Recipes - Chinese 'Fakeaway'

Gather all the ingredients I mentioned in my last post.  First things first, you need to cook your pan of rice, as this needs to be cooked and cooled down before making your egg fried rice.  I always lay it on a baking sheet as it cools down quicker.

Cooked rice cooling on a baking tray

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

In a large saucepan, heat a little groundnut oil, and add 300g very finely chopped chicken and 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Cook for about 5 - 6 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink.

Mix a little cornflour with a little hot chicken stock, stir this into the chicken and then add the remaining 1 litre Chicken stock, 200g sweetcorn, and one finely chopped spring onion.  Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for around 5 minutes.

Beat an egg with a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.  Gently pour this into the soup, stirring with a fork to create strands of egg.  Add a good splash of soy sauce - dark or light - and dish into bowls.  Top with more finely chopped spring onion.  Season to taste.


For the curry:

In a non-stick wok, heat a good splash of groundnut oil and add 600g diced chicken.  Cook on a high heat, stirring, for about 7 - 8 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink.

Slice 2 onions thickly, slightly separate the layers, and add to the pan.

 

The curry sauce cooking separately

In a saucepan, whisk 125g Curry Paste (I used Maysan brand) with 1 1/2 pints of cold water.  Bring to the boil, whisking the whole time.  Reduce heat and simmer, and sauce will thicken.

Pour the sauce into the cooked chicken and onions, and add 100g of garden peas.  Simmer for a further 10 minutes.


For the Egg Fried Rice:

Heat a wok with a good splash of groundnut oil, and when it is smoking hot, add the spring onions and the cold rice.  Stir fry for about 2 minutes. 

Beat 2 eggs, and stir this into the rice and onion mixture, continue to cook for 1 - 2 minutes.  Add a good chug of soy sauce, dark or light depending on preference, and 2/3 tsp salt (optional).  Cook for another 30 seconds and serve.

All dished up!

There we have it, my two course Chinese meal for four people, total cost £7.00.  I was quite impressed because I've never taken the time before to work out the cost of things before I cook them.  In future - if all I'm going to be ordering is a curry, will I think twice about it?  Definitely!

Pros - The meal for 4 cost £7.00 - £24.60 cheaper than it would have takeaway - that's a Christmas present!  The portion sizes were just right, meaning no food thrown away.

Cons - I had to cook it.  The dishes I had to wash before, during and afterwards, including an eggy wok (lol).  Because I literally did this on a whim I wasn't properly prepared so it was time consuming.  Wasn't *quite* the same (but near enough for the sake of £25!).

What do you think, do we waste our money on takeaways? Are they really worth the money we spend on them?  Can the tastes be replicated at home?  Do you have a favourite copycat fakeaway that you think is even better than the real thing?  Let me know what you think :-)