Tag: chinese

Posted on

Chinese Chicken Wings

Wings

I do like chicken wings and not only are they cheap, they are tasty too. The key is to cook them fresh and not to re-heat them.

The problem I have found with ordering chicken wings in restaurants is that they re-heat pre-cooked ones to order. I know that they often do this as it saves time, but if you have only ever eaten chicken wings from a restaurant then you must try cooking them fresh and you will be able to taste the difference.

I do joint the wings and then roast in the oven for about 15-20 mins. It’s as this point I add any sauce; I have found that though you can add the sauce from the beginning, there is a possibility it will burn. The wings are then cooked for a further 10-15 minutes.

I often make my own sauces, but I do also use ready made sauces to see what they’re like or for inspiration to try and make a better home made one later.

I tried out a jar of Blue Dragon Chinese BBQ Sticky Sauce.

A smoky and sticky sauce for roasting with a rich blend of molasses, caramel, garlic, ginger and Chinese spices.

I did really quite like this, sweet and sticky, but the garlic and ginger really coming through. Probably quite easy to make yourself too.

Posted on

Chinese BBQ Chicken

This was a simple recipe that was very tasty as a result. It was based on the pork belly recipe that I made recently, but this time used chicken.

I took a splash of sunflower oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup (though you could use honey), chinese five spice and tomato ketchup. I coated some boneless and skinless chicken thighs with the marinade and left for about 30 minutes. You could leave it for longer, but I was hungry and trying to be quick!

I then roasted the chicken in a hot oven for about 15-20 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let rest for five minutes before slicing into thick slices.

I served it with a stir fry of vegetables and cashew nuts alongside some plain boiled rice.

Posted on

Spare Ribs

I quite like spare ribs but after eating some from the local chinese last night, decided I much prefer making my own.

The ones from the chinese were nice and meaty, but two major things wrong with them, firsty they were re-heated  which means that they certainly don’t taste as good as they could, secondly the sauce was too sweet and lacked flavour.

The ones I have made are freshly cooked and that makes a (huge) difference. I also make my own sauce and that generally can be a lot tastier (and lots less salty) than other sauces you can buy.

My sauce is made from honey, balsamic vinegar, sunflower oil, tomato puree (though ketchup works just as well) and I add spices, usually Cajun to add heat and flavour.

Space Ribs

I cook them with  some chopped red onion in a hot oven for about twenty minutes.

I do need to find a better source for my ribs as I much prefer meaty ribs.

Posted on

Simple Beer Batter

Sometimes simple is best.

Tonight I cooked some pork balls to go with the chinese meal I was cooking.

I created a simple batter, of self-raising flour and some beer. Mixed to a consistency which would coat a spoon, not too thick and not too thin.

Cut your pork into cubes about 1cm thick, tall and wide.

Hot oil and a few cubes at a time until golden brown.

They should be crisp and more importantly retain their crispness.

Posted on

Chinese Food – wish I hadn’t…

Tonight I made a mistake of going out and buying a chinese takeway. Now I wish I hadn’t.

It seemed such a good idea, get some egg fried rice, some prawn crackers, sweet and sour chicken, duck and something and king prawn dish.

No cooking, nice and easy Friday night meal.

Well we did order, and we got, egg fried rice which was somewhat dry (as it generally always is) and large crispy prawn crackers that didn’t really taste of prawns. We had chunks of chicken in thick crispy batter and a sweet and sour sauce that is a thick red gloopy glue. The duck with bamboo and water chestnuts had potential, but the Bisto style gravy let it down. Whilst the king prawns with cashew nuts was probably the best of the bunch, but still nothing to write home about.

After eating (and we did leave some) we didn’t feel quite right, a little bit sick and later some pain.

The idea was nice, the execution was poor and the aftermath not pleasant.

I bought chinese food, I wish I hadn’t.