the takeaway secret

flea72

squeaky wrote: »

I'm going to be making the Chinese Chicken Balls (page 74) for some guests next week. The recipe doesn't say whether the chicken should be cooked before hand or battered and cooked from raw. I've never done this before and am worried about poisoning my guests.

you use raw chicken (the batter wont stick to cooked anyway, btdt :rotfl:)

but the chicken pieces are so small and you have to cook it for quite a while for it to go crispy, theres very little chance of food poisoning

just one tip, i would cook the prawn toast last, as it makes such a mess of the oil, and makes everything else you fry in it taste of fish and be covered in burnt sesame seeds

F

squeaky

flea72 wrote: »

you use raw chicken (the batter wont stick to cooked anyway, btdt :rotfl:)

but the chicken pieces are so small and you have to cook it for quite a while for it to go crispy, theres very little chance of food poisoning

just one tip, i would cook the prawn toast last, as it makes such a mess of the oil, and makes everything else you fry in it taste of fish and be covered in burnt sesame seeds

F

Yeah, I did a test run just for me and managed not to poison myself. The recipe calls for a 100g (4oz) chicken breast divided into eight, so pieces are quite small - I certainly wouldn't be trying this with big pieces.

I'll remember the tip about doing the prawn toast last. Didn't have sesame seeds, so left those out. Luckily didn't notice an after taste of fish either. Phew!

The one problem I did have was that as I put the battered chicken into the oil it didn't float! Darn things sank to the bottom so the fried batter was set in the wire basket. I had a heck of a job getting them out. I have no idea what to do to solve this problem.

flea72

squeaky wrote: »

Yeah, I did a test run just for me and managed not to poison myself. The recipe calls for a 100g (4oz) chicken breast divided into eight, so pieces are quite small - I certainly wouldn't be trying this with big pieces.

I'll remember the tip about doing the prawn toast last. Didn't have sesame seeds, so left those out. Luckily didn't notice an after taste of fish either. Phew!

The one problem I did have was that as I put the battered chicken into the oil it didn't float! Darn things sank to the bottom so the fried batter was set in the wire basket. I had a heck of a job getting them out. I have no idea what to do to solve this problem.

chicken is heavy it wont float until the batter sets, so in a home fryer it most likely wont float at all as you cant get the oil hot enough for an instant seal

dont use the wire basket, just put the balls in the pan, and give it a bit of a stir til the batter starts to set - then remove the balls from the pan with a slotted spoon or some wooden chopsticks

F

squeaky

flea72 wrote: »

chicken is heavy it wont float until the batter sets, so in a home fryer it most likely wont float at all as you cant get the oil hot enough for an instant seal

dont use the wire basket, just put the balls in the pan, and give it a bit of a stir til the batter starts to set - then remove the balls from the pan with a slotted spoon or some wooden chopsticks

F

No can do. I'd have the batter stuck to the heating element which is inside the oil.

meritaten

use a wok or heavy pan to heat enough oil to cook the chicken balls! the oil is ready when it 'shimmers'. dont forget to heat the wok before adding the oil!

building_with_lego

Eliza wrote: »

I'd like to buy a couple of copies of this book - it's very cheap on Amazon at the moment - but want to make it into a pack with a few other bits and bobs for presents. Are there any other ingredients or maybe equipment that I might get to make it into a nice gift - for example any special cooking equipment needed or perhaps hard to get spices etc. I even thought of scrounging some mcd boxes to put chips in or chinese style containers. As there's plenty of time before Christmas it would give me time to buy or beg anything needed.

Failing that I thought I'd just take one particular recipe from it and buy everything for that one.

If anyone who has got the book could recommend things I could buy to go with it, that would be great.

Thanks

Liz

I actually made up my Takeaway Secret hamper yesterday! Little bro and SIL are always strapped for cash and like a good takeaway so I thought it appropriate for them; I've bought everything required for sweet and sour chicken balls plus B1g M@c sauce as I know they both like those, and have wrapped everything up individually. Result is a box 18" square full of golden presents. It may look a bit odd when they start unwrapping plain flour and ketchup :rotfl: but I hope that as a whole the gift works. I wondered about doing spice mixes but can't start quizzing them on their eating habits without arousing suspicion and bro is a fuzzy fella.

Once it was all wrapped I almost took a photo, then was kicking myself for not taking a 'before' photo too!

Mrs_Chip

Squeaky

The trick with batter is to hold the battered item just in the oil to get the batter cooking and then let it go - the part-cooked batter should be airy enough to hold the rest up off the bottom of the basket.

Easier said than done with small items like chicken balls, but can be done if you are brave enough or able to use chopsticks!

scheming_gypsy

it also means the batter starts to form before you put the next item in; so everything is separate instead of a big edible crop circle if you stick everything in too soon.

squeaky

Yes, I held them for a few seconds - need to do it for longer I guess. Chop sticks is a good finger saving idea! Thanks

Also the recipe said "moderate heat" - so what's "moderate?????". My marked temperature range goes from 130C to 190C so I used the middle of that; i.e. 160C. The chicken came out perfectly cooked and the batter was crisp and golden - so time and temperature were OK. If I go to a higher temperature next time and reduce the time I'll let you know the result.

I did think about using a wok or pan - but having a wok full of hot oil on my gas stove is not something I'd like to contemplate if something goes wrong. That's why I got a deep fat fryer in the first place.

flea72

squeaky wrote: »

Also the recipe said "moderate heat" - so what's "moderate?????". My marked temperature range goes from 130C to 190C so I used the middle of that; i.e. 160C. The chicken came out perfectly cooked and the batter was crisp and golden - so time and temperature were OK. If I go to a higher temperature next time and reduce the time I'll let you know the result

to fry you need to be between 180-190c, so i would heat it to at least 180c and then put it up to max once you add the food for a few mins, then turn it back down to 180c

F