Guest Post - Chinese Style Beef Steak 中式牛扒

When Mr. Noodles of "eat noodles love noodles" asked me to do a guest post for his blog I said yes without any hesitation. It is not just any guest post; it is his 100th post and with such an honour bestowed upon me, I put my mind to work right away for something appropriate for such occasion. A noodle post might be an easy option but I decided against it and instead chosen a dish that might represent who he is - A British born Chinese whose parents emigrated from Hong Kong, who is also very passionate and proud of his heritage. What I have chosen is this Cantonese classic created by talented Hong Kong cooks using both Chinese and English ingredients. It looks unmistakably Chinese that is until you have your first taste of the sauce that has all the English condiments in it,  more importantly the Chineseness of the dish has not been compromised with the added foreign sauces. For Mr. Noodles' friends who are still not convinced by the beauty of Chinese food, this might be a good dish to show them how versatile and diverse the cuisine can be. Please go to "eat noodles love noodles" and find out more about one man's quest to eat all noodles (among other things) under the sun. I am looking forward to the day we meet; there will be beers, wine and zha jiang mian.... opps! I mean dan dan mian! Last but not least, congratulations on your 100th post and am looking forward to the 200th and 300th...
P.S This is a scheduled post. I will answer all queries and comments ASAP. My Malaysian Monday will be posted on a later date.

serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal

you'll need;

500 g of beef fillet - sliced across the grains to roughly 8 mm slices*

1 tbs of light soy

1 tsp of white pepper

1 tbs of corn flour

2 tbs of peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 brown onion, sliced

1 bunch of bokchoy or Asian greens of your choice, halved lengthwise and blanched just before serving

1 spring onion, cut into 5 cm lengths and julienne

* Place beef in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up to make slicing easier. I am not a big fan of meat tenderised using soda powder, if you do use rump and add a tsp of soda powder to the marinade. Pork and chicken can be used with great success.

for the sauce;

6 tbs of tomato ketchup

3 tbs of HP sauce*

1 tbs of worcestershire sauce

1 tbs of oyster sauce

dash of sesame oil

2 tbs of sugar

1/2 cup of stock

dash of white pepper

corn flour solution
* A1 sauce is a good substitute

Mix everything for the sauce in a bowl (except the corn flour solution) and set aside.

Slice beef across the grains and lightly pounded with a kitchen mallet.

Marinate beef with soy, white pepper, corn flour and peanut oil.

Pan fry beef in a hot pan without using any oil (a non stick pan is best) for 15 seconds on each side and set aside. The beef is juicy and tender without having to use any soda powder - my pet hate!

Saute garlic and onion for a minute then add in the sauce mixture and cook for a minute. Check for seasonings and thicken with a little corn flour solution.

Return beef to the wok and lower the heat. Coat beef pieces with the sauce and warm through, take care not to cook the beef any further.

Blanch Asian greens very briefly and drain well.

Serve beef with blanched greens and top with some julienne spring onions. I hope Mr. Noodles will be making this for his Chinese food sceptic friends sometime soon. I found out later Mr. Noodles' father used to make a similar dish using pork fillet when he was growing up.

Guest Post - Braised Lion Head Meatballs 紅燒獅子頭

My lovely friend Kenny from Chic Eats has just requested a guest post for his wonderful blog over our chat on MSN after seeing one I did for Velva. I am extremely touched to be given such honour but the only problem is - it has to be posted on his birthday which is a few hours away (I'm typing this while we are chatting). I have chosen an everyday dish that will shine at any fancy banquet and hopefully it will be good enough for our foodie birthday boy. 福如東海，壽比南山！Do spend some time exploring his blog, it will be very useful if you are planning a trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan soon!

Please read on before calling the RSPCA as endanger animal parts were not used in the dish! This is a classic dish from Zhejiang Province in China; there are many versions from other provinces, when it comes to lion head meatballs this is the version that I know and love best. As with many other Chinese dishes, poetic names are often given,  in this dish the meatballs are supposed to resemble the lion heads and the cabbage leaves the lion's mane. You may stew the cabbage together with the meatballs but I like them to maintain the refreshing colour and crunch to lighten up this otherwise a very rich and dull looking dish. 

P.S The water chestnuts give these 'melt in your mouth' meatballs a wonderful crunch and by frying the rock sugar first will ensure a sauce with a very desirable colour time after time.

serves 6 as part of a Chinese meal

for the meatballs;

1kg minced pork (30fat/70meat)

1 can or fresh water chestnut (227g), chopped

1 egg

1.5 tbs of grated ginger

2 spring onions (white part only), chopped

dash of soy

dash of white pepper

dash of Chinese cooking wine

dash of sesame oil

6 Chinese cabbage leaves, halved lengthwise and blanched just before serving

peanut oil for deep frying

rice flour for dusting

for the sauce;

2 star anise

5 slices of ginger

2 spring onions (white part only)

4 tbs of rock sugar, crushed

1/2 cup of light soy

2 tbs of dark soy

1/2 cup of Chinese cooking wine

1.5 l of water or chicken stock

corn flour solution

Place meatballs ingredients in a large bowl, using your hand with a circular motion mix everything til well combined. Throw the meat mixture against the side of the bowl several time to get a nice firm ball.

Divide mixture into 12 equal size balls and dust each meatballs with some rice flour.

Deep-fry meatballs in batches til golden, drain well.

Heat up 3 tbs of peanut oil in a pot and add in the rock sugar, stir for a few minutes til sugar dissolves and turns a nice caramel colour. Add in the garlic, ginger, spring onions and star anise and continue to fry for a minute of so. Pour in the stock and add the 2 types of soys and Chinese cooking wine.

Return the meatballs into the broth and simmer on very low heat for 2 hours. Thicken the sauce with a little corn flour solution when it is done.

Wrap each meatball with a piece of Chinese cabbage leaf and pour the sauce over. You'll need plenty of steamed rice with this.

Guest Post - Spicy Boxing Chicken With Chili And Lime Dipping Sauce

When my new blogger friend Velva from Tomatoes on the Vine  asked me to do a guest post for her beautiful blog, I jumped at the opportunity. To repay such an honour given to me, it is only fitting if I create something special that she would love and the result is Spicy boxing chicken with chilli and lime dipping sauce. Make sure you visit her wonderful blog and check out her beautiful photographs and mouthwatering  recipes! This is perfect as a beer snack, finger food for your next party or as part of your next Thai meal.
P.S This was created during our recent weekend in Anglesea.

you'll need;
1kg of chicken wings, separated into winglets and drumlets.
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 coriander roots, roughly chopped
small knob of ginger, roughly chopped
a tbs of fish sauce
a tbs of oyster sauce
dash of white pepper
rice flour for dusting
peanut oil for frying
First prepare marinate by pounding the chopped ingredients til a rough paste is achieved, set aside

for the chilli and lime dipping sauce;

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 coriander roots, roughly chopped
4 bird chillies, roughly chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
2 tbs of white sugar
2 tbs of fish sauce
juice of 2 limes

For the dipping sauce; pound chopped ingredients to a rough paste then mix in the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Check for seasonings, it should taste sweet, sour, hot and salty. The sauce can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

with a sharp knife cut around the thin end of the drumlet til the the skin and sinew is separated from the bone.

Pull the meat down with the help of a knife if needed and you will get a little chicken lollipop. Repeat with the rest.

With the winglets, loosen the 2 thin bones with a sharp knife then pull the bones out, pull the flesh down to the wing tip end.

Marinate the chicken pieces with the prepared paste, fish sauce, oster sauce and white pepper for at least an hour.

Dust the marinated chicken pieces with rice flour and fry in batches til golden and crispy.

Serve fried chicken pieces on a large platter scattered with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with the dipping sauce.