Sweet and Sour King Prawns

Recently my blog seems to have been concentrating on cakes, bread and general baking, which is pretty reflective of my current obsessions and determination to have a go at making literally everything. However, I don't want to lose sight of the reason that I started writing about my recipes, which was to show that great home cooked food doesn't have to be difficult, and doesn't require fancy ingredients in order to taste amazing. 

A few weeks ago, I had a group of girlfriends over for a homemade Chinese feast, and I have been slowly posting up the recipes I used ever since. I have developed these recipes so that they have an easy to find list of ingredients, and are as simple as possible to make. Every one of these dishes was well received, and tasted so much fresher than if we had ordered it in (plus it was much cheaper!) 

A selection of Chinese dishes served... 

I have already shared with you all Chicken Satay Skewers, Chinese BBQ Ribs, Chicken with Cashew Nuts, Pineapple Sorbet and Coconut Ice Cream, and homemade Fortune Cookies. This is my quick and easy recipe for Sweet and Sour King Prawns, although you can easily swap the king prawns for chicken, beef or any other meat you wish to have with the sauce. 

Ingredients;

- 150g King Prawns (or other preferred meat)

- 1 small red pepper, diced

- 1 small green pepper, diced

- 100g fresh pineapple, diced (or tinned is fresh is not available)

- 125g caster sugar

- 50ml balsamic vinegar

- 200ml water

- 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

- pinch of salt

- 1 tablespoon cornflour

To make the sauce, mix together the sugar, vinegar, water, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and the salt in a saucepan. Heat the sauce until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour with a little water to form a smooth paste, then add to the sauce, stirring until it starts to thicken. Take off the heat and set aside.

Heat a little oil in a wok or a large frying pan, and add the prawns, fry for one minute, then add the peppers and pineapple. (If you have substituted a different meat, it will need to be cooked for longer before adding the veg) Cook for a further two - three minutes, then add the prepared sauce. Stir through, then serve! And there you are, fresh, easy and very tasty Sweet and Sour in minutes! 

I am entering this recipe into this week's Made With Love Monday hosted by Javelin Warrior, as it made completely from scratch, with fresh ingredients, and because everyone should try making their Chinese Takeaway at home! 

Chicken with Cashew Nuts

As promised, here is another recipe from the Girl's Night feast of a few weeks ago. I know that these posts are a little bit of a deviation from my usual cakes and bakes, however I really wanted to share how easy and delicious homemade Chinese food really can be, and give you a selection of recipes that do not need a cupboard full of exotic, hard to find ingredients.

Of the main courses served last Saturday, this Chicken and Cashew dish is one of my absolute favourites, and the one that was eaten up the quickest. This is a really quick and easy dish, and on it's own would make a really good mid-week meal served with fluffy rice. (You'll have to forgive some of the photography on these posts, people were already eating before I had chance to get the camera out!)

Here's how I made it...

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons Cornflour

- 500 ml Chicken Stock

- 3 tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce

- 1 teaspoon crushed Ginger, or 1/2 an inch grated

- 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (or similar hot chilli sauce)

- 2 large Chicken Breasts, diced

- 1/2 an Onion, diced

- 1 large Green Pepper, chopped

- 150 grams Cashew Nuts

- 100 grams Water Chestnuts (optional)

Step One: Make the Sauce

In a saucepan, heat the chicken stock. Add the cornflour, and mix well making sure that all the cornflour has been absorbed by the stock, and there are no lumps. Add the soy sauce, ginger, and tabasco sauce, and set aside. Tip: you can even make the sauce element ahead of time, leave it to cool, and put in a sealed container in the fridge, then it is ready to add to the chicken and vegetables whenever you need it! I found this useful for the feast night, as I made three main dishes at the same time, so having the sauces pre-made made the whole process much easier.

Step Two: Cook the Meat

In a wok, or a large frying pan, heat a little cooking oil, then fry the diced chicken breasts until slightly golden on the outside, and cooked all the way through. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside.

Step Three: Assemble the Dish

Add the onion and pepper to the wok, and lightly fry for 2-3 minutes until they start to colour. Add the cashew nuts and the water chestnuts (optional) and cook for a further minute. Finally, add the chicken and the sauce, and stir well. Cook for a minute longer, or until the sauce has warmed through if you have pre-made it, then serve.