School of Wok

January's Video of the Month is... How to make crispy wontons!

It's well known that these little beauties aren't the easiest things to make (you almost need a degree in Origami), but thanks to Jez's great analogies (clue: one involves a clapping seal) you'll soon be a wonton wonder!

Stuffed with a flavour-packing combination of shiitake mushrooms, coriander, garlic and Chinese chives, these wontons are ridiculously moreish - you have been warned...

Click the link below to view the video that Jez made with Blue Dragon. Let us know what you think...

Get used to this face - because you're going to see School of Wok head chef and founder Jeremy Pang just about everywhere from today! Fronting a new campaign lead by Blue Dragon, Jez is thrilled to celebrate the Year of the Dragon with a series of exciting competitions and giveaways. Pop into your nearest supermarket to pick up one of Blue Dragon's scrumptious sauces (ranging from Sweet Chilli to Chow Mein and Chinese Curry) and you'll have the chance to win one of 25 Jeremy Pang culinary experiences.

Ranging from a private lesson for 6 to a Chinese banquet cooked up by Jez himself, every prize guarantees mouthwatering results!

"I'm thrilled to be working with Blue Dragon," says Jeremy. "I chose to work with them because they share the School of Wok ethos - a real passion to get Britain cooking delicious Oriental cuisines at home. It's a great partnership and we can't wait to get working with the winners!"

Blue Dragon has been helping home cooks create authentic Oriental dishes for over 30 years. Fans of School of Wok should also keep an eye out for the Blue Dragon smartphone app... out soon, it will showcase 12 of Jez's favourite inspirational video recipes!

In Eastern philosophy, the dragon is thought of as a bringer of good luck - so why not give the competition a go! Click here for details.

You'll also spot Jez on the Sainsbury's website, where you can find some excellent stir fry tips and some ideas to create the perfect Chinese restaurant experience at home.

Planning to cook up something special for Chinese New Year? Tweet us @chefjeremypang using hash tag #chinesenewyear !

Want to see what got the TV chef so excited? Click below to view the video and then scroll down to access the full recipe and try it our for yourself. Bon appetit!

Tamarind Fish Curry

Ingredients:

2 white fish fillets
4 medium sized tomatoes

Base
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 knob butter
1 onion finely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 lime leaves
5 curry leaves
Whole Spices
2-3 fresh Birdseye chillies finely chopped
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds

Paste
1 tsp chilli powder
3 tsp curry powder
3 tbsp water

Tamarind Stock
3 cups of fish stock
3 tbsp tamarind pulp melted into 1 cup hot water
3-4  tsp sugar / palm sugar (to taste)
Salt to taste

Preparation
Preparation is key to this one-pot-wonder! Follow the steps closely:

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and place in a prep bowl
2. Crush all the whole spices together using either a pestle and mortar or a blender
3. Mix the ‘paste' in a separate prep bowl and leave aside
4. Slice the tomatoes into wedges and place in a prep bowl
5. Slice the fish fillets into edible ‘fingers'

The Stock
1. Mix all the ‘Tamarind Stock ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to boil
2. Maintain the stock on a simmer (low heat) for 20 minutes. Stir and cover with lid

Cooking the Curry
1. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1 knob butter to medium heat in a large saucepan
2. Add all the ‘Base' ingredients and cook until onions are slightly brown (5-7 minutes)
3. Add all the crushed ‘Whole Spices' and cook for 1 minute
4. Add and stir the ‘Paste' into the base and spices
5. Add the tomatoes and cover for 10 minutes stirring occasionally
6. Now add the stock to the base ingredients and mix well
7. Bring the curry to boil and allow to simmer
8. 10 minutes before serving, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok to high heat
9. Flash fry the fish fillets on high heat in the wok. Stir fry & toss for 2 minutes
10. Place in curry and stir into the sauce. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes

Serving
1. Garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve with white rice
2. The curry should be more ‘soupy' than thick

Whoever said there's no such thing as a free lunch was telling porkies! This Friday (18th November) 5000 lucky people will enjoy a slap-up meal in London's Trafalgar Square without a single penny changing hands. There's no catch - but there is a twist. All meals will be made from ingredients that would have otherwise been thrown away. Think wonky carrots, misshapen potatoes and other surplus produce.

'Feeding the 5000' is sponsored by various charities and seeks to highlight how easy it is to reduce levels of food waste in the UK. Earlier this week the Guardian reported that food waste has fallen by 13% over the last three years, which sounds positive, but when you take inflation into account it's actually still costing us Brits the same amount - putting edible household food waste at a value of around £12bn.

"After seeing bags and bags of good food going straight into the bin at the end of each day at the local supermarket, I am in full support of their campaign," says School of Wok head chef Jez. "I can't wait to see what the chefs are going to cook up. Feeding the 5000 is a brilliant idea and the free food is a very clever way of highlighting an important cause."

Earlier in the year, we blogged about 'binning', the adventurous food trend that saw people 'dumpster diving' to scavenge food thrown out by supermarkets that is still perfectly edible. But we have to admit that toddling down to Trafalgar Square for some free grub sounds like a much easier way of supporting the campaign!

If you can't get to London and don't fancy whirling through a wheely bin for your dinner, you can still show your support for the campaign by making an effort to reduce your waste at home. Do you overbuy, or throw away food that's overripe? We've probably all been a bit guilty of this at some stage, but some recipes actually work best with food that's headed into the realms of the overripe.

We're going to post up a couple of recipes using overripe ingredients over the next few days to inspire you. First up - a super easy apple sauce recipe, the perfect way to use up any surplus apples!

SUPER EASY APPLE SAUCE

Ingredients:
4 apples on the verge (not mouldy though, please!)
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of dried cinnamon

Directions:
Peel, core and chop your apples up. Chuck in a pot with the water, sugar and cinnamon and cook on a medium heat for about 20 mins, before leaving to cool and mashing to a pulp.

TOP TIP
We love this with pancakes and a dusting of icing sugar. Or skip the cinnamon and use as a delicious accompaniment for pork dishes.

With that worrying fact in mind, Antonio Carluccio will tonight seek to put beetroot back on the plates of the British public by revealing some fresh and exciting ways of cooking with it. We've been loving the show's quirky recipes based on classic British ingredients (garlic and pear dessert, anyone?) , and can't wait follow Carluccio as he goes on a quest to put our favourite purple veggie back under the spotlight.

If you're keen to get on the beetroot bandwagon, why not try out this delicious recipe kindly sent in to us by the lovely Katherine Potside via Twitter. Roasted beetroots are a perfect complement for warm smoked fish, making this dish perfect for a chilly winter's evening- plus best of all, it's easy peasy to make...

RECIPE: Smoked Fish & Roasted Mini Beets Salad

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS
For the horseradish dressing
2 teaspoons of jarred creamed horseradish
150ml of natural yoghurt
1 lemon

200g smoked fish (mackerel works well)
12 mini beetroots
2 tablespoons of oil
4 garlic cloves
1 handful oregano leaves
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Couple of handfuls of salad leaves

Place the scrubbed raw beetroots in foil with the garlic and oregano and drizzle the oil and vinegar over the top. Close up the foil parcel and place in a preheated oven (200c) for about 1 hour.

Brush the fish with oil and pop in the oven at 180 in a foil parcel for about 15 minutes. Remove any stray bones and skin and break the cooked fish into chunks.

Place the salad leaves on a plate, top with the roasted mini beets, layer on the chunks of warm smoked fish and drizzle over the horseradish dressing.

And enjoy!

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