Liver and Onions!
Yes! I know, what's so difficult about good old liver and onions?
Well, this recipe was requested by my good friend Dennis who assures me that he is not winding me up.
So here it is....

Ingredients;
Liver.
Onions.
1 coffee mug of hot water
1 stock cube, your choice - chicken or beef.

Utensils;

The Cleaver (aka Chinese food processor!)
A Wok

Yes! I know, pretty obvious but what kind of Liver? Well I (and many people I have cooked for) prefer Lambs Liver because it retains its tenderness when cooked for a long time. My method uses fast, hot frying to seal the meat and retain flavour and structure. This is followed by a gentle braising to ensure the liver is cooked through and enrich the gravy.

The timid might resist adding seasonings other than salt and pepper and I resist adding them too. I don't believe in adding salt during cooking unless absolutely necessary. Add to taste afterwards by all means but I never present a pre-salted dish. Natural salt can be used, how about adding a couple of cloves of garlic or a dash of Soy sauce or better still a good splash of Hendersons Relish In Chinese and Thai cooking Fish Sauce is used to provide salt (plus a unique flavour)

In case you missed it, an easy, clean way of preparing garlic is described here Anyway, here's how you get it all together.
If you're using a gas cooker then read on, if you're using an electric cooker then forget it – you're never going to get a wok to work properly on that thing. Get yourself a camping stove!
The amount of liver you use is up to you but as a guide I use about 450g (1lb in old money) to serve two. Rinse the liver in cold water and pat dry with a good quality kitchen paper – you'll spend ages picking off bits of the cheapo rolls. Place the liver on a cutting board and slice down its length into (approx) 10mm strips. Remove any 'pipes' and cut the longest strips in half now chop the onions to your preference.

Heat a tablespoon of sunflower oil a wok until you see wisps of smoke, if you're using garlic add it now and fry until just starting to brown. Remove from the heat and quickly add the liver, return to the heat and stir frequently it is important to keep the liver moving to avoid sticking and burning. When liver shows no further signs of blood add the chopped onion and keep stirring for about a minute. Pour in the water and bring back to the boil. Sprinkle in the stock cube while stirring – like Katie Boyle used to (1960's advert – showing my age there!) and reduce the heat to a simmer.

Now here's where you use your own judgement, I'd give it about 5mins and serve it up with some creamed mashed potatoes or if you like chips with gravy (and I've got to admit I am not impressed) then bung a few of them in there. The nice thing about this method is that the liver doesn't disintegrate. I am sure that 'School Dinner Liver' – over cooked, tasteless and disintegrated – cultured a dislike of Offal in general, it certainly did for me I was 21 and cooking for myself before I tried it again. Cooked with a bit of imagination Offal can make a cheap, delicious and nutritious meal.
Please try it and enjoy!
Look out for my recipe for Spicy Liver and Kidneys in the forthcoming Chinese recipes.