Top eateries share their secrets
You’ve visited the restaurant, you’ve eaten the food – now it’s your turn!
Around 15,000 hungry diners supported the latest Sunderland Restaurant Week, a fair proportion of who wouldn’t necessarily have eaten out that week if there wasn’t a bargain to be had.
If you’re craving those amazing dishes that you tasted during the event but the budget won’t quite run to dining out – or if you just want to test your own cooking prowess – then luckily help is at hand.
A number of the most popular restaurants have come to the rescue and shared the secrets of some of their top dishes so they can be recreated at home.
Sharon Appleby, Head of Business Operations at Sunderland BID which created Restaurant Week is encouraging people to try their hand at some home cooking.
“It’s fantastic to go out for a meal and we know how much people in Sunderland enjoy that by the numbers who ate in city restaurants during Restaurant Week,” she said.
“And now keen cooks can try to recreate some of these dishes at home, with the good news that all the ingredients are readily available in the city centre.
“Jacky Whites market is great for fresh produce, we have amazing independents like Rob the Butcher at Blandford Street and national chains such as Tesco and Marks and Spencer, so everything is really accessible – so there’s no excuse not to give it a try and we’re hoping that people will share pictures of their efforts with us on social media @SunderlandBID.”
CHAR GRILLED SALMON WITH A TERIYAKI GLAZE AND GARLIC AND VEGETABLE FRIED RICE Asiana Restaurant INGREDIENTS
125ml Teriyaki sauce (Kikkoman) 50ml sake (optional) 60ml water ½ an onion (¼ finely sliced, ¼ diced) 2 slices of ginger 2 tbs sugar 2 fresh salmon steaks between 5-6oz or around 150g per portion Toasted sesame seeds 1 clove minced garlic Diced bell peppers (the more colours the better visually) 1 egg beaten 2 bowls of steamed white rice Small knob of butter Sunflower/vegetable oil
METHOD
Combine the sugar, water, teriyaki sauce and sake if using, to dissolve the sugar
Add about 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan and fry the onions and ginger until caramelised
Turn down the heat and slowly add the teriyaki mixture to the pan and reduce on high heat to approximately half the contents, it will thicken rapidly on the final stages so you should monitor closely; you are looking for a runny honey consistency. Pour out and set aside in a container to cool.
Rub some oil all over the fish and place on a hot griddle skin side down or if you’re barbecuing, place skin side up, ensuring it is very hot, after a minute, the flesh or the skin should be firm but not flaky, flip the fish using a fish slice.
Glaze the fish with the condensed teriyaki sauce on all sides and turn the fish for a final grilling and cook to your preference.
Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds to finish and plate up.
For the egg fried rice (this can be done at the same time as the reduction of the sauce)
In a non stick wok, add a teaspoon of oil and scramble the egg on high heat
Push the egg to the side and add the knob of butter
Add crushed garlic diced vegetables to the melted butter
Add the rice and mix well, breaking up any clumps of rice by pushing it with the back of a ladle, try to get the vegetables as evenly spread out as possible.
Season with a pinch of salt.
PAN FRIED COD Sunderland College Bistro INGREDIENTS
180g piece of cod loin 10g butter Sea salt Fondant potato 1 backing potato 100g butter 200ml vegetable stock Herb bread crumb 50g parsley 50g tarragon 50g chives 300g brioche 1 tsp English mustard
TOMATO JAM 2 tins chopped tomatoes 1 red onion diced 1 clove garlic 1 bay leaf 50ml cider vinegar 50g brown sugar
METHOD
Sprinkle cod with salt, wrap in Clingfilm and put in the fridge for one hour
Remove from the fridge, rinse and pat dry with kitchen towel
In a frying pan heat a little oil and the butter until melted
Place cod in skin side down and cook on a moderate heat for six to eight minutes depending on the thickness
Turn up the heat to get the butter “frothy”, flip the cod, baste well, season and remove from the pan. Cut the potato into a ring using a cutter, place potato, butter, vegetable stock into a pan so the potato is covered.
Place on a medium heat and simmer until the potato has cooked and all the liquid has evaporated.
The butter will remain and will “fry” one side of the potato to give a nice colour.
Blend all ingredients for the herb butter crumb in a blender until it resembles bread crumbs, remove from the blender and place in a container for later use.
For the tomato jam, fry onion until soft add all other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Season.
Put fish on a plate and sprinkle the herb crumbs on the top. Serve with the fondant potato and some of the tomato jam.