Chinese Crispy Chilli Beef

This is most definitely going to become one of your favourite Homemade Take-a-way/Restaurant dishes.

For more years than I can remember I've not only ordered this in Chinese Restaurants, but have been making this recipe at home too.

I have been wanting to share this with you all since this blog was launched but there has been a major problem causing the delay.

As good as this Chinese Crispy Chilli Beef may be, it appears to be camera shy!!!!!  It's true, I just cannot obtain a good enough photo.

As a firm believer that recipes should always be accompanied by a photograph I have been unable to deliver this one to you, for now at least.

Well enough's enough, Heaven is waiting and won't delay for a photograph so I've taken the plunge and decided to share one of my favourite all time Chinese Dishes regardless.

Now if you too are familiar with this dish, you then of course need no reminder just how delicious it looks.

Forget "Come Dine with Me" today I say "Come Feast with me".

Fancy a bit of a feast?  Serve Chinese Crispy Chilli Beef with some other Chinese dishes (recipes here) too and feel like you've just created your very own Chinese Reataurant Buffet.

PHOTO TO FOLLOW

ONCE THE DISH GETS OVER BEING CAMERA SHY

Chinese Crispy Chilli Beef - Serves 2-3 as a main meal or more when sharing several dishes

Approx 250g beef fillet (or cut of your choice)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoon corn flour

2 teaspoon 5 spice powder

Oil for deep frying

For the sauce:-

1 Carrot, peeled and cut into fine batons (imagine shredded)

A bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed & minced

1" piece of ginger, grated

2 Red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (leave seeds in if brave)

4 tablespoons Caster sugar

3 tablespoons Rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Light soy sauce

Corn flour paste (1 tablespoon corn flour, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water)

Cut the beef into very thin long strips and dust with a little cornflour,  shake off excess.

Make up the batter by placing corn flour in a medium bowl with the salt and five spice powder, make a well in the centre and add the beaten eggs. Mix well to form a smooth, lump free batter than mix in the beef strips and stir well to coat beef.

Get your oil nice and hot to 190 whilst preparing ingredients for sauce.

Using tongs, pick up strips of the beef from the bowl and drop individually into the hot oil, cook in batches for approx 4-5 minutes until golden brown and crispy.

Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm whilst making the sauce.

In a wok or saute pan heat 1 tbs of vegetable (or groundnut) oil. Add carrot and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the spring onions, garlic, ginger and chillies. Stir fry again for a couple of minutes and add the rest of the ingredients.Once the sauce is quite thick, quickly add the beef and stir well to coat in the sauce. Serve immediately.

NOTE: Once the beef is cooked you can store in refrigerator for 2 days, or freeze. Simply stir fry (defrosted if frozen) beef in a wok for 30 seconds or until re-crisp and heated through.  Set aside and keep warm whilst preparing the sauce.  Once sauce ready,   add beef back and stir well.  Serve immediately.

Chengdu Chicken

Chengdu Chicken, so named after the city of Chengdu, the capital of Szechuan province.  A deliciously spiced Szechuan recipe.

A dish regularly seen at our dining table.  Mr. Grump eats very little in the way of vegetables, particularly if green.  Spinach, however is one of the healthier vegetables he actually loves.  So any dishes that contain this beautiful green vegetable, gives me the perfect excuse to get it on the table.

Serves 3- 4 as a main dish, or 4 - 6 as part of a multi-course meal.

Ingredients:-

2 large skinless chicken breast (finely sliced)

1 spring onion (finely chopped)

1 garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

2 slices ginger (peeled)

2-3 large handfuls fresh spinach (washed)

Sea salt to season spinach

1 tbsp hot bean paste

½ tsp sesame oil, or to taste

1 tsp freshly ground Szechuan pepper

5 tbsp vegetable oil (divided 1 + 4)

Marinade:-

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine or sherry

Pinch of ground white pepper

¼ tsp sesame oil

3 tsp cornstarch

Sauce:-

1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp rice vinegar (red rice vinegar if possible)

1 tsp sugar

1 ½ tsp cornstarch mixed in 2 tablespoons water

Place marinade ingredients into a bowl, stir well and add the chicken slices.  Stir well to coat in marinade.  Set aside for at least 20 minutes (longer if possible).

In the meantime, combine the rice wine or dry sherry, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. In a separate small bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch with the water. Set aside.

Heat a wok and when hot, add 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the spinach and sprinkle a bit of salt of top. As soon as the spinach wilts (a few seconds), remove it and set aside.

Clean out the wok and heat 4 tablespoons oil. Add the chicken, stir-frying continually to keep them from sticking. When the chicken changes colour and is nearly 80 percent cooked, remove from the wok and set aside. Leave 2 tablespoons oil in the wok.

Add the garlic, ginger and hot bean paste. Stir-fry briefly until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

Add the sauce mixture to the wok. Stir fry for 1 minute, re-stir the cornstarch slurry mixture and stir into the sauce until thickened.  Stir in the spinach, green onion and sesame oil. Sprinkle over the freshly ground Szechuan pepper.

Transfer to serving dish immediately.

Char Siu Pork (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Char Siu has to be one of my favourite ways to enjoy a pork dish. I'm not a big fan of pork in general, for me it needs lots of added flavour and has to be cooked to perfection.

Char Siu is a popular BBQ pork dish is Chinese restaurants and over the years I've tasted this is many restaurants. Some good and some should simply not be on the menu.

Just look around the internet and you'll find varying recipes in addition to varying cooking methods.

The method I insist on provides you with a delicious, moist and perfectly cooked Char Siu.

Don't just take my word for it. Try this recipe and follow the cooking method exactly and you won't be disappointed.

Char Siu Pork (Chinese BBQ Pork)

Approx 750g pork tenderloin

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine, sake or dry sherry

4 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp runny honey

1 tsp Chinese five spice powder

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp garlic powder

dash red food colouring (optional, but gives an authentic & beautiful colour

Combine all marinade ingredients and put into a plastic freezer type bag

Clean pork tenderloin by removing sinews etc, prick all over with a metal skewer and add pork to marinade in bag. Tie knot in top and massage marinade well into pork.

Leave in fridge overnight, massaging occasionally

Preheat oven to 200c (conventional). Half fill a deep roasting tin with water and place a wire rack on top.

Remove pork from marinate (reserve marinate and set aside for later) and place on wire rack over the water.

Roast for 15 minutes, remove and baste with marinate. Lower oven temperature to 180c then roast a further 10 minutes.

Remove and baste with honey/water mixture. Roast a further 10 minutes

Let it rest and slice thinly

Meanwhile, pour marinade into a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, simmer 2 minutes and taste.  I usually add honey or sugar.  One adjusted to your liking serve with pork

Homemade Peking Duck and Duck Sauce Recipe

LUVA DUCK?

Two days prep and cooking, but damn it's worth the effort and wait.

A Chinese restaurant favorite and rightly so.  I could eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner, could you?

Don't forget, this coming weekend is Chinese New Year.  There's no better way to kick off your Chinese feast than with Peking Duck.

For the Peking Duck:-

1.4kg (approx) Oven ready duck

Sea salt flakes

4 tsps Chinese five spice powder (click for recipe) or store bought

4 Whole star anise

2 Cinnamon sticks (halved)

2 tbls Runny honey

For the Duck Sauce:-

3 tbls Hoisin sauce

1 tbls Granulated sugar

3 tbls Water

Prepare the duck – Remove the back bone and flatten the duck.  Cut in half to provide 2 x separate duck halves.

Using a chef’s torch, burn off any stray hairs.  Or remove them with tweezers.

Pour boiling water over each portion and leave to cool.  Pat dry with kitchen paper to remove any excess moisture.

Place both portions (skin side up) onto a rack over a tray.  Place uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry out the duck skin.  Or if space, hang over a tray in a cook place.

Cooking the duck – Preheat oven to 150c.  Meanwhile.  Pierce the skin in several places (do not cut through the flesh) Rub plenty of sea salt and half of the Chinese spice five seasoning all over the skin sides.  Message well and push well into the skin.

Place the duck halves skin side down onto the rack over a roasting try.  Rub the remaining Chinese five spice onto the insides of the duck halves.  Lay on the Star Anise and Cinnamon sticks.

Place in the oven for 2 hours.  Draining off excess fat in try occasionally.

After 2 hours turn over and place skin side up and ½ hour or until meat is tender.

Remove from the oven and turn on the grill to highest setting.  Pour approx 1 tablespoon runny honey over each of the portions and brush all over to evenly distribute.

Place under grill until skin is crisped but not burnt.

Remove and leave to cool slightly before shredding with two forks.

Whilst Duck is cooling make the Sauce – Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Taste and add more sugar if necessary.  If too thick add a little more water.  Remove from heat and pour into a small serving bowl.

Serve with sliced cucumber, sliced spring onions and duck pancakes with the sauce.

TIP: This can all be made ahead and simply warmed through before serving.  The duck and sauce freeze well too.

 Happy feasting.

Chinese Five Spice Powder Recipe

You won't want to be without this
essential ingredient

for Chinese Cookery

Like all spice mixes they can vary enormously depending on brand.  Chinese Five Spice is no different. You would expect that with 5 spices they would all carry the same flavour.  Well no in a word.  The quantities of each spice added can vary and in some cases so do the actual spices.  There are variations using more than just 5 spices!!!!

Store bought spice powders lose flavour quickly and doesn't guarantee quality ingredients have been used. Not to mention that you can often be paying for more than you need and they get lost at the back of the larder.

To ensure your spices powders/mixes are of the highest quality and fresh as can be.  Toast and grind your own, can't get better than homemade anyway can we?

Chinese Five Spice Powder

2 Whole star anise

2 tsps Szechuan peppercorns

1 tsp Cloves

1 tsp Fennel seeds

1 Cinnamon stick (broken into pieces)

In a dry pan over medium heat, toast all the ingredients above. Shake the pan occasionally to prevent burning.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once cooled transfer to an electric spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Or you could make the effort to grind in a pestle & mortar!!!!

Store in an airtight container..

NOTE: Recipe makes approx 1/4 cup.  Simply make more when required to ensure freshness.