Easy finger food that is really addictive, perfect with beer, taken from the Wickedfood Cooking School Chinese cooking class based around the Neil Perry cookbook Simply Asian.

Marinade
1 t soy sauce
1/2  t rice wine (shao zing)
1/2  t chilli oil
1 t cornflour
1 egg

500g pork spare ribs, cut into 5cm lengths
4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup coriander leaves
Szechuan salt and pepper to taste (see below)

Sauce
2 T water
2 T sugar
1 T soy sauce
1 T minced ginger
1 t minced garlic
2 T Chinese black vinegar

Marinade
Combine all the marinade ingredients. Pour the marinade over the ribs and leave to marinate for at least 40 minutes.

Heat the oil in a wok until very hot. Deep-fry the ribs until they are a deep golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on crumpled kitchen paper.

Sauce
Boil all the ingredients in a small pot until the sugar melts. Leave to cool.

Serve
Pile the ribs onto the centre of a large plate and sprinkle with coriander. Serve with the sauce, and Szechuan salt and pepper.

Szechuan salt and pepper
Combine 3 parts sea salt, and 2 parts Szechuan peppercorns. Roast over a medium heat in a frying pan until mixture starts to brown, then remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. When cool, grind to a powder.

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Singapore has a vibrant mix of Chinese, Indians, Malays and a smattering of Europeans, and offers some of the best street food in the world. Wickedfood Cooking School has visited the city in search of its mouthwatering flavours. Fish head curry is one of the dishes we teach in our cooking class.

100 g shallots
130 g grated coconut
1 cup water
1t turmeric powder
2t cumin powder
3T chilli powder
5T coriander powder
1½t salt
3T oil
½t mustard seeds
½t cumin seeds
½t fennel seeds, coarsely pounded
1t fenugreek
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cm ginger, thinly sliced
2 sprigs curry leaves
180 g tamarind mixed with 6 cups water and strained
300 g ladies fingers or brinjals cut into 4-5 cm pieces
4 tomatoes, quartered
1 fish head, about 1-1 ½ kg, halved and cleaned
3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves

1. Blend the coconut and shallots together with the water until smooth.
2. Mix the blended ingredients with the turmeric, cumin, chilli and coriander powder and the salt.  Leave aside.
3. Heat oil and fry the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek until aromatic.
4. Add in the onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaves.  Saute till onion turn golden brown.
5. Add in the blended ingredients and saute  over low heat till oil separates.
6. Add in the tamarind water and boil for about 5 minutes.
7. Add in the vegetables and boil till tender.
8. Lower in the fish head and cook over medium heat till the fish head is cooked.
9. Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves before serving.

NOTE:  If you don’t have separate curry powders use 9T Fish curry powder

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood cooking school runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

At Wickedfood Cooking School we teach students how to make this salad in our Vietnamese cooking class. This delicious recipe originates from Red Bridge Cooking School in Hoi An, Vietnam. You can replace the squid with any other type of meat, seafood or even beancurd – the cooking time will vary accordingly.

½ cup chopped 1 pineapple
100g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
2 t of vegetable oil
1 t garlic & ginger
½t sugar
1 t salt or 2 t light fish sauce
1 T tomato puree or tomato sauce
1 T sweet & sour chilli sauce
½ cup chopped green pepper (capsicum)
½ cup chopped tomato
½ cup chopped onion
1 T water
Few pieces of fresh coriander

1. Cut the two sides off the pineapple, and then hollow out to create a bowl, retaining ½ cup of the flesh, and chop.
2. Add 2t of vegetable oil to wok and stir in garlic and ginger.
3. Add squid, salt & sugar, and fry for 1 minute.
4. Put in remaining vegetables and tomato puree/ fry for a further 3 minutes, adding water.
5. Place ail ingredients inside pineapple, and top with pepper and coriander.

Serves 4

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood® Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

This recipe is taken from the Wickedfood cooking school cookbook-of-the-month cooking class based on Kylie Kwong’s delightful cookbook Recipes and Stories. The deep-fried tofu has crunchy exterior, served with lemon, salt and pepper. It must be eaten immediately after cooking, as it becomes moist and loses its crunch when it cools.

600g silken tofu
2 cups vegetable oil for deep-frying
½ cup cornflour
1 cup coriander leaves
2t sechuan pepper and salt
1 lemon cut in half

1. Gently remove tofu from packaging and invert on a plate. Carefully slice into 6 cubes, draining off any excess liquid.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly.
3. Just before frying, lightly coat tofu pieces in cornflour and, using an egg lifter, carefully lower into the hot oil. (It is important not to coat the tofu in advance of heating the oil, or it will become very moist and sticky.) Fry tofu until golden brown, remove and drain well on kitchen paper.
4. Arrange tofu on a platter garnished with coriander and serve immediately, sprinkled with sechuan pepper and salt and accompanied by lemon halves.

Serve as an entree, or as part of a banquet for 6-8

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

This is one of the most popular dishes that we teach at Wickedfood cooking school. We make it at least once a week with our corporate teambuilding clients. It is a perfect salad for a hot summer’s day, best to serve the beef rare for maximum flavour. Grill it on a very hot fire so as to seal the meat, but leaving it succulent inside.

500g beef fillet

Sauce
2 cloves garlic
Handful coriander leaves
Handful mint leaves
2 T sugar
2 t light soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t fish sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
11/4 T olive oil

1 T lemon juice
1/2 T fish sauce

Salad
1 packet mixed salad leaves 1/2 cup rocket leaves

1 cup mint, basil and coriander leaves
2 spring onions including tops, thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, cut into thin ribbons

6 fresh red chillies thinly sliced

Pre-heat the grill or prepare the braai. Rub the meat with oil and grill turning once, cooking no further than medium rare. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and cut into strips.

Sauce
Crush the garlic in a mortar. Add the coriander, mint, sugar and pound to a paste. Add soy sauce, lime juice and fish sauce, and mix well.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the sauce and stir fry for ±1 minute. Add the beef and toss to coat. Immediately remove from the heat and spoon into a bowl to cool.
Deglaze the saucepan with the 1T lemon juce and 1/2 T fish sauce, and use as salad dressing.

Salad
Wash the salad leaves, rocket, mint, basil and coriander, and mix.

Everything up to this point can be done ahead of time.

To plate
Just before serving, toss the salad leaves lightly in the cooled dressing. Pile the leaves in the centre of a large platter. Arrange the beef on top and garnish with spring onions, cucumber and chillies. Pour any remaining meat sauce over and serve immediately to prevent the salad from wilting.

Serves 4

Great Asian recipes – Click here:

Chicken feet

Biryani

Kaeng kari ka – yellow curried chicken

Phanaeng Beef Curry in sweet peanut sauce

Phat Thai

Tom yum kung

Green pawpaw salad

Fish head curry

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Spiced pork spare ribs

Deep-fried silken tofu

Thai beef salad

3 Cup Chicken

For other articles on South East Asia see:

A Taste of Thailand

Floating markets in Bangkok

Must try Singapore dishes

The ABCs of Singapore food

Singapore hawker food centres

Vietnamese cuisine

Cooking schools in South East Asia

Thai House cooking school • Bangkok • Thailand

Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School • Thailand

Red Bridge Cooking School • Hoi An • Vietnam

Books reviewed by Wickedfood on Asian food:

Secrets of the Red Lantern

Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories

A Passion for Thai Cooking

Balance & Harmony, Asian Food

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Boksburg – (011) 823-5365 boksburg@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.