Chicken Rice – Ching-He Huang

 

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

 

I still had loads of Chinese dried mushrooms so I thought this would be the perfect dish to use them in.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I used boneless chicken thigh instead of chicken on the bone as it’s easier to eat and it also cooks quicker. I chopped up the mushrooms into small dice instead of slicing them and I grated my ginger instead of slicing it as we don’t like big bits of ginger. I also added some crushed garlic. I also ran out of sesame oil so I only used 50ml instead of 100ml, but I think it’s such a strong flavour that too much can spoil a dish.

 

I only used one pan as it seemed pointless frying the chicken and mushrooms in one pan, putting the rice in another pan and then pouring the chicken and mushrooms on top of the rice. So I’ve written the recipe to skip this step.

 

TASTE TEST:

This was a very disappointing dish. The rice was overcooked and soggy. Since I’ve bought my Tefal 4-in-1 I’ve been able to cook perfect rice, so I really should stop experimenting with different cooking methods!

 

But the chicken itself was very bland. I don’t think using the correct amount of sesame oil would have helped because then it would have just tasted of sesame oil. It needed something like soy sauce to give it some saltiness and flavour. We ended up pouring lots of ketchup manis (sweet soy sauce) all over our meal to give it some taste! I won’t be making this again!

 

• Serves: 4

 

Ingredients:

• 6 dried Chinese mushrooms
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 5cm piece root ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
• 300g chicken thighs, skinned and cut into bitesize pieces
• 100ml Shaoshing rice wine
• 50ml pure sesame oil
• 300g jasmine rice, washed well

 

Directions:

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for about 20 mins. Drain them and cut into small dice, discarding the stalks.
2. Heat a large saucepan over a high heat and add the oil. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 1 min, then add the mushrooms and cook for 30 secs. Add the chicken and stir-fry until starting to turn opaque, then add the rice wine and sesame oil and cook for 2 mins. Season with about ½ tsp salt.
3. Add the rice to the pan, mix well and then add 500ml water and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over a low heat for 20 mins. Allow to stand for a few mins, then fluff up the rice (a bit difficult when it’s soggy!) when ready to serve.

Minced soy pork with noodles

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

In the April issue of BBC Good Food magazine there was a recipe by Ching-He Huang for this noodle dish. It looked really tasty, but what tempted me most was that it was quite healthy at around 500 calories and 12g fat per serving. I thought this would be the perfect dish to start our healthy eating plan as it’s quick and easy to prepare and cook.

 

I do make quite a few stir-fries so I already had most of the ingredients, but there are some ingredients that I had to get from the Chinese supermarket, such as the dried mushrooms. Steve was a little dubious about the dried mushrooms as he didn’t have very fond memories of them from dishes he’d eaten in restaurants. But once he saw that I’d chopped them up into small pieces he cheered up and after tasting them in the dish he declared that they were actually quite nice as he couldn’t really taste them, but they added a depth of flavour to the dish. He’s even suggested we try putting them in Bolognese and Massaman curry!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE: 

I also used some chow mein noodles (Lion Brand) that I’d bought instead of the rice noodles that Ching used, as we prefer this type of noodle. Ching added noodles that were already cooked, whereas I added mine when they were just rehydrated as I preferred to finish cooking them in the pan so that they could absorb more flavour.  I used 2½ blocks of the dried noodles and this made quite a lot when rehydrated, so I added a bit more soy sauce than the recipe suggested and I also added some oyster sauce for extra flavour. Ching added dried shrimps, spring onions and coriander to her dish, but we ran out of spring onions and I can’t stand dried shrimps and coriander so I left them out. Instead I added some mange tout for some colour and one of our 5-a-day!

 

TASTE TEST:

I haven’t really used pork mince much before, which is funny because the Chinese love to use pork! But we both really liked the texture of the meat and it wasn’t greasy like lamb or beef mince. I will definitely be using more pork mince in future, especially as it was so nice in the Potsticker Dumplings we made!

 

• Serves: 2 generously

 

Ingredients:

• 2½ blocks dried chow mein noodles rehydrated (see notes below)
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 Tablespoon grated ginger
• 3 dried Chinese mushrooms, rehydrated and finely chopped (see notes below)
• 250g lean pork mince
• 1 Tablespoon Shaoshing rice wine
• 1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder (I used Knorr granules)
• 100ml water
• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 big handfuls of mange tout

 

Directions:

1. Heat a wok over a high heat and add the oil. When it’s really hot add the garlic, ginger and finely chopped mushrooms. Stir well for a few seconds, then add the mince and stir-fry. When the meat starts to turn brown, add the rice wine, both soy sauces, oyster sauce, stock powder and the water and bring to the boil.
2. Add the rehydrated noodles and mix thoroughly, allow to cook for 2 minutes, then add the mange tout and cook for another 2 minutes until they’re cooked but still a bit crunchy.
3. Add the sesame oil, mix well and serve immediately.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• To rehydrate the noodles: place them in a deep bowl or saucepan and pour over enough boiling water to cover them. Allow them to soften for a couple of minutes and then loosen with a pair of chopsticks until they’re all separated. Drain and rinse with cold water.
• To rehydrate the mushrooms: place them in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover them. Leave them to soak for 45 minutes, then drain.

Duck Puffs

MUNCH RATING: 3/5 

 

This is Ching-He Huang’s recipe, but I have adapted it slightly to suit the ingredients I had.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Ching’s original recipe says it makes 10 Duck Puffs, but you will have lots of filling leftover, which is fine as I used it in some stir-fried some noodles (the duck tastes like Aromatic Crispy Duck so would be nice in wraps with cucumber and spring onion).

 

I have also changed the way the pastry is rolled out, as Ching’s way results in a lot of wasted pastry, so if you do it my way then you should get 16 Puffs out of 1 block of pastry.

 

They were quite time consuming to make, but I think they would be good for a dinner party as they can be prepared in advance and then popped into the oven for the last stage. I served them with cucumber and carrot matchsticks.

 

TASTE TEST:

The duck filling is gorgeous, but the puff pastry makes them a bit dry in the mouth. I would prefer to just serve the filling in wraps.

 

• Prep: 30 mins plus 20 mins marinating time
• Cook: min 1 hr 50 mins
• Can be frozen before baking

 

Ingredients:

• ½ finger-length piece fresh root ginger, grated
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons plum sauce (I used Hoi-sin sauce instead)
• 1 tablespoon groundnut/vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons clear honey
• 1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice (this is my addition)
• 2 duck legs, skin on (make a few cuts into the skin & flesh)
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced (I didn’t have any!)
• 1 340g block ready-rolled puff pastry (I used Jus Rol)
• a little flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, beaten

 

Directions:

1. Marinate the duck: Mix the ginger with the soy and plum sauce (or hoi-sin), oil and honey (and Chinese 5 spice) in a deep dish, then add the duck legs, turning to coat. Cover and chill for at least 20 mins.
2. Cook the duck: Heat oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C. Lift the duck legs onto a non-stick baking tray, then roast for 1½ hours until crisp and golden. Meanwhile, tip the remaining marinade into a small saucepan and simmer for 2 mins, then cool. When the duck is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and finely shred the meat. Mix with the cooled marinade and spring onions.
3. Prepare your pastry: Take your block of pastry and cut it into 16 even pieces. Dust your board and rolling pin with a little bit of flour and then roll each piece of pastry into a square.

YOU CAN MAKE TWO DIFFERENT SHAPES FOR YOUR PUFFS:

• Triangles: put 2 tsp of the duck filling in the middle of each square, brush the edges of pastry with a little egg, then fold the pastry squares in half, pressing to seal so you have a triangle shape.
• Half-moon: using a 9-10cm round cutter stamp out a circle from each pastry square. Put 2 tsp of the duck filling in the middle of each circle, brush the edges of pastry with a little egg, then fold the pastry circles in half, pressing to seal so you have a half-moon shape

To cook:

Transfer the puffs to a lightly greased baking sheet and brush with more egg. Bake at Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C for 15-20 mins until golden (I turned up the oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C for the last few minutes to make them golden brown).

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• If you need to re-roll your puff pastry, stack the trimmings on top of each other to keep the layers.
• Freezing: Can be frozen for up to 1 month. Cook for 5 mins longer from frozen.

 

You might also be interested in: Hoi-sin Pork

Hoi-sin Pork

The marinade for the pork is based on a dish by Ching He-Huang that Steve cooked for me for Valentine's Day. Her recipe uses duck breast but I thought it would go well with pork as hoisin is the main ingredient for char-siu (chinese roast pork).

I had some leftover jasmine rice which I told Steve I was going to serve with the pork. However, I wanted to try something new with the rice so I did a twist on the italian arancini risotto balls. Steve was pleasantly surprised when he cut open the rice balls to find them filled with cheese and he really liked them, however I don't think they were 100% success so I will tweak them and then put up the recipe.

For now here's the Hoi-sin Pork recipe:

To serve 2

Ingredients:
1 large boneless pork chop (or 2 smaller ones)
Marinade:
3 tbsp hoi-sin sauce
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp (dark) soy sauce
1 tbsp oil (preferably sesame for the flavour)
Ching's recipe calls for ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder but I didn't have any, however the pork still has lots of flavour.

Directions:

1. Put the pork in a plastic zip-lock freezer bag and then add all the marinade ingredients. Seal the bag and massage the meat so that it is fully and evenly coated. Pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but preferably for a few hours.
2. Take the meat out of fridge about 30 minutes before you're ready to cook to bring it to room temperature.
3. Heat a large frying/saute pan to medium-high and then put the pork into the pan, reserving the rest of the marinade (if you have a non-stick pan you won't need to add any oil).
4. Fry the pork for a few minutes on each side until it is fully cooked and no longer pink in the middle. The cooking time will depend on thickness of your meat but you can generally tell when it is done when you press on the meat and it feels firm.
5. Remove the pork from the pan, keep warm and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the rest of the marinade to the pan and simmer gently for a few minutes until heated through and slightly thickened.
7. Slice the pork and drizzle the sauce on top.