Pearl Dave, that has garnered most praise. It’s a true-life, bittersweet, modern tale of how a friend of hers found love online.
But to matters of food: “I can only cook two things . . . so if someone comes round who doesn’t like Isy’s Salmon or Chicken Kievs, there’s trouble.”
Future dinner guests, you have been warned.
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 2)
Two wild salmon fillets
One packet of thin noodles
12 baby spinach leaves
One tablespoon of freshly chopped coriander
Six baby corns
12 mange tout
Two garlic cloves
Two red chillies
One tablespoon of sesame oil
One tablespoon of soy sauce
One teaspoon of oyster sauce
One teaspoon of Lea Perrins Worcestershire sauce
One lime
METHOD
Cook your noodles according to packet instructions, drain and let them sit in iced cold water to prevent further cooking. Rinse all the veg and coriander and pat it dry. Finely slice the garlic and chillies and cut the baby corns in half, vertically. Heat the oil in a hot wok. Fry the salmon fillets skin side down until crispy and then flip them over and cook on the other side. When they’re done, put them on a plate to rest with a cover over them to keep them warm.
Stir-fry the corn and mange tout for 30 seconds. Then add in the garlic and chillies and stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
Add all the liquid ingredients and combine with the veg. Strain the noodles again and put them into the wok and stir in the spinach and coriander. Plate it all up into two portions and place a salmon fillet on top of each serving. Garnish the salmon with lime wedges and some more freshly chopped coriander.
Isy Suttie brings her Pearl Dave show to The Black Box in Belfast on May 17 and to The Sugar Club, Dublin on May 18 rockcookbook.com stirs with the stars
