Text: Robyn Timson for Vicki Clarke and Nikki Gaskell of Fresh Catering.  Photographs: Karl Rogers

Source: This is taken from the August 2011 issue of Food & Home Entertaining

Start your meal with Oriental fireworks.

Seafood tempura with chilli lime dipping sauce

Serves 4 Easy 40 mins

Dipping Sauce

• 200g (1 cup) sugar
• 125ml (1/2 cup) water
• 2 medium-heat red chillies, seeded and thinly sliced
• 30ml (2 tbsp) fish sauce
• zest and juice of 4 limes

Tempura

• 2 large eggs, separated
• 375ml (1,5 cups) ice-cold sparkling water
• 120g (1 cup) cake flour
• 60g (1/2 cup) corn flour
• 10ml (2 tsp) baking powder
• 10ml (2 tsp) salt
• oil, for deep-frying
• 12 king prawns, shelled and cleaned, tails intact
• 12 calamari rings
• 12 oysters, freshly shucked (clean the shells and keep half for serving)

1. To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients except the lime juice in a small saucepan and reduce until a thick syrup is formed. Allow to cool, then stir in the lime juice a little at a time according to taste.
2. For the tempura, combine the egg yolks and sparkling water. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to light peaks. Stir the dry ingredients together and add the water and egg yolk mixture. Stir very quickly with chopsticks until the mixture is just combined. Don’t worry about lumps, they are good. Finish by lightly folding in the beaten egg whites.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan until hot. Dip each piece of seafood into the batter, drop into the oil and deep-fry until golden and crispy. Remember to give the shells a little clean first.
4. Serve immediately, with the crispy oysters on the clean half-shells and the dipping sauce on the side.

Crispy Duck Pancakes

Text: Anna Montalia Assisted by Nomvuselelo Mncube. Styling by Ingrid Casson.

Serves 4 A Little effort 1 hour 45 mins

To drink: De Grendel Pinot Noir, with sweet fruit and soft tannins.

Marinade

• 60ml (1/4 cup) fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 45ml (3 tbsp) rice wine vinegar
• 45ml (3 tbsp) Sichuan pepper
• sea salt, to taste
• 4 star anise
• 30ml (2 tbsp) soy sauce
• 4 duck breasts

Pancakes

• 500g cake flour
• 300ml boiling water
• 15ml (1 tbsp) sunflower oil
• 45ml (3 tbsp) sesame oil

Dipping Sauce

• 15ml (1 tbsp) sesame oil
• 125ml (1/2 cup) hoisin sauce
• 60ml (1/4 cup) castor sugar
• 125ml (1/2 cup) water
• 15ml (1 tbsp) soy sauce
• 15ml (1 tbsp) corn flour, dissolved
• in 15ml (1 tbsp) cold water
• 45ml (3 tbsp) peanut oil, for frying cucumber, sliced, to serve spring onion, sliced, to serve

1. Place all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the duck, cover with plastic wrap and leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.
2. To make the pancakes, sift the flour into a mixing bowl and slowly pour in the water, stirring continuously. Mix in the sunflower oil and when the dough is cool enough to handle, knead until smooth. Cover with a cloth and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.
3. Knead the dough for a few minutes and divide into small balls. Roll each ball into a cigar shape and slice into 8 pieces. Roll the pieces into little balls and flatten into thin discs about 12cm in diameter. Brush 1 side of a disc with the sesame oil and place another disc on top to form a sandwich. Repeat until all the discs are paired.
4. Warm a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and fry each paired pancake on both sides until it starts to bubble and brown slightly. Once done, peel the pancakes apart, stack and cover with plastic wrap until required.
5. For the dipping sauce, heat all the ingredients except the corn flour mixture in a non-stick pan. Once the sauce starts to bubble slightly, add the corn flour mixture and stir until thickened. Set aside to cool.
6. Remove the duck breasts from the marinade. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
7. Heat the peanut oil in a non-stick frying pan and fry the duck skin-side down until the skin is brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to an oven dish skin-side up and bake until done to your liking, about 4 minutes for medium-rare. Slice thinly.
8. Serve the duck, pancakes and greens in separate dishes with the sauce on the side. To assemble, lay a pancake on a plate, top with a little duck, cucumber and spring onion, drizzle with the sauce, roll up and eat.

Give your sweets a touch of Oriental spice

Text: Lisa Clark. Photographs: Bruce Tuck

Ginger and white chocolate steamed pudding

Serves 6-8 Easy 2 hours 30 mins

• 125g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 125g castor sugar
• 10ml (2 tsp) fresh ginger, grated
• 200g cake flour, sieved
• 5ml (1 tsp) baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs
• 30ml (2 tbsp) milk
• 150g white chocolate, melted and cooled
• fresh cream, whipped to serve
• 2 persimmons, finely sliced, to serve

1. Cream the butter, sugar and ginger until fluffy. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Beat together the eggs and milk, then mix in the chocolate mixture.
3. Alternately add small amounts of the flour mixture and the chocolate mixture to the creamed butter, beating after each addition until thoroughly blended.
4. Grease a 1-litre pudding bowl with the extra butter and cut out a circle of baking paper to fit the top of the bowl. Pour the batter into the bowl and cover with the baking paper and a pleated circle of foil, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
5. Bring 5cm of water to the boil in a large pot. Place an upside-down saucer on the base of the pot and the pudding bowl on top of the saucer. Cover the pot with a lid and steam for 2 hours.
6. Lift the bowl from the pot and remove the plastic, foil and baking paper. Turn the pudding out onto a plate and slice.
7. Serve with cream and persimmon. 

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