Wild garlic and pork dumplings

A recipe for wild garlic ..

Wild garlic grows in abundance in spring. We are lucky enough to have masses of wild garlic growing in woodland close to us, so we can return year after year to forage for this wonderful herb. To me, they are similar to Chinese garlic chives, just with larger leaves.

In this recipe, wild garlic is combined with minced pork to make tasty chinese dumplings. The mince needs quite a bit of seasoning. I always make a few to begin with, cook them and then do a taste test. You may find you need to tweak the seasoning to get it to your taste.

Always wash wild garlic well before using. If you can't get hold of wild garlic, use Garlic Chives.

Place some filling into each wrapper.  Dip your finger into a small bowl of water and run it along the edge of the wrapper.

Now, fold the wrapper in half and press down to seal (creating a ruched edge).

Boil for 3 minutes, and aaaaaah .... tasty dumplings.

For the dipping sauce, you can simply serve the dumplings with light soy sauce or sweet soy sauce. I like a mixture of black vinegar (or rice vinegar), light soy sauce and chilli sauce.

Stir-fried Spicy courgettes recipe

Stir-fried spicy courgettes with ginger

Stir-fried courgettes - mildly spicy and lots of flavour...

I've recently been learning about the Sze Chuan (Si Chuan, 四川 ) style of cooking from Terry Tan's "The Food and Cooking of Si Chuan and West China".  Sze Chuan cuisine is well known for being spicy, fiery sometimes leaving your tongue with a tingling sensation (think Sze Chuan peppers!).

This Sze Chuan inspired recipe (adapted from Terry's book) does not have chillies in it, but rather it is the heat from ginger root combined with flavoursome sauces that bring this very ordinary vegetable to life.  The stir-fried courgettes are then served with rice, as a vegetable side.

It won't be long now before we will grow our own courgettes in the garden, but for now, we used Sainsbury's basics courgettes and garlic.

Chinese Noodles in mushroom & pork gravy

 Chinese noodles in Soy Mushroom Sauce using Leftover Roast Pork

Chinese noodles in a mushroom gravy...
There is a kind of noodle dish where the noodles are neither immersed in broth nor stir-fried in a sizzling hot wok.  Instead, the cooked noodles are tossed in a deliciously rich, usually soy flavoured sauce, with each strand of noodle glistening with mouth watering gravy.

I find this style of noodle the most comforting mid-week, when in the dark of the evening you arrive home, the mechanical hum from the long train journey still ringing in your ears and the ideas from an earlier brainstorming session still buzzing in your head.    

Chicken, Sweet Potato & Mixed Vegetable Lettuce wraps ("Sang Choy Bau")

Chicken Sang Choy Bau with Sweet Potato

HEALTHY SANG CHOY BAU with chicken and sweet potato...
Sang Choy Bau is a Chinese classic commonly served as a starter all around Australia, where I grew up.  It literally translates to "lettuce wrap" and in its traditional form, is simply a lettuce cup filled with minced pork and vegetables.  These days, you will find many variations of the original recipe, from minced beef or chicken to duck or even quail meat.

In creating this recipe, I was keen to fill my Sang Choy Bau with lots of different coloured vegetables, rather than simply with meat.  So, this healthy recipe brings together lean chicken breast and everyday vegetables like carrots, celery and peppers with soy and oyster sauce to create a quick and tasty modern twist to a Chinese classic.