Basa in Soy and Ginger

Here is a very quick post to a dish that I made almost on the spur of the moment. Sometime back, I had asked readers on my facebook page what recipe they would want to see next and a majority of them responded saying a Chinese recipe was long due.

Last week, I instinctively purchased some basa while shopping and since this was my first time, i was left wondering what to cook with it. One experiment with frying it didn't come off too well. But what I realised was that Basa has a nice and buttery flavour that I felt would go well with  Asian seasoning. This took me back a few months when i had been to an Asian restaurant for lunch and managed to catch up with the chef. While chatting with him, he told me about how soya and ginger form a complex but compatible marriage. I decided to give it a try.

I tweeted my anxiety about cooking Basa the first time and folks egged me on. One step followed the other with military precision and by the time I was about half way done, I knew that this was going to be something good. The splash of spring onions on top only jazzed up the entire plating effect. Cooking done, as I was plating I also noticed the sun, who was lazily hiding behind the clouds; coming out in all his splendour as if to demand his share. 

As I had dinner that night, I silently thanked the man who decided to get the Vietnamese Basa to India. 

Basa in Soy, Ginger

Ingredients

• 150 grams, Basa Fillets, cut into bite sized cubes
• 4 tablespoons soya sauce
• 2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 1 medium sprig, spring onions, finely chopped- retain some of the greens for garnishing.
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped (I used red chilli flakes)
• 1 teaspoon , brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon, white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon cornflour, mixed with some water to form a slurry
• 2 tablespoons, oil
• Juice of half a lime
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

• Wash the fish fillets and marinate them with the lime juice and the pepper powder. Make sure the juice and pepper powder coats the fish pieces evenly.  Refrigerate this for about half an hour.
• Add the soya sauce and ginger in a bowl. Now, using the back of a spoon, gently crush the ginger pieces in the the bowl. This will allow the flavour of the ginger to gel with the soya sauce.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok. Add the chopped onion, garlic and chillies and saute for a minute.
• Now, add the fish pieces and the sugar. Allow the fish to cook for a minute along with the sugar that will caramelise. This wont take longer than 2 minutes.
• Add, the ginger, soya mixture and stir for another minute. If you want some more gravy, add in some water or stock now.
• Now, add the cornflour slurry and give it one last mix.
• Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice

Baby Corn Manchurian!!!

Hello Everyone!!!! I’m back after a short vacation to my hometown Mangalore. Shortly, I will put up a post chronicling my Mangalore tour. I cannot put in words what an awesome tour it was, I am still reminiscing the memories. And on returning to Mumbai, it was back to the usual grind; office work, sorting out the vacation laundry and a pile of other stuff. With all this blogging has taken a hit for a while now.  Worry not, my dearies, I am back now with a whole load of sumptuous recipes from Mangalore and much more ready to flood your inbox shortly. Also, I want to say a big thank you to all of you who have written on email and on the facebook page enquiring on where I was all the while. Thanks a ton guys, for all the love and support you have shown to the bog. And a special thank you to my friend Stephane from My French Heaven for writing and asking about my next post. Do check his wonderful blog here

As is the case with most holidays, we ate and ate and traveled and tanned. One resolution we made on the way back home was go light on the food (no prizes for guessing why… Lol) over the next few days.  That is perhaps why, you will see a nearly stir-fry dish making it to the blog today. But, to understand today’s recipe you need to understand a cuisine called Indo-Chinese. A cuisine that’s perhaps a cross between the Indian taste and Chinese stir fry. Honestly, any Indian would swear by this; proof of which is the millions and millions of carts (and small dingy restaurants) with their trademark glaring red colour and signs saying “Authentic Chinese served here”. One of the most famous dishes of the Indo-Chinese is the Chicken Manchurian very simply bite sized chicken bits covered in a batter deep fried and thrown into a tangy sauce. But folks, the only way to stay in the game is through product diversification and so, considering the huge Indian appetite for vegetarian food all sorts of vegetarians options started coming up, the most famous among them being “Gobhi (cauliflower) Manchurian” and followed closely by “Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Manchurian”.  For today, the humble baby corn basks in glory.           

We had it with Sichuan Fried Rice. But goes well with steamed rice as well.

Baby corn Manchurian

12-15 Babycorn, diced into bite sized pieces

1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped

7-8 garlic cloves, minced

1 inch ginger, minced

2 Tablespoons Soya Sauce

2 tablespoons, tomato ketchup

1 tablespoon white pepper powder

3 tablespoon cornflour and some more for the gravy

2 tablespoons oil, some more for frying

1 cup vegetable stock/ or plain water

Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Cut the babycorn into bite sized pieces. Coat them with cornflour and keep for 10    minutes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and fry the baby corn till just about a golden brown. Remove and drain on an absorbent paper. Sprinkle very little salt and some white pepper powder powder and keep aside.
3. Now, heat the remaining 2 tablespoon oil and add in the garlic. Saute till reddish brown. 
4. Add the onions and saute. Once done, ad the soya sauce and tomato ketchup. Stir for a minute.
5. Add the baby corn and mix well so that the sauces cover them well.
6. Add in the stock or water and let it boil. Meanwhile, dissolve the remaining cornflour in some water and keep aside.
7. Once the stock comes to a boil, add in the dissolved cornflour and stir well
8. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.

Sichuan Fried Rice!

If you have been following my blog, you would have realized by now that after Indian, my favorite cuisine is Chinese. I can go on and on raving about the simplicity and versatility of Chinese food, but one blog would not be enough..  lol.

Here is another gem from the vast treasury of Chinese one –pot wonders, Sichuan Fried Rice. Once again the ‘go-to’ meal for those times when you want to have complete meal, but do not have the energy or bandwidth to go the mile. The best thing is that it gets done in a jiffy. I have tried the vegetarian version, you could use chicken, bacon or egg if you wish.

I served it with the Singapore Black Pepper Prawns and a very special ingredient called love. Try it, I’m sure the taste will multiply manifold.

Sichuan Fried Rice

Ingredients:

•         1 cup pre-cooked rice
•          ½ cup grated cabbage
•          ½ cup grated carrot
•          1 bulb spring onion
•          50 ml white vinegar
•          2-3 dried red chillies
•          5-6 cloves garlic, minced
•          1 inch piece ginger, minced
•          2 tablespoon soya sauce
•          2 tablespoon Oil.
•          Salt- to taste

Method:

• Soak the red chillies in the white vinegar and keep aside for half an hour
• In a wok or a deep bottomed pan, heat oil till just before smoking point.  Add the ginger, garlic and let it cook for a while.
• Add the vegetables (cabbage, carrot) and the spring onion greens and give it a stir. The vegetables do not take a long time to cook
• Now, add the red chillies and give it a mix.
• Add some of the rice, and 1 tablespoon soya sauce and stir well. Repeat the same with the other batch of rice and the remaining soya sauce, salt and keep stirring.
• Add the vinegar and mix well.
• Ensure the vegetables and sauce have mixed well with the rice.
• Serve hot garnished with spring onion greens.

Singapore Black Pepper Prawns

One of the best things about living in Mumbai is the access to a variety of seafood. Now, for someone like me who loves seafood, prawns are the ultimate comfort food. The other day, my mum happened to get some absolutely lovely king prawns and I almost jumped with joy and excitement.

Considering how versatile prawns are, the question was what to make of them. Many options were considered, “Prawns Ghassi”, “Jhinga Tandoori”, “Prawns Biryani” were very close contenders, but we also realized that it was a while since we had some Oriental food and so, we decided to cook something that is synonymous with Singapore, the “Singapore Black Pepper Prawns”.

For those of you who have visited Singapore, there is no way you have missed the two culinary landmarks there, “Singapore Chilli Crab” &“Singapore Black Pepper Prawns”. Strangely, I tasted this not on a trip to Singapore, but in Dubai. The hotel where I stayed had an awesome Oriental restaurant. One of the nice things of the place was the chef would recommend the dish to suit your preference and to a certain extent customize your order. Considering it was so heavily spiced with pepper, I was a bit apprehensive at first, but two bites later, I was already in love with the combination. Let me tell you, it almost set my tongue on fire but it was worth every bit.

The only seasoning is the pepper and that actually carries the dish along and the oyster sauce lends the oomph. My suggestion is to use King prawns, they go well with the ruggedness of the pepper and that sudden blast of spice just at the back of your head will make it an experience you will want to come back again and again.

Please do give it a try, I’m sure you”ll enjoy it!

Singapore Black Pepper Prawns

Ingredients:

• 600 grams King Prawns (please retain the tail)
•  ½  cup whole black peppercorns (If you like it more spicier, increase the quantity)
•  10 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 fresh Ginger, minced
• 3 Tablespoons Peanut oil
• 2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
• 1 cup water
•          Spring Onions Greens – for garnishing

Procedure:

• Dry roast the pepper corns till they begin to crackle. Remove from the flame and grind them coarsely.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok. When the oil is hot, add in the prawns and toss lightly till they turn pink. This will take about a minute on high flame.
• Now, add the remaining oil in the wok and add in the garlic and ginger and fry till they change colour.
• Add both the sauces (Oyster & Soya) and stir well. Add the water and mix well.
• Now add the prawns and stir so that the prawns are covered well with the sauce.
• It’s now time to add the pepper and mix well.
• Serve hot, garnished with the spring onion greens.

Chinese Food!

I have noticed that whenever I go to a restaurant, somehow I tend to flip to the Chinese section of the menu and order something from there.  Can’t really help; I doubt any other cuisine in the world offers such a unique combination of colour, texture, cooking and tastes. That is perhaps the reason why almost every street in the world would have a Chinese restaurant. Although Chinese food has faced criticism in the past for its excessive use of sodium (salts) and Mono-sodium Glutamate (Ajino motto), the fact is that authentic Chinese food is healthy and a food connoisseurs delight.

My first experience with Chinese was when I was in college and happened to visit a newly opened Chinese restaurant in the college vicinity. I sat observing the chef who expertly went about his task off tossing and flipping the rice, noodles he prepared like a pro. Excited, I came home and tried the same, ending up with nothing more than a Chinese khichdi and a very messy kitchen that my dear mum spent the rest of the day cleaning.

Coming back, Chinese is one of the few cuisines in the world that manages to retain the original flavors and textures of the ingredients used. There is a generous usage of vegetable, meat, fish, or poultry. The cooking is done on a high flame that helps retain the crunch of the vegetables and the taste of the meats. Another reason for the popularity is that Chinese is relatively easy to prepare (just change a few ingredients and sauces and ……. Presto, you have a new dish) and it’s adaptability to the local cuisine. I have seen almost every Indian dish coming under the Chinese influence right from dosa’s to samosa’s to even a schezwan dhokla.

What I’ve made today is an authentic Chinese meal with an Indian touch. Burnt Garlic Fried rice & Schezwan Hot Chicken. Call it a Chinese meal or Indo-Chinese fusion, the taste was awesome nevertheless.

Burnt Garlic Fried Rice

Ingredients
• 1 cup Pre-cooked rice * refer notes below
• 100 grams mixed vegetables- finely chopped (Carrots, French Beans, Bell Peppers, Cauliflower)
• 1 bulb Spring onion
• 6-7 cloves Garlic finely chopped
• ½ inch piece Ginger finely chopped
• 1 Egg – Beaten well
• 2 tablespoon Soya Sauce
• 3 table spoon oil
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• Salt – to taste

Method
• If your preparing rice fresh cook it till it’s Al-Dante (75% done)
• In a wok or a deep bottomed pan, heat oil till just before smoking point. Add the egg and stir well so it becomes like a minced omlette.
• Add in the garlic and let it brown. Take care not to burn it or it will give out a bitter taste.
• Add in the ginger and onions stir quickly.
• Now, add some of the mixed vegetables, rice, and 1 tablespoon soya sauce and stir well. Repeat the same with the other batch of vegetables and rice and the remaining soya sauce, salt and keep stirring.
• Once the vegetables and sauce have mixed well with the rice add in the vinegar and give it once last mix
• Serve hot garnished with spring onion greens.

Schezwan Hot Chicken

Ingredients

• 200 grams boneless chicken
• 1 Egg white
• 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 2 tablespoons red chili paste * refer notes below
• 3 Dried red chilies
• 1 spring onion – finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon soya sauce
• 8 cloves garlic – finely chopped
• ½ inch piece of ginger – finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon crushed pepper
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons corn flour
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Oil for frying

Method

•  Make a batter with the egg white, corn flour, crushed pepper and salt. Coat the chicken well with this batter and keep aside for about 15 minutes
•  Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken pieces till they are golden brown. This should not take more than 2 minutes if the oil is smoking hot; else 5 minutes. Take out and drain the excess oil on an absorbent paper.
•  For the gravy, add in the 3 tablespoon oil, add in the ginger garlic, red chilies, and stir well quickly.
•  Next add in the onions, red chili paste, and ketchup stirring it well.
•  Now, add in the soya sauce and some water.
•  When it comes to a boil, add in the chicken pieces and the spring onion greens and salt.
•  Dissolve the remaining corn flour in water and stir well to make a solution. Add this to the gravy. Adding corn flour thickens the gravy giving it texture and also gives it a gloss.
•  Add in the vinegar and give it one last mix.
•  Garnish with remaining spring onion greens and serve hot with the fried rice or noodles.

Notes:

• Traditionally, fried rice is prepared using rice is slightly old. If possible, try and use rice that has been prepared probably the night before. It tastes better with rice that is slightly thick grained, so try and avoid the basmati variety.

• To prepare the red chili paste, soak 3-4 red chilies in warm water for half an hour and then grind to a fine paste along with 2 cloves of garlic and ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds. This paste can be used for any other gravy as well.

• Be careful when using salt for the seasoning as soya sauce already has a very high salt content. Also, when you buy soya sauce remember to check the label. Dark soya sauce is for the colour and light soya sauce is for the taste.

• I have mentioned in the blog about cooking on a high flame. Please be careful when you’re trying this for the first time.

Well, even as you enjoy your Chinese meal, Keep smiling and happy cooking!!!!!