Chinese New Year - Kung Hei Fat Choi

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Once again it is time for the Chinese New Year and this year is the Year of The Rooster!

I wanted to show how easy it is to make some really good Chinese food at home.  You don't need loads of special equipment (although a wok style frying pan does help) or really specialist ingredients.

We often have a stir fry during the week.  By using a lot of ingredients but just a small amount of each you will have a huge feast to feed the family.

The secret is in the prep.  I like to get everything chopped and sliced in advance so that when the time comes to stir fry it all together nothing overcooks because I am taking too long to prepare the next ingredient.

I use onion, celery, mushrooms, red peppers, ginger and garlic as standard and then like to add mange tout (the thin little peas that you cook the whole thing), sugar snap peas, baby sweetcorn and a leafy green vegetable like Chinese Bok Choi (available in most supermarkets) or a baby spinach.  I also like to add some 'straight to wok' noodles again there is a selection in most supermarkets.

Over the years I have gathered a collection of Chinese style platters, plates and bowls however these are not essential so don't let not having them put you off a good stir fry!

Every good stir fry has some sort of rice as an accompaniment.  For speed I usually use the microwave basmati or long grain rice and whilst it is in the microwave I will mix up 3-4 eggs and have some frozen peas and chopped spring onion ready.

Add some vegetable oil to the hot pan, add the rice and mix around to avoid it sticking

When it is hot add the beaten egg and continue to mix to avoid sticking. Add the frozen peas until warmed through.

Serve on a platter drizzled with a thin drizzle of sesame oil and top with the chopped spring onions and you are good to go!

For the main dishes I will stir fry the onion, peppers, celery, garlic and ginger then add sliced chicken breast however you could add thinly sliced strips of beef or prawns.

When the chicken (meat/fish) has cooked I add the other vegetable and the straight to wok noodles. 

You can buy really good and authentic oyster sauce or black bean sauces which go into the wok and mix through until all of the ingredients have been coated and the sauce has warmed through.  Serve immediately with the Egg Fried Rice.

Alternatively, after a recent trip to Chinatown in London's SoHo area I went into one of the Chinese supermarkets and bought a bag of little bok choi

which I stir fried with onion and sliced garlic and served with a drizzle of Oyster Sauce.  Quick and easy and really delicious.

For oils you can use any vegetable or rapeseed oil to stir fry and a sesame oil for drizzling over the top to bring out the flavour.  Sesame oil is too strong to use as a stir fry oil on it own but you can add some to the rapeseed oil.

I like to serve my stir-fries and egg fried rice on the table and let everyone help themselves.

Do you ever cook a Chinese inspired meal at home.  Please leave a comment below to say which is your favourite food to cook. 

Perhaps you prefer to eat out and get someone else to cook it for you so you can relax and enjoy a lovely meal.  Which type of restaurant is your favourite?

Here are a couple of other Chinese New Year posts written by blogger friends - hope you enjoy them.

http://www.kaveyeats.com/2014/01/kung-hei-fat-choy-happy-chinese-new-year.html 

http://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/mid-autumn-festival-feast-amoy/

All opinions and photos are my own. No photos may be reproduced in any form without my written permission.

Allotment Inspired Dinner

There are loads of 'Here's what I had for dinner' blogs but please grant me this one because I grew a good deal of the meal on my allotment!

I do feel quite proud of myself lugging my trug home full of produce that I took the time to sow in the greenhouse, re-plant outside, weed, water and generally look after.

I started planning the meal by taking some wild scottish haddock fillets out of the freezer which were sent to me a while ago by Fish Is The Dish and supplied to them by Delish Fish in Aberdeen. Even though this fish has been in my freezer it still tastes as fresh as the day it left the sea!

I just wanted simplicity itself with the fish so popped in on a grill pan, light brushing of oil, sea salt crystals with lemon from Falksalt and a sprinkling of mixed spiced that my sister sent me from North Carolina.  Under the grill for about 10 minutes whilst I got on with the stir fry.

 

Into my large frying pan I poured about 2 Tablespoons of rapeseed oil and gently started to fry the schallot that I had thinly sliced.

 

 

Next went in the thinly sliced courgettes (2) and peas from the allotment followed by the rainbow chard also thinly sliced. For some heat I added a large teaspoon of Gran Luchito Mexican chilli paste.

I stir fried this for about 5 minutes till tender and at the last 2 minutes I added two packages of chinese noodles (I got them reduced from £2.40 to 24p!) and about 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce and presto - a really fast and delicious supper topped with the fish fillets.

 

Mr R said he really liked the dinner even if he nearly broke his back digging earlier in the Spring - drama queen!!

Yuki's Kitchen - Japanese Cooking at Home

 

I had the pleasure of meeting Yuki at the Sozai Cooking School in London last month. Yuki taught the segment on making sushi and it was the first time I had actually made my own sushi.

 

We got talking and Yuki invited me to her home to take part in her cooking lessons from home. Last week I made the journey to her home in South London and was immediately welcomed with a cup of black barley tea out of a very pretty teapot.

 

A couple of other students cancelled at the last minute leaving only Jo and myself to attend the course. What a wonderful privilege to have 1-2-1 tuition with such a lovely lady. Yuki's goal is to teach people how easy it is to cook proper Japanese meals at home and this will be the main subject of her forthcoming cookbook due out in June 2013!

We watched and talked about Japanese cooking whilst Yuki prepared all the marinades and dressings for the meal she was preparing for us. She cut the fresh cod loin in thick chunks for the main course of Marinated Black Fish with Miso. In Japan you would use a black cod for this recipe but here the cost would be enormous and a simple cod will work just as well.

The sea vegetables were re-hydrated ready to make the Cucumber Salad "Sunomono". These came out of the packet looking like dried fish food flakes but as they spent time in water they began to pulp out and show off their beautiful colours and shapes.

After all the prep, soaking and marinating Yuki started to assemble the lunch. The assembly  all happened very quickly and the first course was a Wakame and Egg Drop Soup.

Cucumber salad 'Sunomono' served with cooked baby squid on top.

Roast Aubergine and Red Peppers with sweet miso sauce. This is perhaps my favourite one that we made and it would be so easy to make at home.

Marinated Black Fish with Miso. Marinate the fish in a fantastic and easy marinade sauce and cook in the oven for about 10 minutes. So much flavour and tender fish.

Vegetable Stir Fried 'Soba' Noodles

 

If you want to learn how to prepare and cook authentic Japanese food at home I can thoroughly recommend taking one of Yuki's courses at her home in South London, very easy to get to with good rail and tube links.

Yuki's book which will teach people how to make simple and delicious Japanese food at home will be published in June 2013. I can't wait to get a copy.

You can follow Yuki on Twitter @yukiskitchen.

A place for everything and everything in its place! Spice collection.