Chilli prawns

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

One of the most popular restaurant dishes throughout China. Prawns are left whole. The secret of the dish is to have all the ingredients ready before starting and cooking over a very hot heat, very quickly. If the prawns are overcooked they become rubbery. Serve with lots of serviettes or finger bowls. The size of the prawns is not important, although smaller prawns are crunchier as the skin is thinner and therefore more palatable.chilli prawns

±1kg whole prawns
Oil for deep frying

Sauce
1T oil
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
±1T ginger, finely chopped
1-3 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
3T soy sauce
1T sweet soy sauce
1T rice wine
1-2T rice vinegar
2T chilli bean paste
2T sugar, dissolved in 2T chicken stock
1/2t roasted sesame oil
1T cornflour, mixed in ±1/4 cup water

Coriander leaves for garnish

  1. Trim the prawn legs, and de-vein if necessary by slitting along the back carefully and pulling out the vein.
  2. Add about 6cm of oil into a wok and heat to high. Cook the prawns in batches so as not to overcrowd the wok, until they just turn a bright pink, then remove and drain, allowing the oil to return to temperature after each batch.
  3. Either drain the wok of oil or in another wok, heat and then add the tablespoon of oil. When very hot, add the garlic, spring onions, ginger and chillies, and stir fry for 30 seconds, ensuring that they do not burn.
  4. Immediately add the 2 soy sauces, rice wine, rice vinegar, bean paste, sugar mixture and chillies, and bring to the boil. Cook for ±1 minute.
  5. Add the prawns and roasted sesame oil, and cook for ±1 minute.
  6. Add the cornflour paste and cook until the sauce is thickened – ±1-2 minutes.
  7. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Serves 6

Wickedfood Cooking School

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

Wickedfood Cooking School runs Johannesburg cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Cooking lessons 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 cooking courses 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 events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Seafood pilaf

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Q: Can you please help us with a recipe?
EXTREMELY HEALTHY Food
We must cook this under 20 minutes
We only have a microwave and an electric pan

A: Although microwaves have become an integral part of most households, they are still largely underutilized. this recipe is for a simple Seafood Pilaf, but once you get comfortable with how your microwave works you can really start been imaginative with cooking fantastic dishes from delicious Thai green Curry’s and curried butternut soups to superb desserts like flop proof carrot cakes and creme caramels.

This recipe is from one of our Microwave Cooking course which we did in our recent Individual cooking class at Wickedfood Cooking School.

Rice, with a mixed seafood base of squid, fish and mussels. This dish is delicious served hot, or the next day at room temperature for lunch.

paella-7

1T oil
½ cup rice
½t turmeric
125g mushrooms, wiped clean and halved
1 baby marrow, sliced
1 pepper, seeded and cut into strips
1 small onion, finely chopped
¼ fish or chicken stock cube, dissolved in 1 cup water
1⁄3 cup orange juice
200g fish fillets, cut into 3cm chunks (kingklip, hake, red snapper, Cape salmon)
4 prawns cleaned
6 cooked mussels, shelled
50g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
1 tomato, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
  1. In a large pyrex bowl that will eventually hold all the ingredients, mix together the oil, rice and turmeric. Microwave on 900W for 1 minute.
  2. Add the mushrooms, marrow, pepper, onion, stock and orange juice. ¾ cover the dish with gladwrap and microwave on 900W for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the fish and prawns, and microwave at 600W for a further 4 minutes, stirring halfway through.
  4. Add mussels, squid and tomato, and cook for a further minute, adjust seasoning and serve.

Serves 2

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. We offer a variety of Microwave Cooking Classes. 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.

Fish head curry

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

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.

Warm squid salad in a pineapple

Sunday, April 19th, 2009

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.

Ceviche – Marinated fish

Monday, April 6th, 2009

A ceviche, is fish “cooked” in lemon juice, with red onions, served with nachos. It is popular in the coastal resorts of Mexico and throughout South America.  This recipe is based on one from the Wickedfood Cooking School Mexican cooking class. It is imperative to use the freshest fish available. Any sushi-type fish will work including red snapper, tuna, cape salmon, rock salmon and rock cod.

500g fresh red snapper fillets
3/4 cup lime juice
3 long green chillies, seeded and cut into thin strips
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 T salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1 T dried oregano
1 packet nachos

  1. Cut the fish into strips ±5cm long and 5mm wide.
  2. Place the fish in a glass bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir and marinate for 10 minutes. Drain off the excess lime juice and correct the seasonings.
  3. Serve cold or at room temperature with nachos.

Serves 6

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.