A Wok, Ken Hom And A New Skill (Emergency Dinners)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Emergency Dinners
Date:	27/01/02 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick and easy

Disadvantages: You might not like citrus flavour

The tumbleweed blew gently across the horizon as the wind whistled like a whispering siren. Such was the interest in his last opinion that a re-think was in order to woo back his readership. Crouched in a corner, the writer gave due thought to his next piece wrestling for that eureka moment that so often eluded him. "I know..." he exclaimed "..what about cookery? At least it'll keep the lovely Jill Murphy interested." So it came to pass that he decided to venture into the competitive world of cookery ops with a slight hesitation and an element of self-doubt.

Ho hum, that's the intro so on with the spiel. Basically, I've always been a terrible cook. I remember going on holiday with some mates in a caravan in Bournemouth many years ago. One evening, I attempted to "cook" oven chips. Somehow, I even muffed that and these pale white, frozen sticks emerged too much mirth and consternation. From then on I became known as "can't cook, won't cook" and settled instead for a life of ready made meals and taking advantage of other folks cooking for me.

Getting married and having a family changed me and I soon found myself drawn into the abyss of being a "new man". This translates as helping around the house including..erm..vacuuming, a share of the housework, helping out with the kids etc. As my good lady isn't that bothered about cooking, I also got enlisted to help with the cooking roster. Having come from such an ignominious background there was a certain amount of trepidation but fear not for I discovered the magic of the wok! This seemed a reasonable arrangement as my missus was and is a demon on the DIY. She is also a great cook but simply doesn't get a kick from it so the path was made and ready for me to wander down the yellow brick road of cooker hobs and pinnies.

Now, when a man gets his wok out he means business. A wok is a glorified frying pan that is used extens
ively in China. It has become popular the world over as it reduces cooking to a simplified form that even us philistines can cope with. Woks are larger than yer average frying pan and designed to cook, generally, at high heat.

How did I come by my illustrious wok? Well, I got it as a chrimbo pressie a few years ago together with a ken Hom cookery book with quick and easy recipes for those of us in a rush. So one day I took the plunge and had a go at orange-lemon chicken. The advantage of this recipe is that the flavours are enhanced with the orange and lemon and blend together to make a lovely meal. It can be served as a quick and easy meal or as a main course with rice and salad. It can also form part of a cold buffet served at room temperature.

You will need from yer nearest supermarket:

12oz (350g) boneless chicken breasts
Garlic
Fresh root ginger
1 orange
1 lemon
Spring onions

Preparation time is 15 minutes
Cooking time 5 minutes

Serves 2

Ingredients are:

12oz (350g) boneless chicken breasts
Salt
1 tablespoon oil (preferably groundnut)
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh root ginger
2 teaspoons finely chopped orange rind
2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon rind
4 tablespoons orange juice
4 table spoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon chilli bean sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped spring onions

Of couse, this assumes that you’ve already got some of the various cooking oils in your cupboard. If everybody has their pinnies on then...remove the skin from the chicken and cut into long strips. Blanch the chicken for 30 seconds in a pan of boiling, salted water (blanch = chicken goes white for heathens like me). Drain and set aside.

Heat the wok (remembering to se
ason beforehand) and add oil, garlic and ginger. Stir fry the mixture for 10 seconds and add the rest of the ingredients except the chicken. Bring the mixture to a simmer, add the chicken and cook through.

My favourite bit is tossing the mix about with the spatular that comes with the wok. To get a good result, it helps to turn the contents of the wok upside down and move them around to get an all round cook. There is also the advantage that part of cooking culture is to snaffle a few glasses of wine whilst you’re cooking. Sounds good to me.

Jeez, never thought I’d write a cookery op. Anyway, I served it up to my good lady wife and my parents in law who loved it. The final result had a citrus taste to it, which everyone seemed to like. Ever since I’ve been inundated with special requests to come up with more Oriental magic (maybe an exaggeration – my brother and sister in law have asked me to cook once) but I stave off these requests to keep people dangling wondering whether I really have changed.
I venture into the land of Chinese cooking now and again to keep my hand in and much prefer it to more mundane things like DIY. Am I a nonce or a new man??

Thanks for reading and enjoy your Sunday.

Marandina

My thanks to my good friend Ken Hom who is a wonderful cook and a brilliant presenter.

*For veggies you can substitute quorn for chicken.

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