Soy chicken thighs and egg fried rice

Soy chicken and egg fried rice

Another recipe based on one from Nigel Slater, again from his book Eat.

I've yet to find the recipe online but when I do I'll include a link. In the meantime, here is my version.

Soy chicken thigh ingredients

• About 150ml oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chillies
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 4 chicken thighs

 

How to make soy chicken thighs

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees C
2. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken together in a shallow, ovenproof dish.
3. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat.
4. Put in the oven for about 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes or so. 

In the meantime, make the egg fried rice.
You need to use rice that has already been cooked and then cooled for egg fried rice, otherwise it will be soggy. I normally make double the quantity of rice for dinner the day before, then immediately cool the rice I don't use by running under a cold tap and leaving to drain, before storing in a tupperware container in the fridge till the next day.

As a rule, measure out dry rice by volume, not weight - about 75g per person will give you a greedy person's amount. 

Egg fried rice ingredients (enough for 2)

• 2 portions long-grain or Basmati rice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten in a jug.
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 rashers smoked back bacon, or 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces
• A large handful frozen peas
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• Soy sauce, to colour and taste

How to make egg fried rice

1. Heat some groundnut or other flavourless oil in a wok.
2. When it is very hot, add the chopped onion and cook till it starts to brown.
3. Add the chopped bacon and cook, tossing it around the wok.
4. Add the cooked rice and toss to coat with the oil and mix with the onion and bacon.
5. Once the rice has heated through, add the eggs to the pan with the spring onions.
6. Leave unstirred for about 10 seconds, then stir the eggs around with the other ingredients in the wok to coat.
7. Once the egg has cooked, remove from the heat.
8. Add a splash of soy sauce and stir again, so that all the rice turns brown.*

*For this recipe I didn't add any soy sauce as there was plenty of cooking sauce from the chicken which I used insterad.

Sweet potato and ginger soup

I tried making a ginger and sweet potato soup from a recipe I found in the Guardian a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/26/10-best-ginger-recipes

This soup is weird, though as I tasted tiny sips, I also found it strangely addictive. That said, I didn't even get to adding the cream or maple syrup before deciding it tasted more like a pudding than a soup.

I turned it into something much more savoury by adding:

• 1 extra tablespoon light soy sauce (so 2 in total)
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 3 teaspoons tamarind paste 
• 2 large squeezes chilli paste

The original recipe does include lime juice which I will add after the soup is heated and before serving, otherwise it will taste bitter. 

I think this soup could be transformed into something much better and plan to try it with these modifications:

• Chilli seems essential to this recipe; ginger is just not enough
• More ginger to add a warm kick rather than a back note
• Coriander seeds to compliment the ginger and add depth of flavour
• Swap 1 sweet potato for a savoury root vegetable to reduce sweetness: maybe this is the swede recipe I have been looking for?
  http://www.localgreens.org.uk/redeem-swede-contest-registration
• Squash, pumpkin or celeriac could be worth considering. I think parsnip will be too sweet. (I also secretly hate parsnip but daren't admit it to anyone.)
• Add red lentils to thicken the soup: this will add roughage and make it more filling. Lentils in soup like this will have a negatory effect on flavour.
• I think some freshly chopped mint leaves would boost this soup no end, but, lets face it, most of us are unlikely to add this.

Oh, and this is probably just me, but I hate smooth soup I make myself. Maybe because I never add cream. But I prefer to mash it with a potato masher, leaving in some small chunks of vegetables. I also hate washing up the food processor more than any other job in the kitchen. 

Photo to follow.



 

Salmon noodle salad

We've moved offices to the middle of the A4 and there's nowhere to go for lunch except the on-site cafe and the World's Biggest Tescos. Now lunch for free at work is not just a philosophy but a necessity. 

I've become Salad Director for our newly formed Salad Club. Even though I hate the use of capital letters in job titles I take this role very seriously.

Salad club: Kate, Peggy, Courtney, Yuki, Danielle, me. Not in the photo: Leanne (taking the photo), Erik

 

Its amazing how many contraindications there are with just eight people: onions, Kosher, coriander (afflicts a surprisingly high proportion of Salad Club members), salad-intolerence...

We settled on salmon noodle salad with coriander as an optional garnish. 

Salmon noodle salad ingredients

Serves 8

• Salmon fillets, x6, marinaded and cooked (see below)
• 1 cucumber thinly sliced
• Grated carrots
• Red and orange peppers, thinly sliced
• Cashew nuts
• Beansprouts
• Spinach, 1 bag
• Vermicelli rice noodles 
• Salad dressing (see below)

Salmon marinade ingredients 

Marinade the salmon in the following for 20-30 mins

• 1.5 JOT* (ginger, peeled and grated)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce (I used dark, as this was all I had, though light would be better)
• 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
• Juice 2 limes

*Jamie Oliver's thum, the IM unit for ginger. 

How to cook the salmon 

1. Heat the oven to the Magic Number (190C fan assisted). Bake the salmon for 10-12 minutes.
2. I'm a bit fussy about slimy fish. After 10 minutes I thought the salmon was a little too opaque so gave it a couple more minutes.
   Bear in mind though that it will cook a little more once out of the oven, and also in the lime dressing. 
3. Once cool enough to handle, gently break the salmon up and flake into pieces.
4. Store in a tupperware container overnight.

Salad dressing ingredients

Add the following to a screw-cap jar and shake well. You will need to give it another vigorous shake before serving.

• Juice 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon chilli jam or sweet chilli sauce
• Dash fish sauce*

*only needed if it tastes a bit too sweet 

How to make salmon noodle salad

1. Tell everyone to assemble at the allocated time with their ingredients already prepared. 
2. Help yourself to everything, add a little dressing, and eat at a communal table. 

NOTES:

• It is every member of Salad Club's responsibility to bring and prepare their own ingredient. 
• The Director and Deputy Director of Salad Club are happy to give prep advice if needed up to 5 minutes before the arranged salad club time.