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.

Trout Kiev and Pilaf Rice

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I saw Simon Rimmer make a Salmon Kiev on Something for the Weekend last Saturday and I thought it looked quite good. We had a huge trout fillet in the freezer, so I thought that would be a good substitute. It did work quite well, however the trout was quite soft and flaky, so it was a bit difficult to cut pockets to stuff with the garlic butter. But it tasted really good, even though I didn’t follow Simon’s recipe at all and just did my own thing! Steve ate his with Salad Cream (which he puts on everything!) and I tried it and it was actually really nice. It gave the fried fish that acidity to cut through the grease, a bit like tartare sauce.

I served it with Pilaf Rice, using Alton Brown’s fool-proof method (I have tried Paul Merrett’s recipe for Emergency Biryani which uses a similar method and it was a disaster!) but I added some mushrooms, red pepper and roasted squash before adding the rice to the pan. The vegetables did release some moisture, so next time I would add a bit less stock, probably 25ml less.

I made the rice first, then whilst it was in the oven I prepared the trout. Then when the rice came out of the oven to rest, I cranked up the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C and put the trout in for about 5 minutes.

• Serves: 2

Rice Pilaf Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 red pepper, chopped into 1cm pieces
• handful of mushrooms, sliced
• handful of roasted butternut squash chunks
• 1 cup rice (I used long grain jasmine rice)
• 1 1/2 cups (350-375ml) stock (use the lower amount if using watery vegetables like mushrooms)

Rice Pilaf Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Heat the oil and sweat the onion and garlic until softened over a low heat, don't allow to brown.
3. Add the mushrooms, peppers and squash and fry until softened.
4. Add the rice and gently fry until it smells 'nutty', about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the stock, stir once and bring to a boil.
6. Cover the saucepan with the damp tea-towel (it must be damp otherwise you might set it on fire!) and clamp on the lid. Fold up the corners of the tea-towel over the lid so that it's not hanging loose. You can also use greaseproof paper.
7. Put the saucepan in the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and leave for 10-15 minutes with the lid still on, as during this time the rice is still cooking and absorbing the liquid.

Trout Kiev Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, leaves picked (I used lemon thyme)
• 2 large thick trout fillets
• 2 Tbsps plain flour
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 4 big handfuls of panko breadcrumbs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Trout Kiev Directions:

1. Put the butter, garlic, thyme leaves and some black pepper in a small bowl and mash together with a fork until well combined.
2. Turn out the mixture onto a sheet of cling film and roll it into a cylinder. Chill in the freezer for five minutes.
3. Using a sharp knife, make a deep slit into the side of each trout fillet to form a pocket (or lots of little pockets if one large pocket is not possible).
4. When the butter mixture has chilled, slice it into 3mm discs and insert them into each of the pockets in the trout.
5. Sprinkle the flour onto a plate and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Beat the egg in a shallow dish. Mix together the breadcrumbs on a separate plate. Dredge each stuffed fish fillet first in the flour, then dip it in the beaten egg, then roll it in the breadcrumbs mixture until completely coated.
6. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the coated trout fillets and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the breadcrumb coating is crisp and golden-brown.
7. Transfer the trout to the oven now turned up to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C and cook for a further 5 minutes, or until cooked through. (NB: The fish is cooked through when the flesh is opaque.)

Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cooking

I normally just cook Thai Jasmine rice in my Tefal 4-in-1, but Steve and I decided to start eating more brown rice for its health benefits and also a bit of a change. We’ve found cooking it in the Tefal gives an excellent result and we’re both enjoying the change as brown rice has a lot more texture and is a bit like pearl barley.

 

The cooking instructions for brown rice in the Tefal manual are very limited and it only gives directions to cook 4 cups of rice, which will serve 5-6 people. I only wanted to cook enough for 2 people and so it was a bit of an experiment to find out how much water to use.

 

The first time I tried, I put in 2 cups of washed rice and filled the bowl to the 2 cup water level. After about 20 minutes the Tefal beeped and I checked the rice. It was still very hard in the middle. So I added another cup of water and set it to cook again. I had to repeat this process another two times before the rice was fully cooked and fluffy (I lost track of how long it took to cook in total!).

 

So the second time I tried cooking the brown rice, I put in 2 cups of rice, filled up the bowl to the 2 cup water level and then added 3 extra cups of water. This brought the water level to 4 cup water level. So I set the Tefal to cook and it took 45 minutes to produce perfectly cooked fluffy rice.

 

I must mention that the brown rice I used was of the Tesco Easy Cook variety, which is apparently partially cooked already and lightly milled to give non-stick grains. Normal brown rice needs slightly different cooking in the Tefal. Asda Long Grain Brown Rice needs water up to the 3 cup level and it only took approx. 45 minutes to cook.

 

So to summarise for 2 cups of rice:

 

TYPE OF RICE	AMOUNT OF WATER	APPROX. TIME TO COOK
White Thai Jasmine rice	2 cup water level	20 minutes
Tesco Brown Easy Cook rice	4 cup water level	45 minutes
Asda Long Grain Brown rice	3 cup water level	45 minutes

Butternut Squash Risotto

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

Although I discovered the wonders of oven-baking risotto, nothing can really compare to a properly made risotto and all that stirring is really worth it for this risotto!

Half of the butternut squash is cooked in the stock and then mashed into a puree. This makes the rice beautifully creamy. The other half of the squash is roasted and this gives it a wonderful charred flavour and a different texture. I love the smell of roasted squash; it just screams of Autumn.

Unfortunately I didn’t use a home-grown squash as they’re not quite ready yet!

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• You will need: a roasting tray, a small saucepan, a medium saucepan

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash
• 4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 600ml/1 pint vegetable stock (I used 1 Knorr Stock Pot)
• 25g/1oz unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, picked
• 140g/5oz risotto rice (I used Arborio)
• 100ml/3½ fl.oz white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)
• 50g/2oz Parmesan (I used Twineham Grange)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
2. Peel the squash and separate the bulbous seeded section from the long end. Chop the long end into 2cm cubes, toss in half the oil, season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven, turning occasionally until they are golden brown and tender (should take the same amount of time as to cook the risotto rice, about 30 minutes).
3. Cut the bulbous section in half and remove the seeds with a spoon, then cut into 2cm cubes. Warm the stock in the small saucepan over a low heat and add the squash and allow it to gently poach.
4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil and the butter in the medium saucepan, then add the onion, cover and cook for 3 minutes until the onion turns translucent.
5. Add the garlic, herbs and some black pepper. Increase the heat slightly, then add the rice and stir uncovered for about 5 minutes until the rice has turned almost completely translucent.
6. Turn up the heat and add the wine and allow it to bubble away until it has evaporated. Reduce the heat then start adding the stock a ladle at a time, stirring constantly whilst you allow each ladle of stock to be absorbed. It will take between 15-20 minutes for all the stock to be absorbed. Check the rice is cooked (it should be tender but not mushy) and then mash the squash that has been cooking in the stock before adding it to the cooked rice.
7. Turn off the heat, add most of the Parmesan, cover and leave to rest for 2 minutes, then stir and check for seasoning.
8. Spoon the risotto into shallow bowls, sprinkle over the roasted squash and more Parmesan if you like.

Oven Baked Risotto

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

Oh. My. God. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to discover this wonderful method of cooking risotto! OK it’s not got the same exact creaminess of risotto that you’ve spent ages stirring on the stovetop, but the speed and easiness of this method more than makes up for that and the texture of the rice is brilliant. I suppose you could add some cream, but I personally don’t think it needs it or the extra calories!

• Serves: 4
• You will need: an ovenproof dish or pan with a tight fitting lid
• Cooking time: 30-35 minutes
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C 

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small chorizo sausage, chopped
• 4 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 sweet orange peppers
• 300g/10oz risotto rice
• ½ glass white wine (optional)
• 700ml/1¼ pint stock
• some leftover roasted butternut squash 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.
2. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in your pan and gently fry the onion until soft. Add the chorizo and fry until crispy and it has released its oil.
3. Add the mushrooms and peppers and fry for a few minutes.
4. Add the rice and mix until well coated in the oil. Fry gently until the rice has turned slightly translucent.
5. Pour in the wine if you’re using it, then cook for a couple of minutes until it’s absorbed.
6. Add the butternut squash and the stock and bring to the boil.
7. Then cover with the lid and bake in the oven for 18 minutes.
8. I like to leave the rice to sit on the countertop for about 10 minutes, with the lid still on. This is enough time to crank up the oven to Gas 7/220C/425F and cook some roasted broccoli to serve with it.

Spicy Fish with Rice

MUNCH RATING: 3/5
Steve’s Mum bought some swordfish as it was half price, so I adapted a recipe that used cod and it worked really well as the swordfish held it’s shape and had a good flavour.

• Serves 3-4
• You will need: large wok or deep frying pan 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon hot chilli powder (adapt to suit taste)
• salt and pepper
• 3 large pieces of thick cut swordfish, skinned and cut into large chunks
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 spring onions, sliced at an angle
• 2 small orange sweet peppers, cut into small pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• A big handful of frozen peas
• 450g cooked long-grain rice (that’s 2 cups uncooked)
• A pinch of cayenne (optional, but I like it hot!)
• 4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce (I used Blue Dragon)
• 4 tablespoons ketchup manis*
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup** (optional)
• big handful of roasted, salted cashews (I used Tesco Value ones!) 

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, curry powder, chilli powder, salt and pepper in a wide shallow dish and add the fish. Gently mix until the fish is coated in the spice mixture. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Heat your wok or pan, then add the oil and heat until almost smoking. Add the fish and fry for about 5 minutes, until brown and crispy on all sides. Remove from the pan, place on a warm plate, cover and keep warm.
3. Put the spring onions, peppers and carrots into the pan and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the peas, rice and cayenne and fry until they’re heated through.
4. Then add the sweet chilli sauce, ketchup manis, tomato ketchup and cashews and stir fry for 3 more minutes.
5. Return the fish to the pan, heat for a few minutes then serve immediately.

COOK'S NOTES:
* The original recipe uses soy sauce, but I prefer Ketchup manis which is Indonesian soy sauce and it’s thicker, sweeter and less salty than normal soy sauce. The only place I’ve managed to find it is Marks and Spencers. If you can’t get it, just use ordinary soy sauce instead, but use about half the amount, and add some sugar to the dish.
** If you don’t add the tomato ketchup to the dish whilst it’s cooking, it’s still nice to serve it with the rice, as a small squirt of tomato ketchup adds a nice sweet zingy flavour!

Chinese Steamed Salmon & Rice

MUNCH RATING: 4/5
This is something I’ve been meaning to cook in my Tefal 4-in-1 for quite some time and tonight I finally got around to doing it. In the recipe book there are separate recipes for rice using the Rice Cooker function and recipes for cooking fish using the Steaming function, but no instructions on how to cook them both at once.

The rice usually takes about 20 minutes to cook, so I made an educated guess that the salmon would steam in this amount of time. So this was my little experiment and it worked out perfectly! The salmon was perfectly moist and the rice was fluffy and the grains separated.

I served this with some Pak Choi, which I cooked separately in a wok once the salmon and rice were cooked. I didn’t cook it in the steaming basket for a couple of reasons: 1) there wasn’t much room left in the steaming basket, 2) I wanted a slightly different flavour for the vegetables from the salmon.

• Serves 2
• Marinade time: up to 30 minutes (optional)
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of uncooked long grain/jasmine rice
• 2 pieces of salmon (I used fairly thin fillets, about 1 inch thick x 1 inch wide)
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoon of ketchup manis (or just use soy sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• About 1 cm of root ginger, grated (I store this in the freezer so it’s easy to grate)
• 2 spring onions, chopped at an angle 

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice, then place it in Rice Cooker bowl. Fill the bowl so that it is just over line number 2 (because you’re also steaming fish, I am a little bit more generous with the water).
2. Line the steaming basket with foil so that all the holes are covered and none of the sauce can drip into the rice bowl.
3. In the steaming basket mix together the sesame oil, ketchup manis (or soy sauce), honey, garlic, ginger and spring onions. Place the salmon in the sauce and make sure both pieces are well covered in the sauce (if you like you can leave the fish to marinate for up to 30 minutes in the fridge).
4. Place the steaming basket in the rice bowl over the rice. Shut the lid and then press the Rice Cooking button. It will take about 20 minutes to cook. 

For the Pak Choi:
Wash 2 Pak Choi bulbs, then slice each one in half so it is easier to separate the leaves. Heat 1 Tablespoon of oil in a wok or large frying pan, then add a pinch of chilli flakes and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the thicker stem parts of the Pak Choi and fry for about 1 minute before adding a 2 Tablespoons of water and clamping on a lid. After 2 minutes, add the leafier parts of the Pak Choi and add 1 Tablespoon of Oyster Sauce, a teaspoon of sugar and some of the sauce from the cooked salmon, then cook for another minute. Serve immediately with the rice and salmon.

Rice Pilaf

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

This is Alton Brown's method for cooking rice pilaf and it's brilliant! The rice was perfectly cooked, each grain separated and fluffy.

He says you shouldn't use the 1:2 rice to water ratio as there will be too much water. So you will need to remember the following measures:

• To serve 2 people = 1 cup rice = 1 1/2 cups water
• To serve 4 people = 2 cups rice = 2 3/4 cups water
• To serve 6 people = 3 cups rice = 3 1/2 cups water

I cooked 1 cup of rice and I can vouch that his ratio works. Next time I will cook 2 cups of rice as the result was so delicious that Steve wanted more!
'Pilaf' is the cooking method, so you can add whatever extra ingredients to this basic recipe. He recommends using long grain rice.

• Serves: 2 
• You will need: 1 medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid, 1 damp tea-towel*
• Oven temperature: Gas Mark 4/350°F/180°C

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 cup rice (I used long grain jasmine rice)
• 1 1/2 cups stock (I used chicken from a cube)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Heat the oil and sweat the onion and garlic until softened over a low heat, don't allow to brown.
3. Add the rice and gently fry until it smells 'nutty', about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the stock, stir once and bring to a boil.
5. Cover the saucepan with the damp tea-towel (it must be damp otherwise you might set it on fire!) and clamp on the lid. Fold up the corners of the tea-towel over the lid so that it's not hanging loose.
6. Put the saucepan in the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and leave for 10-15 minutes with the lid still on, as during this time the rice is still cooking and absorbing the liquid.

* The tea-towel will capture any condensation that forms on the lid and prevent it from dropping back into the rice. I was a bit worried about putting the tea-towel in the oven, but absolutely no harm came to it during the making of this recipe.

Arancini (Rice Balls)

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I used proper risotto rice for this attempt at Arancini and I'm really pleased with the result. I decided on the conical shape after watching a video on Youtube of someone making arancini and I thought it looked more appealing than just a round ball. I also found that when it came to cooking them, I had more control to get them evenly brown on all sides, rather than them rolling around in the oil.
Making arancini from scratch takes some time and preparation, but it is ideal if you have leftover risotto, which means you can pick up this recipe from step 3.
This amount makes 8 Arancini Balls, so perfect to serve as a starter with a Roasted Red Pepper sauce (recipe to follow). I managed to eat 2 with my dinner, but Steve ate 5 so you may need to double the quantity if you're cooking for people with healthy appetites!
Next time I want to try stuffing them with meaty bolognese - yum!

You will need:

• Saucepan to cook the risotto
• 1 small bowl for the beaten egg
• 1 medium bowl for the breadcrumbs
• Medium saucepan with about 2 inches of hot oil
• 1 baking sheet to keep cooked arancini warm in the oven

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups risotto rice, e.g. arborio
• 3 cups hot stock (you may need an additional 1 cup stock)
• 8 mini mozzarella balls or chunks cut about 2cm cube
• 1 egg, beaten
• About 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (or normal breadcrumbs)
• For added flavour you can add 1/2 cup parmesan to the breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Cook the risotto rice until it is nice and tender, but not mushy. I used a Mushroom and Herb flavoured risotto to give it more flavour.
2. Allow the risotto to completely cool and then put it in the fridge.
3. When you're ready to make your arancini, remove the cooked rice from the fridge. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F.
4. Heat the oil in the saucepan until a few breadcrumbs dropped in the oil sizzle and go brown within a few seconds.
5. Have the beaten egg ready in a small bowl and the breadcrumbs ready in a medium bowl.
6. Divide the risotto into 8 portions. Wet your hands and take 1 portion and shape it with both hands into a hollow cone with the pointed end at the bottom. Place a piece of mozzarella in the middle and then seal the hole with the rice, creating a flat bottom. Put your arancini on a plate whilst you shape the rest of the rice.
7. One by one, dip the arancini into the egg and then the breadcrumbs, making sure they are well coated. I like to put a small amount of breadcrumbs in the bowl and then add more as I complete each arancini. This prevents all your breadcrumbs becoming all glued together as they come into contact with the egg.
8. When the oil is ready, carefully place 2 to 3 arancini into the oil and cook for about 4-5 minutes, turning so that they are nicely golden brown on all sides.
9. When they are ready, place them on a baking sheet and pop them into the preheated oven to keep warm whilst you cook the rest.
10. When ready to serve, rest them on paper towels to soak up any excess oil before plating up.

One-pot Spicy Rice

My friend Kim cooked this for me when I went to visit her and it was so delicious I had to have the recipe so I could make it for Steve. However, he was a bit dubious about trying it because it had raisins/sultanas and chickpeas in it and it's vegetarian! So he looked a bit worried when I dished it up but after the first few mouthfuls he did an Oliver Twist and asked for seconds but unfortunately there was no more, as I'd only cooked enough for 2. So next time I'll cook more by doubling the quantities.

The recipe here has a couple of tweaks as I had half a butternut squash to use up and didn't have any spinach so I used peas, but you can use whatever's going. I really like the different textures and tastes that the sultanas and cashews bring to the dish, they really compliment the curry flavour - a fruit and nut sensation!

I made this for the second time here in San Francisco and I used the cup measurement method and the rice came out perfectly! It's basically 1 part rice to 2 parts liquid. So I used 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of stock (to serve 4 people). I didn't have any peas or spinach but it still tasted great!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into bitesize pieces (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 or 2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tbsp medium curry paste (I used Madras)
125g/4.5oz [1 cup] basmati rice (or brown rice - see note below)
225ml/8fl oz [2 cups] hot vegetable stock
1 can of chick peas (241g), drained
1 or 2 handfuls of frozen peas (replaced 2 or 3 handfuls of spinach)
A handful of raisins or sultanas
A handful of cashew nuts
Dash of double cream (optional)

Directions - If using the butternut squash:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4
2. Put the butternut squash pieces in a baking tray and drizzle with little bit of oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast in the oven on the top shelf for 45 minutes or until tender but not mushy.
   

Directions - Normal:

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan that has a lid, then fry garlic and curry paste until it smells toasty.
2. Tip the rice into the pan along with the stock, chick peas, raisins/sultanas and squash. Stir well and season with salt and pepper (stock is quite salty so go easy on the salt), then cover and bring to the boil.
3. Reduce to a medium heat and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. If it’s taking a long time for the liquid to reduce, just take the lid off the pan for a few minutes. Add the frozen peas 10 minutes before end of cooking time.
   
4. Stir in the cashew nuts (and spinach and let it wilt).
5. Stir in the dash of cream just before serving, this will take off the spicy edge of the curry paste.
   

Note – if using brown rice, cook the rice in plenty of boiling water for 20 minutes first, and then add to the pan as normal in step 2.