Ingredients:
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Asian fi sh sauce
8 (8-inch) rice-paper rounds
2 cups lightly packed thinly sliced romaine lettuce
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
½ pound cooked lobster meat, cut into
½-inch pieces
Directions:
To make dipping sauce, whisk together vinegar, lime juice, hoisin sauce, ginger, and fi sh sauce in small bowl.
Soak rice-paper rounds, 1 at a time, in large bowl of hot water just until softened, 10–30 seconds. Drain on paper towels.
Toss together lettuce, mint, cilantro, and basil in medium bowl.
Place 4 softened rice-paper rounds on work surface. Put about ¼ cup of lobster meat along center of each wrapper; top each with ½ cup of lettuce mixture. Fold in sides of each wrapper and roll up tightly to enclose filling. Cut each roll in half on diagonal. Serve with dipping sauce.
Ingredients:
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ cup light sour cream
¼ cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons drained chopped pimiento
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups lightly packed thinly sliced romaine lettuce
Lemon wedges
Directions:
Bring large pot of water to boil. Add shrimp and cook, stirring once or twice, just until opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Drain in colander, then rinse under cold running water. Drain again. Pat dry with paper towels.
To make horseradish sauce, whisk together sour cream, onion, pimiento, horseradish, and pepper in small bowl.
Pile ½ cup of lettuce on each of 4 plates. Divide shrimp evenly among plates and top each serving with ¼ cup of sauce. Serve with lemon wedges.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
24 large shrimp (about 1 pound), peeled and deveined
¾ teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions:
Heat oil in very large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high; add shrimp and sprinkle with oregano and pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until shrimp are just opaque throughout, about 2 minutes. Serve hot or warm.
Ingredients:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-4 green chillies, whole
thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and pounded into a paste in a pestle and mortar
4 garlic cloves, peeled and pounded into a paste in a pestle and mortar
salt, to taste
½tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
3 tomatoes, chopped into large cubes
1kg / 2¼lb mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded
60g / 2oz desiccated coconut
handful fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
Directions:
Heat the vegetable oil in a medium non-stick pan and fry the onion until golden brown.
Add the chillies, ginger and garlic pastes, salt, turmeric, garam masala and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have softened and start to break down.
Meanwhile, cook the mussels in a large pot of boiling water for about three minutes, until they have opened. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside. Reserve the water.
Add the coconut, coriander and a splash of the cooking water to the spices and tomatoes and stir. The spice mixture should be thick enough to coat the mussels and enter the shells.
Remove some of the mussels from their shells and leave others in their shells, for a dramatic and appetising effect. Add the mussels to the spice mixture and stir thoroughly. Serve with basmati rice.
Ingredients:
For the crab cakes:
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
¼-½ tsp red chilli powder
salt, to taste
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp lemon juice
25g / 1oz fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
400g / 14oz prepared crab meat
1 large free-range egg
2½ tbsp mayonnaise
9-10 pieces of thick bread, made into crumbs in a food processor
For the tamarind mayonnaise:
80g / 3oz mayonnaise
50ml / 2fl oz milk
salt, to taste
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp tamarind paste, or to taste
handful fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
lightly dressed salad leaves, to serve
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 170°C / 325°F / Gas 3.
Heat half the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the onion for about four minutes, or until soft. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for another 40 seconds. Stir in the coriander, red chilli powder, salt and garam masala and cook for another 20 seconds then take off the heat. Place into a large bowl.
Add the lemon juice, fresh coriander, crab, egg and mayonnaise to the onion mixture in the bowl. Stir well and add the breadcrumbs. Divide into eight equal portions and form each into a circular shape.
Heat one tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan and cook the crab cakes in batches over a low moderate heat for about two minutes on each side, or until golden brown adding more oil as needed.
Place the cooked crab cakes on a baking tray and place them into the oven to stay warm while you cook the others.
For the tamarind mayonnaise, place all the tamarind mayonnaise ingredients into a bowl and whisk together. Season to taste.
To serve, take the warm crab cakes out of the oven, put them on a plate and serve with a spoonful of the tamarind mayonnaise. Place the fresh lightly dressed salad leaves on the side.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
half tsp brown mustard seeds
4 cloves
6 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 large piece cinnamon stick
1 small onion, finely chopped
5 cm / 2 in piece fresh ginger, peeled and quartered
2 large garlic cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
300 ml / 10½ fl oz coconut milk
2-4 green chillies, left whole
salt, to taste
100 ml / 3½ fl oz water
10 curry leaves (available from some supermarkets and Asian grocers)
½-1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ tsp garam masala
500 g / 1 lb 2oz salmon or firm white fish fillets, cut into large pieces
To serve:
2-3 tsp lemon juice
50 g / 2 oz fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
Directions:
Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the mustard seeds, cloves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and stir fry for 20 seconds (be careful, the seeds might pop). Add half of the chopped onion and fry for 4-5 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, place the remaining onion, the ginger, garlic, ground coriander and 100ml/3½fl oz of the coconut milk into a blender or food processor and blend to a smooth purée.
Add this mixture to pan along with the whole green chillies and salt, to taste. Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 12-15 minutes, giving the pot an occasional stir.
Add the remaining coconut milk, the water, the currry leaves, black pepper and garam masala and the fish and leave to cook undisturbed for about 3-5 minutes, until the fish is opaque and cooked through.
To serve, stir in the lemon juice and coriander. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then pour into bowls and serve with rice.
Ingredients:
½ tsp ground turmeric¼ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch carom seeds (ajwain seeds), available in Asian stores and some supermarkets
¼ tsp salt, or to taste
2 halibut steaks
½ tsp grated ginger
½ tsp crushed garlic
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp flour
lemon juice, to serve
Directions:
Sprinkle all the spices and seasoning over the fish, then rub in the ginger and garlic and one teaspoon of the oil.
Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Dust the fish with the flour on both sides. Place the fish into the pan, reduce the heat slightly and fry for four minutes. Turn over and fry for another 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through and crisp.
To serve, place the fish onto serving plates and squeeze over some lemon juice.
Ingredients:
For the marinade:½ large red chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
2.5cm / 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp ground coriander
5 fenugreek seeds
salt, to taste
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 halibut steaks, or other firm white fish
To cook the fish:
1 heaped tbsp flour
1 heaped tbsp desiccated coconut
1½ tbsp vegetable oil
½ lemon, to serve
Directions:
For the marinade, pound together all the ingredients for the marinade, apart from the fish, in a pestle and mortar. Be generous with the seasoning as it will be absorbed by the fish. Coat the fish in the marinade, place into a bowl and leave to marinate for at least half an hour. To cook the fish, mix together the flour and the desiccated coconut in a bowl. Coat the fish in this mixture well.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan. Add the fish to the pan and cook on a low heat without moving for four minutes, then turn over and cook on the other side for another 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through. Squeeze over some lemon juice and serve hot with the chopped salad with peanuts.
This is the balti version of king prawn curry. This style of cooking comes from Northern Pakistan and could be described as a wedding between the traditional and the modern restaurant. It is served with with a delicious, lightly spiced mild to medium sauce and comes to your table sizzling hot in a balti serving dish.
A delicately spiced dish which is stir fried and garnished with fried capsicum (peppers), onion and freshly chopped coriander leaves. This recipe is much the same as for chicken bhoona, the only difference is the main ingredient.
This king prawn fairly hot dish is another popular item in the Indian restaurant. This dish has its origins in Goa and the red wine gives it a wonderful unmistakable rich taste.
A fairly hot, spicy king prawn dish with a distinctive combination of spices simmered in a sweet and sour sauce. This is one of the more popular prawn dishes in the Indian restaurant.
A medium curry with king prawn as the main ingredient and served with a delicious, lightly spiced mild to medium, sauce garnished with freshly chopped coriander leaves.
In Fukien, this dish is made from fresh winter bamboo shoots, but in the West we have to be content with the canned product, which, fortunately, retains much of its characteristic crispness.
A sweet and sour sauce goes especially well with deep-fried food, not just because it whets one’s appetite but, more important, because it counteracts any trace of grease. Such is, indeed, the case with fish. There are regional variations and personal preferences, but mainly a sweet and sour sauce is a mixture of vinegar and sugar, balanced by salt, and made more interesting by the addition of other condiments. Try this one, and then concoct your own.
In many Chinese households, rice, the staple food, used to be cooked in a large, round copper pot. When there was a layer of cooked rice stuck to the bottom of the pot, it would be carefully removed, roasted over a slow fire and then used again. These roasted rice pieces, called guoba, led to the invention of sizzling rice dishes in Eastern regional cuisine. This dish is also called “Thunder bolt out of the blue,” because of the sizzle caused by the boiling sauce when poured on the crispy guoba.
Duck stuffed with glutinous rice is popular with most Chinese, irrespective of the region they come from. The stuffing can be made a day in advance and refrigerated, but if it is, bring it out so that it will be at room temperature before being stuffed into the duck.
The dragon and phoenix of the title are metaphors for the two main ingredients: chicken and prawns. Because it is a very elegant dish, it is worth the trouble to use the “going through the oil” technique to seal in the juices of the ingredients before stir-frying them.
The Cantonese like to bite into prawns that are “crisply firm,” and to achieve this texture Cantonese chefs leave out ginger and wine when preparing them, as we have here.
Another classic Cantonese dish. You may think it gilding the lily to add the sweet-tasting oyster sauce to the inherently sweet scallops, but your palate will be delighted with the result.
