Category: Recipes

First Time Making, Meatless Monday, Recipes, Simple Recipes

First Time Making: Miso Aubergines

I often have lunch at a small Japanese restaurant on Brewer Street called Kulu Kulu. In one of their colourful bowls, they serve this delicious aubergine dish. I like it so much that even after the first bowl, every time another one comes around on the conveyer belt, it’s so tempting to go for seconds! This vegan friendly dish is rather simple, but getting the right combination of flavours is not as simple (I learned the hard way) as it seems. I will try and share the learnings gleaned from my first attempt, for which I took inspiration from this Japan Centre recipe. Continue reading “First Time Making: Miso Aubergines”

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Recipes, Simple Recipes

Sardinian Pasta (Malloreddus) with Asparagus and Sea Urchins

During the Easter break, I went to visit my father who at the moment works in Belgium. Even though he works around the world, he always brings with him a stock of Italian ingredients so he can cook his favourite Sardinian food wherever he is. To make this recipe, he used canned sea urchins, which you don’t find so easily in London. Continue reading “Sardinian Pasta (Malloreddus) with Asparagus and Sea Urchins”

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Sweet_corn_salted_egg_snack
Recipes

Sweet corn and salted egg yolk – a golden Chinese snack recipe

Happy St Patrick’s day! In celebration this week, here’s a simple sweet corn snack that’d go well with a beer or two. A name for this Chinese snack means “a granary full of golden grains” (jin gu man cang), but it’s much more straightforward than it sounds: these are fried sweet corn kernels topped with salted egg yolks. There’s no need to add any other spices or flavours to it: the natural sweetness of the sweet corn balances perfectly with the salted eggs.

You can keep the egg whites to use in other recipes. For example, they can be mixed with minced pork.

This is very easy to make, and only takes around 10 minutes. The portions below serve two. If you are using frozen sweet corn, then please defrost it beforehand! Also, I’m using whole wheat flour in this version of the recipe, so the colour is a bit darker.

Sweet_corn_salted_egg_snack

Ingredients
1.5-2 cups of sweet corn kernels
3-4 tbsps of plain flour
2 salted egg yolks

You’ll also need some water and plenty of oil for frying.

Continue reading “Sweet corn and salted egg yolk – a golden Chinese snack recipe”

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Aubergine_Meat_Sauce
Recipes

Aubergine in soya bean and meat sauce (Jiang Qie Zi) – a traditional Chinese recipe

The most well-know Chinese aubergine (or eggplant) recipe is probably the sichuan-styled braised aubergine (yu xiang qie zi), but it’s not the only traditional recipe out there. This version with soya bean sauce (Chinese miso) is a common home-cooked dish from the north. The meat is optional, but does help to add a bit of flavouring.

Visually, we are trying to preserve the look of “unbroken”, whole aubergines, so ideally the type of aubergine used should be the thin, long Asian types instead of the . You can also use baby aubergines.

The cooking and prep time is around 15-20 mins, and we are using the microwave with this recipe (I don’t think it affects the taste, and means that it’s easier to preserve the look of the aubergine). This serves 2.

Aubergine_Meat_Sauce

Ingredients
2 narrow aubergines
3 cloves of garlic
3 slices of ginger
1-2 spring onions
1 chilli
1 tbsp of soya bean paste – huang jiang
1 tbsp of fermented soya beans (optional)
1 tsp of soya sauce
1 tsp of Shaoxing rice wine
1 tsp of sesame oil
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
75-100g of minced pork

Continue reading “Aubergine in soya bean and meat sauce (Jiang Qie Zi) – a traditional Chinese recipe”

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yellow_split_pea_cake_wan_dou_huang
Recipes

Split yellow pea cake (wan dou huang) – a simple Chinese dessert recipe

Pulses such as split peas and lentils are a great source of iron, and if you get bored of cooking with them for savoury dishes, then you can try out this traditional Beijing snack, made with mostly just yellow split peas (and some sugar). It’s very much a spring snack, and is eaten before the third of the third lunar month, which is 9th April this year.

The cooking time is quite long, but mostly it just needs to be left to simmer on the stove – there is very little prep needed. This recipe makes a large batch that’d last a few weeks. You can downscale and make a smaller batch to start off with.

yellow_split_pea_cake_wan_dou_huang

Ingredients
1kg of split yellow peas
6 dried jujubes 
300g of sugar

You’ll also need water and a tiny dash of oil.

Continue reading “Split yellow pea cake (wan dou huang) – a simple Chinese dessert recipe”

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Steamed_pork_mince_salted_eggs
Recipes

Steamed minced pork and salted eggs – a quick and simple recipe

This steamed pork recipe is from the very south of China (part of the Cantonese cuisine), and is one of my favourites from the restaurants there. However, not a lot of restaurants serve it in London, and it’s so simple to make at home, so here goes!

This only takes around 5 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook, so it’s perfect after a busy day at work. This version will serve 2-3 people.

Steamed_pork_mince_salted_eggs

Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon of soya sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Dash of shaoxing rice wine (optional)
1/2 chicken stock cube
1 tablespoon of plain flour
Thick slice of ginger
1-2 salted eggs (depending on how salty the eggs are)
400g of minced pork
 Continue reading “Steamed minced pork and salted eggs – a quick and simple recipe”

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Recipes

Chickpeas and then some: Cocido Madrileño

After visiting Madrid and discovering the highlights of Spanish traditional cuisine, I naturally felt like trying to reproduce it at home. Following the same idea as the Sardinian hen broth – a dish that is designed to feed a whole family reunited for a weekend meal; and in the same fashion, Cocido delivers several dishes on the table in one go. The richness of the meats and the goodness of the veggies, the comfort of the soup and the flavour of the chickpeas all come together to create a small feast that will fill up your table and stomach and leave you incredibly satisfied on a chilly March day.

Ingredients:
1 chicken of the weight of 2kg max, even better if you can get a small hen
200 g cut of beef for stews
50 g pancetta
150 g piece of bacon
1 small piece of ham bone (which I imported from Spain, but any bone would do)
1 chorizo for cooking
1 morcilla for cooking
200 g chickpeas
1 green cabbage
2 potatoes
2 carrots
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
Paprika
Bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Continue reading “Chickpeas and then some: Cocido Madrileño”

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Japanese_Chicken_Curry
Product Review, Recipes

Japanese chicken curry with S&B Golden Curry sauce mix – a simple recipe

There are a couple of sauces that are good to stock in the food cupboard for a quick and tasty meal, and if you want to cook Japanese curry (aka kare raisu), then S&B Golden Curry sauce mixs are one of my favourites. They are like stock cubes, and come in three strengths: mild, medium hot (as above) and hot. I’m using the medium hot one below, as it seems to provide the best balance for the chicken curry. They’re also stocked in various supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. If they don’t have it in your local store, then you can even buy it on Amazon.

You won’t need to add any other flavourings or spices to the curry – the cubes are all you’ll need. There are clear instructions on the box on how to use the sauce mix, although the cooking times are a bit vague. My favourite to make with the sauce mix is a chicken curry with carrots, potatoes and garden peas (plenty of vitamins)!

The following serves 2-3 people (closer to 3), and you’ll need to cook some rice separately. The total cooking time is around 30 minutes, and the prep is very simple, as you don’t need to slice any of the ingredients into very fine pieces.

Japanese_Chicken_Curry

Ingredients
300-350g of chicken breast fillet
1 large potato
1/2 an onion
1 carrot
1 tbsp of shaoxing rice wine (optional)
150g of garden peas
2 curry cubes

You’ll also need a dash of oil and some water.

Continue reading “Japanese chicken curry with S&B Golden Curry sauce mix – a simple recipe”

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Da_Lu_Mian_Sauce_Noodles
Recipes

Noodles with mince, mushroom and tomato sauce (Da Lu Mian) -a simple Chinese recipe

When I read about a Chinese version of spaghetti bolognese, this recipe came to mind (although unlike Lizzie Mabbott‘s version, it does contain tomatoes). The sauce differs depending on which region you’re from, much like ragù. In general, you’d find it made from a bit of pork, lots of dried shiitake mushrooms and an egg or two. I’m also using wood ears (mu er) and dried lily flower. Tomatoes aren’t 100% necessary, and many versions use a dash of vinegar instead.

In terms of the noodles, you can try different types. I’d go for something as similar as possible to ramen.

This dish is really easy to make, and apart from the soaking for the various dried ingredients, it only takes 15 mins to prep and cook. This version serves 2.

Da_Lu_Mian_Sauce_Noodles

Ingredients
6-7 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 handful dried wood ears
1 handful dried lily flowers
1 tbsp of plain flour
1 tbsp of soya sauce
1 tbsp of shaoxing rice wine
100g minced pork belly
1 tsp of chicken stock powder
Pinch of sugar
1 egg
5-6 mini vine tomatoes (or 2 normal sized tomatoes)
2 servings of ramen noodles
2-3 drops of sesame oil

You’ll also need water and a touch of olive oil/other cooking oil to line the pan. Continue reading “Noodles with mince, mushroom and tomato sauce (Da Lu Mian) -a simple Chinese recipe”

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Pebble_Yuan_Xiao
Recipes

Pebble effect red bean paste rice ball recipe for the Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao/Tang Yuan)

Now that Chinese New Year is over (happy year of the monkey!), it’s time for arguably the even bigger festival of the year: the Lantern Festival (also known as Yuan Xiao festival). Yuan Xiao are basically fillings wrapped in glutinous rice flour, and the fillings can be anything from minced meat to sesame paste. I’m using red bean paste (azuki bean paste) here. If you want to make the paste from scratch, you can try this anko recipe.

There are two “schools” of making these rice ball dumplings: you can either make the fillings first, then roll them around in the rice flour to coat them in a thick layer of the flour, or you can make the flour into a sort of dumpling skin, then stuff the filling inside.

I usually use the first method, but in order to make these pebble-effect Yuan Xiao, it makes more sense to go for the latter. You can mix different ingredients into the rice flour to create all sorts of colours. I’ve only used cocoa powder and strawberry jam here, as I wanted to make brown and rose-coloured swirls.

Portions of the ingredients are fairly rough again, as is always the case when making dumplings. Please use it as a guide only. This makes roughly 10 “pebbles”.

Pebble_Yuan_Xiao

Ingredients
200-250g glutinous rice flour
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
2 tbsp of strawberry jam
150g red bean paste

You’ll also need water throughout. Continue reading “Pebble effect red bean paste rice ball recipe for the Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao/Tang Yuan)”

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