Smoky Wok

This is just a simple dish of spinach noodles mixed together with some ground pork and dong choy (pictured). The noodles are not fried at all but the ground pork mixture is cooked with garlic, green onions and simply spooned onto the noodles when one is ready to eat. For added flavour, saute some garlic slices and keep the oil from it - spoon a small amount onto the noodles before eating. I always add a dash of pepper and of course my favourite spicy bird's eye chilli peppers (pictured below). I took a picture of the noodles that I regularly use for my dear readers to get an idea as a reader asked me how they looked like. Dong Choy is I would say an acquired taste, it is salted vegetables and they have to be soaked in water for a bit before using to lessen the saltiness. You can choose to omit the dong choy but if you are feeling 'adventurous' enough (for my non-Asian readers), you can get it easily at any local Asian grocery store - they add some crunchiness to the bite and imparts a unique flavour to the dish.

Toriniku nanban-zuke
Adapted from the Book of Practical Japanese Cooking by Tsuji & Hata

So after featuring seafood dishes in my last few posts, tonight I've decided to try out this Japanese chicken dish which is essentially deep-fried chicken bites soaked in a dashi-based marinade. Dashi lends the distinctive Japanese flavour while according to the authors of this excellent recipe book, this dish was brought in by foreigners to Japan in the 17th century. This makes an excellent appetizer as the vinegary dashi marinade imbues a refreshing spin on regular fried chicken bites. It is definitely a little different from usual Japanese fare and since the longer the chicken soaks in the marinade, the tastier it gets - this is perfect for a dinner party as you can keep it refrigerated in the marinade for 24 hours before serving.



Ingredients:
3 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
Flour for dredging
Enough oil for deep-frying

Marinade:
2-3 green onions, only the white parts (keep the green parts for garnish if you wish)
1 medium onion of half a regular onion
1 tbsp cooking oil
2-3 bird's eye chilli peppers (the recipe called for dried red chilli peppers - in my opinion, the bird's eye lends another fragrant touch to it)
3/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup bonito stock (dashi)
3 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce

Method:
Firstly, prepare the marinade. Cut the green onions into 1 inch pieces and either grill them or saute them in a pan until soft. Set aside. Now, slice the onion thinly. Heat the cooking oil in a pan, swirling around to coat. Saute the onion until it becomes soft. Add in the chilli peppers, green onions and the remaining ingredients into the pan. Bring to a boil - spoon into a bowl and let cool.

Now, for the chicken bites, I used 3 pieces of thighs chopped into bite sized pieces. You may of course use chicken breast if you prefer although I much prefer the texture of thighs. Preheat enough cooking oil for deep-fry the chicken pieces. Dredge the pieces in flour and deep-fry until golden brown. Once cooked, remove from pan and while the chicken is still hot, place the pieces into the marinade and let it soak for about 5 minutes at least. Spoon chicken pieces onto serving dishes and ladle the marinade on top. Garnish with green onions if desired.

For some of my other delicious Japanese dishes:

Miso cooked Spare Ribs

Sake Simmered Chicken

Assorted Sushi

No Asian cooking food blog would be complete without the quinessential fried rice - the fried rice du jour is seafood! The possibilities for fried rice are virtually limitless, from seafood to chicken to spam or even just simply egg or garlic fried rice are all delicious alternatives. Fried rice was 'invented' centuries ago simply to make use of the various leftovers in one's kitchen - hence usually leftover rice is used. The idea of making use of only leftovers of course may be a little obsolete today as all kinds of 'deluxe' fried rice dishes have been made.



Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked rice (preferably 1 day old)
1 pound shrimp, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound squid, cut into bite sized pieces (boil beforehand if raw) - this is to avoid unnecessary moisture
3 stalks green onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 eggs, beaten
Soy sauce to taste
Pepper to taste
Dash of sesame oil



Method:

First, coat your wok or pan with oil and swirl around. Once hot, pour in the egg mixture and scramble until almost set but not quite. Remove from pan and place in a separate plate. Next, heat up another tablespoon of oil and swirl around to coat pan. Saute garlic and green onions till fragrant. Add the shrimp and squid (or other ingredients you may choose) and saute together. I then put about 2 tbsps of soy sauce and a dash of sesame oil at this point. Now, spoon the cooked rice (break it up with a spoon beforehand to minimise lumps) into the wok and fry for a little bit. Add the previously scrambled egg and mix in as throughly as you can with the rice. Do a taste test and add in more soy sauce if needed now. Finally sprinkle some pepper and a dash of sesame oil - use your spatula or spoon to mix the rice around in the wok until the rice is well coated. Serve hot. Garnish with some sliced green onions if you wish. I served mine with some bird's eye chilli peppers smashed in soy sauce.

Well, I finally got a new computer which is a gazillion times faster than the old junk that I had - apparently I was the culprit for the incredible sloth-like behaviour of my old PC since I downloaded indiscriminately all the time, most notably Hong Kong, Taiwainese, Korean dramas as I am an addict to those incredibly delicious dramas! Yup, I really can't live without my daily dose of healthy (?) Asian dramas...hmm. Anyways, enough with my PC 'drama' - today I feature a delightfully simple dish of squid stir-fry. The bird's eye chilli peppers add a spicy aroma to this dish. Another deceptively delicious dish brought to you by yours truly.



Click below for another alternative with the versatile squid:
Spicy Deep-fried Squid


Ingredients:
Squid (I used pre-carved squid bought at the Asian store)
2 stalks green onions, sliced
2-3 bird's eye's chilli peppers, sliced (you may remove the seeds and soak in cold water for a bit to remove a little of the spiciness)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 slices of ginger, slivered
1-2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxiang Wine (Chinese cooking rice wine)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp black bean sauce
Dash of pepper

Method:
Firstly, swirl around 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a hot pan for a bit. Next, add in garlic, shallots, green onions, ginger slivers and peppers - fry till fragrant. Now, add the squid bites into the pan and swirl around a little more to get a little crunchiness. Next, add the black bean sauce, soy sauce, wine, sugar and pepper. Add about 2 tbsps of water and just stir fry until cooked. Do a little taste test on the flavour and of course add more soy sauce or sugar to taste. Serve hot.

I absolutely love eating prawns and a few days ago, I decided put together my version of the famous Chinese Drunken Prawns dish. I however used frozen tiger prawns as I don't think I can stomach live prawns wriggling and literally getting drunk in wine and then boiled alive! Anyway, wolfberries add a nice flavour to the dish and these berries (dried usually) can be found at any Asian grocery store. My favourite part of this dish was actually the broth - adjust the amount of wine you use according to your preference.



Ingredients:

1/2 pound tiger prawns (or you may use smaller prawns/ shrimp)
2 stalks green onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp of dried wolfberries (rinsed)
2-4 tbsps Chinese Rice Wine (Shaoxing wine)
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsps of sugar
A handful of cilantro for garnish (optional)

Method:

Firstly, butterfly the prawns to allow the flavours of the broth to seep in better. Now, heat up about 1 tbsp of cooking oil in a wok or pan. Once hot, saute the garlic, green onions and wolfberries until fragrant. Now, add the prawns and stir around quickly. Turn the heat down, and add the rice wine, soy sauce and sugar. Add about 4 tbsps of water into the mixture. Allow to simmer lightly until prawns are cooked. Taste the broth before serving and add more sugar or soy sauce if needed. Serve hot.

Some of my friends have been noting that I have been cooking lesser - in fact, this is not true, just that I've been slow to upload photos to my computer as the latter is acting up really bad, slower than a snail! Well, today I offer miso cooked spare ribs, something I thought up since I did not have the Chinese version, i.e. bean paste in my fridge. So I figured miso i.e. the Japanese equivalent can do the job as well! Easy to prepare as most of my dishes are yet never compromising on flavour..hahaha.



Ingredients:

Spare ribs (about 1 pound)
4 cloves garlic, left whole but smashed
Green onions, sliced (save the green parts for garnish)
1 tbsp white miso paste
1-2 tbsps of sake
2 tbsp light soy sauce
Pinch of sugar

Method:
Firstly, heat up about 1 tbsp of cooking oil in your pan. Next, saute the garlic and green onions until fragrant. Turn heat to low - add the miso paste, sake and light soy sauce. Add the ribs in finally and stir around until cooked. Add a pinch of sugar. You may also add about 2-4 tbsps of water using your own judgement. As always, the seasonings serve as a guide, add more or less and play around with the quantities to suit your tastes! Serve hot.