Salt & Chilli Prawns

Tesco had their frozen raw tiger prawns reduced to half price this week so I got a couple of bags. Then what to do with them? I was in a picky mood and couldn't face a big dinner. I decided to try and replicate the Salt & Chilli prawns that you get in the Chinese, turns out it isn't hard to!

I scored the back of the prawns and then coated them lightly in cornflour.  You then toss them in a combination of sea salt, chilli flakes and a pinch of Chinese Five-Spice powder making sure that each prawn is covered.  The traditional recipe calls for them to be deep fried but as I'm dieting I didn't do that. I poured a scant teaspoon of olive oil in a frying pan and fried the prawns for 2 mins on each side on a high heat. This means that you get a similar crispy coating to that you would get if you deep fried and your prawns will still be juicy and not over-cooked.

These are delicious on their own or dipped into sweet chilli sauce.

Pork Stir-Fry with Noodles

Chinese style tonight. I finely sliced up a pork chop, after I'd removed all the fat. I quickly fried it and then removed it from the pan. In the meantime, I cooked some egg noodles for a couple of mins, once they're cooked strain them and rinse straight away in cold water.

Then I stir-fried the following:
Carrot matchsticks
Finely sliced red & yellow peppers
Finely sliced red onion
Finely sliced mushrooms
Scallions, cut on the diagonal with the green tops kept for garnish
Frozen peas
Crushed garlic
Grated ginger
Large pinch of chilli flakes

Pinch of Chinese Five Spice powder
2tbsp light soy sauce
Couple of drops of sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper

You don't need to add any salt because the soy sauce will have all the salt you need.

Add the cooked pork to the stir fry with the noodles to heat through and serve immediately with the garnish of scallion greens sprinkled on top. If you like a thick sauce you can also add a tablespoon of cornflour to a couple of tablespoons of water to make an instant gravy.

Chinese-Style Salmon Parcels with Stir Fried Noodles

I was looking for fresh salmon the other day in the supermarket and couldn't get any so I settled for some frozen salmon fillets. Sunday used to mean Chinese or Indian takeaway but not any more. I opted for parcels because its a good way to cook frozen fish.

I made a marinade of soy sauce, olive oil, chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, little drop of sesame oil and finely chopped scallion. Be careful with the sesame oil it can be very overpowering and you may as well throw your dinner away if you overdo it. Lay the salmon fillet on some greaseproof paper which is laid on tin foil. It needs to be double wrapped to protect the fillets.

What you're hoping for is a crimped effect like in the picture. I didn't want any steam to escape so I fold over one edge on top of the other. I think it looks like a Cornish pasty shape when it's finished.

I baked it in a moderate over for 25mins. If it was a fresh fillet or darne I wouldn't cook it for more than 15mins. I like my salmon just a little bit under in the middle because it stays nice and juicy.


I had decided to have noodles with my salmon as its been ages since I had them. So long in fact that they were gone well out of date unfortunately. Mr. Chops suggested using pasta as an alternative so I boiled up some spaghetti instead but noodles would suit this dish more. I stir fried some sliced green pepper, mushrooms, shallot, garlic and ginger with some light and dark soy sauce. I added the cooked spaghetti and stir fried it for a few seconds. Serve this on the side of your salmon, pouring a couple of teaspoons of the cooking liquor over the salmon.

My salmon was slightly overcooked. When you see the whitish foam that's a sign of it being overcooked - Masterchef is good for more than just competition you know!

Sorry, It's Been a While

Yeah, its been ages actually, over a month apparently (insert sad smiley face here please). Cooking has been on the down-low due the Mr. Chops being on overtime a lot and who can be bothered cooking for one, night after night? I've been putting a lot of effort into Doggie Chops recently because he had a sick tummy so it was a strict diet of chicken, rice and some pasta. I've been slowly trying to introduce dog nuts back into his diet but it seems Doggie Chops is an animal of discerning taste and palate and not everything is acceptable. Though, he has no problem with sausages, burgers, stew, toast, biscuits, pretzels.....basically whatever I'm eating! Also, I've started an Open University course about Leonardo da Vinci and I've been trying to get ahead on it cos there's lots of reading. But I'm feeling awfully intelligent reading dem big words.

Anyway, tonight I watched 'Julie & Julia'. For those who don't know, its the film of New Yorker Julie Powell's year long blog to cook her way through Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cookery'. Meryl Streep plays Julia and Amy Adams plays Julie. Since I saw Amy in Enchanted she has become a favourite actress of mine. She's brilliant in 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' as well. I digress, the film is sweet, warm and engaging. Both the leads are amazing, though that's kind of a given with Meryl. For anyone who's ever seen footage of Julia Childs I think Meryl really captures her, though I'd like to know how they made her tower over Stanley Tucci (he plays husband Paul) it was a feat of cinema magic. The film has inspired me to order Volume I of Julia's book and her autobiography from Amazon. I'll read the biog first methinks and I'll cherrypick from the cookery book; I don't have the discipline or the time at the moment, but I have to say I felt the inclination to make Boeuf Bourguignon. If you watch the movie you'll understand why.

What amazed me most about the movie is loving way the food is shot. You're salivating watching it and my gosh did I want duck after I watched. So that's my recommendation for today: Julie & Julia.

Speaking of duck, I had delicious crispy duck last night from the local Chinese (see I'm not cooking). It was falling off the bone but still a little bit pink in the middle and the Hoisin was unctious and sweet. Even Mr. Chops liked it and he doesn't like duck that much or Chinese food.

PRAWNS AGAIN

Last night I decided to go Chinese with my dinner. I had some raw king prawns that needed to be used. I soaked some egg noodles in boiling water for 3 or 4 mins, then strained them and refreshed in cold water. I sliced some red onion, red pepper and topped and tailed some sugar snap peas. For the main event I stir fried the prawns for around a minute and removed from the wok. Then threw the peppers into the wok, stir-fried for 2mins then added the onion and sugar snap peas fried for another minute and now throw in the noodles. Keep everything moving or else they'll burn and stick. To this mixture I added a couple of teaspoons of Sweet Chilli Sauce (I use Blue Dragon) and 3tsps of Ketchap manis which is a sweeter soy sauce from Indonesia (if you don't have any use light soy sauce instead) and around 30mls of water. Let this mixture bubble away for a few mins until the sauce is syrupy and thick. To this add the prawns to heat through. Serve immediately. There is no need to add any salt to this mixture though I did add a few grounds of black pepper, but that's only because I love black pepper.

The above measurements are for a single serving. You can find Ketchap Manis in Tesco with all the other ethnic foods.

Mr. Chops didn't partake in my meal, he had a fish finger sandwich. Now that's living!!