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NASI GORENG

Posted in Cooking, Family, Friends, People, Random, Recipe with tags chicken breasts, chicken stock, ginger, Nasi Goreng, onions, pesto, prawns, rice on July 11, 2010 by Mandy

Nothing looks more impressive than a large platter of Nasi Goreng. It can be a very economical dish, depending what you add to it: Make it more luxurious by adding prawns, keep it vegetarian, or use leftover meat, fish or poultry. I prefer to put some veggies in for color too. Use a wok or very large frying pan for easy cooking.

2 cups (500 ml) rice
5 cups (1¼ litres) water
4 sachets Concentrated Liquid Fish Stock
OR 4t (20ml) Chicken Stock Powder
4 T (60 ml) canola oil
4 onions, sliced
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 T (30 ml) Coriander Pesto
1 t (5 ml) grated ginger
1 to 2 red chillies, finely chopped
4 T (60 ml) soy sauce
200 g cooked prawns, peeled (optional)
6 eggs, fried in butter
Any vegetables for color

Cook the rice in the water with the stock for 15-20 minutes. Once cooked, allow the rice to cool.

Stir-fry the onions in the oil until beginning to brown. Add the chicken breast strips and continue cooking over a high heat until the chicken is just done, no more than 5 minutes.

Lower the heat and add the garlic, Coriander Pesto, ginger, and chillies. Sauté for one minute to develop the flavours. Add the soy sauce, cooked rice and the prawns. Warm through while stirring to prevent the rice from sticking. If you want, top the dish with fried eggs, dusted with Cajun Spice.

NOTE:

Any other diced meat or fish can be used instead of the chicken and prawns. Vegetarians can replace the chicken with cubed butternut and the prawns with feta cheese.

12 Comments »

STEAMED SEA BAS

Posted in Cooking, Family, Friends, Personal, Random, Recipe with tags black bean sauce, Fish, garlic, ginger, scallion. soy sauce, Sea Bas on July 7, 2010 by Mandy

I use “steamed” in quotes because this dish forgoes the traditional method of steaming in a covered wok in favor of a more contemporary technique: the microwave. Before you shun me, just try it. The fish ends up steaming in its own juices, and soaks up all the great flavor of the seasonings, fresh ginger and scallion.

Ingredients:
4 (6 oz.) sea bass fillets (or 1 1/2 lb. sea bass steak, you can commonly find these frozen in Asian-marts, just it thaw out first)
Pinch of salt and white pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon black bean garlic sauce , 2-3 slices peeled ginger
2-3 pieces scallion
1 teaspoon soy sauce for seafood
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Preparation:
1. Rinse and pat dry fish.
2. Sprinkle salt, white pepper, and cornstarch on both sides.
3. Coat all over with black bean garlic sauce.
4. Julienne the slices of ginger; place on top of fish.
5. Remove the wilted tops and root ends of the scallion. Make a slit, splitting the bottom white part lengthwise. Cut on the bias in 2 inch pieces. The pieces will look large, but don’t worry, they will shrink when you cook it; place on top of fish.
6. Drizzle the soy sauce and vegetable oil on top.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for about 8 minutes.

Serve the fish over some white jasmine rice or soba noodles and you’ll have a light, summer dinner ready in no time.

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PORK AND SHRIMP DUMPLINGS

Posted in Cooking, Daily Life, Family, Friends, People, Personal, Random, Recipe with tags cabbage, dumplings, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, oyster sauce, Pork, recipe, sesame oil, shrimp, soy sauce, wonton wrappers on July 2, 2010 by Mandy

Dumplings are a bit of a time commitment to make, but if you can manage, it’ll go by in a flash, and you’ll all be rewarded with more homemade dumplings than you can eat in one sitting. It’s fun and you can stock the freezer, ready to boil for any given easy weeknight dinner.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
½ pound shrimp, peeled, cleaned, tails removed
8 dried Chinese mushrooms (1/2 cup after finely chopped)
1 onion (1/2 cup after diced and browned)
½ cabbage (1 cup after finely shredded)
2 eggs
3 tablespoons mushroom-flavored soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 ½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 packages round wonton wrappers (1 pound each)

Preparation:
1. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for about 15 minutes until softened. Squeeze the excess water out, remove stems, and chop into a fine dice.
2. Dice the onion and brown in a frying pan.
3. Finely shred the cabbage until you have 1 cup.
4. Place the shrimp in a food processor and pulse until it is a chunky mixture. Be careful not to over-process, you don’t want to create a paste.
5. Combine the pork, shrimp, mushrooms, onion, cabbage, 1 beaten egg (reserve the other one to make an egg wash), and all the remaining seasonings.
6. Knead the mixture with your hands until just combined. Cover and chill for 10 minutes.
7. While mixture chills, line a few large baking sheets with paper towels and dust lightly with flour.
8. Take one of the wonton wrappers and place a small mound of filling in the center (don’t over-fill or it will be hard to seal). Dip a finger in the egg wash and dab a little on the bottom half of the wrapper. Fold the top edge over and press to seal, creating a half-moon shape.
9. Moisten the curved edge again, and using the thumb and forefinger of one hand, form pleats. Place the dumplings on the lined baking sheets as you complete them, arranging them in 1 layer so they don’t stick to one another.
10. Cook the dumplings in a pot of boiling water (they’re done when they float), or in a hot pan. If pan-searing, heat vegetable oil in a skillet until hot, but not smoking. Fry the dumplings until the bottoms are lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes, then add ½ cup water, cover with a lid, and cook until the liquid is evaporated and the bottoms of the dumplings are crisp, 8-10 minutes.
11. Serve dumplings immediately with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced green onion
4 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon spice vinegar
½ teaspoon sugar

7 Comments »

LAMB CURRY

Posted in Cooking, Daily Life, Family, Friends, People, Personal, Random, Recipe with tags basmati rice, bay leaves, BUTTER, buttermilk, coconut cream, coriander, curry powder, ginger, Lamb curry, nutmeg, onions, peppercorns, rice, salt, tumeric, yoghurt on June 30, 2010 by Mandy

It is almost July and with the sudden icy weather that hit us during the past week – have decided to feature a Curry recipe. Normally served with rice but for those of you who are more aware of the waistline, it tastes just as good without. We normally did this in a 3 legged pot on hot coals back in South Africa and even though it’s another season where some of you live, it tastes great anytime!!

1 x 800 gram lamb (leg of lamb is soft and works well) – cut and diced into little square blocks
2 x Onions sliced
About 5 tablespoons of special medium or hot curry powder – more or less to taste
Butter – between 3 and 5 tablespoons
Fresh ginger cut into a few pieces
Two to 4 cloves of garlic cut in pieces
A tablespoon of coriander seeds – some crushed and some whole
A tablespoon of turmeric or more to taste
A teaspoon of black peppercorns – crushed – more or less to taste
Some fresh bay leaves –
A teaspoon of cumin seeds – to taste
A pinch of nutmeg – more or less to taste
Salt to taste

Preparation

Take the butter and put into saucepan.
Add the sliced onions.
While the onions are busy browning, mix the curry and some salt well and rub it into the lamb.
When the onions start to brown add the lamb. Cook over slow heat adding about 750 ml water (watch that it doesn’t cook dry otherwise add more water later).
Mix the rest of the ingredients (cumin seeds, nutmeg, peppercorns, coriander, turmeric, bay leaves, garlic and ginger) and add it to the meat and onions after about 5 minutes.
Let it all simmer for about one hour on slow heat (just check that it doesn’t boil dry or burn – if need be add more water).
When the gravy attains proper consistency add a small cup (about 500 ml) of coconut milk or cream / yoghurt / buttermilk and mix well.

Serve with basmati rice or extra-large parboiled long grained rice. It sure is a tasty dish and for the cold weather – it definitely warms you up.

5 Comments »