Honey-glazed parsnip and carrot

This dish is based on the concept of caramelisation.  Caramelisation is a chemical reaction in which sugars in food are transformed by heat to produce a complex type of sweetness.  In this recipe, parsnips and carrots, being root vegetables containing loads of starch, are cooked to the point of caramelisation to bring out their natural sweetness.


What are parsnips?
Parsnips are rather uncommon in Singapore.  They look like carrots in terms of structure, but their skin is light brownish and their flesh is whitish in colour.  Parsnips are sweet.  While people claim that they are sweeter than carrots, I cannot verify that because I am still new to that vegetable.  Usually, you would find parsnips in supermarkets like Cold Storage and NTUC Finesse.  I suppose that is because such supermarkets cater to Caucasian expatriates who are familiar with parsnips in their cooking. 


This was adapted from the Nourished Kitchen.  I was attracted to the recipe because I thought it was an excellent substitute for traditional popiah or springroll filling in Singapore.  In the traditional popiah recipe, the filling is made from stir-fried bang kwang (otherwise known as jicama), bean sprouts, eggs, shrimps and some lettuce - not vegan at all!  Moreover, the popiah skin is also made from wheat, thus making it unsuitable for gluten-intolerant people.

In my own adaptation, I used raw honey and apple cider vinegar to substitute maple-syrup in the original recipe.  The sweet and sour taste from the honey and vinegar enhances the earthly caramelised flavour of the root vegetables.  In addition, I used extra-virgin coconut oil (EVCO) to cook, thus lending a hint of coconut aroma to the dish.  (You may realise that I love to use EVCO in cooking.  This is because it is the most healthy cooking oil that can withstand high levels of heat.  I shall leave my explanation for another entry.)

Parsnip and carrot on Vietnamese rice paper

Ingredients

• 1 parsnip (julienned)
• 1 carrot (julienned)
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 1 red onion (thinly sliced)
• 2-3 tbsp extra-virgin coconut oil
• 1-2 tbsp raw honey
• 2-3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Warm water

Mix raw honey with warm water and apple cider vinegar, and then leave aside.  As with most stir-frying recipes, heat the cooking oil in the wok first.  Then add the garlic and onion to cook for a short while.  Throw in the julienned parsnip and carrot, stir-frying them for about 4-6 minutes to the point of being tender (but not too soft to retain a degree of crunch).  Turn off the heat.  Cool for very short while, and then pour the honey mixture over the vegetables and mix well.  The rationale for turning off the heat before adding raw honey is because you do not want to (1) destroy live enzymes in the raw honey and (2) degrade the molecular structure of the honey, which makes it toxic for consumption.

Wrapped up in rice paper

Popiah alternative
I used Vietnamese rice paper to wrap up the root vegetables, along with some raw baby spinach leaves.  Rice is gluten-free.  You could use lettuce leaves as part of your filling, and I would if I had them in my fridge.  The alternative tasted good, but being someone who loves salads sooo much, I finished the dish with raw baby spinach in the form of another warm salad.