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Eva Paus Asian Kitchen - Season 2 - Episode 05
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00:00For marinades to stir fries, grills and glaze, seasoning or drizzling,
00:04flavours that bind, by Lee Kum Kee, proud sponsor of Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen.
00:11I'm Eva Pau and I am passionate about Asian food.
00:14In this series, I'll unlock the secrets behind mouth-watering dishes
00:19from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea.
00:23You'll see just how simple it is to make delicious Asian meals at home.
00:28From quick bites and comfort food to takeaway favourites and dishes made for entertaining.
00:34My mouth is watering already.
00:37I'm thrilled to be bringing the wonderful flavours of Asia, from my kitchen to yours.
00:43Let's dive in and have some fun cooking.
00:50The midweek slump at work can hit us all.
00:53A bit of fatigue, lack of motivation and this can hit our kitchens too.
00:58So this time, I'm talking about midweek magic.
01:02Three wonderful dishes to give you a boost physically and mentally.
01:06Chicken pad pie.
01:08A hugely popular dish and with good reason.
01:11Juicy chicken, crunchy veg and roasted peanuts.
01:14All tossed in that glorious tangy sweet sauce.
01:17So delicious that you'll think you're eating out.
01:20I love this moment when everything just combines together in one pan.
01:25Sichuan pork and tofu.
01:26Lots of savoury punch in this one and you can dial the heat up or down as you like.
01:32But first up, it's delicious crispy Peking beef.
01:36Sweet, sticky and the perfect pick-me-up.
01:44I'm using sirloin beef here.
01:47It's a leaner cut of beef, but full of flavour.
01:53Now, the thinner you cut the strips, the more coating that you can get onto it.
01:59And then the crispier it will become.
02:03I'm not very speedy at cutting, but touch wood, I haven't cut myself before.
02:11In they go.
02:20We're starting with some bicarbonate of soda.
02:23It's perfect for meat tenderising.
02:28You just need a little in there, about a quarter teaspoon.
02:32Some white pepper.
02:34Now, white pepper is often used in Asian cooking.
02:38I like to think that it's a bit milder than normal ones,
02:41but some people think it's a bit stronger.
02:43But either way, it's the same peppercorn, but with the outer layer removed.
02:48Some light soy.
02:50A drizzle of sesame oil.
02:55And some Chinese cooking wine.
03:00Marinating is always worth doing, even if it's for 10 to 15 minutes.
03:06And these lovely thin strips will just soak up all that gorgeous flavour.
03:12Moving on to the sauce, prep our onion and garlic now, to have them ready when things speed up.
03:19So you want finely sliced onion.
03:23Mince your garlic.
03:26Peking sauce is just so tasty.
03:29You could say that it's quite similar to a sweet and sour sauce, but it's more caramelly in flavour, and
03:35it's less sour.
03:37Also, the sauce is darker in colour, and it gets it from a black vinegar, also known as a seasoned
03:44rice vinegar.
03:46Along with some light soy.
03:54A touch of sesame oil for some nuttiness.
03:57Dark soy for some colour.
04:00Some tomato puree.
04:02This will add lovely fruitiness to your sauce.
04:07Some sugar.
04:12And some chilli bean sauce.
04:17It's kind of mild.
04:19If you like your spice, you can get like a Sichuan chilli bean sauce.
04:24So I'm just adding some water, because all of these sauces added together really packs a punch.
04:32And you really need to temper it.
04:34And then we're adding in some cornstarch mixed with some water.
04:37And this will help thicken the whole sauce.
04:42Set that aside for later.
04:45Peking beef can be served with boiled rice or fried rice, which I hope you know how to make by
04:51now.
04:51But today, we're going to be serving it with classic Chinese takeaway noodles.
04:56Simply cover the noodles in boiling water for three to four minutes.
05:00Make sure that it's all submerged.
05:03Lid on.
05:05And let that soak.
05:07I'm going to park our crispy beef for a moment, and show you how to make a quick noodle sauce.
05:15We've got all our Asian pantry heroes here.
05:19Light soy for the saltiness.
05:22We use a lot of this in Asian cooking.
05:24It's like our salt.
05:26Dark soy for some colour.
05:33And oyster sauce, which really adds that sweet, savoury, umami flavour.
05:40And this is premium oyster sauce, which has a richer and deeper flavour than normal.
05:45Some sugar.
05:47And that's it.
05:53I just need some scallion and bean sprouts, and the noodles will come together.
05:58Chop them into two-inch pieces.
06:01I still want to see them in the noodle.
06:04Now, heat your wok.
06:06A little bit of oil.
06:10I'm going to add in half of my onions, my scallions, and the bean sprouts.
06:18It's nice to have the scallion the same length as the bean sprouts and the onions.
06:24Very nice and soft in there now.
06:26I'm going to add the noodles.
06:30And then the sauce.
06:32Just give it a little stir, just in case the sugar is still at the bottom of the bowl.
06:42In Chinese, we actually have a name for this noodle.
06:45It's called siya wang taou min.
06:47And that just means simply soy sauce and fried noodles.
06:51And quite often, we would have this noodle just on its own.
06:55It's so tasty.
06:57And it's so simple.
06:58You get that crunchiness of the bean sprouts, and then the head of the scallion and the onion.
07:04It's actually a really tasty noodle of its own.
07:08But it complements the Peking beef beautifully as well.
07:14I'm going to get these out of the wok.
07:20Okay, back to our Peking beef.
07:24My oil is hot.
07:25It's all going to come together very quickly now.
07:28Into the beef, add some beaten egg and some cornstarch.
07:32Now, this just gives it a really nice, light coating, which will give us our crispy beef.
07:39I first learned to make this dish from my dad, who actually learned how to make it from his dad,
07:45grandfather Willie.
07:46He owned a Chinese restaurant in Grimsby in England.
07:52And my dad worked there when he was in his 20s.
07:55So, it's lovely that it's been passed down through generations.
08:00These just take three to four minutes.
08:03You can see that they're getting crispy already.
08:12They look perfect.
08:13Out they come.
08:16Time to fry up our onion and garlic.
08:20Heat up our Peking sauce.
08:21And dinner will be served.
08:35Oh, that aroma is amazing.
08:37I wish you could smell it.
08:40In goes the beef.
08:45And we are ready to serve.
08:48Look at that glorious, glossy sauce.
08:56Garnish with some roasted sesame seeds.
09:01Some scallions.
09:02And there's some midweek magic in a bowl.
09:05Time to taste.
09:14Tender beef in a gorgeous, sticky, sweet sauce.
09:20Magic.
09:31Be warned.
09:33This next dish is addictive.
09:36Luckily, it's really healthy because I could eat it every day.
09:40Tender chicken, chewy noodles, and a glorious Thai sauce.
09:44Can you guess what it is?
09:52Yes, it's chicken pad pie.
09:55First step, we're going to get our chicken marinating.
09:58Start with some premium oyster sauce.
10:00Its umami flavor is a great base.
10:03I have some chopped chicken thigh in here.
10:06Pinch of salt, black pepper, and some sugar.
10:11There's a ratio when you're marinating.
10:13It's a little bit of salt, and the sugar is double the quantity of the salt.
10:18It will only take 15 minutes for the magic to happen.
10:23Next are aromatics.
10:27Finely chop a banana shallot.
10:29You can use a small onion if you don't have shallots.
10:34Mint some garlic.
10:37Chop some scallion into two-inch pieces.
10:42Slice them in half.
10:45These aromatics will be used with my noodles later.
10:49Let's get them started.
10:52I'm using dried, flat, thin rice noodles here.
10:57Now, these are my favorite.
10:59It's really important to get the texture of the noodle for the pad thai perfect.
11:04It should be chewy with a little bite, but definitely not mushy.
11:12Make sure the noodles are fully submerged.
11:15Soak them for roughly 10 minutes.
11:24So, now to our delicious pad thai sauce.
11:28I'm adding in some palm sugar.
11:30And the palm sugar adds a lovely toffee, butterscotch flavor to this sauce.
11:36It's a real key pantry ingredient.
11:39To that, some fish sauce.
11:41Fish sauce is also a key Thai pantry ingredient.
11:44They use it like soy sauce.
11:47It adds a lovely flavor.
11:49It is strong, but it works really well in combination with other ingredients.
11:54Tamarind concentrate next.
11:56Tamarind is a fruit that tastes like a date and a lemon combined.
12:01It's a really popular flavor in Thailand.
12:04Dark soy for some color.
12:07Light soy for some saltiness.
12:12Sriracha sauce.
12:13This will add a nice bit of color and some heat.
12:18And finally, some hot water.
12:25I love this sauce.
12:28Let's check on the noodles.
12:33Perfect.
12:34Just the right amount of bite in them.
12:39Let's get some oil heating.
12:43And beat two eggs.
12:45The eggs add just another texture to your pad thai.
12:51In goes my marinated chicken.
13:04My chicken is cooked in with the garlic and banana slat.
13:10Wow.
13:11Such a lovely aroma.
13:14Fry them for one or two minutes until they're really nice and fragrant.
13:19I've pushed my chicken to the side of the wok so that the aromatics have a little bit more room
13:26to fry.
13:27And now the eggs.
13:29Again, I've pushed the chicken and the aromatics to the side of the wok.
13:34And you want to gently scramble the eggs.
13:38Now the scrambled eggs are done.
13:40The chicken is ready.
13:42We're going to combine everything else together.
13:45In go the noodles.
13:47My bean sprouts and scallion.
13:50And my sauce.
13:51I love this moment when everything just combines together in one pan.
14:00So a little bit more heat and toss everything together.
14:05You just want to gently toss the noodles.
14:08You don't want to stir it too much or else it will break the noodles.
14:14Time to plate up.
14:20Smells so good.
14:22I just had it for dinner a few days ago.
14:25But I am addicted to this.
14:30And now for the classic pad thai garnishes.
14:34A squeeze of lime juice.
14:37Some lovely coriander leaves.
14:41Such a beautiful aroma.
14:43A sprinkling of chili flakes if you like it a bit spicy.
14:49And some fresh peanuts.
14:54Quick taste.
15:05Tangy.
15:06Sweet.
15:07Chewy.
15:08Perfection on a plate.
15:19Whether it's breakfast, lunch or a quick snack.
15:22Choo chow it with Lee Com Kee.
15:24Proud sponsor of Eva Pao's Asian Kitchen.
15:26For every flavour.
15:27Every meal.
15:28Every moment.
15:29Lee Com Kee.
15:30Proud sponsor of Eva Pao's Asian Kitchen.
15:36Let's talk about tofu.
15:38Now wait.
15:39Don't run away.
15:40It really is an ingredient worth getting to know.
15:43It's a complete protein.
15:44Like meat, fish, eggs.
15:47But made from soy beans.
15:49And you can get Irish tofu.
15:51Maybe we should add a father.
15:54Tofu is made from soy beans.
15:56To see the process, Than gave me a tour of her factory in Dublin.
16:00The beans are softened by soaking before grinding them up.
16:04The milk is then separated from the pulp.
16:06Boiled and cooled before a coagulant is added.
16:09This results in the formation of a solid curd.
16:12Very like the cheese making process.
16:15It's then pressed into blocks.
16:18It can be soft, firm or extra firm.
16:21Or even silken.
16:22Which works great for smoothies and desserts.
16:25In this small family run factory.
16:28They also produce fried tofu.
16:30So here's the thing.
16:31In Asian cooking, tofu isn't seen as a meat substitute.
16:35It's actually used in meat dishes.
16:38And that's what I'm going to be doing in my next piece of midweek magic.
16:42Sichuan pork and tofu.
16:51I have my minced pork.
16:53And of course I'm marinating it.
16:56A little bit of sugar.
16:59Some soy.
17:02A pinch of white pepper.
17:04Chinese cooking wine.
17:08And a pinch of salt.
17:13Two pinches of salt.
17:19Combine it in really well.
17:21It's a very simple marinade.
17:24But packed full of flavour.
17:27While that's marinating, let's prep our tofu.
17:30You might have heard that tofu has no flavour.
17:33And that is absolutely true.
17:36But it's an amazing flavour absorber.
17:40Cut into cubes.
17:44You don't want them to be too small because we're going to be adding them into a stir fry.
17:49Tofu is a very versatile ingredient.
17:52It can be baked.
17:53It can be stir fried.
17:54It can be steamed.
17:56I actually really like it steamed.
17:58You can add like a little topping on top.
18:00It's just really simple and really quick to make.
18:03I have a pot of salted boiling water over here and I'm just going to add my tofu pieces into
18:09it.
18:10This will help firm up the tofu.
18:12And it's literally just for one minute.
18:21Okay.
18:23They're ready to come out.
18:26Gently lift it out with a slotted spoon.
18:32This dish goes really well with rice.
18:35I have mine steaming away in my rice cooker.
18:38Let's start the aromatics.
18:41Finally chop some ginger and garlic.
18:49In China, this recipe is called mapo tofu.
18:53Full disclosure, this dish is traditionally very spicy.
18:58They use the Szechuan peppercorn which has a numbing effect.
19:03Mapo is a byword for very hot.
19:06And I've even heard in Asia that they call it a plate of lava.
19:10In goes the minced pork.
19:16But don't worry, I'm not able for that type of heat.
19:19And there's a way to dial it right down but still make it very delicious.
19:26In with your ginger and garlic.
19:36I wish you could smell my kitchen there.
19:39In with my fermented black beans, I've just rehydrated them in a little bit of water.
19:44They have a really nice flavour.
19:47They're not really essential in this dish.
19:50But I really like the addition of it because it goes really well with all the chilli flavours.
19:55And adds a little bit of something extra.
19:58I like to call them flavour bombs.
20:01Into that, some chilli powder.
20:04Now for some Szechuan chilli paste.
20:07This will give this dish a really nice hit of spice.
20:11I'm using one that is Szechuan chilli bean paste.
20:14You can get normal chilli bean paste but the Szechuan one gives you a little bit more heat.
20:19A bit of sugar.
20:25This is just the right level of heat for me but if you like more spice, you can add in
20:32some Szechuan chilli powder.
20:34A little bit of dark soy for some colour.
20:39We always say that this is for colour because it's different to the light soy.
20:44The light soy is more salty and this is perhaps more sugary, more carol-y
20:49and adds a really dark golden colour to your dish.
20:56Some water.
20:59This will just make it into more of a sauce.
21:02So when you add the tofu, the tofu will absorb all the gorgeous Szechuan flavour.
21:13I'm just bringing it back to a simmer before I add in my gorgeous Irish tofu.
21:27So now that the tofu has absorbed all those gorgeous sauces, we are going to thicken the sauce up a
21:33little with some cornstarch mixed with some water.
21:35The key to this is to use cold water to mix with your cornstarch and then turn the heat down
21:44before adding the cornstarch mixture in or else you'll get a really thick and clumpy sauce.
21:53You can add half in first and mix it through to see if you like the thickness of the sauce
21:59before adding any more in.
22:03I'm going to add a little bit more.
22:08I just want the sauce to be thick enough to coat the tofu.
22:14It's tasting time.
22:16Lucky me.
22:27This looks amazing.
22:30That glossy sauce.
22:37Garnish with some scallions.
22:42And in with my spoon.
22:52Mmm.
22:55You get that gorgeous Szechuan spicy sauce, the silky tofu and then the minced pork is just full and packed
23:04with flavour.
23:05I should make this more often.
23:19So replace the midweek slump with some midweek magic in your kitchen.
23:24Turn the music up and rattle those pots and pans.
23:28Crispy Peking beef, chicken pad thai or Szechuan pork and tofu.
23:35The choice is yours.
23:37See you next time and have fun cooking.
23:40All recipes from today's episode are available at rte.ie forward slash food.
23:46For more information visit www.fema.org.
24:20For marinades to stir-fries, grills and glaze, seasoning or drizzling, flavours that bind
24:26by Lee Kum Kee, proud sponsor of Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen.
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