After Kate's confession, chef reveals how you should eat kidneys

2023-02-23

Offally good! After the Princess of Wales’ revelation that she’s a fan of kidneys, a Michelin-starred chef reveals how YOU should eat them

Kate made revelation as she spoke to residents at Oxford House Nursing Home
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They’re rarely on menus nowadays – but the Princess of Wales has revealed she’s a fan of kidneys.

Kate, 41, made the revelation as she spoke to residents at Oxford House Nursing Home in Slough on Tuesday.

She met 109-year-old Nora Muchmore, born the year the First World War began, who had a card from the King and Queen Consort nearby congratulating her on her recent birthday – January 7.

Kate asked what her favourite food was and when the resident replied ‘kidneys’ the royal said ‘I love kidneys too’ and when she left the elderly woman to rest said: ‘Next time I come and visit I will make sure I bring some kidneys with me.’

Kate also chatted to other residents about their love of kidney and offal. ‘The thing is nowadays that no-one cooks it any more but I love it,’ the princess said. ‘You need to go to the butchers as they don’t have it it in supermarkets.’

They’re rarely on menus nowadays – but the Princess of Wales has revealed she’s a fan of kidneys (pictured February 2020)

Following the princess’ comments, a Michelin-starred chef has told FEMAIL how best to eat kidneys.

Sebby Holmes, a four-time Michelin award-winning chef and owner of Farang London, said: ‘Kidneys throughout history have been a key player in British cooking, take a steak and kidney pie for instance.

‘Still to this day it’s a regular occurrence to see football fans tucking into a steak and kidney pie at half time.

‘Many people these days are squeamish when it comes to nose to tail eating, but in general most offal has very distinct and quite delicious flavour profiles.

‘In the current cost of living crisis, where we are living in a world of tight budgets, we should all consider eating more offal.

‘When you know what to do with it, it’s delicious, it’s cheap and readily available – it’s a win-win scenario.

‘When prepping kidneys, I’ve always trimmed them and stored them in milk or salted water for 30 minutes before cooking; this gets rid of any impurities and neutralises unpleasant odours in preparation for cooking.

‘When it comes to cooking make sure you dry them thoroughly before cooking and pan- fry at room temperature to avoid them curling up in the pan.

‘Their irony flavour and soft texture makes them perfect for stir-frying. At Farang we stir-fry lamb kidneys with minced belly meat to make a laap (a minced meat and herb salad).

Kate, 41, made the revelation about her love of offall as she spoke to residents at Oxford House Nursing Home in Slough on Tuesday.

The VERY modern way to enjoy offall

Minced Chicken, offal and Prawn Larb with Herbs, Roasted Rice and Baby Gem

Sebby Holmes is a four time Michelin award winning chef, owner of Farang London and creator PAYST.

She told FEMAIL: ‘Larb is a spicy minced meat salad with fresh herbs and usually a hefty amount of chillies.

‘It originates from Lao and is most commonly eaten in the Isan region of Thailand, which is heavily populated by those of Laos ethnicity.

‘The backbone of Thai food stems from a range of cultures which they have then made their own in an incredible way. This simple and unique salad demonstrates this perfectly.

Sebby Holmes is a four time Michelin award winning chef, owner of Farang London and creator PAYST, and shared the recipe for Minced Chicken, offal and Prawn Larb with Herbs, Roasted Rice and Baby Gem

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2 / GF

100g, minced chicken, kidneys, liver & hearts too (make sure to mince all meat together)
100g, prawns, shells & heads removed, de-veined and minced with a cleaver
3 tablespoons, vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled
4 red birds eye chilli, stems removed (use 2 if you don’t like things too spicy)
20g, ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon coriander root, washed and chopped (this can be brought attached to the leaves in most good Asian supermarkets, however if you can’t find just leave out)
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
10g, coriander leaves, picked and washed
10g, mint leaves, picked and torn in half
8 Thai shallots, peeled and sliced (banana shallots work well too)
10g, Thai basil, picked (normal basil can be used instead)
10, pak chi farang, also known as Thai flat leaf coriander (optional)
1 tablespoon whole roasted long red chillies, toasted in a dry pan for a few minutes until crispy and charred.
1 tablespoon thick tamarind water
2 tablespoons, fish sauce
1 teaspoon palm sugar
1 head, baby gem lettuce, core removed and leaves washed and dried
2 apple aubergines, chopped into 6 (these are optional if you cannot get hold of them)

METHOD

Firstly, using a pestle and mortar (or food processor) pound together the birds eye chilli, garlic and ginger to make a paste, a little coarse sea salt can be added to the mortar to act as an abrasive and help combine the ingredients.

Next heat a large wok to a high heat with the vegetable oil inside. Then add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste and move constantly until golden brown. To this add the minced chicken, chicken offal and prawns and continue to fry out until the prawns and the chicken are cooked and hot

throughout, this should take around 6-8 minutes. Next add the caster sugar and cook for a further minute until the mixture darkens and caramelises. Then add the coriander, mint, basil, Thai shallots, pak chi farang, apple aubergines, roasted long red chillies, fish sauce and squeeze one lime into it then toss together, then serve immediately. The salad should be salty, sour and hot.

In the meantime, pre-heat an oven to 180 degrees. Place the jasmine rice on a baking tray and roast for 35-40 minutes until the rice is golden brown throughout the whole grain. Once toasted, allow to cool and the spice grind to a fine powder or use a pestle and mortar, be sure to make it as fine as possible or it will not be pleasant to eat, the idea for the rice is that it adds texture to an otherwise soft dish.

Serve the larb on plates with fresh and crispy baby gem at the side and top the salad with roasted rice for some texture and lime cheeks. Delicious on its own, or with some sticky glutinous rice.

‘We add the kidneys to the dish for depth of flavour and texture. It’s always a winner when on the specials.’

Kate’s latest admission about her favourite dish comes weeks after the Prince of Wales boasted that his wife is a ‘very good’ cook.

The father-of-three appeared in good spirits as he greeted staff and volunteers at the centre before then getting stuck into making some chicken teriyaki and noodles for lunch.

During the visit Prince William, 40, told chef Kevin Muhammad: ‘I do a bit of cooking, not much though. Catherine’s very good though.

‘I do a mean steak. My sauces come out quite dry or lumpy – I’ve got to work on those!’

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