Korean Stir Fry

i had a hankering for jap chae. but seeing as i have no sweet potato noodles, a stir fry will have to do:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb sliced marbled beef*
• 1/2 large yellow onion, sliced
• 2 stalks of green onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 broccoli head, diced
• 5 crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 tbs  go chu jang (sweet & spicy korean chili paste)
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• beef broth

*i used half a package of hotpot beef from the chinese supermarket. super thin slices.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. mix soy sauce, sesame oil, chili paste, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl.
2. in a medium sized bowl, pour in half of the soy sauce mixture. dissolve cornstarch in mixture. marinate beef and set aside.
3. wash and chop your veggies.
4. heat vegetable oil in a hot nonstick pan (sesame oil has too low of a smoking point. i use it for its flavor and not for cooking.)
5. brown beef quickly.  remove from pan.
6. reheat pan. add onions and saute ~3 min. add minced garlic. (i usually from a little hole in the center of the pan, add a bit more oil, and fry the garlic until fragrant. then mix.)
7. add broccoli and mushrooms. add enough beef broth to produce a bit of steam (1/4 cup..?), cover, reduce to medium, and steam ~3-5 min.
8. remove cover, add carrots, stir and add more soy sauce mixture over veggies to taste.
9. form a little hole in the center of the pan again, add a dash of oil, then fry green onions until fragrant. mix.
10. finally, mix in beef. stir and remove from heat.
11. sprinkle on sesame seeds and serve with rice! 

Shrimp and Edamame Stir Fry: 毛豆蝦仁!

my first attempt at recreating my favorite thing to order at chinese restaurants 😀

nothing like a good protein packed meal after a hard work out. GRRR. (<– that’s me making tough sounds. scary, no?)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined.
• ~ 10oz shelled frozen edamame
• 2 tbs rice wine
• 2 tbs corn starch
• garlic salt
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1-2 stalks of green onion

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. dissolve ~ 1/2 tbs corn starch and a pinch of salt in rice wine. toss and mix shrimp.
2. in a small sauce pot, boil water.
3. heat wok. add tbs of oil. stir fry shrimp until no longer translucent (~5 min). don’t cook all the way! overcooked shrimp = crap. remove from heat into bowl you marinated it in.
4. when water boils, cook edamame as per instructions (2-3 min)
5. dissolve rest of corn starch in a small bowl with chicken broth. set aside.
6. drain edamame. add to wok. dump in shrimp.
7. pour in broth. mix until sauce thickens. (2 min) season with garlic salt to taste.
8. toss in green onions.
9. remove from heat and serve.

Snow Pea and Scallop Stir Fry

I love how quick and easy stir frys are. It’s a lazy person’s dream, really. (Or, as I like to tell myself, not lazy, just busy.)

You can prep all your ingredients way ahead of time, and the actual cooking takes about 5 min. No wonder the majority of my contribution in the kitchen growing up was chopping vegetables for my mother . It’s 75% of the work! I always asked her when she was gonna teach me how to cook for REAL. It’s been almost 20 years and I’ve finally learned: If you cant work a knife, don’t bother at the stove.

Yea whatever. I’ve served my time. I had Steph to julienne my veggies for me today.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 carrot
• 1/4 lb mini scallops
• a handful of snow peas
• garlic salt (i was too lazy to mince garlic)
• 1/4 cup chicken broth/water
• 1 tsp garlic chili sauce
• 2 tbs rice wine
• 1/2 tbs cornstarch

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. julienne carrots and snow peas.
2. rinse scallops, dry off with paper towels
3. dissolve cornstarch in rice wine and coat scallops evenly
4. heat oil in wok on high, quickly saute scallops and remove from heat (don’t cook all the way through.)
5. add veggies, garlic salt, just a BIT of broth for some moisture and saute 2 min.
6. reintroduce scallops to wok and stir in chili sauce.
7. remove from heat and serve!

lunch for tomorrow? done.

easy pea-sy.

Veggies and Steamed Egg in a Ginger Miso Sauce

sometimes when i cook, my main intent is to create something healthy and not tasty. this is not to say that i try to make it taste bAD… i just don’t try very hard to impart any particular flavor.

anyway. these are meals created out of necessity:  i just need something to eat for dinner, and living alone, without anyone to impress, i might as well make something quick, easy, and healthy. you cut back some oil here, some butter there, and the meal just isn’t going to be the same as if you prioritized taste over health.

or so i thought.

i know “good for you” and “tastes good” aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, but when i don’t inTEND to create something particularly yummy and it turns OUT yummy, i find it is my duty to share it. 😀

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 med head of broccoli, chopped
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 small carrot, julienne
• 3/4 pack of extra firm tofu, cubed
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 green onion, chopped finely
• soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 slice of ginger, julienne
• 1 pack of dry miso soup mix (i had no miso paste and compromised)
• chicken broth

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. cube, dry, and marinate tofu in soy sauce.
2. chop up veggies, set aside.
3. lightly fry tofu in large nonstick pan/wok until golden brown. set aside.
4. re-heat pan, saute garlic in a little bit of oil until fragrant.
5. add in, mix, and saute veggies in following order: carrots, onions, broccoli.
6. pour 1/2 cup of broth, toss in ginger, half a pack of miso powder, mix and cover. steam for 5 min.
7. in a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs, mix in green onion and rest of the pack of miso powder.
8. remove cover on veggies, salt to taste if needed, then pour in eggs on top. replace cover and steam until eggs are done (~3 min)
9. remove from heat and serve!

edit: It wasn’t until after i finished consuming this concoction that i realized i drew my inspiration from a certain meal i had at Souen, an organic/microbiotic restaurant in NYC. look it up! good eats.

Pork Liver Stir Fry

I swear I’m becoming more domestic everyday.

And more absent minded as well, so it seems.

After reheating something in the microwave the other day, I set the plastic cover thing on the stove top, forgetting that I had just usED said stove top. Midway through eating my dinner the smell of burning plastic finally got my attention. Luckily enough I remembered a tip I read somewhere long ago that flash freezing melting plastic will pop it right off the hot surface. Dumped a bowl of ice cubes on it and voila! whaddya know. some sizzling, some popping, and a sheet of plastic really did just pop right off.

Go me.

now back to dinner.

my doctor says i’m anemic and need to eat more liver.  a good reason to stop putting off learning how to cook this gastronomical delight of an organ, no? (yea yea. some of you may disagree, but liver is AWESOME.)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pork liver
• 1 med zucchini, sliced
• 1 med carrot, sliced
• 1/2 med yellow onion, sliced flat
• ginger, julienne
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 capfuls of rice wine
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch
• hoisin sauce
• black pepper (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. cut liver into thin, even slices
2. dissolve corn starch in rice wine, soy sauce. add liver and ginger. set aside to marinate.
3. heat wok or a large nonstick pan, add oil, fry garlic until fragrant.
4. add carrots, saute 1-2 min, then add onions and zucchini. squeeze in some hoisin sauce and continue cooking until almost soft. empty into a bowl and set aside.
5. reheat wok. add liver, quick sear until no longer pink. reintroduce veggies into pan. add more soy sauce (or hoisin if you prefer a sweeter taste) if needed, mix evenly until liver cooked through. remove and serve with rice (although i find veggies are a tastier and healthier alternative.) 

Basil Eggplant Tofu Stir Fry – Take II

i’ve forgotten how complicated making chinese food is.

due to the limitations of Juanfi’s kitchen, i traded my usual stir fry dinners this summer for western fare. less grease and smoke produced, and much less counter/prep space needed.

just to ease my way back in to chinese cooking, i re-attempted one of my previous creations:

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 large eggplant
2. 1 pack firm tofu
3. 1/2 large bell pepper (1/4 red + 1/4 yellow = pretty dish)
4. 3 tbs minced garlic
5. hoisen sauce
6. soy sauce
7. 1 tbs garlic chili sauce
8. sesame oil
9. regular cooking oil (lower smoking point. use this for frying.)
10. large batch of basil leaves
11. chicken stock

PREP:

1. drain and halve tofu block to 2 flat rectangles. press between paper towels, 2 on top and 2 on bottom. drained tofu soaks up marinade like a SPONGE, so says alton brown. (this really worked!)
2. marinade in soy sauce, garlic, whatever pleases you. set aside.
3. chop eggplant into same size squares as tofu.
4. mince garlic.
5. de-stem basil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. heat wok/large non-stick pan ’til smokin’ hot. add lots of vegetable oil. fry tofu until browned.
2. remove tofu and set on paper towel lined rack to drain. drain pan of most of the oil, leaving only enough oil to stir fry the rest of the ingredients.
3. heat pan again. add minced garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
4. dump in eggplant, stir a few times, pour in half a cup or so of chicken stock (just enough to cover bottom of the pan) and cover for a few minutes until eggplant is soft.
5. remove cover and add bell peppers (i dont like my bell peppers soggy so i add them at the end)
6. squeeze in hoisen sauce (in circular motion around pan, 3x), and 1 tbs chili sauce. 1 tbs sesame oil, stir to distribute.
7. add basil, stir fry until liquid is absorbed and basil looks cooked. (add more chicken stock if too dry and basil not cooking)
8. serve.