Tomato egg flour soup

This sweet and delicious Chinese soup is a current favourite of mine. It is extremely easy to make and will taste better than the tired examples served by many Chinese take ways. Do dot let the fact that this is an egg drop soup concern you as making delicious soups doesn't get easier than this. However it tastes so good you will be able to seriously impress your friends a and family.

 

 

 

 What's needed

1 litre of chicken stock (stock cubes are fine)
4-6 round tomatoes cut into thin wedges
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons corn flour mixed in 50ml warm water
Half to one teaspoon of salt
2-3 spring onions thinly sliced
Pepper to season

Get cooking

1. Start by bringing a litre of chicken stock to a simmer in a large saucepan.
2. Next add the tomatoes and simmer for 15-20minutes on a medium heat until the tomatoes are broken down.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of brown sugar and stir until dissolved. The soup should taste sweet not savoury so depending upon taste and how sweet your tomatoes were you may need to add more sugar. You want the soup to be quite sweet but not to the point it is sickly.
4. Next add half a teaspoon of salt and taste, again depending on taste you may need to add a little more salt.
5. Next add in the corn four dissolved in water and simmer until this slightly thickens the soup.
6. Then add the beaten egg - there is an easy technique to this. Very slowly drizzle the egg into the soup with one hand, with the other use a fork to constantly stir the soup. This will give the classic egg drop effect you are looking for, if you were to add the egg in too quickly or not stir with a fork you will end up with unwanted large chunks of cooked egg.
7. Bring back to a simmer then remove from heat.
8. Add in the finely chopped spring onions as a final step and serve immediately.
9. Please share this recipe and browse my many other delicious recipes. Enjoy. 

 







Soy glazed salmon

Another very simple but very delicious recipe for a stir fry with marinated salmon. It is worth getting good quality salmon, I recommend using wild caught red Alaskan salmon as opposed to cheaper pink farmed salmon. Not for ethical or environmental issues (of which there is much debate over) but because it tastes better and has a better texture. 

The key to this dish is the simple marinate, which glazes the fish then added to the wok provides a lovely sweet sauce. It is possible to mix and match the vegetables depending what you have in your fridge. The dish cooks very quickly and it is important not to overcook the vegetables as they should provide some crunch to the final dish. Works very well with boiled rice or noodles.

 

 

 

 

What's needed

For the marinade

One tablespoon of honey

One tablespoon dark soy sauce

One tablespoon vegetable oil

2.5cm piece of ginger Finley chopped

Two fillets of salmon, skinned and diced into large chunks

 

For the main dish

Medium brown onion

A stick of celery

A small carrot

Handful of fine green beans

Handful of trimmed broccoli spears

A small red chilli

Four cloves of garlic

Teaspoon of chopped ginger

A drizzle of oil 

Rice or noodles as accompaniment

 

Preparation

1. Start by mixing in a bowl 1 tablespoon of oil, dark soy sauce and honey. Stir until all the honey is dissolved.
2. Next finely chop 2.5cm piece of ginger and add to the bowl.
3. Skin the salmon fillets and cut into large chunks, add to the marinade then cover before putting in a fridge for 1-2 hours.
4. Prepare the vegetables then cut into chunky bite sized pieces. Avoid cutting them too small as you want them to retain some crunch in the final dish. Put in a bowl to add to wok later.
5. Finley chop 4 cloves garlic, one red chilli and a teaspoon amount of ginger. Add to a ramekin for later.
6. Next to your cooker place a large clean bowl as you need this for during cooking.

 

 



Get cooking

1. Put your wok on a high heat until smoking hot- keep your hob on maximum heat for the entire cooking process. Prepare your rice noodles as this dish takes only a few minutes to cook.
2. Add the salmon chunks piece by piece with a tong, try to drain the marinade off them over the bowl as you want as little of the marinade liquid as possible to enter wok at this stage. On a high heat stir fry and sear the salmon pieces.
3. Once the salmon pieces have seared then remove them from the wok and any cooking juices in the wok- place this in the empty bowl.
4. Drizzle a little oil in wok add the garlic, ginger and chilli from the ramekin and cook on high heat for 30 seconds.
5. Next tip in the vegetable bowl and stir fry for one minute.
6. Add the Salmon pieces back into the wok and stir fry for 30 seconds.
7. Then add the marinade to the wok, stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the marinade has reduced. To help this use the back of your spoon and push the salmon and vegetables up the side of the wok, you will see the marinade cook off quickly.
8. Serve with the rice/noodles. Enjoy.
9. Please google+  this recipe!

 



 



Chicken and cashew nuts

 

 

Quick, easy to cook and delicious in equal measures. Just as tasty and far healthier than your local Chinese. This has always been one of my favourite takeaway dishes, and this version beats my local Chinese takeaway hands down.

 

 

 

 

Whats needed

For marinade:

2 diced chicken breasts

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon of five spice

1 teaspoon of schezwan rice wine

Ground black pepper

 

For the main dish

4 cloves garlic

thumb sized piece of ginger

1-2 tablespoons wok oil

A red pepper

1-2 handfuls of bean sprouts

1-2 handfuls of cashew nuts

2 nests of medium egg noodles

2 teaspoons corn flour (dissolved in 50ml warm water)

1 carrot

1 small tin of sliced water chestnuts

1 teaspoon of five spice

2-3 spring onions

1 stick celery

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Fresh coriander leaf to garnish

 

Preparation

1. mix the marinate ingredients in a large bowl, then add the diced chicken. Put in the fridge for 1-2 hours before cooking (longer if possible)
2. Chop the vegetables as indicated in picture below, add to a large bowl along with the cashew nuts.
3. Finley chop the ginger and the garlic and keep aside in a small ramekin.

 



 



 

 

 

Get cooking

1. start by cooking your noodles in a large pan of salted water, drain then set aside to add to dish.
2. Use tongs to remove the chicken from the marinade (retain the marinade in bowl).  Add a little oil and fry in a hot wok until the chicken has been browned. Remove the chicken with clean tongs  and add to a separate bowl.
3. Add the chopped garlic and ginger then fry for 1-2 minutes until aromatic. Make sure you do not burn, remove wok from heat if necessary.
4. Add the contents of the vegetable bowl, fry for 1-2 minutes on high heat.
5. Next add the browned chicken and stir fry for just over a minute.
6. Next add the marinade to the wok and stir. After just under 1 minute add the corn flour (dissolved in water) and continue to str fry for a further minute. Add one teaspoon of five spice and one teaspoon of sugar.
7. Add in the cooked noodles and heat through, it is ready once the noodles are hot.
8. Serve and garnish with fresh coriander. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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