Chinese Food With Ken Hom

• Ken Hom cooks Stir-fried Rainbow Vegetables with Lettuce Cups on The Afternoon Show


• Ken Hom cooks Crispy Hong Kong Salt and Pepper Prawns on The Afternoon Show

Friday, 30 January 2009

Chinese new year 2009 fell on Monday, 2009. The Chinese New Year is celebrated as the symbol of spring's celebration. It is celebrated after the fall harvest and before the spring planting season. The date of the Chinese New Year is always changing and is dependant on the Chinese calendar. Emperor Huangdi in the year 2637 B.C.E invented the Chinese calendar.

The festival is celebrated for 3 weeks and to honour it we have the world's leading authority in Chinese cookery, Ken Hom in to cook.

Ken is also in Dublin because:
From Friday 30th January to Thursday 8th February 2009, the award winning Cellar Restaurant at the stylish five star Merrion hotel, Dublin will collaborate with celebrity chef Ken Hom to host an oriental culinary experience that will mark the Chinese New Year in style!

Ken Hom is regarded as the world's leading authority in Chinese cookery and strongly believes that Chinese cuisine is one of the world's healthiest and delicious cuisines.

The delectable Asian dishes will be served alongside The Cellar Restaurant's regular menu as part of the "Ken Hom Experience." Ken will work closely with Executive Chef at The Merrion, Ed Cooney, to create a novel menu of Chinese inspired dishes which will be available during the promotion.

Ken Hom
Ken is now regarded as the world's leading authority in Chinese cookery and has cooked for 40 heads of state and many a celebrity including Tina Turner and Elton John. He has also cooked at no 10 Downing Street for Cherie Blair and Bertie Ahern!

Ken learnt to cook from the age of eleven when he started working in his uncle's Chinese restaurant in Chicago after school and at weekends. In those days he earned around the equivalent of 30p per hour! In order to help pay his University fees he gave cooking lessons which proved so popular that he was recommended to the Culinary Academy where he has taught many great chefs such as Charlie Trotter from Chicago, whose famous Trotters restaurant is always booked months in advance. When the BBC was looking for a Chinese chef to produce a new series he was recommended by Madhur Jaffrey who had seen him giving lessons in California. This was the start of his UK TV career with his first series Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery in 1984.

This series was then transmitted throughout the world and he has remained highly acclaimed worldwide and repeated often since then.

More on Ken:
His first BBC-TV series began in 1984 with the series Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery. The book that went with the series has now become a bible for anyone who wants to learn how to cook Chinese and has sold over 1.5 million worldwide. He has now written over twenty books, with the latest one being "100 Top Stir-Fries" and paperback versions of his Foolproof Cookery series. (BBC Books)

Ken strongly believes that Chinese cuisine is one of the world's healthiest and delicious cuisines which has led him to become a spokesman for the UK's Health Education Authority promoting healthy Chinese recipes.

Crispy Hong Kong Salt & Pepper Prawns

Ingredients:
. 450g (1lb) large prawns with shells on
. 2 tablespoons salt
. 2 fresh red hot chilies, coarsely chopped
. 2 teaspoons coarse salt
. 1 teaspoon roasted and ground Sichuan peppercorns
. 1 teaspoon sugar
. 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
. 2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
. 2 tablespoons finely chopped spring onions
. 2 cups groundnut oil

Method:
1. Fill a large bowl with cold water, add 1 tablespoon of salt, and gently wash the unpeeled prawn in the salt water.
2. Drain and repeat the process. Remove the feathery legs from the prawn, drain, and blot them dry with paper towel.
3. In a small bowl, combine the salt, peppercorns, and sugar and set aside.
4. In another small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, and spring onions.
5. Heat a wok or deep skillet until it is hot and add the oil.
6. When the oil is very hot and smoking, add the prawn and deep-fry for about 1 minute or until they are pink.
7. Remove them immediately with a slotted spoon and drain well.
8. Pour off all but 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil and reheat the wok.
9. Add the salt mixture and stir-fry for 10 seconds.
10. Add the garlic-ginger-spring onion mixture and stir-fry for 10 seconds.
11. Return the prawn to the wok and stir-fry over high heat for about 2 minutes until the spices have thoroughly coated the outer shell of the prawn.
12. Transfer the prawn to a serving platter and serve at once.

Stir-fried Rainbow Vegetables with Lettuce Cups

Ingredients
Serves 4-6
. 100 g (4 oz) carrots
. 100 g (4 oz) tinned bamboo shoots
. 100 g (4 oz) courgettes
. 100 g (4 oz) celery heart
. 100 g (4 oz) red or green pepper (about 1)
. 100 g (4 oz) pressed seasoned bean curd
. 15 g (½ oz) Chinese dried mushrooms
. 225 g (8 oz) iceberg lettuce
. 1½ tablespoon oil, preferably groundnut
. 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic
. 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
. 3 tablespoons finely chopped spring onion
. 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
. 2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
. 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
. ½ teaspoon salt
. ¼ teaspoon freshly ground or 5 peppercorn or black pepper
. Dried bean thread noodles, fried in oil and drained

Accompaniment

. 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Method:
1. Peel and cut the carrots into 5 cm (2-inch) long, fine shreds.
2. Cut the bamboo shoots, courgettes and pepper into 5 cm (2-inch) fine shreds also. Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes, drain them and squeeze out any excess liquid.
3. Trim off the stems and shred the caps into 5 cm (2-inch) long strips.
4. Finely shred the celery heart, peppers and pressed bean curd.
5. Separate and wash the lettuce leaves, spin the leaves dry in a salad spinner and set them aside in the refrigerator.
6. Heat a wok or large frying-pan over high heat until it is hot.
7. Add the oil, and when it is very hot and slightly smoking, add the garlic, shallots and spring onions and stir-fry for 20 seconds.
8. Then add the carrots and stir-fry for another minute.
9. Now add the remaining vegetables (except the lettuce), the soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, vegetarian oyster sauce, salt and pepper and stir-fry the mixture for 3 minutes.
10. Turn onto a platter.
11. Arrange the lettuce and noodles on separate platters, put the hoisin sauce into a small bowl, and serve at once.