Prawns with shiitake mushroom and noodles

Hunger is the best cook, and that's just so true! I've been craving for Asian flavors in the past days, so yesterday I sort of cooked the mother of today's lunch. Originally, I wanted to combine prawns with a juicy mango, but I changed my mind. In a way I rediscovered shiitake, I must say that I didn't liked it at all, so I felt it is time to give the mushroom a new chance. What a great idea it was! For this quick stir fry you only need a couple of ingredients and only a few minutes in the kitchen. Personally, I think the less ingredients the better stir fry you get. Of course it should be hot, but not that kind that makes you wrap up the fridge's door for a glass of cold milk.

Ingredients:
2-4 prawns per person
2 medium onions
100 g bean sprouts
8 shiitake mushroom
200 g asian noodles (any type you fancy)
2 cm ginger
2 cloves garlic
4-5 tablespoons peanut oil
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
pinch of sugar and a few splash of rice vinegar if desired
ground chili or chili sauce as desired
2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Prepare the noodles according the instructions on the package. Cut mushroom and onion in slices, and rinse prawns with cold water. Heat oil in a wok and add grated ginger and garlic and stir fry prawns for about 2 minutes, then set aside. Now add mushroom, onion and bean sprouts and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the sauces, put back the prawns and after a minute or two add the noodles. Season with a pinch of sugar, rice vinegar and chilisauce as needed. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Sichuan Pepper Smoked Cod with Ginger Flavoured Cucumber Sorbet on Black Sesame Milk

Well, I have been planning this light, asian inspiried starter for about a week, and finally yesterday I felt like preparing it. There is a tiny detail missing in the title of the dish! Under the roasted sesame seeds on top of the fish there is a thin layer of reduced lemongrass and soy sauce flavoured fish stock.


The spicy fish was accompanied by a refreshing cucumber sorbet and black sesame milk, and the whole dish was topped with rice chips. By the way it is very easy to prepare the rice chips. All you have to do is to cook rice then puree it and smear it on a baking paper in the desired shape and dry it for about an hour on 90-100 °C. The only flaw of the whole thing is that I had very little light, so the photos turned out much too dark.


Ingredients:
2 medium sized cucumber
2 tablespoons invert sugar
4 tablespoons waster
1 gelatine sheet
1 limes
piece of ginger
salt

Cut cucumbers in half, deseed and cut in slices, then puree. Press puree through a sieve and soak gelatine in cold water. Cook a syrup out of the invert sugar with the water, then stir in the gelatine, lime juice, zest and grated ginger. Season with a little salt and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.

Pork Stir-Fry with Shiitake Mushroom

Yesterday, I promised that at least once a week I am going to use on of those ingredients that are waiting for being cooked in my pantry. These are foods like quinoa, millet or even a frozen lamb. I like to have certain foods always on stock, after all that way I have everything around to use it any time I feel like. The disadvantage is, that I often forget about certain foods. Just like I have completly forgetten about a pack of dried shiitake mushroom.


Around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, I realised that it is more than time to prepare something for lunch. In such a situation stir-fry is always a great option. After all it is prepared so fast and there is not much to clean up afterwards. So I boiled some water for the mushroom, and marinted the meat, then sliced the vegetables quickly. By the way a pepper would have been just a perfect addition to the stir-fry, but as it is not in season, I left it out. The stir-fry has a slight touch of sweet and sour, but it is not that typical flavour, which I do not like at all.


Ingredients:
4 slices of pork cutlet
1 tablespoon black vinegar
3-4 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon corn starch
peanut oil
1 piece of ginger
100 g fresh or dried shiitake mushroom
100-150 g bamboo sprouts
1/2 leek
handful of roasted peanuts

Soak mushroom in hot water, in case you do not use fresh ones. Cut meat in thin slices and marinte in black vinegar, soy sauce, honey together with sliced garlic. After it was marinated for at least 30 minutes, sieve, but set the marinade aside. Heat peanut oil and add ground ginger and fry the starch dusted meat. Add mushroom, leek and bamboo, fry for a few minutes, add some marinade, some soy sauce to taste and chili if desired. Stir in peanuts right at the end.

Stir-fry duck noodles

Well, some weeks ago, I have bought a nice duck breast, that I completly forgot. When I remembered that I should cook it, I had no opportunity so I put it to the freezer. And it spent quite a long while in the cold. In fact this dish took many days to get finally cooked. Some days ago, I marinated it and left it in the marinade for 2 days. The evening, when I wanted to serve it, something came between, so I sliced and fried it and froze it just to be on the safe side.


However, today it ended up on plate together with noodles, leek, bean sprouts and button mushroom.

Ingredients:
1 duck breast
2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1 big clove of garlic
1 teaspoon dried ginger
chili if desired
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or sherry
1 tablespoon honey
70 g Chinese egg noodles
2 champignons
1 piece of leek
2 handful of bean sprouts
1 clove of garlic
1 piece of ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine or sherry
1 teaspoon black vinegar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce


Trim duck breast and score the skin in a criss-cross pattern. Slice garlic and mix it together with the rest of the ingredients for the marinade and marinte the duck for at least a few hours or up to 2 days. Slice mushroom and leek. Heat oil and fry the sliced and with starch dusted duck breast, then set aside. Cook noodles according to the package instructions. Slice garlic and fresh ginger and fry in sesame oil, remove. Fry mushroom, add duck breast and sherry, once reduced add leek and vinegar. As soon as it is reduced add sprouts and noodles. Season with oyster- and soy sauce.

Saffron Pilaf with Rose Water

During the past days my spice box from the pantry has moved into the kitchen, although there are at least fifty glasses of different spices on the shelves. Sometimes forgotten spices surprise me such as fenugreek or sumac. Actually, I only planned to cook pasta with a mushroom sauce, but I didn't have enough fresh mushroom and the dried was out of shelf life, so I needed a new idea. I decided to prepare fish and not only because it is Friday. Strangely, this week it was the third time that fish got onto the plate. As I have found fresh ginger, lemongrass and half a box of coconut milk, I felt like cooking something Asian inspired. The fish was flavoured with garam masala salt and fried. I cooked a simple coconut milk sauce flavoured with onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, coriander seeds and cumin. I only needed an idea for the rice. I cooked a pilaf flavoured with saffron, rose water, cardamom and served with a nice portion of roasted almonds, macadamia nuts and pistachios.


Ingredients:
180 g long grain rice
300 ml chicken stock or water
2 ek oil or ghee
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2-3 curry leaves
1 small piece of fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1 tablespoon rose water
80 ml cream
1/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon black pepper


Crush saffron and mix it with the rose water, add cinnamon, cardamom, clove, pepper and pour cream over it. Heat ghee, add cumin, curry leaves and grated ginger. Add rice after a few a minutes and let it brown while stirring. Pour stock over it, season and cook it uncovered. As soon as the liquid has absorbed, add the spicy cream, cover and let it stand on the switched of stove for 15-20 minuets. Stir in roasted almond, macadamia nuts and pistachios before serving.

Homemade Spring Rolls

These spring rolls were born after 2 days of researching about homemade wrappers. Basically, I have found 3 ways of making these wrappers: the simplest recipe calls for a usual dough, that is rolled out very thin, but this one I didn't like and it didn't seem too authentic. The other used rice flour and was baked like a crêpe. It seemed to be easy to go for it, so I prepared a bunch, but it just wasn't crispy enough. It was time to seek for a recipe for the 3rd way: a thick wheat flour dough. To make the wrappers one has to dip one hand into the dough, then smear it quickly and smoothly on a flat frying pan. The temperature of the pan is very important, it should be medium hot. I can't tell you, how happy I was when the third wrapper turned out as it supposed to be!

Ingredients:
300 g flour
300 ml water
150 g bean sprouts
50 g bamboo shoots
150 g white cabbage
1 carrot
spring onions or leek
soy sauce
fresh ginger


For the wrappers combine flour and water and let it stand for at least 3 hours. Beat for about 15-20 minutes or until it becomes elastic and smooth. Heat a flat frying pan over medium heat and once it is hot lower the heat slightly. Dip one hand into the dough and rub it onto the pan. See video. For the filling slice vegetables julienne and fry in sesame oil together with freshly grated ginger for a minute, add bean sprout, some soy sauce and let it cool. Fill the wrappers with the vegetables and deep fry in oil.

Five-Spice Pork Tenderloin Stir-Fry

Lately, I spend a lot of time reading about Asian cuisine, spices and ingredients. When I cook something European, I always research about the history, the origin of a dish and try to find the original recipe and so on. However so far I have a very little knowledge about the Asian cuisine, besides the stuff you get here in the restaurants is not quite authentic anyway, but delicious, if you know where to eat. In search of creating a delicious stir-fry, finally, I can say, that I managed to prepare one that I am very happy about. Probably, not authentic, but addictive! It took me a couple of trials to get here. All I can say, less is more!


Ingredients:
300 g pork tenderloin
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon 5 spice powder
1 piece of fresh ginger
1 red chili
3 tablespoons rice wine or sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
spring onion
yellow bell pepper
bean sprouts
black vinegar
soy sauce
oyster sauce


Marinate thinly sliced meat in soy sauce, sherry together with 5 spice powder, sliced garlic and ginger and a chopped chili. Let it stand for at least an hour or over night. Heat sesame oil and fry the garlic, ginger and chili from the marinade, then remove. Sprinkle cornstarch over the meat and fry. Set aside, add bell pepper, fry for a couple of seconds, pour a splash of black vinegar over it, add spring onions and bean sporuts among a splash of soy sauce and oyster sauce and the marinade. Put back the meat, mix well and serve.

Pork Satay - Daring Cooks

Time for the first Daring Cooks' Challenge of 2010! We just had it for dinner, but I must say it wasn't my cup of tea. The meat was kind of delicious, but the sauce...well it wasn't mine. Though I do like peanut sauce and I prepare it once in a while according to that pretty old recipe I posted almost 2 years ago. Anyway I am looking forward to the next challenge!


The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipes by Martha Day.

Chicken with sesame sauce

Yesterday, I felt like experimenting. I gathered a bunch of ingredients together and gave them a stare. After a while it felt like having a conversaion with the lemongrass while I was eavesdropping what sesame was talking with the soy sauce. Then I decided to go for it: chicken with sesame sauce among polenta flavoured with ginger and lemongrass.


Ingredients:
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon butter
200 ml chicken stock
juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
sesame seeds
cayenne pepper


In a saucepan bring vinegar, soy sauce, honey, butter, stock, lemon juice and grated ginger to boil and let it cook until it reduces to a thick sauce. Stir in sesame and season with cayenne pepper. For the chicken breast heat a saucepand and fry the breasts from both sides among some thyme and garlic. Place it to the oven on 150°C for 10-15 minutes. For the polenta heat stock among ginger and lemongrass. As soon as it starts to boil set aside and let it stand for 30 minutes. Sieve and cook polenta in the lemongrass-ginger infused stock.

Vietnamese Chicken Pho - Daring Cooks

This month's challenge was hosted by Jaden of Steamy Kitchen and she picked a recipe for Vietnamese chicken pho and sweet wontons from her new cookbook. We had complete freedom for the filling of the wontons. I decided for a coconut ice cream with chilli among a chocolate sauce flavoured with tamarinde and some caramelised limequats.



For the pho part I decided to go vegeterian. Thanks for this great challenge Jaden!

Another pork stir-fry

This dish is kind of a refined version of my pork stir-fry that I cook when I am craving for some Asian flavours.


Ingredients:
400 g pork (e.g. cutlet)
2 cloves garlic
1 piece of fresh ginger
1 carrot
1 piece of leek
1 paprika
1/4 white cabbage
200 g bean sprouts
soy sauce
oyster sauce
200 ml chicken stock
corn starch
sesame oil for frying

Slice pork, marinate in soy sauce with sliced garlic for an hour or so. Sprinkle some corn starch over the meat before frying. Heat sesame oil, add grated ginger and fry meat, after set it aside. Add carrot and pour chicken stock over it, let it reduce by half, add sliced cabbage, after a minute or so add sliced paprika and leek among a tablespoon of soy sauce. Stir-fry for a minute or two, add bean sprouts, sprinkle about a teaspoon of oyster sauce and a tablespoon of soy sauce on it, fry for another minute and a half, stir in meat and serve.

Chinese potstickers - Daring Cooks

Here it comes! The second Daring Cooks' Challenge by Jen from use real butter. Is there anyone out there who could possibly resist potstickers? I prepared them using Jen's pork filling and the whole bunch was gone in half an hour!


Chinese dumplings/potstickers

pork filling:
1 lb (450g) ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced
1/2 cup (75g) bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 (55g) cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp (40g) soy sauce
2 tbsp (28g) sesame oil
2 tbsp (16g) corn starch

dough: (double this for the amount of filling, but easier to make it in 2 batches - or just halve the filling recipe)
2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (113g) warm water
flour for worksurface


In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.


Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking - about 1/16th inch. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side. Keep all unused dough under damp cloth.


To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

Jiaozi: the first tiral!

The pot sticker, Jiăozi (Chinese transliteration), gyōza (Japanese transliteration), is a Chinese dumpling, widely popular in China and Japan. Jiaozi typically consist of ground meat, vegetable filling thinly rolled into a piece of dough. However these should not be confused with wonton, because jiaozi have a thicker skin and are flatter. The dough for the jiaozi and the wonton wrapper contains different ingredients. Jiaozi can be divided into various types, depending on the prepartions: there are boiled, steamed and fried dumplings. The Cantonese style is called dim sum, these are smaller than jiaozi and wrapped in a thinner translucent skin, and usually steamed. If you want to sink in the world of dumplings, you find loads of informations here. I simply adore these dumplings, any kind of them, so I decided to try to prepare myself. It is a huge and beautiful dumpling jungle, and I am standing at the border, but I am ready to take the first step to go in there. In fact yesterday I had my first trial, and I am not sure how to call these, but they were delicious and motivating to take the next step!


Ingredients:
125 g wheat starch
10 g maize meal
15 g lard
150 ml boiling water
500 g pork loin, minced
5 spring onions, only the white parts
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3-5 drops dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons soy sauce
handful bean sprouts, sliced
20 g cabbage, sliced



Mix wheat starch, maize meal and lard, add boiling water and with a help of a fork mix it. Knead a smooth dough and form a roll. Slice the roll and roll out, as long as it is warm!, cut out circles and fill each (for the filling simply mix all ingredients together), fold and when ready, heat oil, fry them from both sides, pour about 100 ml water on it, cover until water is evaporated and fry some more minutes.

Chicken Satay

I remember that years ago, before I started to cook, the first time I bought a bottle of satay sauce and after never even tried this dish. Meanwhile even the thought of grabbing such a bottle shakes me...brrr! Not only because the sauce was ugly, but also because I never buy such ready made stuff. Today for the first time I prepared chicken satay and a peanut sauce. I was thrilled. So simple and so delicous!


Ingredients:
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 piece of ginger, minced
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
chicken breast halves

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 onion
1 piece of ginger
1/2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon water

For the marinade mix all ingredients together and leave the breast slices to marinate for at least 2 hours in the fridge. After fry them for 3-4 minutes in oil. For the sauce heat oil, add chopped onion, minced ginger, Sambal Oelek and cook for some minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook it while stirring until it is smooth.


This is my entry for the Nutriferia Roundup.

Fried Rice

It was quite a long time ago that I prepared fried rice. This time I used black sesame oil for frying, that gave it an intense taste.


Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice
1 piece of leek
2 carrots, diced
1 handful of green peas
150 g brean sprouts
1 egg
black sesame oil
soy sauce

Chop leek while precooking peas in boiling water.
Heat 2-3 tablespoons of black sesame oil. Add onion, diced carrot, precooked peas and stir fry until fragrant. Add some more sesame oil and stir in rice. Stir fry until it gets a bit of colour.
Add bean sprouts with 2 tablespoon of soy sauce and mix well. Make place in the wok and add scrambled eggs and when it is done fold it into the rest.

Missing Ingredients

It had to be prepared fast, yeah I am writing about today's lunch. As I have discovered three bottles of teriyaki sauce in my pantry I knew I am gonna make teriyaki chicken with some bean sprouts. I confess, I have another two bottles in the fridge... Anyway I think teriyaki chicken tastes best when it is fried in peanut oil. I am tired of cooked rice so my plan was to prepare fried rice. However the only vegetable I found was carrot so no other ingredients for the rice. Nevertheless all together harmonised great and it was a yummy lunch.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
peanut oil
1 piece of ginger
chili powder
2 carrots
1 egg
2 chicken breasts
teriyaki sauce
200 g bean sprouts
2 spring onions
dark soy sauce
oyster sauceCook rice and let it cool. Actually it should be in the fridge over night. Marinate sliced chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce for at least 20 minutes. Heat oil, add ginger and chili, chopped carrot. Stir in rice and move all to the side of the wok. Add whisked egg and after it is fried mix with the rice. Fry chicken in peanut oil. In another saucepan heat oil, add bean sprouts and spring onion and fry with some dark soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Pork stir-fry

Just another wannabe Asian dish of mine.

Ingredients:
400 g pork (e.g. cutlet)
2 carrots
200 g mangetout
1 leek
1 bell pepper
150 g oyster mushroom
200 g bean sprouts
1 handful peanuts
oyster sauce
soy sauce
teriyaki sauce
salt
corn starch
peanut oil



Slice pork, salt, add corn starch.
Heat oil and stir-fry pork, add some teriyaki sauce, add carrot and pepper. Pour some soy sauce and some oyster sauce on it. Add mushroom, stir-fry, season with some more sauce and add bean sprouts and some soy sauce.

Chicken with Cashews

Fast, light, spicy.


Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 handful cashews
1 carrot
1 piece of leek
1 bell pepper
150 g bean sprouts
sichuan pepper
soy sauce
rice vinager
chili
sugar
sesame oil
stock
corn starch

Slice chicken breats, add corn starch and mix well.
Mix 2 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinager and 1/2 teaspoon sugar and marinate chicken in this for about 20 minutes.
Slice vegetables. Heat oil.
Fry sichuan pepper and chili, add chicken and veggies, stir-fry.
At the end add bean sprouts, cashews and the sauce which contains: 2 teaspoon light and 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, some drops of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon sugar and 2 tablespoon stock.