Chinese steamed buns
I've eaten out three times this week. Two of these times was dim sum. There's a chain popping up around London called
PingPong. One of them is right opposite my office and there is also one around the corner on my way to the tube stop. So on Friday night, me and a friend from work stopped by there for an impromptu visit to savour some of their
"little steamed parcels of deliciousness."Having now gotten the taste of dim sum I thought I would try my hand at it myself. So to go with my chicken and sweet potato curry (below), I thought I would make Chinese steamed buns with pork filling.
I did some research and realised it wasn't going to be easy. I mean if this
guy and everyone who commented on his site were struggling with it, I was sure to have a hard time of it. I pre-warned Paul that they may be a flop, but I was game.
Oh, I don't have a steamer so I had to fashion this device:
It worked just fine.
Anyway - here's the recipe:
Chinese Steamed Buns:Ingredients
flour 300g
sugar 40g
a pinch of salt
instant yeast 4g
baking powder 10g
milk 140ml
vegetable shortening 15g (I used butter)
Method:
Mix all the powdered ingredient in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the wet ingredient into the well and mix in thoroughly. When they’re combined, add the shortening and knead until smooth. Rest at room temperature for 30 mins.
Now go on to make the filling:
FillingIngredients
lean minced pork 150g
garlic 2 cloves, minced
ginger about half the size of a golf ball, minced
shiitake mushroom 1/2 cup, sliced
dash sesame oil
dash soy sauce
dash oyster sauce
sugar 1TB
Japanese cooking sake wine 1 TB (I counldn't find this so omitted it)
cornstarch 1/2 TB
s + p to taste
Fry shallots, ginger and garlic in a wok until fragrant. Add in the mince and the rest of the ingredients - with the exception of the cornstarch and fry for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, add cornstarch and set aside until bun dough is ready.
Separate dough into ten balls, and roll into circles. Place your the filling in the centre of each circle and fold dough up until all sides meet at the top, and pinch to seal. Let rest for at least 15 minutes. Steam for 15 minutes. (To prevent some discoloration, add a splash of vinegar to the water under the steamer.)
One of the biggest issues that people seemed to have when making these was that they couldn't get them restaurant-white. I failed with this also, but I'm not one to be really fussed about colour. Mine turned out okay. A little bit heavy - but for a first go, not bad. Paul loved them.
They don't look that great though. See below:
Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry
I bought some Jamaican sweet potatoes last weekend from an asian grocery store so thought I'd put them to use in a curry. I searched the web for an appropriate recipe and found this below:
Ingredients:
45ml Indian curry powder or garam masala
15ml ground turmeric
500g skinless chicken thighs or chicken portions
25ml raw cane sugar
30ml sesame oil
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
4cm galangal, peeled and chopped (or ginger)
2 stalks lemon grass, chopped
10ml Chili paste or dried chili flakes
1-2 medium wweet potatoes, peeled and cubes
45 ml Nuoc cham (recipe for this to follow)
1 sml bunch of basil and coriander (cilantro), stalks removes
600ml can coconut milk
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Method:
In a small bowl, mix together the curry powder or garam masala and the turmeric. Put the chicken thighs in a bowl and coat with half of the spice. Set aside.
To make the caramel sauce, heat the sugar in a small pan with 7.5 ml water, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup turns golden. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Heat a wok or wide heavy pan and add the oil. Stir-fry the shallots, garlic, galangal and lemon grass until they begin to smell fragrant. Stir in the rest of the turmeric and curry powder with the chili paste or chili flakes, followed by the chicken, moving it around the wok for 2-3 minutes.
Add the sweet potatoes, then the nuoc mam, caramel sauce, coconut milk and 150 ml water. Stir well to combine the flavors. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Season with salt and pepper and stir half the basil and coriander through the curry.
Garnish with the remaining herbs.
Now to make the nuoc mam:
Nuoc Chamingredients
1 clove garlic
2 to 3 chillies, cored, seeded, and minced (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground chilli paste; more or less to taste
2/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 Tbs. shredded carrots (optional)
Method
In a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic and fresh chillies to a paste, (or mince them together with a knife.) In a small bowl, combine this garlic and chilli mixture with the chilli paste, hot water, and sugar. Stir well. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and combine. Float the carrots on top. Let sit for at least 15 minutes before using.
It turned out absolutely yummy. It's a more complicated curry than I've made before and it took me a while, but it was well worth it. We have a lot left over and each time I open the fridge door I get this waft of garlic and ginger. Yum.
Coq au vin
At the end of last year I did a wine harmonisation course with the London Wine and Food Academy and can I say ... two hours each Monday night of tasting food and wine is the BEST way to spend a Monday evening. It was pretty much all you can eat and all you can drink food and wine and I learnt a hell of a lot about wine. Harry and Mikhail were both excellent teachers - they had a real passion for wine. They pretty much both lived food and wine. Now that is my kind of career.
Anyway, it wasn't unusual to go home with a bottle full of a mixture of the red wines that we had drank during the class to use as a marinade in cooking. Being a non-red meat eater, one evening I asked Harry what I should cook my red wine with. He told me, coq au vin. I did ... and it's now a big treat in our household. I make loads and loads of it so it lasts for days and it gets better day after day. It's especially good for dipping crusty bread.
Ingredients
Chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 bottle or so, of good quality red wine
250g ( 8oz ) Shallots
250g ( 8oz ) button mushrooms
4 rashers of smoked bacon, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
sunflower oil and equal amount butter, for frying
1 level tablespoon of flour
Bouquet garni:
Celery stalk, 3-4 parsley stalks, sprig of thyme
and a bay leave, tied all together with string.
Method
fry the diced bacon, then add the shallots and fry until light brown
remove from pan and put aside
now fry the mushrooms gently until just going brown
remove from pan and put aside
clean pan and then heat more oil and butter
brown the chicken pieces on all sides,
drain off the fat
add the wine, crushed garlic bringing it to the boil
add the Bouquet garni and season to taste
let it simmer gently for 20 minutes
now add the bacon, shallots and mushrooms and let it simmer gently for another 10-15 minutes
thicken with flour and bring back to the boil, stirring all the time
let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes
I generally serve with mashed potato. Heaven!
Kaylyn's Chicken Curry
I've known Raylyn since high school. Her mum is Chinese and her dad is Australian, so she has managed to pick up some excellent culinary skills. One of my fondest memories of my high school years (among other things) with Ray is making kick @ss pizzas. Whilst back in Australia in Feb Paul and I had dinner at Ray and her husband Todd's place when she cooked up a storm for us. One of them was her mum, Kaylyn's scrummy chicken curries. Below is the recipe for it ... along with some commentary from Ray:
Kaylyn's Chicken CurryIngredients:
- Chicken - cut into bite size pieces (about 500g will feed 4 with leftovers)
- Garlic - finely diced (taste thing I generally put 2 fatcloves, UK garlic is weaker so maybe 3)
- 1 x Onion - quartered
- 3 x Roma Tomatoes - quartered
- 3 x Potatoes - cubes (have them steamed before cooking)
- 1 x Lemon Grass - white part only smash with hard object so it splits
- 3 x Red Chilli - cut in half
- Coconot Cream - 125 ml can (I prefer cream to milk it tastes better and thickens it up)
- Pataks Madras Curry Paste - large heaped teaspoon
How to:Add oil to saucepan, wait until it is hot, add garlic, onion and lemongrass. Cook on low heat add curry paste (this is a taste thing if you like it hot add more) for about 5 mins. You want to be able to smell all the flavours
Turn up and cook chicken. Add Roma tomotoes and potatoes, chillis.
Cover and simmer. This will take about 20 mins or so. Dont worry about the fact that there does not appear to be much liquid in the pan the tomatoes and chicken will release enough liquid.
When ready to eat add the coconut cream. Simmer for a bit and it will thicken up.
Uno
I'm crazy about cooking. It's one of the things that really really relaxes me. At home, when time permits, I can cook all day. There's nothing better than cooking a gourmet meal whilst drinking a glass of wine and listening to some funky music. That to me is a perfect Saturday afternoon. A lot of the things that I cook have a story to them, this is what this blog is going to be all about.
I love watching cooking shows and getting inspiration. I love reading recipe books from cover to cover and trying/adapting the recipes in these books to my palate. Luckily I have a very willing accomplice in my quest for cooking that perfect dish. Paul. I will cook, he will eat. Perfect harmony.
