Green Beans Stir Fried with Oyster Mushroom & Garlic

Recipe by Luke Nguyen

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
200g green beans, cut into 5cm lengths
100g oyster mushrooms, torn in half
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Coriander sprigs, to garnish

Method

Place a large frying pan or wok over high heat. 
Add the vegetable oil and fry the garlic until fragrant. 
Add the green beans and stir fry for 2 minutes, the add the oyster mushrooms, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and pepper. 
Toss for a further minute, then transfer to a plate. 
Garnish with coriander and serve immediately

Pippies wok-tossed with chilli & Asian basil

Recipe adapted from Luke Nguyen

Ingredients

1 ½ cups water
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised, finely sliced
1kg pippies/vongole
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon finely diced garlic
1 tablespoon finely diced red Asian shallots
1 tablespoon corn flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 long red chillies, finely sliced
1 handful Asian basil leaves
green shallots, to garnish

Method

In a large saucepan, bring water to the boil. Add lemongrass and pippies. Cover and cook until pippies open slightly (roughly 4 minutes).

In a bowl, add sugar, fish sauce & oyster sauce. Mix until sugar dissolves and set aside.

Strain the pippies, reserving its broth.

Heat a wok to high, add oil, garlic and red shallots, followed by the pippies, then wok toss for 1 minute.

Add the sauce and 6 tablespoons of the pippie broth, toss for a further minute, then add the dissolved corn flour.

Add chilli, pepper and Asian broth and toss to combine.

Avocado and Vegetable Rice Paper Rolls

Recipe adapted from Super Food Ideas, November 2009 issues, page 71

Ingredients

8 rice paper wrappers
½ cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1 small carrot, peeled grated
1 medium Lebanese cucumber, cut into strips
1 medium avocado, peeled, cut into strips
Sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Method

1. Pour hot water into a heatproof bowl until half full. Dip 1 rice paper wrapper in water. Place on a flat surface. Stand for 20 to 30 seconds or until soft enough to roll without splitting.
2. Place one-eighth of lettuce along 1 edge of 1 wrapper. Top with one-eighth each of carrot, cucumber and avocado. Fold in ends. Roll up firmly to enclose filling. Cover with a damp tea towel to prevent roll drying out. Repeat with remaining wrappers, lettuce, carrot, cucumber and avocado. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Notes & Tips

Replace water if it gets too cold to soften wrappers.

For variation you can add the following:

Smoked salmon, Teriyaki chicken, vermicelli rice noodles, mint, perilla leaves, beansprouts

Vietnamese Chicken Curry

I've always wanted to try and make Vietnamese Chicken Curry at home. So when a Vietnamese friend of mine offered her mum's recipe for me to try out, I was very excited and couldn't wait to start cooking. Unfortunately with many Asian mum recipes, quantities of ingredients and timing can vary since a lot of them don't use measuring cups or spoons and don't follow a step by step recipe when they cook. Instead they often adjust taste as necessary or prefer to look at the consistency of the dish as they are cooking. So when I got my friend's mum's recipe, there were a few steps I wasn't too clear about, nor could I locate all the ingredients written in the recipe. So instead I have modified her recipe and incorporated principles from other Vietnamese curry recipes to make the following recipe below:

Ingredients

1kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into small cubes

Marinade:
1 tbsp mild curry powder
2 tbsp Vietnamese curry granules added to 100ml hot water
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
4 birds eye chillies, chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, crushed
4 curry leaves
1 brown onion, chopped
½ tbsp instant coffee granules added to ¼ cup hot water

1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
400ml  Yeo's Singapore hot curry sauce
1 x 375ml can coconut juice
1 lemongrass stalk, outer leaves removed and lower two-thirds of the stalks (the whitish bits) cut into roughly 2 inch pieces and bruised with the back of a knife
Vegetable oil

Method

Add all the marinade ingredients together with the chicken into a mixing bowl. Mix well then place into a large ziplock bag. Leave in the fridge to marinate overnight to allow the flavours to develop.

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large heavy based fry pan and shallow fry the potatoes over high heat until brown (it is not necessary to completely cook the potatoes at this point, only to brown them). When well browned, remove from the pan and set aside until ready to cook the curry. This helps to keep their shape when added to the curry.

Add some more of the vegetable oil (approx 2 tbsp) and fry the marinated chicken until it is golden brown on all sides. (You may want to do this in several batches to avoid steaming the chicken). Set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, over low heat, add the can of Singapore hot curry sauce and coconut juice. Transfer the chicken and lemongrass stalks into the curry sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the root vegetables to the curry. Replace the lid and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice

Notes & Tips

Whilst it may seem odd that instant coffee is added to curry, it's not that uncommon in Asian curries, since it adds a more robust flavour to the dish.

Tamarind Chicken Wings

Tamarind is the fruit contained in the hanging pods of the tamarind tree, Tamarindus indica. The pods themselves are between 10-15cm (4-6 inches) long and cinnamon-brown coloured with a fuzzy coating. The pulp from inside the pods has a sour yet sweet flavour, kinda like a cross between a date and an apricot.


You can eat Tamarind on its own or you can use the pulp to make sauces and chutneys. I particularly enjoy eating a Vietnamese dish called tamarind sauce with mud crab (cua rang me). Wanting to replicate the tamarind sauce from this dish in my own home, I've experimented with a few different recipes and have come up with my own recipe below...

1 kg chicken mid wings
Approx 6 tbsp tapioca starch (substitute with rice flour, if unavailable)

Marinade

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp tamarind puree

Sauce

2 tbsp tamarind puree
2 tbsp oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp annatto seed (optional)
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp tapioca starch dissolved in 2 tbsp water

1 fresh chilli, sliced
chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Wash the chicken wings and dry with paper towel. Prick them with a fork to allow marinade to penetrate. Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and pour over. Mix well and leave for one hour or overnight for a better result.

Heat some cooking oil over medium high heat. Dredge the marinated chicken wings with tapioca flour. Fry the wings until they become golden. Drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Combine the tamarind puree, sugar, chicken stock, salt and pepper, soy sauce, oyster sauce and tapioca flour mix into a mixing bowl and set aside. Put 2 tsp oil into another pan. Add the annatto seed and garlic and fry until the garlic is golden. Pour tamarind mixture into pan, mix well and adjust seasoning to suit.

Pour sauce over the chicken. Serve and garnish with coriander and chilli if desired. Eat while it is still hot.

Notes & Tips

You can substitute the chicken wings for prawns (approx. 12 pcs)

Annatto (achiote) is a red seed with a mild earthy flavour. It is used in cooking for both colour and flavour. They are available for purchase in Filipino or Latin American grocery stores.

For a low fat version of this recipe you can bake the chicken wings and still achieve a nice crispy texture. The secret is actually in the flour! I find that using tapioca flour to coat the chicken instead of plain flour or corn flour makes it really crispy and crunchy. You'll also need a really hot oven to ensure the skin will be nice and golden.

Method for baking:

Preheat oven to 220°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and lightly spray with oil. Dredge the marinated chicken wings with tapioca flour. Place onto prepared baking trays in a single layer with a little space between the wings. Spray chicken with oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until crisp and cooked through. Turn chicken once in the oven half way through cooking.

Wok Seared "Shaking" Beef + Vietnamese Red Rice (Com Bo Luc Lac)

Com Bo Luc Lac is a widely popular dish in Vietnamese restaurants despite it not being part of many Vietnamese home cook's repertoire.

A Vietnamese friend of mine tells me that the “luc lac” is merely a description for the “shaking” or tossing of the beef back and forth in the wok after it’s quickly seared. This dish is often paired together with red rice.

To make the red rice, it's best to use 'one-day-old' rice instead of freshly cooked rice so that the rice doesn't become soggy after cooking. I actually didn't have any left over rice when I made this dish, so I just cooked the rice as usual on the day, spread the rice out on a flat dish leaving it at room temperature for about 15-30 minutes than I popped it into the fridge to dry out for about an hour or two. The results still turned out OK :P

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

750g beef (any cut you like)

Marinade:

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1½ teaspoons sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

Garnish:


Lettuce leaves
2-4 Tomatoes, sliced
1 Cucumber, sliced

2 tablespoon canola or peanut oil
½ Spanish onion, thinly sliced

Method

1. Trim excess fat from the beef and then cut into cubes. In a shallow dish, combine the pepper, sugar, garlic, oyster sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. Add the beef and toss well to coat. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for 2 hours.
2. Place lettuce leaves onto a platter or serving dish. Heat oil in a wok over high heat then add the onions and beef  (spread it out in one layer. Cook in batches, if necessary). Let the beef sear for about 1 minute, before shaking the wok to sear another side. Cook for another 30 seconds or so and shake. Cook the beef for about 4 minutes total, until nicely browned and medium rare.
3. Transfer the beef onto lettuce leaves, sprinkle some more cracked black pepper and garnish with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. Serve immediately with Vietnamese red rice (see recipe below).

Vietnamese Red Rice

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cooked rice
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Put the cooked rice on a baking sheet and refrigerate it, uncovered, for 8 to 24 hours, until it is dry enough for you to gently crumble in your hands. Midway through, turn the rice to ensure even drying. Before cooking, return the rice to room temperature.
2. To make the rice, heat a large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of oil. Then add the garlic, and cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the rice and turn it red. Increase the heat slightly and cook, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, until the rice is heated through.
3. Push the rice to sides of wok, add the beaten egg to the centre of the wok and scramble it for about 2 minutes. 
4. Sprinkle the salt on the rice and eggs and stir fry everything together to combine well. For extra richness, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Continue to gently fry the rice for another 1 to 2 minutes, to sear in the flavors. Remove from the heat, taste and add extra salt, if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and serve immediately. 

Notes & Tips

Like all good fried rice, cook your rice on the firm side (use less water than usual) so that the grains retain their individuality. Then let the rice dry out in the refrigerator. If you have leftover rice, here's a great way to use it up! The rice will literally fry without soaking up tons of fat. The less moisture the better for fried rice, otherwise it becomes soggy.  The tomato paste is a great addition to the rice since it gives the rice great colour and a touch of sweet flavour.