Tag: Chinese

Szechuan chilli oil

~ Sophie ~ 7 Comments

Spicy, flavourful oil. Drizzle it over stir fry, dip wontons in it, drip a little pool into the bottom of a ramen bowl before you add the noodles and stock. It’s so good!

  • 3 tbsp chilli flakes
  • 2 tsp ground Szechuan pepper
  • 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • 3 slices of fresh ginger
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 red bird eye chillis, pricked with a fork but left whole
  • 250ml veg oil
  1. In a small bowl, mix together the chilli flakes, Sichuan pepper, five spice and sesame seeds
  2. Put the bay, cumin, ginger, chillis and star anise in a small pan on the stove
  3. Pour over the oil and heat over the lowest flame until hot and bubbly but before the cumin burns
  4. Strain the hot oil directly onto the spice powder mixture, discarding the ginger, star anise, bay leaves and cumin seeds
  5. Leave the oil in the bowl to cool, then stir up and pour into a jar to store in the fridge. Ideally make this the day before you want to use it so the flavours have time to develop

Sticky hoisin pork belly

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Unctuous, succulent, savoury and sweet. A joyful testament to the transformation wrought by low heat and time.

  • 500g slices of pork belly
  • 6 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and squashed
  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and then pop the pork belly in and turn to coat the pieces. Cover, putnin the fridge and marinate for 4 hours
  2. Heat the oven to 150C fan (170C) and line a roasting tin with foil
  3. Tip the meat and the marinade into the tin and cover tightly with foil
  4. Roast for an hour and a quarter
  5. Then turn the oven up to 170C fan (190C) and take the foil top off
  6. Cook for a further 44 mins, turning the pork occasionally until it is soft, caught lightly around the edges and coated with a sticky, dense glaze. Keep a close eye on the final 15 mins to make sure it doesn’t burn
  7. Remove the pieces from the pan and cut into bite-sized pieces
  8. Eat with chopsticks, a bowl of steamy rice and cucumber salad

Spicy Szechuan aubergine

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Eye-wateringly spicy and incredibly more-ish. Steaming the aubergine makes it tender and soft, without the enormous amount of oil you would use if you fry them. Feeds 2

  • 1 aubergine, cut into chunky pieces
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp black vinegar
  • 1 tsp shaoxing rice wine
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 inch piece fresh ginger, minced
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 100g minced pork (leave out or use tofu if you want a veggie version)
  • 1 tbsp chilli paste
  • 2 tsp Szechuan chilli oil (substitute fresh chilli or chilli flakes. Or don’t if you feel as though maybe it’s spicy enough already)
  • 100g green beans, cut into short lengths
  1. Line a bamboo steamer with baking parchment and pop the aubergine inside. Stick the lid on and steam over boiling water for 10 mins. Open the steamer and just put on one side
  2. In the meantime, combine soy sauce, vinegar, shaoxing wine, sugar, cornflour and 50ml cold water in a small bowl, mix well, and set aside.
  3. Heat oil in a wok, add the garlic, ginger and spring onion, and give it a stir
  4. Add the minced pork and stir fry until it begins to crisp round the edges
  5. Add the green beans, chilli paste and chilli oil and stir fry for a couple of mins, adding a splash of water if it’s too sticky
  6. Pour over the sauce mixture and stir cook for a couple of mins until glossy and thick
  7. Turn the heat off and add the aubergine and gently stir in
  8. Serve over steaming white rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and fresh red chilli slices over the top

Chicken and sweetcorn soup

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A takeaway favourite, surprisingly simple to make at home and doubly delicious. Feeds 4

  • 1.2 litres decent chicken stock
  • 300g sweetcorn (fresh, frozen or tinned) – or a combination of creamed corn and whole kernals
  • 1 tbsp of shaoxing rice wine
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 2 tsp cornflour blended with 2 tsp water
  • 250g cooked, shredded chicken
  • 1 egg whisked with 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Spring onions, finely sliced
  1. Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan
  2. Add the sweetcorn, lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 mins
  3. Add the shaoxing, soy sauce, sugar and pepper and stir through. Taste and add salt if needed
  4. Pour in the cornflour slurry and whisk in
  5. Bring the soup back to the boil and then turn down to a simmer
  6. Add the chicken and then, in a steady stream, pour in the egg mixture. It will set as it hits the broth and give you those lovely trailing tails of egg through the soup
  7. Serve immediately, sprinkled with spring onion

Bang bang chicken

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A joyful salad! Will make your mouth giggle with happily contrasting flavours and textures. Spicy, peanutty, crunchy, fresh and lovely.

  • 2 chicken breasts, poached and then allowed to go cold. (To poach the chicken, use 2 tbsp soy sauce and water to cover. Add ginger slices, a garlic clove and lemongrass to flavour the liquid. Put chicken into the pan, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 mins)
  • Large handful of cashew nuts, toasted
  • Cooked, fine rice noodles
  • Finely sliced salad veg including cucumber, carrot, radishes, spring onion, cabbage, mange tout and bean sprouts
  • Red chilli, finely sliced
  • 4 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • Fresh coriander leaves
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 clove garlic, grated
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 1 heaped tbsp brown sugar
  • 3 heaped tbsp crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 tbsp tahini/sesame paste
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 100-150ml water
  1. Make the salad by shredding the chicken and prepping the veg. Cook and cool the noodles
  2. For the sauce, heat the oil gently in a small pan. Add garlic, ginger and chilli flakes and cook until just starting to colour
  3. Add brown sugar, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce and lime juice and warm through until sugar is dissolved
  4. Loosen with the water and, once it’s got to pourable consistency, take off the heat and stir through the sesame oil
  5. Place salad and noodles on a plate, drizzle with the rice vinegar and soy sauce and toss through. Then top with the chicken shreds and cashew nuts. Dress with the peanut sauce and garnish with fresh coriander and red chilli

Spicy braised pork and carrots

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

I love pork belly – it’s cheap, succulent and incredibly delicious if you cook it low and slow. This is a Chinese-style (nowhere near authentic!) dish of warming spice and sweet, soft meat. Spicy, but not enough to make you sweat. This will comfortably feed 4.

  • 400g pork belly without skin, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 3cm ginger, minced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 5 spring onions, sliced
  • 3 tbsp shaoxing wine (could substitute dry sherry)
  • 2 tbsp gochujang chilli paste (could substitute sriracha)
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 4 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari if you want to make it gluten free)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 5 carrots, cut into chunky pieces
  1. Boil a large pan of water
  2. Drop pork into the boiling water and cook for 5 mins, then drain and leave to dry
  3. Heat oil in a deep frying pan or casserole dish with a lid
  4. Over a medium heat, fry pork pieces until golden and then remove and put to one side
  5. Turn heat down and add garlic, ginger and spring onions
  6. Fry until aromatic and then add shaoxing, gochujang, chicken stock, pepper, star anise, cinnamon, soy sauce and sugar
  7. Bring to the boil and mix well
  8. Add pork back in, stir and put the lid on. Simmer on a low heat for an hour
  9. Add carrots and continue to cook uncovered for a further 30 mins, stirring occasionally

Serve with jasmine or basmati rice and stir-fried greens