Chinese Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

No trip to a Chinese restaurant is complete in my book without Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup. I've tried many recipes over the years, poaching the chicken in water, poaching in stock, all creamed corn, a mix of corn, a whole egg or just egg white. The first time I tried converting my recipe for the TM5 it was a hit. No more poaching and shredding chicken while trying not to burn my fingers..that's ok with me. 

3 chicken thigh fillets, cut into strips
1/2 level teaspoon ground ginger
1 onion, peeled and quartered
20 grams olive oil
420g can creamed corn
315g corn kernels, fresh (from 2 cobs) or tinned
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 heaped tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate
600g water
2 level tablespoons cornflour
2 level tablespoons water
2 egg whites
1 spring onion, green part only, sliced, to serve

Add onion to Thermomix bowl, chop 3 seconds / speed 7.
Add ginger and oil, sauté 2 minutes / 100 deg / speed 1.
Add corn, water, sesame oil, stock paste and sliced chicken. Cook 15 minutes / 100 deg / reverse, speed 1.
In the last 2 minutes of cooking add mixed cornflour and water through the lid. Then add the egg whites.
Serve topped with spring onion.

Tip
You can pour the egg whites on to the lid with the MC on and let it slowly drip through.
Serve in small bowls with Chinese spoons for an authentic experience.

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup recipe on Recipe Community website

Char Kway Teow

500g fresh flat rice noodle sheets
50ml oil
2 tablespoons minced Chinese radish
3 red chillies
2 cloves of minced garlic
200g green prawns (peeled and de-veined)
1 Lup Chong (Chinese sausage), sliced
2 beaten eggs
2 teaspoons thick dark soy
1-2 tablespoons light soy
generous handful of bean shoots
30gm garlic chives, cut into 2.5 cm lengths
salt and pepper to taste

Pound the sliced chillies to a paste. Cut rice noodle sheets into 1cm length strips, separate gently. If there's too much oil on the noodles pour hot water over them, as oil is used to stop the fresh noodles sticking in the refrigeration process. Drain immediately in a colander and loosen with chopsticks to prevent sticking.

Heat oil in a hot wok. Add the minced radish, chilli paste and garlic. Stir fry for 10 seconds. Add prawns and stir. Add the noodles and toss. Add Lup Chong. Push noodles to one side and pour egg into the centre - bring the noodles back and stir fry with the egg. Add the sauces, gently coating the noodles, then add garlic chives and bean shoots. Stir fry until cooked. Serve immediately.

C is for Chinese

It was finally time for the C dinner and it was my turn to cook. I chose Chinese as it's not a cuisine that features on my regular dinner rotation and I very rarely go out to Chinese restaurants as growing up in the country we only ever had the choice of Chinese or Italian if we wanted to go out for dinner.

I wanted to stay away from the standard stir fry option so I started trolling the internet for some inspiration. I came across Kylie Kwong's recipes on the ABC website and decided on a Steamboat. I thought that being able to do all the prep work before everyone arrives and then being able to sit around the table and cook our dinner together would be great fun.

Menu:
Pork Dumplings
Steamed Chicken Buns
Chinese Steamboat
Plain Rice
Egg Custard Buns
________________________________________

Chinese Steamboat
300 g (1 lb 6 oz) squid
300 g (10 oz) organic pork fillet, finely sliced on the diagonal
300 g (10 oz) organic chicken fillet, finely sliced on the diagonal
300 g (10 oz) organic beef fillet, finely sliced on the diagonal
400 g (13 oz) snapper fillets, finely sliced on the diagonal
6 uncooked king prawns (jumbo shrimp), peeled and deveined but with tails intact

Squid marinade
2 large red chillies, halved lengthways, deseeded and roughly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
11/2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons ginger julienne
1 tablespoon lime juice

Garlic and ginger paste
10 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup roughly chopped ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt

Pork marinade
2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing wine
1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar
dash of sesame oil

Chicken marinade
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing wine
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
dash of sesame oil

Beef marinade
2 tablespoons Chinese BBQ sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing wine
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper & sea salt mix
dash of sesame oil

Fish marinade
2 tablespoons finely sliced coriander stalks and roots
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon white sugar

Prawn marinade
1 tablespoon finely diced lemongrass
1/4 cup finely sliced spring onions (scallions)
1 1/2 tablespoons ginger julienne
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing wine
1 teaspoon sea salt
dash of sesame oil

1 bunch choy sum
1 bunch green asparagus
1 Chinese white cabbage
2 cups bean sprouts
1/3 bunch mint
1/3 bunch sweet Thai basil
1/3 bunch coriander
1/3 bunch Vietnamese mint
300 g (10 oz) fresh Hokkien noodles
75 g (21/2 oz) fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded

Stock
3 litres (3 quarts) water
4 spring onions (scallions), trimmed and cut in half crossways
10 garlic cloves, crushed
20 slices ginger
60 g (2 oz) galangal, peeled and sliced
3 lemongrass stalks, bruised
2 tablespoons sea salt

Dipping sauces
combine 3 tablespoons oyster sauce with 1 teaspoon sesame oil
combine 2 tablespoons of each of hoisin sauce, Chinese black vinegar and Chinese BBQ sauce
combine 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce with 2 teaspoons light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon diced ginger and a dash of sesame oil

Rinse squid and pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut the squid down the centre so that it will open out flat. Using a small, sharp knife, score shallow diagonal cuts in a criss-cross pattern on the inside surface. Cut scored squid into 5 x 2.5 cm (2 x 1 in) pieces and place in a bowl.
For the squid marinade, pound chilli and salt into a rough paste with a pestle and mortar. Add palm sugar, pound lightly, then stir in fish sauce, ginger and lime juice. Add marinade to the squid in the bowl.

Place pork, chicken, beef, fish and prawns in separate bowls, then set aside while you prepare the garlic and ginger paste. Pound garlic, ginger and salt together with a pestle and mortar until you have a rough paste. Divide this paste between the pork, chicken and beef.

Add the five lots of marinade ingredients for the pork, chicken, beef, fish and prawns to their respective bowls. Thoroughly mix the contents of each bowl, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Trim ends from the choy sum, then cut crossways into 3 pieces and wash thoroughly; drain.

Wash the asparagus and snap off the woody ends, then peel the lower part of the stem and cut into thirds on the diagonal.

Discard outer leaves of cabbage, then slice cabbage in half lengthways, remove core and cut crossways into about 4 pieces and wash thoroughly, pulling pieces apart to separate leaves.

Wash bean sprouts and all the herbs thoroughly; drain well.

Pick sprigs from the herbs.

Blanch Hokkien noodles in boiling salted water until 'al dente' — about 4 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, then thoroughly drain again.

Arrange choy sum, asparagus, cabbage, bean sprouts, herbs, noodles and mushrooms in simple serving bowls. Place these on the table, along with the bowls of marinated meats and seafood.

About an hour before your guests are due to arrive, make the stock. Place the water in a large electric wok — about 35 cm (14 in) in diameter. Add all remaining stock ingredients and bring to the boil, simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Turn off heat, cover and set aside.Finally, arrange all the dipping sauces and condiments in small bowls on the table, allowing two bowls of each.

When everyone is ready to sit down and eat, place the electric wok in the centre of the table. Reheat stock and invite your guests to choose their own meat, fish and vegetables to cook in the simmering stock, before dipping them in their favourite sauces and condiments.

Towards the end of the meal the noodles are added to the rich, full-flavoured stock and slurped.

Source: Kylie Kwong

I made some variations to the original recipe which can be found here -http://www.abc.net.au/kyliekwong/recipes/s952592.htm