Cook yourself thin

Korean Fried Chicken with Cucumber dipping sauce

Serves 4 | Preparation time 10 minutes | Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 large cucumber
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon caster sugar
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
2½ tbsp (gochujang) fermented chilli paste, or more to taste

For the chicken
4 chicken breasts, skin off, cut into bite sized pieces 80g fine matzo meal 80g self-raising flour
3 teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon ground paprika
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons togarashi, Japanese 7-spice powder
2 teaspoons gochugaru, Korean dried red chilli flakes or 2 teaspoons chilli flakes
2 teaspoons of gochujuang
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil

NUTRITIONAL BREAKDOWN
“The idea behind this is that much of the calories from fried chicken come from 2 things. Deep-frying and the accompaniments. Korean fried chicken is eaten on its own or with rice and in this recipe I have shallow fried and baked it saving bounds of calories” - Gizzi

METHOD
For the cucumber salad: cut the cucumber in half lengthways and scrape the seeds out with a spoon. Slice into 5mm crescents and tip into a bowl. Cover and chill. Whisk together the mirin, vinegar, sugar and 2 tablespoons of the sesame seeds in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the vinaigrette onto the cucumber and return to the fridge for a further 30 minutes.

Drain through a fine sieve, reserving the dressing. Return the cucumber to the bowl, and stir in any sesame seeds that may have collected on the bottom of the sieve. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

For the dipping sauce: put the gochujang in a small bowl and whisk in the reserved dressing from the cucumber (there should be about 75ml). Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds. Taste and add more chilli paste or sugar if you like. Pour into small dishes.

In a bowl, mix together the matzo meal, flour, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, sesame seeds, togarashi, gochugaru, gochujang and onion powder. Stir in about 500ml of ice-cold water to make a loose, thin batter. Whisk well to remove any lumps.

Dip each piece of chicken in the batter and fry in batches in the oil for about 6-8 minutes. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon then pop into the hot oven and bake for 10 minutes. Serve the fried chicken on plates with a small bowl of the dipping sauce and cucumber salad alongside.

Baked Seafood and Saffron Risotto

Serves 4 | Preparation time 20 minutes | Cooking time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
8 slices chorizo, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
250g risotto rice
225ml white wine
600ml fish, chicken or vegetable stock
pinch of saffron
large pinch smoked paprika
2 cloves garlic
8 raw king prawns, peeled
150g monkfish, trimmed and cut into cubes
8 mussels or clams
1 medium squid, cleaned, then cut into pieces (with or without tentacles)
small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley

METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Warm 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large casserole dish then bung in the onions and chorizo. Sauté them over a lowish heat for 8 minutes or until the onions have softened and turned slightly golden and the chorizo has released all of its oil and coloured a little. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute.

Stir through the rice and fry for a minute, then pour over the wine and stock and sprinkle in the saffron and paprika. Pop a lid on the casserole and place in the oven for 25 minutes.

The rice should now have absorbed most of the water but will still be a little soupy. Toss the seafood and monkfish in the remaining olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic, then throw the seafood into a hot frying pan and fry for 1 minute on each side or until the clams have opened up, the prawns are pink and the seafood is tinged with gold. Stir it into the risotto – the residual heat will cook it some more, throw in the parsley, give it one final stir and it’s ready to serve.