Mock Shark Fin Soup

2 Cups Shredded Chicken Breast
2 Pcs Shitakke Mushroom, soaked in water and shredded
2 Pcs Wood Ear Mushroom, soaked in water and shredded
1 Cup Glass Noodles,
2 Eggs, Beaten Lightly
1 Tea Spoon Dark Soya
1 Table Spoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tea Spoon Sesame Oil
1 Liter Chicken Stock
Cornflour mixed with water for Thickening
Salt & White Pepper Powder to Taste
Spring Onion, Chopped for Garnish

Preparation:

1. Heat the chicken stock in the saucepan and add the shredded chicken and mushrooms and bring to boil.
2. Simmer the soup and add seasonings, soya sauce and oyster sauce.
3. Finally add the glass noodles and thicken the soup with cornflour.
4. Drizzle with sesame oil before serving.
5. Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Barbequed Prawns Honey Mustard Soya, Chocolate Glazed Crispy Onion & Garlic, Wok Tossed Shitake-Asparagus & Water Chestnuts

This is my award winning recipe for Upper Crust Celebrity Chef Cooking Contest 2011 held at Lalit Ashok Hotel in Bangalore. It was fun as I competed with the city top Chefs....

Ingredients

3 Pcs. Jumbo Tiger Prawns, Shell On

For the Marinade

30 ml Dark Soya Sauce

20 ml Honey Bee Brandy

5 ml Honey

5 gm Mustard Powder

5 gm Grated Garlic

5 gm Grated Ginger

10 ml Canola Oil

For the Chocolate Glazed Onion & Garlic

1 no. Onion, finely sliced and crispy fried

10 cloves of Garlic, finely sliced and crispy fried

10 gm Walnuts, roughly broken

50 gm Grated Chocolate

5 gm Butter

5 gm Sugar

10 ml Brandy

Oil for Frying the onion and garlic

For the Wok Tossed Vegetables

2 caps of Shitake Mushroom, stalk removed and cut in halves

3 no. Asparagus Shoots, hard end removed

3 Water Chestnuts cut into halves

3 gm Grated Garlic

3 gm Grated Ginger

5 ml Dark Soya Sauce

5 ml Canola Oil

Preparation

For the barbequed prawns

Devein the prawns and clean it in running water. Remove the shell from center part keeping the head and tail of the prawn intact.

Make the marination for prawns by mixing all the ingredients mentioned above for marinade. Marinate the prawns with the marinade.

Barbeque the prawns on a charcoal griller making sure it is neither over cooked nor under cooked.

For the chocolate glazed onion and garlic

Crispy fry the sliced onion and garlic in hot oil till golden brown. Remove from oil and place in a kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Heat butter in a pan and add sugar to caramelize; now add the chocolate and brandy. Reduce the mixture and toss the walnuts,crispy onion and garlic. Remove from fire.

For the wok toss vegetables

Heat oil and sauté garlic- ginger till fragrant. Add the shitake, water chestnuts and asparagus. Toss well in soya sauce. Remove from fire.

For Assembly

Make a base of the chocolate glazed onion and garlic. Place the barbequed prawns on top of the base and top with the wok tossed vegetables.

Sliced Pork with Bitter Gourd

Ingredients

Serves: 4

• 250 gm Lean Pork,Thinly Sliced
• 250 gm Bitter Gourd, Cut Half,Remove Seeds and Thinly Sliced
• 30 gm Chinese Fermented Black Bean Sauce
• 5 gm Granulated Sugar
• 15 gm Garlic, Thinly Sliced
• 10 gm Ginger Shredded
• 10 ml Chinese Cooking Wine
• 5 gm Table Salt
• 20 ml Oil
• 5 ml Sesame Oil

Preparation method

1.

Rub salt in the thinly sliced bitter gourd and leave for 20 minutes to remove excess bitterness.

2.

Heat Oil and saute garlic and ginger; Add pork slices,black bean sauce,sugar and cooking wine.Stir fry for 10 minutes till pork is cooked

3.

Add the sliced bitter gourd and cook for another 10 minutes.Finally drizzle with sesame oil and remove from fire.

4.

Serve hot with steamed rice

Tip

Slice the pork very thin so it can be cooked evenly.

Mom's Onion Duck

This dish was prepared on special occasion or family get together by my Mom. She used local ducks which have less fat content. So she use to braise it in pressure cooker to get the softness of the meat.

Ingredients

Serves: 6

• 1 Whole Duck weighing around 2 Kg, dressed
• 1000 gm Small Onion, cleaned
• 50 gm Ginger Julienne
• 50 gm Garlic, smashed with Cleaver
• 100 gm Black Bean Sauce
• 20 gm Sugar
• 50 ml Brandy
• 50 gm Spring Onion (Optional for Garnish)
• 50 ml Refined Vegetable Oil
• Thread & Needle to stitch the open cavity of duck

Preparation method

1.

Clean the duck and remove all the feathers; if any feathers are not coming you can burn the skin to remove small feathers.

2.

Mix the onion,ginger,garlic,black bean,oil, sugar and brandy.

3.

Rub the black bean mix on the duck skin and stuff the mixture inside the duck and stitch the cavity of the duck.Set aside the remaining black bean mixture

4.

Heat oil in pressure cooker.Saute the remaining mixture and put the duck inside the cooker.Add little stock and cover the pressure cooker. Cook till 10 pressure whistles.

5.

The duck meat will become soft and the onion will get slightly melted.Remove from fire and serve hot.

Serving suggestion

Carve the duck and mix with the onion and black bean sauce.

Begining Days

My culinary journey started from the house I was born. Being a 2nd generation Chinese born in India, things were different. We had stir fries with yellow dal  or sometimes congee with Indian style mashed potatoes for breakfast. But  whatever the combination was it was homemade and we relished it and still miss those old days when my mom used to cook. I have watched my father make lap cheong (Cantonese sausages) or lap yuk ( Chinese dehydrated pork with dark soy, rice wine and sugar) during Sundays. In most of Chinese families the men cooked if it was a special occasion. The case was the same in our family also. I heard from my father that my Grand Father ( A-Yeh) used to make his own fresh noodles and ham choi ( preserved mustard greens) at home. I was not that lucky to meet him as he died when my father was still in his teens. But my father carried forward the legacy and cooked most of the things which my A-Yeh taught him. My father cooked lat chiu kai ( chicken with green chillies...a lot), Sweet & Sour Fish (not the same one which you get in restaurants) and many more (I will definitely share those recipes in my blog).

We called ourselves Indian Chinese though few spoke Cantonese. It died out as most preferred local language than to speak in Cantonese. But the eating habits still remained the same and was passed on the other generation. The interesting part was that some started cooking with the local ingredients and meat and came out with more ideas on doing the same dishes though the technique remained the same. Chinese people mostly preferred either stir fry or steamed and less of baking and roasting. One of my favorite style of cooking adapted from my family is the Pot Roasting ( we do the famous Charsiu Pork in the same technique at home.) I used to freak on charsiu when it was made at home. Actually everybody liked this preparation. My mom used to cook this dish in bulk and stored it inside fridge for many days. She will slice the pork and use for fried rice, stir-fries, congee or just slice into thick pieces. Thinking about all this dishes make my mouth watered. So whenever i felt like cooking at home i do the same recipe used by my parents. Things were also the same before a

I became a professional chef. But things took more interesting turns as i was doing lot of South East Asian cooking. That means i was playing around with chillies, lime, different kinds of ginger, palm sugar, fish sauce and shrimp paste ( all different flavors - spicy, sour, sharp, sweet and saltiness). Most unusual as Cantonese food was more on lighter flavors and a very balanced seasonings.