Spicy Roast Chicken Stuffed with Sticky Rice

I've been eying this recipe for some time, ever since i saw it on Pig Pig's Corner, which made it look utterly delicious. Despite some westerners (my mum!) not liking the sound of 'glutinous rice' this dish was one of the best i have made in a long time. Tender, spicy morsels of chicken with a sweet sticky rice stuffing, drawing in so many oriental flavors. I had yumcha for lunch today and even then i was still eager to eat this dish for dinner! I think I've found a new Pot Luck staple....

You will need to start this recipe the day before! 

Sichuan Style Fried Green Beans - Gan Bian Si Ji Dou

I've been craving Gan Bian Si Ji Dou for so long, ever since my friend Eugene visited from Singapore and arranged a catch-up at a Sichuan restaurant in Swanston Street. We ordered copious amounts of food and yet i kept on piling my dish up from the bowl of chewy fried green beans and pork.

In typical Sichuan style, this dish brings together the harmonious taste/sensations of oil, heat and salt which is what i feel makes it so irresistible! If you discipline yourself you can cut the oil down significantly in the dish and make it, well, somewhat approximate a healthy dish (if you squint REALLY hard).

I may have gone a bit overboard with my hankering for spice and salt this week! I'm doing Mapo on Tuesday for my father and Korean Fried Chicken for myself on Wednesday- stay tuned for that one!

Seared Pork & Ginger Dumplings with Mapo Sauce

So for a while now I've been toying around with making some chilli oil dumplings. I love that peppery warmth that comes from chilli oil that coats your tongue in a delicious heat. But i also wanted to try something a little bit new, not the stock standard chilli oil dumplings. How to take it up a notch? Add Mapo!

I was surprised how well this dish worked; i would make a very impressive plate at a one of those trendy new small plate bars. The freshness inside the dumpling (with the ginger and water chestnuts) does not get tainted by the mapo and there are two distinct flavours happening here.

Ginger Scallion Noodles with Grilled Chicken

I have great respect for the work of David Chang. I don't really want to write too much about him, lest i become another blogger who rants about the great respect they have for the work of David Chang. Whoops...

Anyway, one of my favorite cookbooks is the Momofuku cookbook. The story it tells, the detail it goes into, is just phenomenal. I really feel that if i go to the effort and obey his directions in the recipe, the dish will definitely turn out amazingly. Unfortunately those directions are often quite laborious and involve difficult-to-find ingredients!

This second dish that i have made from his cookbook is much simpler than the pork belly buns. Really, it's just the sauce for the noodles, and then you layer what you like ontop. My mum normally doesn't like egg noodles like this, but because the sauce does not weigh down the dish, and is quite light, she was converted.

Mars Bar Steamed Buns

o I've been dwelling on creating a different type of bao for a while now... trying to make my own twist of the epitome of steamed buns, the char siu bao that is obligatory at any number of yum cha establishments. The fluffy bun with the salty sweet pork, mmm, so delicious! But i was looking for something a little more refined, a little more savory, a little more, complex...

So how did i end up at mars bar steamed buns! I was so set on making bao using a filling i'd normally use in sang choy bao, with complex textures of crisp, crunchy, soft, etc, but then i was looking over a fish and chip shop menu and saw it there, my muse... the deep fried mars bar! Like a lightning bolt to the brain my synapses lit up at once and rather than funneling the energy into some sort of craving-induced coma it exposed itself as an idea - mars bar bao! And so it began.

The result was mixed. The Snickers bao i made first didn't carry that unctuous gooey deliciousness i wanted. But the mars bars, with their cavalier disregard for the nut, had the right texture. The buns themselves were fluffy but not sweet enough, so for the recipe below i've doubled the sugar content in the bun.

Sticky BBQ Wings

This weekend a group of friends came over for a Bogan BBQ in the 'burbs. On the menu: baby back ribs, chicken wings and snags on the barbie of course! I've always had a soft spot (literally) for honey soy BBQ wings, sticky and blackened! These ones keep true to the basic flavours but add a little more depth with the addition of the scallions, ginger and sesame oil. And the chilli sauce gives them just a bit of kick! If it were just me eating them, i'd up the chilli sauce a bit more.

The cooking time might seem excessive but a person in the know (thanks mum!) let me in on a good secret: there's nothing worse than wings where the fat in the skin has not melted, so it's a bit rubbery. The long cooking time ensure that the fat melts through the meat, keeping it tender and crisping the skin! Good basting and turning will ensure the wings don't burn. 

Tsumiki Fusion Soba with Cha Siu Pork

A bit of background lifted from About.com: Tsukimi soba is hot buckwheat noodles with a raw egg topping. Tsukimi means moon viewing in Japanese. Since the egg resembles the full moon, these kinds of noodle dishes with egg toppings are called "tsukimi."

This dish, with it's sweety cha siu pork, bok choy and chicken broth base, it most definitely not your authentic Japanese noodle soup. But hey! This one is even better :)

Beef Stir Fry with Shiitake & Oyster Mushrooms

You often hear of this obscure term, the 'breath of the wok'. Many of us know what it refers to, that smokey, almost indefinable flavour imparted into food cooked well in a wok. I had thought that it necessitated good wok seasoning, and extremely strong wok burners like those in noodle shops. But i am happy to say that with this recipe, i succeeded in imparted the breath of the wok into a dish!

Simple oyster sauce is one of my favorite types of stir fry. The delicious mushrooms soak up the rich sauce and the slightly singed greens are still crisp and fresh, but not raw as is the mistake of some wok newbies. Here i am acting like an expert when this recipe was ripped from the Masterchef website!

Pork Sang Choy Bao

I remember the first time i had this dish... we were at our local Chinese restaurant, a daggy little place in Ringwood. But i loved it. The food was actually quite good, and it was one place we went quite often with extended family to celebrate birthdays and the like. Normally the presence of three children ensured the ordering of such staple fares as honey chicken and sweet and sour pork. As my tastes matured i became a devotee of the crystal prawns. But when my mother ordered the 'pork in lettuce cup' I, and my siblings, were mortified! "You mean to tell us you wasted one dish on LETTUCE???" raced through our heads.

Thankfully, the dish came out, and we were instantly converted. My favorite part of this dish is the contract in textures, which can come from a variety of sauces. The slight chewiness of the ground meat, the crisp crunch of the water chestnuts, the unctuous stickiness of the hoisin. This version is not the most regal one out there, but it stays relatively true to my first taste of the dish at Ringwood Chinese Restaurant.

One change i made: replacing the fried noodles on which the pork mixture sits, with fresh bean sprouts.

Crisp Pork Belly with Caramel Vinegar

 Last night i had a few friends over for dinner. I decided to go with an Asian-oriented theme, and i knew that one of the essential foods i must cook had to be pork belly. I've been sitting on this recipe for a little while now, which i believe is derived from a Bill Granger one i saw on the website Cuisine.

Nothing is more deliciously savory that crispy, fatty, and luscious pork belly, and the rich saltiness of the meat in this dish is well balanced by the sweet-sourness of the caramel vinegar sauce over the top. For anyone that has indulged in the crisp pork hock @ the fantastic Longrain restaurants, this dish is quite similar in taste.

Wonton Soup

On my first overseas trip, i visited Hong Kong with my dad, and was delighted to discover the world of dumplings. Xiao long bao, har gow, siu mai... the list went on, but one of my favorite dishes grew to become wonton soup: a beautiful light chicken broth, bobbing with succulent wontons.

Here in Melbourne the quality of wonton soup, and in particular the wontons themselves, varies considerably. This recipe, which i have tweaked from an original by one of my favorite foodblogs, Rasa Malaysia, uses only prawns and no pork in the wontons, for a wonderfully crunchy burst of flavour contained in the little parcels. I was particularly proud of the broth as well, which came out magically similar to the ones i had tasted in Hong Kong.

Chong Qing Lazi Ji (Sichuan Chilli Chicken)

On a cool winter evening, late in 2008, and upon returning from a chilly viewing of the penguins at Phillip Island, myself and a few friends decided to venture to a quaint little chinese restaurant in the heart of Melbourne, called Dainty Sichuan. Being the only one who hadn't been to Dainty before, i let me friends order, blissfully unaware of the experience that awaited me. The plastic red chillis hanging from the walls were too-subtle clues for me in my hungry state.

So the first dish came out: semi dried slithers of beef, served cold, with a sharp chilli hit in every bite. Then some chilli eggplant, searing my nostrils with each bite. And a chilli fish stew permeated my senses as i watched my friends devour, wipe their brow, devour.

And then it came out. The signature dish: Chong Qing Lazi Ji. Crisp little morsels of heaven and hell in one bite, burrowed like nuggets of gold in a field of chillis and peppercorns. Moist and tender, the first bite bursts with flavour, before you pause, wavering, then lunge for the bottle of milk at the table only to cry out in anguish to find it's soy milk and does nothing to bathe your withering tastebuds! There is only one thing left to do- continue!! Continue until it's all gone and rush like hell to the nearest gelataria.

Please, please note: Unless you have a death with, eat the chicken but NOT the chillis. 

Salt & Pepper Prawns

My father can spot cheap seafood from about 50 miles away. Asking him what he wanted for dinner that night, i made the (error?) of mentioning that i might cook something with prawns. Immediately he lit up, excitedly telling me about the sale on prawns down at the local supermarket.

Well, right he was, so i grabbed 20 of the things and set about making salt and pepper prawns. This dish, like all of the best prawn dishes, is elegantly simple, consisting of just salt, pepper and cornflour. However the dry, crisp prawns marry so well with the salt and the heat of the pepper, making them absolutely delicious. If it wasn't for the quite salty Dan Dan Mian that i serve with this, i would have easily polished off the entire bowl.

Dan Dan Mian

I do have a love affair for Sichaun food. From the smoky sweet kung pao chicken, to the fiery hot morsels of fried chicken in chong qing lazi ji, Sichuan food is an epitaph in today's age for the overpoweringly strong flavors of garlic, salt and chilli.

My understanding of Dan Dan Mian or Spicy Sichuan Noodles is that the sauce can be almost souplike, where the noodles are swimming around; or, as in this case, the sauce clings to the noodles as like an Italian pasta. Either way, Dan Dan Mian is a mouth watering mix of creamy peanut, pungent garlic and ginger, and salty pork. 

To cater to the tastes of my diners (my mum for one! haha) i toned down the heat a little in this recipe. Feel free to crank up the heat with dried chillis or more peppercorns.

Momofuku's Pork Belly Buns

 
If there's an 'in thing' in the food blogosphere lately, it's recreating the dishes of David Chang's Momofuku. Whilst i've never actually been to the New York noodle bar i have seen his Pork Belly buns posted on countless websites, and the moment i got my hands on some good pork belly (from... surprise surprise Victoria St!) it was time to try this dish.

I don't think i've gotten better rave reviews of something i've cooked before from my family. The crisp, salty pork, the soft, fluffy buns... everything just worked together perfectly. It is very difficult not to compare this dish with peking duck, with the same balance of textures and flavors. The difference is, that despite being labor intensive, this dish probably only cost around $16 to make! Better still, it can be frozen and reheated easily, and would make a fantastic dinner party, picnic or lunchbox snack.

As per usual i have taken my own liberties with the recipe and as such this is not 100% faithful to David Chang's original. Also please note that this recipe must be started the day before you want to eat it.

Spicy Black Bean Pork Ribs

Another result of a trip to Victoria St in Richmond was some beautiful short ribs. Considering we'd recently picked up a big back of salted black beans that would otherwise sit in the fridge for the next 10 years, my mind immediately went to black bean ribs!

Salty, bite sizes morsels of pork, rich with black bean flavor. It's really hard not to keep eating these!

Congee with Chicken, Ginger and Scallions

So i was home sick today with a bit of an upset stomach. But i didn't let that stop me cooking; in fact, it presented the ideal opportunity for me to make something i've been wanting to make for a long time: congee!

Congee is a Chinese rice porridge soup; the most basic congee is simply a soup of salted rice cooked for a long time until the soup is thick and the rice is dissolving into the liquid. There are countless other versions, and you can be quite creative as to what you add to the congee: meat, fish, mushrooms, vegetables... anything really. 

This recipe follows closely to the other other congee i've ever had, made by my friend Mark. The ginger, amongst it's many other benefits, is said to aid digestion, and the soupy rice is filling and satisfying yet easy on the stomach. This is the eastern version of 'moms chicken soup' to cure what ails ya.

Kung Pao Chicken

Kung Pao chicken is a dish everyone has heard of thanks to its popularity in America and it's related inlfuence on television. (George Constanza ends up breaking the heart of a dying boy as the result of Kung Pao Chicken).

Well the first time i'd actually had it was at Choi's restaurant in Hawthorn East. If you haven't been there, it's worth a look. From an unopposing little door on a fairly quiet stretch of road, you enter an almost obscenely decorated dining room complete that looks like it came from Las Vegas. Having said that it seems to work, the service is impeccable, and the dishes are delicious.

Anyway! I'm not saying this dish is authentic, but it's not the terrible rubbish you get at franchise Chinese restaurants or noodle boxes. It's sticky-sweet, moist and tender, before the tingle of the sichuan peppers tap your shoulder.

Three Cup Chicken

The only place i've seen Three Cup Chicken on the menu that i can recall has been the Post-Mao Cafe in Little Bourke St, Melbourne. This restaurant really doesn't get the credit it deserves: admittedly, ordering off the standard menu is a ho-hum affair, but when you look at the special 'Maos Favorite Dishes' menu, the restaurant comes to life, with delicious, flavour packed meals such as velvety goldensand prawns, and rich, tender three-cup duck.

Red Cooked Pork Ribs

When i mentioned red cooked pork to many of my Singaporean or Malaysian friends (namely Darryl) they sometimes go into a bit of a frenzy, describing the gelatinous texture of the skin and fat as though it were a heavenly cloud. 

Personally, prior to trying red cooked pork, pork belly and Asian cut pork ribs were a vastly different affair of love for me. My love was of the crisp crackling skin of the deep fried bbq pork ribs, or the crunchy goodness of Perry's caramelized pork. So when i ordered red cooked pork belly at David's in Prahran, i was shocked to see this almost black, shiny, quivering cube of... something... served to me.

After a lot of research i still don't know how they got that pork looking so very black. Nobody online seems to have achieved that level. But in this recipe, though the look may not be the same, the taste is there.