Fried Rice December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 a Medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4 Rashers Bacon
1-2 sticks Celery (depending on size)
1 Carrot
Handful of peas and corn (frozen or tinned – or use some baby corn [those mini corn cobbs])
Dash of Soy Sauce
Dash of Oyster Sauce (optional)
Dash of Teriaki sauce (optional)
Rice (about 2 cups – depending on how many you are feeding, and how hungry they are)
Spices (Optional – I like Ginger, Galangal, Mace, Cardamon, Coriander and Black Pepper)

 
Method:
1). Put the rice on to boil. Alternately you could use a Rice cooker.
2). Chop the Bacon and Celery into bite sized pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Grate or very finely chop the carrot.
3). Fry the Bacon and Celery (and carrot if you chopped it) until bacon is about half cooked. Add the Onion and fry until Bacon and Onion are browned. Add the Garlic, Corn, peas and Carrot (if grated), and fry these until starting to brown.
4). Remove from heat until Rice is cooked. When rice is done, return pan to the heat and add rice to the frypan, with the sauces and any spices you want to add. (I use between 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon each). Mix together well, and then serve.

Fried Rice December 12, 2008

Ingredients:
1 tin Cocktail Prawns (those little tiny ones) or handful of fresh
Handful of Bean Shoots
1/2 a Medium Onion
1 Clove Garlic
4 Rashers Bacon
2 Eggs
Fresh Chives (about a handful)
1 Chicken Breast or 2 Chicken thighs
Rice (about 2 cups – depending on how many you are feeding, and how hungry they are)
Soy sauce

 
Method:
1). Put the rice on to boil. Alternately you could use a Rice cooker.
2). Chop the Bacon and Chicken into bite sized pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
3). Fry the Bacon and Chicken until about half cooked. Add the Onion and fry until Chicken and Onion are browned. Add the Garlic, Prawns, Bean Shoots and Chives. Fry these until starting to brown.
4). Remove from heat until Rice is cooked. Scramble eggs, or crack them into a frypan to make a thin omelette, then chop this omfrelette.
5). When rice is done, return pan to the heat and add Rice, Egg and Bacon Stock cube to the frypan. Mix together well, and then serve. You could use oyster sauce too if you like.

Wontons November 16, 2008

Probably not in the slightest bit authentic, but nice anyway.

 
Wontons #1
Pork mince
Spring Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Soy Sauce
Oyster Sauce
Teriaki Sauce

 
Wontons #2
Chicken Mince
Soy Sauce
Spring Onion
Ginger
Celery
Rice Noodles

 
Wontons #3
Chicken Mince
Ginger
Spring Onion
Bamboo Shoots
Bean Sprouts
Soy Sauce

 

Methods for Making the Mixtures:

 
Wontons #1
1). Very finely chop the ginger, onion and garlic. Add some pork mince and a splash of the sauces and mix well.
 
Wontons #2
1). Very finely chop the ginger, celery, onion and garlic. Add some chicken mince, some of the rice noodles you softened when making the spring rolls and a splash of soy and mix well.
 
Wontons #3
These were roughly based on a recipe for “chicken moneybags”, where they made a pouch like thing and tied the top with a piece of chive.
1). Very finely chop the ingredients. Add some chicken mince and a splash of the soy and mix well.

 

Methods for Assembling:
There are 2 ways I’ve done this.
 
Round Wrapper Pillow – Using a round wonton wrapper, put a spoonful of mixture in the centre. dip your finger into some water and run it around the edges of the wrapper. Fold the edges over to make a semi circle pillow. Press the edges down firmly. You can stand them up so the seam is on the top or let them lie sideways like a pillow. Place them on a very lightly floured plate to stop them sticking.
 
Round Wrapper “bag” – Using a round wonton wrapper, put a spoonful of mixture in the centre. dip your finger into some water and run it around the edge of the wrapper. Then squish the wrapper up together to make a little pouch. You’ll need to experiment with the amount of mixture you can add (its not much). They might open at the top slightly but thats ok. You can tie a chive around the top to keep it closed (and looking cool) Place them on a very lightly floured plate to stop them sticking.
 
Traditional Wontons – Do it like this – http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2008/02/wonton-soup.html

 
Cooking The Wontons:

 
Steamed – Steamed in a steamer (bamboo best) lined with fine muslin so they don’t stick, for about 20 mins.
 
Steamed & Fried – Steam for 10-15 mins, then shallow fry to make the outside crispy (normally you would have it so the bottom only is crispy)
 
Fried then simmered – Shallow fry in a large flat frying pan with a tiny amount of oil until browned (about 5 mins), then add about a centimetre of water to the frypan and put a lid on (or tray over the top), and allow it to simmer for about 10 mins.
 
Boiled – Drop into boiling water, and simmer for about 10 mins.

Vegetarian Spring rolls November 16, 2008

Probably not in the slightest bit authentic, but nice anyway.

Ingredients:
Celery
Spring Onion
Garlic
Bean Sprouts
Bamboo Shoots
Cabbage
Grated Carrot
Ginger
Soy Sauce
Corn Flour
Rice Noodles (vermicelli)

 
Method:
1). Place the rice noodles into a bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Leave for 5 mins then drain.
2). Very finely chop the first 8 ingredients. Mix a tablespoon of cornflour with about 1/4 cup of water and mix well. Add this to the mix and mix.
3). I took a spring roll wrapper and cut it in half diagonally (making 2 triangles). I put a line of mixture in the centre of the wide end (about 3 inches long). Fold the 2 ends of the wrapper over so you have a long thin triangle shape with an opening at the bottom. Roll the roll up towards the point of the triangle and stick that down with a touch of water.
4). Deep fry until golden brown

Dim Sims November 16, 2008

Probably not in the slightest bit authentic, but nice anyway.

 
Ingredients:
I just tossed ingredients together, not measuring anything.
 
Pork mince
Cabbage
Ginger
Garlic
Spring Onion
Soy Sauce

 
Method:
1). Very finely chop the cabbage, ginger, onion and garlic. Add some pork mince and a splash of soy sauce and mix well.
2). Now I don’t know how to wrap one of these properly. I took a large spring roll wrapper and cut it into 4. I put a spoonful of mixture towards the bottom, folded the bottom corner up, then both sides in then rolled to the top – like a spring roll. Securing the end with water.
3). Steam for about 20 mins. (thin muslin fabric in your steamer stops them sticking, as does lightly spraying the steamer with oil)

Rice Paper Rolls November 16, 2008

Not really authentic, but still nice, and you can add whatever you like to them.

 
Ingredients:
(Things such as)

Rice Noodles (vermicelli)
Rice paper
Grated carrot
Finely chopped cucumber
Avocado
Chives
Coriander leaves
Mint leaves
Corn
Tuna (or prawns)
Bean shoots
Soy sauce

 
Method:
1). Dip the rice paper sheet in a bowl of water until wet. Lay on a clean tea towel.
2). Lay some noodles, carrot, cucumber, avocado, tuna/prawn and a sprinkling of soy sauce, chives and chopped mint leaf in a 2 inch strip on the bottom of the circle of rice paper. Fold the bottom edge up over the mix, then the sides over and roll the paper up into a roll.

 
You could use just about anything in these. The mint gives such a refreshing clean taste.

Dipping Sauce November 16, 2008

Useful for spring rolls and other Asian foods.

 
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons sugar
50ml soy sauce
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cornflour
50ml extra water
1 clove garlic crushed with a little salt

 
Method:
In a saucepan, bring to the boil the water, soy sauce and sugar. Mix the cornflour with the extra water, and add to the saucepan, stirring well until it thickens. Add the crushed garlic, and cool before serving.

Spring Rolls November 16, 2008

(Makes 4-6 medium to large rolls)

Ingredients
1 packet spring roll pastry
1 tsp cornflour
1 tb cold water
1 tb soy sauce
100g chicken breast, chopped finely
100g cooked prawns, chopped finely
1/2 cup each of celery, onions and mushrooms
1 cup cabbage, finely shredded
2 tablespoons peanut oil
chives, chopped
coriander, chopped
pepper and salt to taste
a few drops of sesame oil
3 egg yolks, beaten
extra peanut oil for frying

 
Method:
1). Thaw pastry if still frozen, and keep covered with a damp teatowel.
2). Marinate the chicken in the soysauce, water and cornflour.
3). Lightly fry the celery, onions, cabbage and mushroom in a hot frypan/wok with the peanut oil
4). Add the chicken with it’s marinade, and continue to fry for about 2 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the prawns, remove from heat and allow to cool.
5). Once cooled, mix in the coriander, chilves salt and pepper to taste and a few drops of sesame oil.

 
To assemble the rolls, place a wrapper down and spoon 2-3 tb of the cool mixture toward the bottom corner. Roll up a little, fold the ends in, then continue to roll to the end (See here). Seal with beaten egg. Cover with a damp teatowel to keep it from drying out.

 
Fry in hot oil until golden brown (about 5mins), drain and serve with a dipping sauce.

 
(From:
http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/2001/archives/2001_archives?p=1377)