Hong Kong swiss chicken wings

 

 

 

I discovered this while watching Hong Kong drama. The title of the show is "Best Selling Secrets"  The characters in this drama made it  sound really special and tasty. When my family and I went to Hong Kong for a holiday, we went to this very old and established restaurant called Tai Ping Koon whose speciality is swiss chicken wings.

Basically it is soya sauce chicken wings and there's a story  as to why it is known as swiss chicken wings.  Apparently a German customer who tried it liked it very much and would keep going back for it.  As there was a bit of difficulty on his part communicating with the cantonese speaking waiter, he would just say "sweet chicken wings".  The waiter translated it into cantonese and called out to the kitchen " 瑞士鷄翼 and that's how it got its name.

Ingredients

10 chicken wings

200ml superior black soya sauce

200ml knor swiss chicken broth

2 pcs anise, 2 pcs clove, 2 sticks cinnamon

200 gms rock sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 slices ginger

1 stalk spring onion

ice and water

Method

Boil water with ginger and spring onion

Blanch chicken wings to remove blood

Remove and soak in ice water till the skin plumps up.

This step is important as the skin is plumped up and will not tear during braising

Must use lots of ice

Preparing sauce

Pour soya sauce, chicken broth, spices, rock sugar, salt ina pot

Boil till sugar is dissolved

Lower fire and simmer for 10 mins

Place wings skin side down and cook for 5 mins

Turn off fire and leave in pot covered for 15 mins

Do a taste test first before serving

Make sure wings are evenly coated with sauce

Arrange wings nicely on plate and serve without sauce

P.S. At Tai Ping Koon, the wings are served without sauce but if you like, you can always serve the sauce with the wings You can also freeze the leftover sauce for cooking pork or chicken on another day.



Li Lup

 

The name li lup is passed down by my late mother-in-law.  It is a traditional dish that is everyone's favourite. It is often eaten with rice or plain porridge.

My second daughter, Janice and my son- in- law Calvin are big fans.

Ingredients

 

3 pcs of tau kwa (the firmer bean curd)

6 strings of bean stalk

4  pcs of preserved radish (Chye Po )

3 green chillies

A handful of toasted peanuts (optional)

2 tbsp of bean paste (tau cheong) chopped

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp chilli paste (optional)

2 garlic (minced)

Oil for deep frying

Method

Cut  all ingredients into cubes.

Heat oil and when very hot, deep fry each ingredient separately.

Remove from pan

Remove oil leaving about one tbsp

Fry garlic till fragrant

Add bean paste, fry till fragrant

Add all ingredients, stir fry, add sugar, a little water and simmer for about 3 mins.

Dissolve the cornstarch in a little water and stir into the gravy

Only a little gravy is required

This will help to make the dish look shiny and appetizing.

Add peanuts and its ready

Serve with hot rice or plain porridge

Try it, you won’t regret it.

Ngau Lum (Beef Brisket stew)

 

This is a very easy to prepare one dish meal.  You can eat it with rice and all kinds of noodles.

Ingredients

1 kg beef brisket ( ask for a little fat)

1 small white radish

2 carrots

3 pcs star aniseed

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp chu hou sauce (from chinatown grocer) If you cannot find, substitute with mixture of oyster and hoisin sauce

1 tbsp black sauce

1 tbsp crushed rock sugar

3 slices of ginger

1 tbsp minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

cornflour mixed with a little water

oil for frying

water

Method

Blanch beef in boiling water

Heat oil in pot, fry ginger and garlic

Add rock sugar and fry till dissolved

Add chu hou sauce, black sauce, star anise, cinnamon stick and fry till fragrant

Add beef and fry till evenly coated

Add water just enough to cover beef and bring to a boil

At boiling point, lower heat to medium and simmer till beef is 90% tender

Add radish and carrot and turn off heat when soft

During cooking, if water dries up, add more to prevent beef from burning

Add cornflour mixture to thicken gravy

salt and pepper to taste