Sizzling Rice Cake with Shrimp

Ingredients

225 g shelled shrimp
120 g rice cake
50 g green pea
4 green onion
3 slices ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil

Shrimp Marinade

1/2 Egg white
2 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt

Sauce

2 cups stock or water
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt

Thickening Solution

2 tbsp each corn starch and water

Method

1. Wash and dry shrimp. Mix with marinade ingredients and set aside for about 20 minutes.
2. Cut rice cake into 3 cm squares.
3. Add 6 cups oil to a wok. Heat to 320°F (160°C). Deep fry rice cake until golden. Place on a large platter.
4. Blanch shrimp in oil (248°F/120°C) until cooked and remove.
5. Heat 3 tbsp oil in the wok. Stir-fry green onion and ginger until fragrant. Add sauce ingredients and green pea. Bring to a boil. Mix in shrimp. Thicken the sauce with the thickening solution.
6. Drizzle sesame oil and pour shrimp with sauce over the rice cake. Serve immediately.

Source: Chinese Sichuan Cuisine

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Sizzled Clams with Udon and Watercress

Ingredients

7 ounces dried udon
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
2 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed and rinsed
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1-1/2 teaspoons Chinese black bean sauce
1/4 cup sake
1 bunch of watercress (6 ounces), thick stems discarded
1-1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 scallion, thinly sliced
chili oil, for drizzling

Method

1. In a medium saucepan of boiling water, cook the udon until tender, 5 minutes. Drain and toss with 1 teaspoon of the canola oil.
2. Heat a wok until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the canola oil. When it starts smoking, add the clams. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the ginger, garlic, parsley and black bean sauce and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add the sake, cover and cook until the clams open, about 5 minutes longer.
5. Pour the clams and their juices into a large bowl. Discard any clams that do not open.
6. Return the wok to high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Add the watercress and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.
7. Add the udon, oyster sauce and butter and stir-fry until the udon are evenly coated.
8. Return the clams and any accumulated juices to the wok and stir-fry just until combined. Transfer to the bowl, garnish with the scallion and drizzle with chili oil. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Chef Pino Maffeo

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Crispy Shanghai Spring Rolls

Ingredients

12 spring roll wrappers, thawed if frozen
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour mixed to a paste with water
sunflower oil, for deep frying

Filling

6 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes in warm water
5 ounces fresh firm beancurd (tofu)
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
8 ounces finely minced pork
8 ounces peeled cooked shrimp, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, mixed to a paste with 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
3 ounces each shredded bamboo shoot or grated carrot, sliced water chestnuts and bean sprouts
6 scallions or 1 young leek, finely chopped
a little sesame oil

Dipping Sauce

scant 1/2 cup light soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili sauce or finely chopped fresh red chili
a little sesame oil
rice vinegar, to taste

Method

1. 1 Make the filling. Drain the mushrooms. Cut off and discard the stems and slice the caps finely. Cut the beancurd (tofu) into slices of a similar size.
2. Heat the oil in a wok and stir-fry the pork for 2-3 minutes or until the color changes. Add the shrimp, cornstarch paste and bamboo shoot or carrot. Stir in the water chestnuts.
3. Increase the heat, add the bean sprouts and scallions or leek and toss for 1 minute. Stir in the mushrooms and beancurd. Off the heat, season, then stir in the sesame oil. Cool quickly on a large platter.
4. Separate the spring roll wrappers. Place a wrapper on the work surface with one corner nearest you. Spoon some of the filling near the center of the wrapper and fold the nearest corner over the filling. Smear a little of the flour paste on the free sides, turn the sides to the middle and roll up. Repeat this procedure with the remaining wrappers and filling.
5. Deep fry the spring rolls in batches in oil heated to 375°F until they are crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels and serve at once with the dipping sauce, made by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl

Makes 12 pieces.

Source: Asian Cooking

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Chawan-mushi

Ingredients

4 shrimp in shells without heads, about 30 g each
80 g chicken thighs, skinned
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
1/4 bunch mitsuba (trefoil)

Custard

3 eggs
1-3/4 cups dashi
1 tsp mirin
2 tsp light soy sauce
pinch salt

Method

1. Shell and devein the shrimp. Cut chicken into 2-cm cubes. Parboil shrimp and chicken briefly, cool in cold water, and drain.
2. Cut shiitake into halves, and parboil. Cut mitsuba into 3/4-inch lengths.
3. Make the custard. Beat eggs lightly so they won’t bubble. Combine dashi and seasonings, add the mixture to the eggs, and strain through a sieve.
4. Pat dry shrimp, chicken, shiitake, and mitsuba, and distribute evenly into 4 serving cups. Fill with custard to four-fifths full, and cover with lids or plastic wrap.
5. Transfer the cups to preheated steamer, and cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Turn down heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes more. Custard is done if clear juice comes out when it is poked with a bamboo skewer.
6. Remove cups from steamer and serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: 100 Recipes from Japanese Cooking

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Chicken and Prawns in Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients

10 oz peeled prawns
8 oz chicken fillet
4 chicken livers
minced garlic and ginger slices

Marinade

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp egg white
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Sauce

1/2 tbsp each of black beans
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
4 tbsp chicken stock

Method

1. Split open back of prawns to form butterfly shapes.
2. Cut chicken fillets into bite-size pieces.
3. Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
4. Mix chicken and prawns with marinade and blanch briefly in hot oil. Drain.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok and saute garlic and ginger. Add prawns and chicken. Stir-fry until chicken is done.
6. Mix in the sauce and cook until it thickens. Remove to the serving platter.
7. Season chicken livers with a little salt. Deep fry until crispy and place on the dish.

Source: Great Chefs in Hong Kong

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