Honey Lemon Chicken Wings

To Jie Jie

The 3 years living under the same roof with Jie Jie was definitely one of the highlights of my uni life at HKU. We hit it off with each other since day 1 when we both rented rooms in the same flat in an old and dilapidated 'tong lau' in Barbington Path. After 1 year, the two of us moved out and rented a 2 room flat in Pokfulam Road, just opposite to the Main Building in HKU... We hardly cooked in those days, but Jie Jie loved chicken wings so she always had a pack of frozen chicken wings to standby. She cooked it simply by adding soy sauce and microwaving them for 10 minutes. Simple but delicious...

This recipe is finger-lickingly good and I hope Jie Jie would love this as much as I do. It was Auntie 9's recipe; the first time I ate it, I wolfed down 6 pieces before dinner. Since it was one of the dishes for dinner and I had emptied half of the plate, Aunty 9 had to make another batch for dinner!

Serves 4

Ingredients

Marinades

1. 1 teaspoon sugar
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 2 teaspoon soy sauce
4. 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
5. 2 teaspoon shaoxing wine
6. 1 teaspoon sesame oil
7. 2 teaspoon cornflour
8. 1 tablespoon oil

1. 10 whole chicken wings, jointed
2. vegetable oil
3. self-raising flour
4. 1 clove of garlic, sliced
5. 1 spring onion, chopped
6. Sesame oil
7. 2 teaspoons lemon juice
8. 1 tablespoon soy sauce
9. 3 tablespoons honey
10. lemon slices for garnish

Method:

• Marinade chicken wings for at least 1 hour.
• Heat wok and fill the wok with oil until half full. Test the oil with a chopstick: stick it into the oil, the oil is ready when bubbles come up from the chopstick.
• Coat chicken wings with self-raising flour. Place them carefully in the oil and fry until golden brown. Use a cocktail stick to test if the wings are cooked.
• Take out the chicken wings to drain on a kitchen towel.
• Drain the oil and reserve only 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok. Turn on high heat and toss garlic and spring onion for 1 minute. Then add lemon juice, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and adjust the sauce if necessary.
• Pour the sauce on the chicken wings and garnish with lemon pieces and serve.

Steamed scallops with garlic and cellophane noodles

To Rita

Yesterday was Rita’s birthday. We have known each other since Form 1 (no I am not going to give away the number of years I have come to know her =p) and we have a tradition of giving each other a bottle of perfume for birthday (though we did deviate from this tradition a number of times). This year, I am keeping our tradition and have sent her a bottle of perfume, again from Penhaligon’s. When I called her yesterday, she was rushing home to have her ‘birthday fish’ (she rejected her mom’s offer to buy her a birthday cake)! Haha great minds think alike – our birthday cravings are seafood and more seafood! So without further ado, this is my recipe for simple steamed scallops with garlic and cellophane noodles. Rita, come to London and claim your birthday scallops! =)

Serves 3 as a starter

Ingredients

1. 6 Scallops (with shell)
2. 1 bulb of garlic
3. 3 tablespoon of oil
4. 1 teaspoon of sugar
5. 1 teaspoon of salt
6. 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
7. 1 small handful of cellophane noodles
8. Spring onions to garnish

Method

• To prepare the scallops, run a blunt knife to twist and open the shell a little; then cut across the flat side of the shell to release the flesh. Remove the flat side of the shell; the scallop should still be sticking to the other side of the shell. Remove the skirt and all the black bits and retain the coral and the scallop meat.
• Chop garlic finely (or use a food processor to whiz).
• In a small pan, turn on medium heat and cook 2/3 of the chopped garlic with 3 tablespoons of oil. Let it cook until the garlic pieces turn golden brown. Add sugar and salt to taste.
• Remove from the heat and add in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Add in the remaining 1/3 of the garlic and mix well. (In Chinese, we call it ‘gold and silver garlic pieces’, i.e. a mixture of cooked and raw garlic.)
• Use boiling water to run through the cellophane noodles to make it softer.
• Spoon some garlic mixture on each scallop and put on some cellophane noodles.
• Steam for 6 minutes, or longer until cooked.
• Add finely chopped spring onions to garnish. Serve.
  

Stir Fry Crab with Ginger and Spring Onion

To Dad

A long long time ago, when my granny was in charge of the domestic kitchen, crabs were reserved for special occasions such as birthdays. I could still remember my anxious anticipation on my birthday, not for birthday pressies, not for birthday cake, but for crabs on the dinner table! I am sure my father would understand my sense of anticipation because he is a keen crab eater too!

Here in the UK, crabs are relatively cheap but they are often sold dressed. We can get hold of live ones in Chinese supermarkets, but they won't prepare the crab for you. So we are left with live crabs (sometimes excessively active with their claws moving around)...you can imagine the difficulty I had in 'humanely' dismantling the crab.

This dish was taught by Uncle 9, Y's father and is a great example to demonstrate his talents in cooking and his generosity in sharing his cooking tips with me.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 2 big crabs
2. 3 spring onions
3. 10 slices of ginger
4. 1/2 onion
5. potato starch
6. 2 cloves of garlic
7. 3 tablespoons brandy
8. 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
9. salt
10. sugar
11. soy sauce
12. oil
13. water

Method

• Carefully send the crabs to eternity and chop them into big pieces. Use kitchen towel to pat dry.
• Slice the onion and ginger and chop the spring onions roughly.
• Then, fill the wok with oil halfway up and heat up the oil. Dip a chopstick in the oil. Air bubbles will surround the chopstick when the oil is hot enough.
• In the meantime, use potato starch to coat all crab pieces.
• Gently put the crab pieces into the wok and fry until golden brown.
• Take out the crab pieces and put on kitchen towel to absorb off excess oil.
• Drain the oil from the wok very carefully and clean it thoroughly.
• Heat the wok over a high heat.
• Add 2 tablespoons of oil and then add in onion, garlic, ginger and spring onion. Toss well.
• When you can smell the aromatics, put in the crab pieces. Toss well for 2 minutes (mind you, this requires lots of elbow grease.)
• Add salt, sugar and soy sauce to taste.
• Put in about 100ml of water into the wok. Put on the lid and cook for 2 minutes.
• Finally, pour in the brandy and oyster sauce and let them evaporate a bit. If there is little sauce, you may want to add some more water. Toss for 1 minute.
• Finally add potato starch water (2 tablespoons of cold water with 1 teaspoon of potato starch) to thicken the sauce and let the sauce come to the boil. Serve immediately.

Chocolate Cake

To Elaine

I only have a few friends here in London, one of whom is Elaine. She loves chocolate, and I promised her a chocolate cake for her birthday. Originally we had our eyes on Nigella’s Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake. But when I tried to ‘road-test’ it, due to my own incompetence, namely, the failure to adjust the oven time for a different cake size, the cake turned out a tad too dense and dry. In the end, I opted for another route – a simple Victoria sponge with cocoa powder added. It came out wonderfully moist and fluffy. For the topping, I adapted Nigella’s soured cream icing with some Winnie the Pooh and Friends sugar pieces. Elaine was particular pleased with the Eyeore sugar piece on the cake!

Serves 4 -6

Ingredients
For chocolate sponge

1. 165g self-raising flour
2. 35g cocoa
3. 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
4. 165g margarine (I used Stork)
5. 155g caster sugar
6. 3 eggs
7. 100ml milk

For chocolate soured cream icing

1. 45g unsalted butter
2. 100g dark chocolate
3. 100g icing sugar
4. 2 teaspoons golden syrup
5. 75ml soured cream
6. ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

• Grease two 6 inch round cake tins (with loose bottoms) and line with baking parchment.
• Preheat oven to 160c.
• Sieve flour, cocoa and baking powder in a bowl.
• In another bowl, place margarine, sugar, beaten eggs and milk and mix well.
• Beat in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Beat until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
• Spoon cake mixture into prepared cake tins, spreading evenly.
• Bake for about 35 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.
• Cool cake in tins on wire rack for 10 minutes and then turn out the cakes to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate icing by melting chocolate and butter in a bowl placed above a pan of simmering water (please make sure the water is not touching the base of the bowl). Let it cool for a while.
• Then, add golden syrup, sour cream and vanilla extract to the cooled chocolate mixture and stir well to combine.
• Sieve in icing sugar a little at a time and stir; check whether the icing is of your desired consistency and thickness. I found 100g of icing sugar to be more or less the right amount (I don’t want the icing turns rock-hard when cold).
• With serrated knife, cut each cake so that the top is level.
• Place one cake layer on a cake stand and spoon 1/3 mixture of the icing sugar on it, spreading evenly.
• Sit the other layer on top. Spoon another 1/3 of icing on the top and spread the rest to the sides of the cake. Use whatever tools you have to smoothen the top or simply use a dessertspoon to create a patterned top. Adorn the cake with your favourite sugar pieces.

Mum's Potato Soup

To Mum

Today is Mothering Sunday and I am sharing one of my mom's best soups with you... I still remember how I drooled when my mom made it in the kitchen (those were days when my granny cooked so it was a rare occasion for my mom to cook, let alone to make soups).

I have adapted the recipe: I have added sweetcorn, a pinch of ground nutmeg and some crispy bacon bits on top - sweetcorn makes the soup sweeter and contributes to the ever-important 5-a-day; the scent of nutmeg makes the soup even more homely; and the crispy bacon adds texture and pre-empts any complaint from the carnivores. Today I even added half a tin of crabmeat while making it for Y! You see, the possibilities are infinite!

Serves 2

Ingredients

1. 1 medium-sized potato
2. 1/2 onion
3. 30ml evaporated milk
4. 350 ml water
5. Butter
6. Nutmeg
7. 2 tablespoonfuls of frozen sweetcorn
8. 80g of crabmeat from a tin (I used Morrison's)
9. 2 rashers of streaky bacon

Method

• Chop the onions; peel and chop the potatoes into cubes.
• Place 2 rashers of bacon on a foil and let them crisp up in a very hot oven.
• In a pan on medium heat, use some butter to cook the onions for about 2 minutes until they are softened but not coloured.
• Add in the potatoes and use a wooden spoon to stir constantly to stop them from sticking. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Add in water and put on a high heat.
• When the potatoes are soft, use a hand blender to whizz the soup until all the lumps disappear. Add in sweetcorn and crabmeat. Let it come to a boil and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir constantly.
• Pour in the evaporated milk. Add salt and grate nutmeg to taste.
• Serve with crispy bacon bits sprinked on top.

Prawn and Sweetcorn Chowder with a Puffy Top

To Y

Chowder, I think, is the ultimate soup to Y. Whenever I ask him what soup he would like, he would invariably answers ‘clam chowder’. I always let him down by not making it as it is difficult to get nice fresh clams here (the ready-prepared clams available in the supermarket often has sand in them). Having disappointed him for so many times, I decided to make chowder with prawns... the result was amazing and I unashamedly crowned it as the best chowder I have ever had! I topped the soup with ready-rolled puff pastry to make it more filling, which makes an ideal Friday light dinner.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1. 1 small onion
2. 1 clove of garlic
3. 4 rashers of streaky bacon
4. Butter
5. 1 medium-sized potato
6. 50ml double cream
7. 6 raw jumbo size king prawns
8. 1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
9. 100g frozen sweetcorn
10. 700ml hot chicken stock (I used Knorr’s chicken stock pot and dilute one pot with 750ml of boiling water)
11. Beaten egg mixture
12. 1 teaspoon of scallop coral powder*

Method

• Peel and finely chop onion and garlic. Peel the potatoes and chop them into 2 cm chunks. Cut the streaky bacon into strips. Remove the shells and de-vein the prawns and cut them into 2 cm chunks.
• Using medium heat, gently cook the onion, garlic and bacon with a knob of butter in a saucepan for 2 minutes until they are softened but not coloured.
• Add the sweetcorn, potato and stock into the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add the prawns and simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Remove about ¼ of the chunks (i.e. potatoes, onion, garlic, bacon and prawns) from the soup and use a hand blender to blend until smooth.
• Return the blended mixture to the pan. Stir to combine. Depending on the consistency, you may want to blend more chunks to thicken the soup.
• Add the double cream and season to taste and bring it to the boil. Turn off the heat.
• Pour the soup into 2 soup pots. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200c.
• Cut 2 squares of puff pastry big enough to cover the top of the soup pots and top them on the soup pots. Stick the corners of the puff pastry to the soup pot with some egg mixture. Brush the pastry lightly with egg mixture.
• Put the soup pots in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note

*Scallop coral powder: I made this from Gordon Ramsay's recipe on timesonline. Spread fresh scallop corals on a baking sheet in a very low oven for a few hours until they are completely dry and brittle. Use a food processor to grind them to a powder. This coral powder gives a very strong seafood flavour and is ideal for adding into soups.