Maple-Soy Chicken Wings and Vietnamese Salad

Maple-Soy Chicken Wings (serves 6)
24 chicken wings (you can do more - I make 4 large chicken wings per person)
1/2 cup of soy
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tbsp of grated ginger
1 tsp of chilli flakes
2 tbsp of chinese rice wine

1. Mix up all the above besides the rice wine and allow wings to marinate overnight. Stir a couple of times while marinating if you have a chance.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180C (lower if fan forced).
3. Spread wings in a single layers on some foil covered (this helps later with cleaning!) baking trays. Reserve the marinade.
4. Bake the wings for an hour. I find it helps to increase the temperature a bit for the last ten minutes or turn the fan forced oven on so that they crisp up.
5. While the wings are cooking put the marinade in a small saucepan. Add the chinese rice wine. Bring to the boil and put on a high simmer until reduced. Make sure it is boiling or simmering fast so that you kill any bacteria in it.
6. Serve the wings with the thickened marinade and hoy sin sauce (for those that aren't so keen on chilli).

Vietnamese Salad (serves 10)
2 carrots, julienned
2 cucumbers, julienned
1/2 wombok, hard centre removed and finely sliced
1 bunch coriander, roughly chopped
1 bunch chives, chopped
1 bunch mint, roughly chopped
300g vermicelli rice noodles - cooked according to instructions and chopped a little with scissors

Nuoc Cham (Minus the garlic) made using this recipe as a dressing

1. Toss together the salad ingredients and the Nuoc Cham.
2. Serve with maple-soy wings

Variations -
This salad would be good served with a hot roast chicken from the supermarket if you are in a hurry.
You could also serve it with deep fried tofu for a vegetarian alternative

Salmon with Wilted Asian Greens

Serves 1

• 1 Salmon Fillet, brushed both sides with olive oil
• 1 handful of chinese broccolli, stalks cut from leaves
• 1 tsp of grated ginger
• 2 tsp of soy sauce
• 1 tsp of sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp of brown sugar
• 1 tsp of sesame seeds

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Mix ginger, soy, oil and sugar together.
2. Heat fry pan until hot and add salmon fillet, skin down. Cook for 2-3mins then turn and cook to your liking. If it is a particularly thick piece of salmon you may find it necessary to cover the pan and cook longer on a low heat - this will help prevent the fish from getting dry.
3. When the salmon is cooked through, set it aside. Add the broccolli stalks to the boiling water. After 1 minute add the leaves. 30 seconds later drain the lot.
4. Put the greens in the bottom of a shallow bowl, top with the salmon. Sprinkle with the dressing and sesame seeds. Serve with boiled rice or mashed sweet potatoes.

Deep Fried Tofu

These little lumps of fried goodness are a great treat and a quick and easy entree for any dinner party.

Serves 3-4 people as an entree
- 1 packet of silken tofu
- 2 tbsp of corn flour
- 2 cups of vegetable oil
- chilli flakes
- salt
- dipping sauce*

1. Heat oil in a wok, pot or deep fryer.
2. Cut tofu into large cubes. From 1 packet you can get about 10-12 cubes.
3. When oil is very hot (look for a shimmer on the top but no smoke), lightly dust each tofu cube in corn flour and lower into the oil on an egg flip. The Tofu is very fragile so this should be done with care. Fry until lightly browned all over and drain on paper towel. The tofu should be nice and crunchy on the outside and soft and silky in the middle. .
4. Sprinkle with salt and chilli flakes and serve with dipping sauce(s) of your choice.

Tip: It is best to cook the tofu in batches as the oil  temperature drops and the pieces stick together if the pan is too crowded

The dipping sauce you serve really makes or breaks this dish as the tofu itself is quite mild in flavour. You can go with just plain lemon or lime if you want something subtle but I prefer something a little more spicy such as nuoc cham or sweet chilli sauce (most commercial sweet chilli sauces are fructose friendly but you can also make your own if you like).

Bi Bim Bap

Serves 2 - 3

• 1 cup of white rice
• 1 large zuchinni, julienne sliced
• 1 cup bean shoots
• 1 carrot, julienne sliced
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• egg

Sauce

• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp miso paste
• 2 tbsp sambal oelek

1. Cook the rice.
2. Mix together sauce ingredients to taste (the miso cuts the chilli factor down a lot so adding or reducing the miso alters the heat).
3. Put bean shoots in a pot of water with a little salt. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
4. Stir fry the zucchini in a little sesame oil and soy sauce. Set aside.
5. Stir fry the carrot. Set aside.
6. Place the rice in two bowls. Top with the vegetables in little piles.
7. Fry an egg, sunny side up. Place on top of vegetables. Add sauce.
8. Serve, Stir, Eat.

Alternatives: 

Baked: if you have access to a hot pot that can go in the oven it is worth baking the dish.  Prepare up to step 5. Put rice in a lightly oiled hot pot. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Add the vegetables and top with the cracked egg egg and cook for a further 5 minutes until the egg is just set. Serve in the hotpot if possible.

Cheese: Adding some cheese before putting the vegetables on the rice is a nice addition (not very authentic but nice). A mild cheese is best. This is particularly good if baking the dish as the rice and cheese get nice and crispy.

Meat: you can include meat if you want. Cut finely, marinate in soy sauce. Stir fry and add some sesame seeds at the last minute.

Pumpkin Soup

• 4 cups of pumpkin, peeled and diced
• 1 large potato, peeled and diced 
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 2 sticks of celery finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 500ml beef stock (check for onion/dehydrated vegetables - massell does a good FF one which is also vegetarian)
• 500ml water
• 1 cup of milk/cream
• 2 tbsp diced chives
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Sautee the carrot, celery and garlic in the olive oil. Sweat until soft and going golden.
2. Add pumpkin, stock and water. Bring to boil and let to simmer for 1 hour.
3. Blend with a stick blender and add milk/cream, chives and seasoning to taste.
4. Serve garnished with parsley and, if you like, sour cream/yogurt/cream.

Alternatives: you can use half pumpkin/half sweet potato if you like. Also, I have had a nice version which used some curry powder and coriander.

Spicy Cumin Beef Stir Fry

Serves 2

• 250g beef finely sliced across the grain (you can use any beef steak - I used chuck and it was not chewy at all because of the marinade and searing)
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn flour
• 1 long red chilli finely chopped
• 1 red or yellow capsicum large dice
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp of dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp of peanut oil
• 1 clove minced garlic (you can omit this if sensitive)
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 tbsp of finely chopped chives
• 1 tsp of sesame oil

1. Mix the soy and cornflour together. Add beef and leave for 30mins - 1 hour.
2. Heat oil in wok. When very hot and smoking add the beef in batches. Sear the outside of the beef, remove from pan and drain on paper towel.
3. When the beef is done, drain any remaining oil from pan and add the sesame oil. Stir fry the remaining ingredients except the chives. When fragrant (about 1 min) add the beef back into the pan. Stir fry until capsicum is cooked. Be careful not to burn the cumin.
4. Add the chives and season with more chilli flakes to taste. Serve hot with rice or noodles.

Source: this is a slightly modified version of this recipe from the NY Times.

Thai Beef Salad

Serves 1

• 200g beef sirloin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• handful of baby spinach
• 1/2 red capsicum, sliced finely
• handful or bean sprouts
• 1 tbsp, finely chopped chives
• 1 tbsp, coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp, mint, roughly chopped

Dressing:

• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 birdseye chilli diced finely

1.   Heat BBQ or heavy based fry pan.
2. Brush meat with oil and season. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side.
3. Transfer to a plate to rest for 10-15 minutes.
4. Mix together dressing ingredients and set aside.
5. Mix remaining ingredients in a serving bowl. Thinly slice beef and place on top of salad. Pour dressing over. Serve.

Vietnamese Style Soup

This is a bit of a hit and miss recipe so be sure to taste as you go along.
Serves 2

• 1 small clove garlic, finely sliced
• 1 inch ginger/galangal, finely sliced
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced (sambal oelek can be used instead)
• 1 bruised lemongrass stalk
• 1 tbsp of chives, finely sliced
• 1/4 coriander leaves and root, roughly chopped
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• 500ml chicken stock
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• rice noodles (already softened in boiling water), meat, vegetables as available 

1. Sautee garlic and half of the ginger in a little vegetable oil. Add stock, lemongrass, lime leaves, fish sauce (to taste), chilli and vegetables/meat. Bring to boil and simmer until vegetables/meat cooked.
2. Add noodles, lime juice (to taste), herbs and remaining ginger

Suggestions: Smoked chicken

Gluten Free Naan

I used to use this recipe for naan, but the naan it produces is more bready than real wheaten naan. Lately I have experimented with my own recipe. The quantities in the ingredient are a bit of a "feel" thing, so be sure to experiment.

Serves 2

• 1.5 cups gluten free plain flour (I use Orgran Brand) plus extra for kneading
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1tsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of dried yeast
• 3 tbsp of greek yoghurt
• olive oil

1. Heat a non-stick baking tray in the oven on the highest temperature you can.
2. Warm the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds so tepid. Add the sugar and yeast and set aside for 5 minutes to allow yeast to activate.
3. Sift the flour into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the yoghurt and enough of the milk/yeast mixture to make a fairly damp dough.
4. Turn out onto a floured board and using floured hands kneed until a smooth soft dough.
5. Divide the dough into two balls and flatten each one using the palm of your hand. When quite thin, set aside on a greased board. The naan is more fluffy if you set the dough aside in a warm place to prove for an hour, but this is not necessary. If you do this, only turn your oven on to pre-heat fifteen minutes before cooking.
6. Take the hot baking tray and lightly grease with olive oil. Place bread. When the bottoms are browned, turn the bread using a spatula.
7. When browned all over, brush with butter, garlic (optional) and salt. Serve hot.

Tip - if you are having trouble getting a nice crust on your naan but an oven proof bowl full of boiling water in your oven while you cook. 

Vegetarian Stir Fry

Serves: 4

• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 zucchini, cut in half and then sliced to 0.5cm
• 1 bunch broccolini, cut into 3cm sticks, set the stalks aside from the heads
• 1 carrot, diced to 1cm cubed and blanched in boiling water for 5mins then drained.
• 2cm of ginger, finely sliced into batons
• 1 small clove of garlic finely diced (you could use garlic flavoured oil when cooking the vegetables instead of fresh garlic)
• 1tsp of fish sauce
• 1 tsp of soy sauce
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of lime or lemon juice
• 1 birds-eye chilli, de-seeded and finely diced
• 1 handful of fresh coriander leaves
• 4 eggs very lightly beaten
• vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp of peanut oil

1. Mix fish sauce, soy, sugar, juice and chilli. Set aside.
2. In a wok or large fry pan heat up sufficient vegetable oil to fill to 1cm. When very hot, pour in the egg. Swirl in the pan to make an omelette. Turn when brown on bottom. When cooked, remove from oil onto a paper towel.
3. Empty pan of oil and reheat dry pan. Return omelette to pan to crisp upon both sides. Remove, roll, slice into ribbons and set aside.
4. Heat up peanut oil in pan. When very hot add the carrots and broccolini stalks. Fry for 2 mins. Add 1tbsp of hot water and place lid on pan until it has steamed off and vegetables are just soft.
5. Add remaining vegetables and stir fry until cooked and a little blackened.
6. Add sauce, egg and coriander. Taste and adjust the sauce seasonings (the fish sauce and juice can vary in their flavour so the measurements above are a guide only).

Fried Rice

Serves 6

• 3 cups of cooked brown rice (preferably cooked the night before)
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 green capsicum, diced
• 1 carrot, diced (cooked with a little water in microwave for 3 minutes, drain)
• 1/2 cup of corn kernels (you could use fresh, canned or frozen)
• 4 eggs, very lightly beaten
• 2 birds-eye chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 cm of ginger, finely grated
• 2tbsp of light soy
• 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
• 1 handful of finely chopped coriander (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• vegetable oil

1. In a wok or large fry pan heat up sufficient vegetable oil to fill to 1cm. When very hot, pour in the egg. Swirl in the pan to make an omelette. Turn when brown on bottom. When cooked, remove from oil onto a paper towel.
2. Empty pan of oil and reheat dry pan. Return omelette to pan to crisp upon both sides. Remove, roll, slice into ribbons and set aside.
3. Heat up the sesame and vegetable oil until hot. Add vegetables and toss. When they are cooked and a little brown at the edges add the rice.
4. Toss until a little browned. Add soy, herbs and omelette and toss together. Adjust soy to taste.

Alternatives:  The vegetables here can be varied as you wish (I usually make it from left over odds and sods). Broccolini is a good for example. You could also also add some meat for a non-vegetarian version - lap cheong chinese sausage, bacon and chicken are all good. It is best to fry it separately and add towards the end. Some prawns could also be added towards the end of cooking.