Does anyone else have a favourite cooking utensil? That tray that you could swear makes the potatoes that little bit crunchier, the frypan that alllllways delivers on the omelette front & THOSE heroic tongs who refuse to let your knuckles get attacked by those hot n angry lil fat splatters from your bacon.
These little pigs have had many a faithful test kitchen favourite over the last 9 years, but none more so than our trusty Scanpan collection. The love affair began many years ago and if you scroll back through the archives you will see our one true love (any tray, pot or fry pan from scanpan) featuring in our recipes, photoshoot or stories about some Sunday night potatoes that changed our lives etc. True story piglets? These fine swines are known to take their scanpan trays on holidays with them just in case the holiday home doesn't have adequate cooking equipment *cue eyerolls from long suffering husbands who are charged with packing the car #sorrynotsorrybabe.
So imagine the squeals of delight that emanated from TLPHQ the morning the Scanpan AU team got in touch to ask if these Little Pigs would like to collaborate & showcase two recipes using their brilliant products. Did we mention that it's been a life goal to do this? Nay sweet swines, we're far too cool for that, but just between you, me and a cup o tea, there was a giddy little dance of joy or two, a snort of excitement and a few celebratory toy pigs thrown at the delivery man when a glorious box of products arrived for us to go wild with.
So first up? Something delicious & easy to showcase the wowchickkawow that is the Scanpan CTX frypan. It's sleek, it's sexy, it's heavy bottomed (just don't call it that to his face) & the obvious choice was a quick & easy five spice chicken & oyster mushroom san choy bow. It sounds a bit fancy, but you can do a lot of substitutions with what's in your fridge, make it meat free magnifique with some firm tofu & the leftovers? THE BEST. So roll up your midweek sleeves and jump into this fresh delight that can win friends, influence people and run the risk of being too delicious to ever stop eating. Wuohh.
Five Spice Chicken & Oyster Mushroom San Choy Bow
Feeds: 2-4 Hungry Piglets.
Prep Time: 15 Mins. Cooking Time: 15Mins
The Main Ingredients:
400g x Chicken Mince (Free range, thigh mince)
1/2 x Bunch Spring Onions
1 x Red/Orange/Yellow Capsicum (you choose the colour - wow so exciting)
2 x Limes
1 x Red Chilli
20g x ginger (a generous thumb size)
100g x Oyster Mushrooms (could sub in run of the mill mushrooms if need be)
1 x Chive bunch
30g x Mint
30g x Thai Basil
1 x Lemongrass stick
2 x Garlic Cloves
1 x Lettuce (Large Cos or Iceberg #goldplated ) - needs to be a good leaf scoop size
1 x Cucumber
2 x Lime Leaves (optional but adds some zing)
1/2 x Cup Basmati Rice
1Tbs x Peanut Oil
1/3 x Cup Unsalted Peanuts
1/3 x Cup Fried Shallots
Mince Seasoning Sauce:
1 x Tbs Soy Sauce
1 x Tbs Teriyaki Sauce
1 x Tbs Kecap Manis
2 x Tsp Chinese Five Spice
Nuoc Cham Dressing:
2 x Tbs Fish Sauce
1 x Tsp Castor Sugar
1 x Tsp Rice wine Vinegar
Substitution Notes: Oyster mushrooms give the dish a lovely texture but any mushroom could be used. Other veg that would be delicious include carrot, snow peas, finely diced broccoli & celery. Either a firm tofu can be grated in instead of mince or go a softer brand and "scramble" it. Check sauce ingredients to ensure that they don't contain seafood if making vegetarian/vegan....i.e fish sauce!
Method of exceptional deliciousness (preparation)
Peel and finely grate your ginger (20g) & dice your garlic cloves (2 cloves). Finely dice your chilli (1) to taste.
Finely dice your capsicum (1), cut your mushrooms (100g) into long slivers & thinly slice your spring onion (1/2 bunch).
Wash & chop your Thai basil (30g), chives (1 bunch) and mint (30g) - be sure to remove Mr Mints leaves from his stem first and gently pop stems in the compost with a kind smile.
Wash & roll your lime leaves (2) into a thin cigar shape, slice as finely as possible so you have long ribbons of lime deliciousness.
Chop off his bottom (about 1/2 cm in) and cut your lemongrass stick (1 stick) into wafer thin wheels - discard the tough top end and just use the tender bottom section only.
Finely dice your cucumber (1) & mix through with your diced chives.
Gently pull apart your lettuce and wash leaves - pat dry and set aside trying not to break them too much - these are your giant delicious scoops. You may also whisper: "get ready guys!" as you pop them on the platter!
Cut your limes (2) into wedges & set aside half for serving.
In a bowl, squeeze in the other half of your lime quarters along with your fish sauce (2 Tbs), rice wine vinegar (1 Tsp) and castor sugar (1 Tsp). Pop 1/2 of your diced garlic in and give it all a good swizz around. You're aiming for a salty/sour/sweet balance here piggos so tweak until it's lip smackingly good! Too salty? Add some sugar. Too sweet? Add some more fish sauce etc.
Method of exceptional deliciousness (cooking):
Pop 3/4's of a cup of water in a small pot, along with your rice (1/2 cup) and bring to the boil. Cook until all water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked through and fluffy as a rabbits tail.
Bring your peanut oil, diced garlic & ginger to the heat in your AMAZING SCANPAN frypan #notbiasedatall & gently toast until sizzling & fragrant.
Add in your chicken mince and using your spatula, break apart the mince (This Little Pig likes to mutter "break it up you two, break it up right now" whilst it stabs aggressively at the mince) and stir through your garlic & ginger.
Before the mince cooks too much, pour in your mince seasoning: Soy Sauce (1 Tbs), Teriyaki Sauce (1 Tbs), Kecap Manis, (1 Tbs) & Chinese Five Spice (2 Tsp) and mix well. This will help it turn a beautiful golden colour on top of giving it 11/10 flavour bomb qualities.
Continue to cook for another 5 min or until the mince is cooked through & gently caramelised.
Taking your pan off the heat, stir through your diced capsicum & mushrooms.
Then stir through your slivers of lime leaves, mint, Thai basil, spring onion, peanuts, fried shallots & cooked rice.
To serve:
Pop your crunchy lettuce cups on a plate & arrange artfully next to your pan full of deliciousness.
Spoon a generous serve of the rice/herb/chicken mix from your AMAZING SCANPAN into your lettuce cup, top with some diced cucumber & chives & finish with fresh chili (if that's your jam), a drizzle of your delicious nuoc cham dressing and a big squeeze of fresh lime. Now try and stuff it into your mouth with minimal spillage. Now that piglets is what is known as heaven in a lettuce cup. Enjoy. Oink.
#yumbo