Thursday, 3 July 2014

Excellent Thai Chili Chicken!!!

When the weather is scorching hot, I like to make myself some mint and lemon tea. I went to the farmers market last week and got a whole bunch of fresh mint. There were so much mint that I couldn’t use up, so I decided to make this Thai chili chicken using the leftover mint leaves, a recipe that I adapted from my favorite Thai cookbook “Thai Cooking Made Easy.”

Many people love Thai food because every bite is bursting with flavors. The four pillars of Thai flavors: salty, sweet, sour, and spicy are dancing in the mouth as we sink our teeth into scrumptious Thai dishes. There is no exception with this Thai chili chicken recipe. I love that the mint leaves impart the iconic minty aroma and nuance to the chicken dish, while the coconut cream lends a rich note to the dish.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
6 oz chicken breast, cut into strips
1 cup bamboo shoots, sliced into thin pieces
1 red chili, sliced into thin strips
1 cup fresh mint leaves
Squirts of lime juice

Sauce:

2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
2 teaspoons chili sauce (I used Rooster brand chili garlic sauce)
4 tablespoons thick coconut milk or coconut cream

Method:

1. Mix the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat up a wok with cooking oil and add garlic until aromatic.
3. Add in the chicken and stir-fry for a couple of minutes, add the bamboo shoots, chili, and mint leaves and stir fry until the chicken is cooked.
4. Add the Sauce and stir evenly. Add a few squirts of lime juice, dish out and serve with steamed rice.

Orange Chicken the ultimate recipe!!!

Have you ever heared about orange chicken the name itself looking new,the recipe is also new cme check it now and enjoy this wonderful recipe!!!

Ingredients:

8 oz boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 teaspoons cooking oil
1-2 tablespoon dried, crushed red chili pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
Orange Sauce
Oil for deep-frying
Salt and sugar, to taste
Orange slice and orange rinds, for garnishing

Marinade:

1 teapoon orange marmalade
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
A dash of ground white pepper

Frying Batter:

1 egg
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup water, ice cold
1/2 tablespoon cooking oil
Dash of salt

Orange Sauce:

1/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon orange zest, minced
1 tablespoon chili sauce (optional), such as sweet chili sauce, hot sauce of your choice
3 tablespoons chicken broth, or water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
5 teaspoons sugar (3 parts brown, 2 parts white)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Apple cider vinegar, red wine or Chinese white vinegar
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon corn starch

Method:

Marinate chicken with the Marinade ingredients, set aside for 5-10 minutes.

In a bowl, mix in all the Orange Sauce ingredients. Set aside until further use.

Make the Frying Batter. In a large bowl, whisk eggs and mix in the rest of the Frying Batter ingredients until batter is smooth. Drop in the chicken cubes, mix well, covered and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat up a wok with deep-frying oil. Gently drop in the battered chicken cubes, one by one, making sure it is spread out to prevent sticking and over crowding the wok. Deep-fry until color changes to golden brown and completely cooked. Dish out and drain on paper towels.

Heat up wok over medium-high heat with 2 teaspoons of cooking oil. Stir-fry the crushed chili pepper flakes, garlic and ginger until fragrant. Gently pour in the Orange Sauce mixture, stir, and bring it to a light simmer. You may adjust additional seasoning to taste, ie. water (if sauce is too thick, cornstarch solution to thicken sauce), salt, sugar, chili sauce, etc.

Toss in the deep-fried chicken, stir well until sauces all absorbed and lightly thickened up. Dish out and ready to serve with hot steamed white rice.

Most wanted Chow Mein (Chinese Noodles) Recipe!!!

Chinese Recipe: Chow Mein (Chinese Noodles)

Chinese invented the noodles and changed the way we eat, that’s not an overstatement. As a Chinese, noodles and rice are something I can’t do without. I use Chinese noodles a lot in everyday cooking and can’t even begin to think how my culinary experiences would have been, if noodles were never invented.

Chinese noodles are versatile and there are so many ways to prepare them—stir-fry, pan-fry, boil, blanch, soup, gravy, or dry. I could never get bored of noodles. It’s one of the easiest foods to prepare at home, and the end results are always satisfying.

One of the most popular Chinese noodles in the US is chow mein or literally “fried noodles” (炒面) in Cantonese dialect. Chow mein is also a favorite Chinese take-out item. Some shredded vegetables, some protein–either chicken, pork, beef, seafood, or combination—and you will have a perfect chow mein that is cheap, filling, and sinfullygratifying. Yeah, I am talking about that grease at the bottom of the chow mein.

Making chow mein or any Chinese noodles at home doesn’t have to be complicated, if you know which noodles to buy (which according to many non-Asians, it’s the toughest part of it all). I have to say that the varieties of Chinese noodles available in the market are rather overwhelming; however, if you narrow down your selection, things would get a lot easier—and manageable. So, let’s start with chow mein, which is also the name used for fresh noodles.

I did some research over the weekend and found that there are two kinds of chow mein sold at the market: 1) steamed chow mein (pictured below), and 2) pan-fried chow mein. They are practically the same Chinese noodles, but the latter tends to be dryer and hence it’s for pan-fried purposes. I prefer steamed chow mein.

Now that you have narrowed down your Chinese noodles selection, the cooking process is really easy. In Asia, chow mein are mostly cooked with bean sprouts, but I noticed that fried noodles served at Chinese restaurants in the US usually come with shredded cabbages and carrot, which are great, too.

For the protein, you can use any meat or seafood or any combination of your choice. Chicken chow mein is always safe with most people, but combination is always pleasing and exciting.

Ingredients:

8 oz. steamed chow mein (Chinese noodles)
2 oz. pork (cut into thin slices)
5 shrimp (shelled and deveined)
3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Chinese dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 stalks scallions (cut into 2-inch length)
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the steamed chow mein in cold water for about 5 minutes. Rinse a few times until the water turns clear and the chow mein is soft. Drain the excess water and set aside. (Don’t over soak the chow mein or the noodles will get limpy and soggy.)

In a small mixing bowl, mix all the seasoning ingredients. Set aside.

Heat up the wok with the cooking oil. Add in the chopped garlic and stir-fry until light brown or aromatic. Add the pork and shrimp and stir fry until they are half done. Add the shredded cabbage and carrot into the wok and do a few quick stirs. Add the noodles , the seasoning mixture and the water. Continue to stir until the noodles are well blended with the seasonings and completely cooked through. Add the chopped scallions, do a few final stirs, dish out and and serve hot.

Delicious Japanese Cheesecake!!!

This Japanese cheesecake recipe is adapted from two recipes online. I am just so happy that we have this baking recipe now, and I can also bake this for my son. I can get Japanese cheesecake at Asian bakery here but they are just so expensive.

For those who is curious about Japanese cheesecake, I strongly urge you to try the recipe. I will say that after you taste it, you might not want to go back to regular cheesecake again. Happy baking!

Cotton Soft Japanese Cheesecake Recipe

Makes 8” or 9” round tin | Prep Time: 30 mins | Bake Time: 70 mins

Ingredients:

140g/5 oz. fine granulated sugar
6 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
50g/2 oz. unsalted butter
250g/9 oz. cream cheese
100 ml/3 fluid oz. fresh milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
60g/2 oz. cake flour /superfine flour
20g/1 oz. cornflour (cornstarch)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler. Cool the mixture. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, salt, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.

2. Make the meringue by whisking egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. You can beat with a stand mixer or handheld mixer. Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. (Click on the link to see image of how the meringue should look.)

3. Take 1/3 meringue and fold into the cheese mixture, then fold in another 1/3 of meringue. After incorporated, pour the batter back to the remaining 1/3 meringue and fold. FOLD GENTLY. Pour the mixture into a 8-inch round cake pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with grease-proof baking paper or parchment paper).

4. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Cook’s Notes:

1. I baked the cake in 9” round tin, did not line the sides.

2. If you use a 8″ pan, it is very important to line the sides of the 8” pan with parchment paper, make sure the parchment paper extends higher than the cake tin by about 1.5”.

3. If springform pan or loose base cake tin is used, wrap the base of your cake tin with 2 layers aluminium foil, to prevent seepage.

4. I baked the cake on the lowest shelf in the oven (to prevent cracks on top and over browning).

5. The purpose of using double boiler is to melt the cheese, butter, and milk mixture. I heated and simmered the water in the double boiler ON the stove. For the water bath, I used hot water.

6. I left the cake to cool down in the oven with the oven door open, about an hour. This is to prevent sudden change of temperature that may cause the cake to shrink drastically. It’s normal that the cake will shrink about ½ inch to 1 inch after cooling, it’s normal. If the cake shrinks a lot, the main reason is over mixing the egg white mixture with the cheese mixture. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, FOLD VERY GENTLY, do not stir or blend.

7. Refrigerate the cake (with or without the cake tin) for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Most Wanted Chinese Fried rice recipe!!!

Most Wanted Chinese Fried rice recipe!!!

Chinese Recipe: Fried Rice

Fried rice is hugely popular and home-cooks are constantly looking for fried rice recipes. Fried rice is always the most popular item in Chinese restaurants. Fried rice is a versatile dish and one can add any ingredients to it, plus it’s a great way to use up overnight rice and make it into an appetizing, cheap, and flavorful meal.

For me, my mother’s fried rice recipe is still the best. She used chopped long beans (instead of frozen peas) to give her fried rice a crunchy texture. She also infused the cooking oil with thin ginger strips (instead of the usual garlic)–two special ingredients to make fried rice extra aromatic and delicious.Here is my fried rice recipe for your reference.

Ingredients:

12 oz. overnight rice
4 oz. chicken breast (cut into cubes)
4 oz. shrimp (cleaned and deveined)
2 oz. long beans (tips removed and chopped into very short pieces)
2 oz. carrots (cut into tiny cubes)
2 eggs (beaten)
2-inch ginger (peeled and cut into thin long strips)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoon cooking oil
3 dashes white pepper powder
Salt to taste (optional)

Method:

Heat up a wok with two tablespoons of oil. Add ginger strips and fry until aromatic, follow by chicken, shrimp, long beans and carrots. Stir fry until they are half cooked. Add in the overnight rice and stir well with the ingredients. Add soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper powder and continue to stir the fried rice for a couple of minutes.

Make a “well” in the middle of the fried rice and pour the beaten eggs in the well. Wait for 30 seconds and then cover the “egg well” with the fried rice. Leave it for 30 seconds and continue to stir-fry so the eggs form small pieces and mix well with the fried rice. Add in the fried salted fish and do some quick stirs, dish out and serve hot.

Spicy Hot malasiyan style indian Chicken Biryani!!!

Spicy Hot malasiyan style indian Chicken Biryani!!!

Biryani is typically a special occasion dish, for many reasons. This dish is particularly known for its many layers of flavors that slowly develop and meld together. So, it’s a multi step process that requires much love in many installments over a long cooking time. Also, those flavors and the aromas from the dish come from a blend of spices that are typically not used in everyday cooking and are pricier, hence adding to the special feel…

The concept of the Biryani came from Persians. When the Mughals conquered Northern India, they introduced much of their cuisine to the populace. As their rule spread further South, most Indian were exposed to the delicacy and it took a firm place in every Indian’s heart. And, then, every region of the country adopted the dish as its own and lent a distintive flavor and taste to it by modifying the ingredients as also the method based on the indigenous cuisine.

Over time, a distintive difference developed between the Biryani as it is served in North India (that is only a slightly modified version of the Persian original) and that in the South, especially, Keral and Tamil Nadu, which, has been significantly modified to suit the Southern Palate. Particularly, in the South, the meat is cooked in a coconut infused curry and the rice and curry are mixed rather than layered, as is typical with the Persian version.

The good thing about the Biryani is that the components can be made ahead and it tastes even better the next day as the flavors have more time to develop.

Ingredients:

For the marinade

6 chicken drumsticks
Small bunch of cilantro, with only the soft stalks
¼ cup mint
2 T ginger and garlic paste
2 tsp ground cumin
1 T cream
Salt as needed

For the Curry

1 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2-inch chunk of ginger, minced
1 large bunch of cilantro
½ cup mint
1 cup thick coconut milk
2 cups water/broth
1 T ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 T garam masala
6-7 whole cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
6-7 whole peppercorns
3 whole star anise
3 dry bay leaves
Salt as needed

For the rice

3 cups Basmati rice
½ small onion, julienned
3 whole cloves
2 cardamom pods, cracked
1 bay leaf
2 T ghee
5 ½ cups of water

For garnish

Handful of cashews, roasted in ghee

Method:

Grind together the marinade ingredients. Make slits on the flesh of the drumsticks, coat with the marinade and let rest for a few hours or overnight.

To make the curry, saute the onions, garlic and ginger in oil until translucent. Remove from heat and cool. Grind together the cooked onions, cilantro and mint. In a deep bowl, roast the whole spices in ghee until their aromas are released. Return the onion mixture to the pan and cook until the oil starts seperating. Add the dry spices and salt, mix and saute for a few minutes. Add the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook on medium until the meat is fully cooked. Let the curry cool until just warm.

Meanwhile, prepare the rice. Roast the whole spices in ghee and the saute the onions in the same. When soft, add the Basmati rice and roast for a few minutes. Add water and salt and cook the rice until just done. Let it cool to warm. Do not touch the rice when hot as they are most brittle then.

When ready to assemble, spread the rice in a deep dish, oven proof pan. A little by little add the curry and gently tossed until it’s just wet. The recipe makes a lot of curry than you need. For 3 cups of raw rice, you will not need more a cup and a half of the curry. Arrange the chicken pieces around the dish, cover with a bit rice, so they don’t dry out. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Check in between to see if the biryani is drying out. If so, add more curry and gently toss.

To serve, scoop out the rice into a platter, arrange the drumsticks around and sprinkle roasted cashews over. Biryani is typically served with a simple raita made with diced onions in yogurt.

Make Paneer&Cheese in 30 Minutes at your home!!!

How To Make Paneer Cheese in 30 Minutes at your home,intresting?then take a look!!!

Paneer is the star ingredient in some of my most favorite Indian dishes — and probably yours too! I often find myself scooping just one more nibble of chewy, milky-tasting paneer from the dish long after I'm officially full. Sure, you can buy this firm cheese at the store to make your own homemade curries, but where's the fun in that?! If you have a pot, a strainer, and some cheesecloth, you can have fresh homemade paneer cheese in about 30 minutes.

Paneer is a type of fresh cheese, meaning you can make it and eat it right away — no aging or culturing required. It's also one of the easiest cheeses to make at home. All you need is milk, lemon juice or vinegar, and a bit of salt to season. When you mix the milk and lemon juice, the acidity in the lemon juice will cause the milk to separate into curds and whey. Remove the whey and press the curds, and you have a simple, basic cheese.

This cheese won't melt or get gooey the way mozzarella or cheddar will, but with paneer, this is actually an advantage. Because it won't melt, we can stir chunks into a soup or creamy curry, crumble it over a flatbreads, or even skewer cubes onto kebabs and the cheese will keep its shape and chewy texture.

You'll need 1/2 gallon of milk, 1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar, and a pinch of salt. (Double this recipe if desired)