Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[buyo]

A bit late on the draw, but hey! Welcome to the fray, buyo!

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Thanks Dejah!!

[Ce'nedra]

Guo Ji Aap (fruit and seed duck)

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I forgot to ask -do you have a recipe for this with exact (or approximate) measurings? Thanks so much! My mum walked by and she saw your duck on my screen and said it looked amazing -told me to ask you for a recipe because dad has been craving for this!

[Prawncrackers]

Here are a couple of Chinese dinners from yesterday and today. Simply delicious back to basics food that makes me glad i'm Chinese

Yesterday steamed Gilt-head Bream, stir-fried mange-tout (and leftover rendang - ok not Chinese!)

Today, Chicken Rice with all the trimmings:

[NancyH]

Prawncrackers - what are the trimmings? All of your food looks wonderful!!

[Prawncrackers]

Thanks NancyH you're too kind! The trimmings with the Chicken Rice were just the standard ginger/scallion/coriander dip, a chilli dip with fresh lime and some cucumbers. The real star of the show is the rice, i'd forgotten how good it is in this dish.

[Tepee]

Yum, Prawncrackers! Great meals where you can taste the meat without being distracted too much by sauces. Yep, plain rice just won't do for 'chicken rice'. The only thing I might add is a plate of lightly fried bean sprouts.

Love overnight rendang.

[junehl]

Looks wonderful teepee, I love a good steamed fish, and the rice....mmm.

Ce'nedra, sorry i don't have measurements for the Guo Ji Aap, it's very forgiving so hopefully your mom can still try it. She doesn't even have to stuff the duck. Maybe make the filling and put a duck leg on top and steam that...sort of like a make shift cassoulet. If she does do that, she might want to take out the skin and fat of the duck or else it might make your stuffing extremely fatty.

[Ce'nedra]

Prawncrackers: I love that style of cooking fish! Mmm...have you tried it with blue eye cod? We just tried that yesterday (or was it two days ago) and it was superb! Really smooth flesh and hardly any bones too! My kind of fish

What's that green thing in the bowl beside your Hainan Chicken rice (which looks wonderful btw)?

Teepee: How do you do your Rendang? I tried it once and it turned out so dry

Oh and how did you do yours, Prawncrackers?

junehl: Thanks heaps for your tip! Shall tell my mum

Also, what kind of vegies/carbs do you think will go well with the duck?

[sheetz]

Yummy looking chicken rice, prawncrackers. I especially admire your skill at chopping chicken!

[Prawncrackers]

Prawncrackers: I love that style of cooking fish! Mmm...have you tried it with blue eye cod? We just tried that yesterday (or was it two days ago) and it was superb! Really smooth flesh and hardly any bones too! My kind of fish

What's that green thing in the bowl beside your Hainan Chicken rice (which looks wonderful btw)?

Teepee: How do you do your Rendang? I tried it once and it turned out so dry

Oh and how did you do yours, Prawncrackers?

I think steaming with ginger and scallion suits all white-fleshed non-oily fish. I tend to always steam fresh whole fish very simply like this, just with very young ginger and scallion. In my mind it preserves all the goodness of fresh fish and accentuates the "xian" taste. Simply can't think of a better way to cook it. Sometimes i bake whole bass italian style, you know with garlic lemon herbs etc as it looks so nice when the chefs do it on telly. But whenever i eat it i'm always disappointed as it never tastes as good as steaming like this!

For fatty or oily fish like Salmon, Sardines or Eels though i prefer to steam with black beans and garlic. Also for fish that have been frozen. In fact i have some halibut collars that are both frozen and fatty that will be delicious like this!

Never tried blue-eyed cod, don't think we can get here in the UK, I'm afraid we don't have the natural bounty of seafood that you appear to have down-under! Can you tell i'm jealous?

As for Rendang, my recipe is from Cradle of Flavour and to avoid dry meat you must use well marbled beef - do not scrimp. Tepee is right about overnight rendang, it was so nice just gently warmed through in the rice cooker - yum!

BTW the exotic green stuff next to the Chicken is cucumber!!

[Prawncrackers]

Yummy looking chicken rice, prawncrackers. I especially admire your skill at chopping chicken!

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Thanks Sheetz, getting better at it - still not as good as my mum though!

[jmolinari]

I love chicken and rice. How do you make your rice Prawncrackers?

I usually fry some garlic in some chicken fat, then toast the rice a little bit, and then add broth to my rice cooker and cook it.

jason

[junehl]

Ce'nedra - stir fried napa cabbage, i don't know why, but that stirfired w/ some ginger is the perfect accompaniment. You probably don't need any starch the barley and lotus root will be good enough. Although, rice is good to soak up all the sauce.

[Prawncrackers]

Yup i basically do that too. I grab the fat from around the cavity hole of the chicken and render that down. I gently fry scallion whites and/or shallots in the rendered fat till they are very brown. Then i add some minced garlic and ginger, fry that off briefly then add the washed rice and toast-toss that in the aromatic chicken fat. Transfer to the rice cooker and top up with the chicken stock that's just been made by poaching your chicken.

Conveniently this time there was enough fat in the chicken to fry the aromatics and rice to go with that chicken. What to do if next time if there isn't? You can't buy chicken fat can you?!

[DylanK]

Beef and broccoli.

Hong shao-ish short ribs, gan bian-ish broccoli.

[jmolinari]

Prawn: i don't think you can buychicken fat. I have a bunch from when i made a lot of stock. But if i HAD to i'd use peanut oil.

[NancyH]

Prawn - are there any Kosher butchers near you? They should still sell schmaltz (rendered chicken fat).

[Prawncrackers]

That's right isn't it, you use schmaltz to make those Jewish dumplings - kniedlach (sp?). I don't think i've ever seen a Kosher butcher-shop, maybe in London or Manchester - definitely not around here though!

Mmm rendered Chicken fat - my folks would be horrified.

Lovely juicy ribs and broccoli DylanK, right up my street.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Prawncrackers (log)

[CFT]

That's right isn't it, you use schmaltz to make those Jewish dumplings - kniedlach (sp?).  I don't think i've ever seen a Kosher butcher-shop, maybe in London or Manchester - definitely not around here though!

I would have thought there is a sizeable Jewish community in Birmingham.

Quick Google ...

http://www.birmingham-jewish-butcher.com/

Gee's Kosher Butchers Ltd and Deli

75 Pershore Road, Edgbaston

Birmingham B5 7NX

Tel: 0121 440 2160

Edited December 7, 2007 by CFT (log)

[Prawncrackers]

That's right by the cricket ground, I've driven past that place 100s of times and have never noticed it! Thanks CFT, definitely worth a squint, if they have fresh bagels it could be a regular stop-off after market shopping.

[DylanK]

There should be a better picture. Everything we like: dong doufu, fatty pork with lots of soft white bones to crunch up, bitter green vegetables, rich and shiny soup full of the fat of three animals.

[Ce'nedra]

junehl: Thanks for the suggestion We're thinking of doing it for Christmas!

DylanK: What did you cook with your short-ribs? Looks really comforting mmm...

For dinner tonight: Salty Sweet pan-fried prawns with vegie stir fry and rice today (the last two not shown).

Very very simple.

[C. sapidus]

Ce’nedra: Nice shrimp – did you eat the shells?

I tried this for the first time:

Man, that is one bitter, um, y'know, melon. I cut it into sections, sliced it thinly, salted for 30 minutes, rinsed, and stir-fried it with chiles and scallions, finishing with sesame oil. Nice texture, but very bitter. After taking the picture, I added hoisin sauce for a little sweetness. That seemed to improve things.

I could see bitter melon being a nice accent in with other stuff, but by itself,

[heidih]

Ce’nedra: Nice shrimp – did you eat the shells?

I tried this for the first time:

Man, that is one bitter, um, y'know, melon. I cut it into sections, sliced it thinly, salted for 30 minutes, rinsed, and stir-fried it with chiles and scallions, finishing with sesame oil. Nice texture, but very bitter. After taking the picture, I added hoisin sauce for a little sweetness. That seemed to improve things.

I could see bitter melon being a nice accent in with other stuff, but by itself, 

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Certainly looks tasty. Scrambled with eggs is a popular way to use it. Or stuffed with ground pork mixture and poached in a broth. Cut melon in 3 inch sections, clean out centers and stuff, cooking till quite tender. Really mellows it out.

[C. sapidus]

Certainly looks tasty. Scrambled with eggs is a popular way to use it. Or stuffed with ground pork mixture and poached in a broth. Cut melon in 3 inch sections, clean out centers and stuff, cooking till quite tender. Really mellows it out.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I picked up the bitter melon on a whim, so stir-frying was easy. I could see it adding a nice something to scrambled eggs or a slow-cooked brothy concoction.

Host Note: for the continuation of this topic please see Part 3 here