Recipe: Tsing-Tsao Beer Teriyaki Chicken

GAWDD this is the most authentic tasting Chinese dish I've ever made!!! It's got the right, glossy thick texture,  moist chicken, sweet sticky Asian flavours- wow! Bit of a cheat using a packet in the recipe- but I didn't have any ginger in the house and knew I would need something "gingery" to set the recipe off!! As you can see, I have served this with some steamed white rice. A nice dish to serve alongside this is also stir-fried pak choy with fresh coriander, garlic oil and Chinese 5 spice.

Tsing-Tsao Beer Teriyaki Chicken (serves 2)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 garlic clove, finely diced

6 spring onions

1 green pepper, seeded and diced

6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 packet blue dragon chow mein sauce

100g cashews

200ml tsing-tsao beer (or similar tasting lager)

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

½ tsp toasted sesame oil

1.       Fry the garlic, spring onions, pepper and chicken in the oil for 10 minutes on a high heat, stirring often.

2.       Add all the other ingredients, and cook on a high hear for a further 10 minutes (or until the sauce is thickened and glossy), stirring often. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Spicy Chicken Satay Noodles

Here's a very spicy, but very moreish Asian noodle dish, using juicy chicken thigh meat and crunchy peanut butter to liven it up! These chicken thighs in a chilli sauce were on offer on Sainsburys hence using them, but if you want just use 6 normal chicken thighs and about 5 tablespoons of hot sweet chilli sauce instead. Lager seems an unusual ingredient, but cooking with beer or lager is quite common in Asian cuisine. I seem to always have a can of lager open in the fridge that I hadn't finished from the night before, so this is a good way of using it up.

Spicy Chicken Satay Noodles (serves 2)

1 x 700g pack Sainsburys Just Cook Sweet Chilli Chicken Thighs

200ml lager

2 stacks medium egg noodles

2 tbsp olive oil (plus a little extra for noodles)

1 carrot, julienned

100g spring greens, sliced

1 tsp minced ginger

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp Thai 7 spice

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

Few drops toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the chicken thighs and the lager in a baking dish, and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool a little. Remove the thighs from the baking dish, reserving the cooking juices.

2. Remove the skin from the thighs and discard, pick the meat off the bones, and set aside. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain, mix with a little oil (to avoid sticking later) and set aside

3. Mix together the reserved chicken juices (draining any fat away if necessary), soy sauce, sesame oil and crunchy peanut butter. Set aside.

4. Put the oil in a wok and put it on high heat. Fry the carrots, ginger, garlic and spring greens in the oil for 3 minutes. Add the chicken and fry for a further two minutes. Add the noodles and sauce, and stir fry for 1-2 minutes, or until everything is hot and well combined.

5. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Chicken Chop Suey

This is as close as I could darn-well get to one of my favourite chinese takeaway dishes! I think it's a good stir fry dish, because i swear whenever you buy beansprouts, unless you use them all at once, they go off far too quickly. I think supermarkets really ought to sell them in smaller packets. Eh, they're cheap anyway i suppose, but i really hate food waste! Cornflour/cornstarch gives that strange thickness you get in takeaway food that some people dislike, but I love! I had this with red pepper thai rice, but it's very nice mixed into egg noodles too.

Chicken Chop Suey (serves 4)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
8 spring onions, sliced
3 chicken breasts, sliced
8 garlic cloves (and/or garlic powder to taste!)
1 red chilli, finely diced
1 tsp minced ginger
½ tsp celery salt
400ml chicken stock
½ tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with water

200g beansprouts
1 tin water chestnuts, drained, rinsed and sliced
1 tin bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
Soy sauce and pepper to taste

1. Fry the spring onions, garlic, chicken, chilli and ginger for 5 minutes. Add the beansprouts and celery salt and cook for a further 2 minutes.

2. Add all the other ingredients and cook for a further 10 minutes. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Asian Duck Breast, with Miso Bulgur wheat and a Mango sesame salad

This is one of the nicest meals i've ever cooked i think!! I've eaten duck breasts loads of times but i've never tried cooking it- worked a treat! Bit of a cheat using a packet sauce, but theres a lot of different steps in this recipe so it's just easier using something ready made. I suppose if you wanted, you could make your own sauce before you make this recipe then heat it up as you would do the packet. Duck and mango go so well together! I was thinking of having the duck and the salad with noodles or rice, but didn't have any in the house, so went with bulgur wheat, and was really happy with the results- makes the dish a bit fusion-y I reckon! A nice easy dish to impress a date I reckon.

Asian Duck Breast, with Miso bulgur wheat and a mango sesame salad

Duck
2 large duck breasts
Salt and pepper
2 tsp Schwartz Thai 7 spice mix
1 packet Blue Dragon yellow bean and cashew sauce.

Miso Bulgur

100g bulgur wheat
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
Plenty of ground pepper to taste
1 beef stock cube

Salad

80g watercress, rocket and spinach mix
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1.       Preheat the oven to 180C. Pat the duck breasts (fat side up) with some kitchen roll. Slash criss-cross lines over the top of the breasts. Season with salt and Thai 7 spice, and fry on a very high heat in a large saucepan, for about 4 minutes each side. Put on a baking tray and put in the oven, 5 minutes for rare, 10 for medium, 15 for well done.

2.       Meanwhile, put a large pan of water on the boil, and add all the miso bulgur wheat ingredients. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the wheat is soft, and drain.

3.       In a small frying pan, heat up the packet of sauce. Remove the duck from the oven, and slice on an angle. Plate up the duck, bulgur wheat, sauce and salad evenly amongst two plates. Top with more toasted sesame seeds if desired, and serve!

Restaurant Review: Yak Yeti Yak, Bath

I will start this review with the point that this used to be my utmost FAVOURITE restaurant in the whole of Bath, if not, the entire country. This is why, very unfortunately, I was so disappointed in my last visit to this little Nepalese restaurant, Yak Yeti Yak.

The “occasion” for this meal was I had this friend that really really needed cheering up, so I decided I would take him here for a treat, as he loves his food almost as much (I say ALMOST, I don’t know anyone that loves grub as much as me- I ruddy live it!) as I do, and he had never tried this place before.  My friend was running a bit late, so I waited at the bar area for about 20 minutes and ordered a nice cup of chai. Chai is Nepalese tea- it’s not to everyone’s taste, it’s traditionally very sweet, quite weak, but spiced (cardamom, saffron, cinnamon etc.) milky tea. This place used to do THE BEST cup of chai, all frothy and scented and just the right amount of sweetness- beautiful. However, the cup of chai they served me on this occasion tasted like an overly sweet cuppa that at one point flirted with a cardamom pod.

My mate arrived, we took our seats- there are certain tables where you can sit on the floor with cushions and everything but I’ve never really liked that whilst eating. I mean its cool and informal to  do that with cocktails or wine with friends but not in a restaurant- even a chilled out one. Plus when me and my family used to eat there all the time, theres no way we could have done that anyway because my dad can’t cross his legs, haha!

Anyway, after having a nice cold Nepalese lager, we decided to order. In this place, theres a choice of about 6 starters- I recommended the “Momos”- which are traditional spiced dumplings. I had the vegetables ones whilst my friend had the pork variety.  Normally I love these little things- however, I felt that my vegetable ones had a slightly too hard texture (like they had been steamed a little too little or a little too long?).

Main course-wise- generally the way you order in Yak Yeti Yak, that if your’e super hungry, you each order either the “Dal Bhat Takari” or the “Dal Bhat Masu” set meal-  the masu is meaty and the takari is veggie- you basically choose one of the meat dishes off the main menu, or the veggie ones, and you choose between the orange or black dahl (black one is brilliant!), and this comes with loads of steamed rice, aloo channa, and achar (a type of tomato chutney). I decided against this (it is a big big meal!) and ordered the “Muglinko kukhura”- described as “Chicken stir-fried on the bone with our own blend of spices tomato, onion, garlic and ginger.”, the chamsur sag (stir fried watercress and spinach in curried spices- luuush!!!) and some rice.

 

Normally, I really don’t mind my meat on the bone. I know, like anyone else, that often meat on the bone can taste much nicer- the closer the meat is to the bone, the more flavour you will find- I don’t mind picking the meat off! However…..when this dish arrived, despite being very flavourful, was almost utterly impossible to eat. It was basically like they had smashed a load of whole chicken up, spiced it, cooked it, then shoved it in a bowl. Meat either has to be off the bone, or obviously on the bone- I found myself trying to eat this dish, but constantly picking shards and little fragments of bone out of my meal/mouth/teeth! Hardly very polite! The chamsur sag was allright, and the rice, well it’s just boiled rice- it’s hard to get wrong! During all of this it was also hard to get any of the staff’s attention , they all just seemed to be hanging out at the bar, looking vaguely pissed off. It’s so sad- the place looks so cool and and unique/authentically Nepalese, and the staff used to be so friendly, but the new lot seem so miserable.

I decided after that disappointing main course, that I wasn’t going to order a pudding. However, if this place get’s better, I would very much recommend the “Gajaarko Tartlet”- a rather unusual but delicious dish, a sweet spiced carrot tartlet, served with either cream or ice cream. An absolutely stunning dessert. Luckily, even if things don’t improve there, I can recreate this at home, as I very fortunately went to catering college with someone I found out who worked there- and I made him promise to write me this recipe down- a promise that the boy kept! Shall have to write it up on here one day (with my own adaptions of course!).

Anyway. Gosh. A thoroughly unfortunate visit to the place I used to adore. I have to hope that they’ll get back to their old ways- that the food will be out of this world, and the service warm, however, at this current state, I would have to rate the food as 2/10, and the service the same! Know that I don’t mean to sound harsh, but this place really need to pull their socks up, if they want my (or anyone else’s for that matter!) repeat visits.

Competition: Morphy Richards Healthy Recipe competition

Hey guys. Morphy Richards is doing another fab recipe competition, to win an Intellisteam Compact! Their theme is healthy recipes or "recipes with a healthy twist". If you fancy giving it a go yourselves, you have until the 22nd February to go in for it by posting a healthy recipe on your blogs (along with the pic and link of course!). Check it out here:

My recipe with a healthy twist is my "Healthy Beef Stir Fry"- we all know how many calories and how much fat can be in our cheeky saturday night chinese takeaways, so how about making something with just as much flavour- that's a fair bit more kinder to our waistlines! This recipe uses lean beef and plenty of veggies, and keeps flavours high but calories low using ginger, fresh coriander, and a sticky soy based sauce. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Healthy Beef Stir Fry (serves 2)

2 tbsp oil
½ white onion, sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
1 red chilli, seeded and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp minced fresh ginger
300g sliced beef steak (rump is fine)
½ red pepper, sliced
100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and finely sliced
1 celery stick, sliced
80g asparagus, diced
Handful chopped fresh coriander (plus extra for garnish)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp normal soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
½ tsp toasted sesame oil
Pinch of white pepper
1 tsp corn flour, mixed with 100ml water
Salt, sugar and pepper to taste

1. Stir fry the onion, spring onion, garlic, chilli and ginger for 2 minutes. Add the beef and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add the vegetables and coriander, and fry for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the soy sauces, honey, sesame oil and pepper. Add this sauce, and the corn flour mixture to the pan/wok and cook for a further 3 minutes.
3. Season to taste, garnish with a load more fresh coriander, and serve!

ASIAN VS. WESTERN BEAUTY STANDARDS

This is going to be my first rant on the subject that's been bugging me soo~ much!! That is Asian beauty standards. For some reason everyone feel that ''Asians'' are trying to be white/caucasian !? and I really want to clear it up that Asians don't want to be white however I can't say it for all Asians that this is 100% true, but I will be talking about the differences between the beauty standards and how very different they are and how the media plays a huge part of western and asian beauty. 

Western
Tanned/dark skin (people feel it gives them a healthy glow)
defined check bones
deep set wide eyes
slender thin pointy nose

Asian
white/pale skin (It's healthy to have pale skin all so it a bout )
double eyelids
V line shaped
small faces/heads
high nose bridge

Western beauty is mostly of being sexy , whereas asians are more on the cute, dolly side.
Listing all the things below what western and asians find beautiful, you can easily see how very different they are. This is due to the media in asia and the west making us want these features. Media plays a huge part of our daily life since we are so used to seeing the tv, internet, adverts with women with these features (and even men) that our brain absorb the info and makes us think that this is what we need to have to be considered as beautiful even if there are dangers to it.


Example;
Western beauty standard is all about tanning a lot to achieve the tanned skin, which people find healthy!? I mean hearing this was so weird to me. Even though I live in Europe and I'm really used to seeing people tan everywhere literally, everywhere even in parks beaches and even in their own back gardens. But I can't quite understand why people think it gives the skin a ''healthy glow''.  I mean we all know the skin can get damaged very easily if you spend a long period of time in the sun and it can cause skin cancer, but despite all the dangers people still tan.

SO now you know, that just because an asian wants pale skin doesn't mean they want to be white AND just because white people want darker skin tone doesn't mean they want to be black.
(cough cough I don't know why people judge its not like they don't want darker or parler skin them self cough cough MOST OF THEM ARE JUST HYPOCRITES )

Review: Hon Fusion

After a few fabulous cocktails with good friends on a night out, I realised that I was getting tremendously hungry so me and my friends went to Hon Fusion for a late night Chinese meal. This place is basically my local- opened up a couple of years ago and I have been there many times since. The décor is quite dark, but very comforting, with lots of Asian decorations on the walls, and a big specials board (written in both Chinese and English). As I have been here a few times (sit-in and take away) I have realised that the food here IS GOOD, but only if you know what to order (if you know what I mean). Starter-wise their soups are very nice (my boyfriend always gets the veggie hot and sour soup, says it’s amazing- bit too hot for me though!) as are their ribs, spring rolls, and salt and pepper tofu. This time I went for their “aromatic duck roll”- which is basically the duck you would normally get with pancakes, stuffed into a spring roll and then deep fried. Sounds a bit weird but it’s very nice, and served with a sweet and sticky hoisin sauce. It was really nice, but this time it was served lukewarm- I hate when food isn’t served hot enough! Would have asked for them to serve me the food hot and all that but didn’t want to be a pain.

I feel that because we were there fairly late, we got rubbish service, which I thought was a bit lame, because it’s not as if we turned up 5 minutes before they closed (I get that all the time at Cosy Club- literally we get food orders 1 minute before closing it’s so annoying), we ordered at 10:20 and they stop serving food at 11, which is acceptable as far as I’m concerned. Mains were delivered before the starters had been cleared, which I think was either A) because it was fairly late and they wanted to rush us out (which I find unacceptable- because if I go for a meal at a restaurant, it doesn’t matter what time it is, I expect to take my time over a meal and not feel like I’m being forced to eat everything really quickly) or B) They didn’t understand us when we said we wanted the starters first and then the mains. I don’t mean to sound bad, but when ordering in Hon Fusion, it’s a good idea to just stick to the numbers on the menu, and not to try and ask for anything special to be made for you, as some (not all) of the staff don’t speak much English. One time I wanted to try something on their menu “Thai red duck curry”, but I wanted it with chicken instead of duck, and the waitress just looked blank at me whilst I tried explaining to her what I wanted and then said it couldn’t be done, which I reckon it could easily have been. In the end I don’t mind because the menu is great and the food is nice, but it’s just something to keep in mind (especially when ordering a takeaway over the phone and all that).

For mains I had the sizzling black pepper beef, my boyfriend had the fragrant chilli chicken (he orders it every time actually- it’s REALLY nice, a bit too spicy for me but it’s got such great flavour) and we shared some steamed rice and some noodles with beansprouts and spring onions (as side dishes). My main course was scrummy, and Nick’s main was cooked well. There are a few main courses I would recommend in Hon Fusion: their “chicken curry”, chicken in black bean sauce with green peppers, ooh and their courgettes in honey black pepper sauce. The courgettes actually I would say is the nicest thing on the menu- but I found myself stopping ordering them lately because they charge £8 for it, and I just think it’s ridiculous to be given a small amount of fried courgettes in sauce and be charged that much for it. I would expect that price if it had meat in it, but without it’s a bit of a rip-off really- I know how much courgettes cost.

Had a bit of an issue re-service during our mains though. On the table next to us all the staff came out (kitchen and front of house I’m guessing) and they all sat down and started eating and chatting. It was 10:45 (again, stops servind at 11pm- not closes at 11pm!), and I’m just thinking I don’t want to spend loads of money on a meal to feel like I was having dinner at some random person’s living room. In a restaurant you pay for the service as well as the food, and I felt like we were ignored because they all fancied finishing early. I would go out in my restaurant after we closed the kitchen and sit on a table and eat random food next to people. I don’t think it’s suitable.
Overall it came to about £22 each, which is the usual price for when you get a meal there. Seems like it doesn’t matter if I go there on my own or part of a big group and have loads of beers- it always ends up about £20-£25, which is fair enough. I feel like this review has sounded fairly negative, but it’s still quite a nice restaurant, and a great place to have only a couple of doors down from me. It’s just this visit was particularly rubbish on the service side I suppose. I would mark is 8/10 for the food (1 off for being served cold food, and 1 off because I feel that with their menu, there are some amazingly scrummy dishes on it, but also some really rubbish ones. You need to find out what you like if you know what I mean) and 4/10 for the service (based mainly on what it is like on this occasion, normally the service is all right).

Recipe: Satay Noodles

This is a recipe I cooked for my mum and my brother- all of us love satay sauce, and always order an extra pot of it whenever we get a chinese takeaway, so i thought i would have a go at making my own. Still havent got it to the same recipe as my fave chinese place, but this dish is still delicious. I dished this up for my vegetarian mum, but then for me and my brother I mixed in some leftover roast chicken, so it kept the meat eaters and the veggies in the family very happy last night. Whats also nice is that it doesn't require any hard to find asian ingredients, just things you would normally find in your store cupboards.

Satay Noodles (serves 3)

Satay Sauce:
40g crunchy peanut butter
20g sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce (plus extra for garnish)
2 tbsp water

Noodles:
3 stacks Sharwoods medium egg noodles
2 tbsp oil (plus extra for noodles)
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, julienned
100g sugar snaps, julienned
¼ tsp garlic powder
Fresh coriander and sesame seeds for garnish

1. Mix together the satay sauce ingredients until it is well mixed and smooth. Meanwhile, cook the noodles 1 minute less than the packet instructions states. Drain well, toss in oil (to avoid the noodles sticking together) and set aside.
2. Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a wok until very hot. Stir fry the spring onions, sugar snaps, carrot and garlic powder for 4 minutes, stirring often. Add the noodles and satay sauce, remove from the heat, and stir until all the ingredients are well combined.
3. Season to taste, and garnish with fresh coriander and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Recipe: Leerdamer, Ham, and Asian Pickled Vegetable Baguette

Hey guys. So sorry it's been a while (a week! Jeez- I really do owe you guys an apology!) since my last post, but i've had so much going on lately I haven't had time to get on to my computer! I've been on holiday in France for a couple of days (for the Django Reinhardt festival) and then up in Yorkshire (Ilkley) visiting mates and seeing my boyfriends mum for another couple of days. And then actually the day before all that I had a masterclass in London with no other than Marco Pierre White!!(which I will tell you guys all about once i've got some promo photos of me and him to show off to you all!).

This is another one of my recipes that i've developed for Bel, and also for the British Sandwich Association, as this year is the 250th anniversary of the sandwich! According to the British Sandwich Association, a sandwich is classed as "Any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold - to include traditional wedge sandwiches, as well as filled rolls, baguettes, pitta, bloomers, wraps, bagels and the like, but not burgers and other products assembled and consumed hot", and so this recipe and also my pulled bbq beef toasties are definitely classed as proper sandwiches! Again, in this recipe I have used Leerdamer mature slices, but feel free to use normal leerdamer or leerdamer light slices instead.

Leerdamer, Honey roast ham, and Asian pickled vegetable baguette (serves 4)

For the pickled vegetables:
90g peeled and julienned carrot
90g julienned seeded cucumber
Small handful fresh coriander, stems and leaves finely chopped
35ml rice vinegar
20g sugar
Splash of soy sauce
½ tsp crushed ginger
Salt to taste

For the baguette:
40g butter (or low fat margarine)
4 demi-baguettes
8 slices (200g) Leerdamer mature, sliced in half diagonally.
150g wafer thin honey roasted ham

1. In a bowl, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger and salt, and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Mix into this the carrots, cucumber and coriander well, and marinate covered for at least an hour.
2. Once the vegetables have marinated, spread four halved demi-baguettes with butter, and fill with equal amounts of ham, Leerdamer and pickled vegetables. Serve!

NB: For Caterers, the pickled vegetables can of course be made in bulk, and have a two day shelf life. This baguette can be sold on its own, or can be sliced in half and served with salad, fries, coleslaw, or even a mug of soup as part of a lunch deal.

Recipe: Thai Dahl

Bit of a fusion dish really- lots of earthy indian flavours and ingredients, but cooked with a tin of coconut milk added as well, giving the dish a distict thai/malaysian flavour. Mum said if Thai restaurants served more dishes like this then she would prefer it much more as a cuisine! I say 30 minutes in stage 2, but basically it's ready as soon as it's the thickness that you prefer it. I served this with steamed basmati rice and salad on the side of the bowl.

Thai Dahl (serves 3)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 red onion, diced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Large handful fresh coriander, chopped
1 tsp mustard or nigella seeds
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
250g red lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tin coconut milk
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Sautee the onion, garlic, chilli and coriander for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the mustard seeds and garam masala and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add all other ingredients, and cook on a low heat, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring often. Season to taste, and serve with a little extra fresh coriander on the top for garnish.

Recipe: Asian tomato and rice soup

I had to make another rather quick dinner, from the bits and bobs we had in the house last night, before rushing off to a comedy show, so i made another rather nice soup! It's almost a fusion dish really, with tomato not really being added to many chinese/ asian dishes, but it is absolutely scrummy- sweet, tangy and a little bit spicy! If you cant find the wiltshire chilli farm sauce, any sweet chilli sauce of some sort will do!

Asian Tomato and Rice Soup (serves 2)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil
½ white onion, diced finely
1 garlic clove, diced finely
½ red chilli, finely diced
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
40g The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Fruity chilli sauce
40g basmati rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly chopped coriander for garnish

1. Sautee the onion, red chilli and garlic in the rapeseed oil for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the ginger, tomato paste and ground coriander and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, sugar, stock and chilli sauce, and boil for 10 minutes. Add the rice and cook on a high heat for a further 12 minutes. Season to taste, garnish with fresh coriander and serve!

Recipe: Chinese Chicken Egg Drop Soup

Yesterday I had a bit of a longer break than normal from work, so i figured i would have time to cook something for my lunch. This recipe is FAB, definitely takes less than 30 minutes to create, infact i would hazard that it can take even less than 20. If any of you have had chinese takeaways or been to a chinese restaurant before, you may be familiar with the "chicken and sweetcorn soup" they serve, the recipe of which is usually identical in each restaurant. That dish is a variation (the thicker version we all know of is apparently an "American-Chinese" invention) of the traditional "Egg Drop" or "Egg flower" soup. By adding the egg in a slow stream whilst the soup is boiling, it creates delicate thin strands of cooked egg within the soup that creates a fabulous texture. I have also made this exact same recipe with some cooked egg noodles added in at the end and that worked pretty well too.

Chicken Egg Drop Soup (serves 2)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 finely chopped spring onions
1 small cooked chicken breast, diced finely
1 150g tin sweet corn
900ml chicken stock
20ml dark soy sauce
1 large egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Sautee the spring onion in the rapeseed oil for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add all the other ingredients except egg, and boil for 5 minutes.
2. Whilst the soup is boiling rapidly, pour the beaten egg in a steady stream whilst stirring constantly, to create thin strands of cooked beaten egg within the soup. Do this four about 2 minutes or until all the egg is cooked.
3. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Hoisin Turkey Noodles

This is an absolutely scrummy dish i made tonight, finally got the wok out again since moving into Nick's place (no, wait, it's OUR place now, heehee). Love it, but forgot how annoying it is to clean, considering I think mum cleaned it for me most of the time before. Turkey is really an underestimated meat. Most people will only eat it once or twice a year at Christmas time, but I plan to eat it all year round, because its just as cheap as chicken, it has less fat, and as long as you cook it right, it doesn't end up being dry- which I think is what puts most people off from eating turkey. Throughout this recipe, if you feel that the ingredients are sticking too much to the wok or pan, add a little drizzle more oil and that should loosen it up.

Hoisin Turkey Noodles (serves 2)

Sauce
120g blue dragon hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet rice wine (or sherry)
1 tsp curry paste
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp lime juice
Sugar and pepper

2 stacks Sharwoods fine egg noodles
3 tbsp rapeseed, vegetable, or sunflower oil (plus extra for noodles)
100g cooked turkey
5 spring onions, sliced
1 egg, beaten
80g julienned carrots
80g beansprouts
80g frozen peas
Fresh coriander for garnish

1. Boil a pan of water. Cook the noodles a minute less than what the packet instructions tell you- about 2 minutes. Drain, refresh under cold water, and mix in a little bit of oil (this helps to stop the noodles from sticking together later).
2. Mix together all the sauce ingredients, set aside, and make sure you have all the other ingredients prepared and ready to hand.
3. Heat a wok with the oil on a high heat. Add the spring onions and turkey and stir fry for about 3 minutes. Add the egg and cook for 2 minutes (thereby ‘scrambling’ it in the wok).
4. Add the carrots, peas, bean sprouts, and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add noodles and sauce, and stir fry for 1-2 more minutes, stirring frequently to mix the ingredients well together.
5. Sprinkle the dish with fresh coriander and serve.

Recipe: Quick Thai Yellow Chicken Curry

This is a nice simple recipe, for a quick and very tasty Thai curry. Thai yellow curry is the mildest type of thai curry, much milder than green or red, and in Thai restaurants often potatoes are traditionally added to this dish also. I use Mae Ploy yellow curry paste for this, which is a great brand. I dont think the main supermarkets sell thai yellow paste at the moment- but i'm sure eventually this dish will catch on and there will be enough demand for it so supermarkets will start stocking it- but for now you should be able to find any sort of yellow thai curry paste at your local asian shop. This isn't to be confused with another thai dish known as kaeng lueang or "yellow curry"- which is a very sharp and spicy dish.

Thai Yellow Chicken Curry (serves 3)

2 tbsp olive oil
½ white onion, diced finely
1 garlic clove, finely diced
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 mushrooms, diced
3 baby sweet corn, diced
400g diced raw chicken breast
1 tsp Schwartz Thai 7 Spice mix (mostly made of chilli garlic and ginger powders)
1 rounded tbsp yellow Thai curry paste
1 tin coconut milk
200ml chicken stock
Handful fresh basil (plus extra for garnish)
100g frozen peas
Splash of soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in the oil on a medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the peppers, mushrooms and baby corn, and fry for a further 3 minutes.
2. Add the chicken and thai spice, and cook for a further 4 minutes. Add the coconut milk, thai curry paste and chicken stock, bring to the boil, and cook on a high heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
3. Add the basil and frozen peas, and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring often. Add a splash of soy sauce, season to taste, and serve with some extra basil leaves on top.

Recipe: Thai Roasted Aubergines

So, first recipe of the new year! Marvellous! This is a recipe i have entered into a competition run by Knorr and Blue Dragon. They have worked together to create a new range of curry pastes, made for the catering environment (it is a competition only for chefs). Theres Thai green, Thai red, char siu and there was another one as well but I can't remember? So i asked for a sample of the red curry paste and made this rather delicious asian side dish! I would point out that i've labelled it as vegetarian, but their curry paste does contain fish sauce, so it's not strictly veggie. This is really tasty, a little bit spicy, and great with noodle dishes, a thai curry, or roasted meats.

Thai Roasted Aubergines (serves 4 as a side dish)

40ml olive oil
1 red onion, diced
2 aubergines, diced
½ tsp salt
70g Knorr Blue Dragon Thai Red Curry Paste
1 tsp sugar or honey
Fresh Coriander for garnish

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a large saucepan fry the onions, aubergines and salt in the olive oil for 10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.
2. Mix in the curry paste and sugar, season to taste, and spread out onto a non-stick roasting tray. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove, transfer to a serving dish, and garnish with plenty of fresh coriander. Serve!

Recipe: Chilli Jam

Yay. Finally, I can give up preserving for a while. My room is full of jars and i have spent so much time and a fair amount of money this year making all these things. I've just got to make chilli jam until the frosts kill my chilli plants, and i'm all done. In this recipe, it's hard to judge how hot the recipe is going to be, because there are so many different sizes and varieties of chilli, all with different heat (or "scoville") ratings. The ones i've been picking from outside "Apache" chillies, are fairly hot, and very little. I would guess using 8 "normal" large red chillies that you get in the supermarket would do the trick though. This Jam is not that hot really, its just delicious and peppery and sweet- would be a good accompaniment to asian dishes (like spring rolls/tempura etc), and dad actually loves it in cheese sandwiches! He'll put chilli in anything, lol!

Chilli Jam (makes about 4-5 normal jam jars)

8 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
15 little red chillies
10g crushed ginger
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
½ tsp chilli flakes
750g sugar
200ml red wine vinegar
50ml cider vinegar

1. Blend the peppers and chillies in batches in a food processor until finely chopped. Add all the ingredients to a large pan, bring to the boil, skim any scum that forms, and cook on a high temperature for 1 hour and 10 minutes, stirring often.
2. Pour into jars, allow to cool, and then seal!

Recipe: Massaman Quorn + Vegetable Curry

Hello guys, sorry I havent updated in a while, but i've had a few things on my mind. I won't go into it, but i've had a rather traumatic week, and my life's suddenly been flipped upside down again. Ah well, i'm a tough girl, i've just got to soldier on with it all, like i've done with all my problems in the past.



Anyway, this is a nice thai style curry I made about a week ago, with my first harvest of french beans! Very proud of what i have grown this year, the courgettes are doing very well (like normal!) and the french beans, despite being my first attempt at growing them, have blossomed! Mum really liked this recipe- it's a bit of a mish mash of ingredients but together the flavours and textures work really well. I have used Sainsburys massaman paste, but you are welcome to try any other brand.



Massaman Quorn and Vegetable curry (serves 3-4)



2 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped

Large Handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped (plus extra for garnish)

140g pack of Quorn Roast Style sliced chicken fillets

100g Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Massaman Curry Paste

75g split peas

1 tin coconut milk

400ml vegetable stock

2 peppers, diced

150g French beans, chopped

100g chopped true spinach, or baby spinach

1 tsp sugar

100ml semi skim milk

Salt and pepper to taste



1. Fry the red onions, garlic, and coriander in the olive oil for 5 minutes, covered, until softened. Add the Quorn pieces and curry paste, and cook for a couple more minutes.

2. Add the split peas, coconut milk, vegetable stock and cook on a medium/high heat, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the peppers and French beans and cook covered for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach, milk and sugar and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Season to taste, garnish with fresh coriander and serve!

Recipe: Beef In Oyster Sauce with Mushrooms and Peppers

I've been meaning to write up this recipe for ages- its gawwwjus. I love chinese food so much, and a delivery from my local takeaway (The "Yummy House" in Bath- luuuush) is enough to cure anything really- from hangovers to anxiety over those ever-looming exams! I would easily say this dish is nicer than any of the beef dishes i've got from asian restaurants or takeaways- it's really tasty, tender, quick- and makes quite a healthy dinner. I use "Blue Dragon" oyster sauce- but of course you can use whichever brand you prefer the flavour of.

Beef in oyster sauce with mushrooms and green pepper (serves 2)

300g beef escalopes, sliced into strips
3 tbsp black rice vinegar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 rounded tsp honey
1 tsp crushed ginger (From “Gourmet Garden Herb Blends”)
Salt and Plenty of cracked black pepper
3 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
125g whole oyster mushrooms, bigger ones halved
1 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 x 120g pouch Blue Dragon Oyster and Spring Onion sauce
2 spring onions, sliced
Basmati or sticky rice, or noodles, to serve.

1. In a bowl mix together the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, salt pepper, and ginger. Add the strips of beef, mix well, cover the bowl with Clingfilm, and marinade in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
2. Remove the beef from the fridge and pour away as much of the marinade as possible. Heat the oil in a wok on a high. Stir fry the beef for about 4 minutes, or until the beef strips are beginning to brown.
3. Reduce the temperature a little, add the mushrooms, green pepper, garlic and spring onion and stir fry for 4 minutes.
4. Add oyster sauce and cook for about 2 minutes, until the sauce is thick, the peppers are fully cooked, and everything is piping hot. Serve, on top of steamed rice or noodles.

Recipe: Massaman Chicken Fried Rice

This is quite a healthy, nutritious and spicy meal for two, that barely take 15 minutes to prepare and less than 10 minutes to cook! The rice get's coated in the slightly spicy curry scented massaman mixture, which makes the chicken and mixed green vegetables in the dish taste divine.

Massaman chicken fried rice (serves 2)

150g basmati rice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
100g cooked diced chicken
¼ tsp dried thyme
25g sliced Sugarsnap peas
25g sliced French beans
50g frozen peas
30g Massaman curry paste (I use Sainsburys)
20ml soy sauce
20ml water
1 tsp vegetable oil
1.5 tsp sugar
Chopped Fresh coriander for garnish
Salt and pepper

1. Cook the rice 2 minutes less than the packet instructions recommend (as it will be fried later- we don’t want overcooked rice!). Drain and set aside.
2. Mix together the Massaman paste, soy sauce, water, tsp oil and sugar. Set aside.
3. Put the oil in a wok and bring to a high heat. Pour in the beaten egg and stir frequently, breaking it up as the egg cooks. Cook for about 2 minutes or until the pieces of egg are beginning to go golden.
4. Add the chicken, thyme, Sugarsnap peas, French beans and peas, and stir fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the cooked rice and the Massaman mix and stir fry for a further two minutes.
5. Season the rice to taste with salt and pepper, garnish with fresh coriander and serve!