Fresh & Light - Stuffed Chicken Wings

Okay it isn't the most amazing pic but hey, pics are deceiving! These stuffed chicken wings are fun and easy to eat (no more bones issues!!), plus fingerliciously healthy (sorry General Kentucky!)! It makes a good dinner starter or party snack (byebye chicken nuggets!).

Serve 2

Ingredients:

• 6 full chicken wings
• Shiitake mushrooms x 3 (julienne)
• Coriander x 1 sprig
• Dried woodear mushroom (available in oriental shops, optional)
• Carrot x 100g (julienne)
• Mung bean noodles x 1 sprig, about 10g(available in oriental shops, optional)
• Dark soya sauce x 2tbps
• Shaoxing wine x 2tbps
• White pepper to season
• White sugar x 1 teaspoon
• Sesame oil x 1 teaspoon
• Oyster sauce x 1 tbps

Methods:

1. If you're using the dried woodear mushroom and mung bean noodles, put them in separate bowls and soak in lukewarm water for 1hr and 15mins respectively. Once the woodear fungus is soften, remove any hard ends and julienne. When the mung bean noodles are softened, rinse in cold water and dry in colander. Trim into the same length as your carrots and shittake mushrooms.
2. While the dried ingredients are soaked, you can start prepping your chicken wings. It'll take some time and practice but don't be put off. The end results are amazing. 
3. Use a small sharp knife or pair of scissors. Find the joint and cut off the 'tip' of the wing. Use your fingers as guide and slowly pull the meat alone the bone. Be careful not to make a hole in the flesh as your stuffing will come out. With 6 chicken wings you'll end up having 12 pieces as I separate the drumsticks from the middle parts of the wings.
4. Once de-boned (save the bones and chicken tips for stock), clean and pat dry the wings. put them in a bowl and add soya sauce, rice wine, pepper, sugar and sesame oil. Mix well and leave to marinate for 30mins.
5. Julienne your carrot and mushrooms to the length that'd fit in the chicken wings. Slightly chop your coriander. Heat a tablespoon of sunflower oil (avoid olive oil as the taste is too strong) to a frying pan on medium heat. Add the carrot and shiitake mushrooms, stir fry for 3mins until soft. Add the woodear now if you're using it. Add oyster sauce and mix well. Continue to fry for another 1 minute and leave to cool.
6. Add the chopped coriander to the above ingredient and mix well.
7. Now it's the fun time. Use a dessert spoon to carefully put the stuffing into the chicken wings. Don't overfill them though. Use a toothpick to seal the ends.
8. Place the chicken wings a foiled oven dish and bake at 200'c for 20mins. Turn half-way through. 
9. Finally decorate the dish by scattering a few coriander leaves. Serve hot :)

Mandu in London - Carousel

No I haven't given up this blog and no it's not because I haven't been cooking. Procrastination is the word in Pisces's bible. 

Anyhow, to welcome my return, thought I'd write an entry to thank Carousel. We've had the opportunities to indulge ourselves with very inspirational chefs around the world thanks to their concept. A brilliant hidden gem that combines 'pop up' restaurant and arts. 

Few months ago we saw Washington DC's Mandu will be residing at Carousel, hashtag modernized korean. Interesting we thought and soon we found ourselves with tickets for a long overdue date night. The home cook style chef brought his mom along and we started off with a shoju-based cocktail with szechuan peppercorn.

The 5-course menu soon unfolded with traditional homemade pork dumplings with spicy scallion condiments. They are slightly different from the Chinese version with a thicker pastry but very juicy! It was then followed by Korean fried chicken wings - while they are crunchy and delicious I wasn't 'wowed'...

This congee with a modern twist was very different and most diners had wiped their bowls clean. Congee has always been the comfort food and I grew up with the luxury of having an aunt to make this for me. It takes so much time and attention for a good soup base and consistency I pretty much give up doing it myself. This congee, unlike the classic version, was lukewarm and more like a paste, served with a soft boiled egg and crunchy seaweed and pulled chicken. The flavour was so intense that you couldn't stop. Nonetheless, I still prefer what my mom would make :P

I suppose a Korean meal isn't complete without steak tartare. Mandu had also added his own ideas to the recipe - instead of raw eggs it was served with hard boiled egg york only, together with fried garlic chips. I liked the idea of mashed eggs but the garlic chips were too overpowering. It was a bit of a shame as the asian pears and steak tartare were so perfectly seasoned!

 We then moved on to the mains with traditional Korean 'jiajiang mien' - it's braised seafood and pork in black bean sauce on hand cut noodles. This was the star dish of the evening! The noodles were cooked perfectly al dente and with a lot of bite, matched with the very thick sauce it was just heaven!

It's a shame we had to leave early as J wasn't feeling up to it. Nonetheless it was a fab evening and our stomachs were v satisfied. We'll defo visit Mandu next time we're in DC!