Bryan’s food always looks SO GOOD on Instagram so we had to chat with him about how he fostered his hobby over the years. From traditional Irish cuisine (his homeland) to Mexican food, Bryan inspires you to break out a cookbook!
Name: Bryan Harrington
Originally from: Cork, Ireland
Lives now: Barnes
Day job: IT Senior Manager for Mars Chocolate
Hobby: Cooking
Tell us about your cooking passion. I developed a love for cooking from a young age from watching my uncle in the kitchen. Since then I’ve always been interested in different cuisines, styles and cooking methods. Being Irish and my partner Mexican, those two cuisines don’t fuse instantaneously but we introduce different flavours and cooking styles together such as Irish breakfast burritos and Irish style tacos!
How has lockdown affected your cooking? Usually weekends were dedicated to cooking something a bit extra with more time but working from home all day allows me to prep stuff early afternoon! I have used lockdown to be more creative and try different types of baking rather than standard cakes
Tell us about a dish that brings memories? A simple Irish beef stew, perfected by my mother! A great way to use up leftovers from the weekend and any spare veg in the fridge!
How do you decide what to cook? I have about 30-40 dishes that are part of my staple “menu”, and will be a mixture of meat, vegetarian, fish! Keeping a balanced diet is important so will often have two meat, two vegetarian and two fish meals a week!
Go-to recipe of yours? Korean beef with chilli and lime with brown rice creole chicken salad, steamed salmon with green beans, and mushroom risotto!
Korean beef with chilli & lime
500g 5% or 10% mince steak
5 garlic cloves
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
50mls hoisin sauce
3-4 spring onions (additional for rice if you serve with rice)
1 red chilli
Sesame seeds
Brown the mince and drain 90% of the juice
Crush garlic and add grated ginger, fry off for 1-2 mins to soften
Add soy sauce, hoisin sauce and brown sugar and simmer for 4-5 mins
Toast sesame seeds for a few mins and add with chilli and spring onions and fry off for a minute
Served with brown rice with spring onion tossed through it just before serving
Tip for aspiring home-chefs? Never be afraid to try something and give yourself time.
Thank you, Bryan!!
