Lemon Chick'n and Mango Fried Rice

This is delicious authentic Asian take-away food exactly like the kind you find anywhere except Asia...
Lemon chicken was always one of my favourites when my family got Chinese take-aways, and this is my Mum's recipe for making it at home. I've used Fry's chicken-style strips here, but you can do it with cubes of tofu too, fried salt and pepper tofu style. It makes a pretty fast, impressive and delicious dinner when paired with fried rice, tonight served with a winter vegetable riff on Isa's Mango Fried Rice (with red cabbage and cauliflower and green capsicum, and sans basil).

Chinese Take-away Lemon Chick'n

For the batter, mix together cornflour, salt, pepper and some baking powder (about 1 tsp per 4 Tbsp cornflour). No-Egg is good if you've got it. Add water, one teaspoonful at a time and stirring after each, until a loose batter is formed. Dip your (defrosted) chick'n strips in the batter and fry on each side in hot oil until puffed and golden, and keep warm until ready to serve. You can also deep fry 'em.

For the lemon sauce, combine the following ingredients in a saucepan:
grated rind and juice of 1-2 large lemons (can sub oranges for some or all)*
1/4 - 1 tsp of vege stock powder (be careful here, as stocks vary in strength. Start with a little).
1 Tbsp cornflour
1-3 Tbsp brown sugar (depending on how tart you want it, and if you've put in orange or not)
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 - 1 cup water (again, depending on how concentrated you want it)

Stir until the cornflour has dissolved, then heat until clear and thickened (saucy). Serve the fried chick'n strips with the lemon sauce poured over, and chopped spring onions. Serve with plain rice and fried/steamed vegetables, or for a fancier meal, serve with a dish of fried rice and veges like the one linked to above.

* I like to combine the juices of both fruits so I can cut down the added sugar. It still works out very lemony if you don't put in the orange rind. Obviously, if you sub orange for all, you will have Orange Chick'n, not Lemon, but that's ok. That's a take-away thing too.

The strips:

How to make your stir fry taste like Chinese take-aways...

Sometimes I think I should open a Chinese restaurant in Sweden - I know exactly how to cook inauthentic Chinese food! Tonight's super speedy and very delicious offering was stir-fried vegetables and cashews with hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is magic. It's rich, fruity, fermenty, and savoury all at the same time. It transformed something that was pretty much three types of cabbage (according to the Swedish definition) over nasty par-boiled rice (which somebody bought by mistake) into a very satisfying and yummy dinner.

According to my experience with inauthentic Chinese food, and various websites, the Chinese holy trinity of flavours are ginger root, sesame oil and garlic. If you have all these in a meal you are well on your way to it tasting sort of Chinese (and by Chinese, I mean "Chinese", at all times through this post). I like to slice my ginger and garlic into thin slices, so they are identifiable in the stir-fry and don't get too burnt. Other important additions are spring onions, something kind of acidic (Chinese cooking wine, or rice vinegar, or citrus in a pinch), and something salty with a depth of umami flavour (soy sauce, hoisin, black bean).

Then, for the bulk of your stir-fry, try veges like onions, capsicums, broccoli and/or cauliflower florets (and finely chopped stems), carrots sliced into coins on the bias, cabbage, green beans. My favourites are broccoli, carrots and cabbage, which we ate today with cauliflower as well. This isn't fried rice, so put away your frozen peas and corn.

For your protein, you can try Chick'n strips like the one made by Fry's. Or we just went with roasted cashews and sesame seeds. There's a reasonable amount of protein in the veg anyway if you use stuff like cauliflower and broccoli.

As for the actual stir-frying, don't overload the wok. Fry in separate batches if necessary. And fry on a high heat, stirring lots, until you've got the texture you want. Also, don't chuck in all the veg at the same time - onions take much longer to cook than garlic, and broccoli takes less time than cauliflower. Don't fry your spring onion at all - just slice finely into rings and sprinkle over at the end. And if I'm doing the Chick'n thing, I usually fry that separately.

I usually fry in a neutral oil (like canola) until everything is pretty much done, then add a splash of soya sauce, sesame oil and wine/vinegar (if using citrus, I squeeze it over once I've dished up). Once it's properly done, add your hoisin or black bean sauce, roasted nuts and/or Chick'n, and mix around. Add some chilli sauce if you're keen. Eat over rice, obviously, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and spring onion if desired.

Elegantly Rustic

Last night's dinner:

A turn to colder weather and fridge full of odds and ends of veges means... vegetable soup! I love how cauliflower makes a creamy soup without the addition of extra fat.

Cauliflower and Celery Soup
 
Saute 1 diced onion and 2-3 cloves garlic in a little oil in a soup pot, for a few minutes until softened.
Add half a small zucchini (chopped), 3 medium ribs of celery (chopped), and a head of cauliflower, chopped. Stir around a bit, and add some dried thyme, oregano, and a couple of pinches of ground cumin. Add enough stock to cover (not too strong). Cook with the lid on until everything is soft. Add 1-2 cups cooked chick peas. Blend everything in a blender till smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ratatouille Tarte Tatin

This would probably be delicious with croutons, but I decided to fancy it up a bit with a savoury tart to serve on the side. I made a ratatouille-inspired version of the classic tarte tatin. Instead of apples and sugar on the bottom, I sauteed some red onions, fresh tomatoes, aubergine, and zucchini, until reduced. Then I sprinkled on some dried basil and salt and pepper, pressed a pastry top on top of the lot (don't burn your fingers!), pricked lots of holes with a fork and bunged the whole thing in the oven until browned. (Frying pan has to be cast-iron or something that can go in the oven - no plastic or wooden handles). To serve, flip upside down, so that veges are on top. I usually find this step difficult, so I often cut it into wedges while still in the pan, and then flip the wedges individually onto plates. This time I made Isa's olive oil pastry, which worked pretty well for me, but I always have best results with store-bought vegan pastry.