Three Cup Chicken (三杯鸡 – Sān bēi jī)

13 June, 2020xinranliu1 Leave a comment

This week I have made my own take on a classic Chinese dish – three cup chicken. It is often considered in the west as a Taiwanese dish and has enjoyed deep popularity there, but it has it’s origins from the landlocked Jiangxi province in China. Historically Jiangxi can be seen as the homeland of the Chinese communist party where it established early bases after the fall of the Qing dynasty.

The origin of this iconic dish goes back much further than that, to as far as the late Song dynasty. There are various versions of how it was first made and what combination of ingredients should be used. But it is common accepted from its name sake the dish consists of chicken cooked with a cup of soy sauce, a cup of sesame oil and finally a cup of alcohol (most commonly rice wine).

Some think it should be three equal cups of the ingredients, but the result would be very oily and salty. The name really just highlights the three key ingredients to cooking the chicken. I’m also using gluten free beer instead of rice wine as I think it gives it more flavour, but you are welcome to experiment. This dish goes really well with a cold beer, so it’s a bonus you have some left from the bottle opened for cooking.

Ingredients

300/400 g chicken thigh fillet
50 + 10 ml sesame oil
50 ml gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce if using normal soy sauce half the quantity)
230 ml gf beer, in this case brewdog vagabond (or 150 ml rice wine)
100 g ginger sliced
10 large cloves of garlic, whole
Handful of spring onions
2 Bell Red Pepper
1 heaped teaspoon sugar

Utensils

1 medium wok with lid

Methods

Start by a dicing the chicken into 1 inch chunks. Cut the bell pepper into the same size as the chicken, slice the ginger and chilli then loosely cut up the spring onion.

2. Add 50 ml sesame oil to the wok along with the sliced ginger. Heat on medium heat until the ginger slightly browns.

3. Add the chicken and turn heat up to high. Stir fry for 3 minutes until the chicken browns slightly.

4. Add the garlic whole and cook for another minute.

5. Add the cup of gluten free beer and cup of soy sauce along with the sugar and cook with the lid on at heat high for 10 minutes.

6. Finally, add the spring onion and pepper and cook until the sauce is all evaporated and absorbed into the chicken.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Salt Pepper Chicken (椒盐鸡 – Jiāo yán jī)

25 April, 2020xinranliu1 Leave a comment

It’s been almost 4 years since my last post! How much has changed since then! I got a PhD, married and now entering my 6th week in a global pandemic lockdown. So what better time to get back into cooking! After all everyone has to eat!

For my first recipe back into the blogosphere I have selected one of my all time favourite Chinese take-away meals. The dish has its roots in Taiwanese street stalls, where many of the most iconic Chinese dishes originate from. Also truth be told after a night of heavy drinking this is what I always crave, so makes sense it comes from night markets. Chicken wings or bites coated and fried with seasoning mixture, usually salt and pepper with optional extras like chilli powder, lightly fried basil leaves, and garlic bits are added for preference. Delicious things don’t stay local for long, this dish has migrated around the globe in may forms and has an enduring popularity with every audience.

I tried 4 or 5 recipes to try and capture the taste I remember growing up. But none of them was quite good enough. Of course the solution came from my parents, I don’t know why I didn’t just ask them first. I was initially sceptical… a batter without flour? This will never work! But as my sis always says the proof of the pudding is in the eating (name of her blog)! There’s no arguing with that! One mouthful brought me back to my childhood.

So here is it, my parents version of salt and pepper chicken. It’s often done with wings, but you can use boneless thigh fillets or breast. Also despite the name, the key ingredient is actual garlic, and there’s a lot! Bonus!

Ingredients

15 chicken wings
6 large cloves of garlic, pressed
Handful of spring onions 3/4 will do but I like it a lot so there’s a lot, chopped
1 tablespoon chilli flakes
1 heaped teaspoon salt
25-50 ml gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce if using normal soy sauce half the quantity)
500 ml groundnut oil or vegetable oil

For the marinade:

2 large eggs
1½ heaped teaspoon white caster sugar
1 heaped teaspoon salt
½ heaped teaspoon ground white pepper
½ heaped teaspoon ground black pepper
½ heaped teaspoon Chinese five spice
½ heaped teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder

Utensils

1 medium wok
1 medium non stick pan
pestle and mortar
1 large bowl

Methods

Start by toasting the Sichuan peppercorns in a small frying pan, dry, until lightly golden. You should get a distinct aroma from the peppercorn. Transfer to a pestle and mortar, grind to a fine powder. This is one of my favourite smells, you can make lots at once and keep it to save time.
Add 2 eggs to a large bowl and beat together.
Add the caster sugar, salt, black and white pepper, five spice and Sichuan peppercorn powder and mix together.
Take the wing and separate the drumette and the wingette, (optional if you prefer whole wings).
Add the wings to the egg and mix together then leave for 20 minutes.
Add the oil to a medium sized pan until ~2 cm of depth. Place on high heat until hot.
Add the wings in batches to avoid overcrowding. Deep fry each batch for a minimum of 8 minutes, depending on the size of wings. Stir halfway through to ensure the meat is cooked thoroughly and evenly.
In the meantime peel and press 6 cloves of garlic and finely chop the spring onion.
When the chicken is golden, remove onto a double layer of kitchen towel to drain. Repeat step 7 until all the wings are done.
Pour away most of the oil, leaving only enough to cover the base of the pan. Return the oil back onto a medium heat, then add the garlic. The garlic should gently sizzle in the oil to release the aroma, too much heat will burn the garlic and affect the taste.
After 1 minute or so, add the spring onion to the oil and turn up the heat to high. Fry for a further minute before adding the chilli flakes and salt. Stir together quickly.
Add the chicken to the pan, then stir to ensure they are well mixed. Add the soy sauce and stir on high heat until most of the liquid is evaporated.
Bam it’s done! Enjoy!
Side note, I’ve used about 50 ml of gf soy sauce for this, mainly because it was the last bits in the bottle, and it’s delicious. But it does make it a bit dark. You can use 25 mls normally. It looks more like this.

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐 – Má pó dòu fu)

18 June, 2016xinranliu1 4 Comments

Firstly to start with a warning, the authentic version of this recipe is NOT GLUTEN FREE… YET! This is due to a very critical ingredient in Sichuan cuisine called Broadband Paste, Doubanjiang, Toban Djan or even chilli bean paste/sauce (豆瓣酱 – dòu bàn jiàng). Every commercially available version of this paste I can find contains wheat in the form of flour. I’ve used Sriracha hot sauce as an alternative but it’s really no comparison to the real thing. I am also currently in the process of making my own paste, trialling a few recipes and methods. Once I find a recipe which can produce a gluten free version of this paste, then this delicious dish can officially join this blog.

There are many varieties of Broadbean Pastes available, the basic requirement is to look for one made from broadbeans or fava beans which might seem obvious but some use soya beans which can often be the case in southern chinese manufacturers. Next you probably want one which has a dark red colour, this means it has been fermented for a long time giving a greater depth of flavour.

My personal favourite is a spicy version (辣豆瓣酱 – là dòu bàn jiàng where là means “hot”) shown in the picture below on the left called Hot Broadbean Paste which can be found in Wing Yip chinese supermarket. However, if you don’t live near a large Chinese supermarket, the Chilli Bean Sauce on the right is much more commercially available and I was able to buy it in my local Tesco. The flavour is not as strong but still it’s a recipe which has been improved recently. For further options, please read the post by one of my favourite Chinese food chef in the UK, Fuchsia Dunlop.

So I’ve been asked for a vegetarian recipe using primarily tofu. What better recipe than the all time classic Sichuan dish of Mapo Tofu! This iconic dish can be found in any self respecting restaurant claiming to make “chuan cai” along with many restaurants all over China as well as China town.

The legend is the dish was invented by a smallpox scarred old woman (the mapo part) who served it to local labourers around the Qing Dynasty. Recipes for this dish often over complicate things, using too many ingredients and making things rather complex. In essence this is a quick dish with few ingredients but never the less producing maximum flavour!

Traditionally and perhaps unusually for China, it is served with minced beef, but I have always found the vegetarian version I describe below is just as good. The traditional method is also list for those gunning for authenticity.

Ingredients

4 sticks of celery finely sliced (150 g minced beef instead for the traditional method)
300 g silken tofu (other soft to medium tofu is also fine, silken tofu fall apart more easily but I prefer the texture when eating)
4 spring onions, chopped
1 medium red chilli (optional for extra heat and not necessary when using Sriracha), finely chopped
2 tablespoons Sriracha hot chili sauce (broadbean paste for non gluten free version – far superior)
1 tablespoons fermented black beans (Lao Gan Ma blacked beans in chilli oil)
1 teaspoon white sugar
1½ tablespoons Sichuan peppercorn
3 tablespoon groundnut oil or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
3 tablespoons cornflour
200 ml vegetable stock (chicken stock if vegetarianism is not your thing)

Utensils

1 small/medium wok
1 small non stick pan
pestle and mortar

Methods

Start by toasting the Sichuan peppercorn in a small frying pan, dry, until lightly golden. You should get a distinct aroma from the peppercorn. Transfer to a pestle and mortar, grind to a fine powder.
Heat the oil in a small wok on high heat until smoking and making sure the base is covered.
Add the celery and fry for 3 minutes, stir to make sure it doesn’t stick. For mince cook for 5 minutes until browned but still moist.
Meantime chop the spring onion, chilli and prepare the tofu by cutting into 2 cm cubes. I love working with tofu, cutting it is such a pleasure. The saying knife through butter in the west is replaced with knife through tofu in chinese.
Add the Sriracha hot chili sauce (hot broadbean paste) and stir for another 30 seconds until fragrant.Then add the fermented black beans and red chilli, fry for another 30 seconds and mix together.
Add the stock and tofu, mix gently together. Leave to cook on a medium/low heat for 5 minutes. Don’t move the tofu too much as this will cause it to crumble.
Add the spring onion and mix together. Then mix the cornflour with 5 tablespoons of water. Add the mixture slowly to the dish, use as much as needed to achieve a sticky glossy texture.
Plate then sprinkle the Sichuan peppercorn powder finely over the dish and it’s ready!
Enjoy!

Fried Aubergine Pockets (炸茄盒 – zhá Jiā hé)

30 May, 2016xinranliu1 2 Comments

I’ve had some good feedback for my dumpling recipe and I’m glad to hear so many people have been inspired to make it for themselves. In particular an office competition for the best dumplings. The result ranged from 60 plus dumplings following the recipe to just 2 whole dumplings (very high standards) including ones the size of cornish pasties. The general feedback is making the skin and filling it seems to be the most difficult part.

So here is a simple solution to avoid the pesky dough, and it’s more healthy for you! I still love the classic dumpling but this one comes pretty close and it’s much quicker!

Ingredients

For the ‘dough’:

2 aubergine (Serves 4 people)
200 ml vegetable oil
4 tbsp cornflour
4 tbsp water

For the filling:

See the various recipes in the dumplings page;

https://everyonehastoeat.net/2016/02/03/dumplings-饺子-jiao-zi/

For the sauce:

2 crushed garlic
2 spring onions, finely chopped
3 parts balsamic vinegar
3 parts rice wine vinegar
1 part all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
1 part water
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp white sugar
1 chilli finely chopped (optional for extra kick)

Utensils

1 chopping board
1 sharp knife
1 flat based frying pan

Methods

First chop both ends of the aubergine, then cut 5 mm from the end vertically down but don’t cut through. Leave about 5mm at the end. Then move 5 mm horizontally back and down again this time all the way. This creates a pocket to hold the filling.
Fill the aubergine pocket with filling, then press together making sure the filling doesn’t spill out.
Heat the pan on high heat with a thin, 5 mm deep, layer of vegetable oil.
Dunk the aubergine dumpling in the cornflour mix.
Place batches into the pan and fry each side for 3 minutes or until browned and thoroughly cooked.
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Move the cooked aubergine dumplings onto a plate with kitchen towel to drain the excess oil.
In the meantime make the sauce, by finely slicing the chilli, spring onion and garlic mix together with the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, water and sesame oil.
Plate the aubergine dumplings and pour the sauce on top.
Serve and enjoy!

Fast Stir Fry Pork (过油肉 – Guò Yóu Riu)

10 April, 2016xinranliu1 Leave a comment

This is another favourite of my childhood years in China. It originates from the ShanXi region of China and the making of it can vary quite a lot even within the province. This is my take on it and although it doesn’t compare anywhere near some of the best I’ve had, it’s close enough to make me miss them. The key to this dish is plenty of oil and high heat, everything should be done in as little as 5 minutes! In Chinese the name literally means meat passing through oil by oil they mean very hot oil!

There’s two new ingredient introduced in this recipe which might not be familiar with everyone, I certainly don’t see them in the supermarkets of the UK. So you’ll probably have to pay a visit to your nearest Chinese supermarket with a decent vegetable selection.

The first is garlic shoots, it is absolutely delicious! I can just eat it in everything and as the name suggests it tastes kind of garlicky! Take care when taking this on a bus as the smell will make everyone within a 2 meter radius look at you with suspicion. If it doesn’t smell then it might not be the freshest stuff.

The second ingredient is wood ear. It’s a fungi like mushrooms, but unlike mushrooms, I love this stuff! It adds a very interesting taste and texture to a dish. Due to its large surface area, it’s amazing at absorbing a lot of taste. It usually come dehydrates and will require soaking in warm/hot water for 30 minutes before use.

Ingredients

200 g pork shoulder finely sliced
10-20 fresh garlic shoot shopped in 3 cm chunks (I love it so the more the merrier) if you can’t find it then replace with roughly chopped onion.
1 spring onions roughly chopped
1 large handful of wood-ears soaked and with the slightly hard knobbly bit removed
2 medium tomatos sliced
1 thumb-sized ginger, sliced into strips
3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 large egg
3 tablespoon corn flour
1 tsp black pepper
3 tablespoon all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
2 tablespoons Sanchi gf soy sauce (dark soy sauce)
2 tablespoons rice wine
3 tablespoon rapeseed oil or groundnut oil/vegetable oil

Utensils

1 medium flat pan

Methods

Thinly slice the pork shoulder.
Marinate the pork in egg, corn flour, back pepper, rice wine and light soy sauce for at least 30 minutes (ideally longer).
Cover the bottom of the wok with plenty of oil (essential for this dish) then add the pork and fry until browned. whilst frying, prepare the garlic shoot, spring onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and woodear. Once the meat is done, set aside for later.
Heat the pan with some oil and add the spring onion, ginger and garlic. Fry for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Add the fresh garlic shoot and fry for another minute.
Add the woodear and stir together.
Add the pork, tomatoes and salt and dark soy sauce to taste. Stir everything together on a high heat very quickly.
When everything is hot and mixed, add the corn flour mixed with 4 tablespoons of water.
Stir fry for another minute and serve!

Papa Liu’s Mixed Stew (刘家大烩菜 – Liú jiā dà huì cài)

20 February, 2016xinranliu1 Leave a comment

In a recent discussion with a friend, who I consider a good authority on all things Chinese having studied it for 5 years at University, she mentioned a lack of good comfort good in chinese cooking. While I would argue red roasted pork with rice is true home comfort, I thought I would throw something new into the mix.

This dish is a northern china classic and every (probably) family makes a version of this. It’s a great everything in one pot recipe and fantastic if you have lots of different vegetable left over. It’s my father’s favourite and he makes it at every opportunity, even if no one asked for it. My grandmother subsequently makes it every time he visits. It also happens to be one of my girlfriends favourites too, and that is after all why this blog exists in the first place.

So here it is, on a freezing winter day, delve into this cozy deliciousness!

Ingredients (Serves 4)

400 g pork diced
400 g Firm Tofu (Beancurd)
2 bundle sweet potato starch noodles (or bean starch noodles)
1 large potato
400 g Butternut Squash
200 g mushroom
200 g fine beans
3 spring onions (4 or more depending on preference), roughly chopped
1 thumb-sized ginger, cut into fine slices
5 large cloves of garlic, finely sliced
6 dried bird eye chillies (optional)
75 ml cooking wine
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black peppercorn
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn (powder is fine if prefered)
1 star anise (½ tbsp powder is fine if prefered)
3 tablespoon all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
3 tablespoons Sanchi gf soy sauce (dark soy sauce)
5 tablespoon rapeseed oil or groundnut oil/vegetable oil
500-700 ml chicken stock (or water)

Utensils

1 medium flat pan

Methods

Marinate the diced pork with plenty of cooking wine, 1 tsp black peppercorn, 3 tsp soy sauce light and 1 tsp dark. Leave for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Soak the potato starch noodles in warm water for at least 30 minutes.
Roughly break the potato into chunks, this creates a greater liquid to surface area which will make the dish more delicious!
Cut the tofu, butternut squash, mushroom and fine beans into edible chunks, but not too small as it will fall apart when cooked.
Add the oil to a wok, enough to cover the base.
When the oil is hot, add the sugar and allow to dissolve.
Add the pork to the wok, leaving behind the juice from the marinate. Stir fry until browned on all sides.
Add the chillies, spring onion, ginger and garlic and mix well. Fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the potato, fine beans, butternut squash and mushroom to the wok. Season with salt, soy sauce light and dark, then mix together.
Add the stock and turn the heat to high with the lid on. Cook until boiling then turn the heat to medium.
After 30 minutes, add the tofu and potato starch noodles. Stir in carefully and leave to cook for another 30 minutes.
Keep an eye on how much liquid is left, when there’s 100 ml or so left it ready!
Serve and enjoy!

Dumplings (饺子 – Jiǎo zi)

3 February, 2016xinranliu1 1 Comment

Chinese new year fast approaches, hailing in the year of the Monkey. This was my favourite time of the year, school is out for the winter, there’s lots of snow and fireworks to play around with, people I meet gives me money if I say happy new year and best of all I get to eat lot and lots of dumplings. It wouldn’t be Chinese new year without dumplings, at least not when I was growing up in China.

It just so happens to be my grandad’s favourite too, so we (by which I mean he) makes it all year round. But there’s something special about this time of year. I guess it’s a combination of everyone being home together, each taking on the unspoken but very well define roles in the conveyer belt like process with efficiently produces hundreds of identical pockets of steaming deliciousness. Set that against the freezing winter outside and it’s perfect, there’s is simply nothing in the world better. Can you tell I’m a real serious fan?

Just writing about it brings back nostalgia, and whilst sadly I have to spend this new year away from family in China, at least I can still have dumplings… it just takes a bit more effort. Of course it will never be as good as my grandad’s, even if I have ‘borrowed’ his recipes.

I should mention there are three variations of dumpling, boiled (水餃 – shuǐ jiǎo), steamed (蒸餃 – zhēng jiǎo) or pan friend (鍋貼 – guō tiē), the making process is essentially the same. Boiled is my favourite, and if there’s any left over (almost never) you can always fry them the next day to change things up a little.

As for the fillings, there come in even more, much more varieties. Actually that’s one of the beauties of dumplings, you can put almost anything as a filling and it works… kind of. Same for the dipping sauce, this various across the country. Here I will describe a couple of my favourite fillings and my personal favourite dipping sauce.

Ingredients

For the dough:

500 g gluten free plain flour
5 tsp xanthan gum (not necessary for non gluten free flour)
1 tsp salt
250 ml water around 30 C (200 ml for normal plain flour)

For the filling:

500 g pork mince (ideally containing 10% fat or more)
150 ml Sichuan peppercorn soaked water (place a handful of Sichuan peppercorn in hot water, ideally overnight but at least for 30 minutes)
1 large egg
1 thumb-sized ginger, very finely chopped
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
1 tbsp Sanchi gf soy sauce (dark soy sauce)
1 tbsp groundnut oil/vegetable oil (only if the mince contain less than 10% fat)
2 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese five spice

Options

From the basic meat filling you can create a variety of different fillings. Two of my personal favourites are;

Mince and Chives

Equal part mince and chive very finely chopped, for best result you want to buy the Chinese chives leafs from your local Chinese supermarket.

Mince, prawns and spring onion

1 part mince
1 part prawns finely chopped
1 part spring onions finely chopped

For the sauce:

3 parts balsamic vinegar
3 parts rice wine vinegar
1 part all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
1 part water
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 crushed garlic
1 chilli finely slide (optional for extra kick)

For non coeliacs:

6 part Chinese black vinegar
1 part light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 crushed garlic

Utensils

1 chopping board
1 large pot
2 large bowl
1 rolling pin

Methods

Add the xanthan gun, plain flour and salt and slowly add the water whilst kneading. Take care not to add too much water.
The dough should be done after about 10 minutes of kneading, the resultant dough should not stick at all to the touch, light and springy.
Cover with a lightly damped clothe and leave for 30 minutes.
In the meantime make the filling by adding the egg to the mince.
Then add Sichuan peppercorn soaked water, ginger, Chinese five spice, rice wine, sesame oil, light and dark soy sauce. Mix in one direction until the mixture is well blended, then add the sugar and salt to taste. Mix again until everything is uniformly blended, you basic mince is done.
Chop the desired vegetable as finely as possible.
Add the vegetable to the mince and the finely chopped prawn.
Leave the filling aside, take the dough and knead it for another minute.
Now roll the dough evenly until it’s about the width of a 2 pound coin or about 3 cm.
Cut the dough into 1.5 cm slices.
Mix some flour into the dough chunks.
Use the palm of your hand to squash the dough flat.
Use a rolling pin to further flatten the dough, try to roll out the edges more than the centre. This is important for later when actually making the dumpling.
Take the filling and place at the centre of the dumpling skin.
Carefully seal the filling inside, take care not to let any filling poke out. This will disrupt the seal and may cause the dumpling to burst when boiling.
Once sealed around the edges, place the dumpling in both hand, with the edges held by the index and thumbing squeeze in palm. This further seals the dumpling. If you are experience then you can really skip the last step and do this straight away.
Leave the ready dumpling on a surface which will not stick (these look kind of sad but it was hard to get the right consistency with gluten free flour, it’s not as elastic).
Boil water in a large pot on high heat.
When the water is boiling, add the dumplings which will sink to the bottom. After a minute carefully move them off the bottom so that they don’t stick. Eventually the dumplings will float to the surface.
In the meantime make the dipping sauce. Crush the garlic and add the vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil together. It ready!
When the water is boiling again, add 100 ml of cold water. Repeat this 3 times and the dumplings are done!
Taken them out carefully with a straining ladle.
Serve and enjoy!

Salt and Pepper Prawns (椒盐虾 – jiāo yán xiā)

18 November, 2015xinranliu1 Leave a comment

The combination of salt and pepper is a popular one in western chinese restaurants. This popularity is only rivaled by its popularity in China. There is something special, magical even, that happens when these ingredients are used together with a few other crucial chinese ingredients that just makes you want to keep on eating, like scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam… or gravy on anything British (minus the scones and jam).

This dish of salt and pepper prawns is a classic demonstration of that morish deliciousness and is the perfect dish for a summers day evening or a winter’s night. In the current case, British autumn with a good helping of gale force wind and a heavy glug of heavy rain.

Ingredients

350 g raw shell on prawns (can also use peeled prawns, however may not get the same flavour, or cooked prawns (skip step 4 below))
1 fresh red chilli
A bunch of spring onions (4 or more depending on preference), finely chopped
1 thumb-sized ginger, finely chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1½ tsp white sugar
1½ tsp pepper salt (a special mixture of ground pepper and salt and sesame seeds, some might contain MSG so look out if you’re trying to avoid it)
3 tsp Lao Gan Ma chicken chilli sauce (optional)
3 tablespoon all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
3 tablespoon rapeseed oil or groundnut oil/vegetable oil

Utensils

1 medium flat pan

Methods

De-vein approximately 20 king prawns.
Finely slice the spring onion and fresh chilli then peel and finely chop the ginger and garlic.
Add the oil to a medium sized pan and place on a high heat until the oil is hot.
Add the prawns to the oil on a high heat and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
When the prawns turn red on both sides add the spring onion, ginger, garlic and red chilli and cook together for 1 minute.
To the pan add the sugar, pepper salt and soy sauce and stir together for another minute.
Finally add extra chilli sauce to taste.
Enjoy!

Stir Fried Potato Slivers (炒土豆丝 – chǎo tǔ dòu sī)

27 August, 2015xinranliu1 Leave a comment

It has been a while since the last post as I’ve been away on a culinary journey in Morocco and also distracted by the occasional sun, which despite what people say, does appear in the UK.

I’ve chosen to returned with another classic chinese dish which is so common and popular it is often referred to as China’s national dish (by mainland chinese people at least)! The history of this probably dates back again to the days of the communist revolution when food was scarce, a situation which didn’t change much even decades afterwards. So people had to make do with what was available, and once again the potato comes to the rescue. Due to the wide availability of potatoes, this dish became a hit! To this day you can find it on most restaurant menus and frequently eaten at home as an accompaniment to rice.

So enjoy this chinese take on the world’s most popular tuber.

Ingredients

2 or 3 medium potatoes (depending on how hungry you are) cut into thin slivers
1 fresh red chilli (optional for Sichuanese style)
4-6 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 spring onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorn
2 tablespoon all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
1 tablespoon Sanchi gf soy sauce (dark soy sauce)
3 tablespoon groundnut oil or vegetable oil

Utensils

1 medium flat pan/wok
1 large bowl/sieve

Methods

Peel the potatoes, and prepare the spring onion, garlic and chillies.
Cut the potatoes into fine slivers, ~ 1.5 mm wide if possible.
Place the potato slivers into a sieve and wash under cold water thoroughly to remove the surface starch. Let aside for later.
Add the oil to the pan and warm on a medium heat. When hot, add the Sichuan peppercorns and heat until the aromas are released. You can remove the peppercorn at this point to avoid eating them later, but this is often not done in China.
Add the dried chillies and heat for 2 minutes.
Then add the spring onions and heat for another minute.
Add the potato slivers to the pan and turn up the heat. After 1 minute add the salt and soy sauce.
Fry until the potatoes softens and goes slightly opaque. Add the fresh chillies and cook for another minute.
Finally remove from heat and add the garlic and vinegar. Mix well in the pan whilst still hot.
Serve and enjoy!

Red Roasted Pork ( 红烧肉 – Hong Shao Rou)

23 June, 2015xinranliu1 1 Comment

It’s Monday and the weather is miserable outside, just another day in the UK some might say. So I’ve selected this deliciously warm and cosy dish which makes it just a little more bearable.

I also want to take the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions surrounding this dish. Most people probably have never heard of it before, but recently I was watching my favourite pass time show – come dine with me (that’s cdwm to fans out there), and one contestant made this dish. Initial excitement was soon followed by despair. She claims to have first come across this dish whilst living in Dubai at her favourite Thai restaurant (what, right?) and got her recipe from there… So far still ok, but then one of her first ingredients was red food dye to colour the meat… oh spare me.

Whilst the colour (red or hong) is essential, it’s in the name, it comes from the way the meat is cooked and not artificially added. Another common misconception is mixing this dish up with Char Siu (literally means fork burn/roast) which is a cantonese dish and is also red on the outside (this colour does often come from food colouring).

Although not as iconic as Kung Pao chicken (certainly outside of mainland China) it is still a very symbolic. To me it represents an era of China before the modern day industrialisation machine really took hold. Perhaps it’s the colour (red) or because it was supposedly one of Mao Zedong’s favourite dishes but I always associate it with the period around the revolution when food was scarce and meat was rare. When people preferentially picked meat which had more fat as it gave the meat more taste and you more energy (I still remember first being in the UK and finding it astonishing how lean all the meat in the chilled isles were). This dish is typically made with streaky belly pork, known in China as ‘wu hua rou’ which literally translates to ‘five flower’ meat because of the 5/6 layers of fat and lean.

This might be the reason why its popularity has fallen in recent years as people in China becomes more health conscious. But I still think on occasions this dish can be a fantastically sensational treat and there can be no arguing with how it tastes… delicious! I’d usually eat this with a couple of other vegetable dishes with rice.

Ingredients

500 g streaky pork belly (with skin optional)
3 spring onions, finely chopped
30 g thumb-sized ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 tablespoons groundnut oil or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons all purpose Kikkoman gf soy sauce (or light soy sauce)
3 tablespoons Sanchi gf soy sauce (dark soy sauce)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (Shaoxing Wine if you’re not coeliac)
½ a star anise
500 ml chicken stock

Utensils

1 medium non stick pan with lid
1 medium pot
1 sieve

Methods

Cut the pork into 3 ± 0.5 cm chunks, try to ensure each piece has a good mixture of fat and lean meat, and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes.
Drain the meat and set aside.
Add the oil and sugar to the pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pork and turn the heat up to medium and cook for 2 minutes until lightly browned.
Add the stock and all the other ingredients, then stir well.
Bring the whole thing to boil, then simmer with the lid slightly uncovered over a very low flame for about 1 hour 40 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning, until the liquid is significantly reduced to a glistening coating.
Serve, eat and enjoy!

Everyone has to eat

or die!

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gluten free

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