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Mummy cooking school. It was great fun. I just have to try not taking over. Imperfect and charming, Shortbread jammy doggers with hundreds and thousands sprinkles.

Homemade ginger chicken congee with hundred year quails eggs

Supper Club Pop Up at Chicken Town

Chicken Town was the talk of the town even before it opened, a non-profit restaurant that has a positive impact on the local community, training and employing local young people and good quality fast food you can feel good about. I’m usually the customer, so for me, taking over their kitchen is going to be very exciting.

Salt ‘n’ Soy supper club will be serving dinner at Chicken Town, Tottenham, London N15. I’m taking bookings now, seats are limited so book now! You will be served a 4 course Dinner is served 1900-22.30 plus homemade snacks on arrival and Chinese tea to finish. The date is Sunday 30th April 2017 for one night only. Seat available by pre-booking. The suggested donation is £35 per person. My supper club is about inventive recipe developments based on classic Chinese dishes. There are two menus on offer, ‘Everything goes’ or ‘Vegan’.

For bookings and information please contact; Wendy via email [email protected]

(This was the menu from my last supper club).

I’ve lived in Tottenham, London for 10 years. When I moved here, it was known as a more affordable area to buy property London, because it was a less desirable postcode. Tottenham has grown more popular in recent years. I’ve met so many people who have settled here recently, they can buy a house here instead of a small flat in trendy areas close by like Crouch End or Stoke Newington. The recent blossoming of new cafes and restaurants is a good indication of change. I love the fact that I can now walk to a selection of local cafes and restaurants that appeal to me. Apart from Chicken Town, my favourite local hang outs are Sushi Heads for excellent Japanese food, Craving Coffee is a great place to spend time and The Hub in Lordship Rec has brought a new sense of community to the area. New places I’ve yet to try is Loven Pizzas and brand new Bruce Burgers.

#Supperclub #chinese #vegan #tottenham #london #foodie #chicken town

End of Winter Supper Club

Saying bye bye to winter was the theme of the March Supper Club. Spring officially started on 20th March 2017. The year that passed has not been the easiest, so I wanted to start in Spring-a-fresh. This Supper Club was my way of being thankful for surviving the winter and celebrate all the riches of all the food the season had to offer. This post is about the research behind the menu.

It’s been a while since my last menu and I’ve had ideas bouncing around in my head. I started to recipe research traditional Chinese dishes, there’s so much I want to test out and I feel I’ve only just started. In my research I became attracted to historical Chinese dishes. I came across a dish called beggar’s chicken. This dish is considered Chinese Haute Cuisine and I like a challenge, the chicken is marinated, stuffed, wrapped in lotus leaves and baked in a clay. The result was a slow baked chicken that is so moist and full of complex flavour. I added a herb salsa verde to add freshness and contrast. The story about this dish is from legend, truth or folklore in the Qing Dynasty. A starving beggar stole a chicken from a local farm and buried it in the ground at the side of the road to hide it. To cook it, he lit a fire above it. The Emperor was passing through and was enticed by the aroma. He stopped to dine with the beggar and was so impressed with the dish, he added it to the imperial court menu. The beggar’s life was changed forever, he made a living by selling beggar’s chicken to the local villagers. I do like a nice story.

I had the idea for the duck starter since our family road trip last summer 2016. Bitterbollen is a popular Dutch street snack and the balls are traditionally made of beef stew, thickened with a roux. They are light, crispy and the filling melts in the mouth. To me it’s like a savoury liquid salt caramel. I developed my version by curing duck legs in Chinese oolong tea and salt, then braising them in Chinese spices and homemade stock. It works so well with the pickled salad. The textures and flavours are bold, balanced and contrasting. The four courses were served in the order below.

Tea cured duck Bittterbollen served with heritage carrot pickle salad, oriental micro herbs and crushed toasted sesame seeds.

Scallop, king prawn and shitake mushroom steamed savoury custard, garnished with tobiko, flying fish roe and century duck egg.

See my last post for the recipe. If you are brought up with this dish, you will love this version. It eats like the softest tofu and takes of Chinese prawn, preserved pork and shitake mushroom broth.

Beggars Chicken, served with glutinous rice stuffing, ginger pak choi and Chinese salsa verde.

This was the chicken after three and a half hours baking in the oven, in lotus leaves and sealed in a salt dough crust instead of clay.

Dessert of Miso Valrhona chocolate brownie, miso caramel brownie, honeycomb, caramel sauce, freeze fried raspberries and fresh raspberries.

Miso is made of fermented soya beans and is very much a winter staple. I used a white miso, which adds saltiness and a background savoury note. It’s an interesting ingredient to use in desserts.

To end the meal, I served homemade blood orange and yuzu marshmallows and served them with Jasmine green tea. It’s coming to the end of blood orange season. They have a different flavour to other oranges. They have almost a raspberry floral scent at times and gives a lovely pinkish colour to the marshmallows.

It was a lovely evening shared with so many happy people who share my love of food.

Scallop and Prawn Chinese Steamed Custard

My Mum makes Chinese steamed egg custard when there was excess of brown crab meat. The texture of the custard is like a light melt in your mouth tofu, sunken to the bottom is the brown crab meat. She would flavour the crab with fried garlic and fermented black beans and add roughly chopped spring onion, which would sit on the surface. Her version is a dish full of rustic flavour. It brings back great memories of going to Weymouth in the summer as a kid. A trip to the seaside meant coming home on the train with a box of live crabs and other seafood. I’m not sure who enjoyed the trip more.

This recipe took me the longest for me to perfect for the Supper Club and I thought it would be the easiest. The elements are few but the timings of cooking the custard and seafood to perfection was not an easy thing. My recipe evolved from a fusion of the Japanese ‘Chawanmushi’ recipe with classic nostalgic Chinese flavours. I wanted a traditional surf and turf broth. The base is a homemade stock of chicken bones, dried shrimp, dried shitake mushrooms and preserved Chinese pork.

Marinating the seafood is key, the egg white in the marinade helps make a bouncy mouth-feel to the prawns. Since egg whites are alkaline, this creates the texture we want, some use bicarbonate of soda for the same reason. In Chinese cooking texture is important and the crunchy texture in prawns is a Chinese thing. I flash fry to seal the seafood for 30 seconds in a hot frying pan. It adds flavour but not to fully cook. I tried several methods and found this was the best flavour. If you are short of time, then adding raw marinated seafood is fine.

I simmered the stock for 3 hours for the Supper Club but for a casual dinner I would make a quick stock with a chicken stock cube, add dried shrimp, sliced Chinese cured pork belly and dried shitake mushrooms, boil and simmer with a lid for half an hour, then that’s it. It will taste good! If you can’t get hold of Chinese preserved pork, use any sliced cured hams like Serrano or Prosciutto, they are salty so don’t add too much. If you do make stock, you can portion and freeze the extra for another time. For your egg custards you can add any fillings you prefer, mushrooms, seaweed, spinach, cooked meats, other seafood. Some will float, some will sink of course.The egg ratio adds a light setting agent and it’s almost like a set soup. Most people who are familiar with it love it, it’s a comfort dish.

This recipe is a beautifully flavourful and delicate dish with perfectly cooked seafood. The secret’s in the stock, if you get that right, you’re almost there. The recipe makes individual starter portions. You can make one large one and adjust the cooking time.

Recipe

Chinese stock base (makes about 1.2L stock).

2L water

2 chicken carcasses

200g / 7oz sliced Chinese cured pork belly

12 dried shitake mushrooms whole

1 large onion, halved

3 medium carrots, large chunks

2 sticks celery, large chunks

5cm fresh ginger, sliced

For the custard

2 large free range or organic eggs

Seafood portion for 4 people

8 king prawns, shelled

4 scallops

Marinade for seafood

¼ tsp ground quality sea salt

¼ tsp sugar

½ tbsp. egg white

½ tsp cornflour

½ tsp sesame oil

pinch of white pepper

¼ tsp finely grated fresh ginger

Additions (optional)

one or 2 sliced fresh shitake mushrooms

Garnishes (optional)

finely chopped chives

Shrimp caviar (¼ tsp per serving)

egg white of century duck egg cut in tiny cubes

Break the chicken carcasses into smaller pieces in a large lidded saucepan along with all the stock base ingredients. Heat to boiling and keep on a low simmer for 3 hours with a lid, keep an eye on the water level every so often. You can boil in a pressure cooker for reduced cooking time if desired.

Once the stock is ready, sieve and remove the solids, they’ve given up all their flavour. If you have more than 1.2 litres of stock, return to a clean saucepan and reduce until you have the correct amount. Now season with salt and allow to cool.

Meanwhile butterfly the king prawns and slice the scallops in half horizontally so each scallop with be in 2 thinner disks. This will enable even cooking from raw.

Add all the marinade ingredients to a bowl and add the seafood. Gently combine with clean hands. It’s gentler than using a spoon if you can. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour.

Heat a frying pan with 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil to a medium high heat to flash fry-seal the seafood for 30 seconds, place on a plate.

Now you are ready to assemble. Whisk the 2 eggs well with a fork or whisk, add 240ml of cooled stock. Use small ceramic/glass bowls or cups. Add 2 marinated prawns and 2 scallop pieces and a few slices of shitake mushrooms into each cup. Ladle 90-100ml of the custard stock mixture carefully over the seafood. Cover each cup with a foil lid and place in the steamer. Steam on medium low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Check after 8 minutes and at 3 minute intervals as different vessels will alter the cooking time. My porcelain cups took 12 minutes; thicker pottery took 18 minutes. They are cooked when they wobble like a soft set jelly, remember they keep on cooking after they leave the steamer. When cooked remove from the steamer, remove the foil and let sit for 5 minutes before serving they will be steaming hot.

#foodie #modern chinese food #chinese food #food hawker #supper #eggs #eggcustard #seafood #scallops #prawns #homemade #stock #preserved pork #shrimproe #tottenham #london

Duck bitterbollen with pickled vegetable salad

This is Beggars chicken served with a Chinese salsa verde.

I’m testing and finessing the recipes for the March supperclub. It’s all a labour of love and all about the food. It’s a very creative process which makes me feel like a scientist in my kitchen.

The duck bitterbollen is my take on a Dutch street snack and inspired by my European road trip last summer. The classic is filled with a braised beef with a saucy centre, they are delicious with a crispy coating, contrasting a melting centre. My bitterbollen have been filled with tea and salt cured duck, which has been braised until the duck melts. It will be served with a Chinese pickled salad. I am so pleased with this dish and I’m looking forward to serve this as the first dish of the night.

Beggars Chicken is a dish considered a Chinese haute cuisine. Legend has it that during the Qing Dynasty, a hungry beggar stole a chicken from a local farm and cooked it the ground with a fire, the Emperor was passing by and was attracted by the aroma and dined with the beggar. The Emperor was so impressed with this dish, he added it to the imperial court menu. When I read about this dish I had to try it out. Since it the year of the chicken, it’s only right to crown this dish at the supperclub so others will know about this dish. I’ve added my touch to this classic recipe by serving it with a salsa verde. Which does look as good as it tastes. It looks as good as it tastes. It really is a dish of complex flavour and worth the effort. For me food is all in the eating and I can’t wait to serve it to my guests.

#Supperclub #hosting dinner #chinese food #recipetesting #london #tottenham #foodie

Chinese Chicken Wings

To the Chinese, a new year is a fresh start and it’s a time for celebration. If you’re a Rooster, Ox or Snake then it’s a great year for you. If you’re not then tapping into the traits of the Rooster like loyalty, hard work and family values will reap rewards. It’s a year of steady progress and not for risky ventures (apparently).

Since it’s Chinese New Year this Saturday 28th January, I have a chicken dish for you. Chinese chicken wings are always a crowd pleaser. They are simple to make, budget friendly and delicious. The food on Chinese New Year is very symbolic. You are not supposed to cook on CNY because to use a knife is said to cut your luck. So traditionally food is prepared in advance. My Mum doesn’t worry to much about these superstitions since it’s not practical as she cooks for a living. She does however, prepare food every year to honour our ancestors on CNY as her Mother did before her.

I usually have all the store cupboard ingredients and the marinade works for chicken drum sticks and thighs too. I like them best hot from the oven but they are good served at room temperature too.

I would make a few cuts in the wings for the marinade into the meat, this will help flavour the meat.

Recipe

10 x chicken wings or 900gms / 2lbs

1 minced garlic clove

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp light soy

1 tbsp dark soy

1 tbsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

1/2 tbsp honey

1/2 tbsp corn flour

1/4 tsp salt

pinch of black pepper

pinch of white pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients together and coat the chicken wings. Keep covered and refrigerated to marinade for at least a couple of hours, best left over night for maximum flavour.

When you’re ready to bake, place the chicken wings on a greased foil or greaseproof paper on a baking tray. Pre-heat the oven at 180C/350F/Gas mark 4 and bake for 40-45 minutes turning half way through cooking. Whilst the wings are baking. Heat the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to the boil for one minute, the cornflour in the marinade will slightly thicken the sauce. Brush the baked wings with marinade and bake for a further 5 minutes for a sticky glaze. To serve sprinkle sesame seeds and sliced spring onion if desired.

Summer European Road Trip 2016

Happy New Year. It seems like a long time ago now since last summer. I’ve had a break from my blog, I’m back to share what I’ve been up to and share some food memories.

We took a last minute decision last summer to go on a European road trip. Six weeks we by so fast. It was a real adventure, everyday we did something new. Food was a real discovery everyday, everything is different and it was fun to try new things. Supermarkets were challenging as every couple of days it was a different language to contend with, which made simple things like deciphering full fat milk, very tricky. All part of the adventure though and endless food to sample and cook with.

We met old friends and made new ones on the way. We all loved the road trip so much, we didn’t want to come home!

These pictures are of food consumed along the way, some brought, some home cooked and some cooked for us. The Swedish pear princess style almond base cakes were delicious. They were almond macaroon based with pear cream centres, coated in white chocolate. I loved the homemade Swedish meatballs at our friend’s house, they were so delicious! Such happy memories.

I ate currywurst in Düsseldorf and sampled bitterbollen street food from De Ballen Bar, Foodhallen in Amsterdam, they are small deep fried balls with savoury melting centres. Traditionally filled with stewed beef, just so good.

I remember the abundant fruit growing in the garden of the house in Tønder, Denmark. In the well equipped kitchen, I was so happy to bake again, I baked an apple crumble cake. We ate it warm from the oven with yogurt.

Great night in Tottenham

This is my second time dining at the Saltnsoy supper club and I am amazed how you executed this event so well again and again. The setting was tasteful and needless to say the food was just perfect. I like how you bring your modern twist to the Chinese dishes and they never disappoint. Loved the taste of pan seared summer roll lifting up the juicy pork and apple inside, the seasoning in the drunken chicken rolled in the crispy skin was beautiful, Dan Dan noodle sauce was deep and "mmm" tasty with a nice contrast of nuts and to finish with the light jasmine ice cream with all the fun elements accompanied by marshmallows, jelly, biscuits, almond brittle and strawberry ripple was a delight. All detailed but you made them look so effortless.

Summer Supper Club 2016

Saturday night in Tottenham doesn’t get more exciting for me than this. All went smoothly in the kitchen and I was pleased how the food turned out, which is saying a lot, since I’m my own worst critic. It was creatively the most challenging for me so it was so rewarding to receive positive feedback at the end of the night. The modern Chinese menu celebrated seasonal British produce and was inspired by classic combinations like pork and apple in the summer rolls and fragrant Eve’s strawberries in the strawberry ripple, jasmine green tea ice cream dessert.

I enjoy the initial excitement of menu design and recipe testing. I take many factors into consideration. Firstly I have to cook to the capacity of my fridge and design the menu to what can be achieved with the resources available to me. I modify and improve every recipe a few times to make sure it’s the best I can do. I do enjoy the whole process even though it’s challenging and all consuming. I’ll be posting a recipe from the Supper Club on my next post. These are the courses as they were served below.

First course: Pan seared pork and apple summer roll with caramelised peanuts and soy and pepper peanuts.

Second course: Drunken chicken rolled in crispy chicken skin served with edamame, peas, beans and braised lettuce on rice.

Main course: Angus beef steak mince Dan Dan noodles.

Dessert: Jasmine tea ice cream with Strawberry ripple with almond shortbread crumbs, elderflower and strawberry agar jelly, lime marshmallows and marcona almond brittle.

#Supperclub #chinese food #modern chinese food #tottenham #four courses #summerrolls #dandannoodles #drunkenchicken #icecream #jasmineteaicecream #strawberries #almonds #agarjelly #lime marshamllows #dessert #maincourse #starters #londonfo #foodie

Strawberry Mille Feuille

One of my favourite desserts is a mille feuille. My favourite is from Pierre Herme, in Paris. I made my husband queue for 45 minutes and then ate all 2 myself.

I love strawberries in season, I don’t bother the rest of the year because they don't have the same flavour.

After my amateur attempt, I understand why it takes years of training. It’s a real art. I’m not going to lie, they can be time consuming to make, especially making and assembling the fillings. You can be more rustic about it using dollops of vanilla cream and sliced strawberries, it’s quick and will taste great, (which I also did, as my husband couldn’t wait). I made creme patisserie and crème chantilly (vanilla cream), then spent a further hour of my life assembling the tower with piping bags and trimming strawberries for the blog. It took 45 minutes including a practice run to assemble and five minutes to eat. It was worth it to me.

I love creme patisserie, I was a teenager when I first made it from my first dessert cook book Roux Brothers on Patisserie , ever since I only ever use this recipe as it works for me. I’ve never tried another recipe. My favourite old recipe with this pastry cream is strawberry tart with red quick gel topping I always used to make. I don’t recall where that recipe originates from. I think it might be from a strawberry flan recipe that used red quick gel. I used to love that stuff, my younger sister gave me a few packs of the stuff this year. I didn’t know they still produced it. I keep meaning to make this tart again and I will before the summers out.

I thought the Roux brothers cook book was amazing. Everything in the pictures looked amazing and the recipes sounded delicious. I hadn’t been to France yet to try the real thing. Being brought up in a Chinese family in Somerset. I wasn’t exposed to French patisserie so I experimented with baking from this book as a teenager. It gave me so much joy and brings back lovely memories. I’m sure I had many disasters but I don’t remember those!

The pastry is simple to prepare as I used shop brought puff pastry (no shame in this) and put in the oven between two heavy baking sheets. Easy! The only difficulty is getting an even bake. The edges will be browner than the centre but this won’t matter as long as it’s all crisp and not burnt. Buy all butter puff pastry if you can find it, it really is worth the money. Butter is far superior to a vegetable oil pastry, in texture and taste. These can be made days in advance and frozen. You can refresh them in the oven.

Recipe

Puff pastry, mille feuille layers, I used all-butter puff pastry ready rolled

If you love making puff pastry then use your own. I don’t have the time and brought stuff is good enough for me. 300gms of puff pastry made 12 to 16 rectangles of 10cm x 4.5cm layers. Depending on how much usable pastry you have.

You can roll from a block or use ready rolled. I roll out to 2mm thickness. Place the pastry between greaseproof or parchment paper and 2 heavy baking sheets. (Or 2 light baking sheets with a weight, e.g., ceramic baking dish or brick) Place in a pre-heated oven at 180C / gas mark 4 / 350F. Bake in the centre of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until pastry is light golden brown. Leave to cool.

Cut to desired size with your own rectangle template with a sharp serrated knife. I used my bread knife. It helped with straight lines.

(Optional) Caramelising the pastry top and top with caramelised almonds.

Sift a thin layer of icing sugar on a cut pastry layer and using a mini gas powered blow torch caramelise the sugar. This won’t take a minute. Alternatively you can place it under a very hot preheated grill.

To caramelise almonds. On a high heat, place 50gm / 2oz caster sugar evenly in a small saucepan. When it starts to caramelise swirl the pan to even browning. Don’t stir as the sugar can crystallise. When a deep amber colour is achieved, immediately stir in sliced almonds and pour onto parchment or greaseproof paper on a heatproof tray. Using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula spread the almonds out quickly before it sets. When cooled break up and use for decoration.

Crème patisserie from Roux Brothers on Patisserie

3 egg yolks

60g / 2oz / 1/3 cup caster sugar

20g / 0.7oz / 1+1/3 tbsp plain flour

250ml / 9 fl oz milk

Half a vanilla pod, split or 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Add 3 egg yolks and one third of the sugar and beat using an electric whisk or by hand with a balloon whisk to ribbon stage. Stir in flour and mix well. Leave aside.

Add vanilla pod to milk and the remaining sugar. Bring to just boiling point in a saucepan. Add one third of the boiling milk mixture a little at a time to the egg yolk mixture and mix well. Return the mixture to saucepan of remaining hot milk. Stirring constantly on a low to medium heat and boil for 2 minutes to cook out the flour. Add butter to melt on the top to prevent a crust forming and cover with clingfilm. Use when it reaches room temperature, best used fresh. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days but leave out to room temp and beat before use as the texture sets in the fridge, add some cream if necessary for the right texture.

Crème Chantilly

200ml / 7 fl oz double cream

Quarter a vanilla pod de-seeded or ½ tsp vanilla extract

25gms / 1oz / 3 tbsp icing sugar sifted

Whisk up all the above 3 ingredients to just firm peak stage. I prefer using a hand held electric whisk for this job. It take a minute longer than soft peak stage. Best use immediately though it does keep in the fridge for 2 days. If you do want to store it under whip it.

Assembling the Mille Feuille

I used a 1cm plain circular piping nozzle for the creme patisserie and a 0.5cm plain nozzle for the cream.

I piped 2 rows of custard cream for the top layer and a central row for the bottom layer with strawberries.

I chose equally small even shaped strawberries from the same pack. I cut the tops and bottoms so they sit flat. I also brushed my strawberries with melted strawberry jam for shine. This is totally unnecessary of course.

You can experiment and do what you like. It’s fun if you have the time. It’s very creative, you can be as perfectionist or as slap dash as you like. As long as your ingredients are good, it will all taste the same in the end!

#mille feuille #strawberry #creme patisserie #creme chantilly #caramelised #caramelized #almonds #french dessert #dessert #homemade mille feuille

Soft shell crab, Caravan #london #fusionfood #dinner #crab #kimchi (at Caravan King's Cross)

#fusionfood #kimchi #london #dinner #crab

Vegan Chocolate and Raspberry Cake

Two weeks ago, a vegan friend asked if I would make his birthday cake and even though I’d never made a vegan cake before, I said yes. I had heard so much about vegan cakes lately, so this was the perfect opportunity to experiment. I took this task very seriously, since I’m not vegan, I asked advice from another vegan friend, then tried and tested cake recipes to come up my favourite. Three cakes later, I realised the first and easiest cake recipe I tested was the best.

This cake is a two tier cake chocolate cake with raspberries in the sponge and decorated with chocolate non-dairy butter icing, vegan chocolate scrolls and topped with fresh raspberries.

Vegan food can be so sophisticated and varied these days. I’m bamboozled by the array of ingredients available. It’s overwhelming and so interesting to me. Vegan food is anything but boring. Even if you’re not vegan I promise you will like this cake.

I think finding the right fat for the non-butter icing was the most difficult task. The flavour of butter is hard to beat in my eyes. In my tests coconut oil came out tops. It’s makes perfect a light and fluffy icing that has a clean after taste which is both rich and light. I like it so much, I will use it instead of butter sometimes. My vegan friend said some brands coconut oil taste of coconut and others don’t. You don’t want all your baking to taste of coconut. It also happens to be the most expensive fat to buy though. If you’re looking for a better value option is vegan butter is good but it can leave a slight oily aftertaste and contains e-numbers and additives as all spreads do. I think it works fine in well flavoured icing like this one. I wouldn’t recommend using vegan spread as the consistency can be too light. When I made icing with it, it split, it was a bit of a disaster. Although if you combine this with vegan butter, that works, the vegan butter has firmer consistency and will help stabilize it.

After my experiments, I’m very pleased with the results. This recipe produces a light and delicious chocolate cake. The basic cake ingredients can be put together and in the oven within 15 minutes. It really is quick and easy. I promise you, no-one would know, it was dairy and egg-free. It’s just a great cake with a moist light texture. There are endless vegan cake recipes out there claimed to be the best but they really weren’t. (the ones I tested anyway).

The ‘cake crumb texture’ was very good and close to a traditional cake. As some cake recipes out there produced a fudgy brownie like cake, not what I was after. The magic ingredient added to improve crumb texture is xanthan gum. You use this to replace egg or/and gluten in recipes. Xanthan gum is a byproduct of the fermentation of glucose or sucrose, sold in powder form much like the appearance of baking powder. Doves brand is vegan, some might not be, check when purchasing as there is a possibility some brands of Xanthan gum are derived from milk.

I added some coffee, vanilla and salt to boost the chocolate flavour as with vegetable oil based cakes, the lack of butter can leave a bland aftertaste. I think these small notes of flavour give this chocolate cake great taste.

CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH RASPBERRIES RECIPE

based on allrecipes vegan chocolate cake recipe

200g (7 oz) 1 packed cup plain flour

200g (7 oz) 1 cup caster sugar

4 tbsp quality cocoa powder

1 tsp instant coffee

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ Xanthan gum (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

250ml (8 fl oz) 1 cup water or non-dairy milk

200g (7 oz) 1½ cup frozen or fresh raspberries

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

200g (7oz) 1 cup, coconut oil or vegan butter (room temp)

250g (9oz) 2 cups, Icing sugar

50g (1.7oz) quality coco powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1tbsp hot water

Pinch of salt

To decorate (optional)

Fresh raspberries to decorate about 100g/4oz/½cup.

Vegan dark chocolate, to make scrolls.

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

Grease and line two 8″ sandwich cake tins with non-dairy fat.

Add all the dry cake ingredients to a mixing bowl followed by all the wet ingredients. Mix well until combined. Add all the raspberries and stir gently to combine.

Divide the cake mix equally into the sandwich tins. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for about 35 minutes.

Turn out onto a cooling rack until you are ready to decorate.

Icing

Using an electric mixer or by hand, mix or stir the coconut oil or butter in a large bowl until loosened. If you use coconut oil, don’t over mix as the melting point is low, it will start to melt and spoil your icing. If you use vegan butter mix for a few minutes to lighten it up. It will make lighter work to combine the rest of the ingredients. Add the remaining frosting ingredients and mix well until evenly combined.

Now ice your cake as you like. I made my chocolate scrolls by warming the chocolate bar in the microwave on medium/high for 5 second intervals until the chocolate is slightly softened but not melted. Using a small sharp knife at an acute angle on the flat side of the chocolate, you can cut your scrolls. Softened chocolate will make it easy to make nice curls.

The cake will keep in a cool room for a few days. (If it lasts that long).

#best vegan chocolate cake #cake #raspberry #chocolate #vegan

CNY Supper Club 2016

It was an ambitious project to cook for 18 people, I’d never cooked for so many and never 4 courses. I was pleased and relieved it all ran smoothly. My guests were great, they didn’t know what to expect, which was the exciting part. The venue was perfect, it was like a secret oasis, inviting and full of character.

I designed the CNY logo for the supper club because I thought the event should have a logo. The monkey holds a ripe peach, which is the divine fruit of the gods and symbolises immortality. The cherry blossoms symbolise power, beauty and sexuality. CNY food is also symbolic, I had this in mind as I planned the menu.

A few days before the supper, I decided it would be a nice surprise and fun to serve my own fortune cookies with jasmine tea after dessert. The cookies were subtly flavoured with fresh ginger and lime zest.

It took a month to develop all the recipes, since I only had evenings to do it. My focus was on making the food tasty and interesting. My mum was a great help when I was planning the menu. I have so much respect for her knowledge of classic cantonese cooking. Luckily, she wasn’t too mortified when I told her I was about to mess with her recipes, which was surprisingly modern of her.

I always discuss my menu ideas with my younger sister, I can count on her to be honest and she’s great to bounce ideas off. We reminisced about a trip to a Hong Kong restaurant which used to serve amazing soup and dumplings but I’ve never found this again in any Chinese restaurant. That was the starting point for the first course. Every course has a story.

Over the Christmas holidays, my mum showed me how to make two varieties of fried dumpling, this is how I came to develop my taro dumpling. The chicken, coconut and goji berry soup is made with very few ingredients and is also a health tonic. Dried longan berries was my secret ingredient, they are high in nutritional value and add a natural sweetness. They have been used in China for medicinal purposes since the Han dynasty (206 BC). They are rich in proteins, amino acids, vitamins B, C, P, calcium, phosphorus, iron and more. The most attractive fact is that they are said to contain a natural anti-ageing ingredient This soup is said to be good for your liver, kidneys and blood circulation. This makes up for the deep fried dumpling part. The natural collagen in the pigs trotters (in the dumplings) is also good for our skin.

The dumpling is symbolic in CNY celebrations, they are shaped like ancient gold or silver ingots and symbolise wealth.

I’m going to share the soup recipe with you first. A simple fragrant chinese broth, no need to clarify into a consommé unless you are entertaining. You will find dried goji berries in health food shops or oriental supermarkets. If you don’t find dried longan, you can leave them out and add a teaspoon of sugar if you like.

Recipe

Chicken, coconut and goji berry soup based on a nurishu recipe

Serves 4

1 whole free range or organic chicken

1 coconut

30g / 1oz dried goji berries

10 dried longan

2 slices fresh ginger

Cut the chicken in pieces and remove fat.

Remove coconut shell and break flesh into pieces.

Blanch chicken pieces in boiling water, for 5 minutes. Rinse chicken and return to a large saucepan with 1.5 litres of fresh boiling water. This is a chinese method to remove any impurities and fat for a cleaner broth.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, cover with lid and simmer gently for 75 minutes.

Use a heatproof sieve to separate solids from broth. Season the broth with salt to taste. You can reserve goji berries and longan berries to serve. You also have poached chicken. I suggest serving the chicken with a quick tasty dip made with light soy sauce with minced ginger, sliced spring onions and a pinch of sugar. You have a starter and a main course made in one pot. Fat free and tasty! All you need is steamed green vegetables to accompany the meal.

To make the broth into a consomme. For those who can be bothered. I added a large grated carrot and 4 egg whites to a cool broth. Mix well and bring to a gentle boil for 30 minutes. You will have a floating egg white and solids island. with a ladle carefully spoon out the clear liquid and put through a sieve lined with clean muslin. You will end up with 2/3rd’s of what you started with and have a full flavoured broth.

Below was the main course, braised duck, encased in glutinous rice and wrapped in a lotus leaf. The lotus leaf gives lovely aroma when it’s first opened up so I decided to let the guests have this pleasure. Braised soy beans and savoy cabbage was served as a side.

#cny #chinese new year #chinese food #chicken soup #coconut #Supperclub #tottenham #dumplings #year of the monkey #four courses #fortune cookie #Duck #lotus leaf #glutinous rice

Oven Dried Kale

Chinese new year is a great excuse to have a party. This is a great snack for the occasion, I will be serving this at my CNY supper club tomorrow night.

I wanted to say happy new year to everyone and I hope the year of the monkey is a great year for you.

This is a healthy version of the so called chinese seaweed you find in chinese restaurants. Kale being a superfood, makes a great snack. For those who don’t like cabbage will surely be converted. For all these years you thought it was seaweed anyway.

I’ve tried many recipes and with trial and error. I believe I found a foolproof way to make it perfect every time.

Recipe

200g / 8oz cut kale (remove any thick stalky bits)

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

¼ tsp onion salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp caster sugar or any sugar syrup

1 tbsp rapeseed or any flavourless cooking oil

Pre-heat oven at 140C / 275F / Gas mark 1.

The secret to preserving the the green colour and keeping it crisp is to make sure the kale is dry before it gets baked in the oven. You can use kitchen paper or clean tea towels and then leave to air dry until virtually dry to touch. If the kale in baked wet it the leaves will turn brown and not stay dry when stored.

Place in a large baking tray. At this stage you can add all the seasonings and oil and massage evenly into the kale with bare hands.

Bake for 10 minutes and stir kale for even cooking, bake a further 10 minutes and stir again, leave another 5-10 minutes to fully dry out. You will notice the kale will shrink to a quarter of what you started with. So don’t over season as it.

Taste to check seasoning and add more salt and sugar if necessary.

It will keep for about 4 days in an airtight container.

#chinese seaweed #baked kale #kale #oven dried #chinese food #chinese vegan #snack #pre dinner snacks

Serrano Ham, Scallop &Prawn Wontons in Chicken Consommé

This was one of the dishes served at my Pilot Supper club last November. The consomme was a labour of love but so worth it. A transparent flavoursome stock is a beautiful thing and great when cooking for guests. Wonton soup noodles used to be a staple fast food in Hong Kong but it seems western fast food has taken over for the younger generations. It survives as a classic and appears on most menus in chinese restaurants. I wanted to make the ultimate wontons which were worthy of sitting in a consomme.

The inspiration for the November Supper Club menu were based on my childhood favourite dishes. Since my Mum only cooks chinese food, her cooking forms my earliest food memories. I used to love my Mum’s soups, if I didn’t like anything else on the table, I’d just have rice and soup. Traditional chinese soups are thin broths, usually boiled for hours. My Mum’s soups are meat stock based with dried herbal and vegetable additions. She always reminds me, that when I was two years old, apparently I would say ‘tip, tip, tip’ and my bowl would be upside-down on the table (containing rice & soup). She said I did this many times. My poor Mum.

When chopping the meats for wontons, make them about 5mm size pieces and not minced up too finely, you want to be able to distinguish all individual textures and flavours. This is my preference anyway. I recommend leaving the wonton filling mix to marinade for at least 4 hours or best over night in the fridge. To test you have the right seasoning, I like to fry a spoonful of the mix in a non-stick pan. Nothing worse than bland dumplings. You can substitute any meat you like or tofu and other vegetables if you are vegetarian (omit the oyster sauce too). For a vegetarian stock use a light miso or seaweed base (or dashi stock) with vegetables. Traditionally wontons soup is served with fresh chinese wheat noodles.

Wonton Recipe

6 to 7 servings

100g / 4oz raw shelled king prawns, chopped into small pieces

70g / 2½oz scallops, chopped into small pieces

70g / 2½oz pork steak, chopped into small pieces or pork mince

30g / 1oz serrano ham, chopped into small pieces

1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped or grated

½ tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp shaoxing wine or dry sherry

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp sugar

2 spring onions, finely chopped

Ground white pepper to season

A pack of wonton wrappers approx 36 per pack.

Consommé Recipe

1 litre / 1.75pts Homemade chicken stock

4 egg whites

2 free range chicken thighs or 1 chicken breast, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

1 medium onion

How to make amazing wontons...

Place all the wonton ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours for best results.

Take a wonton pastry sheet, add a generous teaspoon of filling in the centre, brush pastry brush with water, around the filling but not to the edges, the wonton will be sealed but ends will separate a little when boiled. Finer layers are more pleasant to eat. Traditionally the pastry is all bundled together but this can form thick bulky pastry if bundled tightly, so be careful when using this method as I did. For finer results (as I used for the supper club), you can fold in half diagonally or bring all 4 corners together to meet in the middle so only 2 layers are in contact at a time. What ever style you choose, repeat with constancy until all 36 pasta sheets are filled equally. If they are the same they will all cook more evenly.

Bring a large pot of water to a gentle rolling boil, put in small batches of wontons at a time. They are cooked when they float up to the surface, this should take a few minutes. Serve immediately or submerge in ice cold water to cool, drain, cover and refrigerate until required. They keep well in the fridge for a few days or freeze in an airtight container, separated by layers of greaseproof paper or clingfilm otherwise they tend to stick together.

Chinese Chicken Consommé

My chicken stock base was made with 2 litres of water, 2 chicken carcasses, small handful of dried shrimps about 25g, 10 dried shitake mushrooms, 2 onions, 3 carrots, 3 sticks of celery, 1 star anise, 10 black peppercorns. Boiled up for 3 hours. Leave to cool and keep refrigerated until required. Before you clarify the stock, remove the solidified fat that has risen to the surface.

I would warm up the stock just a little to a liquid state but not too hot as it will cook the egg whites too soon before it gets a chance to clarify your stock.

Add all the consomme ingredients into a large pan, stir well in cooled chicken stock.

Bring gently to the boil and leave to simmer for 45 minutes. Their will be a floating island at the top. Break through this and ladle stock into a sieve lined with a clean muslin cloth into a clean heatproof container. Don’t be tempted to press the soup from the solids, this will make your stock cloudy. You will end up with about 600ml of clear consommé.

Serve wontons re-heated in consommé. If you make this, it really is something to be proud of.

#wontons #chinese food #consomme #serrano ham #scallops #prawns #cantonese food #wonton #dumplings #boiled dumpplings #the best wontons #dinner party #starter #soup

Taking part in the pilot supper club

What a privilege to be able to take part in your first supper club. Food delicious, nice group of guests and all well presented! Can't believe how things were so organised and calm..(no panic) What I enjoyed the most was of course every meal you cooked! Cantonese food base, your original twist here and there... Nothing was overpowering and just the right amount. They were very good! Congratulations on your first venture!

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