Yuk Sung

You may recall that following my search for wheat-free Oyster Sauce, at the end of April I splashed out on a few bits and pices from an online Chinese superstore. One of the ideas I had in mind when making said purchases, was for Yuk Sung, a popular chinese appetiser of minced pork and vegetables wrapped in lettuce leaves. After a bit of poking around on the internet to look for adaptable recipes, I came up with the following recipe. We had it for dinner last week and this amount was enoughf or us both as a main course, so would comfortably serve 4 as a starter. Remember to spread a little Hoi Sin sauce on the lettuce leaves before wrapping for the ultimate in yumminess! It's one of those recipes that looks terrible ('like worms'), but tastes really, really good!

Yuk Sung

400g Minced Pork
1 Small Tin Bamboo Shoots (chopped finely)
1/2 Small Tin Water Chestnuts (chopped finely) - optional
3 Dried Chinese Mushrooms (softened in boiling water and chopped finely. Alternatively use Shi-take)
1 Piece Chinese Black Fungus (softened in boiling water and chopped finely) - optional
2 Cloves Garlic (chopped finely)
Approx 1" Fresh Root Ginger (chopped finely)
1 tbsp Oil
5 tbsp Soy Sauce
4 tbsp Oyster Sauce
2 tbsp Shaosing Wine
2 tsp Corn Flour
1 tsp Sugar
Salt & Pepper

1) Put the minced pork in a parge bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to stand until the meat is cooked, drain and set to one side.

2) Fry the ginger and garlic in the oil for a minute before adding the minced pork.

3) Mix well and stir through all the finely chopped vegetables.

4) Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaosing, sugar, salt and pepper; stir well

5) Mix the cornflour in a little water and add to the meat, stiring well.


To Serve:
Approx 100g Thin Rice Noodles (uncooked)
- Heat approx 1cm depth oil in a large pan. When hot, add small bunches of the rice noodles - they will swell up and go white, puffy and very crispy - this is really fun to do! :-)

1 Iceberg Lettuce (leaves separated)
Hoi Sin sauce

- Break up the rice noodles into small 1cm pieces (they'll break apart easily in your hands). Place on a plate and top with the meat mixture.

- Spread a small amount of Hoi Sin sauce on a lettuce leaf, top with a spoonful of the rice noodles and meat, wrap up and enjoy!

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry

I finally found somewhere that sells gluten free oyster sauce! Wing Yip have supermarkets around the country, but none very convenient for me, so I placed an order online this weekend. Unfortunately the postage cost £5, so I made sure I got my money's worth by stocking up on a couple of jars of oyster sauce, Shaosing, bags of black fungus and dried chinese mushrooms, and some other bits and pieces - I've got a couple of recipes in mind for this week, can you tell? :-)

But in the absence of oyster sauce, what do you do when you receive the most enormous bunch of purple sprouting broccoli in your vegetable box?
On Saturday night, having just finished a stack of ironing, I realised it was getting pretty late and that I was actually, pretty hungry! Wanting something quick, I figured that a stir fry would work. If you have a rice cooker, it's even better because you can just set the rice cooking and by the time the rest is ready, the rice is cooked!

1 Chicken Breast (chopped into smallish pieces)
5 Purple Sprouting Broccoli Stems (chooped into 1" lengths)
1 Clove Garlic (crushed)
1/2" Fresh Ginger (sliced finely)
1 tbsp Cornflour
1 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp 5 Spice Powder
1 large tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Lime Juice

1) Mix the chicken with the cornflour and a little of the oil until well-coated. Set aside for 15 minutes. (This is where you start preparing your rice and cooking it ;-) )

2) Blanch the broccoli in boiling water for a couple of minutes; drain and set aside.

3) Fry the garlic and ginger in the remainder of the oil for 30 seconds. Add the chicken and continue to cook until sealed. Add the broccoli and stir-fry until the chicken is *just* cooked.

4) Mix the soy sauce, lime juice, honey and five spice together before adding to the pan. Stir through until everything is well-coated. Serve immediately over your rice.

Chinese-Style Chicken and Sweetcorn Sunshine Soup

Have you ever been for a Chinese meal (or grabbed a take-out) and been served that gloopy, grey-yellow mess that is often the excuse for Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup?

In theory it should be one of the nicest (in my opinion) soups on the menu but so frequently it's over-thickened with corn starch and there's hardly a piece of chicken in it!

Fortunately it's very easy to make your own and because it is so quick to put together (even more so if you use leftover roast chicken), I sometimes make it in the mornings and take some to be reheated for lunch at work. Because of it's high protein content, it would also be great to eat just after a workout at the gym.

If you make this with good quality eggs, the final colour tends to be a very bright yellow, hence the name :-)

500ml Chicken Stock

1 Large Chicken Breast (sliced into thin strips)

1 Small Tin Unsalted/Unsweetened Sweetcorn

1 Large Egg (lightly beaten)

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp Sesame Oil

Approx 1 Heaped tbsp Cornflour (mixed with a little cold water until 'dissolved')

Finely Ground White Pepper & Salt

(Spring Onions to garnish)

Serves 2

1) Heat both oils in a saucepan and lightly cook the chicken until sealed.

2) Add the chicken stock and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

3) Drain the sweetcorn and add to the soup - turn the heat right down.

4) Using a fork (yes, a fork), slowly drizzle the egg into the soup in so it forms thread-like 'ribbons' - if you tip the egg in too fast it will just form a solid mass

5) Season with salt and pepper to taste, before adding the cornflour a little at a time, stirring constantly until the soup is at the desired thickness (remember that the soup will continue to thicken as it re-reaches boiling temperature, so don't add too much cornflour. If it does become too thick, stir in a little more water or chicken stock)

Soy Glazed Salmon with Sesame Seeds

I was going to give you this recipe I came up with along with the recipe for the vegetable rice noodles that I did with it, but I've still not managed to cook rice noodles so they don't stick to the pan and disintegrate (any hints anyone? I soak in cold water for 10 minutes and then blanche in boiling water until soft)! So until I suss the noodles, you'll have to make do with the salmon by itself - not literally of course; it would go perfectly well with normal egg noodles or rice and stir-fried vegetables.

2 Salmon Fillets
3 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Soy Sauce (Gluten-Free if you are that way inclined)
1 tsp 5-Spice Powder
1 tsp Minced Garlic
2 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Preheat oven to 180 C

1) Mix the honey, soy sauce, 5-spice and garlic together well.

2) Spoon 2 tbsp of the marinade on to a plate and place the salmon fillets face-down into the sauce so the flesh gets flavoured. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

3) Place the salmon skin-side down on a small baking tray and bake for 15 minutes before removing from the oven.

4) Turn on the grill to high, spoon a little more marinade over each piece of salmon and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Grill on high until the top of the fish is slightly caramelised and the seeds are turning golden.

Coconut Rice Pudding

This Sunday I did a Chinese-style roast chicken and wanted to try something a little different for pudding. This is an adaptation of Delia's Traditional Rice Pudding recipe - very scrummy but you can't eat a lot at once! Goes really nicely with slices of fresh mango.

1 cup Jasmine Rice
400ml Can of Coconut Milk
500ml Milk
50g Sugar
1 Sachet Coconut Cream
2 tbsp Dessicated Coconut
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Ground Nutmeg
Whole Star Anise (optional)

Preheat oven to 150 Celcius

1) Heat coconut milk, milk, sugar, coconut cream, vanilla essence and dessicated coconut in a saucepan.

2) Add rice and simmer until the rice just starts to soften.

3) Pour into a greased dish and place in the oven. Stir after 30 minutes.

4) Cook for another 30 and stir again. Sprinkle well with nutmeg, decorate with star anise and bake util the rice is cooked and the top is golden.