Becca's Bistro

Twice Fried Korean Chicken

When I lived in Korea, there was a shop next to where I worked, that sold fried chicken.  In fried chicken shops you have a choice of two flavours, spicy or soy.  I liked both but preferred the spicy one.  

A few months ago I began to miss Korean food, so on a visit back home to the UK, I visited an Asian shop and picked up some gochujang, the spicy paste that flavours many Korean dishes.  I then began to trawl the internet in search of things to do with the gochujang and on Youtube came across some videos of Korean women making their own versions of fried chicken.  After some experimentation, I have hit upon a formula I like.  I make the batter according to one cook who posts under the name of Maangchi, and I use an approximation of the sauce recipe from Aeriskitchen.

Koreans fry the chicken twice to make it crisper.  Having said that, once it is tossed in the sauce, it loses some crispiness anyway so if you are pushed for time, once may be okay.

I eat this with rice as a main course, but in Korea it would probably be served as a snack with alcoholic drinks.

Ingredients for Korean fried chicken - serves 2-3

1 large chicken breast per person
1tsp salt
large pinch black pepper

half a cup of plain flour
half a cup of corn starch
2 small eggs, beaten

2 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
half tbsp olive oil
1tsp gochujang
1 tsp mayonnaise
half tsp sesame oil 
1 tsp sesame seeds

vegetable oil for deep frying

Chop the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and put in a bowl.  Add salt and pepper and mix with hands.  Then add the flours and coat well.  Finally add the egg and mix with your fingers until pieces are coated with a batter.

Heat oil for frying.

In the meantime put the sauce ingredients together in a small frying pan and heat until combined and sugar dissolved.

Start putting the chicken pieces in the oil and fry til just golden.  Drain then fry for a second time until golden-brown and crisp. Drain and mix into the sauce, stirring well until completely coated.

 

Squid with Chickpeas and Soçuk

I like the strong flavours of Spanish cooking and this is based on a dish which combines squid with chorizo.  Being in Turkey, I cannot find chorizo so have used our own cured sausage instead which is called soçuk.  I am sure any spicy cured sausage will work well.  Squid is not that easy to find here, but I tracked some down in the fish market today.  This is probably my favourite way of cooking and eating squid (especially since my failed attempt at calamari last summer).

Ingredients for Squid with Chickpeas and Soçuk (serves 2 greedy adults)

half a kilo of cleaned squid, cut into rings
a 3cm section of cured sausage cut into thin slices
one large skinned tomato, chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed
a quarter of a large can of chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt to taste
1 tsp paprika
olive oil
half a lemon
parsley to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until transparent.  Add garlic and stir for another 2 or 3 minutes. Put the sliced sausage into the pan and stir, making sure it does not burn.  Add the tomato and stir well, then add chickpeas and tomato puree.  Season with salt and paprika and cook for 10 minutes on a low heat.

Add the squid rings and stir well.  Cook for about 7 minutes, not too long or the squid will be tough.  Squeeze the lemon juice over the squid and then garnish with chopped parsley.

 

İçli Köfte

This is a meze dish that is common in Eastern Turkey and versions of it are served in several central Asian and Middle Eastern countries.  In Lebanese cuisine it is known as kibbeh.  It is a bulgar shell with a mince meat filling.  Previously I had tried recipes that included meat in the shell as well.  I recently found a recipe on a blog called Yesimstylekitchen with a shell made of bulgur and semolina.  These köfte are an adaptation of that recipe.  My main alteration was to include less onion.  I am unusual in as much as I don't like onion very much, not because of its flavour but its texture.  Therefore, I tend to include less and also to grate it, or chop it very finely so that I can taste the onion without seeing or feeling it!

These are quite fiddly and as you can see mine are not quite aesthetically perfect.  Nevertheless, considering I didn't learn the art at my mother's knee, I am not dissatisfied with the result.  They tasted delicious anyway.

Ingredients for İçili Köfte (makes about 8)

1 cup fine bulgar wheat
1 cup water
1 cup semolina
half a grated onion
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp cumin
1tbsp chilli paste (I improvised with harissa paste and tomato puree)

250 g minced beef
half a chopped onion
salt
black pepper
cumin to taste
chopped walnuts (optional)

Put the bulgur wheat in a bowl with the water and leave for 30 mins until the water is absorbed. Meanwhile, fry the minced beef with onion and spices until cooked through.  Break up with a wooden spatula every now and then so the beef does not form clumps.  Leave to cool slightly.

Add the semolina, grated onion and seasonings to the bulgar wheat and mix to a dough with your hands. Knead well until the mixture combines.  Take a ball of dough the size of a golf ball and insert a finger or thumb into the middle.  With your other hand rotate the ball around the finger until it hollows out into a shell about 3 mm thick.  It will take some practice.  With a teaspoon, put some minced meat into the bulgur shell and seal the edges. Roll lightly in your hands either into a ball shape or an ellipse with pointed ends.  Continue with the rest of the dough then rest the köfte in the fridge while you heat up the water or oil. They can be either boiled for about 8 minutes or deep fried over a medium heat until golden.

 

 

 

Cinnamon Rolls

More baking this time, and with one of my all time favourite flavours, cinnamon. What could be better than a warm cinnamon roll straight from the oven? As this is another American speciality I have given the recipe in cups and metric.  The recipe makes between ten and twelve (my husband ate five more or less straight away!)  Thanks to GoofyDebbie who posted this on Allrecipes.com.  It is a quicker version than many recipes, which is a great blessing when baking with yeast.

 

Ingredients for Cinnamon Rolls

3 1/4 cups plain flour (405 g)
1 sachet instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar (50g)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cups milk (180ml)
1/4 cup butter (55g)
1 egg

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar (220g)
1/2 cup soft butter (115g)
1 tbsp cinnamon powder

Topping

4 tbsp sifted icing sugar
a little water (enough to make a smooth icing to drizzle)
a few chopped pecans 

Heat oven to 190C/gas 5/375F

Sift about a third of the flour into a bowl and add the yeast and other dry ingredients.  Heat the milk gently in a pan, stir in the butter until it melts.  Add the water. 

Beat the egg and mix into the dry ingredients with a flat knife.  Gradually add the milk and butter until you have a very wet dough.  Add the remaining flour bit by bit until all incorporated.  Knead dough for about five minutes, adding a little more flour if necessary.  Leave to rest in a covered bowl for 10 mins.

Meanwhile make the filling.  Beat the sugar, butter and cinnamon together.

Now roll out the dough to a rectangle 12'' x 9'' or 30 cm x 20 cm.

Spread the filling evenly over the rectangle and roll up from the long end.  Slice evenly into about twelve pieces.  Place on non-stick paper on a baking sheet.  Cover and leave in a warm place for half an hour.

Bake for about 20 minutes until done.

If liked drizzle with water icing and decorate with chopped pecan nuts. 

Beetroot Brownie Cake

I have neglected this blog for far too long.  Partly due to the inertia brought on by a very hot summer (lost interest in cooking) and also by other distractions such as a trip home and a new job.  Finally, I have got round to posting and guess what?  It's another chocolate-vegetable combo.

I mentioned in my last post that I found beetroot in a cake rather earthy.  However, beets are in season here now and I had bought a bunch to boil up for beetroot and blue cheese salads.  After a few salads, I had a solitary beet left and decided to try out a chocolate and beetroot cake again.

I found a recipe in the British Daily Mail (I am almost too ashamed to admit that but that's what came up when I googled chocolate and beetroot).  I didn't have the full amount of beetroot so I reduced it.  Then my brown sugar had set hard so I couldn't cream it.  I decided to do it brownie method and it turned out just delicious.  The last choc beetroot cake I made was velvety whereas this was hard and sticky on the outside and a bit gooey in the middle.

Ingredients for Beetroot Brownie

125 g butter
300g brown sugar (could be reduced by 50g as cake is very sweet)
75g dark chocolate
3 eggs
225g self-raising flour
50 g cocoa
100g grated beetroot

Turn the oven to gas 4/180 C/350F

Melt the sugar and butter together in a saucepan.  Meanwhile sift the flour and cocoa powder together.

In a jug beat the eggs and mix with the grated beetroot.

When sugar and butter have melted turn off the heat and put the chocolate pieces into the mixture to melt.  Stir occasionally and leave to cool slightly.  When cool add to the flour and finally mix in the beet and egg mixture with a wooden spoon until all incorporated.

Put in a greased tin (I used a Bundt tin) and bake in the oven for 30-40 mins.  When mixture is pulling from the sides of the pan and cracks are appearing on the top, the cake is done.  Allow to cool before turning out. 

Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

This recipe was passed to me by my good friend, Kimby Murakami who hales from the United States.  This cake is generally agreed by our mutual American friends to 'taste like America' so I have decided to call courgettes zucchinis for the length of this post as I owe it to them to adopt their language while extolling their baking skills.

Cakes with vegetables are all the rage.  A few months ago, I made a chocolate and beetroot cake, and while the texture was lovely, I could definitely taste an earthy tang which just put me off a little.  This cake, has a great texture and flavour.  The only problem with it, is that it doesn't keep long, so I would recommend making it when you are expecting visitors so that it gets eaten up quickly.

The recipe was given to me in cups, and I strongly recommend you use them if you have American style measuring cups.  I have used a conversion chart for the metric measurements but I am never very confident when using these!

Ingredients for Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

1 cup brown sugar (220g)
half a cup white sugar (100g)
half a cup butter (110g)
half a cup oil (8 tbsp)
3 eggs
few drops vanilla
1 cup buttermilk or milk (200ml)
2 1/2 cups flour (320g)
1tsp cinnammon
2tsp soda
4 tbsp cocoa
2 cups grated zucchini (1 large or 1 1/2 medium vegetables)
Some chopped chocolate pieces to sprinkle on the top

Pre-heat oven to gas 3/325F/170C

Cream the sugars and fats with an electric beater.  Stir in the eggs, vanilla and milk.

Sieve the dry ingredients and fold in, finally adding the zucchini .

Pour into prepared tin and sprinkle chopped chocolate on the top.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out dry.

 

   

 

Nasi Goreng

I used to eat this in The Netherlands years ago.  It is an Indonesian classic and a great tasty way of using up leftover rice.  It is very versatile because you can add whatever you like.

Here is a list of ingredients I have used in nasi goreng (but not all at once)

Finely sliced white cabbage
Cooked garden peas
Chopped mushrooms
Chopped green chilli pepper
Chopped red chilli pepper
Carrot cut into julienne strips
Bean sprouts
Chopped garlic
Sliced, cooked chicken

You could also add beef, pork or shrimps

Essential ingredients:

Boiled rice (preferrably one day old but at least completely cold)
Oil
Chopped shallots
half a teaspoon Thai shrimp paste OR 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
1 dessertspoon tomato ketchup
1 dessertspoon soy sauce/ketjap manis
chilli flakes to taste or 1 tsp of sambal oelek
1 egg

First assemble your ingredients to hand.  If you boil your rice the same day (tip: use a short grain not basmati)  spread it out on some non stick paper or a silicone pad to dry out and cool.  Otherwise, it will just clump up when you try to fry it.

Take the egg and beat it thoroughly cook it in a small omelette pan with very little oil.  When it is set roll it up and leave to cool.

Heat some oil in the wok and start frying the shallots, stirring all the time.  Add the shrimp paste or oil and stir.  If using meat, add at this stage whether cooked or uncooked. Start to add the other vegetables starting with the hardest, for example carrot and ending with the softest, such as peppers.  Stir in soy sauce, tomato ketchup and sambal oelek.  Stir all the time to cook evenly and prevent sticking.  Add the rice and stir fry until thoroughly heated through.  Cut the omelette roll into rings and scatter on the top.  Taste and adjust seasonings if required.

Samosas

I have become way too fond of frying recently.  There are plenty of disadvantages to frying: The house smells, the smoke alarm goes off and the oil is a pain to dispose of, oh and fried food makes you fat and prone to a fatal heart attack.  But I still can't stop frying, fried food just tastes so good and crispy. 

I love Indian food and these little snacks are so moreish.  I have also become addicted to watching cookery demos on Youtube.  It is so nice to see how to create something I have eaten in a restaurant with step by step demonstrations.  I got the basic method of making these from a lady called Manjula.  Her video is in three parts and if you open Youtube and search for samosas she should appear.  I would post the link but my Youtube links don't work very well, maybe because Youtube is banned here in Turkey and watching it takes a little creativity (shush!).  Her website is www.ManjulasKitchen.com.

Although I love cooking, my motor skills are not very good and I actually hate people watching me cook, or indeed do anything with my hands, so I will not be posting any cookery demos anytime soon.

In my recipe, I used slightly different ingredients as I have no Asian store nearby.  I also doubled her dough recipe as I found her recipe made samosas which were a bit small and fiddly for a first timer.  Instead of holding the samosa like an icecream cone and filling it, I left it on the chopping board and held the end open with my thumb, I found it easier to fill and seal in this position.

Ingredients for Samosas

This recipe will make 8 Samosas. 

FOR CRUST

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon wholemeal flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons+ 2 teaspoons oil
1/2 cup luke warm water
FOR FILLING
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup green peas (cooked)
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
a good pinch hot chilli flakes
a good pinch salt

Put the flours and salt in a bowl and add the oil.  Mix with the tips of your fingers until starting to bind.  Very slowly add the water (you won't need it all, reserve what you don't use) mixing in the same way.  Then knead the ball of dough briefly.  Set aside to rest for 20 minutes or longer if possible.

In the meantime, boil the potatoes until tender.  Fluff up slightly and allow to cool off.  Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the spices, then add the peas and potatoes.  Mix together and leave the mixture to cool again.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Now divide the dough into four balls.  Flatten them slightly and with a rolling pin roll  out the first one on a chopping board to a circle of six to eight inches in diameter.  You should not need to add flour during the rolling.  Take a knife and divide into semi-circles.

Wet the edges of each semi circle.  Take the straight edge and fold it corner to corner and seal that edge, holding the round edges apart with your thumb.  Put some filling into the opening and seal up with your fingers to form a triangular shaped parcel.  Repeat for each.

Fry the samosas in medium hot oil for about 2 minutes on each side.  Drain on kitchen paper and serve with chutney.

Spicy Skewered Kebabs

I have been making variations of these for many years. They are a quick and tasty way of using minced beef.  To be honest, I have found the cheaper the mince (i.e. more fatty and squishy) the better the kebabs!  You can choose your own combination and strength of spices so the recipe below is just a suggestion.  You can also make them with minced lamb if you prefer.

I am not really sure what to call these kebabs.  Some recipe books would call them kofte kebabs.  Here in Turkey, köfte is a type of meat ball, usually with bread crumbs added, so it doesn't feel quite right to me anymore to call them köfte.  In Turkey, there are other minced meat kebabs, named after their cities of origin, such as Adnana kebabs or Urfa kebabs which are usually spiced in a certain way.  They are long kebabs formed around metal skewers.

Once a Palestinian student of mine saw me making these and he, non-cook though he was, pushed me aside and rolled them adroitly with one hand to form much nicer more regular shapes than I had.

I usually cook them on the kitchen grill.  I advise not placing them too near to the source of heat, and put them on open bars with a foil covered tray below, to allow the fat to drip through.  Watch carefully, I caught mine on fire a couple of weeks ago!  They are also great for barbecues.

Serve with plain rice and a mixed salad.

Ingredients for Spicy Skewered Kebabs (makes about 8 kebabs)

half a kilo of minced beef or lamb
1 teaspoon salt
a large pinch black pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves if making lamb kebabs
1 large clove garlic
1 small onion
1 teaspoon mild chilli powder or a quarter teaspoon hot chilli flakes
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon allspice (if you are in Turkey you can use kofte spice)

You can either combine the ingredients by hand or use a food processor.

By hand:

Grate the onion and mince or finely chop the garlic.

Place in bowl with seasonings, herbs and meat.  Knead together until minced meat is soft and all ingredients well incorporated.

Food processor:

Place roughly chopped onion and garlic clove in processor, with meat and seasonings.  Process until all incorporated.

Roll mixture into roughly shaped sausages.  If meat is too moist, refrigerate until firm enough to mould.  Put wooden skewers into the meat and press around with your fingers.  Grill, turning a couple of times during cooking.  Under a moderate grill they should take around 20 minutes to cook through.  A moderate grill is best as they cook in the centre without getting too charred on the outside.

Daktoritang (Korean chicken stew)

A few years ago, some Korean students kindly came to my house and cooked up a Korean feast for me.  One of the dishes was this chicken stew cooked by Lee Moon Gil.  Despite having really enjoyed this meal and since lived in Korea, until recently I had never attempted Korean cooking myself.

When I lived in Korea, I had no need to cook and little equipment to do so.  My employers provided me with dinner on weekdays and at weekends it was cheaper to eat out than buy groceries.  My meals at work were usually the cheapest available, comprising little meat and veg and lots of noodles.  When I left Korea I had rather tired of the cuisine.

Recently though, I came to crave it again.  It is not as well-known as Chinese or even Japanese food, but for people who like their food spicy, it is very palatable.  It has influences from other Asian nations but is not usually cooked in a wok.  One of the most important ingredients is a red spicy paste called gochujang.  On a recent visit to England I bought some, luckily I have a Korean store in walking distance of my home there.

I feel slightly apologetic about posting yet another chicken recipe, but as I have said before it is about all I can afford to buy here! My husband said he could eat this every night, so I felt it was worth posting.  Thanks to Moon Gil who e-mailed me the recipe.  I had to modify the recipe slightly to what was available and I admit I reduced the spices.  Here is how I made daktoritang.

Ingredients for daktoritang

sufficient chicken per person (I used one chicken quarter per person)
1 medium onion
1 large carrot/ 2 small carrots
2 medium potatoes
1 chilli pepper sliced
salt
large pinch black pepper
1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 tablepoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons gochujang (4 tablespoons for Koreans)
1 tsp chilli powder (or 2 tablespoons if you are Korean)
3 spring onions, chopped
sufficient water to cover the chicken

Wash and dry the chicken pieces.  If you wish you can marinade in Japanese cooking wine, but I omitted this.

Place in stock pot and cover with water.  Put on the lid and bring to the boil.  Add salt, pepper, soy sauce, garlic, gochujang and chilli.  Simmer for about 40 minutes with lid on.  Add potatoes, carrots and onions and chilli pepper, cover and cook for another 20 mins to half an hour.  About ten minutes before the end of cooking add the spring onions.

Serve with plain boiled rice.