Stir-fried Pork with Green Onions and Noodles

Last weekend, Wei and I drove up to the Baltimore/DC area for his brother's wedding. We had an excellent time celebrating and hanging out with his family! While we were over at his parents' house one day, my mother-in-law gave me a copy of Chinese Cuisine by Huang Su-Huei.

If you're interested in learning authentic Chinese cooking from a beginner's standpoint, this book is a great resource. It has a lengthy "how-to" section with tons of pictures depicting different cooking techniques and ingredients. Most of the recipes don't seem terribly difficult, and each page has a large picture of the finished dish to point you in the right direction. The author also notes in which region the dish is found. I'm really looking forward to cooking my way through it!

Last night I chose to make this simple stir fry from Beijing. Since I didn't feel like making rice, I boiled up some spaghetti noodles and tossed them into the wok at the end. You could leave the noodles out and serve this over rice instead.

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat and silverskin
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 really fat green onions, or 6 normal sized green onions, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Soy sauce
Sugar
Rice wine or sherry
Corn or peanut oil
6 to 8 ounces spaghetti noodles, cooked
Ginger oil (or other flavored oil), optional
Sesame oil, optional
White pepper, optional

Cut the pork into 2/3-inch slices. Cover the meat slices with a piece of plastic wrap and bash them around a bit with a meat mallet to tenderize. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the garlic, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and 1/2 tablespoon each of rice wine or sherry, water, and sugar. Toss the pork slices in the soy sauce mixture and stir to coat the meat well.

Heat up a few tablespoons of oil in a wok over high heat. Add the pork and stir-fry until both sides are golden brown. Move the meat to one side of the wok and toss the green onions into the middle; stir fry until the onions are fragrant. Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar to the contents of the wok. Stir in the noodles and keep stirring until everything is mixed together. Finish off with a couple of dashes each of ginger oil, sesame oil, and white pepper. Remove and serve.


Rating: This is awesome

Though very simple, this dish was a satisfying dinner. I loved how it came together so quickly, and having all of my different bottles on the counter next to the wok made me feel like a witch concocting a potion!

Char Siu Fried Rice

When Wei and I first started dating, he made me fried rice. Hah, those were the days when he cooked for me. The fried rice was great, but I asked him where was the roast pork. "You know, the little red pieces of pork that Chinese restaurants put in fried rice." "Oh," he said. "You buy that at the Asian grocery store."

Hm.

Well now, years later, I've found a way to make a pretty close approximation of char siu at home. The recipe comes from the Low-Fat chapter of How to Eat; it uses lean pork tenderloin instead of the traditional, but more fatty, pork shoulder. Nigella says that it "is not quite char siu, it's just char siu-ish." I agree; the flavor is almost perfect. It was a great addition to the fried rice. Speaking of, the rice can take more vegetables besides those that I've listed here; this is just my basic list. Some of my favorites are frozen peas and shiitake mushrooms, but you can really use whatever suits your tastes.

For the char siu:

One pork tenderloin, trimmed of silverskin and excess fat
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons honey
2 scant tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Thai chili sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil

For the fried rice:

2 eggs, beaten lightly with a little bit of salt
1 onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups of cooked rice, at least a day old
Soy sauce
Chicken broth
Peanut oil
White pepper (optional)

Cut the pork tenderloin in half lengthwise. Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Place the tenderloin pieces in a large plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Squish everything around to coat the pork. Leave in the fridge for 24 hours or overnight.

To cook the pork, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Take the pork out of the marinade, reserving the marinade. Line a baking dish with tin foil and place the pork in it. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees F. Take the pork out and brush over some of the reserved marinade. Bake for another 15 minutes, brushing more of the marinade over the pork at 5 minute intervals. Remove from the oven and let the pork cool before cutting it into bite sized pieces for the fried rice.

Warm up a tablespoon of peanut oil in a large wok over high heat. Pour in the beaten eggs and leave them to cook for about a minute--do not touch them! The idea is to make a rough omelette, not scrambled eggs. Flip the egg over to cook the wet side for another minute. When the egg is fully cooked, remove it to a plate.

Warm up another tablespoon of peanut oil over high heat and toss in the onion. Cook until soft, a few minutes. Add the carrot and garlic to the wok and stir fry until the carrot loses its bite, 4 or 5 minutes. Break up the rice into small clumps and put it into the wok. Add a couple of splashes of chicken broth and a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. Cover contents of the wok with your largest lid and let the rice steam for a couple of minutes. Uncover and stir to combine everything. Add the chopped pork and cooked egg and stir to combine again, breaking up the egg as you do so. Taste and add a bit more soy sauce if you think it needs it. Sprinkle over some white pepper to finish.


Rating: this is awesome

I am really excited about the char siu-ish recipe! It would be great in soup or a noodle dish. I'll definitely be making it again.

Szechuan-Style Pork & Bell Pepper

I got this recipe from a book that I found in the bargain section of the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, Perfect Chinese. It turned out really well; the rice vinegar gave the sauce a tangy note that complimented the spice of the crushed red pepper flakes. I loved that it had 4 different kinds of vegetables in it! It makes me feel better about the ice cream I'm going to have for dessert in a little bit ;-)

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat and silverskin
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons soy sauce, plus 1 tablespoon for marinade
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
Peanut oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 zucchini, cut into long matchsticks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into long matchsticks
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (use more if you want it spicier!)
White pepper

Slice the tenderlion against the grain into roughly 1/4-inch thick slices. Cut each slice into 2 or 3 strips. Place the pork in a bowl and pour in 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and sprinkle over the crushed red pepper flakes. Stir to coat and let the meat marinade while you chop the vegetables.

Combine the rest of the soy sauce, cornstarch, rice vinegar, chicken broth, and garlic in a small bowl. Whisk to dissolve the cornstarch, then set aside. Warm up one tablespoon of oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add the pork and marinade mixture and stir-fry until the pork is no longer pink, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Warm up another tablespoon of oil in the wok or skillet over high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until they soften, 3 or 4 minutes. Throw in the zucchini and carrot and continue to stir-fy until the carrot loses its bite, about another 4 minutes. Add the pork and any accumulated juices back to the pan and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Bring it up to a boil and let it bubble and thicken for a minute. Give everything a final sprinkle of white pepper. Serve over freshly made rice.


Rating: This is awesome

It was very easy to make: a lot of chopping, but I'm coming to love my spacing-out-while-chopping time every evening. It was a very tasty result for not a lot of work!

Soy Braised Chicken Thighs

In an effort to cut down our grocery bill, I bought a big package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, rather than our usual, more expensive, big package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Like most female, white Americans of a certain age, I have an unfounded fear of dark poultry meat. I'm not sure why, but the gobs of fat and reddish, fibrous meat on thighs are spooky to me. I've read enough to know that all chefs prefer the flavor of dark meat to the non-flavor of white meat, and I have to agree with them there. I still don't love prepping thighs (breast portions are so much easier), but I'm determined to get more comfortable with them and make dark meat the rule, with white meat becoming the occasional exception.

One way to learn to love the dark (meat) is to cook it in ways with which white meat simply would not work. Braising is one such technique; the lengthy cooking in liquid would turn white meat dessicated and rubbery. Dark meat stays flavorful and moist, and its natural juiciness turns the braising liquid into a tasty, savory sauce at the end. After much googling last night, I came across this recipe for an Asian-inspired chicken braise. The flavor of the salty-sour cooking liquid is enhanced by whole star anise, a cinnamon stick, and strips of orange peel.


The star anise and cinnamon are best bought at your local Asian grocery store. Such "exotic" ingredients are marked up at chain groceries, while at an Asian store, you can buy big bags of the stuff for under $2 each.

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup chicken broth or stock
1- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
Peanut oil
3 green onions, white and green parts separated, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
5 short strips of orange peel, removed with a vegetable peeler
2 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, honey, and chicken broth. Set aside for later.

In a dutch oven, warm up a tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. When the oil is hot, add the chicken to the pot in an even layer to brown. You will probably have to do this in 2 batches, unless you have a very big pot! Let the chicken cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until golden and seared. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

Pour off all but about one tablespoon of fat from the pot. Return it to medium heat, and throw in the white part of the green onions, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir around for about half a minute, until you can smell the garlic and ginger. Pour in the reserved soy mixture. Top off with more chicken broth and soy sauce if needed to reach a depth of about 1/4 inch of liquid. Stir to combine, and add the orange peel, cinnamon, and star anise.

Add the chicken thighs back to the pot, adding any accumulated juices from the plate. Cover with a lid and place in the lower third of the oven. After 15 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over with tongs and top off with more chicken broth if needed to maintain the 1/4 inch of liquid. Replace the lid and let cook in the oven for another 15 minutes, or until fork tender.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a serving platter and cover with tin foil to keep warm. Remove the orange peel, cinnamon, and star anise from the pot, place over a medium high heat, and bring the liquid up to a simmer. Skim off any surface fat if desired. Stir in the green part of the green onions.

Make a slurry out of the cornstarch and a tablespoon of either chicken broth or water. Pour into the pot and stir to thicken. Let it bubble up for a minute and taste for seasoning. If it's too salty, add a bit of vinegar. If it's too sour, add a bit more soy sauce. Take the foil off the chicken, and carefully pour in any juices from the platter.

Spoon the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice or egg noodles.


Rating: This is awesome

I tried to refrain myself from slurping the sauce out of my bowl when the chicken and rice were gone. No such luck.

Sesame Chicken

I have been wanting to make a good sesame chicken dish at home for a very long time, but it has eluded me so far. I tried one preparation several months ago that just tasted like flour. Blech! When I saw this recipe on Culinary in the Desert, I thought it would be worth a try. Instead of using a heavy flour coating on the chicken, it is dipped into a mixture of cornstarch and egg whites to give it a faux deep-fried crust. I changed a couple of things in his recipe, so here's mine!

For the sauce:
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch length of fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

For the chicken:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 egg whites
Peanut oil
Salt and pepper

Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. If you didn't buy toasted sesame seeds, dry fry your seeds in a small skillet over medium high heat until they start to change color. Give them a flip every now and then to prevent them from burning.

Season the chicken pieces well with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and egg whites until thoroughly combined. Dip the chicken pieces in the mixture to coat. Warm up a tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over a medium high flame.

Swirl the oil around the pan and add about half of the chicken pieces. DO NOT stir fry the chicken--just let them sit there and cook until golden on the underside, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken over and let cook for another 3 or 4 minutes. The pieces will be sticking together by this point because of the egg whites. Gently break them apart from each other with a wooden spoon and turn out onto a plate. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and repeat with the rest of the chicken.

Once the second batch of chicken is cooked, throw the rest of the chicken into the skillet. Pour over the sauce, and stir to coat. Let it come up to a bubble to thicken slightly.

I served my sesame chicken over white rice and steamed broccoli.


Rating: This is not awesome

It didn't blow me away. Back to the drawing board... :-(

Spicy Orange Pork

This is a variation of a recipe I saw posted on the What's Cooking board this morning (sorry...I don't remember who posted it!). I really wanted to make something new and exciting tonight, since I haven't written in here in a while, but I had no idea what the lucky dish would be; all I knew was that I wanted to use the pork tenderloin and green beans that I had in the fridge. This recipe met my criteria and is a super fun retro nod to the chinese restaurant classic of my childhood memories. Score!

1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed of visible fat and silverskin
Zest of one orange
Juice of one orange
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small onion, sliced into half moons
3/4 pounds green beans, ends trimmed
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Salt and pepper
White pepper (optional)

Get a pot of rice started first thing.

Slice the pork tenderloin into roughly 1/2-inch thick rounds against the grain, and cut each slice into 2 or 3 strips. Place in a medium sized bowl with the orange zest, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, and about 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss well to coat. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch, chicken broth, orange juice, soy sauce, sugar, and red pepper flakes.

Heat one tablespoon of oil on high in a wok or large, deep sided skillet. Add the pork and stir-fry until cooked through, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the pork to a plate. Wipe down the inside of the wok with a paper towel, and add the final tablespoon of oil, warming over high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Throw in the green beans and garlic and stir-fry until tender crisp, another 4 minutes. Pour in the OJ/broth mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes up to a boil and thickens, about 1 minute. Add the pork, along with any accumulated juices, back to the wok and stir around for another minute, coating the meat and green beans in the sauce. Sprinkle a bit of white pepper over everything. Serve over rice.

My apologies for the blurry picture!

Rating: This is awesome

I loved this stir-fry preparation; it was just the "something different" I was looking for! This could easily be made with a different protein if you're not a pork fan; it would be killer with flank steak! I would probably swap out the green beans for a different veggie if I make this again. It's pretty hard (for me at least) to cook green beans just right in the wok. Maybe some bell pepper strips instead.

Thai Shrimp Soup with Lime and Cilantro

Another night, another soup! This one is a variation of a recipe I got from The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook. I first ate this earlier this year, when I did SBD in an effort to lose weight for the wedding. It was dinner on my first night of the diet, and I remember that it tasted so good that I thought the whole dieting thing wouldn't be too bad. The original recipe calls for 3 cups of thinly sliced napa cabbage in place of the bean thread noodles I used here.

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 inch length of fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
6 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5.25 ounces bean thread noodles
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon sugar or sugar substitute
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

To start, reconsititute the noodles. Place them in a large bowl and cover with hot water straight from the tap. Let them sit for 15 minutes, then drain the noodles and set aside.

Warm up the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 10 minutes. Throw in the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and cook for about a minute. Add the chicken broth and water and bring up to a boil.

Stir in the bean thread noodles. Add the shrimp, fish sauce, lime juice, lime zest, and sugar and cook just until the shrimp turn pink, about one minute. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Turn off the heat and scatter the cilantro into the soup. Serve hot.


Rating: This is awesome
The flavors are sharp and intense, but they all come together well. The noodles are tricky to catch, since they're so long. Try eating with a soup spoon in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other--grab some noodles with the chopsticks, transfer them to the spoon, scoop up some of the broth in the spoon, and slurp the whole spoonful down.

Thai Style Pork

This dish is basically the same thing as the Thai Chicken with Basil that I made last month from Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats, except with pork tenderloin in place of the chicken. I think I prefer it with the pork! It added a rounder flavor to the dish that you just can't get from chicken breast. I used one pork tenderloin, about 1 pound, and trimmed it of the visible fat and silverskin. I sliced it into thin rounds against the grain, and then cut each round into 2 or 3 strips. It cooked up tender and juicy, not overcooked in the slightest. I used a yellow bell pepper in place of the red, only because the yellow ones looked better than the red when I was at the grocery store!

Rating: This is awesome

Chicken and Bean Thread Noodle Stir Fry

Wei threw a package of bean thread noodles into our cart the last time we went to the Asian market. After doing some research to find out what they were, I decided to try using them in a stir fry. On tasting the final product, he said that it reminded him a lot of a dish that his mom used to make. Woo! I guess I'm getting better at this cooking stuff after all.

Bean thread is reconstituted the same way as rice stick--put the noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot (not boiling) water. Let stand for 15 minutes and voila!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
5.25 ounces bean thread noodles (half of the package we bought)
1 yellow onion, cut into half-moons
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch length of fresh ginger, grated
1 head nappa cabbage, cut into strips
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
Peanut oil
Soy sauce
Thai fish sauce
Rice wine
Cornstarch
Chicken broth
Salt and pepper
White pepper (optional)

Put the bean thread noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Set a timer for 15 minutes. When the time is up, drain the noodles and use a pair of kitchen shears to snip them randomly a few times to shorten the strands. Toss the chicken on the cutting board with about a teaspoon each of cornstarch, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.

Warm a couple of tablespoons of oil in a wok over high heat. Add the chicken and stir fry until cooked, about 4 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok, and add the onions. Toss around until they start to turn translucent and are softer, about 5 minutes. Throw in the shiitakes, garlic and ginger. Cook until the mushrooms are darker and have started to release their juices, about 5 minutes.

Add the cabbage to the wok. I know it looks like you have a massive amount of cabbage at this point, but trust me, it will cook down! Add about 1/4 cup of chicken broth to the wok--this will create a steamy environment for the cabbage. Toss the cabbage around with the other ingredients the best you can until it has wilted, about 6 or 7 minutes.

Add the bean thread noodles and chicken to the wok and toss to incorporate. Stir in about 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, and a splash of rice wine. Taste for seasoning and add more of the sauces if necessary. Thicken with a slurry of 1 tablespoon each of cornstarch and chicken broth. Finish with a sprinkling of white pepper.

Rating: This is awesome
I loved the texture of the bean thread; it was very different from any noodle I had eaten before.

Beef with Peppers

I don't usually go for exact stir fry recipes; I think they're much better when the cook is adding a little of this, a little of that, with no set plan. However, I have a phobia about stir frying beef. It goes back to the first time I tried it a few years ago when I severely overcooked it. It was like eating a shoe leather stir fry. I saw this recipe in the Washington Post food section last week and thought I'd give it a try. Since it seemed very saucy I thought it would be forgiving of an accidental overcooking incident.

It turns out that I didn't have to worry. The beef cooked perfectly; the end product was tender and flavorful!



For the marinade and steak
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1.5 - 2 pound piece of flank steak, trimmed of excess fat

For the seasoning sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons water
2 teaspoons sugar

For the stir fry
Peanut oil
1 inch length of fresh ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small onion, sliced into half moons
1 green onion, minced
2 bell peppers (any color, but I prefer red), seeded and thinly sliced
White pepper (optional)

Get a pot of rice started first thing.

Slice the beef against the grain into roughly 1/8-inch thick strips; then cut the strips in half lengthwise. Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl and add the beef strips. Stir to coat the beef and marinade for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the ingredients for the seasoning sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large wok or deep sided pan over high heat. Add the beef to the wok and season with a few dashes of white pepper. Stir fry until the outside is seared, but there is still a little pink inside, 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the beef to a plate and set aside.

Wipe down the inside of the wok with a paper towel and add another tablespoon of oil. Throw the onions in and stir around until they are soft and becoming translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, green onion, peppers, and ginger to the wok and stir fry until the peppers are slightly charred and softer, 3 or 4 minutes. Put the beef and any accumulated juices back in the wok and toss thoroughly. Pour the seasoning sauce in the wok and stir fry for a minute or two, until everything is evenly coated in the sauce. Finish with a couple of sprinkles of white pepper and serve over the rice.

Rating: This is awesome
This was a very tasty (and easy!) stir fry. I think I'm going to have to start using rice wine all the time in my stir frys--I loved the little kick it gave in the background of the sauce.

Pork Fried Rice

Wei cooked tonight! Yay for me having a night off!!


His method is pretty basic. He stir-fries together scrambled egg, onion, green onion, garlic, carrots, bean sprouts, roast pork, leftover rice, and lots of soy sauce. Using leftover rice is key for fried rice; freshly cooked rice will get mushy and clumpy. If you don't have a stash of old rice lurking in your fridge like we do (and who does?), just make a pot of rice the night before you want to make this and leave it in the fridge overnight.

You can buy chunks of roast pork at an Asian market or BBQ place. Obviously, you could also use another meat or shrimp or tofu, or choose to leave out a protein completely.

Chicken Lo Mein

I make no claims that this is authentic lo mein; I don't even know what authentic lo mein would entail. I set out to make a stir fry that included noodles. However, my finished product actually tasted quite a bit like the flavor of the ubiquitous brown sauce that Chinese restaurants use for their lo mein, something I've never quite been able to replicate. Hence, it shall be known as chicken lo mein!

I used our wok to make this. I alternate between being scared of our wok and itching to use it. It's a huge carbon steel monster of a thing that we picked out of the piles and piles of woks in the back of our local 99 Ranch. Sometimes it can be too exhausting to even think about wrangling food in it, but tonight I loved it. Everything does cook quicker in it, and I get a much better flavor with searing than I do in our big, nonstick skillet. Maybe it was the holiday weekend that gave me strength to conquer the wok! If you want to give it a shot sometime, check out the selection of woks at your local Asian grocery store. You can usually buy them for less than $20. Remember to season it before using it to cook; do an internet search for "season a wok" and you'll find a bunch of different methods.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 onion, sliced into half moon shapes
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets with the stem cut into coins
8 ounces spaghetti
Soy sauce
Thai fish sauce
Peanut or corn oil
Cornstarch
Salt and pepper

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the spaghetti.

While the chicken is still on its cutting board, sprinkle a teaspoon or so of cornstarch on top and season with salt and pepper. Toss the chicken around on the board with a spoon to spread around the cornstarch. Warm a tablespoon of oil in a wok or large, deep sided skillet on high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until it is cooked, about 4 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok and throw in the onion and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft enough to be cut from the pressure of a wooden spoon, about 7 minutes. Add the broccoli, red bell pepper, and mushroom and stir-fry for another 7 minutes, or until the broccoli florets are tender-crisp and the bell pepper is soft. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices back into the wok and stir to combine.

Drain the pasta and start adding it to the wok a little bit at a time, tossing to combine after each addition. Add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce to the wok and stir around. Throw in a slurry of 1 tablespoon corn starch and 1 tablespoon water (chicken broth if you have some handy); stir until the sauce thickens up, about 30 seconds. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

Rating: This is awesome
Fresher, cheaper, and less greasy than the stuff from our local Chinese delivery place!

Lion's Head Stew

I didn't cook last night. We had some friends over to watch college football in the afternoon, which is always a vicious cycle for me. I like football okay, but I don't love it. I mostly just enjoy the novelty of it being socially acceptable to drink in the middle of the day (on my couch no less!), and I think it's cute to watch my husband and male friends get all excited about the games. After a while I get bored, which leads to more drinking. Then it's dinner time, and I'm too drunk to trust myself with a knife in the kitchen. We ordered pizza instead!

Even though this is a Chinese dish, Wei didn't teach it to me. Rachael Ray did. Yup, 365: No Repeats strikes again!

Does this look familiar?

Maybe a little like salisbury steak? Yeah, I'm not sure why I picked two balls-of-ground-meat recipes in a row. In actuality, they are very different. These oversized pork meatballs are braised with cabbage in a light broth and served with rice. Don't buy lean ground pork for this--the meatballs need a little fat to stay moist.

Peanut, corn or vegetable oil
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 pounds ground pork
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cornstarch
Salt and pepper
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 medium head of napa cabbage, chopped into thin strips

Get a pot of rice started first.

Drizzle about a teaspoon of oil in a small skillet and warm over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Season with some salt, and remove to a large bowl.

Add the pork, soy sauce, egg, a teaspoon of cornstarch, and a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper to the bowl with the mushrooms and garlic. Stir to combine. Put a large, deep sided skillet or wok on high heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Form the pork mixture into 8 or 10 meatballs, and add to the skillet when the oil is hot. Brown for 2 minutes on each side, then drain on a plate covered in paper towels.

In a deep soup pot, heat the chicken broth to a boil. Add half of the cabbage to the bottom of the pot, then add the meatballs. Finish with a layer of the remaining cabbage. The pot should be filled to the top at this point. Clamp a lid on top and let simmer for 10 minutes, when the cabbage will be wilted into the liquid. Remove a ladleful of the broth into a small bowl or coffee mug and dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in it, then stir it into the pot. Simmer with the lid off for a minute or two to thicken the broth. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Serve over the rice.

Rating: This is awesome
I'm a big fan of using cabbage; it's a vegetable that people seem to forget about a lot. It's so cheap, tasty, and packed with vitamins. It's perfect in this dish, paired with the flavorful pork.

Kung Pao Chicken with Tomato and Egg

Tonight was a use-everything-up kind of night. Even though I've already made all the dishes I had in my last meal plan, I wanted to challenge myself to throw something together out of what I had on hand, specifically hoping to get rid of the green onions and tomatoes I had sitting in the fridge. I was triumphant! This was a damn tasty little dinner.

I took all of my inspiration for this from my husband. He has made a version of kung pao before; I came up with my method by remembering how his tasted and taking some tips on preparation from other recipes I found online. The tomato and egg are all him, though--it's a traditional Chinese dish, the sort of thing that everyone makes in their homes but don't sell in restaurants. It's beautiful in its simplicity and flavor. Even if you don't have the energy for anything else in your life, you can make a comforting batch of tomato and egg.

I decided to use 5 spice powder in the marinade for the chicken. I thought it added a nice sweet-smoky note to the final sauce, but don't kill yourself trying to find it if it's not easily available at your grocery store. You can omit it without worries. The only reason I even wanted to use it is that I bought a big pouch of it at the Asian grocery store a couple of months ago, and I feel like it's staring me down every time I open my spice cabinet--I don't think it's traditional for this dish.

Kung Pao Chicken
Soy Sauce
Rice wine or dry sherry
Cornstarch
1 teaspoon 5 spice powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or 1 chili pepper, chopped (feel free to use as much as you like if you want it spicier!)
3 green onions, cut into two-inch lengths, then cut lengthwise into thin shreds
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 celery hearts or 1 full celery stalk, chopped finely
1/8 cup unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 inch length fresh ginger, grated
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
Peanut or Corn oil

Tomato and Egg
3 small/medium tomatoes (I used tomatoes on the vine), cut into 6 pieces each
3 eggs, beaten with a little salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Soy sauce (optional--only use if you like a little saltiness)
Peanut or Corn oil

First things first, get a pot of rice started.

In a bowl large enough to accomodate your chicken pieces, whisk together 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 2 teaspoons rice wine or dry sherry, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, the 5 spice powder, and the sesame oil. Add the chicken and stir until all of the pieces are coated in the marinade. Leave the chicken to sit while you work on your prep. As a side note, if you're making both of the dishes, you might as well get all your chopping done at this point so you can cook straight through without having to take a prep break.

Heat up a tablespoon of oil in a large pan or wok over high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate and add another tablespoon of oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add the green onions, red pepper flakes or chili pepper, garlic, ginger, and celery and cook by itself until the celery is getting soft and the green onions are wilted, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the chicken back to the pan, along with the peanuts. Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry, and the brown sugar, stirring to combine. Let it sizzle away until the sugar is melted, 30 seconds to a minute, and stir in a small cornstarch slurry if you want a thicker sauce (you know I did!). Taste for seasoning. Pour everything out of the pan into a bowl and cover to keep warm while you make the T&E.

Wipe down the inside of the pan with a paper towel, add 2 tablespoons of oil and warm over high heat. Add the beaten eggs to the pan and don't touch them until they are almost fully set, about 2 minutes. Drag a wooden spoon or chopsticks through the egg to break it up into smaller pieces. Add the tomatoes, garlic, and two tablespoons of soy sauce to the pan and stir fry until the tomatoes are softer and their skins are starting to pull away, about 4 or 5 minutes. And you're done! Serve over the rice.


You don't have to eat both out of the same bowl like I did--as my buddy Tony would say, it's a little "Mother and Child Reunion" creepy to eat eggs and chicken at the same time--but it was a nice break for my tongue to alternate bites of the spicy kung pao with the salty T&E.

Rating: This is awesome
I'm really proud of how both dishes turned out!

Honey-Hoisin Pork Tenderloin

I got this recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, Culinary in the Desert. His recipes are always interesting, and he makes the most uhh-may-zing holiday treats every year. Check out his December archives if you want to drool!

I followed the recipe exactly, so I'm not going to re-write it. Check it out here! When you use a pork tenderloin, it's important to take the time to trim off all of the fat and silverskin. If you don't, the final product with be chewy and tough on the outside.

I served this with plain white rice and broccoli. For the broccoli, I cut up one head into florets and sliced the stem into coins. I stir-fried it with some garlic, ginger, salt and pepper, and a teaspoon of brown sugar for about ten minutes, until the florets were tender-crisp. It was perfect with the pork!

Rating: This is awesome
The pork was so juicy and tender, and the flavors in the marinade came together nicely. Also, I loved that it was a perfectly sized meal for 2 people. No leftovers!

Thai Chicken with Basil

This dish is an fantastic blend of sweet, spicy, and salty. I got it from 365: No Repeats. I've made a different version of this before, but it was way too saucy and didn't have the honey and heat that makes this version such an interesting contrast of flavors. The only thing I didn't like about Rachael Ray's version is that she said to serve it over shredded iceberg lettuce; I did rice instead. If you don't want to serve it over rice, I think using shredded savoy cabbage, quickly braised in simmering chicken or vegetable stock, rather than lettuce would be a healthier, tastier option.

I had to make one change to the recipe. It called for a red bell pepper, which I bought. However, when I cut into it, I saw that there was mold all over the seeds inside. Nasty! The best laid plans, eh? So it went in the trash. I think it would have been great with the bell pepper--definitely try to include it if you make this recipe!

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, quartered, and thinly sliced
4 green onions, cut into two-inch lengths, then cut lengthwise into thin shreds
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
20 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons peanut, corn, or vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Rice

Get a pot of rice on the stove first thing, before you start any prepping. If you need help making it, check out my tips in this post.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper while it's still on the cutting board. Heat up the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until it's no longer pink. Throw in the garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and bell pepper strips. It will smell insanely good as soon as the garlic and ginger hit the hot pan; give yourself a moment to lean over and inhale the deliciousness :-) Cook for two minutes, then add the green onions and stir fry for another minute.

Whisk the honey into the soy sauce and add to the pan. Toss everything together. I added a small cornstarch slurry at this point to thicken the sauce, but I'm psycho about having a thick sauce--it's not necessary! Add the basil and stir until wilted.

Rating: This is awesome
It is so simple, yet SO yummy. The spiciness makes it great for the sultry summer nights we've been having here lately!

Teriyaki Ginger Lime Noodles with Shrimp

I'm not going to post about the slow cooker chicken tortilla soup I made last night. It was so not awesome that I'm not even going to write about it and tag it as "This is not awesome." Blech. Why is it so hard to find a good slow cooker recipe?

I'm going to post the weekly menu tomorrow. I went rafting all day yesterday, and I was too exhauted to work on the menu when I finally got home. Thus, tonight I had to throw something together from the odds and ends laying around. This is what I came up with!

1 pound shrimp
1 broccoli head, cut into florets, with the stem sliced into coins
2 carrots, sliced into coins on the bias
3 green onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
8 ounces spaghetti
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
Sugar
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons peanut, corn or vegetable oil

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the spaghetti. You should probably do this while you're still prepping, since the dish doesn't take very long to cook. Add the pasta when the water is boiling, and drain when it's just this side of al dente.

Heat the oil in a deep pan or wok over high heat. Add the broccoli, carrots, green onion, and garlic. Stir fry until the veggies are soft, about 10 minutes. Throw in the shrimp and cook until they turn pink. Put the lime juice in a small bowl, whisk in a teaspoon or so of sugar (use more if you want!), and add the grated ginger. Pour contents of the bowl into your pan or wok and stir to combine.

Add the noodles to the pan, a little bit at a time. Toss everything together with the noodles as they're added. Add the teriyaki sauce and stir around. Add a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper. Taste to see if it needs salt--it probably won't as there's a lot of sodium in teriyaki sauce!



Rating: This is awesome

It was light, fresh, and tasty--an easy, summer-y weeknight dinner!

Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry

I didn't know how to cook before I met Wei, my husband. He didn't exactly teach me, but he did give me a lot of inspiration. When I saw how easy it was for him to throw together something delicious with fresh ingredients, like a stir fry, it made me wonder why the hell I was cooking meals that came out of boxes and pouches.

My stir fry technique has become something like this: Cook the meat first, then take it out of the pan so it doesn't end up over cooked. Cook onion, then throw in the rest of the veggies and garlic. Add the meat back when the veggies are cooked. Season with cooking sauces and stir in a cornstarch slurry to bring the sauce together. Done! It's an easy way to get something fairly healthy on the table in a short amount of time.

This was the first time that I made one with a pork tenderloin. I don't know if I'll do it again. I liked the flavor, but tenderloins are such a pain to prep since you have to remove all of the silverskin and fat bits. Also, you have to be careful to cut it into small pieces, otherwise they take a long time to cook. It just doesn't fit in with my vision of a quick and easy stir fry!

This isn't a recipe as much as a suggestion. Use whatever meat and vegetable combinations you like, or make it all veggie. The only ingredients that I consider to be absolutely essential are the onions and garlic. They are the flavor base, and it just wouldn't taste right without them.

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat and silverskin and cut into bite size pieces
1 yellow onion, cut into half moons
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, sliced (use a green bell pepper if you want, but I just can't stand the flavor!)
1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons peanut, corn, or vegetable oil (peanut is best)
Soy sauce
Thai fish sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cornstarch
Chicken broth
Rice

Start by making the rice. You probably have your own technique, but this is how I do it. Put one cup of white rice in a medium-size pot and rinse the grains several times to remove most of the starch. I do this by swirling water around in the pot, dumping the water out (being careful not to lose any rice grains in the process), and repeating until the water runs mostly clear--about 5 or 6 times.

Once the rice is rinsed, add water to the pot so that the water level is 2 centimeters above the level of the rice. Put a lid partially on the pot, and put on a burner set to medium heat. Set a timer to 14 minutes, and it should be done when the timer goes off. Sometimes there's still some water in the pot at that time, in which case keep checking at 2 minute intervals. Basically, when there's no more steam coming out of the pot, it's done. Turn off the burner, clamp the lid on the pot, and let it sit until you're ready to eat it. This "sitting stage" is essential; it needs to sit for at least 10 minutes.

While your cut up pork is still sitting on the cutting board, season it well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a small spoonful of cornstarch over the meat and toss it all together to distribute. Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high or high heat in a wok or a large, deep pan. Add the meat and cook until it's done. Remove to a plate and tent with tin foil to keep warm.

Wipe the inside of the pan or wok with a paper towel, and add the second tablespoon of oil. Keep an open can of chicken broth next to you in case the pan gets too hot and you need to deglaze it. Throw in the onions and cook until soft, about ten minutes. My test is that the onions are done when I can easily cut through one by pushing on it with my wooden spoon. Throw in the garlic and the bell pepper and mushrooms. Stir fry until cooked, about another 10 minutes.

Add the meat and any accumulated juices back into the pan. Toss everything with two tablespoons each of soy sauce and fish sauce and a splash of chicken broth. Add several grinds of black pepper. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing a tablespoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of chicken broth in a coffee mug until the cornstarch is fully dissolved. Pour over everything in the pan and stir together until the sauce is glossy and thicker. Taste for seasoning.

Serve over the rice, and yes, chopsticks are a must!

Rating: This is not awesome

Yeah, this wasn't my best work. It was too salty and not enough vegetables in my opinion. Truthfully, I had cut up a head of broccoli to use as well, but I was impatient and didn't feel like waiting for it to cook. If you want to make it like I did, you should probably cut the amount of soy and fish sauce down to one tablespoon each. If you use another veggie to bulk up the amount of stir fry, you should be fine with two tablespoons each.

Fiery Singapore Noodles

I saw Ching He-Huang make this recipe in an episode of Daily Cooks! on BBC America about a month ago, and I knew I had to try it! Besides the fact that Singapore Noodles is one of my husband's favorite dishes, it has a lot of my favorite ingredients. Turmeric is amazing in its flavor, vibrant color, and health properties. It is like, Super Spice. I love getting the chance to use it :-)

One of the great things about stir fry is that you can customize it however you want. If you don't want this to be spicy at all, omit the chiles! If you want it extra spicy, leave the membranes in when you chop the peppers! Don't have any sesame oil? Leave it out! You get the idea. Never forget that you are the one in charge of what you're cooking, not the recipe. My only tip for making this dish is to get all your prep done before you start cooking it. By which I mean, have all of the elements sitting on the counter next to your range so you can grab them and keep cooking with minimal running around.

1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 pound thin, dried rice noodles
2 tablespoons peanut, corn, or vegetable oil (peanut is best)
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 chiles, seeds and membrane removed, finely chopped
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled
2 teaspoons turmeric
4 green onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 egg, beaten
A couple of pinches crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (freshly ground black pepper is fine if you don't have white)
A few drizzles of sesame oil

Put the rice noodles in a big bowl and submerge in hot (not boiling) water for 10 minutes. I try to time this right so that the 10 minutes are up when I'm already cooking, so I can pull the noodles out of the bowl with a pair of tongs and put them straight into the skillet.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or deep skillet over high heat. Throw in the garlic, ginger, and chiles and cook for a minute, until the garlic begins to change color. Add the mushrooms and shrimp and stir until the shrimp turns pink.

Add the turmeric and stir around until everything is coated. Add the noodles to the skillet and use a pair of kitchen shears to randomly snip them several times to shorten the strands--this will make them much easier to work with. Toss together with the shrimp and mushrooms so that everything gets combined.

Toss in the green onions and soy sauce, oyster sauce, and rice wine vinegar. Stir to combine. Pour the beaten egg over the noodles, turn down the heat, and let the eggs set for 30 seconds. Stir gently.

Turn off the heat and sprinkle the crushed red pepper flakes and white pepper over top. Finish with a few drizzles of sesame oil.

Mark Bittman wrote an article in today's New York Times about using shrimp shells to make a simple stock to use in shrimp based dishes. I was going to make some to use in this dish, but I realized too late that I had bought the already peeled shrimp by accident. D'oh! I probably would have thrown in a 1/4 cup or so of the stock at the same time as the sauces. Maybe next time. Let me know if you try it!

Rating: This is awesome
Mmmm, so awesome. Simple cooking with tasty flavors, my favorite kind of food to make and eat. Definitely a keeper! My husband's verdict was that while it tasted good, it wasn't "greasy enough." Uhm, I can live with that, thanks!