Sesame Prawn Toast

Ingredients

  • 300g prawn
  • 30g spring onion finely chopped
  • 5g salt
  • 2g white pepper
  • 45g egg white (one egg white, reserve the egg yolk)
  • 35g corn starch
  • 20g fish sauce
  • 6 brioche buns
  • Vegetable oil
  • Sweet chilli sauce to serve

Method

  1. Take two burger buns, separate and slice the top bun to expose the crumb before leaving it to go dry for crispier, less greasy prawn toast.
  2. Blend your spring onion, egg white, cornstarch, fish sauce, salt and pepper in a food processer.
  3. Smash and chop the prawns by hand and then stir in with your mixture with a spoon.
  4. Once mixed, take the prawn paste and slap it down into the bowl to make it extra bouncy.
  5. Divide the mixture into four portions, approx 110g each, then spread onto four brioche buns.
  6. Brush the tops with egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds
  7. Deep fry with veg oil at 170c prawn side down for 7 minutes then turn and fry the bread side for 2 minutes.
  8. Drain well before cutting into quarters and serving with sweet chilli sauce.

Duck Spring Roll

Ingredients

  • 2 sheets of filo pastry
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 tbsp water

For the filling:

  • ½ aromatic duck roasted, shredded and cooled
  • 2g five spice
  • 2g salt
  • 80g sweetcorn
  • 15g spring onion chopped
  • 100g bean sprouts
  • 20g chopped red chilli

To serve:

  • 25g plum sauce
  • 50g hoisin

Method

  1. Mix together your filling ingredients the put to one side.
  2. Prepare a paste of your flour and water to help glue the spring roll together.
  3. Brush one filo sheet with a light covering of vegetable oil and stick another filo sheet on top of it.
  4. Fold the sheets with the point down and place 100g of the filling at the lower half.
  5. Roll up and stick together with your flour paste.
  6. Deep fry at 180c for 6 minutes or brush with oil and bake at 200C for 30 minutes.
  7. Cut in half and serve with plum sauce or hoisin sauce.

Vegetarian Dandan Noodles

Ingredients

For the mince:

  • 100g veggie mince
  • 10g oil
  • 3g soy
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • Pinch of salt, chilli powder and Chinese five spice to taste

For the sauce:

  • 30g tahini (1 tbl) mix with 30g boiling water
  • 10g smooth peanut butter (1tsp)
  • 30-40g Chinese chilli oil (1 tbl or to taste)
  • 3g soy 1 tsp)
  • ½ garlic clove finely minced
  • Pinch of chilli flakes (to taste)

Method

  1. Prepare the veggie mince by pan frying with soy, garlic, chilli powder, five spice and a pinch of salt.
  2. Add your ingredients for the sauce into the bowl you’ll serve in and mix well before placing one portion of freshly boiled and drained noodles into each bowl.
  3. Top each with the veggie mince and garnish before tossing the noodles in the sauce and digging in.

Gimbap

Ingredients

  • Nori sheets
  • 40g kimchi
  • The Best Tempura king prawns
  • 60g cream cheese
  • 1 cucumber
  • Sesame oil
  • 220g sushi rice, rinsed and drained
  • 250g cold water

Method

  1. Place the rice and water in a small saucepan with a tight fitting lid and soak for 30 minutes before turning on a medium heat with the lid off.
  2. When the level of the water has receded to the level of the rice, place the lid on and turn it to the lowest heat.
  3. Pop the lid back on and cook for 5 more minutes before letting it rest for a further 10 minutes.
  4. Pop the cooled rice into a wide bowl then mix in 10g of sesame oil and a pinch of salt.
  5. Whilst your rice cools, cut and deseed cucumber strips and fry or bake 8 tempura prawns as per pack instructions.
  6. Prepare your rolling mat by wrapping it with clingfilm and place the nori shiny side down on the mat.
  7. Add 220g of prepared rice and spread it evenly over the nori sheet. Put some sesame oil on your hands to prevent the rice sticking.
  8. Add 60g of cream cheese to the lower half of the rice.
  9. Add your kimchi, a cucumber strip and 3 – 4 prawns plus any of your favourite extras.
  10. Carefully roll your gimbap and oil the outside with sesame oil to make it shiny.
  11. Cut into bite size portions and enjoy.

Prawn, Courgette & Egg Filled Chinese Dumplings

As Lunar New Years celebrations creep closer and closer - it’s time to start planning the menu… We’ve teamed up with @thechinesefoodie to bring you all the Lunar New Year inspiration you could ever need, starting with delicious prawn, courgette and egg filled Chinese dumplings. Follow her recipe and recreate the dish with ingredients bought in store… you won’t regret it.

Ingredients

Wrappers (can also used store bought ones):

  • 300g plain / all purpose flour
  • 150g room temp water
  • Pinch of salt

Filling:

  • 200g peeled raw prawn tails
  • 4 medium sized eggs 
  • 1 medium courgette
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp of white pepper powder
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Salt

Dipping:

  • 1 tbsp Chinese chilli oil
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Chinese black vinegar (or rice vinegar)
  • 1-2 tbsp dumpling water
  • Drizzle of sesame oil
  • Finely chopped onion for garnish


Method

  1. Put flour in a large bowl, add in salt and stir well. Gradually stir in the water until dough is formed. Cover dough to rest for 20 mins then knead for 1-2 mins into a smooth ball, cover again to rest for 1h.
  2. While the dough is resting, prep the filling. First beat the eggs with a pinch of salt added, scramble in a hot pan until well cooked and a little golden, set aside to cool down.
  3. Julienne the courgette and quickly blanch in salted boiled water until soft (1-2 mins), sift and rinse under cold water, squeeze out excess water and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
  4. Take 100g prawns and cut them into a fine mince, roughly cut the other 100g into larger cubes. Put them both in a large bowl, add in 1 tsp white pepper powder, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, a generous pinch of salt and stir using a fork / chopsticks in one direction until it all gels up together.
  5. Add the cooled egg and courgette into the prawn, add 1 tsp sesame oil and mix evenly to have filling ready.
  6. Dust worktop with flour, poke hole in middle of dough ball, stretch out to a long rope thickness of a ping pong ball, then use a knife to cut dough rope into around 14-15g portions, press with palm to form round disks and roll out to about 8 cm diameter thin wrappers.
  7. Wrap your dumplings. Put 1 heaped tbsp of filling at the centre of the wrapper, fold over in half and pinch middle for it to hold shape and fold 2-3 times each side.
  8. To cook the dumplings, simply boil in a large pot of hot water until they float, then add about 100 ml of cold water, bring back to boil, repeat twice and drain. Alternatively, fry in about 2 tbsp oil in a hot pan, add 2 tbsp of cold water when the pan starts to smoke and put the lid on, repeat 3 times and they should be fully cooked. Leave to cook until a little golden at bottom.
  9. Arrange dumplings in a shallow bowl / plate, garnish with spring onion and serve with dip. Drizzle extra chilli oil if you like it spicy. Enjoy!

Chinese Cabbage Parcels Served in a Chilli & Garlic Sauce

Happy Lunar New Year! Our final recipe with @thechinesefoodie is one to remember, filled with flavour and so easy to put together. Try it for yourself in time for your celebrations and prepare to crave this every day… 

Ingredients

  • 1 chinese cabbage
  • Finely chopped spring onion for garnish

Filling: 

  • 150g pork mince (20% fat)
  • 50g tinned sweetcorn
  • 50g carrot blitzed 
  • 5g ginger minced
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • ¼ tsp white pepper powder
  • Salt

Sauce:

  • 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 red/green chilli (deseeded and diced into small cubes)
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 100 ml water
  • Pinch of sugar

Method

  1. Cut off 6-8 leaves from the cabbage and blanche leaves for 1 min in boiling water until they soften. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.
  2. Stir pork using a fork / chopsticks in one direction until stringy & gelled up, add in everything else and mix evenly to have your filling ready.
  3. Place 1 heaped tbsp of filling onto the stem of a cabbage leaf, roll it up a bit to the green and seal both ends using the green leafy part before you roll it all the way to form a parcel.
  4. Place parcels in a bowl/plate, cover well and steam for 20 mins. 
  5. In the last few mins, pan fry garlic and chilli in some veg oil until aromatic, pre-mix all the other sauce ingredients and add it into the pan, stir well for 2 mins to make a chilli and garlic sauce. 
  6. Pour sauce over steamed parcels and enjoy!

Beer braised chicken hot pot

The ultimate chicken dish incoming… This Lunar New Year, we’ve teamed up with @thechinesefoodie to bring you her beer braised chicken hot pot recipe, marinated in oyster sauce, soy, white pepper and mirin. After you’ve tasted, you won’t want to eat anything else ever again… 

Ingredients

  • 4-6 chicken thighs
  • Handful of fresh mushrooms
  • 3-5 slices of ginger
  • 5-10 cloves of garlic
  • 1 green chilli and 1 red chilli, sliced in circles
  • 1 500ml can of lager 
  • 1 tbsp chilli bean sauce sauce
  • 1 tsp white pepper powder
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tsp corn flour mixed with 2 tbsp water to make sauce sticky
  • Salt

Method

  1. Remove skin and debone the flesh, marinate flesh in oyster sauce, soy sauce, white pepper powder, pinch of salt and mirin for 15 mins. Separately, cut chicken skin into small squares and set bones aside.
  2. Slowly cook chicken skin in a pan over medium heat until skin goes crispy & brown and plenty of fat gets rendered out into the pan, take out the chicken skin (which you can salt and snack on as a crisp while cooking).
  3. Add ginger and garlic into the pan with chicken fat to fry for 2 mins or so to bring aroma out, then add the bones, marinated meat and chilli bean paste in to fry until golden. 
  4. Add lager to cover the chicken, lid on to cook over medium heat for 15 mins. Toss in the mushrooms and keep the lid on for further 5 mins. Then take the lid off to reduce any remaining sauce until not soupy, add in starch water to thicken the remaining sauce.
  5. Toss in mixed chillies and cook for a further minute, take out the bones, adjust seasoning to taste and serve alongside some rice. Enjoy!