Last week I mentioned some simple Chinese recipes and also the most common method of boiling plain rice. But rice can be done up in many other ways too, and some of them in themselves can be a complete meal which is both easy and cheap to prepare. Just use cooked rice which has been left overnight to reduce the moisture in the rice. Heat a frying pan or wok and add 2 or 3T of oil, brown some sliced onions and garlic, the add in some sliced bacon, diced pork, mixed vegetables and chopped spring onions; saute for a while. Add the cooked rice and stir fry ten minutes and then add a dash of soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Dish out onto serving plates, perhaps garnish with some small omelette pieces and you are serving 'Yang Chow Fried Rice'. Or you can use any meat you like and give the dish your own style and flavour.

Chicken is quite a good buy nowadays, especially when it is on special. There are many delicious chicken dishes cooked in the Chinese style and I include here some simple ones.

Roast Crisp Skin Chicken

Clean a defrosted chicken well. Split the chicken on the breast side only and lay the whole chicken flat (like the mutton birds one sees in the fish shops). Then marinate the chicken with some salt, pepper, soy sauce and dry sherry. Rub the whole chicken with honey or golden syrup and leave for 15 minutes. Then put the chicken onto a roasting pan with the skin side up so that it can be browned and crisp. Roast at 300F for about an hour, or until the skin is golden in colour and the chicken cooked. After the chicken has cooled, chopped into bite-sized pieces and serve with prawn crackers as garnish; or on a bed of thinly sliced lettuce.

Lemon and Honey Chicken

This is a more complicated dish but the results are worth it.

Ginger Oil over Chicken

Ingredients: Chicken, 1 oz sliced strips of ginger, 1 t of chopped garlic, sliced 2t oil, corn flour.

Method: Boil the chicken in a pot, with the water just over the chicken for 15 minutes over low heat or until cooked. Remove the chicken, let cool, then chop into bite size pieces. Heat a frying pan, add the oil, followed by the onion slices, ginger and garlic. When the garlic is browned, add half a cup of the chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix 2t of cornflour with a little water, add to the pan. When the sauce is thickened pour it over the chicken pieces, garnish with chopped spring onions and serve.

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

Use the chicken soup from the boiled chicken and add a small tin of cream style corn into the coup. Bring to boil, add salt and pepper to taste, some stripped chicken meat, and then thicken the soup with 3 or 4t of cornflour mixed with a little water. Beat an egg in a bowl and pour into the soup beating at the same time. Turn off heat immediately. Add a dash of sherry before serving and garnish the soup with chopped spring onions.

Note - A full Chinese menu can be a chicken dish, corn soup, stir fry cabbage or cauliflower (method as last week) and fried rice or plain rice.

Bon appetite.

Vincent Wong