This was a recipe made for me by my lovely best mate’s OH and it was so nice I bought the recipe book to make myself a smart point friendly version. It’s from Jaime’s Ministry of Food (original recipe here) and comes in at a very reasonable 12sp each. It’s a nice change to have a different stir fry sauce like black bean and the addition of rice instead of noodles makes another welcome change!
I usually make stir fries from scratch (sauce and all) but there are some nights when I get home and frankly I can’t be bothered. I have been searching for something quick and easy to fix this for a while now and not found anything that took my fancy, until my friend suggested Asda’s fresh stir fry sauce mixes to me. They are nice and cheap (£1 each) and there is quite a variety to choose from. Knowing we had a busy two nights ahead, I picked up enough of everything to have stir fry two nights in a row and bought the Szechuan Sauce and Cantonese Sauce to mix things up.
Me and the OH were planning on having a lovely pork stew the other night but, as they do, plans change quickly and I ended up having to cook something up fairly quickly so we could head out earlier than anticipated! I’ve been wanting to try out this stir fry combo for a while so took the opportunity that night and my oh my was it a treat!! The addition of the five spice made for a nice change and I loved it as it took no times at all and was all in the one pan, less dishes!! You can pop any stir fry vegetables with it that you like and even add some bean sprouts to bulk it out if you fancy but I got a fairly hefty bowlful for only 10sp!
I’m a huge fan of Chinese duck pancakes but often find the standard shop bought hoisin a bit plain and dull. This recipe (an adaptation from a good food recipe) spices things up a bit and takes hoisin to a whole new level, The mango slaw adds a whole new element to the mix and really was a revelation, such a low point accompaniment and so fresh and delicious, it will become a regular in our house with many dishes from now on. I served this dish with 2 Chinese pancakes per person (you can buy these in Waitrose, 10 for £1.19, 1sp each) but as my OH likes his carbs I also bulked the meal out with a little rice.
I got a Ching-He Huang Chinese cookbook a while back and I pick it up at least once a month with the intention of giving something a whirl. This week I actually did it and had a little trip to the Chinese supermarket to get in all the supplies I didn’t have. The Chinese supermarket was great, everything was in much bigger portions and MUCH cheaper than a normal supermarket (especially for sauces and herbs and spices!!). A lot of the ingredients listed are store cupboard lovelies, so whilst you may have to buy a few things to start off with, they will last you a good while! I really fancied a new oriental dish and tastes totally different to anything else I’ve made before so if you are a fan of a good old Chinese takeaway, this is one for you. You can find Ching’s original recipe pre WW friendly adaptation here.
