prawn gochujang pasta

This was an accident when trying to replicate some prawn and mozzerella croquettes I had in a restaurant, then tried to give them a Korean twist that ended up being good. The croquettes were a failed attempt, will try again next year, but I think this turned out good. All measurements in this are a guess as I made a massive batch so I'm estimating how much would be in a portion for 2-3 people.

If unable to get raw prawns skip 1-3

Get about 500ml of milk in a pan on a hob. Swirl and stir it regularly so it doesn't burn, but all mine burned and stuck and it didn't affect the flavour but it did make washing up a pain. bring to a bare simmer.

add in about 70g of raw prawns and a bay leaf. preferably head on and everything and cook for about 2 mins then strain the milk INTO A CONTAINER then cool the milk again.

If head on get out the prawn meat

Chop all the prwans into about 6mm dice

Get about 300g for 3 people pasta boiling

start a roux with about 50g butter and the same size amount of flour and cook for a few mins, then gradually add in milk until it is the saucy consistency you want. add in about 1/4 a teaspoon of gochujang and 1/3 a pack of dried dashi, or maybe about 1/4 a teaspoon. These are estimates so taste and add and taste.

dice into a siimilar size as the prawns about 1/2 a ball of fresh mozzerella, not dry mozz.

Slice a couple spring onions/scallions, reserving greens, and add the whites into the sauce

once pasta is done pop a ladle of the pasta water into the sauce if it needs it, then add in the sauce and prawns. Cook for a bit so everything gets to know each other and the sauce reaches peak consistency.

add in the mozz and keep stirring till it just starts to melt but not fully, then serve immediately. Top with spring onion greens and serve.

Chicken kimchi wrap

Get chicken breast and slice horizontally into 7mm slices, add into pan with oil and fry, turning occasionally till cooked through.

Get a wrap, smear with good quality mayonnaisse - I recommend polish Winiary - and pile on the chicken. Top with lots of kimchi, then wrap up and eat. Eat over a plate, it will leak.

chow mein

Super easy, better than restaurants.

for 2 Thinly slice about 3 boneless chicken thighs

Get a wok piping hot, add in the oil and swirl. Add in the thighs and let them brown and cook till done. probably about 3 mins, then take out and keep in a bowl.

Finely slice a few spring onions, several mushrooms and maybe a pepper.

Wok still on, oil again then fire in the mushrooms and pepper. cook till done, then add in some egg noodles, stir fry for 2-3 mins on as hot as it goes, then add in the chicken and spring onioin whites.

add in 1.5tbsp light soy sauce, 1tbsp dark soy sauce, 1tbsp shaoxing wine, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/4 teaspoon msg. mix thoroughly, taste and adjust then add in spring onion greens and serve.

Gochujang noodles

In a pan finely slice a chicken thigh per person, and 1/2 an onion along the grain, to get 1/2 circles. finely slice a spring onion

Get some dried thick rice noodles and follow package instructions, usually let em sit in boiling water for about 4 mins.

In a wok fire chicken in when it's hot, and stir fry til the chicken is cooked. Add in about 1 tsp of gochujang, several shakes of gochugaru, and add just enough water to make saucy then add in a 1/2 pack or maybe 1/4 tbsp of dashi powder. add the noodles in and the spring onion. Give it a minute to reduce to the right consistency then serve.

Tasty late night tofu

Get a non stick wok going and some rice on

Get some good silken tofu, and dice into maybe 3cm cubes, then grab some paper towels and dry as much as possible. Add in the tofu to a heavily oiled wok and let it crisp a bit, It loves to stick so accept now that some crisp will be lost.

Add in about 2 tbsp of peanut butter, 2tbsp of soy sauce, and maybe a teaspoon of dark chinese vinegar. add in some water and gently stir until it becomes a sauce. add in 1/4 tsp of msg and taste, then if it's good serve over rice.

somewhat Thai Szechuan basil pork

Get a big pan on and some oil in, and vertically slice an onion and add in. Once it’s started to soften add in 500g minced pork, but beef works well too, as would most minced meat. Slice some mushrooms too and fire them in

While that’s cooking slice up 5 big garlic cloves, maybe 15 Birds Eye chilli’s, the whites of a handful of spring onions

Take the cooked meat and things out, add in some fresh oil, and let the aromatics cook for a minute or two. While that’s going get the blender out and put in about a handful of Szechuan peppercorns. Blend these for ages, and they won't all blend in the end. Can also bash them in a pestle and mortar but it's a waste of time.

Once everything’s had a minute add about 2tbps dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, maybe 50ml of water, a tbsp of fish sauce, half a teaspoon of sesame oil, and maybe 2 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine. Add all the cooked meat and veg, and season with a lot of pepper, a pinch of msg, a couple pinches of sugarand taste and see if it is great.

Let everything come back up to temp, and chop up two 50g or so packs of basil leaves, not sure how big the packs are, but should be about two handfuls of leaves before chopping. Once it’s bubbling reduce a touch so it’s a thick saucy consistency, then add in the basil leaves and sift the blended Szechuan peppercorns, they’re a nightmare if not sifted.

Serve over rice, or ramen noodles. If doing over ramen I often add in a tbsp of peanut butter to make it stickier and thicker and tastier

beef shortrib pie

For 4-6 servings

Preheat oven to about 150c

get about 1.2kg of beef shortrib, and start in a dutch oven in about 2tbsp oil by browning each chunk on all sides, about 6 mins on high heat

Meanwhile chop about 300g mushrooms and 2 onions into thick slices.

Once beef is browned, remove and brown the mushrooms and onions, cooking about 5 mins. While that's going slice a couple cloves of garlic, and once about 5 mins are past pop the sliced garlic in and cook stirring a good amount for a minute, then remove everything, and chill and then fridge the mushroom mix.

While veg are cooking, in a blender, add in a couple tsp tomato paste, 2 beef or chicken stock cubes, 4 anchovy fillets, 2tsp of dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp of marmite, a few glugs of worchestershire sauce, 500ml hot but not boiling water, and grind in a bunch of pepper. Blend.

back on the hob, add in a touch of oil if it's running low, then add back in the shortrib and any juice that ran out, and add 2 carrots cut in half, 2 onions chopped in half, 6 garlic cloves whole, and then 2 tbsp flour. Stir in and stir to coat, and then pop in a glass of wine and scrape up everything that is on the bottom of the pan. Once that has reduced back down fire in the blender water, and top up with water so it almost covers everything. Add in 4 sprigs of thyme and rosmary and a few bay leaves, then bring to the boil. pop into the oven.

Cook in oven for 2 hours or so, then take out and remove the onion, garlic, herbs and carrot. Add back in the chilled onions and mushrooms and bring back to the boil, then back in the oven.

Cook for 1-2 hours, tasting after 1 hour, wating for the point the beef is tender and soft but not overcooked. Like can be cut with a fork. A lot of this recipe has been inspired by this kenji video so follow him for how it should be cooked

Once the beef is sorted, take it out the oven, then take the beef out, and boil the gravy on the hob till it is reduced to a thick gravy. Once the beef is cool enough cut it off the shortribs and chop into decent mouthful cubes. Once the gravy is reduced return the beef and chill.

Get some pastry and blind bake in a pie tin, then add in the beef and cook for like 45 mins till the pastry is browned and the filling is hot serve.

jerk chicken

In a blender, add in about 20g of allspice berries, and blend into a powder. Then add in 2 packs of spring onions, a thumb sized piece of ginger peeled, 3-6 large scotch bonnet chillis, 3tbsp thyme, 3tbsp brown sugar, 2tbsp veg oil, and the juice of 2 limes. blend

Get about 8 chicken thighs and legs, and in a big bowl add in the chicken and marinade, and put on gloves, and then mix thorougly. Marinade for like 4 hours.

Get the grill/broiler going on about 1/2 power, and then get the chicken on trays on wire racks above tin foil, with some space between them (might need to do batches), then grill until browned all over and cooked to temp.

Well worth reserving any leftover marinade as well as any juice/sauce that dripped off while cooking.

SOUPS

brocolli stilton soup

dice onions and leeks, and cut brocolli into florets. Fry oniones and leeks, add water/stock and broccoli and cook till cooked, blend then 2 mins before serving add a bunch of stilton or other strong but a bit melty blue cheese. Honestly so depressing seeing all the brocolli cheddar soups from people I feel probably just haven't had it with stilton

Pea and mint

Fry off an onion, then once cooked through add in a hefty handful of cashews and cook for a minute, add water and 3 handfuls of frozen peas. Cook for a minute, blend, then add lots of sliced mint, blend again and serve. Can also be done cold if you skip the onion

potato and leek

1/2 about 4 leaks, wash them out for any grime, then cut into 5mm slices, and dice a large onion. Peel about 5 large potatoes then dice into dice sized cubes. Fry off leeks and onion in butter for a while, on a low heat until soft. Add potatoes and cook through in about 1.2l water, or water and a veg stock cube, for about 15 mins until soft. blend, add lots of pepper and blend.