Cooking With MSG For The First Time

Time to give the MSG I got from Amazon the other day a try and what better way to try it than some delicious home made egg fried rice with mushrooms and prawns?!

If you have ever made your own egg fried rice, you will already know it is so much more delicious than you'll get from any takeaway!  But can I make it taste even more amazing by using a sprinkling of MSG, lets find out!

The small bowl on the right is the one with MSG in it.  I wasn't sure how much to add so I just added a tiny amount but couldn't really taste a difference so I had to add a sprinkling more...

Not as salty as I thought it would be and it did make the egg fried rice taste different.  Whether it made it taste better I couldn't say as fresh home cooked egg fried rice is scrumptious on it's own before adding anything like MSG!

At the moment I would say the Jury Is Out on this one, only time will tell if I find adding MSG improves the taste of my dishes or not.

Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls - Chinese Takeaway Style

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Portions: 1-2

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Ingredients

For the Chicken Balls:

• 65g of Plain Flour
• 1 tsp baking soda powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 eggs
• 80ml semi-skimmed milk
• 1/2 tbsp groundnut oil
• 2 chicken breast fillets chopped in to suitable size pieces (around 2.5cm square should do)

For the Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 120ml orange juice
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1/2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1.5 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1.5 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp water

For Frying:

• Enough Groundnut oil to put in a deep pan or wok so that the chicken balls will not touch the bottom

If you do not have (or cannot afford) enough of the groundnut oil to fry them in then use a flavourless oil like sunflower or vegetable oil instead.

Tip: in the oil section of the supermarkets here in the UK is where a lot of people buy a small 500ml bottle of groundnut oil for around £2.50 (that's around £5 per litre) whereas if you look in the World Foods aisle you can often find a 1litre bottle for around £4 so a 20% saving if you use that much oil...

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Equipment

• Mixing Bowl
• Saucepan form making the sauce
• Pan of oil for frying the balls in

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Instructions

1. Make the sauce by bunging all the ingredients (apart from the cornflour mix) in to a saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Once boiling reduce the heat to simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Carefully pour a bit of the cornflour mix and give it a good stir.  Keep stirring and bit by bit add the rest of the cornflour and don't stop stirring!
   
   
   
   
   
4. Once it's the right thickness take it off the heat and put to one side...
5. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix it all together
   
   
   
   
   
6. In a small bowl or dish, beat the egg, milk and 1/2 tbsp groundnut oil together
   
   
   
   
   
7. Pour the beaten egg mix in to the flour mix and mix all together to make a smooth thick paste
   
8. Add the chopped up chicken to the batter and mix well ensuring every part of the chicken is covered
   
   
   
   
   
9. Heat the oil to 170° in a suitable deep pan or wok - make sure there is enough oil so that the chicken balls do not touch the bottom
10. Carefully place the chicken in to the oil one at a time (to avoid any splashing)
    
    
    
    
    
11. Fry the balls in small batches for 5-6 minutes at a time
12. If you have a food thermometer then they should reach an internal temperature of 78°
    
    
    
    
    
13. Place the cooked chicken balls on a plate that has some kitchen paper on it

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Serving Suggestion(s)

Serve with the sweet and sour dipping sauce you made earlier and it goes very well with some home made Egg Fried Rice and some Prawn Crackers!

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Egg Fried Rice - Chinese Takeaway Style

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Portions: 1-2

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Ingredients

• 250g(ish) of cold rice
• 1 tbsp groundnut oil
• Salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 eggs (beaten)

OPTIONAL EXTRAS

For extra flavour consider adding any (or all) of the following:

• Chopped Scallions (Spring Onions)
• Shredded Chicken
• Prawns
• Bamboo Shoots
• Peas
• Shredded Pork
• Sliced Mushrooms

I particularly like adding chopped spring onions and sliced mushrooms.  By adding prawns, chicken and prawns etc. you have now made Special Fried Rice!

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Equipment

• Wok or large frying pan
• Sharp Knife
• Chopping Board
• Spatula or wooden spoon

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Instructions

1. Heat the oil on a high temperature in Wok or suitable large frying pan - if when you add the rice it doesn't try to pop out of the pan on to your work surface, your oil is not hot enough!
   
   
   
   
   
2. When the oil is very hot, carefully pour in the beaten eggs and constantly stir in the oil very well
   
   
   
   
   
3. Add the cold rice and continue to stir, stab and mix in to the egg and oil that is already in there - continue cooking for 2 minutes
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add a pinch of salt and continue to stir/mix
5. Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce and continue to stir/mix
   
   
   
   
   
6. Add any of the additional ingredients listed above that you like and mix them in until they are hot
   
   
   
   
   
7. Serve and enjoy!
   
   
   
   
   

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Serving Suggestion(s)

They go very well with some homemade Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls (even if I do say so myself)!

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