Brunch is so much more than portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. It’s a moveable feast, as welcome for the late-riser who doesn’t get hungry until midday as it is for the person who breakfasts with the lark and needs something more substantial than elevenses. Whenever you choose to eat it, it is a meal that always coincides, somehow, with peak hunger.
Inviting friends round for brunch is entertaining on the cheap, and quick – in terms of the prep, if nothing else. The laissez faire nature of the meal means there is always the distinct possibility you might have to pour your guests into a cab seven hours after festivities commence.
And the rules are pretty simple: keep the toast, OJ and coffee bottomless. You don’t have to forsake classic breakfast ingredients such as eggs, sausages, or that magically replenishing toast, but neither are you restricted by them. If you’ve ever agonised over what you think you want to eat (a fry-up, say, or something involving the siren call of melted cheese) and what you think you should eat (a fruit salad, or something contributing to your 10 a day) then brunch is the meal for you, because at its best it can offer the perfect marriage of the salty and fatty and the fresh and crunchy.
The two recipes below are a case in point. Tinned fava beans are transformed into a warming ful medames in the time it takes to chop some veg and boil eggs to fudgy-yolked perfection.
And sausages are made into patties and fried until sticky and crisp-edged for a Vietnamese-inspired bun cha (purists, forgive us) ... Deeply savoury, spicy, and satisfying: brunch to pack a punch.
Sausage bun cha (main picture)
For those moments when you want salty and fatty and crisp and fresh, there is Vietnamese bun cha.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4
2 soft lettuces
A large bunch of thai (or regular) basil
A large bunch of perilla (or mint)
A large bunch of hot mint (or coriander)
2 watermelon radishes or 12 normal radishes, halved
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
3 tbsp rice or cider vinegar
A pinch of salt
A pinch of palm sugar (or brown sugar)
500g vermicelli rice noodles
For the dressing
8 garlic cloves
4 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
4 bird’s-eye chillies, deseeded and very finely chopped or sliced
60ml fish sauce
180ml rice or cider vinegar
For the patties
6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
2 tbsp fish sauce
12 pork sausages
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 Wash and dry the lettuce and herbs.
2 Add the radishes and spring onions to a bowl with the vinegar, salt and sugar, then scrunch together with your hands, then set aside.
3 To make the dressing, crush the garlic and sugar to a paste using a pestle and mortar. Add the chilli and bash lightly to release some of its juices, then mix in the fish sauce and vinegar. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary: it should be sweet and salty, sour and spicy.
4 Cook the noodles in boiling water, according to the packet instructions, then drain and leave to cool.
5 To make the sausage patties, mash the garlic and sugar to a paste using a pestle and mortar, then add the fish sauce. Slit the sausages and squeeze the meat into a large bowl. Mix in the garlic paste, then form the mixture into 16 patties.
6 Grease a griddle pan with a little oil and put over a medium heat. When hot, cook the patties in batches for about 5 minutes on each side, or until really browned and crisp.
7 When you’re ready to eat, shred the lettuce. Divide the noodles between four large bowls, then top with the lettuce, some herbs, radish and sausage patties. Serve with the dressing for drizzling and extra herbs.
The ful Egyptian
This meal ticks lots of boxes for us: the beans are warming and saucy and cry out to be mopped up, the garlic tahini sauce adds a contrasting tang, the chopped salad adds a refreshing element of crunch, and the boiled egg makes it brunch.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20–25 minutes
Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
½ small red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
A pinch of salt
2 x 400g tins cooked favabroad beans, rinsed and drained
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
½ tsp cayenne pepper, plus extra
2 tomatoes, cored and chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
200ml water
1–2 eggs per person
For the salad
½ small red onion, sliced into thin half-moons
2 tbsp lemon juice
10 cherry or baby plum tomatoes, quartered
8 radishes, quartered
10cm piece of cucumber, cut to similar- sized chunks as the radishes and tomatoes
A drizzle of olive oil
Salt
For the sauce
1 garlic clove
A large pinch of salt
2 tsp tahini
Juice of ½–1 lemon
To serve
A large handful of parsley leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Warmed flatbreads
1 Put a frying pan over a medium heat and add the oil. When warm, add the onion, garlic and a pinch of salt (to draw out the moisture) and cook for a few minutes, until softened and starting to caramelise.
2 Add the beans, cumin, cayenne, tomatoes, half the lemon juice and 200ml water. Cook for 10–15 minutes over a medium to low heat until the tomatoes break down, and the liquid reduces to a reddish sauce. Taste for seasoning and adjust the salt, lemon juice and cayenne accordingly.
3 While the beans are cooking, give the onions for the salad a head start by putting in a small bowl and covering with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Set aside.
4 For the tahini sauce, pound the garlic and a large pinch of salt to a paste using a pestle and mortar, then mix in the tahini. Add the lemon juice and a splash of water and mix until thin and drizzleable.
5 Hard-boil the eggs for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat immediately and run under cold water before peeling and slicing in half.
6 Add the remaining chopped salad ingredients to a bowl and mix together with the remaining lemon juice, a drizzle of oil and some salt.
7 To serve, put a large spoonful of salad on each plate, topped with a few lemony onions. Spoon on some beans, drizzle the tahini dressing over them, then top with parsley and a sprinkle of cayenne. Nestle the egg halves on the plate and serve with flatbread for mopping.
- Caroline Craig and Sophie Missing are a food-writing duo. This is an extract from their latest offering, The Little Book of Brunch, published by Square Peg in Hardback at £16
