More tales from the wood panel Chinese

The 2014 Chinese Lunar New Year welcomes the year of the Horse (or whores as the BBC typo read, true, Google it).

I am thrilled about this year for no other reason than that it is no longer the year of the Snake! (Still hate them)

To accompany the Ham and Chicken rolls previously mentioned, I thought I'd recreate another authentic dish from the wood panelled Aussie-Chinese restaurants of my childhood.

Now when I say authentic I'm talking a restaurant that was more like a converted house on an inconvenient bend of the main road of East Gosford, its not quite Guangzhou.

Dome rice is the name I remember this dish by but I have no recollection whether that is what it was called on the menu.

I always found this dish magical as a kid, firstly because it had white sauce and that really should have only ever been used for vegetables. (what were they thinking??)

And secondly I had no idea of how they made the rice take on a shape, let alone fill it. I had visions of the rice being built up and around to enclose that special combination goodness. Those rice ads where the rice took on the shape of famous landmarks only further confused me.

In reflection I don't believed I was a particularly thick kid but the idea of serving an upside down bowl of rice just didn't cross my mind.

This doesn't take long to cook but there is a bit of prep at the start. It also seems like there are a million steps but it's really just a stir fry, in a bowl of rice with a white sauce but packed full of flavour and memories. 

Dome Rice
Ingredients

• 1-11/2 large mugs of basmati rice
• 2 chicken thigh fillet diced
• 200g beef diced (I had some scotch fillet)
• 2 x pinch bi carb soda
• 2 tbsp. oil (peanut/canola)
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 4 Chinese sausages, diagonally sliced
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 2 carrots (see note on vegetables)
• 1 zucchini,
• 1 broccoli stem
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 small thumb ginger finely chopped
• 200g green prawns (halved if large)
• 2 spring onions chopped
• small handful of sliced bamboo shoots
• Small handful of chopped baby corn
• 6-8 quartered straw mushrooms (more if they are smaller)
• 2 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
• 2-3 tbsp. Oyster sauce
• Salt and a pinch of Schezuan pepper to taste
• a few toasted almonds to decorate

 Method

• Place chicken and beef in two separate bowls of cold water and a pinch of bi carb soda
• Allow to rest for 20-30 mins (this is what makes the meat silky tender)
• Cook the rice (I use the microwave method of 1 mug rice 2 mugs water)
• Blanch the vegetables
• Make white sauce (see directions below)
• Drain the chicken and beef separately and pat dry with paper towel
• Into a hot wok add the oil and sesame oil
• Fry off the Chinese sausage them remove just the sausage and place in a bowl
• Repeat with chicken, fry till just cooked and remove to the bowl
• Repeat with beef, fry till just cooked and remove to the bowl
• Leave the juices in the wok as this forms the base of the sauce
• Reduce the heat and add the onions, garlic and ginger stir fry until tender
• Add the meats and prawns back to the wok
• Add all remaining ingredients and
• Add about a 1/4 cup of the white sauce to the wok and combine
• Take off the heat

• To assemble dome
• Spray a glass bowl with oil
• Spread the enough rice to line the bowl with a thin layer (about 3/4 of the rice)

My bowl has a diameter of 22cm and is about 12cm at it's centre

My walls are a bit thicker than I would normally have them, the rice was very hot and I was hungry!!

• Fill bowl with stir fry
• Cover with a layer of rice to enclose it all, press firmly so it takes on the shape of the bowl
• Place a plate over the bowl and then flip it over
• Remove the bowl and you'll have a great looking rice dome!

Steaming!

To serve pour over hot white sauce and top with some toasted almonds or more decorative vegetables.
There were only ever 3 almonds on the top of this dish at the restaurants but live a little and add a few more, I think I have 6!

 


 


 


 

 

White Sauce

Ingredients

• 40g butter
• 60g plain flour
• 250ml chicken stock
• 500ml light milk 

Sauce Method

• In a  saucepan melt the butter
• Add the flour and stir to combine, cook the flour for about 1 minute
• Add stock and milk together in a jug (or use all milk and a good quality stock cube)
• Slowly add some stock/milk mix  while whisking to make a smooth sauce
• As the sauce thickens add more stock a little at a time, you might not use all the stock.
• While whisking let the sauce cook to thicken further for a few minutes, it should have a thick pourable consistency (but not thick enough you can cut it!)
• Season to taste

Vegetable Note:

If you have a lot of spare time on your hands or don't mind heading to the land of all things naff, you could can use various cutters to shape the vegetables.

 

The broccoli stem adds element of surprise as it is a pale green star that looks nothing like it but tastes like broccoli.

 

The zucchini I sliced lengthy ways around the outside so I got .5cm thick slices with the skin on one side for the colour contrast.

 

Blanch each vegetable separately in boiling water for about 1 minute, then  refresh in icy water.

 

 

 

Wood Panels and Ham and Chicken Rolls

My childhood was filled with Chinese restaurants, the good, the bad and the ugly. Not that I'm one for gross generalisations but I have a theory the uglier the restaurant the better the food.

Being a child of the 70's (restaurant going 80's) wood panelling was a must in any quality restaurant followed up by an appropriate anointing of square plastic tasseled lanterns, I assumed depicting a Chinese fable.

But you knew you had hit taste bud gold when you had to complete an obstacle course of various sized banquet ready table tops lining the passageway to the bathroom.

As I grew older I would venture through a variety of establishments adorned with lattice dividers, an aquarium of menu options and the latest Chinese versions Madonna track blaring throughout.
Even with the most elaborate interiors and silky smooth turning of the Lazy Susan I feel reassured when there's a glimpse of wood panel.

My favourite menu staple was the ham and chicken roll, crispy yet juicy and at times with just a hint of SPAM.
They were a menu guarantee till I moved 700km south and they are an unheard of item!!

Ham and Chicken Roll
Ingredients for approx. 8 rolls

• Spring roll wrappers (about 16 depending on how big you make them)
• 1 large chicken breast skin off
• 2 large chicken thigh fillets skin off
• 4 spring onions chopped
• Ham strips cut into 1 cm thick and about 10cm long (see note)
• 1 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine (optional)
• 3-4 tbsp. corn flour
• Oil for frying

Method

• Place chicken in a saucepan of cold water and poach gently on low heat till just done
• Drain chicken and roughly cube and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes
• In a mixing bowl add the chilled chicken, spring onions, salt, pepper, cooking wine and corn flour
• Mix to combine, the chicken should be coated without there being too much of a paste
• Onto a 2 spring roll wrappers (1 on top of the other) place a small amount of chicken mixture
• Place a ham strip in the middle
• Add a little more chicken if needed
• Try to surround the ham with chicken in the centre of the roll (mine are hip and a bit off centre)
• Roll up the spring roll and seal the end with some water
• Fry in a saucepan of hot oil for 3-4 minutes till golden brown
• Let the roll drain in a colander over a bowl
• To serve cut the roll diagonally into 4 pieces, alternatively leave them whole.
• Serve with chilli sauce or the traditional super sweet but not very sour bottled sweet and sour sauce.

Note: You could use ham steaks or ask your deli to cut a 1 cm thick slice for you, but nothing smoky as it will take over the flavour. I remember the ham in the original being very much like SPAM so that is another option.