Chinese food

misskool

kwaichi wrote: »

What is known in takeaways and restaurants as Hot & Sour soup is usually actually Tom Yum soup (or a derivative) which is really popular in asia. Like most soups it's pretty easy to make - it's all about the prep!

:eek:

Hot and sour soup is different to tom yum soup.

Any chinese person should know that much.

hot and sour soup is made sour from rice vinegar and spicy from white pepper. You cook it with black fungus and lily buds.

Tom yum soup is a thai broth made sour from tamarind and lime with fresh chillies and lemongrass.

siaoeh

kwaichi wrote: »

What is known in takeaways and restaurants as Hot & Sour soup is usually actually Tom Yum soup (or a derivative) which is really popular in asia. Like most soups it's pretty easy to make - it's all about the prep!


TOM YUM SOUP

Pop the following into a saucepan with 1.5 litres of cold water:

1 knorr chicken stockpot pot thing
4 tablespoons of tom yum paste
200g of sliced button mushrooms
400g of King Prawns deshelled and gutted
1 teaspoon of finely chopped lemon grass
1 chopped spring onion
3 chopped birds eye chillis (or more if you like it really hot)
1 tablespoon of lime concentrate
4 tablespoons of fermented fish sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes. Stir throughout and you'll be left with a great tasting soup to entice your tastebuds!

I agree hot and sour soup is so not tom yum soup, though both are just as yummy (esp on a cold spring day like today)

I add black fungus and strips of fried firm tofu to mine. thicken with cornstarch and add more chinese black vinegar to taste. plenty of white pepper too. technically it should have strips of this chinese preserved vegetable (zar choi or szechuan pickle) as it gives a very good kick and salty flavour! if I feel fancy, I add strips of other veg too :-) bulks it up as a more substantial meal starter then

great basic tom yum soup recipe though. but its not hard making it from scratch without the tom yum paste. I would suggest though, not to include the prawns when you are simmering the above for 5 mins, instead add it in the last min or so, anything more than that would render it rather tough and a waste of good prawns :eek: as soon as the prawns turn pink they are cooked.

tiamai_d

Just eating my lemon chicken as I read through this, eating food while reading about food, bliss!

Anyway, do you have a better recipe for the lemon and orange sauces you make? Mine was ok, but not Chinese style.

Got a real craving for chicken in orange sauce (but I only had lemons)

siaoeh

kwaichi wrote: »

Although not originally a chinese dish, satay is extremely popular all over asia and among chinese populations here and australia (and probably other places too) It's pretty simple to make and is usually a starter/party/snack food in chinese restaurants.


CHICKEN SATAY

There are 2 components of satay, the meat on the skewer and the peanut sauce. Both are very simple.

The Chicken:
Thinly slice a rolled out chicken thigh fillet (slice horizontally so the chicken is in flat slabs)
soak in a marinade of
2 tablespoons of soy sauce (kikoman C00039)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of extra hot chilli flakes
1 teaspoon of sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Marinade as long as possible then weave onto a skewer and grill/barbecue until cooked through.

The Sauce:
In a saucepan mix up 4 tablespoons of peanut butter with 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce (kikoman C00039) and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Heat gently and stir together.

Add the hot sauce onto the the chicken to finish or leave it as a dip on the side.

Kwai

this is definitely not satay from the south east asia region I'm afraid. maybe more of a chinese take on it. its actually more like the Japanese yakitori minus mirin/sake and with added chilli flakes/sesame seed oil, which is really delish too.

proper satay has cumin, coriander seeds, tumeric, lemongrass,ginger, garlic and onion in the marinade. and the sauce is also a bit more flavoursome and more dimensional than just peanut butter+soy sauce+sugar+sesame oil. I'm not too keen on using peanut butter as its a bit too creamy and sweet for the sauce, but if I've run out of peanuts to blitz in my mini food chopper then I would go for it. if anyone is interested in the the recipe for proper Indonesian/Malaysian/Singaporean satay, give us a shout, I'll go dig it up.

no offense to Kwaichi though, I think you are great providing so many tips and recipes for the chinese cuisine :T love your name BTW, is that 'chopsticks' or 'strange' translated? :rotfl:

siaoeh

kwaichi wrote: »

Singapore Rice Noodles are a classic dish that's served all over Asia with different variations. This spicy dish is really easy to make. Just prepare all the ingredients beforehand and it's just like cooking a chow mein dish.

can I add a note to this

Singapore Noodles is a classic dish served all over with different variations but all with the same base tone of curry powder. exception to this is Singapore/Malaysia/Thailand/Indonesia/Vietnam etc. the only classic rice noodles dish in Singapore that is anything close doesn't have a trace of curry powder in it at all, so altogether a totally different dish. I believe the curry powder version was invented by Hong Kong chefs who then brought them to wherever they migrated to and set up restaurants in I know becos I'm from Singapore

patchwork_cat

Misskool and siaoeh - no disrespect, but no criticism please. Kwai has gone to a lot of trouble. If you have good recipes post them - Kwai haas stuck his neck out - you do so too, post some recipes. I am sure if I was to post a recipe for Fish and chips or Shepherd's pie hundreds of people would be saying no you don't do it like that you do it like this!!

Pretani

MrsE wrote: »

I think Kwai has been sooooooooo generous with his time & know-how that I'm going to nominate his first post on here (where he invites us to ask him) POST OF THE MONTH:beer::T

Anyone else up for this???:j

I thank him for his input, but will only nominate him if he tells me what his Kikkoman C00039/ Kikkoman C00036/ Kikkoman C00044 does? I have searched the internet for these brands of Soya, but it seems only kwaichi posts such stuff.

siaoeh

patchwork cat, I'm sorry my posts came across as criticism to you. that is certainly not my intention. I'm not here to upset the apply cart or attempt to push anyone off their pedestal

I did say Kwai is great in doing what he is doing and still think so :beer: However I'm just sharing an alternative perspective based on the knowledge I have about some of the dishes he's posted about. Surely if you come across a forum from across the other side of the world with someone posting a recipe for shepard's pie using beef or even chicken, you would mention that traditionally its made with lamb? or if someone says just melt some cheese on toast and that's Welsh rarebit, surely you would mention its actually a little more than just that?

I'm not a chef and don't usually work from recipes. I'm a measure-by-pinch/eye and taste-as-I-cook type of person, obviously with prior knowledge of what goes in fundamentally. Hence I did not want to jump on the wagon and just post recipes googled from somewhere. I did mention in my post about satay that if anyone is interested in the proper Malaysian/Singaporean type satay recipe to let me know and I'll go and dig up the exact proportions of spices for the marinade. I only say 'proper' Msian/Sg satay as I realise a lot of people might actually have only had and/or prefer the types you find in Chinese restaurants/takeaways and supermarkets.

hope you understand where I'm coming from. apologies if you still think I've stepped out of line by attempting to share an alternative perspective.

sorry folks, off topic I know. just thought I have to clear this up, definitely don't want Kwai to feel offended or unappreciated.

pink_princess

I shop at a chinese supermarket and their soy sauces have these numbers against them also.I must admitt i just buy the cheapest as i don t know what they mean.

Id love his first post to be voted also.I ve tried the chilli salt prawns and the curry sauce both yummy.
Thanks again.

siaoeh

pink_princess wrote: »

I shop at a chinese supermarket and their soy sauces have these numbers against them also.I must admitt i just buy the cheapest as i don t know what they mean.QUOTE]

I'm not sure what kwai's numbers mean, though I only use the normal Kikoman soy sauce myself. its one of the few brands that are naturally brewed and not having E numbers and flavourings added to it. Look at the ingredients list and if you see anything other than water, soy beans, wheat and salt I would suggest you leave it. If its dark soy sauce you are looking for, which is thicker, darker in colour, slightly sweet and less salty then the ingredients should only say water, soy beans, sugar, salt and wheat. one example is the Pearl River Bridge superior dark soy sauce