I'm baaack!!

OK so I have been more than a little slack on the blogging front, but I do have a few posts saved up that will be coming your way shortly and then this blog will be turning into something of a travel/food blog as myself and S are heading to Australia and then onto South East Asia...oh my taste buds can hardly wait !! ox

Malaysian dreaming

One of the dishes I hope to try in Malaysia is a very well known hawker dish called Char Kway Teow, the version I make is delicious so I can only imagine what the real thing tastes like! The best thing about this dish is that once you get your prep done you can have the meal cooked in about 10 minutes! If you want to create a little bit of Malaysia yourself then read on…

Char Kway Teow

• 350g fresh flat rice noodles (you can substitute dry noodles if fresh aren’t available)
• cooking oil
• 100g raw smallish prawns, shelled and de-veined but tail left on (should be about 6)
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp chilli paste (I put a bit more as I like the spice!)
• 1 egg
• 2 small Chinese sausage, sliced thinly on diagonal
• Small bunch chopped chives
• 1 handful bean sprouts
Kway Teow Sauce
• 120ml light soy sauce
• 15ml thick soy sauce
• 15ml oyster sauce
• 15ml fish sauce
• 30g sugar
• 5g pepper

To make sauce, mix all ingredients well in a jug. If using dried rice noodle, prepare noodles as per instructions. Heat wok, add oil. Stir-fry prawns, Chinese sausage with chopped garlic until fragrant. Add chilli paste. Add noodles and stir to soften, then add sauce. Move everything to the side of the wok and add egg, scramble and then mix into noodles. Stir-fry well. Toss in chives and bean sprouts to soften just before serving. Garnish with some more bean sprouts and enjoy!

Gong Xi Fa Cai !!

OK so it’s been a while since I last posted, but I wanted to let you know about Chinese New Year that happened way back in February and of course I felt the need to host a dinner party in honour of the event.

In the lead up Chinatown was the busiest I have ever seen it with people and red lanterns everywhere. It was such a nice atmosphere; I can barely imagine how crazy it must be in China! I had fun looking around at all the decorations about the place and even got two big red lanterns, which are still hanging in the living room, they look too nice to take down!

Well as you can imagine I spent quite some time planning the menu. There are a number of traditional meals served at New Year; in fact food is a huge part of the celebrations. They have wonderful meanings such as serving longevity noodles, long un-cut noodles that signify a long life and a prosperous year ahead. Also served are foods which the pronunciation sounds similar to other words in the Chinese language, such as fish which sounds like [x]. Then there are the foods that are just pure luxury, things like scallops and abalone. Also there are Lion’s Head Meatballs, so named as they are large pork meatballs served in a broth with Chinese cabbage placed around the meatballs to resemble a lion’s mane. Also Buddha’s delight, a vegetarian dish that originally contained one ingredient for each of the 18 Buddha’s, although I am told more often than not people pick and choose what they like. Another dish that sounded so good was White Cut Chicken, which is a whole chicken poached in a very simple broth, traditionally it is served with the head and feet to symbolise unity and the white colour represents purity. It was very hard to choose what to serve!

After putting a lot of thought into it I decided on the following menu:

To start:
Pork & prawn dumplings
Salt & pepper ribs
(I have to give thanks to Caroline & Neil for this as I didn’t have anything to do with it!)

Main:
Slow roasted pork belly
Soy poached chicken (I was going to make the white cut chicken but after a lot of reading I discovered it’s quite a difficult dish to master so I decided on a night I was cooking for 7 wasn’t the best time to try!)
Lionhead meatballs

Buddha’s delight
Gai larn with oyster sauce
Longevity noodles
Steamed rice

Now I can say that the night was a success and thankfully the food all turned out OK, it required me staying sober until everything was served but it was well worth the effort. I also recommend trying out the pork belly as it was the resounding hit of the night and was being talked about days later; it was also the only thing that was completely finished on the night! As per usual I also cooked enough food for a small army so leftovers were in abundance, which was fine with me as it meant a super tasty lunch on the Monday. If only there were leftovers every day. ox

Wild Thai Stylee

While I love the flavours of Chinese and in particular Sichuan cooking another cuisine that I absolutely adore is Thai.

Thai food consists of a balance of hot (spicy), sour, sweet and salty. Usually by using the common ingredients of chilli, tamarind or lime juice, palm sugar and the wonderfully underrated fish sauce. This combination results in an absolute flavour explosion for the taste buds! There is something about the flavours in Thai food that make it taste incredibly fresh and light even when eating a coconut milk laden curry. Another wonderful ingredient is the rice stick noodle. These noodles retain a lovely chewy texture when cooked and absorb the flavours of the dish without losing their own texture, that is of course if correctly cooked! When I say cook that is slighlty incorrect as rice stick noodles need to have boiled water poured over them and left for about 10 minutes to soften. Don't boil or you will lose the lovely silky texture and it was be mush! It is also worth remembering that if you are going to fry the noodles in sauce as in this dish that if you soften them for too long you will definitely overcook them once frying.

Using the above as a base for the essence of the dish I have put together a noodle dish that has that great Thai tang! After playing around with other Thai style noodle dishes I have settled on this which goes perfectly with a cold beer! I would usually stir through a load of coriander but as S doesn’t quite have the same feeling about coriander as I do i.e. put as much as possible into pretty much every dish, I use it as a garnish and leave it off his plate completely. Which is actually OK with me as I get it all to myself!





Thai prawn & peanut noodles

200g rice stick noodles
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 whole fresh red chilli
2 tsp ground white peppercorns
1 tbsp tamarind paste
3 tbsp peanut oil
250g prawns
2 tbsp grated or chopped palm sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of ½ lime
100g crushed roasted peanuts
A handful of bean sprouts
1 Lebanese cucumber, washed and thinly sliced
Lime, coriander and sliced red chilli to garnish

Method

Bring a pot of water to the boil, turn off the heat and soak the rice noodles to packet instructions. Rinse under cold running water until cool and drain.

Finely chop the garlic and chilli.

Heat a wok over high heat and add the peanut oil, then the garlic and chilli. Stir-fry for a few minutes, stirring all the time. Now add the prawns and stir-fry a few more minutes until they are pink and cooked through. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, white pepper and the tamarind. Taste, it should taste sweet, salty and sour all at once. If it needs more salt add a little fish sauce or if too rich, just add a little water.

Add the noodles, bean sprouts and peanuts, mixing them well into the prawns, cook for a further minute, and toss in the cucumber.

To serve

Divide into individual bowls, garnish with a slice of lime, sliced red chillies, peanuts and coriander & serve.

Dan Dan Mian again

Previously I had stated that my much favourite noodle dish has many incarnations and that I would be trying them out periodically. On the Food Network I have found this version of the dish by Fuschia Dunlop.

This time it is using chicken stock and pork mince instead of beef. It is also served with the various parts of the sauce added directly to the bowl with the noodles and meat on top requiring a good stir when you get to the table. I quite like this method; it means the dish put in front of you has quite a different look to the one you eventually eat. I have also been told this is often the way the dish is served in China. The first picture is of the dish as served and the second is after stirring.

Back to the ingredients, when I made this dish I used pickled cucumber instead of the Tianjin preserved vegetable, I have been told this is a suitable replacement. If you can’t get hold of pickled Chinese vegetable, small gherkins can be used in place. I also used vegetable stock as it was what was to hand. And finally instead of bok choy I have used choi sum.

To my verdict, the flavours in this dish are wonderful which is why I keep coming back to it again and again. I would say this recipe felt a bit lighter but that could be because I stuck to the correct portions! The pickled vegetable definitely added an extra dimension; I think I will be trying this again!

Dan Dan Mian

Ingredients

For the noodles

250g Shanghai noodles
8 Bok choy, leaves only

For the sauce

4 tbsp Tianjin preserved vegetable, or pickled Chinese cabbage, available from specialist shops
1 tbsp groundnut oil
3 Spring onions, green parts only, finely chopped
3 tsp light Soy sauce

2 tsp dark Soy sauce
1 tbsp chilli oil, to taste
2 tsp Chinkiang or Chinese black vinegar, premium black rice vinegar, available from specialist shops
1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns
120ml hot chicken stock

For the pork

1 tbsp groundnut oil
100g minced pork
1 tsp shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp light Soy sauce

Method

Rinse the Tianjin vegetable in a sieve under the tap to get rid of excess salt, and shake dry. Heat the groundnut oil in a wok over a high flame, and then stir-fry the Tianjin vegetable until it is dry and fragrant. Set aside.

To prepare the pork topping, add the groundnut oil to the wok and heat through. Add the minced pork and stir-fry, splashing in the Shaoxing wine. Add the soy sauce and fry until the meat is cooked but not too dry. Set aside.

Divide the stir-fried preserved vegetable, the spring onions and the light and dark soy sauce, chilli oil, vinegar, Sichuan pepper and stock among four serving bowls.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the pak choy and blanch until just cooked. Place a couple of leaves in each serving bowl. Meanwhile, add the noodles to the boiling water and boil until cooked to taste. Drain the noodles and divide among the prepared bowls. Top each serving with a spoonful of the cooked pork.

Serve immediately. The noodles should be mixed into the sauce at the table, using chopsticks.

Sushi!

I have been having a total craving for sushi lately so I decided it was high time that I made some. I had a rough idea of what was required although the last time I made sushi was about 6 years ago so I found a handy website called http://www.sushiencyclopedia.com/ which gave my memory the boost it needed. So I made a list and off to the ever faithful Chinese supermarket to gather the necessary wares.

Originally I had thought a sushi party was in order but after getting a response from S along the lines of “Do I actually have to make any?” I decided to forge ahead myself.

I made California rolls, Salmon & Avocado rolls and my favourite Spicy Crab rolls some with avocado. While my sushi might not be the prettiest you’ve ever seen it did taste fantastic. The best bit is now I have all the ingredients at home to make it again! I won’t put the method for making sushi itself but the spicy crab was a winner, very easy to make and very tasty so see below for how to make that filling.

Spicy Crab Sushi

150g fresh crab meat or good quality tinned meat
1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (if you can’t get any Japanese mayo, you can use a good quality egg mayonnaise, in that case I would also add ½ tsp of soy sauce)
2 tsp Japanese chilli powder

Combine in a bowl and use as filling for sushi rolls.

Oodles of lovely spicy noodles

If I didn’t already mention it I am having a love affair with all things spicy that is refusing to die down. I’ve just come back from a week in France eating wonderful food, baguettes and cheese as far as the eye could see. Also carving up the slopes, well kind of, mostly with my knees, head and pretty much every other part of my body except for the snowboard itself but I am improving and maybe in a few years time I will get down a slope without causing myself grievous bodily harm. I do however recommend boarding in vast amounts of powder, it’s like falling over in a cloud but a little more difficult to get up out of, I somehow managed to get down a black run in this manner. While the food was superb, by half way through the week I was craving something, with you guessed it, a little spice! So after my long and laborious journey home, for those of you unaware there have been masses of snow falling all over France, cue closed airports and stranded holiday makers. I was one of the lucky ones after a four hour delay & a de-ice of the airplane we took off and landed in Liverpool just missing my transfer. After having a blanket handed to me from security I curled up in a corner and did my best impersonation of a sleeping person until my alarm sounded at 4.30am indicating my transfer would be there any minute, finally I arrived home at 6.00am and collapsed in bed dreaming of spicy noodles. I managed to satisfy my cravings that evening with a big bowl of Dan Dan. But during the week I have also been thinking about another dish that is much loved. Sichuan pork noodles, utilisation my absolute favourite noodle, the fresh rice noodle. These lovely silky noodles can be brought fresh from Asian supermarkets and have a delectable texture that really makes the dish. Once again this dish also uses Sichuan pepper for that lovely mouth tingling feeling. I always roast extra for sprinkling on top! As S doesn’t quite have the iron stomach I do and is still adjusting to all the chilli now in his life I will usually use a little less chilli in this dish and just add loads at the end to serve. I am usually sitting at the table tissues in hand, face bright red and streaming with tears and I have to say I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sichuan spicy pork noodles

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 thumb size knob ginger, peeled
• 1 1/2 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 1 tbsp of chilli paste (chilli oil can also be used)
• 3 tbsp sesame paste (you can also use Tahini or Peanut butter)
• 3-4 tbsp soy sauce
• 50ml peanut oil
• 1 bunch garlic chive flowers (or garlic chives), cut in 10cm lengths
• 250g pork mince
• 3 tbsp castor sugar
• 100-150ml water
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 400g fresh rice noodles

Method
Finely chop ginger and garlic, I often grate. Roast the Sichuan peppercorns in a hot dry wok, stirring all the time for 1-2 minutes, or until they start to crackle, become fragrant and darken. Remove from wok and grind in a mortar and pestle.

Mix in a bowl the chilli paste, sesame paste and soy. Heat the noodles in a pot of hot water & drain and have everything else ready to go.

Heat a wok until very hot. Add oil then the ginger & garlic, stirring all the time and cook for just a moment before adding the garlic chives. Cook until a little wilted then add the pork mince. Keep the heat high and keep stirring. Once the pork mince is cooked add the pepper, sesame/soy sauce mixture and sugar. Mix well and add some water to thin the sauce. Taste and correct the seasoning - you may want more chilli or soy, but if the flavour is too strong, add more water. Now stir in the hot rice noodles, sprinkle with the spring onions, extra Sichuan pepper and enjoy!