Chinese Plum Sauce – Mark 2

Had my second attempt at making Chinese Plum Sauce after a 4 year gap. It’s taken that long between decent wild plum harvests!

The first time I made up a recipe, but this time I thought I’d trust the web. I turned up a recipe by Thane Prince, but unfortunately I didn’t bother to get rice wine vinegar and used pickling vinegar instead. The sauce is only 20 minutes old, but I do have to say it tastes more like a chutney as it has considerably more vinegar than my original recipe. Hopefully it will all mellow out as I store it away for a couple of months.

1kg plums, any colour
500ml rice wine vinegar
300g white onions
4 large cloves of garlic
5cm ginger
125ml soy sauce
500g sugar
3 star anise
1/2tsp hot chilli flakes

Stone and halve the plums. Add all the other ingredients (onions & garlic peeled and roughly chopped, ginger roughly chopped) to a large heavy based saucepan. Simmer for 20 minutes until the onions are soft. Remove the star anise and blend with a stick blender. Return the heat and simmer until it is a loose ketchup consistency. Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal with sterilised lids immediately.

As with most chutneys, leave for at least 2 months before using, so that the vinegar mellows. Unopened this will keep for a few years.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry
Instagram: sunhillmakesbakes

Sweet & Sour Vegetables with Noodles

A quick Sweet & Sour dish I learnt in Thailand. It’s a great way to vegetables into kids, even if you have to resort to selling it as ‘it’s got ketchup in’.

Below is the recipe as taught to me but I often use different vegetables depending on what I have left over. I always use carrot and pineapple, plus sometimes pak choi, cabbage, kale, red pepper. The list is endless. And again I usually add noodles, but you could serve this over rice.

Serves 2 greedy adults or 4 children

1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
1 carrot
1 cucumber
8 baby corn
220g pineapple chunks (keep the juice)
70g snow peas or green beans
1 chopped red chilli (optional) or 1 tsp hot chilli flakes
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped (optional)
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 layers of noodles

Sauce
2 tbsp lime or lemon juice
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
6 tbsp tomato ketchup
50ml reserved pineapple juice + water or stock

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Drain when cooked and leave in cold water to stop them cooking and sticking.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a bowl apart from the juice/water.

Prepare the cauliflower, carrot, snow peas, and baby corn and chop into bite sized pieces.

Put the oil into a wok and fry the garlic over a high heat until it starts to turn brown. Add the onion and stir fry. Add the cauliflower and carrot followed by the cucumber, baby corn and pineapple and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the chillies, tomatoes and peas and stir fry for another minute until all the vegetables are cooked. Add the sauce ingredients and noodles and stir to combine. Add as much or as little of the reserved juice/water to make it the consistency you like. Serve immediately.

Cooked chicken or pork can be added at the start with the garlic if wished.

The trick is to prepare everything before hand as once you start stir frying the dish is pretty much done in a matter of minutes.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Leftover Roast Pork in a Sweet & Sour Barbecue Sauce

This dish started off with me following the chilli sauce recipe from Ching-He Huang’s Chilli Chicken with Jasmine Rice, but as I added additional ingredients from a Thai Sweet & Sour dish I learnt in Thailand as I prefer the saltier flavours, it began to take on more of a barbecue sauce flavour. The kids have devoured it, including mine and Dad’s portions, so I had better write it down to be able to reproduce it again.

2 big handfuls of roast pork. If you don’t have this much you could always leave the pepper chunky and add a small tin of pineapple chunks to bulk the dish up.
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Sauce
1 tin of tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
2.5cm ginger
1 red pepper
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

Skin the garlic, de-seed and roughtly chop the pepper, roughtly chop the ginger and blend everything in a blender cup.

Fry the chopped pork in the sunflower oil, leaving it to brown as much as you dare. Add the sauce and bring to the boil. Serve with rice.

Roast & Rice Soup or Congee

Still can’t be bothered, and thankfully don’t seem to need, to do a big shop yet.  So hunting in the fridge for lunch ideas for the kids I found a duck carcass given to me by my mother after Christmas Eve supper.  As the kids seemed to like my Turkey Noodle Soup I thought I’d work along similar lines but use rice instead of noodles to make it more spoon friendly.  This could also be made with leftover roast turkey, chicken, pork, beef…

It is loosely based on congee, a porridge of seemingly overcooked rice we came across travelling in Malaysia and Thailand.  From memory the Thai congee was lightly flavoured with chilli, garlic and often with fried minced chicken and beaten egg, whereas the Malaysian congee in a Chinese cafe in Kuala Lumpur was served bland for us to pimp up with chillies in vinegar, soy or fish sauce.

The kids reaction was predictably mixed.  Princess and Sprout liked it.  Big Boy said it smelt yuck but tasted nice, toyed with it, and then said he was too full.  He was duly asked to wait at the table without pudding – well if he says he is too full – whilst the rest of us finished ours and had pudding.

Serves 4

Small handful of cooked duck meat (or any roast meat)
1 small leek
1 medium carrot
1 garlic clove
A couple of slivers of fresh ginger (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Star anise (optional)
1/2 mug basmati rice
3 mugs water
Chicken stock cube
2 tbsp Oyster Sauce (optional)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Pinch of chilli flakes

To make this porridge consistency I put all the vegetables and meat in the mini food processor, but you could just finely chop everything by hand,

Clean and mince the leek and carrot and start to fry gently in a saucepan whilst you mince the meat, ginger and garlic.  Add this to the frying vegetables then add the stock, rice, and star anise if using and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the rice is very soft.

Add the oyster sauce and soy sauce just before serving and a sprinkling of chilli flakes if desired.

NB.  Here is a quicker congee you could just add a handful of roast meat to.

My Leftover Turkey Compilation

It’s 28th December, and despite having a 5kg bird to work our way through with only five of us I will have to cook sooner or later.  So I am trawling through last year’s turkey recipes and thought it would be good to bring them together in one place.

In no particular order:-

• Turkey stock – same principle as chicken stock, you just might need a bigger pan!
• Turkey Minestrone
• Jamie Oliver’s Sweet Leek & Turkey Pie – a warming winner every year
• Turkey & Chipolata Cassoulet – substitute chicken for turkey
• Red or Green Thai Turkey Curry – Substitute the butternut squash in this recipe for a big handful of leftover turkey
• Chilli con Christmas Turkey Leftovers
• Turkey Chow Mein – I would substitute 2 handfuls of chopped cooked turkey for the chicken in this recipe
• Christmas Turkey Noodle Soup – again substitute chicken for turkey
• Turkey Congee (Rice Soup/Porridge) – I made this with duck stock last year but turkey would work just as well
• Spicy Korean Turkey Rice Salad – a fitting end to turkey and cranberry sauce

Quick Thai Rice Porridge/Congee

For those that don’t know, congee is a Chinese rice ‘porridge’ of seemingly overcooked rice, perked up with yummy Asian flavours.  We ate a relatively bland version backpacking through Malaysia, to discover a much tastier version in Thailand lightly flavoured with chilli, garlic and often with fried minced chicken and beaten egg.

The Thais and Chinese have it for breakfast but I often make it for a quick warming lunch on wintery days.  Today I have a tiny homemade portion of red thai curry sauce leftover to add to my rice but below is how I’d make it without ready made curry sauce.  I do also make a ‘basics’ version with just fried garlic and chilli flakes (plus rice, stock, egg, and fish sauce) if the cupboard really is bare.

Serves 2

100g basmati rice
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 tsp red thai curry paste
500ml just boiled water
Chicken or vegetable stock cube
1 egg
Fish Sauce to taste
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Place the rice and water on to boil with the coconunt milk, curry paste, and crumbled stock cube. Bring to the boil and then simmer with a lid on for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes turn the heat off and break the egg into the saucepan. Whisk the egg into the rice and then put the lid back on for a few minutes to let the egg cook in the residual heat.

Pour into bowls and season with fish sauce to taste. Sprinkle with extra chilli if you like, especially if you are feeling coldy!

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup

Researching soups last week to make for the Country Market I discovered that Campbell’s No.2 bestselling soup, after Cream of Tomato, is Chicken Noodle.

I have seen a recipe for it on the back of a pack of vermicelli, but it seemed a rather dull insipid affair on yet another chilly day in March, so I perked mine up with some Chinese flavours.  Dad & I thought it was delicious.  But the conservative pensioners at the market were not tempted in the least.

Serves 4, heartily

1 boned free range chicken thigh or small handful cooked chicken
1 litre water
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, grated
Handful frozen sweetcorn
1 small leek, finely sliced
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled
2-3 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
1 layer Sharwoods Medium Egg Noodles

Simmer the uncooked chicken in the water for 30 minutes.  Turn off the heat and take the chicken out of the water to cool whilst you prepare the other ingredients. Reserve the cooking liquid.

When everything else is chopped and grated, shed the chicken into small spoonsized pieces. Place all the ingredients apart from the noodles, soy sauce and sesame oil back into the liquid you cooked the chicken in and bring back to the boil.  Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the noodles, crumbling them as much as you can in your hands.  Simmer for another 5 minutes then add the soy sauce and sesame to taste.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

East Meets West: Sunday Roast Leftovers Chow Mein Stir Fry

As Autumn (slowly) approaches and we have begun having Sunday roasts again, I am being begged by the kids to make this kind of chow mein for them midweek with the leftovers.  It really doesn’t need a lot of leftover meat (or arguably any at all) as a little goes a long way! You could always make a vegetarian version of this without meat or gravy.

I first made this a few weeks ago.  I had intended to refer to one of my earlier Chinese stir fry recipes on my blog, but Princess was so engrossed with her favourite app on my phone that I tried to do it from memory. I pulled the most commonly used Chinese ingredients out of the cupboard and fridge and just made it up as I went along. The kids declared it the best noodle dish ever (their memories are so endearingly short) so I thought I had better write it down to ensure I can impress them again!

Serves 4-5 (3 kids – 2 adults)

1-2 handfuls of leftover roast (chicken, pork, beef, xmas turkey), chopped into mouthsized chunks
2 large carrots, grated
Something green – 1/4 cabbage shredded, 10 runner beans, finely sliced, pak choi, grated broccoli stalk etc
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic,  crushed
Small knob ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 large serving spoon of leftover gravy (optional)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp Sherry or white wine
4 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (or sprinkle with dried chilli flakes to taste at the end
2 tbps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
4 layers of medium egg noodles, alternatively you could serve over steamed rice or stir fry rice instead

Chinese stir frying is quick, quick, quick, so prepare all your ingredients in advance and have them within reach of the wok/frying pan.  Cook the noodles according to the packet’s instructions.  Drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, and leave in a pan of cold water until ready for them.  Chop your ‘solid’ ingredients, leaving the garlic and ginger to last.  Pile meat in one of the bowls you are going to eat out of, veg in another, and mix liquid ingredients in another.

Heat a wok or large frying pan until it starts smoking.  Add the oil, swirl it around, turn the extractor fan on and stir fry the onion and garlic for a minute or so.  Tip in the vegetables and continue to stir fry for another couple of minutes.  Add the meat and the sauce ingredients.  Turn down the heat and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are slightly less raw.  Bring the pan of noodles and water over to the cooker and add the dripping noodles in handfuls (a little bit of extra water in the wok is no bad thing).  At this stage I often chop the noodles with scissors or a fork and sharp knife.  This makes it easier to mix and helps the kids get it up to their mouth.  Stir the vegetables through the noodles and leave on a low heat with a lid on for a few minutes to heat through.  If you hear a sizzling noise, this is your cue to stir it and try to turn the noodles over so the top layer is as hot as the bottom.  I like a sloppy chow mein so I add a little of the noodle cooking water to give the dish a little more sauce.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Instant Noodles with Added Leftovers

After a week of entertaining, we ended half term with a visit to my niece for her third and final party for her 7th Birthday.

The kids, all seven of them, aunts, uncles and grandma all gorged themselves on baked potatoes, a buffet lunch, and birthday cake.  So not surprisingly we weren’t that interested in making dinner on Sunday night.

For just such occasions, we have instant noodles from a nearby Asian supermarket in the back of our cupboard.  Usually they are just eaten as they come, but last night Dad was concerned this might not be enough to keep him going, so he decided to extend them with some slivers of pork fillet leftover from Jamie Oliver’s Seared Pork Fillet & Catherine Wheel Sausage we’d made Friday night (we gave the kids the leftover sausages with pasta for a quick Sunday tea), together with some finely sliced broccoli stalk.  These were added at the last minute,  just giving them time to warm through.  Just add extra chilli to taste!

Essentially any pack of instant noodles can be improved upon with a few vegetables and some leftover meat if you have any.  If using plainer noodles e.g. chicken or vegetable instant noodles you could add a little ginger, garlic and soy to the mix.  Or Thai curry paste.  I am reminded now that we survived a year of backpacking in our early thirties regularly eating noodles with a bit of fresh veg thrown in.  Not sure I’d care to read the ingredients on some of these packs – but don’t think it has done us any harm.

Spicy Sichuan Noodles – Dan Dan Mien

Wow.  The kids loved this.  It was a bit of a gamble trying something new on them.  But they were obviously in a receptive mood.  Even confessing to new vegetables – spring onion and pak choi – didn’t stop them.

To anyone who knows something more about Chinese food, and Dan Dan Mien, than British takeaways will know that Sichuanese food is hot.  Mouth numbingly hot.  The recipe below is a combination of the many I came across when researching this recipe.  It does list several kinds of chilli.  But I did not add any chilli, or preserved vegetables, when making this the other night to cater for a) kids, and b) ingredients available in semi-rural Hampshire.  I did, however, add a pinch of hot chilli flakes to the kids leftovers for me!

This is a great recipe for making a little (meat and veg) go a long way.

Serves 2
2 layers Sharwood medium egg noodles
1 large chicken breast or two small (pork or beef can be used instead)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 large spring onions
8 pak choi leaves, or spinach or chard
2 tbsp chopped Sichuan preserved vegetable (optional)
1 handful dry-roasted peanuts or cashew nuts
1 tbsp sunflower oil

Sauce:
125ml chicken stock or water (I used the noodle water)
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine, dry sherry, or white wine
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste or tahini
1 tbsp Chinese black rice vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
1-3 tbsp chilli oil (beware – it packs quite a kick!)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ground Sichuan pepper (optional)

Cook the noodles according to the packet’s instructions.  Rinse with cold water to stop them cooking, then drain.  Rinsing with cold water also stops them sticking together, but you can also toss them in a little sesame oil if you have no faith.

Whilst all the noodles are cooking, prepare all your stir fry and sauce ingredients.  Grate or finely chop the garlic and ginger.  Finely slice the preserved vegetable (if using), spring onions, and pak choi.  Blend in a mini food processor, or crush, the peanuts.  Then mince, or finely chop, the chicken in the food processor.  Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a measuring jug.

When everything is prepared heat your wok or large frying pan over a high heat.  Add the sunflower oil and swirl it around the coat the sides of the wok.  Then in quick succession add the garlic and ginger, stir once, then the minced chicken.  Stir and break the chicken into little pieces with a fish slice.

Add the spring onions and vegetables when the meat stops looking pink.  Stir around and then add the crushed peanuts.  Once the nuts start to stick to the pan add the sauce ingredients and turn the heat down to a simmer.

Traditionally, I believe the minced meat mixture is served on a bed of noodles for the diner to mix together with chopsticks.  My kids are now pretty handly with hinged chopsticks, but a 4 and 7 year old mixing at the table seemed a recipe for disaster.  So once the sauce began to simmer I added the cooled noodles back to the chicken and sauce in the wok and mixed it myself before serving.

Eaten with much relish and slurping.  And with a drying up cloth pegged around their necks.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry