Clean, Beautiful and Fragrant Food......

......is a good way to talk about the Chinese meal my bro, chef Andy Logue, whipped up for Tuesday night's dinner.

We had white poached chicken with ginger and shallots, stir fried noodles with mushrooms, and Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce.

Mixed in with laughter, exquisite wine and company, the meal was just what I craved after a busy day in my own kitchen.

With Neil Perry's "Balance and Harmony" cookbook perched on the side board, I saw where the usually Italian-justified cook got his inspiration for the night. So after dinner with cheeks sore from laughter and a belly full of comfort food, I cuddled up in bed and devoured the book myself.

Heaven!

Poached Chicken with Ginger and Shallots

Ingredients
1 chicken, rinsed
2 knobs of ginger, sliced
5 shallots, trimmed
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 star anise
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Sea salt
Vegetable oil

1. Place chicken in a snug-fitting saucepan and cover with cold water. Then remove the chook and add one knob of ginger, two shallots, soy sauce, rice wine, star anise and sesame oil to the water. Bring water to the boil.
2. Place chicken, breast side down, back into the pot and return to the boil. Cover saucepan with a lid, remove from heat and stand for two hours.
3. In a mortar and pestle, pound the remaining ginger, shallots and a pinch of sea salt into a paste. Cover with a little vegetable oil.
4. Remove chicken from the pot. Then remove the breast and legs and cut into pieces. Serve with ginger and shallot paste.

Happy eating,
Simmone x