Entertaining

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this delicious seafood supper
The Chinese New Year, which starts on February 1st, is one of those annual events that really captures the imagination. It is celebrated in such a colourful and joyous way and Chinese food is so delicious, quick and simple to make that I hope you won't be able to resist having a go at it, inauthentic though it absolutely is.
Buy in the dim sum and make the ice cream ahead and all you need make on the night is the stir-fry.
Menu:
A selection of dim sum
Luxury seafood stir fry, steamed pak choi
Stem ginger and almond ice cream, mandarin oranges and fortune cookies
A selection of dim sum
Frankly I think life is too short to make your own dim sum so unless you’re already an expert at rolling miniature spring rolls and making featherlight steamed dumplings I would order them in from your local takeaway or buy them ready made. The exception are these simple sesame prawn toasts which are easier to handle than the classic Chinese deep fried ones and can be prepared ahead and baked at the last minute
Sesame Prawn Toasts
Makes about 30 toasts
350g cooked, peeled prawns
2-3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger or ginger paste
1 tsp finely grated fresh garlic or garlic paste
1 1/2 tsp Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1 medium egg white
1 tbsp ground rice
Salt, pepper and a pinch of caster sugar
About 5 thin slices white bread, preferably 2-3 days old
60-75g sesame seeds
Put the prawns in a food processor or blender along with all the other ingredients except the bread and sesame seeds and whizz until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for an hour or two for the flavours to amalgamate.
Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8. Cut the crusts off the bread and toast lightly. Cool then spread each slice thickly with the prawn paste. Cut each slice into six. Put the sesame seeds into a shallow bowl. Press the prawn toasts upper side down lightly into the sesame seeds then lay them on baking trays. Bake for about 5-6 minutes until the toasts are warm and the sesame seeds lightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes then serve.
Luxury seafood stir fry
This recipe may look long and complicated but it’s simply a matter of assembling the ingredients and throwing them together at the last minute in a wok.
Serves 6
400g large prawns, thawed if frozen
200g fresh queen (small) scallops
1 level tbsp cornflour
200g broccoli florets (about two medium heads of broccoli) cut into smaller florets3 tbsp sunflower or light olive oil
4-6 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
125g shitake mushrooms, wiped and finely sliced
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 knob of ginger about 2.5 cm square, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp Sichuan pepper or crushed chillies (optional)
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
For the sauce
225 ml light vegetable stock made with 1/2 an organic stock cube or 1 rounded tsp vegetable bouillon powder
Sieved juice of 1 large lemon (about 3-4 tbsp)
3-4 tbsp rice wine, sake or fino sherry
1 level tbsp caster sugar
1 level tbsp light soy sauce
1 rounded tsp cornflour
Reserve any liquid from the prawns and scallops. Pat them dry with kitchen towel and put in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the cornflour, season with 1 level tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp white pepper and toss thoroughly then set aside (in the fridge if you’re preparing the dish more than 30 minutes in advance) Microwave or blanch the broccoli in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
To make the sauce combine the stock in a jug with the lemon juice and 3 tbsp of the rice wine, sake or sherry. Stir in the sugar and the light soy sauce and check seasoning, adding more rice wine or other ingredients to taste. Mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp of water
When you’re ready to cook heat the wok, add 3 tbsp of oil and tip in the spring onions and sliced mushrooms. Stir fry for 2 minutes then add the broccoli, garlic and ginger. Stir fry another minute then season with sichuan pepper or crushed chillies if using. Tip in the seafood, the sauce and any liquid from the prawns and scallops and cook, stirring, until it comes to the boil (about 3 minutes) Add the cornflour and stir till thickened. Take off the heat and check the seasoning adding extra salt or pepper if needed. Serve with plain boiled rice and some steamed pak choi.
Stem ginger and almond ice cream
You can make this luxurious ice cream milder or stronger depending how much ginger you use. I’ve given quantities for 4 as it’ll fit into a standard ice cream machine. Just make the recipe twice to serve 6-8.
Serves 4
4-6 pieces of stem ginger + 3 tbsp of syrup from the jar
150ml Stone’s ginger wine
1 tbsp Cointreau or other orange liqueur + extra to serve
300g carton fresh custard
142ml carton whipping cream
A few drops of almond essence
Fortune cookies and mandarin oranges to serve
Chop the ginger very finely and place in a bowl. Put the syrup in a small saucepan with the ginger wine and Cointreau, bring to the boil and simmer for about 8-10 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half. Pour over the ginger and cool for 10 minutes.
Transfer the custard into a large bowl and stir in the ginger and syrup. Whip the cream lightly and fold it into the custard, then add a few drops of almond essence to taste. Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and churn until firm, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Or, if you don’t have a machine, pour the mixture into a shallow dish or plastic container and place in the freezer then remove after 1 1/2 hours and whisk with an electric hand whisk. Repeat this freezing and whisking process 2 more times then leave until thoroughly frozen.
Store the frozen ice cream in a sealed plastic box and freeze for 24 hours.Transfer the ice cream to the fridge for 30 minutes before serving to make it easier to scoop. Serve with fortune cookies or another light crisp biscuit and tinned mandarin oranges drained and marinated in 2 tablespoons of Cointreau or another orange liqueur. Do give each person 8 segments - 8 is a sacred number in China and considered to bring luck and prosperity!
What to drink:
There are two ways to go with the wines for this menu - an aromatic white such as Riesling (I would recommend a young dry Riesling from Germany or Alsace), or a fruity Bordeaux rosé which is surprisingly good with Chinese food. I’ve also discovered that a good cold gin and tonic is exceptionally refreshing with fried dim sum such as prawn toasts and spring rolls although you could equally well serve a glass of Champagne or sparkling wine. Finish with a cup of delicate jasmine or chrysanthemum tea.

How to make a perfect G & T
In case it's escaped your notice today is International Gin and Tonic Day - a rather bizarre notion but then every food and drink seems to have its own day these days. However it does provide an excuse to re-run this article on how to make the perfect gin and tonic, under the guidance of the great Salvatore Calabrese:
"Salvatore Calabrese puts two ice cubes in a tumbler, pours over half a measure of gin, adds a dash of tonic and gives it a stir. “Try that”, he says. I take a tentative sip. “Right, that’s NOT the way to make a gin and tonic. It’s too warm and too oily. Because there isn’t enough ice it dilutes the drink. Now here’s what you should do . . .”
He fills a tall glass full of ice cubes - I count about 8. Twice the amount of gin goes in - a full 50ml measure. He tops it up with a small, freshly-opened can of tonic right up to the rim, drops in a half slice of lemon, stirs and offers it to me again. It’s just gorgeous. Cold, citrussy, fragrant, refreshing. “THAT’S what a gin and tonic should taste like.” London’s most legendary barman allows a small smile of satisfaction to pass his lips.
I have come to pick Salvatore’s brains on the subject of gin in his eponymous bar at the exclusive Fifty club in Mayfair (he's now at the members' only Salvatore's at the Playboy Club at 14 Park Lane FB). It is, he says, the first bottle he would pick for any home bar. “You simply can’t make cocktails without it.” So how do you know which to choose I ask, eyeing the large selection behind the bar.
For a barman it’s a question of the type of cocktail you’re going to make, Salvatore explains. “Many barman would use Beefeater or Bombay Sapphire for a G & T and a more powerful gin like Tanqueray for a classic dry martini. But at home you should simply choose the brand you enjoy most.”
The quality of the other ingredients are important too. For a gin and tonic for instance the tonic should be standard not slimline and - most important - freshly opened. The ice should be made with still mineral water. Lemon is preferable for the garnish even though some producers recommend lime. “A wedge gives more of the essence of the skin but a slice is more elegant” says Salvatore who has obviously given a great deal of thought to such matters.
As one of Britain’s oldest spirits gin has had its ups and downs. Brought to England in the early 17th century by the Dutch who were the first to flavour a spirit with juniper, by the 18th century gin drinking had become a virtual epidemic. “By 1730 in London alone there were over 7000 dram shops. Gin was sold everywhere: in taverns, alehouses and squalid gin shops, in chandler’s merchants and corner stores, tobacconists, barbers, as well as by street hawkers and pedlars” writes Geraldine Coates in Discovering Gin. In 1733, it was calculated that London produced 11 million gallons of gin, 14 gallons for every adult in the city. It was only when the government succeeded in restricting sales to licensed premises and raising taxes that the rot was stopped. By contrast the ‘gin palaces’, the elaborately decorated bars of the Victorian era were perceived as highly glamourous as were the cocktail bars of the 1920s and 30s when gin-drinking was the height of chic.
Over the years the style of gin changed too from being a comparatively sweet drink, distilled, like vodka, from grain to a bone dry one, the style now described as ‘London Gin’ (London always having been the centre of gin production in this country). It relies for its character on the so-called botanicals (plants and spices) that are used to flavour it. Apart from juniper the essential flavouring ingredient of all gins, the most common are coriander, angelica and orange and lemon peel but some producers use more exotic ingredients like Javan cubeb berries, grains of paradise from West Africa and Orris root (the root of irises).
More recently there has been a fashion for adding distillations of fresh ingredients such as rose petals, cucumber and lemon grass, a development that has revived interest in gin in fashionable style bars. Sales of premium gins have increased by 12% in the past year. “It’s similar to what was happening with vodka 10 years ago” says Geraldine Coates. “Bartenders are becoming bored with vodka because it doesn’t have much flavour and are turning to gin instead”.
They also like the high strength of many contemporary gins which makes the spirit hold its character well in a cocktail. Plymouth for example, is 41.2%; Tanqueray an even higher43.1%. Gordon’s was much criticised a few years ago for reducing its strength to 37.5% but it still shows up well in blind tastings, says Coates.
Salvatore Calabrese agrees that it’s a matter of taste. “You should try different gins until you find the one you like.” And what does he like? “I like them all” he says diplomatically, glancing at his line-up of bottles. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be here.”
This article was first published in Sainsbury's magazine. Salvatore Calabrese is the author of Classic Cocktails (Prion 9.99) For more information about gin and cocktail recipes visit www.gintime.com
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