Guo Tie or Chinese Pot Stickers (source Aunty Linda from Kunming)

Fresh back from Kunming, where I was invited to a delicious homecooked lunch...and the best part of a homecooked meal? You get to ask the chef/ask for a live demo. It was such a moment of epiphany where I realised that the guo tie actually used 2 cooking/heating methods - frying and steaming...it really just blew me away - to do 2 cooking methods in one same pan! (Ok, I will stop raving about cooking methods now, lest I get labelled a cook geek).

Skin
1 cup plain flour
2/3 cup cold water
2/3 cup hot water

Split flour into 2 portions, 1 portion mix with hot water, the other with cold water, then combine and knead into a dough.

Filling
Minced chicken
Chives/spring onion
Grated ginger
Salt/light sauce
Pepper

Roll out thin circular rounds of skin (about 1.5" in diameter), fill it with meat. Heat oil in a pan till quite hot, place dumplings onto pan. After about 2-3 minutes when the base is nice and brown/crisp, pour about half a cup of water into the pan, cover pan to allow steaming to complete the cooking. After about 2 mins of water cooking/steaming, remove pan lid and allow water to evaporate.

Dip
Black vinegar
Chinese celery
Ginger strips
Chilli strips

Enjoy! :)

My Friend's Mother's Chinese Roast Chicken

This always tastes better when my friend's mum makes it; but beggars can't be choosers, if I want this more often than just at Chinese New Year, this will have to make do.

1 whole chicken or 8 drumsticks
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs Chinese cooking wine (I use Hua Tiao)
1 block or 1.5 tbs preserved red bean curd
1 tbs dark soya sauce
1 tbs honey

1. Mash the beancurd and mix all the seasoning together, marinate chicken.

2. Roast in 400F oven for 20-30 minutes, turning over the meat halfway.