Nagi & Dozer - RecipeTin Eats

Let’s do homemade takeout tonight - General Tso’s Chicken! Crispy bits of chicken tossed in a sweet-sticky-savoury sauce, this is super popular in the States, and starting to make more of an appearance on menus here in Australia. But, usually they are way too greasy and way too sweet, and pretty darn expensive too. Make it at home! Usually it’s deep fried but honestly, shallow frying is more than sufficient. Anyone around here tried this already?? It’s one of my top takeout copycat recipes on my website. - N x ❤️
 General Tso’s Chicken   Sauce Marinade PART 1: 3 tbsp soy sauce (light or all-purpose NOT dark soy), 1 tbsp hoisin, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp chilli paste, any (Sambal Oelak great), 1 tsp sesame oil Sauce PART 2: 3 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch, 3/4 cup chicken stock/broth, low sodium CHICKEN: 600g/ 1.4 lb chicken thighs , boneless skinless*, cut into 2.5cm / 1” peices 1 tsp EACH ginger and ginger, finely grated 1 cup cornflour/cornstarch Oil, for frying (peanut, vegetable or canola) STIR FRY SAUCE: 2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola) 2 tsp EACH ginger and fresh garlic, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) GARNISHES: Finely sliced green onion, sesame seeds   1. Mix Sauce Part 1. Take 2 tbsp and mix into chicken with garlic and ginger, marinade 30 min. 2. Sauce Part 2: Add sugar and cornflour into remaining Sauce, mix until dissolved. Then add stock, mix, set aside. 3. Chicken: add cornflour, mix well to coat. Shake off excess in colander (or by handful). Heat 2cm / 4/5” oil in skillet or medium pot over medium high heat to 200C/390F*. Cook chicken in batches for 3 min, turning once, until golden and crispy, drain on paper towels. 4. In clean or new skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic, ginger and pepper flakes until garlic is golden, then add Sauce. Simmer 2 min until thickened and you can draw path along base. Quickly toss chicken in sauce, garnish, then serve, stat!   * Breast & tenderloin – add 1/4 tsp baking soda/bi-carb into marinade and leave for 1 hr (this tenderises / keeps the lean meat juicy during frying). #recipetineats #generaltsoschicken

This crispy pork belly banh mi is THE most popular new recipe of 2024 (so far!). Who’s tried it?? Copycat of the epic banh mi @cacom.banhmi.bar in Melbourne, it is the best banh mi I have ever had in my life (even including ones I had in Vietnam, BIG CALL I stand by!) - N x ❤️ CRISPY PORK BELLY BANH MI   CRISPY PORK BELLY 1kg / 2 lb pork belly with skin on, NOT SCORED, even thickness with flat, unwrinkled skin, preferably not vac-packed 1 1/2 tsp canola or veg oil, divided 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice, optional 1 tsp cooking/kosher salt, divided 1/4 tsp pepper   1. Fridge dry skin uncovered overnight (or even few hours). Rub flesh with 1t oil, 1/2 t salt and all salt + five spice. Flip, create foil boat around belly, pat skin dry with paper, then rub with 1t oil then evenly sprinkle with 1/2t salt. 2. Bake 2 hrs at 140°C/285°F (all oven types). Remove foil and discard fat, put pork on rack on tray. Use balls of foil to make skin level (for superior crackling!). Crank oven to 240°C/465°F, bake 30 min, rotating as needed, until golden and crispy (foil patch to protect parts browning faster). Rest 10 min, cut into 1.7cm / 2/3” slices then chunks to use in banh mi.   SPECIAL BANH MI SAUCE – mix: 4 tbsp Hoisin sauce, 3 tbsp coconut milk, 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce   PICKLED VEG: 2 medium carrots, peeled cut into 2-3mm / 1/10″ batons 1/2 large white radish (daikon), peeled, cut the same as carrots 1 1/2 cups boiling water, 1/2 cup white sugar, 4 tsp cooking / kosher salt, 3/4 cup rice wine vinegar   Dissolve salt and sugar in the boiling water in a bowl. Then stir in vinegar, add carrot + daikon, should be just about submerged. Leave 2 hours until a bit floppy, drain well.   BANH MI 5 crusty white rolls 120g/ 4 oz chicken pate 6 tbsp whole-egg mayoor Kewpie 3 green onion stems, cut roll length 2 cucumbers, finely sliced into ribbons 2 cups coriander/cilantro leaves 3 Birds Eye chillis, finely sliced 8 tbsp crispy fried shallots, store bought (optional)   Spread base with pate then mayo. Pile in pickled veg, cucumber and green onion, then pork, drizzle with 1 tbsp sauce, top with coriander, chilli and crispy shallots. DEVOUR! #recipetineats #banhmi

Friday nights are made for munching on a big bowl of homemade wedges with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce for dunking - the Aussie way!! Sooo much better than store bought frozen, the seasoning is better (no artificial edge) and you can actually taste the potato (I know, it’s shocking). I have a new(ish) recipe coming out later today but wanted to slip this in first. 😇Enjoy! - N x ❤️ Crunchy Baked Potato Wedges   1 kg/2lb  potatoes, peeling optional* 3 tbsp olive oil SEASONING – mix: 1 1/2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder (sub more garlic powder), 1 tsp cooking salt/kosher salt, 1/2 tsp pepper TO SERVE (choose): Sour cream + Sweet chili sauce (the Aussie way!) Ketchup or tomato sauce, garlic aioli, mayo, BBQ sauce, relish   1. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, then each half into 3 or 4 pieces (8 wedges from large potatoes, 6 from small/medium). 2. Toss with oil and seasoning, spread on tray (make cut side lie flat on tray), bake at 220°C/425°F (200°C fan) 35 to 45 min until dark golden and crunchy, tossing once. 3. Serve immediately with dipping sauce of choice – the Aussie way is sour cream and sweet chilli!!!   * Potatoes – wedges work great with any potatoes other than super waxy ones. All rounders (ie the most common ones at grocery stores) are ideal.  Aus: Sebago dirt brushed ones, US Russet, Idaho, Yukon Gold, UK: Maris Piper. Peeling potatoes is optional – I do it out of habit or if I can’t be bothered to scrub properly 😂 #recipetineats #FridayMunchies #potatowedges

🎉🎉Giveaway ended, congratulations @littlemissamf !!! 🎉🎉 ⚡️FLASH GIVEAWAY!! 1 lucky winner will win 2 tickets to the reader dinner @boroniakitchen next week! TO ENTER: Follow @boroniakitchen and comment below telling me how much you want to come! PRIZE: 2 tickets to the Boronia Kitchen dinner next week Wed 3 July 6.30pm for a special dinner crafted by @chefsimonsandall with a very special signature dish of mine included!! Canapés on arrival plus 4 course meal plus matching wines ❤️ Giveaway ends Saturday 29 June 4pm, Winner drawn using a random generator and will be contacted by DM and will have 24 hours to respond. GOOD LUCK! - N x ❤️ #boroniakitchen 📸 @photopalmer

Thank you again to everyone who came to our @joy.koreanfriedchicken event yesterday!! The best feedback so far is a customer who went back to the shop and told the owner “she was right”. (“She” being me, and the matter in question my bold statement that it’s the greatest Korean Fried Chicken I’ve ever had in Australia!) 🥰 Little video from the day is coming soon. Meanwhile - more chicken. My chicken brine, for the juiciest roast chicken of your life! Anyone here tried it? I haven’t strayed from this recipe for years. LOVE! - N x ❤️ Chicken Brine – for the juiciest roast chicken of your LIFE!!!   BRINE 2 litres / 2 quarts water, cold tap water 1/3 cup cook salt or kosher salt (not table salt*) 2 lemons, quartered 10 sprigs parsley, fresh, 5 sprigs thyme, 2 sprigs rosemary, 5 bay leaves (fresh, or 3 dried) 1⁄4 cup honey, 6 garlic cloves, smashed to burst open 1 tbsp black peppercorns (or 1 tsp ground) ROAST CHICKEN: 1.5 - 2 kg / 3-4lb chicken, whole 3 tbsp / 40g butter, melted Salt and pepper to season   * Cooking / kosher salt is a coarser grain of salt than the fine table salt used to season your own food at the table. If you only have table salt, reduce by 2 tbsp.   1. Put 1/3 of water in large pot with remaining brining ingredients. Bring to boil then simmer 1 minute, stirring to dissolve salt. Remove from heat, pour in remaining water (to help rapid chill) then chill completely before use (30 min on bench, then 1.5 hrs in fridge). 2. Flip chicken upside down and submerge. Brine for 24 hours (12 minimum, anywhere in between fine. DO NOT brine for longer, remove and refrigerate if not cooking straight away). 3. Remove from brine, pat dry, place on roasting rack. Brush with most of melted butter, sprinkle with pepper then a TEENY pinch of salt. Roast 2 kg/4lb chicken 60 min at 180°C/350°F, brushing with more butter at 45 min, or until internal temp at the joint between the leg and thigh is 75°C/165°F, or until juices run clear. 4. Rest 10 – 15 min loosely covered with foil then serve. So tasty and juicy you don’t actually need a gravy – sometimes I serve with drizzle of melted salted butter and lemon. But see full recipe on website for a gravy!

Service starts in 1 hour!! Come join me and experience the greatest Korean fried chicken I’ve ever had in Australia @joy.koreanfriedchicken TODAY 12pm! @jb_alexandre will be cooking alongside chef-owner Kay Hwang and I’ll be fluttering around chatting and snapping pics 😂 Joy Korean Fried Chicken 67 Abercrombie St, Chippendale Sydney KFC lunch pack with chicken, fries, slaw and pickles 12pm until sold out! (Takeaway only, feel free to bring books for signing!❤️) HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! - N x ❤️

And the secret lunch venue for today is…. JOY Korean Fried Chicken! @joy.koreanfriedchicken Come celebrate the reveal of the greatest Korean Fried Chicken I’ve ever had in Australia and the cover feature on @goodfoodau today! WHAT’S ON Joy Chicken celebration! 12 pm today, until sold out Takeaway only JB @jbalexandre and Hannah from my team cooking with the chef/owner, Kay Me - chatting and taking selfies! 67 Abercrombie St, Chippendale (close to Broadway rd) JOY Chicken is one of our best kept food secrets, and today, JB and I will be there to cook and serve alongside the owner! It took Kay - the genius owner/chef - over a year to come up with this recipe. And it is EPIC. The crust alone puts it in a field of its own, the flesh is ridiculously moist (even the breast, which it never is at other shops!!), and that sauce, OMG!! BUT - if you want to be there but can’t make it, I have the next best thing: THE ACTUAL RECIPE FROM JOY CHICKEN! Kay shared the recipe with me, then I adapted it for home kitchens. It is mind-blowingly good. I have been in pursuit of a great KFC recipe all my life and never cracked it. Thank you for sharing your secret recipe Kay! Find the recipe in today’s @goodfoodau lift out in @sydneymorningherald and @theageaustralia or online at www.goodfood.com.au HOPE TO SEE YOU AT JOY CHICKEN TODAY!! - Nagi xx @goodfoodau @joy.koreanfriedchicken

How to turn broccoli into a big cosy pot of soup everybody wants to eat? Just add cheese. 🧀 - N x ❤️ PS Love that this soup has substance, it’s not one of those soups where I’m starting 30 minutes after dinner and diving into the cookie jar PPS also love how cheap this is to make when broccoli was $2.90/kg on the weekend!🙌🏻 Broccoli Cheese Soup   INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp butter 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 onion, diced 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth/stock, low sodium 1½ cups water 700g/1.4 lb broccoli, cut into florets + cut thick skin off stem and dice (don’t waste the stem!) 2 potatoes, peeled and diced into ⅔”/1.5cm cubes 2 cups cheddar or tasty cheese, shredded (SHRED YOUR OWN, melts better) 3/4 cup cream OR milk 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt, 1/4 tsp pepper Garnishes: More cheese, cream, chives or parsley   DIRECTIONS 1. Melt butter in large pot over medium high. Cook garlic and onion 3 min. 2. Add broth, water, broccoli, potato. Bring to boil, then adjust heat so it’s simmering, Cover, simmer 20 minutes until broccoli is very soft, 3. Blitz with stick blender (or cool slightly then use blender). 4. Stir in cream, then stir in cheese a handful at a time. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. 5. Ladle into bowls. Drizzle with cream and top with extra grated cheese, if desired (I desire). #recipetineats #broccolisoup #broccolirecipes

🔎 FINAL CLUES!! Can you figure out the venue of our secret lunch meet-up tomorrow?? (Those of you who saw the preview online edition of the article, NO SPOILERS! 🤫🤫🤫) ———– WHAT’S ON Tomorrow 12pm until sold out, come grab lunch at our best kept food spot! Syd CBD fringe, address and shop name revealed tomorrow 8am here, JB cooking and serving with the owner, I’m the door greeter. *Take-out only* We’re so excited to reveal this shop, every time we go the food is even better than we remember! - Hope to see you there - Nagi x ❤️& JB 🔪🌹

A little Whitney and a bubbly mac and cheese for this dreary Sydney Sunday ☔️ How is your weekend going? I just planted my butt on the couch for the first time this weekend and not planning to move! Thank you again to everyone who came to see JB and I @goodfoodwine show yesterday! We had such a blast. Meeting people is always our favourite part. - N x ❤️ Dreamy BAKED MAC & CHEESE (one of my all time most popular recipes!) Serves 5 as main or 8 as side TIP: Grate your own cheese. Packet has anti caking agents, can make sauce powdery INGREDIENTS 250g / 8 oz macaroni (elbow pasta) 1 tbsp / 15 g butter (or 2 tsp oil) Topping - Mix: 2/3 cup (40g) panko breadcrumbs + 2 tbsp (30g) butter + 1/4 tsp salt Sauce: 4 tbsp unsalted butter (60g) 1/3 cup flour – all purpose/plain (50g) 3 cups milk (750 ml) (full fat best, low fat ok) 2 cups cheese* (cheddar, monteray jack, colby for everyday, GRUYERE for special), freshly shredded (200g) 1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese* (100g), or more other cheese 3/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt Seasonings: 1 tsp garlic powder + ½ tsp onion powder + ½ tsp mustard powder * Gruyere best, then (equally) Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby. Aussies – avoid Tasty cheese if you can, works and tastes good but sauce isn’t as silky and tendency to be oily. Combo with some mozz yields best texture because mozz melts really nicely. DIRECTIONS 1. Cook macaroni per packet MINUS 1 minute. Drain, return into empty pot, stir through butter (stops pasta bloating in oven). Cool while making sauce. 2. Melt butter over medium heat in ovenproof skillet, add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 min. Slowly add milk, stirring as you go to incorporate. Add salt and Seasonings. Cook for 5 – 8 min, stirring regularly at first then constantly, until sauce coats spoon (see video). Use whisk if needed to remove lumps. Don’t let it get too thick!! Thick = gluggy sauce! 3. Remove from heat, stir through cheeses until mostly or completed melted, then pour into pasta pot. Quickly mix with pasta, then pour back into skillet. Top with Topping, bake 20-25 min at 180C/350F (all oven types) until top is LIGHT golden and sauce is bubbling. Serve immediately!

Thank you to everyone who came to see us @goodfoodwine show today!! We had such a blast. Wonky gnocchi rolls and all! 🥳🥳 With - #AustraliasFavouriteFrenchChef @jb_alexandre 🍍🍕 #recipetineats #goodfoodwineshowsydney

🔎Clue drop! Where are we? We’re back at our best kept food secret, plotting with the owner for our surprise lunch event on Tuesday!! @jb_alexandre WHAT’S ON 🍽️ JB and I will be at a secret location on Tues 25 June 12pm to serve lunch at one of our best kept food secrets! Name and address revealed 8am that morning here in Instagram. Location is Syd CBD fringe. FOOD IS EPIC! 12 pm until sold out! JB is cooking with the owner, I’ll be snapping selfies and chatting! CLUES DROPPED SO FAR: 1. One-man shop 2. Syd CBD fringe 3. This photo! Who can guess where we are?? ~ Nagi & JB #SydneyFoodSecrets #recipetineats