Green Mango Salad with Chargrilled Chicken

 Finally! Just over 12 months ago today i arrived back in Melbourne from my first trip to Thailand. I arrived rested, exciting, and... craving! My trip to Thailand consisted of binge consumption of four things: Red pork curry (made...tick!), pad thai (made...tick!), mango and sticky rice (made...tick!), cocktails (made....tick!) and papaya salad (not yet made!). It's soooo hard to find green papayas here in Australia, but this week as i was walking through Coles i noticed green mangos! With no hesitation i piled three into my basket and trundled for the cashier, eager to race home and make this salad.

 If you have not had green mango or green papaya before you might feel put off by the thought, but don't. There is no strong sourness or bitterness imparted by the unripe fruit. Instead, it's more about the texture. Crisp and fresh like cucumber but firmer and less watery. With the combination of the refreshing mango sticks and the salty/sour/spicy dressing, this dish is a killer summer salad which i will continue to make so long as i can get my hands on green mangoes and papayas. 

Korean Fried Chicken

Holy frijoles how has nobody ever dragged me out for Korean Fried Chicken before?? This is really a piglet's delight. Succulent pieces of crisp fried chicken tossed in a spicy Korean sauce. The ultimate in finger licking indulgence, i could have polished off the whole lot myself (and almost did!).

Seriously though, this dish is too good not to try. I'm not a big deep frying person as apart from the health considerations there' the hassle with all the oil and the draining and getting it to the right temperature and whatnot. But i can guarantee you that, even if you are a low-use deep fryer like me, these wings will convert you! So long as you don't mind (a lot) of spice!

A note here: traditionally, this recipe calls for gojuchang, which is a Korean chili paste. Unfortunately i couldn't get my hands on any so i substituted with Sichuan Chili Bean Paste and tweaked the sauce to get the right flavour.

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.

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.

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.

Carnitas with Salsa and Salad

 Summer and Mexican food go so well together. The spice and freshness of the cuisine, made properly, is so light and yet satisfying. Don't be fooled into thinking of your local Taco Bill as Mexican fare. That's Tex-Mex and there is a substantial difference. Do away with stodgy! But keep the margarita :)

Carintas is a shredded crispy pork that is often used as a filling for tacos and burritos, similar to the shredded beef we're all accustomed to here in Australia. The thing i love about this version of carnitas is the crispiness achieved on the outside of the chunks of pork, begging to soak up the tangy salsa and creamy sour cream sides.

This salsa is pretty close to the stuff you get in jars, old el paso style. Although i tend to prefer the fresher, zingy salsas, this one paired well with the carnitas and side salad.

Ingredients

Carnitas

• 1kg boned pork shoulder, cut into 15cm chunks
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp chili pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Olive Oil
• Water
• 1 tbs salt

Salsa

• 5 tomatos, seeds removed, and diced
• 1 green capsicum, pith removed, and diced
• 1/2 brown onion, diced
• 1tbs olive oil
• 1tbs tomato paste

Method:

Carnitas

Rub the salt over each of the pork chunks, and refridgerate overnight

Place crock pot over medium heat with 1tbs of vegetable oil

Place pork chunks into the pot and brown well on all sides, moving as little as possible.

Remove pork chunks and set aside.

Add 1 cup of water to crock pot and scrape off the yummy caramelized bits off the bottom of the pot.

Add spices and stir.

Place pork chunks back into the crock pot, and fill pot with water until pork is 2/3 submerged.

Place in an oven at 180 degrees for 3 1/2 hours, turning regularly, or until pork is flaky and liquid is most evaporated.

Remove pork chunks and flake into bite sized pieces.

Place pork back into pot and into the oven, uncovered.

Turn pork regularly until all liquid is evaporated and desired crispiness of the pork is achieved.

Salsa

Bring a saucepan to medium heat with the oil.

Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes or until softened.

Add all other ingredients and bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Refridgerate until cold.

Serve the carnitas hot, along with the salsa, a side salad, and a dollop of sour cream. Perfect summer fare. Alternatively serve into tortillas (if you don't forget to buy them like i did).

Spicy Sichuan Cucumber Salad

Finally getting around to posting my Sichuan meals from a couple of weeks ago. I adore Sichuan food. Even though i'm not great at handling ultra spicy food, there's something incomparable about Sichuan cusine, with the heavy lashings of pepper, spice, garlic, and salt that makes me salivate just thinking about it. The one thing that irks me though, is that at places like Dainty Sichuan, i can't find anything other than boiled rice as a palate cleanser! My mouth is searing from the moment i walk in, with no salvation until i literally run to the gelato shop after dining. This dish is a little bit toned down, and the cucumbers has a nice cooling effect on the palate.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium cucumbers
• 1 tsp dried, crushed chilli
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
• Sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1tbs red wine vinegar
• 1tbs brown sugar
• Cooking oil
• 1tps chilli paste
  

Method:

Peel the cucumbers, then cut in half lengthwise, and then each strip again in half to give four strips. Using a knife, remove the seeds and pith. Cut the remaining strips into large bite sized chunks. 

Toss the cucumber and the salt together in a bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to draw out moisture.

Heat a small pan on medium heat.

Add the oil, then garlic and sichuan pepper. 

Cook until fragrant then remove from pan and set aside to cool. 

Drain the cucumbers in a sieve.

Mix the vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and chilli paste in a bowl. 

Pour all mixtures over the cucumbers in a bowl, and toss.

Redfridgerate until cold.

This dish works will as an accompaniment salad for other sichuan foods. It's a little less extreme than most Sichuan dishes, and the cucumber has a cooling, cleansing effect on the palate. I, however, don't mind scoffing this salad alone as a quick lunch in summer with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.