I was a small child when a widowed aunt moved to Hong Kong. Every Christmas
she sent us a trunk— a treasure trove of dressing-up clothes, toys,
lanterns, chopsticks, bowls and strange-smelling dried food.
I was about 8 when she came back for a visit and the whole family went to
Tilbury docks to meet her boat and dine aboard with the captain. In my
memory, a huge table groaning with dishes of brightly coloured food filled
the dining room. Chinese waiters in white cotton suits with gold buttons
piled our plates with this unfamiliar food and I remember being shown how to
use chopsticks.
The dish that caught on with my family was chop suey, a once fashionable
catch-all name for any vaguely Chinese stir-fry. It must have been the
spectacular celebrations marking the beginning of the Chinese new year last
Sunday that rekindled the memories as I tackled an unpromising end-of-week
fridge tidy. Literally, chop suey means mixed pieces, and the particular mix
of pieces in this latest version was so good that I wanted to pass it on.
Coincidentally I had an exceptionally good Chinese meal recently at Uli
Oriental in Notting Hill: a sweet-and-sour dish reminded me of another
favourite, prawns Fiji. It’s a healthy dish, with the sweetness coming from
fresh orange juice and honey and the salty-sour from a hint of vinegar and
splash of soy sauce, the whole lifted with chunks of fresh pineapple. Served
over rice, it makes an easy midweek supper for two that is easy enough to
scale up for more: just double the quantities.
Another dish that has become a favourite with my family is the Chinese way of
cooking fish with soy, ginger, spring onion and coriander. In restaurants,
it’s a splendid, showy dish, usually made with a whole sea bass but the
seasoning works its magic with fillets of humbler fish such as whiting or
pollack. It can be adapted to suit as few or as many servings as you like by
wrapping individual fillets of fish in foil. It is delicious with simply
boiled rice, but becomes a bit more special when the rice is enriched with
coconut.
Chicken Chop Suey
Serves 2 to 3
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15 min
300g chicken fillet
3tbsp oyster sauce
1 pointed red pepper, about 100g
1 trimmed leek, about 100g
100g sprouting broccoli
30g ginger
3tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp hoisin sauce
1tbsp toasted sesame oil
2tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2tbsp rice vinegar
150g basmati rice or 200g “fresh” rice or egg noodles
2tbsp vegetable oil
METHOD Slice the chicken into strips about 5cm x 1cm. Toss with 3tbsp
oyster sauce and leave to soak. Trim, split and slice the red pepper into
batons about 5cm long. Cut the leek into 5cm lengths, split and slice down
the pieces into matchsticks. Halve the broccoli, slicing under the florets
and split the stalk.
Peel the ginger and slice into wafer-thin scraps. In a cup or bowl, mix the
soy, hoisin, toasted sesame oil, rice wine and vinegar. Cook the rice (see
prawns Fiji) or noodles, according to packet instructions, before you begin
the stir-fry.
Swirl the vegetable oil round a wok placed over a high heat. Add the ginger
and stir-fry for 30 seconds before adding the chicken and its sauce.
Stir-fry for two or three minutes until all the pieces are sealed. Add the
red pepper, leek and broccoli, stir-frying constantly for about two minutes,
then add the sauce mixture. Scoop and toss for five minutes until the
vegetables start to wilt but retain a crunch, and the sauce is slightly
reduced. Serve over rice or add the drained noodles. Stir to mix.
Prawns Fiji
Serves 2
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 15 min
150g basmati rice 200g fresh or frozen extra large raw tiger prawns, headless
and shell on
30g fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove
1 slice of fresh peeled pineapple (optional)
150ml fresh orange juice
150ml dry white wine
2tbsp runny honey
1/2tbsp rice wine vinegar
1tbsp soy sauce
25g butter
1tbsp vegetable oil
40g flaked almonds
METHOD Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Place in a saucepan
with a well-fitting lid with 275ml cold water. Bring to the boil. Turn the
heat very low, cover and cook for ten minutes. Turn off the heat, do not
remove the lid and leave for ten minutes for the rice to finish cooking in
the steam.
Meanwhile, cook the prawns. If frozen, slip them into a bowl of warm water and
leave for a couple of minutes to defrost. Remove the shells. Peel the ginger
and slice into skinny batons, then into tiny dice. Peel and finely chop the
garlic. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and crush with the flat of a
knife without working it into a paste.
If including pineapple, cut it into bite-size chunks, discarding the woody
core. Place the orange juice, wine, honey, vinegar, soy sauce and slightly
less than half the ginger in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Heat the butter and
oil in a wok or spacious frying pan over a high heat and when the butter is
bubbling, stir in the prawns, remaining ginger, crushed garlic and almonds.
Stir constantly for two or three minutes until the garlic and ginger is
aromatic, the prawns have turned from grey to pink and the almonds golden.
Do not overcook. Remove the prawns and almonds to a dish. Add the orange juice
mixture to the pan. Boil for a few minutes until syrupy, a dark caramel
colour and reduced to a third of the original.
Add the pineapple, if using, and heat through. Return the prawns and almonds
to the pan. Stir constantly for about 30 seconds.
Fork up the rice. Serve the prawns over the rice.
Chinese white fish with coconut rice
Serves 6
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 20 min
2tbsp vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, preferably new season
5tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp toasted sesame oil
150g spring/salad onions
50g piece fresh ginger
6 fillets whiting, cod, haddock, huss or pollack
50g bunch coriander
400g basmati rice
100g creamed coconut
3 limes
You will also need
12 pieces of tinfoil about 24cm square
METHOD Boil the kettle. Heat the oven to 400F/200C/gas mark 6. Lay
out six sheets of tinfoil. Smear the middle section with a little of the
vegetable oil. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Sprinkle with 1/4tsp salt
and crush to a paste. Place in a bowl, add 1tbsp vegetable oil, 5tbsp soy
sauce and 1tbsp sesame oil. Trim and slice 150g spring onions on the slant,
including green.
Peel and finely slice the ginger. Arrange the fish over the smear of oil.
Scatter with spring onions and ginger and spoon over the dressing. Set aside
a few sprigs of coriander and arrange the rest over the top. Place a second
sheet of foil on top, fold the edges firmly but not too tightly to secure.
Place on a baking sheet.
Rinse the rice and place in a pan with 600ml cold water. Crumble the creamed
coconut over the top. Bring to the boil, stir to dissolve the coconut,
reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan. Turn off the heat, do not
remove the lid, and leave for ten minutes. Meanwhile, bake the fish parcels
for 15 minutes. Fork up the rice, transfer to a serving platter: decorate
with lime wedges and sprigs of coriander. Serve the fish parcels to open at
the table.
