Chinese food

kwaichi

MrsE recommended I post some of my tips here on Chinese food. Feel free to ask me for any recipes as I would cook them or at your local restaurant/takeaway. Also feel free to just call me Kwai. Chi is my surname

RECIPES WRITTEN SO FAR (IN POSTED ORDER)
CRISPY AROMATIC DUCK
SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN
CHILLI & SALT PRAWNS
EGG FRIED RICE
CHINESE TAKEAWAY CURRY SAUCE
BEEF IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
PRAWN IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
PRAWN ON TOAST
CHICKEN CHOW MEIN
HOISIN SAUCE
AUTUMN SNOWFLAKE
CHICKEN EGG FOO YUNG
CRISPY SHREDDED BEEF
BEEF HO FUN
SOY CHICKEN
CHICKEN & SWEETCORN SOUP
SINGAPORE RICE NOODLES
GINGER RED SNAPPER
1000 YEAR OLD EGG CONGEE
MOO SHU PORK
KUNG PO CHICKEN
CHICKEN SATAY
TOM YUM SOUP
SZECHUAN CHICKEN
SAN CHOI BAO
STARTER CHICKEN

TIPS ON COOKING
A NOTE ABOUT WOKS
A NOTE ABOUT WATER
A NOTE ABOUT SOY SAUCE
A NOTE ABOUT FIRES IN THE KITCHEN
A NOTE ABOUT GARLIC

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kwaichi

CRISPY AROMATIC DUCK

Instead of buying crispy aromatic duck for £20-£30 for a whole duck in a restaurant/takeaway, you can buy the following at wing yip (or other chinese/etnic supermarkets) (approx prices)

frozen boneless whole aromatic duck (comes in 2 halves) £6
frozen pancake skins 17 packs of 10 (£3)
Spring Onion (60p)
Cucumber (80p)
Amoy Hoi Sin Sauce glass jar (£2)
Amoy Plum Sauce glass jar (£2)

Total £14.40 approx

Less than half price considering that you won't use up the sauce and skins.

It's really easy to make once you got the above. Bung the frozen Duck in the oven on a rack if you got one (to drain the oil) at 190-200c and leave for 35 mins.
Prepare the cucumber and spring onion by slicing in strips.
Get the steamer going with some water and with about 5 mins to go on the Duck being ready bung in the pancake skins.
Serve the hoisin and plum sauce into bowls.
When the duck is ready use a fork and a spoon to shred the hell out of the duck.
When everything else is ready, serve up your items and have fun making up your wraps!

It's as easy as that. I have a recipe for hoisin sauce further in this thread if you don't want to use something processed. You can't find this dish as it is anywhere but England that I know of. Elsewhere on the planet they substitute the dry aromatic duck for a fatty Peking duck which is composed of a really crispy skin and quite a lot of fat.

brenmcc1

How about beef in black bean sauce?

Where can you get the sauce or how do you make it?

Are the ingredients readily available?

newlywed

Prawns in black bean sauce please

(also are there any dishes at a restaurant/takeaway that are likely to be completely sesame oil/seed free?) I miss chinese food since discovering my allergy

kwaichi

SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN

Sweet and Sour sauce is easy enough to make. Just add the following into a pan:

3 oranges (grate the zest and include)
2 tablespoons of vinegar
1 chopped pineapple or 1 mango
1 lime
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 litre of pineapple juice
1/4 litre of water

Bring to boil then simmer. Keep tasting until the flavour is to your satisfaction. Thicken further with cornflour if required.

To make the chicken Hong Kong Style:

cube or strip cut chicken breast fillet or thigh fillet
dip cuts into egg white and place onto surface full of plain flour
Pour a generous dusting of flour over the chicken and use a clean teatowel to press flour to the chicken. (If you find this hard then use cornstarch instead)

Deep fry in peanut oil (peanut oil is healthy like olive oil but not as good. Don't ever use olive oil for high temp cooking as it burns too easily).

Remove chicken when flour coating turns greyish brown and bubbles.

Add to sauce and add diced onion, peppers and courgettes.


If you prefer the big chicken balls then cube chicken

Make a batter by mixing a whole whisked egg with 100g of self raising flour. Allow to settle for about 5 mins and then dip chicken into mixture.

Deep fry in peanut oil (it's a lot more expensive than veg oil but it's worth it for your health and flavour)

I personally prefer making a beer batter for my chicken. I just mix some beer with some self raising flour (no egg involved).

kwaichi

CHILLI & SALT PRAWNS

To make chilli and salt prawns get some really good quality salt and some fresh red and green chillis. Use fresh king prawns if possible with the shell on.

Crush 2 chillis in a pestle & mortar and add salt in the mix.

Prepare the prawn by skinning out the prawn form the shell and then remove the black spine which is the prawn gut.

Dip the naked prawn into some oil and then the pestle & mortar mix and put the shell back on.

Cut 2 or more chillis into small pellets.

Heat up some oil and then pop the prawns and chillis and salt in.

Finish with some lime.

kwaichi

EGG FRIED RICE

OK there are 3 ways to make egg fried rice:

The first is to cheat and use Veetee Rice (long grain).
Break an egg or 2 into a hot wok with 2 tablespoons of decent peanut oil. As the egg begins to cook turn it over as if frying and egg in a frying pan.
As it begins to solidify, begin to break it up into pieces with a spatula.
Add the long grain Veetee Rice and break that into pieces and then squash with a spatula.
Mix in with the egg properly and as the rice begins to soften add some quality soy sauce.

Taste it and if it needs more salt then add more soy. I recommend using Kikoman c00039.


The second is to boil the rice in a rice cooker (Use Thai fragrant rice).
Once the rice is finished in the cooker, begin to fry your egg in the hot wok.
Turn the egg and continue to cook so it solidifies.
Immediately add the rice and beat it with a spatula so that the egg mixes into the rice.
Add soy sauce to taste.

The third is to cook the rice in a saucepan (Use Thai fragrant rice and a good quality pan with lid).
Wash the rice once.
Add 1.5 cups of water per 1 cup of raw rice into the saucepan.
Put the lid on and bring to the boil. (If you pan is rubbish then seal lid with a wet teatowel)
Hot simmer for 12 further minutes.
Turn off the heat (move to another hob on electric)
Allow to rest for 30 minutes with the lid on (YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE LID ON THROUGHOUT OR IT WILL NOT WORK!)

Fry the egg in a wok and turn it over to cook both sides.
Begin to fry your egg in the hot wok.
Turn the egg and continue to cook so it solidifies.
Immediately add the rice and beat it with a spatula so that the egg mixes into the rice.
Add soy sauce to taste.

If you try all 3 of these methods and your rice is rubbish then asses why that could be. It could be poor equipment, poor rice (do not use quick cook rice) or even poor egg (I like using duck egg)

Hope that helps you on your way to cooking perfect egg fried rice. It should taste better than restaurant or takeaway egg fried rice which is usually prepared early in the day or even a few days before with unsold boiled rice (common cost saving, always only buy steamed/boiled rice eating out) .

kwaichi

CHINESE TAKEAWAY CURRY SAUCE

As a lot of you would like to know how to make the curry found in Chinese takeaways - here is the secret.

Add the following:
Garam masala powder
Termeric powder
Sugar
Water
Oil
Sweet and sour sauce

Experiment with different quantities of the above and you will have the unique taste of chinese curry. I've only ever made it in bulk and by taste so I don't know the quantities scaled down.

I don't really understand the novelty of it though as I don't really like it myself.

misskool

the best way for egg fried rice is the proper jasmine rice and steamed and left overnight to cool in the fridge. The grains will separate properly instead of being left with lumps of rice.

To get a proper golden egg sheen for egg fried rice, crack your eggs into a bowl and lightly beat it. Turn down the heat and make a hole in the middle of the wok, drop the egg in and half turn it. when it's half cooked, mix the rice back into the mixture.

MrsE_2

kwaichi wrote: »

MrsE recommended I post some of my tips here on Chinese food. Feel free to ask me for any recipes as i would cook them or at your local restaurant/takeaway.

:beer:
Told you it would go down a storm;)

kwaichi

brenmcc1 wrote: »

How about beef in black bean sauce?

Where can you get the sauce or how do you make it?

Are the ingredients readily available?

BEEF IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

There are 2 methods for black bean sauce:

The first is a cheat method where you buy the sauce in a jar/can from a Chinese supermarket like Wing Yip. You can even find this in mainstream supermarkets these days although they usually stock duff brands.

Heat up the wok with a little peanut oil.
Heat up the sauce.
Add chopped Beef (why not treat yourself to some fillet beef)
Done


The second method is to prepare the sauce from scratch.

Prepare the beef by slicing into strips and then soaking in a tablespoon of Soy sauce (I recommend Kikoman C00039)

Heat up the wok with a little peanut oil.

Add the following to the oil:
2 teaspoons of sesame oil
2 tablespoons of chopped black beans
2 chopped cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of ginger

Fry for about a minute and then add the following:

1 teaspoon of salt
1 chopped spring onion
2 teaspoons of soy sauce (I recommend Kikoman C00036)
150ml water
The marinated beef

Add 1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 teaspoon water slowly until the sauce thickens

If you prefer it a little sweeter then add sugar to taste.