Steamed BBQ Pork Buns - Char Sui Bao

PERFECT

This takes quite a bit of prep but it’s super delicious and worth it. Luckily I have time on my hands and a recipe I’ve been dying to try. Normally I’d go out for dumplings and bao once a month, so I’m feeling the lack of it in my life.

I haven’t gone super traditional with the pork for the filling, usually it would be made with roasted pork shoulder. I didn’t want to make loads, so I improvised with a small cut - pork chops. It was still very good!

Also please look up a good video for the pleating technique because mine are unforgivably messy.

Chinese-Style Turkey Dumplings (Potstickers)

THESE ARE SO EASY. What a revelation. These are so great, simple, a little time consuming, but perfect for a weekend dinner when you have a little more time.

So, I won’t lie. I am not as fast at rolling and filling these as the people at my local dumpling joint. I could watch them make dumplings at lightning speed for hours. But I got it done. I watched a few videos for the rolling technique, but you really just have to get your hands on the dough and see what you can do.

Gorgeous little dumpling

A few things I learned - roll from the centre out, in one direction only, rotating the dough about a quarter turn after each (one) roll. This gets the most uniformly round dough circle.

Ta-da!

The good thing is, I’m going to let you into a secret.. They don’t need to be perfectly round! You can still fold them into a dumpling shape if you end up with a square, an oval, a rectangle, or something in between!  I rolled about 25, and hand on heart, I probably rolled 3 proper circles (the ones I photographed!)

For better photos of how to fold the dumplings (and bonus dipping sauce recipe!), see this previous post (where I used pre-madewrappers). The homemade ones are SO MUCH easier to fold, though.

Sticky Honey Chicken

I really like Chinese takeaway. But, unfortunately I can’t eat takeout every day. Would that I could!

So this weekend, try this little homemade wonder. It is basically is my at home version of honey chilli chicken.  It's easy to whip up, and it really does satisfy that hungover craving that you may or may not suffer from come Sunday...

The chicken comes out beautifully sweet and tender and this is fast becoming one of my favourite dinners!

The great thing about making it yourself is that you can play up the flavours that you prefer – I don’t like sour so I keep the vinegar element to a minimum, but I like honey and chilli so I amp up those, and I throw in some sesame for good measure. Peanuts would also be killer with this.

Slow Cooker Honey Chilli Chicken

Ooh, this is a good one. I haven't had time to cook much with work and revision, so anything to make the process simpler is a good one for me!

The slow cooker is such a great invention. I use mine at least 2-3 times per month, normally on a weekend. There's nothing better than shoving some food into the slow cooker on a lazy Sunday morning and knowing that dinner is taken care of so that you can focus on the important Sunday activities which include sitting on the sofa and reading the paper.

I don't know about anyone else, but my favourite takeout is Chinese food, and I love a good deep fried honey chilli chicken. I'm always looking for ways to recreate those flavours at home and this one really hits the nail on the head.

This is one of the most simple meals I've made, and the first time I made it, I'll admit, I didn't have high hopes. But the flavours are insane! This is a really delicious dinner, and super simple. Make sure to scoop out some of the sauce because it is really amazing over rice. And apart from all the other things that make this meal amazing, it also is basically made from kitchen staples - I always have these items on hand which means I can have this dinner whenever I want. Which is often, no shame.

Mmm, gotta sop up that sauuce

serves 2 with leftovers

Ingredients

• 3 medium chicken breasts
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
• ½ red chilli, deseeded and chopped small
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup tomato pasatta
• ¼ cup runny honey
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Method

Chop the chicken breasts in half and line the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the onion, pepper and chilli.

Mix together the garlic, pasatta, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, oregano and paprika until smooth. Pour this over the top.

Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Remove the chicken and veg onto a plate, and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve with rice or noodles.

Garlic and Broccoli Chicken

So, it’s still pretty much winter, and that is really depressing. It leads me to want to cook nourishing, flavourful and overall COMFORTING foods. I love making foods which have their flavour base in other cultures, and this for me is as delicious as anything you would get from the local Chinese. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of Chinese takeout, and we have a really great one about a 2 minute walk from our place (a double edged sword..).

I love this kind of simple, quick, “throw it all in and mix it around” type of dinner. For me, it is a perfect midweek dinner, and is jam packed with healthy flavourful veggies.

Pork Belly Stir Fry

Want a quick and easy, flavourful dinner? Well, here you go!

I am continually on the lookout for delicious and quick recipes which do for a week night dinner, and what we have here is a little cracker. I also love doing “takeout at home” style dishes as well, because as much as I love my honey chilli chicken with a curry half and half from the local Chinese takeaway, it is unfortunately just not acceptable to eat that every night for dinner. Boo.

Personally, I liked the pork belly, but there were some definite fatty areas, if the thought of that grosses you out then I would maybe use those stir-fry strips of pork instead. Or maybe dry fry the fatty top layer to crisp it up a bit initially. To be honest, this would also be delicious with chicken, because this particular recipe is really versatile and utterly delicious. Feel free to serve with rice or noodles, either work here, but I love rice a lot.

Chicken Satay Noodle Soup

More toppings than soup - my kind of bowl!

Yum yum yum. Hello Monday night dinner!

One of my absolute favourite things to get from a Chinese takeaway is chicken satay. There is something about spicy, thick, silky nutty sauce smothered over some chicken that just gets me every time. Here, the noodles really shine, they cook in with the rest and help the sauce thicken up and become silky smooth. The creamed coconut helps with the sauce texture as well, without making it taste overwhelmingly of coconut.

This is one of these great midweek dinners which I love. Flavourful, quick, and all made in one pot = minimal washing up! I have to admit, I am not the biggest of noodle fans, but you could easily cook some rice in a separate pot and put that in a bowl first and pour some noodle-less soup on top. That would also be excellent. Good plan, rice fans,

You should make this for dinner next week, your family will love you for it!

Sweet Sesame Fried Chicken

Chinese takeout at home, anyone? I was always intimidated by this kind of thing because I didn’t think I’d be able to get it quite right. So, this recipe is a testament to just giving something a go. I researched a lot of recipes and this is an amalgamation of the nicest parts of about 6 different recipes. 

It really turned out deliciously, sweet and nutty and spicy and crunchy and overall damn delicious. And no MSG in sight!  OK it isn't the healthiest, but for a weekend treat I think deep frying is extremely justified.

Although the ingredients list might seem intimidating, they are all things which are easily sourced/cupboard staples, and a lot of the ingredients are repeated. There is quite a bit of preparation to this recipe, but once you have everything marinaded, chopped and mixed, it makes the actual cooking part a whole lot easier. I am awful for not prepping beforehand, so you'll find me frantically chopping a pepper while the onion burns in the pan because I don’t have enough hands to stir it.

Don’t be like me. Prep your vegetables before you start, and maybe read the recipe the whole way though beforehand too. Again, learn from my many mistakes.

Chilli Beef Noodles

So, I received a book voucher for Christmas, and immediately went and bought cookbooks (fiction? I don’t need no stinkin’ fiction). One of which was an Asian noodle cookbook, full of recipes for stir fries and curries with a range of meat and veg. I have to admit, I have never been the biggest fan of a stir fry, because I love a bit of sauce in my meal, which is why this noodle dish is perfect! Feel free to change around the vegetables to your favourites or whatever you have on hand. I just love broccoli.

Every once in a while I find myself a little bit bored of chicken, but there is something very intimidating about all the cuts of beef you can get. So, I chickened (HAH!) out for this recipe and bought some stir-fry beef strips. Convenience!

Chinese Chicken Drumsticks

I’ve always been a big fan of food you can eat with your hands.

Cutting out the middle-man so to speak.

I also very much enjoy sprinkling sesame seeds EVERYWHERE.

So these drumsticks and I are a match made in heaven. They’re especially good for parties this festive season, because they can be easily prepared in advance, don’t require much attention when cooking, and taste great whether eaten hot or old. Cold allows for faster gluttony, though.

Another life motto.

Deep-fried Chilli Prawns

PILE OF YUM

I am going to preface this with what I said to my boyfriend just before I started cooking it: “If this goes terribly wrong, can we order takeout?”

So, this is way out of my comfort zone. I don’t normally deep fry anything and I’ve never cooked a prawn before IN MY LIFE.  So this is one of those, if *I* can do it, then anyone can! Though as a caveat, please be careful when deep frying. You do NOT want to get spattered with hot oil. It will burn you a lot, it is not a toy.

I just used the easiest prawns I could think of for my first foray: peeled, de-veined, cooked, frozen prawns. Simple! Next time, now that I have the technique down, I might get the real deal prawns. But these were bite-size, spicy, crispy balls of deliciousness!

Lime and Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

I have to admit, I’ve never really made a stir fry before. I am just not a big fan of noodles, in general. But of course, noodles are my boyfriend’s favourite thing ever. I have combined a regular stir fry with another recipe I love for lime and ginger chicken, and it turned out deliciously. The flavours are complimentary, and it is packed full of my favourite veggies! Note, I did not add beansprouts because they are totally pointless and gross, but feel free to mix and match with the vegetables of your choice. Mushrooms, sugar snap peas, baby corn.. all solid options.

If you have a wok, this is the time to break it out. I do not have one, so a non-stick pan has been drafted in instead. Improvisation is a big part of how I cook. Don’t have the exact utensil/ingredient? Improvise and you never know, it might turn out better than the original! If not, eh, lesson learned. There’s a fairly laissez-faire attitude which predominates in my kitchen.

Sesame Noodles

These noodles are ridiculous. You will literally wonder why you have never eaten noodles this way before, and weep. They are also a total breeze to make, and go with about everything you can think of. Brilliantly, they can be eaten on their own as some kind of delicious dinnertime treat.

None of the ingredients should be hard to find, my local Asda had them all, and I use them regularly.

Dream noodles.

Chicken Satay

Full of peanut-y goodness.

I love this recipe. The first time I made it, I was convinced that it would taste like I mixed chicken with some melted peanut butter and tried to pass it off as a meal. Like a child would do.

Fortunately, it tastes amazing. 

There’s a subtle spiciness which you can increase by adding a sliced chilli pepper (deseeded if you like). It has a richness without feeling heavy or oily. My boyfriend, aka: my most honest critic, has said that this is better than the stuff you get from the actual Chinese restaurants. Win! 5 stars!