Tags
banana, banana halves, beer, caramel, chilli oil, Chinese, chopsticks, Coconut ice cream, crab meat, creamy, deep fat fryer, dim sum, dulce de leche, eggs, feast, fish sauce, ginger, ginger pork stir-fry, mange-tout, mushrooms, pan, peppers, piping hot, pork tenderloin, ready-made filo pastry, salt, seaweed, sesame oil, simmering, soup, soy sauce, spring onions, sticky rice, stir-fry, sunflower oil, sweet tooth, The Chinese New Year, The Year of the Rooster., toasted sesame seeds, toffee banana spring rolls, totally tasty recipes
Saturday January 28 marked The Chinese New Year and the start of The Year of the Rooster.
While there are celebratory events happening around the country over the next few weeks, if you would rather stay at home in the warm with family and friends, we have some quick and easy, but totally tasty recipes for you to try.
The staples for any Chinese feast are sticky rice, seaweed, beer, chopsticks and dim sum, you can then start with a delicious, spicy crab and sweetcorn soup. To serve six you will need:
- 6 tablespoons of fish sauce
- 2 medium sweetcorns with the kernels removed
- 4 teaspoons of cornflour
- 200g of fresh shredded white crab meat
- ½ thumb of peeled and finely chopped ginger
- 4 finely sliced spring onions
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons of chilli oil
- 1 tablespoon of dry sherry
- 2 lightly beaten egg whites
Fill a pan with water and as you bring to the boil stir in the fish sauce and add a pinch of sail. Then add the corn and simmer gently for five minutes.
Next add several large tablespoons of cold water to the cornflour, blend and pour into the simmering soup, mixing until completely combined and all lumps are dissolved. Continue to simmer until the kernels are soft and the soup has started to slightly thicken. Add the crab meat, ginger, spring onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and season to taste. Finally slowly drizzle the egg white into the soup to create long white strands then serve in bowls and add chilli oil as required.
For a main meal treat, go for ginger pork stir-fry, for which you will need:
- 250g of pork tenderloin
- 1 teaspoon of cornflour
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 150g of sliced mushrooms
- 2 deseeded, sliced red peppers and one yellow one
- 75g of trimmed mange-tout
- A thumb of grated fresh ginger
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 4 thinly sliced spring onions
- Freshly ground black pepper
This is quick to make, so get all the ingredients prepared and when guests are ready to eat mix the corn flour with two tablespoons of cold water until it is a smooth paste, and then gently stir in the soy sauce.
Warm the oil and when hot stir-fry the pork for a couple of minutes until lightly browned but not totally cooked through. Transfer to a plate then reduce the heat and stir-fry the mushrooms and peppers for several minutes together with the mange-tout and cook for a minute.
Add the ginger, garlic and spring onions and add the pork back to the pan and cook for several minutes and serve with rice when piping hot.
For those with a sweet tooth, there is nothing better than delicious than toffee banana spring rolls.
For these you will need:
- 100ml sunflower oil for frying
- 3 sheets of ready-made filo pastry
- 60g dulce de leche (a creamy caramel sauce)
- 3 ripe bananas
- Five-spice powder, for sprinkling
- Coconut ice cream and toasted sesame seeds, to serve
To make the rolls start by heating the sunflower oil in a saucepan, or you can use a deep-fat fryer set to 180C.
As the oil warms, cut the sheets of pasty in half and halve the bananas.
Spread two generous teaspoons of duche de leche over each halved banana; sprinkle over some spice and then place the banana at the bottom of the pastry sheet before creating your roll. Brush a little water across the seam to seal then repeat the process with the rest of the banana halves.
Deep-fry the rolls until crispy and golden, use kitchen paper to drain and serve with the ice cream and if you dare, repeat.
Have fun and if you have a Chinese recipe you love, let us know.
Team Pure-Beauty
