Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms & Chinese Sausage

I often think about the Chinese dishes my grandma makes since moving to Sydney. Whenever I do, I try to replicate them with her helping me over the phone since she now lives 5hrs flight away from me. As a first-generation Australian, my grandma is the source of all my chinese, cantonese style cooking.

Yes... My grandma and not my mother, my mummy is a rather hopeless cook. Not that its her fault, its just not her forte, she was much better at running her business than being in the kitchen.

Now that she has retired, she has started cooking at home. And I've been kept sufficiently entertained by the horror stories my bothers have been updating me on her cooking attempts. The latest had something to do with a steamed fish dish my mummy tried to produce. Somehow, the thickest part of the fish ended up being too undercooked, semi-sashimi-like apparently. Instead of continuing to steam the fish in the wok. My mummy decided to put it into the microwave and nuke it for about 3 mins. Steamed fish is supposed to be moist and delicate, according to my brothers it was rather rubbery and tough. Opps...:)

My grandma had her fair share of laughs over this last attempt as my mummy complained to me about the convoluted instructions my grandma gave her. "Pour some soy sauce over the fish.. but not too much".... "Steam until you can just poke a chopstick through".... "Use just enough ginger to remove the fishy smell"....

Ahh.. the same instructions I've been getting from my grandma over the phone. Its taken me a few trial & error attempts to decrypt my grandma's instructions. But now I have gotten used to it. This dish is another one of my grandma specials. Sometimes she would make this for breakfast, but mostly it was for dinner and always to be served with steamed rice.

Oh...The sauce that is produced from this dish... I could eat a bowl of rice just with the sauce alone..yum... :)

Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms & Chinese Sausage

Original recipe from my grandma

Ingredients:

• 2 Chinese sausage (sliced diagonally)
• 2 Maryland Chicken Thighs (cut into 3cm wide pieces)
• 6 Chinese mushrooms (soaked, stalk removed, cut into half - water reserved)

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
• 1 thumbsized piece of ginger (smashed)
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon corn flour
• 1/4 cup water from the soaked mushrooms

Method:

1. Mix chicken, mushrooms and sausage with marinade ingredients and let stand for 30 minutes. You may need to add more of the reserved mushroom water if the marinade mixture is too thick.
2. Pour the marinated chicken, mushrooms and Chinese sausages in to a deep dish ready for steaming.
3. In a wok, bring some water to boil. Place a steamer rack on top and then place chicken dish in for steaming.
4. Steam for about 25 mins at medium high heat, or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Remove from steamer and serve immediately.

Steamed Minced Pork with Shiitake Mushrooms

In Chinese cooking, when Shiitake mushrooms are called for in recipe, it would mean using dried Shiitake and not fresh Shiitake. Dried Shiitake has a much stronger flavour than fresh Shiitake mushrooms. I think if you use fresh Shiitake mushrooms in most Chinese recipes, then the flavour would just be lost amongst the other ingredients. When using dried Shiitake, rinse the mushrooms through some cold water to remove any grit or dirt on the mushrooms, then reconstitute them in some warm water for at least 1 hour. Depending on the number of mushrooms you are soaking, you would probably need to use about 1 cup of water. At least enough to cover all the mushrooms. Always reserve the water used to soak the mushrooms and use it instead of water (if required) for some extra flavour.

This is another one of my grandma's recipes. Like most of her other recipes, this is a dish to have accompanied with a bowl of hot steamed rice. My grandma would use her double choppers to mince up the Pork Neck, but my arms don't have the stamina to wield double choppers to that effect, so I use Petals instead - My red Magimix food processor. Cut the meat into small cubed pieces, then place into the food processor and pulse until it has a consistency of a coarse mince. Try not to over do it, we don't want pork puree here. :)

In most Chinese restaurants, you can get steamed minced pork with salted fish or with salted duck eggs. Think of this dish as a variation of one of those. If I can get my hands on some quality salted fish, I might try that version next time.

Steamed Minced Pork with Shiitake Mushrooms

Original recipe from my Grandma

• 300g of Pork Neck (coarsely minced)
• 6 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (reconstituted in warm water for 1hr - water reserved)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce.
• 1 teaspoon cornflour

Method:

1. Remove and discard the stalks of the reconstituted mushrooms. Slice and dice the mushroom into small pieces (just slightly less than 1cm in width).
2. Take the mince pork and marinate with the oil, soy sauce, salt, sugar, oyster sauce and cornflour.
3. Add in the diced mushrooms and mix well.
4. Slowly add in about 1/4 cup of the reserved mushroom water and continue mixing.
5. You should have a wet mince mixture that is easy to stir, add a bit more water if the mixture seems a bit too dry.
6. Bring some water to boil in a wok and place a steamer rack inside.
7. Scoop the pork mixture into a plate that could could be used to hold some liquid. Spread the pork mixture around evenly. And place the plate into the wok.
8. Steam on medium-high heat for about 20 mins.
9. Serve with some steam rice

Egg Skin Dumpling with Pork and Spring Onions

From all the recipes my grandma has passed to me, these are my absolute favorites. Basically, its like making pan-fried dumplings. Only the meat is wrapped in a thin layer of egg - hence the name 'Egg Skin Dumplings'. To do this, you need a hot pan with quite a bit of oil. Once you place about a chinese soup spoonful of egg into the pan, the egg mixture will bubble up and start to cook. Before it completely cooks, you have to drop in another spoonful of pork and green onion mince into the egg and using a spatula or something similar, fold it in half and wrap the semi-cooked egg around the pork mince. If the egg is completely cooked, then it wont stick to the pork mince. So each step has to be kind of done immediately one after another.

Until I had figured out this process, I've always screwed these up. By the time I managed to scoop up right amount of mince filling to add into the egg, the 'egg skin' would already be over cooked. And so the egg would end up separated from the pork mince. Or I'll ended up burning the egg skin before the pork mince has had a chance to cook properly.

So .. here's how to do it.

The trick is to have the mince proportions 'pre-rolled' into small oval balls - about a soup spoonful - think dumpling size here. And laid out on a plate before you start making the 'egg skin'. Arrange everything around the frying pan so its easily accessible. The beaten eggs in one bowl with a chinese soup spoon and the mince pork with green onions balls on a plate.

Place about 2 tablespoons of oil into the pan, wait till it heats up. Yes.. it is quite a bit of oil, but any less and the eggs will start to stick to the pan.

Get 1 spoon of the egg mixture ready. With one hand, carefully pour 1 spoon of the egg mixture into the pan. As it starts to cook and bubble up, with the other hand, drop in one of the oval shaped balls of pork mince and fold and close up the egg dumpling with the spatula. Place spatula back down on the empty plate (which will be used to collect completed dumplings later), and repeat the process.

Lightly press down on each dumpling as they cook. Turn each Egg dumpling only once. They should only need about 2 mins on each side. After that remove from the pan and place onto the plate. The pork will cook in the later steps.

You should only have a maximum of about 4 egg dumplings cooking in the pan at any time. Over crowding the pan just makes your life harder.

Egg Skin Dumpling with Pork and Spring Onions
Recipe from my grandma - makes about 18 dumplings

For the Pork:

• 250g pork neck (coarsely minced in a food processor)
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 1 cup of green spring onions (finely sliced)
• couple of dashes of sesame oil
• 1/2 cup of water

For the eggs:

• 6 eggs
• pinch of salt
• Additional oil for pan-frying

Method:

1. Prepare the pork mince mixture. Process the pork neck (you can use any part of the pork) and the food processor until its turned into a coarse mince. Try not to over mince it into a pork puree!
2. Season the pork mince with the above ingredients listed, then add in the spring onions. Add in half of the water first and stir to combine the mince and spring onions. Continue to add the remaining water until the pork mince and spring onions are well combined.
3. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat with a fork or pair of chopsticks until the whites and yokes have broken down. Season with a pinch of salt
4. Place the pan on medium-high heat, and add about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan.
5. Carefully pour in 1 soup spoonful of egg mixture, then add in the 'pre-rolled' pork mixture, then fold and close up the egg skin and cook for 2-3 mins on each side. Press lighly on the dumpling as it cooks to make sure the egg skin sticks to the mince, turning only once.
6. Remove egg dumpling from pan once it has cooked for 2-3 mins on the 2nd side and place on a plate
7. Add more oil to the pan if it starts to dry out. Repeat until either there is no more egg mixture or pork mince.
8. Once you have reached the last dumpling, carefully return the dumplings on the plate back to the pan.
9. Arrange the dumplings to fill up any gaps on the pan.
10. Turn the heat up and pour in the remaining 1/4 cup of water, cover the pan and let the dumplings cook\steam for a further 4-5 mins. This will make sure the pork is cooked properly.
11. Remove the cover and carefully transfer the dumplings to a plate. - Its handy to have good chopstick skills here. Tongs with silicon covers will also work.
12. Serve with some steam rice.
    
    

Soy Sauce Braised Chicken Wings

This is a very easy dish to make. And does not require any marinating at all. The important thing to remember is add each ingredient separately, adding the next after the one before has been absorbed. This dish is a favourite in my family. I would always end up eating more than 1 bowl of rice if there are these chicken wings on the table.

Soy Sauce Braised Chicken Wings
Original recipe passed to me from my grandma

• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• 2 pieces of thumbsized ginger (smashed)
• 1 kg of chicken wings (drumlet and winglet separated, tips discarded)
• 1 tablespoon of chinese rice wine (Shaoxing preferred)
• 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• enough water to cover to cover the chicken wings
• salt to taste (if required)

Heat oil in a large saucepan, add in the ginger and saute around for about 30 secs until you start to smell the fragrance of the ginger.

Add in chicken wings, turning the pieces around until the skin becomes opaque.

Add in the rice wine and continue to cook until the wine is absorbed. Pour in the dark & light soy, oyster sauce and sugar. Keep moving the chicken wings around the saucepan, making sure each piece is coated in the sauce.

Add in enough water to cover up to 3/4 of the wings, bring to boil, then reduce heat to low, cover with the lid and let simmer. Taste the braising liquid. Add salt or sugar to taste.

Braise for about 1 hr, or until the end of the bones start to be exposed. The meat should be able to fall off easily. Occasionally check the chicken wings, if it becomes too dry, then add more water.

The sauce should be slightly thick. Serve with some plain steamed rice. Enjoy :)

Chicken Steak with Onions

My grandma used to make this for breakfast. Yes.. breakfast. Gran's typical breakfast was usually 2 dishes served with lots of steamed rice. Most breakfasts were bigger than what we would usually eat for lunch. Breakfast was the most important meal...and every important meal had to have rice.

I usually make this dish for dinner now. :)

Chicken Steak with Onions
Original recipe from my grandma

• 350g of Chicken Thigh Pieces (skin removed, sliced into 4-5cm pieces)
• 1 brown onion (sliced)
• 2 thumbsized pieces of ginger (smashed)
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of chinese rice wine
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of cornflour

Method:

1. Place thigh pieces in a mixing bowl, add ingredients one by one (except for the onions), mixing until they are combined. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hr.
2. In a heated pan add a dash of cooking oil and saute the onions with a pinch of salt. Before the onions become too soft, remove and set aside.
3. Bring the pan to medium-high heat, add some more cooking oil and the ginger from the marinated chicken.
4. Once the oil has the ginger fragrance, add the chicken to the pan and brown on both sides.
5. Once chicken is about done, add onions back to the pan and saute around. Place a lid on the pan and turn the heat down.
6. Let simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Remove and serve with some steam rice.
   
   

Notes:

• I prefer to cut the chicken thighs into smaller pieces about 4-5cm. Making it easier to cook.
• Add some water if the sauce becomes too thick during the simmering stage.

Chicken Mushroom & Dried Scallop Rice

This is another one of my grandma's dishes, which I have adapted into one of my a so-called 'one pot' meals.

Its pretty much just throwing everything together to be cooked in the rice pot. So instead of plain old steam rice served with separate dishes. The dish is incorporated into the steam rice. The result is a bit like chinese fried rice, except the method calls for steaming with some fresh rice. Therefore, it is also a lot less oily than fried rice. Also Chinese fried rice is best made with leftover rice that has been sitting in the fridge overnight.

Chicken Mushroom & Dried Scallop Rice
Adapted from a Recipe originating from my grandma

• 3 cups of white rice
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 4 dried scallops (soaked overnight - water reserved)
• 8 dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked overnight - chopped - water reserved)
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• thumbsized piece ginger (smashed)
• 300g chicken mince
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon chinese rice wine

Method:

1. Wash the rice until the water runs clear.
2. Using a fork, break up the dried scallops. Add scallops and the reserved water into the rice. If needed, fill the rice cooker with water to the required amount to cook 3 cups of rice.
3. Add in the 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir the rice around, so that there is an even spread of scallops around the rice. Start the rice cooker. When the rice is nearly ready...
4. Heat the oil in a pan and add in the ginger. Once you start to smell the ginger, add in chopped mushrooms and the chicken mince.
5. Add in the seasonings - salt, soy sauce, sugar, wine and oyster sauce.
6. Pour in about 3 tablespoons of the reserved mushroom water. Enough so that the chicken doesn't dry out too much as it cooks.
7. Stirfry the contents around until the chicken mince has just cooked. Discard the ginger piece.
8. Open the rice cooker and pour in the contents of the pan and mix everything into the rice.
9. Close the lid of the rice cooker and let the contents sit for at least 30 mins on the 'keep warm' setting.

Notes:

• 3 cups of rice is enough for 3 very hungry people or about 5 'normal eating' people
• Taste the rice. If its a bit too bland, drizzle a bit of light soy sauce over the rice and mix well before serving.
• The ginger is optional, and is used to fragrant the oil and the other ingredients during the stir frying process.