TOO hard to make Chinese food at home? Think again.
If you like Chinese food that's simple to make and delicious to eat, you should get your hands on a new book by recipe developer and caterer Ross Dobson.
Chinese Food Made Easy takes favourite recipes from China's diverse culinary regions and simplifies them so you can easily recreate them at home.
Dobson gives expert guidance on finding and selecting the key ingredients to stock your pantry, as well as step-by-step guides to essential techniques such as blanching greens and making dumplings.
You'll be turning out favourite dishes like spicy Shanghai noodles, fragrant beef hotpot and Hainan chicken rice in no time.
There's also a detailed food planner with suggestions on how to put together a fabulous Chinese feast for when we're all permitted to get together again.
Here's a tasty recipe sure the warm the cockles of your heart:
Clay Pot Chicken with Chinese Sausage & Mushroom
Serves: 4
Preparation: 15 minutes
Standing: 30 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes
Claypot cooking is convenient and produces very tasty results. All the flavours are trapped inside the pot, ready to be released when the lid is lifted at the dining table.
Ingredients
Fresh
3 skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, each cut into 4 pieces
2 spring onions, white and green parts finely sliced and separated
5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
Pantry
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
6 medium dried shitake mushrooms
300g jasmine rice
2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong), finely sliced
Method
Combine the chicken and oyster sauce in a bowl. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the mushrooms in a heatproof bowl. Pour over enough boiling water to cover and leave for 30 minutes until the mushrooms are soft. Drain and reserve 120ml of the soaking liquid. Trim off the stems and discard. Cut each cap into quarters and set aside.
Wash the rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear. Drain well and put the rice in a 20cm clay pot or saucepan. Add 600ml cold water and place over high heat. When the water boils and forms bubbling holes in the rice, reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook for 10 minutes until most of the water has evaporated.
Scatter the chicken and the marinade over the rice. Put the mushrooms and sausage on top of the chicken, then scatter with the spring onions and ginger. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
Chinese Food Made Easy, by Ross Dobson (Murdoch Books), RRP $39.99 at good bookstores.
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