FOOD
好吃's and a whole lot more
Food is an incredibly important part of identity. Whatever Next believes firmly in the ethos ‘Food is Love’. Growing up, we had our fair share of the obligatory soggy spring rolls and stale prawn crackers from ‘cultural’ days at school and various meet-ups. However, we have slowly been able to rediscover Chinese cooking and learn a bit more about how to make our food taste good!
Whatever Next are big fans of cooking and have compiled a few of our favourite recipes for you to have a gander at!
Click on the link below to see what we're talking about and if you're looking for some inspiration or a bit of background ASMR with 10/10 aesthetics & cottage core vibes check out 李子柒 Liziqi's videos about cooking for her grandmother in rural Sichuan.
CUPBOARD STAPLES
There is so much more to Chinese cooking than just soy sauce and a prayer
SOY SAUCE : 酱油
jiàng yóu
Made from fermented soybeans. Believed to have first appeared as early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) in a paste form.
Dark Soy Sauce (老抽 Lao Chou) is typically used in cooking. It is much stronger and should not be used unless a recipe specifically calls for it. Will stain dishes a darker colour.
Light Soy Sauce (生抽 Sheng Chou) is more salty and thinner. Used to increase flavour profile without changing colour or overwhelming the dish.
*Unless stated, soy sauce is not gluten free.
FUN FACT
Legend has it that oyster sauce was invented accidently in 1888 when a food vendor forgot all about his oyster soup and came back to find the liquid had brewed into a thick, caramelised sauce. That man was Lee Kum Sheung who went onto found Lee Kum Kee!
GRANDMA JUNE'S CHICKEN LIVER PÂTÉ - a jewish staple x
1 small onion
2 x eggs, hard boiled
1 x garlic clove
Pinch of salt
400g chicken liver
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Chop the onion, garlic and fry gently with liver. Cover pan with lid to allow steam to collect
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Add salt and place in food processor to blitz.
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Serve over crackers or toast. Goes great with pickled cucumbers!
Have you been keeping up to date with UNCLE ROGER's outrage?
Watch his put his money where his mouth is and show us the proper way to make Egg Fried Rice. *takes notes*
Egg fried RICE
What we learnt:
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Never use fresh rice!
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Always use your finger tip to measure water!
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Back away from that colander if you know what's best for you.
Uncle Roger Egg Fried Rice recipe (as featured in the video above).
Ingredient (no quantity listed, just use feeling):
Garlic
Shallot
Egg
Spring onion
Chilli
Chicken rice
Soy sauce
Asian sesame oil
Pork lard OR peanut oil (or vegetable oil if you weak)
White pepper (optional) and of course... MSG AND NO VEGETABLE. Vegetable taste like sad.
Steps: 1. Oil the wok with pork lard/peanut oil/vegetable oil 2. Fry garlic and shallot until fragrant
3. Add egg, fry until fluffy Add rice.
4. Stir Add soy sauce, sesame oil, MSG, white pepper. Stir.
5. Add spring onion, chilli TOSS Enjoy your egg fry rice while judging Jamie Oliver
Stir-fried Egg and Tomato dish
A staple. 10/10 makes for good comfort food on a cold day. Best mixed with rice. Easy to whack together.
Handmade Egg Noodles
Serves 2
6 tomatoes – a pack of those medium ones you get at Tesco’s will do nicely
4 Eggs
Garlic – at least three cloves but why limit yourself?
Splash of Shaoxing wine
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp light Soy Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Spring onion
Veg oil to cook / water to balance the wok.
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Dice tomato, garlic and spring onion.
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Crack eggs into a bowl and add seasoning plus soy and Shaoxing wine.
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Beat w/ chopsticks until mixed together.
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Heat wok until smoking. This is very important in Chinese cooking. Add oil and the eggs straight after.
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Scramble the eggs then set aside.
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Back in the wok, add more oil and let heat up before adding garlic, tomato and spring onion.
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Stir-fry for about a minute and then add sugar. (If the wok is too hot, you can mediate this by adding water. When tomatoes are softened, add the eggs back in and mix together.
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Cover with lid and let mixture thicken till a little gloopy then serve!
(Per person)
90g flour, plain
1 x Egg
Pinch of salt
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Sift the flour first so it is light & easy to use.
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Place on board and make a deep well in the middle. Add a pinch of salt and the egg to that well.
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Start to combine the egg, flour and salt with a pair of chopsticks making sure to keep the well intact for as long as possible.
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Once the well has succumbed to your stirring, use your hands to knead the dough into a ball.
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Knead for five minutes until the dough is firm.
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*Very important* Leave the dough with a bit of oil around its side to stop sticking in a bowl for at least an hour. This lets everything relax and come together!
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Roll out your dough. If you are making a large quantity, it is easier to divide your dough into parts.
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Roll your dough out flat and thin. (The thinner the better, but be careful not to break your dough.) Then, dust heavily with flour and fold together in halves until it looks a bit like a Swiss roll.
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Cut firm slices of your noodle roll. When you pick these up, you should have nice long ribbons of noodles. Boil for 3 mins and serve!
*Chef's kiss*
INGREDIENTS (MAKES APPROX 4 SERVINGS)
500g meat (pork or beef) high fat – 20% if poss
Handful of chives
3 tbsp. sesame oil, heated.
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 ½ tbsp. soy sauce (light)
1 ½ tbsp. oyster sauce
Ginger, minced 2 tbsp. Save a few julienned bits for the vinegar at the end.
Garlic (can you ever have too much?)
2 Eggs
Spring Onions
1 pack Dragon Gyoza skins (this recipe will only use about half a pack but they keep well in the freezer!)
You can make your own dumpling skins using a 2:1 ratio of flour, water and a pinch of salt however this is a cumbersome and lengthy process made simple by frozen options.
(These will freeze nicely for a couple of months and given how finicky they are, it makes sense to make them, batch at a time!)
If you’re feeling fancy:
Diced mushrooms
Cabbage, finely sliced – Nappa if poss. A great way for shredding is just using a potato peeler to go to town on these! (If using cabbage – sprinkle in salt, leave for 5 mins then squeeze to remove excess liquid before adding to mix otherwise it will become soggy).
Serve with Chinese Dark Vinegar and chilli oil. Whatever Next recommends Heng Shun Chinkiang vinegar.