All language subtitles for Eva.Paus.Asian.Kitchen.S01E05.1080p.web.h264-cbfm

seasoning or drizzling,
flavours that bind by Lee Kum Kee,

proud sponsor
of Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen.

My name is Eva, and I'm very
excited to welcome you

into my Asian Kitchen.

In this series,
I'll share the secrets behind

cooking authentic, fresh,
delicious Asian food at home.

Recipes to breathe a bit of fresh
air into your weekly meal plan.

I could eat this every day.

To me, food and family
are inseparable.

My mum and dad are from China,
but we've lived in Ireland since I

was one month old, so I'm
a true blend of East and West.

I grew up running around
my parents' supermarket,

so my life has always been
about food, food, food.

I'm not a professional chef,
but cooking is my passion.

So when I'm not working,
I'm at home experimenting

with food or thinking about it.

I collect cookbooks and read them
like other people read fiction.

I'm very lucky that I get to travel
to Asia a few times a year.

I visit my granny in Hong Kong,
who is still cooking at 93,

and I keep up
with all the food trends.

So join me as we recreate the
bold and vibrant flavours of Asia.

Everyone loves a takeaway every now
and then, and I'm no different.

Chicken satay with
jasmine rice, please.

But today, I'm going to show you my
version of some classic takeaways

to make at home.

There's a stop you in your
tracks black bean beef.

It smells amazing.

A Chinese chicken curry where
Indian and Chinese spices combine

to create culinary magic.

Friday nights will never be the same.

First up is chicken satay.

This is just for research purposes.

As you saw there,
this is one I often order.

I love the mild spicy sweetness
and the lovely peanut flavour.

It's a great alternative to a curry,
and it's so quick and easy to make.

Let's start by marinating
the chicken.

So I know I'm like a broken record
when we're talking about marinating,

but it really does
make a huge difference.

So into the chicken,
I'm using chicken thigh meat

just because I really
like chicken thigh meat.

I think it's more tender,
more flavoursome.

And into that, I'm just going to
add a tablespoon of light soy,

a little bit of my
Chinese cooking wine,

and some of this kecap manis.

So kecap manis is an
Indonesian sweet soy sauce.

It's like thick, it's caramel-ly,

and it adds great flavour
to this satay chicken.

Then some sugar,

a little bit of cornstarch,

some salt,

and some white pepper.

It has a less intense
flavour than black pepper,

and I like that you can't see it.

Now I'm just going to give that
a really good mix together.

Marinating really just
helps to tenderise it,

and it really elevates the dish.

Even 15 minutes will
make a difference.

Okay, now we're just going
to put the rice on.

Remember to always
start with rinsing.

So you can see that the water is
just a little bit milky and starchy,

and you really just need
to rinse that water out.

I usually end up rinsing
it four or five times.

So the water is running clear now,
so this can be our last rinse.

Next, add some water.

So it's twice the amount
of water to rice.

And of course, this cold water
method works in a pot too.

Okay, it's time to prep our veg.

Finely slice two garlic cloves.

Chop the onion in big chunks.

Now for the carrot.

Peel the skin off.

So I like to play with my carrots.

Sometimes they're in flowers, and
now they're in diamond shape.

Peppers next.

Again, nice big chunks.

Now, time to heat up the wok.

A drizzle of oil.

First to the heat is the chicken.

You can definitely smell that this
marinade is slightly different to

other marinades that I've used,
because we've added in that lovely

sweet kecap manis.

Now, kecap manis is really used
a lot in Malaysia or Singapore

and Indonesia, and it's
just a fantastic sauce.

We're just going to cook
this for four to five minutes

and then set it aside.

So you can see how the chicken
is really nicely caramelised,

and you can see the
lovely colour on it as well.

And that's what the
kecap manis adds to it,

a lovely caramel, dark coating.

Okay, so now my chicken is ready.

I'm just going to add in all my veg.

♪♪

Look at those great colours.

I'm going to add in one
of my secret ingredients,

a teaspoon of this lovely
Malaysian curry powder.

Almost every Malaysian household
will have this curry powder,

and it's just this
really special blend that

really makes this satay amazing.

I'm adding in the curry
powder at this stage

because I really want it
to cook out in the oil

and stir-fry it all together
in with the vegetables.

You can definitely smell
those beautiful curry aromas.

Okay, now some crunchy peanut butter.

Two tablespoons.

Two tablespoons of satay sauce.

So this is like a lovely
thick sauce, and it's like adding

a curry paste into a curry,

so I'm adding this
satay paste into this satay.

You want the peanut butter
and satay sauce to melt fully,

which gives us time to make
a very quick chicken stock.

Now, I find chicken powder or
chicken cube works really well.

I'm just adding in a
teaspoon and a half here

and about 300 ml of hot water.

So now I'm just going to add in
a little bit of my chicken stock.

Really just stir this
in nice and slowly.

This gorgeous smell and aroma
of satay is really reminding me

of the satay street in Singapore.

They have stalls
after stalls of satay,

and satay in Asia generally
means skewers of meat,

and it's cooked over
this charcoal barbecue,

and they dip it into this
gorgeous satay sauce,

and it's sweet and peanutty.

This is definitely like
an Irish-Chinese take

on that satay chicken.

See how nice it is to leave
the veg kind of chunky?

You can really see it
through the sauce.

Now, the sauce needs
a little bit of thickening,

so I'm just going to quickly mix
up some cornstarch and water.

So a teaspoon of the cornstarch

and a little bit of water,
about 2 tablespoons.

Now, again, definitely use some
cold water, not hot water.

If you use hot water, the
sauce will turn really gloopy

and it will thicken very quickly.

So into my sauce, I'm just going to
turn the heat down a little bit

and then slowly stir it in.

You can add in as much
or as little as you like,

depending on how thick
you want your sauce to be.

That's just right for me.

Now we're going to
add in the chicken.

OK, let me have a quick taste there.

Mmm.

I think it can do with a
little more of the kecap manis.

This is so nice.
It's like a sweet, thick soy sauce

that adds a little molasses
flavour to your dish.

And then a little bit of sugar.

Give that a little stir.

That kecap manis also, you can see,
darkens the sauce a bit as well,

so it gives a lovely colour.

Quick taste.

Mmm. Perfect.

OK, we are ready to plate up.

The beauty of the rice cooker is that
it keeps your rice nice and warm,

ready to go when
your dish is ready.

And then some of my satay chicken.

My mouth is watering looking at this
and can smell this beautiful aroma

from the satay chicken.

So I'm just going to finish it off
with a sprinkling of peanuts.

Now we're ready to taste.

Mmm.

It's so nice.

The chicken is so tender, the
vegetables are just perfect

and crunchy, and then you
have this gorgeous,

peanutty, warming sauce.

No wonder people love
this dish so much.

♪♪

Black bean beef has been a takeaway
classic since takeaways began,

and it's all down to the beans.

They are bursting with a
deep, rich, unique flavour,

a taste that you just can't
replicate with anything else.

So we're going to start
with our star ingredient,

our black bean flavour bombs.

Now, they are dried and fermented, so
all we need to do is rehydrate them.

Now, you don't want too much because
they pack so much flavour into them,

so three tablespoons is
enough for our black bean.

And then we're just going to
add a bit of hot water to it.

So the black beans need to be
soaked for five minutes.

Now, we want to
prepare our vegetables.

So first off,
finely slice your garlic

as it'll be going in
with the black beans.

But chop your white onion into
medium chunks, and then your red and

green peppers into strips,
which you cut in half.

OK, now time to start on our beef.

So I have a fabulous thick cut
of Irish sirloin beef here.

I'm just going to take off the fat.

And then we're just going
to finely slice it.

The meat is lovely and lean.

You can use any type
of beef you like.

You can use ribeye
beef or fillet beef.

I remember the first time I tasted
this flavour combination of the

black bean, it was actually a
dish that my dad had made.

It was black bean steamed spare ribs,

and it's a typical dish
that you get at dim sum.

Dim sum is the Chinese
equivalent of Spanish tapas.

But this is a lovely version of it.

It's a saucier version of it,
so I'm really excited.

So now we're going to
marinate the beef.

I'm just going to give
my hands a quick wash.

OK, so into the marinating
we're going to go

one tablespoon of light soy,
a little bit of our sesame oil,

a little drizzle.
Then a bit of sugar.

A bit of white pepper.

And now last but not least, a
little bit of bicarbonate of soda.

It really seals the beef,
and so when you fry it,

it becomes so tender.

Give that a really good mix.

So now you want to leave the beef
to infuse for 15 to 20 minutes.

I think I'll make a cup of tea.

Whether it's breakfast,
lunch or a quick snack,

Chiu Chow it with Lee Kum Kee,

proud sponsor of
Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen.

Lee Kum Kee, proud sponsor
of Eva Pau's Asian Kitchen.

So now we're going to
start on our sauce.

Now you can get this ready-made,
but we're going to make one today.

So into this bowl I'm going to add
a little bit of my light soy.

Some dark for some colour.

Teaspoon of sugar.

And some water.

The sauce you can buy already has
black beans and garlic in it.

Let's check on our beans,
the flavour bombs.

They're nicely softened,
I'm just going to strain them.

Right, we're ready for our stir-fry.

So let's heat up the pan.

A drizzle of oil.

In go the fermented beans
and our garlic.

Be careful here, you really
just want to keep them in for

two minutes or so.

You don't want to over-fry
the beans because

your sauce will then
become a bit bitter.

You can smell the
lovely aroma of the garlic

and the beans
together here, actually.

OK, now time to take them out.

I'm just going to add another
drizzle of oil into the pan.

And then in goes our beef.

So you want to just
lightly sear both sides.

Take about two to three minutes.

Now I'm just going to
set the beef aside.

It smells amazing.

Into the hot wok, we're just going
to add a little bit more oil.

In with the onions and peppers.

Stir-fry these for three to four
minutes until they're soft

but still a bit crunchy.

Now it's time to bring
everything together.

I'm going to add in my beef,
my black bean and garlic...

..and then my sauce.

That is smelling so good now.

It really is coming all together.

So it is at this stage that you might
decide whether to thicken your

sauce or not,
and I think I will

with my usual cornflour
and cold water mixture.

I'm just going to turn
the heat down a little,

add a little and stir it
through, let it heat through.

It's good to stir it in and
pour it in little by little

and not just the whole thing,
because this way you can see

how thick you want
your sauce to be.

Turn the heat up again
and stir it together.

That's the perfect
consistency that I wanted.

OK, we are ready to plate up.

I can't wait to taste this.

I'm just going to garnish
with a few chillies.

The big, bold flavours of that
gorgeous black bean sauce,

it really does pack a punch, and
it's a great east-meets-west dish

with the lovely Irish beef
and the Asian flavours.

It's completely delicious.

OK, confession time.

My guilty pleasure is a bag of chips
from my local Chinese takeaway

and a tub of curry sauce, so this
next recipe is my take on the

classic Chinese
takeaway chicken curry

that gave us the curry chip,
the two-in-one, the three-in-one,

and last but not least,
the four-in-one.

OK, you've guessed it.

We're going to be marinating
our chicken first.

So into the chopped chicken, we
are adding in a bit of saltiness,

light soy, and then we're going in
with a little bit of nuttiness

with our sesame oil,

a little bit of Chinese cooking
wine, which is a little bit sweet,

a little bit of sugar,

and then a pinch of
white pepper.

I'm sure you are getting really
familiar with using all these

Asian pantry staples.

Mix that in really well.

So we're just going
to let that infuse

and now we're going
to prep our spices.

So into a bowl, I'm going to
add a little bit of ginger powder

and then some five-spice.

Now this is a really nice five-spice,
Chinese five-spice powder,

and in that there's cinnamon,
there's cloves, there's cardamom,

there's star anise
and there's fennel,

and then a little bit of turmeric,

and one big teaspoon of
the madras curry powder.

You want to give that
a good mix around.

Okay, veg time.

First off, we need to chop an onion.

So traditionally in
a Chinese chicken curry,

you have your
onions and your peas,

but I like to add
in a little bit of carrot.

Adds a bit of color to the dish.

There's no special way to cut
this carrot, by the way.

It's just normal slices.

I'm just going to slice
up my garnish as well.

A few chopped chillies.

You can never be quite sure how
hot these little guys will be.

Okay, now it's time
to heat up our wok.

And into the pan, we're just going
to drizzle a little bit of oil.

Now into the hot wok, we're going
to add our carrot and our onions.

So you just really
want to stir-fry this

for 2 to 3 minutes to soften them.

I never get tired of this
wonderful sound of sizzling.

Next, our chicken.

So here you might need to
add in a little bit more oil.

And so as you can see,
I'm using that technique of

moving all the vegetables
to one side of the wok

and then stir-frying the chicken

where the heat is the highest,
which is in the middle of the wok.

So the chicken is now seared, and
it's time to get all our spices in.

Give it a good stir.

Look at that color.

Once you have mastered this recipe,
Friday night will never be the same.

Nearly there.

Into this, we're going to add
a little bit of chicken stock.

Some frozen peas.

And finally, some cornflour and
water to thicken the sauce.

This is such a simple little method,

but all the Chinese
restaurants use this.

So I'm just going to turn
down the heat a little.

And again, you just add it in bit by
bit until you see that the sauce

has thickened to the
consistency that you want.

So I was once asked what makes a
Chinese chicken curry so special,

and I really had to think about it.

What is different to this
Chinese chicken curry?

When I thought about it, it was
really that there was no coconut milk

like a Thai curry, and
there's no chopped tomatoes

like an Indian curry.

So this curry is actually quite
unique to a Chinese-Irish takeaway.

Now I'm just going to
give it a bit of a taste

to see if I need to
add in any salt and sugar.

Doesn't need any more salt, but
definitely needs a little sugar.

A couple of teaspoons will do it.

Okay, so the chicken
curry is ready to plate up,

but I really want
some coriander in it,

so I'm just going to grab
some from the fridge.

The stalks actually give the
dish a lot of flavour as well.

Perfect.

Okay, it's time to plate up.

You can see how gorgeous
and glossy the sauce is.

Ready for a few garnishes.

Sprinkling of coriander and a
sprinkling of red chopped chillies.

There we have it,
our Chinese chicken curry.

Mmm.

That lovely, sweet curry sauce

made from the lovely
Indian curry spice blend

along with the Chinese five-spice,
it really is a crowd-pleaser.

But what I really like with
the curry is some chips.

So I have a bag here, and I'm going
to dunk it into the curry sauce.

Mmm.

It really is the perfect combination.

So there you go,

my take on three takeaway classics
that you can make at home.

The power of the tiny but mighty
black bean has been revealed.

I've given you my
satay sauce secrets,

and you now know how to recreate
your favourite takeaway curry.

Have fun cooking,
and see you next time.

All the recipes from today's episode
can be found at rte.ie/food.

♪♪