recipes

There are two ways to fry food: stir-fry or deep-fry. Chinese cooking has many stir-fried dishes. The method of stir-frying is to use very little oil and to fry at a fairly high temperature.

This is different to deep frying where the object is immersed and fried in boiling oil for some time (as for example French fries and fried squids).

Quick stir-frying is less greasy and is more healthy than deep frying (I think).

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts with Mushrooms

Ingredients:

* Bean sprouts

* Chinese Mushrooms

* A small piece of garlic (optional)

* One small onion (shallot)

* Meat (pork, veal or chicken) cut into strips

* Some prawns (optional)

* Cooking oil (olive oil, or sunflower oil, or soya or groundnut).

* Salt and Pepper

Method:

Chop up a small onion (shallot) and a piece of garlic (optional). Cut some meat into strips. Soak come Chinese mushrooms in water until soft.

Heat a little bit of cooking oil in a frying pan and add in the chopped onion and garlic and fry gently till slightly coloured. Add in the meat and mushrooms and fry for a few minutes until the meat is cooked. Add the prawns, fry a bit more then add in the bean sprouts. If too dry, add some water and white wine or sake.

Fry for another minute adding salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with white or fried rice. An accompanying glass of chilled white wine is not a bad idea either....!

Omelette with Onions

Ingredients:

* Big onion

* Eggs

* Pepper, salt and a dash of soya sauce

* Cooking oil

Method:

Slice one big onion into thin slices and beat up 2 or 3 eggs in a bowl. Add pepper and salt and a dash of soya sauce to the eggs. Heat two tablespoons of cooking oil in the frying pan and put in the sliced onions. Fry until they change colour then pour in the egg and let it sit for a minute or so. Flip the omelette over to brown the other side.

Decorate with a few leaves of parsley and serve hot.

Roti Babi (Pork Sandwich)

Ingredients:

* Thick slice of bread

* Piece of pork filet

* Potatoes

* Garlic and onions

* Green peas

* One egg, beaten

* Soya sauce and pepper

* Cooking oil (corn, peanut, soya, sunflower, or whatever)

Method:

Take a thick slice of bread and make a cut in the centre to make a "pocket". Cut a piece of pork filet and a potato into small pieces. Chop up some garlic and onions and beat up an egg in a bowl..

Heat some cooking oil in a frying pan, then put in the garlic and onion and fry until slightly brown. Add in the pork and potato pieces and fry them until they are almost done then add the green peas and continue frying until everything is done (add also some soya sauce and pepper to taste while frying)..

Take the bread and stuff the fried ingredients into its belly. Dip the whole thing in the beaten egg then fry the egged slice of bread until brown. You now have a sort of "Stuffed French Toast".

Serve hot with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Yum, yum!!

Quick-fried Rice Noodles

There are different types of Chinese noodles. They can be made with eggs and flour, with soya beans or with rice. They all taste nice and in cooking, can often be mixed one with the other. Here is a simple and tasty dish with rice noodles. The ingredients are very versatile and you can add to them or subtract them. The main thing is the method of cooking.

Ingredients:

* Rice noodles

* Sliced meat : pork pieces and/or sliced chicken pieces

* Shell fish: mussels, clam

* Shrimps or prawns

* Vegetables: Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, sliced carrots

* One or two eggs, beaten

* Garlic and onion

* Soya sauce

* Aromat seasoning or similar

* Cooking oil (corn, peanut, soya, sunflower, or whatever)

Method:

Soak the rice noodles in very hot or boiling water until they turn soft. In the meantime, chop up some small onions and garlic. The ingredients are very versatile, but on the meat side, you can use some sliced pork (or veal), some sliced chicken meat, some prawns, and perhaps some shell fish like mussels and clams. Again, you can add in whatever you like and leave out what you don't like. For vegetables, try bean sprouts, sliced carrots, sliced Chinese cabbage or whatever green vegetables you can lay your hands on. If you wish, you can also beat up a couple of eggs. When the noodles are soft, drain off the water.

Heat two or three spoons of vegetable oil in a wok (or in a frying pan if you don't have a wok) Throw in the chopped garlic and onions and fry them till they turn slightly brown. Add in the meat and fry them a little while then throw in the clams. Fry a bit more then add the vegetables. Fry for another minute. Now remove everything and put them in a bowl for a moment.

Heat another teaspoon of oil and add the beaten eggs. Spread the eggs out nicely all over the pan and when they start to take colour, add the noodles. Fry for half a minute or so then add back the meat and vegetables and fry for another twenty seconds or so. Add some thick black soya sauce (sweet), some Aromat (optional) and salt and fry for a few more minutes. Transfer the noodles on to a plate and sprinkle some pepper on top.

Serve hot. You can eat the noodles with some chopped up green or red chillies or put on some chilly sauce if you like it hot. Nice!

Fried Rice

Fried rice is a dish that everybody likes! Here is a simple recipe!

Ingredients:

* Sliced meat: pork, chicken, or veal

* Prawns and shell fish (optional)

* Sliced ham

* Green peas

* One or two eggs, beaten

* Garlic and onion, chopped

* Sesame oil, soy sauce

Method:

Cook some white rice in the usual manner. While the rice is cooking, chop up some garlic and onions and cut some meat (veal, pork, chicken or turkey) in biteable pieces. Beat up a couple of eggs in a bowl as well.

When the rice is cooked, heat some cooking oil (two or three tablespoons) in a frying pan then put in the garlic and onions and fry till slightly brown (about two or three minutes). Now put in the meat and add some prawns and squid as well and fry for some minutes over fairly high heat until the meat is cooked. Add in some pre-cooked ham (cut in pieces or cubes) and green peas and the egg. Add some sesame oil or soy sauce as well. Keep on frying the whole lot for another minute or so then switch off the fire ... the rice is ready!

Serve hot! Bon appétit!

Tofu in Oyster Sauce

Tofu is a very healthy food with a high protein content and no cholesterol. Tofu by itself has not much taste but can be very tasty when cooked in various ways. Tofu can be bought fresh or canned - both taste good anyway.

Here is a simple and tasty tofu dish which can accompany boiled or fried rice.

Ingredients:

* Tofu, fresh or canned

* Sliced meat: pork, chicken, veal

* Thick soya sauce

* Salt

* Cooking oil

Method:

Cut the tofu in rectangular pieces and chop up some small onions and garlic. Slice some meat (pork, veal or chicken) into thin strips.

Heat a tablespoon of corn, peanut or olive oil in a frying pan then add in the chopped onions and garlic. Fry briskly until slightly brown then add in the meat. Fry again to cook the meat then add in the tofu. Stir occasionally (taking care not to break the tofu) until the tofu has taken colour then add in some thick oyster sauce. Add a bit of salt. Stir fry for another minute then serve on plate as an accompaniment to your rice dish.

Serve hot with white rice.

Fried Mixed Vegetables

A simple Chinese meal usually consists of two or three different dishes of meat, vegetables and perhaps a soup.

A tasty and simple-to-prepare dish is a plate of fried mixed vegetables.

Different vegetables can be fried together in different ways. An example is to stir-fry cauliflower, zucchine (or cucumber), green peas, carrots and red tomatoes together. Here is a sample dish.

Ingredients:

* Cauliflower

* Zucchine (or cucumber)

* Sliced carrot

* Tomatoes, big slices

* Green peas

* Garlic and onion

* Salt and seasoning

Method:

Cut the cauliflower in pieces and the zucchine in strips. Cut two or three tomatoes in sixths and slice the carrot in thin, round pieces or in thick strips.

Chop up some small onions and garlic and fry them in a little bit of sunflower or peanut or olive oil. When the onion and garlic are slightly browned, add the cauliflower. Fry them for about three minutes then add the carrot and fry for another three minutes. After this, add the zucchine, green peas and tomato and fry for another minute or so.

Add salt and some seasoning and fry for a few seconds more. Serve hot with white or fried rice.

Soya Chicken Rice

Here is a simple yet nutricious dish. The recipe serves two (depending on your portions!).

Ingredients:

* White rice (depending on the type of rice, a glassful should give two portions).

* Half a chicken

* Dried Chinese mushrooms - available in Chinese supermarkets

* Olive oil

* Dark (sweet) soya sauce

* Soya sauce, salty or salt

* Ham or bacon

* 2 or 3 cups of warm water

Method:

Put some dried chinese mushrooms in hot water to soften. Depending on the type of mushrooms, this can take between 10 - 30 minutes).

Cut half a chicken into roughly eight pieces then leave them to marinate in a bit of dark (sweet) soya sauce for a few hours.

When you are ready to cook, fry the pieces of chicken in a bit of olive oil until they are slightly browned. Add the mushrooms and ham/bacon and fry a bit more then add 2 - 3 cups of warm water, some additional dark soya sauce, some light soya sauce or salt and leave to cook until done.

Serve hot with a sprinkle of black pepper and accompanied with chilled white or rose wine.

Grilled Sesame Prawns

Try out this simple recipe. If you like the taste of sesame, you will like this!

Ingredients:

* Large prawns (King or Emperor)

* Salt

* Sesame oil

Method:

Heat up your grilling pan with some sesame oil then place the prawns on it. Let the prawns grill for a while until they have taken a bit of colour. Now brush them generously with sesame oil. Sprinkle some salt on top. Let them grill until they have taken on a nice red colour and some burnt marks.

Serve with cold white or rose wine.

Stir Fried Vermicelli with King (or Tiger) Prawns

Ingredients:

* King or Tiger Prawns, fresh

* Meat (chicken, pork or turkey) cut into strips

* Garlic - chopped up

* Spring onions, chopped up

* Sesame oil

* Soya sauce, both sweet and salty

* Bean sprouts

* Carrots, cut into strips

* Lettuce, torn in pieces

Method:
Heat up your frying pan with some sesame oil (or you can substitute with olive oil). Put in the chopped garlic and fry for a little while and before they turn brown, add in the strips of meat, which can be pork, chicken or turkey and carrot strips and stir fry till meat is cooked. Now add the prawns and fry these till they turn red. Add the bean sprouts and lettuce and soya sauce (both sweet and salty) and fry a bit more then add the chopped up spring onions. You can add salt and pepper as usual during the last stages of frying.

Serve with chilled white or rose wine.

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