World Recipes

Many of us enjoy cooking, and I, for one, am very fond of making simple but delicious dishes, Oriental, Indian, European etc, or fusion food. This page will bring you a number of mouth-watering cuisine from different parts of the world, provided by friends and gourmet food lovers. Give them a try when you are in the mood to be creative in the kitchen,  following these simple instructions. Or just enjoy the photos as a visual treat.

Most recipes are in English, with  one or two in Chinese, for the more advanced chefs and bilinguals. If your Chinese is not up to scratch but would like to experiment anyway, use your Google Translator

Chinese New Year Treats: Tangyuan (汤圆，元宵)

The easiest thing to do is to buy ready made tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) from your local Chinese supermarket. There are different fillings to choose from, the most popular ones are sesame, peanuts, sweet bean past, dates, scented osmanthus flowers and tangerine peels. If you are adventurous, you can make your own sweet or savoury fillings. Personally, I prefer the sweet combination of peanuts, chocolate, jam of your choice and roasts nuts.

If you would like to start from scratch, buy the glutinous powder, mixed with water to make a pastry. Wrap them in a parcel and boil them for a few minutes, ready to serve when they float to the surface.

For extra taste, add an egg, a few spoonful of sweet fermented rice (甜酒釀 ‘tian jiu niang’  or 醪糟 ‘lao zao’), and sprinkle a few goji berries, as I usually do. Enjoy this sweet treat!

Craig Reynolds’ Korean Kimchi Pancake

Cooking Instructions for Easy Pancake-Making

1) Start with Korean pancake powder (mix).

2) Chop up in to small pieces your favorite Kimchi saving any sauce drippings and set aside.

3) Drain one can of solid white tuna (in water, not oil) saving liquid.

4) Follow the mixing instruction on the mix powder and substitute the saved tuna liquid and Kimchi sauce drippings for an equal amount of the required liquid.

5) After the mix is ready add in the Kimchi and tuna and fry it up.

Tip: Using a non stick pan without any oil works best.

Junying’s Special Fried Rice

Ingredients 

• cooked plain rice;
• red or green chilli; 
• ginger; 
• eggs;
• sweet corns and peas (both or either)
• fish balls or prawns, or chicken pieces 
• spring onions, or chives
• fresh coriander

Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs  糖醋小排 

Cooking Instructions 

* 猪肋排剁小块、葱打结、姜切片，切一些葱末备用 – Cut ribs into small cubes, slice ginger, and spring onions

* 锅内做凉水放入排骨块焯出血沫捞出温水冲净 – Boil ribs, then get rid of water

* 锅内做水，水开后放入排骨块，葱结、姜片 – Bring water to boil, add ribs, ginger and spring onions

* 水开后烹入绍酒，转中火炖30分钟排骨八成熟捞出控干水分 – Add Rice wine and turn down fire to simmer for 30 minutes; empty water

* 要想排骨颜色好将排骨放入锅内放少老抽或酱油上色 – Add Dark or Light soy sauce for colouring

* 锅烧热放少许油，排骨控干水分入油锅大火煎炸出焦香、上色 – Add cooking oil and stir fry ribs

* 控出少许油、排骨放入番茄酱、糖、 醋，盐, 酱油调味 – Add Tomato Sauce, Sugar，Vinegar and Salt

* 最后大火收汁即可 – Turn up fire and stop when the sauce starts to dry.

* 炸小排时，要保证小排外酥里嫩，一定要用大火，在这个过程中，油极易外溅，最好盖上锅盖炸，中途改小火。

 

Julie Posner’s Indian Kadai Chicken 

Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes;  Servings: 4

Ingredients 

• Chicken,10-12 pieces 1 kilogram

• Coriander seeds 2 teaspoons

• Cumin seeds 2 teaspoons

• Black peppercorns 6

• Whole dry red chilli 6

• Ginger 2 inch piece

• Ghee 2 tablespoons• Garlic 15 cloves

• Oil 2 tablespoons

• Onion, chopped, 1 large

• Tomatoes, chopped, 4 large

• Salt to taste

• Fresh coriander leaves,chopped 2 tablespoons

 

Method 

1) Dry roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns and grind to a coarse powder;

2) Grind red chillies, ginger and garlic to a fine paste;

3) Heat ghee and oil in a kadai, add onion and sauté till lightly browned;

4) Add half the coarsely ground spice powder and red chilli-ginger-garlic paste and continue to sauté for three to four minutes;

5) Add tomatoes and salt and continue to sauté till the tomatoes become soft;

6) Add chicken and stir;

7) Add coriander leaves and the remaining coarsely ground spice powder and mix;

8) Add half a cup of water and stir;

9) Cover and cook on medium heat till the chicken is done;

10) Serve hot with Naan or Rice.

 

Craig Reynolds’ Seafood Congee 

Ingredients & Cooking Instructions

• A vegetable base consisting of celery, onion, chives, bok choi, bow tie seaweed and grape sized potato with skin.
• Adding 5 oz of sriracha and 2 oz fresh ground ginger.
• Brought to boil and let simmer for one hour.
• Adding 6 cups pre cooked jasmine rice and simmering for one more hour.
• Adding 4 oz each of cleaned squid, octopus, snail and shrimp.
• Let simmer for 5 minutes then will let set covered over night to thicken before portioning and freezing.
• Serving the following day, or consuming it if you can’t wait

Junying’s Meat Curry – Beef, Lamb, Pork or Chicken 

Ingredients

• fresh meat – cut to pieces
• 1-3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1-3 garlic cloves, bashed, then chopped
• 1-2 onions, finely chopped
• red or green chillies, chopped 
• thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
• a bunch of coriander (leaves and roots)
• cooking oil
• salt

Cooking Method

1). Cut the meat into good-sized chunks, trimming off the excessive fat.

2). You can prepare your own curry blend, or you can ‘cheat’ by buying good curry sauce from the supermarket;

3) Heat the cooking oil, adding salt, and onions to fry until softened; add ginger, garlic and chilli to fry for a couple of minutes;

4) Add meat in the pot; and keep stirring till they turn brown, or the red colour is gone;

5). Pour a little water, just enough to cover the meat. Add the curry paste. Then add more water to bring it to the boil, before turning it down to simmer.

6) Add tomatos and let the meat cook on the hob, or if you prefer, you can transfer it to a pot and put in the oven (about 200°c or less), until the meat is very tender. For Thai style curry, add coconut powder or milk for that creamy effect

7) Depending on how much meat you are cooking and how big the pieces, it would normally take at least an hour or more before the meat is tender. Add vegetables of your choice, like potatoes, okra, green beans, and so on, which would only take about 20-30 minutes to cook, However,

8) If you prefer pulses, like chick peas or black eyed peas, you’ll need to add them to the meat earlier.

9) Serve – sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves, accompanied by plain boiled rice, or fried plantains, or Nan bread, and a salad

Tips: 1) No rules as to how many chillies you use, or the amount of any other ingredients – be flexible and try different combinations.  Let your taste buds guide you ;

2) Of all the meat, beef takes longer time to cook, followed by lamb, pork and chicken.

Junying’s Summer Salad – Continental Style

There are so many different ways to make your salad, with wonderful colours, different tastes and textures, full of flavours and packed with healthiness. Be creative and bold in your choice of vegetables, fruits, herbs and dressings.

In the summer, I make salad as a side dish every day. All I have to do is to open my fridge and see what are there. Use anything to your fancy, follow a few simple steps and you’ll be rewarded with a divine salad, easy to make and delightful to your taste buds.

1) Green vegetables: spinach, rockets, celery, watercress, Chinese leaves etc;

2) Add something bright & colourful: tomatos, dried or fresh, cheery tomato or other kind; peppers of different colours;

3) Continental treat: avocado, olives, or summer fruit like a pear, or apple, mango, kiwi, any fruit you like; especially if you have a sweet tooth

4) For crunchiness: if you’re not allergic to nuts, add a handful of roast nuts of your choice, like cashews, pine nuts, pumpkins/sunflower seeds, or roast chick peas;

5) If you enjoy a more substantial salad and love meat, add Spanish chorizo, cheese of your choice, or ham or sausages. Boiled eggs also add protein to the dish;

6) For dressing: dried herbs, such as origano or mixed herbs; fresh coriander, spring onions, extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, especially the balsamic type, or lemon juice/juices of your choice;

Finally, I repeat: Be Innovative – try anything and see which ones work! You’ll be surprised how much fun you’ll have and how satisfied your diners will be, including you !

 

Lulu Langtree’s Aubergines & Beancurd in Coconut Milk  (Suitable for Vegetarians)

Ingredients:  

For the spice paste:

1 tsp dried coriander seeds

2 tsp black pepper corns

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 large pieces of cinnamon barks

10 cloves

 

You also need:

2 aubergines, cut into 1 inch pieces

A block of Chinese beancurd, cut into large pieces

4 tomatoes, quartered

A handful of lady fingers (okra), halved

½ tsp ground turmeric

Salt

Vegetable oil

2 onions, cut into chunks 

A large piece of ginger   

6 garlic cloves

A handful of curry leaves

10 – 15 hot green chillies

A handful of coriander roots and stalks

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Juice of a lime

A small tin of coconut milk

 

Cooking Instructions

1) Grind the ingredients for the spice paste in a coffee grinder. Empty into a small bowel. Add 2 Tbsp water. Mix to a fine paste;

2) Put the aubergine in a bowl with the turmeric and a pitch of salt. Mix well;

3) Heat some oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat and fry the beancard and aubergine in batches. Remove and set aside;

4) Wiz up the onions, ginger, garlic, most of the chillies and coriander roots and stalks in a blender;

5) Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large saucepan, add the onion mixture and curry leaves. Fry over medium heat for 10 minutes until soft;

6) Add the vinegar, lime juice and salt to taste. Stir for another minute. Add the spice paste. Stir and fry for 5 minutes over low heat. Add the coconut milk and 2 cups of water. Stir gently for 5 minutes;

7) Add the tomatoes and okra. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes. Add the aubergine and beancurd. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Turn the heat up to thicken the sauce;

8) Garnish with slit green chillies.

 

Junying’s Sichuan Gongbao Chicken 宫爆鸡

Step 1: Preparation: slice chicken breasts into small square pieces; cut peppers (and/or celery/leeks/cucumber) into small pieces, whichever shape you fancy; small amount of fresh chillies, gingers, spring onions and corianders and a handful of sichuan pepper;

Step 2: Bring oil to a boil, add salt, then pour chicken pieces into the wok. Stir-fry for 2-5 minutes, until golden, or when you think it’s cooked to your liking.

Step 3: Add pepper of your choice. Personally, I prefer a colourful choice of red, green, and yellow, which are cut into square pieces. Continue to fry for another minute or so.

 

Step 4: If you’re not allergic to nuts, add peanuts or cashews, before putting in a spoonful of chilli bean saurce, and continue to stir for a few seconds.

Step 5: Finally, sprinkle the wok with Spring onions and fresh coriander just before or after you empty the wok onto your serving dish.

 

 Lulu Langtree’s Beef Wellington, via Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients 

* a good beef fillet (preferably Aberdeen Angus) of around 1kg/2lb 4oz * 3 tbsp olive oil

* 250g chestnut mushrooms , include some wild ones if you like

* 50g butter * 1 large sprig fresh thyme

* 100ml dry white wine * 12 slices prosciutto

* 500g/1lb 2oz pack puff pastry , thawed if frozen * a little flour,  for dusting

* 2 egg yolks beaten with 1 tsp water

 

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Sit the beef on a roasting tray, brush with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with pepper, then roast for 15 mins for medium-rare or 20 mins for medium. When the beef is cooked to your liking, remove from the oven to cool, then chill in the fridge for about 20 mins.

2. While the beef is cooling, chop the mushrooms as finely as possible so they have the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. You can use a food processor to do this, but make sure you pulse-chop the mushrooms so they don’t become a slurry.

3. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil and all the butter in a large pan and fry the mushrooms on a medium heat, with the thyme sprig, for about 10 mins stirring often, until you have a softened mixture. Season the mushroom mixture, pour over the wine and cook for about 10 mins until all the wine has been absorbed. The mixture should hold its shape when stirred. Remove the mushroom duxelle from the pan to cool and discard the thyme.

4. Overlap two pieces of cling film over a large chopping board. Lay the prosciutto on the cling film, slightly overlapping, in a double row. Spread half the duxelles over the prosciutto, then sit the fillet on it and spread the remaining duxelles over. Use the cling film’s edges to draw the prosciutto around the fillet, then roll it into a sausage shape, twisting the ends of cling film to tighten it as you go. Chill the fillet while you roll out the pastry.

5. Roll out a third of the pastry to a 18 x 30cm strip and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Roll out the remaining pastry to about 28 x 36cm. Unravel the fillet from the cling film and sit it in the centre of the smaller strip of pastry and brush the pastry’s edges, and the top and sides of the wrapped fillet, with beaten egg yolk. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift and drape the larger piece of pastry over the fillet, pressing well into the sides. Trim the joins to about a 4cm rim. Seal the rim with the edge of a fork or spoon handle. Glaze all over with more egg yolk and, using the back of a knife, mark the beef Wellington with long diagonal lines taking care not to cut into the pastry. Chill for at least 30 mins and up to 24 hrs.

6. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Brush the Wellington with a little more egg yolk and cook until golden and crisp – 20-25 mins for medium-rare beef, 30 mins for medium. Allow to stand for 10 mins before serving in thick slices.

Na Dong’s Chinese Cake Recipe 中国蛋糕

• Preheat the oven to 150 degrees
• Separate 7 eggs
• beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and 150 ml of sugar (add sugar in slowly) beat for about 20 mins util the mixture has reached a peak

• beat the egg yolks and 40ml of cooking oil together until they are a lighter colour
• you can add 50 ml of orange juice or milk to the egg yolks

• you can add I teaspoon of lemon zest to the yolk mixture if you want to
• sift 250 ml of plain flour into the egg yolk mixture

• add the egg white mixture back into the egg yolk mixture spoon by spoon in a clockwise motion until smooth

• put in the cake tin and bake for 45 – 50 mins
  

  YUM!

 水煮鱼 －Junying’s Water-Boiled Sea Bass, Sichuan Style 

原料: 海底捞火锅料半袋，鲜鱼，圆生菜，料酒，盐，淀粉，糖，花椒，干辣椒，葱花，葱姜蒜末。

1.把备好的鱼均匀的切成片。

2. 鱼片放入碗中，加入一点点糖，少许盐，生粉和料酒抓匀备用。

3.干辣椒取一半的量剪成小段，起锅倒入少许油把一半的辣椒和花椒。

4. 用小火煸出辣椒和花椒的香味后丢掉，只留油。

5. 洗净的生菜放入锅中快速翻炒后即可盛出，这步是为了增加香味。不要炒久了，炒的久了会丢失生菜的水分出汤的

6.炒好的生菜垫在碗底。

7.锅中倒入适量的海底捞火锅料，放入葱花炒香锅底。

8.下入腌制好的鱼片，炒至变色后倒入热水，大火煮开。

9. 开锅片刻后既可以盛出，余下的干辣椒剪成小段放在鱼片上，然后放入葱姜蒜末，还有余下的花椒。

10.锅中倒入新的炒菜油，烧制9成热，见油冒烟后拿起锅，把热油淋到碗中鱼片上即可。

友情提示：

1.菜里面不用再放盐了，火锅料已经有足够的咸味了，如果怕咸或者怕辣可以少放。 喜欢麻辣的可以放点麻椒，再淋热油，会增加椒麻的感觉。

2.生菜可以替换别的蔬菜，比如油菜，白菜，莴笋等。

If you’d like to try one of the most popular Chinese dish, 水饺, dumplings, for festivals or simply a special treat with family and friends, watch the demonstrations in the video

Making Chinese Dumplings

Chinese Dumplings June 2010 from John Kirk on Vimeo.

We update our recipes from time to time – submissions of fabulous, exotic and easy-to-make recipes are welcome! 

Happy Cooking & Have a Super Sweet Life!