Guest Chef In the House

It's summer sale season in HK and my good friend, A, came to stay and of course, shop. She was nice enough to cook dinner for us on Friday and we invited J to come for a much overdue first visit.

Boy did A cook up a storm. A cooks like me.. we both use tons of plates and dishes in preparation and never clean up till the end. So by the end of cooking a four course meal, we had lots plates, woks, pans and knives to clean. But since A was head chef, I was kitchen cleaner for the day. Wasn't too bad... didn't break anything...

She made kungpao chicken which J declared to be "HK restaurant standard" and also the chap chai dish below.



My contribution for the night was simple chilli prawn.



But A topped it off with a really rich chocolate cake.. which was really heavenly...



Recipes for the dishes below:

Kungpao chicken

2-3 chicken fillets, chunks
2 tbsp vegetable oil
10 dried chilli, cut in thirds
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
handful of cashew nuts (unsalted, roasted)
6 slices ginger
3 spring onions, chopped

Marinade:
1 tbsp wine
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp seasame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour

Sauce:
3 tbsp sweet thick soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 tbsp wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 1/4 cup water

1. Place chicken in marinade for 15 mins
2. Combine sauce ingredients
3. Fry chicken with some ginger slices till browned
4. Heat oil in wok till hot, add cut chillis and allow them to scorch for 30-60 secs
5. Add onions, cashew nuts, and finally add chicken
6. Add sauce, stir to mix and serve

Chap Chai (cantonese/teochew style)

Half cabbage, cut in large sections
Fresh mushrooms, assorted, halved
Any assortment of vegetables you may like
Vermicelli, soaked in hot water
2 Garlic, chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt

1. Heat up oil and add garlic
2. add cabbage, followed by all other vegetables and vermicelli
3. Add salt and some water for gravy.
4. leave to simmer longer if you prefer vegetables to be softer

What to eat to beat the heat II

It's been blowing hot and cold in Hong Kong over the last few weeks. After a depressing two weeks of downpour which even caused a flood on our little road on the hill, we had a week of brilliant sunshine and now, rain again. This has really just been too confusing for my body. It's either wet or hot outside, but once indoors, it's just humid, stuffy and warm. That's summer heat for you.

C's got it way worse cos of her sinus. If it's going to be hotter the next day, she gets the sniffles; if it's going to pour the next morning, her nose just runs. She's like a walking meterology report, with high degree of accuracy too! We just always check with her before we go out to see if we need to bring an umbrella.

Anyway, it's time to beat the summer heatiness again. This time with a luohan drink.

It's really a pretty fascinating fruit. Luohan guo is so named as it grows well in Guilin where many arhats (luohans) go for their temple retreats - they were purportedly the first to use the fruit for its medicinal purposes. The fruits were reported to be frequently used as the main ingredient in cooling drinks (that is, drinks consumed to counteract hot weather, fever, or disorders described in the tradition as warm or hot in nature). It's believed to do anything from relieving sunstroke, moistening the lungs, eliminating phlegm, stopping cough, and promoting bowel movements.



It's a strange looking fruit which looks even stranger on the inside. But it's got an incredible sweetness to it that it lends to any drink made with it as an ingredient. (luohan guo is also now also used as an artificial sweetener)



Luohan Guo Drink

2 luohan guo
handful of dates*
handful of wolfsberry*
2-3 sticks of sugared winter melon
1.5 litres of water

* use red dates and wolfsberry sparingly as they are heaty in nature

1. Crack open the luohan guos and dig out the insides.
2. Boil the insides, with dates and wolfsberry for around an hour
3. Serve (the drink is naturally sweet, but you may add the winter melon sticks for extra depth if you like)

It's a lovely drink. And apparently very good for you too according to Eu Yan Sang as it "influences the lung and spleen channels. Moistens the lungs and dissolves nodules. Commonly used to treat hacking cough and phlegm nodules in the neck."