There is no love sincerer than the love for food and as long as there is Chinese food in the world, we are okay. We totally agreed with Alexander Theroux when he said, “The urge for Chinese food is always unpredictable: famous for no occasion, standard fare for no holiday, and the constant as to demand is either whim, the needy plebiscite of instantly famished drunks, or pregnancy.”
With rains pouring outside, the yearn for binging on Chinese food automatically goes up. They say the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach so, welcome romance this monsoon by whipping up some scrumptious Chinese dishes like fried chilli squid or lamb rolls in soya sauce or sea-food soup for your partner with the recipes given inside and thank us later as they serve 2 and take barely 15-30 minutes to prepare.
Fried chilli squid:
Ingredients:
Onion – 40gm
Capsicum Green- 20gm
Green Chilli-8gm
Squids- 130gm
Garlic-2gm
Salt-3gm
White Pepper- 1gm
Broth- 200ml
Dark Soya- 20ml
Chilli Paste- 10gm
Tomato Ketchup- 10ml
Spring onion- 5gm
Method:
Take all the veggies, squids and clean them thoroughly in water. Fry the squids in vegetable oil and keep them aside when light brown in colour. Dice the veggies into pieces and boil them.
Strain the boiled water in a bowl and keep it aside for later use. Chop garlic cloves and ginger and sauté the diced veggies. Add salt, pepper, and the veggie-broth and stir them till thickened.
On top, add dark soya, ½ teaspoon of Chilli paste and ½ tea spoon of tomato ketchup and stir for few seconds. Toss the fried squids into the pan with the above-mentioned ingredients.
Stir the whole preparation till the required thickness and taste is attained. Serve it hot and finally sprinkle spring onions on top.
Lamb rolls in soya sauce:
Ingredients:
Shredded Lamb- 100gm
Ginger-5gm
Garlic-5gm
Chopped Onion- 80gm
Oyster Sauce-5gm
Dark Soya Sauce-10gm
Chilli Paste-10gm
Tomato Ketchup-10gm
Wonton Sheet-2 pieces
Sugar-2gm
Salt-2gm
White Pepper-1gm
Oil-30ml
Methods:
Take the lamb meat and thoroughly clean in clear water. Now shred the Lamb and marinate it using salt, sugar, pepper, onion, chilli paste, ginger and garlic.
In a pan take refined oil; toss the lamb in a concoction of Oyster Sauce, Soya Sauce and Tomato ketchup. When done, take the tossed prep and place it aside.
On the other side take two pieces of wonton sheets. Place the tossed lamb right at the centre of the wraps and start rolling the wrap from the one end to the other.
Now take the rolls and start steaming. Take out when fully steamed and melt into your first bite of Lamb Rolls in Soya Sauce.
Sea-food soup:
Ingredients:
Squid-15gm
Prawn -20gm
Crabmeat-15gm
Garlic- 2gm
Salt-3gm
Pepper-3gm
Broth Powder-3gm
Corn Flour-15gm
Egg-0.25ml
Wine-3ml
Coriander Leaf-1gm
Method:
Take squids, crab and prawn; chop them into pieces after thorough cleaning. Boil them and sauté them with garlic.
Add the stock water and mix broth powder; stir them a little. Add corn flour on top and stir them once again.
Season the preparation with required amount of salt, pepper, egg drop and wine while the soup is in boiling point. Pour the soup in a bowl and finally top it off with sprinkles of coriander.
(Recipes: Ram Bahadur Budhathoki, Head-Chef, Chowman-Chain of Restaurants)
Benefits:
Squid is rich in vitamins and minerals including potassium, iron, phosphorus and copper which are essential nutrients in the performance and health of blood cells, bones and the immune system. The Vitamin B-12 and B6 in squids are needed by the body for neural health and blood health while the vitamin B6 in it protects the heart from strokes and the selenium content works with vitamin E in the promotion of normal body growth and fertility.
Commonly included as a meat consumed in Mediterranean diets, lamb meat lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease or risk of inflammation. Grass-fed lamb is a very good source of selenium and zinc which fight against oxidative stress.
The zinc content also helps boost immunity along with growth and development in children. Apart from these, zinc content in lamb helps in wound healing, DNA and protein synthesis.
When compared to other protein sources like chicken or fish, lamb as a red meat has a lot more iron that can help to improve and prevent anemia symptoms. The anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids in lamb meat aid fat loss and improve lean muscle mass courtesy its conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
Like squids, prawns are also a rich source of selenium which is one of the most effective antioxidants at maintaining healthy cells. Prawns consumption promotes a healthy immune system courtesy the high levels of zinc in it along with building strong bones due to their phosphorous, copper and magnesium content.
Crabmeat too contains selenium but it is also one of the best possible dietary sources of protein available. They are considered a superfood due to their rich quantity of nutrients and the abundance of zinc that no other plant or food can compete. Crab meat is also low in fat and contains Omega-3 polyunsaturated acids which helps provide protection from heart disease and aids brain development.
