Who doesn’t love a good Chinese crispy duck? We’ve been making our own homemade version for ages and I thought it was about time to share the recipe here. This homemade version of crispy duck is far healthier than the restaurant version as it isn’t deep fried. But it’s just as delicious. And unbelievably easy to make.
If you like your food packed with flavour, this Thai style grilled chicken dish is for you. By adding aromatic Thai spices, a simple grilled chicken dish is taken to a new level. It’s healthy, delicious and makes an easy mid-week family meal.
For parties and gatherings at this time of year I love to serve mini morsels of my favourite foods. That way, in one meal I can serve (and eat) so many delicious foods. Besides, nearly all our parties these days involve kids so making bite-sized party food lets me serve a range of mini dishes that will work for adults as well as kids. The biggest thing I consider when making bite-sized food is how much of the work can be done ahead – I always choose recipes that require minimal last minute preparations but that are still big on taste.
One of my favourite bite sized party foods are these gorgeous flavorful Chinese pork dumplings. Little morsels of deliciousness that go down a treat with any age group. So when Furniture Village asked me to come up with a favourite party food recipe for festive guests, I knew I had to go for this one. I like think of them as the Asian version of sausage rolls that make a nice change when you’ve had one sausage roll to many! And besides, I love dumplings – who doesn’t? So much flavour in one little bite!
It’s no secret that chicken soup is so good for you. So when the weather turns cooler I crave a dose of good, comforting, warming, homemade chicken soup. Nothing hits the spot quite like this simple dish. While I love a good old fashioned clear broth, my go to chicken soup is this Vietnamese one. Not only is it a full meal in a bowl but the subtle flavour of lemongrass adds such a delicious dimension to the soup. Add to that the coriander and dash of lime and you may have the best chicken soup ever. Once you try this Vietnamese chicken and rice soup recipe, you will be hooked. It’s easy enough to make for a mid-week meal which everybody will love, even the fussiest of kids (maybe minus the coriander!)
VIETNAMESE CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE
Serves: 4
For the broth:
1 small chicken
I medium onion peeled and quartered
2-3 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
2 inch piece of ginger sliced roughly
1 dried red chili (optional)
2 stalks lemon grass cut lengthwise and lightly bruised
2 tbs fish sauce
To finish the soup:
2 stalks lemongrass cut in to 3 pieces each and lightly bruised
110gms thai jasmine rice (or any rice you like)
1 tbs fish sauce
3-4 pak choi (optional)
small handful coriander roughly chopped
1 lime cut in to wedges
Start by putting all the broth ingredients in to a large pot – as large as you have! Add 2.5 litres of water and bring to the boil. Let it boil for a couple of minutes. Turn the heat down to a low simmer, cover and leave to cook for 2 hours.
When cooked, skim the fat off the broth, remove the chicken and shred it. Strain the broth and set aside. I usually do up to this stage in advance like in the morning so I find the fat much easier to remove once the broth is cooled.
When you’re ready to eat, heat the broth and bring it to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, stir in the remaining lemongrass, fish sauce and the rice. Let it cook uncovered on a low heat till the rice is cooked – around 20-25 (but it really depends on your ratio of rice to broth). Once the rice is done, add as much of the shredded chicken in as you want (I usually keep some back for chicken sandwiches the next day!). Add your pak choi or other veg if using and once the veg has wilted a bit and the chicken is heated, it’s ready.
Spoon generously in to big bowls, top with lots of chopped coriander (may be not for the kids) and a good squeeze of lime and enjoy!
The subtle flavours of this Vietnamese chicken and rice soup are not only so comforting but they are also so refreshing. If food could give you a great, big hug, this would be the dish that does it for me. Whenever I mention that this soup is tonight’s dinner, everybody in my house is jumping up and down. And not just them – I’ve made it for friends too and they’ve all become addicted and taken the recipe. If I sound a bit crazy getting over excited about a bowl of soup, all I can say is that once you try it you’ll know exactly why!
P.S. If you like your Vietnamese food, you might enjoy this delicious Vietnamese grilled chicken dish too.
*Recipe adapted from Ghillee Basan’s Vietnamese Food & Cooking
Do you get stuck in a food rut? Making the same old tried and tested recipes week in and week out? As much as you may love those foods, it gets boring to eat the same food every week. I have recently found myself being caught in this trap and decided it was time to try one new recipe a week. Nothing too complicated as time is always short during weekdays and also any new recipe has to be family friendly too. So when I came across this Taiwanese minced pork recipe that sounded interesting, I decided to give it a go. It turned out to be yummy with bags of flavour and has already become a regular in our mid-week menu. And it also freezes really well so I usually make two meals worth which is what I’ve given you quantities for below.
TAIWANESE MINCED PORK AND RICE
Serves: 8
900 gms minced pork
1-1½ tbs sunflower or vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves minced
2 star anise
2 bay leaves (dried is fine)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons sugar
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
4-5 tbs cooking wine
2 tbs dark soy sauce
4-5 tbs regular soy sauce
600ml chicken stock (shop bought is fine)
80gms fried shallots and a bit extra for garnishing*
3 spring onions finely sliced
One fried egg per person
*For the fried shallots, the easiest option is to get them ready fried from an Asian supermarket. If not then finely slice and deep fry the shallots till they are crispy.
Start by heating the oil over a medium heat. Add the garlic and quickly stir for about a minute making sure it doesn’t burn. Add in the minced pork and turn the heat to high. Cook the pork, stirring and breaking up any large bits until all the meat is browned.
Now add the sugar, pepper, five spice, star anise and bay leaves to the minced pork and give it a very good mix. Next add the cooking wine and bring to a boil. Let the wine bubble for a couple of minutes and then add both the soy sauces and the chicken stock. Bring back to the boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover and leave to cook for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes add in the shallots and stir everything really well. Then cover and leave to cook for another hour – stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has thickened and the pork has become really soft, it’s done.
When you’re ready to eat, fry the eggs – one per person. Pile up a bowl with rice and top with the pork. The pork is very flavourful so a little goes a long way. Place the fried egg on top and I like to add some steamed green beans to the dish as this then makes a complete meal – but you can add any veg you have in the fridge. Serve the dish with the chopped spring onions and fried shallots for everyone to use as a garnish.
This Taiwanese minced pork dish doesn’t only freeze really well but you can also make the pork several hours in advance and just heat when you’re ready to eat so it makes a great prepare in advance dish for when you have friends over too. And once all piled up in a bowl it tastes delicious and looks so pretty too.
I got the idea for this dish while googling recipes with minced pork. There were two recipes that stood out for me and so I kind of created my own version using these two recipes as a guide: 1 and 2.
*I’ve linked up to honest mum’s tasty tuesdays.
Eating fresh and healthy food as a family doesn’t have to mean boring. We love oriental style meals in this house as they always offers lots of flavour and often without too much effort. Home cooked oriental food is always better and so much healthier than a take-away. One of my favourites is this Vietnamese street food inspired dish of grilled chicken with rice and pickled veggies. The Vietnamese version almost always uses pork and noodles but I use chicken for a healthier option and I think rice works better than noodles in this dish so rice it is. I also use different herbs and spices than the traditional so you could say this is my take on a Vietnamese classic.
Once you try this dish, I promise you will never look back. How can ingredients like the ones pictured above be anything but flavourful? The grilled chicken in the dish is just delicious and all the other flavours come together to make for an absolutely beautiful bowl of food. What’s more this dish is versatile and can be adapted for different tastes within a family – if you want to go low carb, leave out the rice and have it on a bed of salad or if you’re eating really healthy use brown rice. Also the toppings are all optional so everybody can choose what they want on their dish. The dish takes a little effort to prep but you can strip it down for a quicker meal or go the whole hog when you have a bit more time. Like the pickled veg for instance – you can serve it with just freshly sliced veg instead of pickling when time is short.
VIETNAMESE GRILLED CHICKEN AND RICE RECIPE
Serves: 4
For the marinade:
700gms boneless & skinless chicken thighs
2-3 shallots very finely chopped
3 garlic cloves minced (add more or less depending on taste)
2 stalks fresh lemon grass lightly bruised and very finely chopped
50gms granulated sugar
2 tbs fish sauce
1.5 tbs dark soy sauce (the dark soy is important as it’s a lot thicker than usual soy)
1.5 tbs sesame oil
generous amount of freshly ground pepper
Toppings:
2-3 tbs toasted sesame seeds
handful of chopped coriander
3-4 thinly sliced spring onions (topped with 2 tbs hot olive oil and a pinch of salt and sugar)
1-2 sliced red chilies (optional)
Pickled veg:
2 x 3 inch piece of cucumber cut in to matchsticks
2 x 3 inch piece of carrot cut in to matchsticks
250ml warm water
40ml white vinegar (add more if you like a sharper taste)
1 tbs sugar
½ tsp salt
200-250gms basmati rice cooked as per packet instructions
Start by marinating the chicken thighs. Just trim any big pieces excess fat but leave a little on as you don’t want the chicken to dry out when it’s cooked. Cut in to large-ish bite size pieces. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl and add the chicken to this. Give it a very good mix and leave to marinate for at least 1.5-2 hours or longer.
For the picked veg, take a jar and combine the warm water, vinegar, sugar and salt stirring till the sugar is dissolved. Add the matchstick veg and leave to pickle. Even an hour or two will do for light pickling. I don’t like a sharp taste (I prefer a bit more sweetness) so I put very little vinegar but you can adjust quantities to your own taste. The best way to find the perfect quantities for you is to taste the pickling liquid before you put the veg in so you know exactly how sharp/sweet/salty it is.
Chop and prepare all the toppings if you haven’t done so yet. For the sesame seeds toast them lightly in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat. Move them around with a wooden spoon to make sure they toast evenly. Keep an eye on the seeds as once they start browning they can burn very easily. Once they’re lightly browned, take them off the heat and out of the frying pan immediately otherwise they will continue to cook.
That’s all the prep done! When you’re ready to eat cook the rice and place the chicken under a hot grill. You can also skewer the chicken and cook over a barbecue. It’s even more delicious but a grill works well too. Turn the chicken once – around halfway through cooking. The chicken will take around 10-15 minutes to cook and will come out all dark and beautifully caramelised. Scoop some rice in to a bowl, top with the chicken and the pickled veg. Then generously scatter some sesame seeds, coriander, spring onions and chilies (if using) and eat!
This Vietnamese grilled chicken and rice recipe is one of my favourite mid-week family dinners and it’s also a very tasty one dish meal to serve when you have a few friends over as it appeals to adults and kids. What’s more, kids love being given all the bits of the dish and building their own. Try it and you won’t regret it!
*I’ve linked up to Honest Mum’s Tasty Tuesdays.
All rights reserved © ebabee likes
Theme by Blogmilk Coded by Brandi Bernoskie