After yesterdays quick dip in aid of pancake day, I'm back with another Chinese recipe today! Were doing a bit of filming this week, so the blog is kind of on auto pilot, but I hope you haven't noticed. Just a quick reminder that the plans for the next twitter dinner are well underway so I would love to hear your suggestions for the menu- leave a comment below with your ideas! :)
Ginger and Garlic Braised Bok Choy I absolutely love Bok Choy, and although a completely foreign vegetable, it takes extremely well to growing in my vegetable garden! There are so many ways to make the best of this great vegetable, and for me, more often than not, it ends up as a regular ingredient to a quick and tasty stir fry, with lots of other fresh veggies. This braised Bok Choy recipe is a fantastic way to enjoy it, making it a perfect side dish to any main Chinese meal.
Serves 2 4 bok choy, sliced in quarters 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil 1 clove of garlic, sliced thinly A thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced thinly 1 teaspoon of sugar 1 teaspoons of sesame oil 1 teaspoon of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Heat a wok over a high heat, add the oil to coat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the bok choy and stir fry for 1 minute. Sprinkle over the sugar, and pour in 60ml of water, toss everything to combine. Bring the wok to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for 3 minutes or until the bok choy is tender. Finally add the sesame oil and oyster sauce, stir it through until everything is coated and serve straight away.
Chinese New Year falls on Valentines day this year, so it’s the perfect excuse to whip up some tasty Chinese dishes for your loved one to celebrate and I’m not talking about calling the local takeaway! But Chinese cuisine has so much more to offer than what’s on the local takeaway menu, it's packed with delicious sauces, aromatic spices, and unusual textures. If you haven’t tried cooking any Chinese dishes, I have put together some fairly easy ones which I'll be posting all week to celebrate Chinese New Year! They don’t take too much time and leave you with some incredibly tasty results.
Healthy Singapore Noodles Singapore noodles are a standard Chinese restaurant dish, but making them at home is so easy and it also means you can monitor what’s going in to them, adding whatever healthy vegetables you feel like. The addition of curry powder to this dish not only brings a new flavour to it, but it coats the noodles and gives a great texture to every bite. Serves 2 3 cloves of garlic, minced A thumb sized piece of ginger, grated 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce 2 tablespoons of soy sauce 2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips 100g of rice vermicelli noodles 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil 2 celery sticks, finely sliced 1 carrot, finely sliced 4 spring onions 1 tablespoon of Asian curry powder 1 teaspoon of sesame oil A good handful of bean sprouts
Marinate the chicken with the garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Soak the noodles in a bowl of boiling water for 6 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside. Heat a wok over a high heat and add the oil to coat. Add the chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrot and spring onion, and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the curry powder and toss through for another 2 minutes. Add the noodles and bean sprouts and a drop of sesame oil to taste. Toss everything together using kitchen tongs until it’s combined. Serve straight away.
If you don't know who Ken Hom is, where have you been hiding! When I was growing up he was the king pin when it came to Chinese cooking, he was the guy you turned to when you needed advice on which wok to buy and how to create that very first stir fry. I was introduced to him via his first cookbook "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery" which one of my aunts had bought back in 1984, being an avid fan of Chinese cookery I tried so many recipes from this book and have been a fan ever since.
Now although, there have been many Chinese chefs since Ken introduced the cuisine to our TV screens, I still think he is the best and he is regularly regarded as the world's leading authority in Chinese cookery. He was in Dublin launching a new range of Chinese ready meals he has developed with Tesco which includes Crispy Aromatic Duck, Spare Ribs, Duck Spring Rolls, Crispy Chilli Beef, and Chicken Chow Mein all quite reasonably priced. Although people can be cynical about chefs selling out and doing these sort of things, Ken had loads to say on the whole process of recipe development and taking what he described as really bad ready meals to ones which had far more authentic flavours and interesting back notes. I was convinced!
During the demonstration, he spoke about the idea of Chinese cooking and how the aim is too build layers of flavours and textures. He really emphasised the importance of cooking with a really hot wok to seal the in the flavours and how it was so important to marinate any meat you cook with, but generally no more than 20 minutes. I loved the fact that throughout the demonstration, Ken tasted absolutely everything he put in to the wok before it went in, and was really particular in the amounts he used. He also introduced us to a brand new ingredient he had started using called Chee Hou sauce which is made from fermented soy beans with garlic and has a sweet and salt taste, I will be keeping an eye out for it. If you've tried it let me know!
Beef and Black Bean Stir Fry This is the recipe we were given along with the press release and Ken actually demonstrated the dish for us. I can tell you it is absolutely delicious and you should definitely give it a go. It follows through from what he mentioned about using different ingredients to build layers of flavours and many different notes.
Serves 2 200g of beef, sliced in strips 25ml of rapeseed oil 2 teaspoons of ginger, finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped Zest of one orange 1 teaspoon of birds eye chillies, chopped 25g of black beans 75g of spring onions, chopped in 1 inch shanks 50g diced onion 75g diced red peppers 75g diced green peppers 45ml oyster sauce 40g of Chee Hou sauce 2 teaspoons of sugar 200ml water 20ml sesame oil 1 teaspoon of cornflour
Heat the wok over a high heat and add oil to coat. Quickly stir fry the meat and when it is cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside. Heat the oil in the wok and add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry over a high heat until it becomes golden and toasted. Add the orange zest and fry until it releases fragrant citrus notes. Then fry the chilli, black beans and chopped onions for 20 seconds. Add the spring onions and peppers and fry lightly until tender. Add the the Chee Hou sauce, oyster sauce, water and sugar and stir through. Then add the meat and toss until it is coated with all the sauce and vegetables. Finish with the sesame oil and thicken with the cornflour. Serve with noodles or rice.
Back in the land of the living, I flew home on Sunday morning after a late night bus across Sweden which left me totally wrecked! The big news this week is that I'm heading over to London to appear on Good Food Channel's "Market Kitchen" and I am so excited! I hope they will let me take a few shots behind the scenes so I can post them here on the blog. So while I'm gearing up for my UK tv debut (hehehe couldn't wait to say that!) here is a recipe which is perfect for everyone who probably headed back to work today, it's a super lunchbox filler from the book and I hope you like it!
Tahini Noodle Toss
This little recipe came about after I ate at the California Pizza Kitchen in America; they served a really tasty crisp salad, with this rich and tasty peanut dressing. I recreated it from taste, adapted it and recently discovered it goes perfectly with noodles. This is another great little lunch box filler as it can be served hot and cold. Tahini is a creamy, yet smoky paste made from sesame seeds and is similar to peanut butter, which you can also use as a substitute. I sometimes add finely shredded raw Chinese cabbage to these noodles for extra crunch. I love this recipe because you basically combine all the wet and dry ingredients just before serving.
Serves 2 250g/9oz wholewheat noodles 4 spring onions, finely sliced 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped 1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 4 tablespoons of tahini paste 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil 1 tablespoon of soya sauce 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar 1 teaspoon of sesame oil A good handful of bean sprouts Toasted sesame seeds A small handful of coriander, freshly chopped
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, rinse in cold water and set aside. In a small saucepan, fry the garlic and chilli for about 30 seconds, then add the soya sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and tahini paste. Cook over a medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil and, when it does, reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, add the noodles and bean sprouts, toss together with the tahini sauce until mixed through. Serve in hearty bowls and top with toasted sesame seeds, freshly chopped coriander and thinly sliced spring onions. Time to get those chopsticks out!
This is my recipe contribution to December's edition of Irish Tatler, and it also just so happens to be one of my favourite recipes of all time forever and ever the end! It is also one of my favourite recipes from my cookbook which may I remind you would make a lovely christmas present for a loved one! Ok shameless plugs aside, this is such a wonderful dish and it's super easy to prepare, stick the duck in the oven slice the vegetables, make the dressing and you're done! Couldn't be easier!
Open Aromatic Duck Salad
This is basically an adaptation of the classic aromatic duck and pancake dish which is available at most Chinese restaurants. It’s one of my favourite dishes and is so simple to produce. The tender crispy duck goes well with the fresh raw vegetables and tangy Asian dressing.
Serves 2 1 crispy half duck portion (available pre-cooked at most supermarkets) 2 large carrots, thinly sliced ½ cucumber, thinly sliced ½ Chinese cabbage, finely shredded Bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
For the dressing: Juice of ½ lime 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Before you start, put the duck in a roasting tin (you can stick the breast on a wire wrack, this way the fat will drip) and place in the oven for approximately 20 minutes at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 or until heated through. In a large mixing bowl mix the ingredients for the dressing. Add the carrot, cucumber, cabbage and spring onions, and toss to combine. Take the duck out of the oven, slice thinly and add to the salad. Serve straightaway.
