Great Chicken Broth

 Okay, so this broth is very good. Liquid gold, the author calls it. Here is the recipe. I'm very impressed at this lady Marion. Her recipes are winners. 

My only variation of her recipe is adding a celery stick to the equation. Obviously her recipe is for more volume, more soup. 

INGREDIENTS:

-2 litres of water 
-1 free range chicken skeleton
-1 clove of garlic smashed.
-1 green onion.

-1 celery stalk (my addition)

-1-2 bay leaves (my addition)

-3 slices of ginger.
-some peppercorns.
-1 teaspoons of salt.

-1 prawn (optional at the end)

STEPS:

1. First of all, you are much better off watching the video she has in her recipe. It is a great video. But anyway, basically you need to put all the ingredients above in a pot, bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer for 1 hour or so. 

Just remember to smash a little with the blade of the knife the ingredients: the peppercorn, the garlic, the green onion so the flavours come out in the water easier.

2. After that I let it cool off and basically I let it all sit down in the stove for 1 day (obviously when it is cold, NOT in summer). The flavours get richer the longer you let it sit there. Then I put the whole thing in the fridge and the grease after some hours comes up to the surface.

3. After that, or even after 2 days, I throw in the trash everything that's in the pan and put the broth through a fine sieve.

4. And voila! there you have your great broth. Season it maybe with more salt if you want.

Pics: Singapore, the country of fines.

 

Dumplings or Wontons or Gyozas

My attempt to make wontons is finally here. Something that has been on my list of projects to cook for over 2 years, the day finally came. This recipe of Marion  inspired me. So here is my feeble first attempt to make them. I think wontons or dumplings are much easier than what we think, but they sound quite intimidating. But really just see them as empanadillas. Are you afraid of empanadillas?? probably not. Well, it is the same concept. Also the folding is not rocket science....just do your best, and it will be fine. You will freeze them so that is what holds them together in the soup and don't come apart, the fact that they have been frozen for 2 weeks or 2 months.

The good thing about this recipe is that you can use it to make meatballs, no need of the wrapping and wow they taste awesome too.  Here is my recipe. It is pretty dang asian I must say. My korean friend Crystal thought they were pretty astonishing. 

Shrimp+Pork combo Wontons

INGREDIENTS:

-150 grams of pork minced 
-150 minced prawns.
-1 tbsp grated ginger.
.a pinch of white pepper.
-1/2 tsp sesame oil
-1/4 cup chicken stock
-2 tablespoons of cornstarch.
-1 egg
-25 wrappers of gyoza, dumplins etc.

Pork wontons: 

INGREDIENTS:

-300 grams of pork.

-1 tbs of grated ginger.

-1/2 tsp of minced garlic.

-a pinch of white pepper.

-1 stalk of green onions. 

-a few stems of parsley.

-2 tsp sesame oil.

-3 tablespoon of soy sauce.

-2 tablespoons of cornstarch.

-1 egg.

Another 25 wraps of gyoza, wontons, dumplings.

STEPS: 

1. Just mix everything together well.

2. Add a little to each wrapper and close them up with a little water and set on a plate and freeze. Just set them on some type of paper when you are about to freeze them or they get stuck to the plate in the freezer.

Do you ever get confused about green onions, spring onions, shallots, scallions etc? This article has helped me.

 

Pork ribs and Corn soup

 A wonderful chinese classic that most chinese kids grow up eating. I  can't remember where I saw this soup, thus, I will not have a link and this is my version, but I have made it several times and it has very warm and comforting flavour, bony but sweet. We are back from Australia, where I have gotten lots of inspiration for new recipes. I needed that.

Anyway, I made this one today and was inspired to write it down because it turned out very well.

INGREDIENTS:
-2 litres of water.

.300 grams of pork ribs.

-2 corn cobs.

-some garlic.

-a few green onions stalls.

-1 parsnip in slices.

-some white pepper.

-some black pepper.

-1 tsp of salt.

STEPS:

1. Place some garlic in big pot and sautee.

2. Now add the ribs and brown them a bit for a few minutes.

3. Now add the 2 litres of water and the corn and bring it all to a boil.

4. Now add the salt, the pepper, and add the green onions that you have diced up previously.

5. Bring it all to a boil again quickly and then simmer in low heat.  Slowly you will be getting a great great broth, this is the trick of chinese soups, slowly you stew the bones.

6. You can then remove the ribs and corn and cut it all up to make it all more convenient to eat. I basically cut off the corn kernels and get the meat off the ribs.

So nice! perfect for winter this recipe is. 

Easy Curry Mee

Since we got back from Australia, I have needed some new cooking inspiration. I was bored to death of my old recipes. This recipe is excellent and not hard. Marion's blog has been a great discovery lately. I still can't figure out if she is australian or what, but she definitely makes asian recipes seem much attainable. Also her videos are incredible! so well made. 

After making the dish  Kenton said to me: "this one is for your blog". So here it is. My version is a mild variation from hers, I added potatoes and bok choy. I made this meal for 2 days and for 2 people, so 4 portions. Excellent recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
-1 tablespoon of red curry paste. 
-1/2 tsp of turmeric spice.
-1 tablespoon of normal curry powder.
-1 can of coconut milk.

-1 tsp of sugar.

-3 tbsp. of fish sauce.

-1 stalk of lemon grass.

-3 cups of chicken stock.
-700 grams of chicken thighs (no bones)

-10 small potatoes.

-some parsley.

-some bok choy.

-some lime (optional)

STEPS:
1. Add some oil to your saucepan or wok and add the red curry paste. Move it around but don't burn it! 
2. Now add the turmeric and curry and stir.
3. Now add the chicken thighs and get them golden with all the spices around for 10 minutes. Cook the chicken at this stage in low heat.
4. Now add the coconut milk and the chicken stock and the lemon grass stalk, and stir well. Do not let it boil because coconut milk curdles unfortunately. Let it all come together for 10 minutes in medium heat.
5. Now add the fish sauce, the sugar, the pinch of salt.
6. Now add the boiled potatoes cut in quarters, the bok choy in small pieces and some parsley.

That's it.  Serve in big bowls. Wow this curry is very very good. I was very impressed. It is a bit like laksa  but not as intense. A perfect winter meal with potatoes. Yum! 

Pics: Singapore, eating laksa.