Recipe: Chicken Katsu Curry

As we all know, the winter months have arrived. This means one thing… Goodbye Little Miss Sunshine and Hello Cold and Dark Mornings. Woolly hats, fluffy coats and snuggly scarves at the ready (that’s if you’re leaving the house). I think that the winter months are all about indulging in home comforts especially with family and food, of course. It’s definitely chilly outside, so dodge the cold and opt to stay indoors with a cosy blanket. Or you could put your chef’s hat on and get busy cooking!

One dish I love to cook when the weather gets colder is curry, Chicken Katsu Curry to be precise. Here is the recipe I use and will share with you:

Serves 4 portions

All you need is:

4 Breaded Chicken Steaks

4 Carrots

5 Potatoes

1 Onion

1 Lettuce (Any preferred Salad)

Curry Sauce Mix (Spice varies depending on brands and description)

Salt & Pepper

Cooked Rice

Corn Flour & Water (to be used as a thickening ingredient for Curry)

Large Saucepan / Pot

Wooden Spoon

 

❶ First of all, prepare your vegetables (carrots & potatoes) by washing, peeling then dicing them into bite sized chunks.

❷ After preparing, place carrots and potatoes in a large saucepan. Then fill with cold tap water until all the vegetables are covered.

❸ Turn on the heat and bring to the boil (add onions to the pan when you start to see the pot bubbling).

❹ Place your breaded chicken steaks on a baking tray and follow the cooking instructions on the box for perfectly crisp Chicken steaks. (If you’d like to try making your own.. Follow this recipe - Breaded Chicken Cutlets)

❺ Once it is fully boiling, reduce the heat and add the curry sauce mix in small chunks (I only used 2 out of the 4 provided). Mix thoroughly.

❻ Let the mix simmer for 5-10 minutes in order to thicken and bring out the full flavour. (At this point your kitchen will begin to smell of curry.. It’s alright, no one’s complaining though.)

❼ Cook some rice ready to be served with the curry. (Recipe is on my previous 'Rice' blog, or follow the  instructions provided on packets of rice you may buy.)

❽ Prepare the lettuce by chopping in half then lengthways into thin strips, while waiting for your curry to finish cooking.

❾ Once the curry is finished cooking, thicken the sauce by mixing a tablespoon of corn flour with water and mix until a paste. Pour in to the curry sauce mix and stir continuously until the corn flour mix is fully incorporated and begins to thicken sauce.

❿ Take curry off the heat and serve alongside rice and lettuce.

At this point, my camera battery died, so I couldn't take any pictures of the finished product. But luckily I have made this dish quite number of times... So here's a different picture!

Hope you guys give it a try at home. Who said curry was difficult to make?

Wendy

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Jus' Rol with it!

  

So I’m back.. I do apologise for the lack of posts in the recent weeks as my oven decided to take a break, literally, leaving me without a functioning cooker. However, it gave me a few weeks of free time to plan new posts, read through my recipe books and catch up on the Food Network channel.  If anyone is lacking inspiration or ideas regarding cooking, watch Food Network.. It works wonders, or just makes you hungry and depressed because you can’t eat the delicious dishes but you get the idea.

Food Network UK

 When it comes to food, I believe that homemade is the best however time-consuming it may sometimes be. But we all have our little secrets or tricks up our sleeves in order to save time. One of the most common short cuts that many people use (even celebrity chefs admit to opting for) is Ready-made pastry. Jus’ Rol is a well-known brand available in the UK which specialise in making ready-made pastry with a variety of Shortcrust, Puff and Filo; now also available the Bake It Fresh Dough Range. I mean who has time to make homemade pastry these days, but no one needs to know that when you’re dishing out dessert.

While grocery shopping I was looking for some inspiration for dessert, then I luckily came across the Jus’ Roll Pastries (which were on offer too). I’ve had a lot of experience with Ready-made pastry and it really does make a difference especially where time is concerned. So I was so excited to try these.. Cinnamon Buns and Pain Au Chocolat.

They come with simple instructions on the box, which I have to say are very much fool proof. So why not purchase these time saving items and give it a go!! 

Yes, they taste absolutely delicious! 

And your kitchen will smell of cinnamon too.. :)

Wendy

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Recipe: Homemade Fried Rice

As you know, I’m Chinese so it would make sense for me to stay close to home and talk about Chinese food. All I can say is that Chinese people and most Asians are obsessed with.. Yep you've got it.. RICE! Well let’s just say we aren’t obsessed, but it IS one of our main staple foods, which is why eating rice everyday is considered normal. For me, because I was born in the UK and grew up here, I always got sick of eating rice when I was younger and would try and get away with eating anything BUT rice. However, since exceeding my teen years I’ve developed an enthusiasm for rice again, after being on a hiatus with the stuff, I kind of miss it.. A lot! Even some days when I haven’t eaten rice for a few days, I really crave it.. Must be the Asian genes, right?

Many of you may be thinking that rice is boring.. But there are many variations of rice and an endless number of recipes for rice dishes. I mean we all have days where we just wanna eat some plain rice and that’s ok, but remember that rice can be transformed into the most fabulous tasting dish. Here’s some rice dish inspiration for you.. 

BBC Food : Rice

Recently, I’ve been cooking a lot of fried rice with a variation of ingredients and thought I would share my homemade fried rice recipe with you all. The great thing about fried rice is that many of the ingredients you need will already be your kitchen or fridge, all you need to know is what to do with them. So no need to make that trip out to your local takeaway or supermarket to buy fried rice, but you can easily cook it at home. However, it would help if you owned a rice cooker… Rice turns out so much better, trust me on that one!

More importantly, Fried rice can be catered to your own tastes.. So you don’t need to add in meat or certain veggies, just include the ingredients you enjoy eating or what others like. 

Serves 4 portions

All you need is

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A Rice Cooker

2 Cups of Rice

Water (We’ll get to the amount in a second)

2 Eggs

1 Spring Onion

Meat (optional, cooked beforehand) 

Veggies (personal preference)

Light Soy Sauce

Dark Soy Sauce

Salt & Pepper

Pan

Wooden Spoon

❶ First off, measure out 2 cups of rice and place them in the pot which the rice cooks in.

❷ Wash the rice using cold tap water, fill the pot with water enough to cover the top of the rice. (To wash the rice you want to just massage it in your hands by rubbing the rice together, which releases the starch leaving the water slightly cloudy). 

Wash the rice a few times, I usually wash it 3 times.

❸ Now for the water, there is no measuring jug needed..  All you need is your trusty finger. Using your finger as the guide, fill the pot with water so that it meets the water meets the line of your finger. (Yep, it works.. Don’t worry!)

  

❹ Place the pot into the rice cooker & press the cook button. Simple.

❺ Prepare your fried rice ingredients while waiting for the rice to cook. Beating the eggs, chopping the spring onions, meat or other veggies and gathering the seasoning and sauces.

❻ Once the rice is cooked (the cook button indication light should turn off and the keep warm button should turn on), keep the rice inside the cooker for a further 3-5 minutes before turning the cooker off or unplugging it.

❼ Heat the pan (medium/high), drizzle oil then pour the beaten egg into the pan. (You don’t want an omelette but like a scrambled egg consistency, so mix the egg in the pan be careful not to over cook it.) Then add your meat to the pan incorporating it with the egg mixture.

❽ Add the meat and veggies, stirring constantly, then also tip in the rice at this point. To prevent burning, be sure to thoroughly mix all ingredients together. 

(Don’t worry if the rice is clumpy or sticky right now.. 

Keep mixing and stirring so that the rice can cook further in the pan.) 

I used Pork chops in this recipe, as there were left overs in the fridge from the night before.

❾ After it has been cooking in the pan for at least 3-4 minutes, season the dish with salt & pepper and add 1 tsp of Light Soy Sauce and 1 tsp of Dark Soy Sauce.

 (Add more if you would like a stronger flavour, go for the Light Soy. Dark Soy is usually just used for Colour.) 

Sprinkle in the spring onions.

❿ Keep stirring for another minute or so, then you’re ready to serve.

Why don’t you try it for yourself, Go ahead.. You gotta start somewhere, right?

Wendy

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