Singapore Noodles

Turns out this is one of my Dad's favorite noodles, took a look at a few different recipes and came up with this. It's a pretty flexible recipe, use more or less of whatever meat and vegetables you have on hand and enjoy!  

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 oz chicken thigh or breast (velveted, see following ingredients)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp curry powder 
• 1/8 tsp five spice powder
• 6 oz shrimp (peeled & deveined, marinated, see following ingredients)
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 6 oz char siu pork 
• 8 oz vermicelli noodles
• Vegetable oil 1 Tbsp or so at a time as needed to stir fry ingredients
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tsp mirin
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt & white pepper to taste
• 1 small or 1/2 large yellow onion thinly sliced
• 3-4 stalks scallions, cut into 1" pieces and separate whites and greens 
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 4-6 oz snow peas, thinly sliced at an angle
• 6 oz bean sprouts

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp & 1 Tsp curry powder
  
• 1/2 tsp tumeric 
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp MSG
• 1/8 tsp white pepper

PREPARATION:

1. Velvet chicken: 
• Slice chicken into 1" pieces across the grain and place in a medium bowl and 
• Add water and oyster sauce to chicken and set aside for 5-10 min until most of the liquid is absorbed by chicken. 
• Add cornstarch and vegetable oil and mix until incorporated. Marinate for 15-20 min.
2. Marinate shrimp in oil and fish sauce and set aside 
3. Thinly slice char sui into 1" strips and set aside
4. Mix all sauce ingredients together and set aside
5. Cook vermicelli noodles - Cook in boiling water according to package instructions until al dente. Adjust cooking time a min or so less than package indicates as it will be stir fried with other ingredients. Drain and do a quick rinse in cool water and set aside.
6. Prepare & Cook Eggs
• Beat eggs with mirin, soy sauce and salt & white pepper
• Heat 1/2 Tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add egg mixture and spread evenly on bottom of pan and cook in one layer until just cooked through. Not necessary to flip. (I tried and just couldn't get it to work. It still worked out just fine cooking it on one side) Remove from pan when cooked in single layer. After it cools enough to touch, roll up and cut into thin strips. Set aside.
7. Add 1 Tbsp of oil and start cooking chicken. When chicken is about half way done move to the side and add shrimp to 1/4 of the pan and the char sui to the other 1/4 of the of pan. Cook shrimp until just barely pink, should be less than a minute. Remove shrimp and set aside. Continue cooking until until char siu is heated through. Chicken should be mostly done at this point, it's ok if it's a little bit pink still, it will finish cooking with noodles, remove both from pan and set aside.
8. Add 1 Tbsp of oil and sauté yellow onion and white pieces from scallions with ginger and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes and move to side of pan
9. Add carrots, red pepper, snow peas and bean sprouts and cook for 1-2 minutes until vegetables reach desired doneness/texture. 
10. Add noodles and sauce mixture and toss until everything is evenly coated.
11. Add green parts of scallions, cooked eggs and meat to pan and toss until evenly mixed. Serve!

Simple Sauce for Crispy Pan-Fried Noodles

I recently discovered crispy noodles that I can make at home! Aaaand, I've started making them more often. It's kind of been a trial and error on finding a sauce that tastes right to me for it. Finally found this one on rasamalaysia which I guess was actually a guest post from another blogger, Taste Hong Kong. Either way the sauce was perfect for it, and at some point I do intend to do the full on recipe as is. Lately I've just been making the sauce plain and pouring it over the noodles. So yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp cornstarch
• 1 cup and 2 Tbsp water

PREPARATION:

1. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. 
2. Bring to a boil stirring frequently, usually just boil it for a minute or two.
3. Pour over noodles and enjoy!

Char Siu - Cantonese BBQ'd Pork

Don and I made this for the first time just last month. Up until this point I thought the only way to make this was from pre-made powder sauce packets etc. It just seemed too complicated to try to make from scratch and I wasn't the biggest fan of the results from the packets. Then I found this post about it, on none other than our favorite Chinese food blog, Appetite for China! (I've been copying out more of her recipes recently b/c I've been having issues accessing her site for some reason. It' been glitchy and won't load...)I watched the video, and it turns out it wasn't so bad at all! I watched a couple of other videos and read a few other recipes for it, but this one still seemed the easiest to do without hunting down a bunch of extra ingredients. We tried them in sandwiches a couple of times, done up like the pork in this recipe(found the buns in the freezer section of our Chinese market, only a couple of dollars) and it was really a simplified quick and easy way to have a Cha Siu Bao without having to make everything else from scratch. :0) I liked them with the cilantro and we also did a couple with some sliced cucumber! Yum!
  

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb whole pork belly, skin removed (We prefer using pork loin, less fatty. I've read some people use pork butt for the same reason.)
• 2 Tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (Found some cooking rice wine at our local Chinese market. I have heard you can substitute this for apple or orange juice. Also saw something about using vinegar sugar and a dash of lemon juice?)
• 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp sugar (I read one variation that used agave sweetener instead of sugar, wonder how that would taste?)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp hoisin sauce (This is a Chinese BBQ sauce, sweeter than traditional western BBQ sauces)
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder (Definitely can be found in Chinese markets - we got ours at a World Market.)
• 2 Tbsp honey 

PREPARATION:

1. Marinate the pork belly: In a large bowl, mix together the rice wine, dark soy sauce, sugar, garlic, hoisin sauce and fice spice powder. Rub the pork belly with the marinade mixture and marinate for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator. (We usually set a large ziploc bag in the bowl and do everything in that instead, makes for less mess and much easier clean-up. Also makes it easier to 'rub' everything together.) 
2. Preheat the oven to 325.
3. Hold up the pork for a few seconds to allow excess marinade to drip off, then place the pork in a roasting pan. Brush the top with the honey. (Make sure to either spray and or line pan with tin foil, this can make quite a big sticky mess as it cooks.) Roast the pork for about 45 min, flipping over the pork belly half-way through and brushing honey on the other side. The pork is done when the outsides begin to crisp and blacken and the center of the pork belly strip feels firm.
4. Remove the pork from oven and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into thin slices. Arrange the slices on a plate and serve.

Mapo Doufu or Mapo Tofu

This is an awesome recipe from one of our favorite go to cooking blogs for Chinese food. In fact I think this is the first recipe I ever cooked from her blog and was the reason I stumbled onto the Appetite for China blog in the first place. The flavors were spot on for what I was looking for and it was not ridiculously difficult to make. Ever since I've always checked her website for Chinese recipes first, and I've never had a problem with a single one! (FYI - she also has a cookbook out now!) It can be a little on the spicy side for kids, but I don't really have spicy tolerance and this has been just fine for me! Makes 4 servings but very easy to stretch out and make more of. Here's a link to the original recipe and site.
  

INGREDIENTS:

Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon fermented black beans (or substitute black bean sauce)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2½ tablespoons chili bean paste
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (We've made this for years w/o ever putting it in b/c we never had it and it had always tasted awesome anyways!)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper (Awesome addition if you can find it, we found this at an Asian market as whole peppercorns. We have also made it w/o this and while it isn't as aromatic w/o it, it still tastes just fine.)

Other Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• ½ pound ground pork or beef
• 2 leeks, white parts only, thinly sliced at an angle (Because leeks are usually harder to find and aren't regularly stocked in our 'pantry' we usually end up using regular green onion.)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1 block soft or medium-firm tofu (about 1 pound), drained and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
• 1 scallion, green part only, chopped for garnish

PREPARATION:

1. Prepare the sauce: Rinse the black beans to remove any grit. In a small bowl, mash the black beans with the back of a spoon. Combine the black beans with the chicken stock, chili bean paste, rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and Sichuan pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates on contact. Add the peanut oil and swirl to coat the base. Add the pork and stir-fry until crispy and starting to brown but not yet dry, about 2 minutes, breaking up the pork with a spatula. Reduce the heat to medium, then add leeks, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Pour in the sauce and bring the liquid to a boil, the reduce to a simmer. The liquid should now have a nice red color. Gently add the tofu cubes, being careful to not move them around too much or else they will break up. Allow the sauce to simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes so the tofu can cook and absorb the the sauce.
4. Carefully push the tofu to the sides and create a small well in the middle. Stir in the cornstarch mixture in the center. Allow the liquid to simmer for another minute, until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer to a deep plate or wide bowl, sprinkle scallions on top, and serve hot.

Chinese Soy Sauce Chicken

So when we were first out in Portland and stocking a new pantry we ended up with a lot of frozen chicken thighs. We discovered chicken on the bone doesn't tend to work out as well as just regular chicken breast when thawing out for recipes. At least the skin on it isn't really good anymore for baked chicken etc. We had it in the back of our freezer for the longest time until we came across this recipe and finally made use of it. It's a really simple recipe, just put everything in a pot and let it simmer. It may be an acquired taste for some but, we both like as we've had a lot of experience with Chinese food. :0) And of course it holds special memories for me being a Chinese recipe and all! Enjoy! Original recipe can be found here.

Oh, and a small note, the hardest thing for us to find for some reason was the star anise. We used whole cloves the first time around because we couldn't find it and it was ok. The smell was right but the flavor was weaker. It was on ok substitute. We ended up finding whole star anise though at a World Market/Cost plus for a really reasonable price and the taste was much better. To make a stronger sauce as well we ended up cutting down the liquid a little to concentrate the flavor of everything else - so usually 1 part soy to 2 parts water instead of the original 1:3.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 to 2 1/2 lbs chicken wings, drummettes and wings separated
• 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 pieces star anise
• 1 scallion, shredded or chopped

*Maintain 1 part soy sauce to 2 parts water ratio so liquid covers at least 3/4 of the chicken

PREPARATION:

1. In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the chicken, soy sauce, water over medium flame. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Reduce heat to very low and cover the pot. Make sure heat is as low as can be without turning off; simmering soy sauce can easily become rapidly boiling soy sauce, which can easily become a big mess to clean up.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, and sugar. Allow the chicken to simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or up to an hour if you want falling-off-the-bone tenderness. Ladle the chicken and sauce into a deep platter. Garnish with scallions and prepare to enjoy some savory, succulent chicken.

Serves 4 to 6...or 2 with leftovers for next time :0)

'Microwave' Chicken Curry

UPDATE Aug. 2013: I've decided that this post needed an update as we don't really make it the way the original recipe called for anymore. We do it on the stove-top and the use slightly different ingredients now too. Left the link to the original recipe if you still wanna try it out via the microwave!

ORIGINAL POST: So this is a fabulous recipe that I absolutely love. It was a recipe featured on a food network show that got canceled starring George Duran called "Ham on the Street"-very fun show, too bad they stopped running it. Anyhow, although it seems kinda random for right now-I just did this recipe and used leftover thanksgiving turkey instead of chicken and it turned out marvelously. :0) Didn't use basil because it was on the expensive side, just used the whole bunch of cilantro. I also got really mild curry, didn't plan on it being so mild so I put in a little bit of Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (the really hot Asian chili sauce) to kinda of heaten it up a little, did the trick. Also, you don't have to do it in the microwave, I just do it on the stove in a pan-it went really quick because the turkey's already cooked.

And if you don't already have curry, I would recommend the Vermont curry sauce, so easy to use and it comes in already portioned Tbsp rectangles-love it! It comes in 5 different levels of heat, I got the first, I'd say you'd be safe with the third one, though not quite sure what it's called on the box. Anyways, try this recipe, it's so easy and you'll love it if you're a fan of the curry taste! (You can always add an extra cube of curry if it's tasting heavy on the coconut milk...) Oh, and one last thing I've noticed as I'm eating this: as someone who's had it with chicken before, the turkey flavor is stronger than chicken, so if that's not your thing, of if it throws you off just add a little bit more spice. Still tastes 'oh so good' though...

Oh, and here is the  link the to recipe on Food Network's site if you want to check out the original recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 - 3 Tbsp curry paste, chopped up into smaller pieces (incorporates quicker this way!)
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of diced onion, your preference 
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thigh, sometimes it's cheaper), cut into strips (or chunks)
• 1/2 bunch basil, leaves chopped (We tried this out w/ Thai Basil, still good! And it's usually cheaper too! Makes for a more Asian flavored curry.)
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped
• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Sriracha to taste (ranges anywhere from 1/2 tsp to a Tbsp, totally up to you. And if you're preparing for a range of tastebuds, kids included, I would just add it to individual bowls when serving)
• 2 -3 cups or 1 small pkg of bean sprouts(This is totally approximate. We buy ours at Winco and it usually it comes in a smallish pkg. I can't remember how much is in there, but we usually dump it all in. I've also bought it at Macys before and it was just an open bin and you get however much you want.)
• Steamed rice, to serve
• Paprika, for garnish
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced, for garnish (Totally optional, we usually leave this part out b/c we use the onion in the curry)

PREPARATION: 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok and add the curry paste, mix and let it go until it's bubbly.
2. Add diced onions and let it go for a few minutes, you want to caramelize the onions by the end
3. Add the chicken and cook until a little over half-way done, until you just see some pink left on the chicken. Don't want to overcook at this stage, or you'll have tough chicken by the end. It'll cook the rest of the way in the coconut milk broth.
4. Add the coconut milk, basil, cilantro and soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Give it a good stir, cover it, and bring it up to a boil.
5. Drop it back down to a simmer and add bean sprouts. If you want to add hot sauce (sriracha) I would do it at this stage Let everything simmer for 5 - 10 min. Really flexible recipe, you just want to make sure your chicken is cooked through all the way and then cook until the bean sprouts are the texture you want. The longer the you let it simmer the softer they get. We prefer them firmer so we just add them in at the very end for a few minutes.
6.  Serve over steamed rice, garnished with paprika and scallions. Enjoy!

Pineapple Buns!

Originally Posted By Ez: So these were a great treat from the Chinese bakery shops in Brooklyn. Someone found a link for this recipe, so I'm just posting it here. Enjoy!

http://chowtimes.com/2008/04/28/pineapple-bun/

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

Ginger and Green Onion Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 thumb-size pieces of ginger root
• 2 bundles of green onion
• 1/3 cup oil (veg. or olive)
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. salt

PREPARATION:

• Peel and chop ginger until very fine (you can use a zester or a food processer)
• Wash and thinly slice green onion
• Heat oil in a warm pan until almost boiling
• Add ginger and onion to oil—be very careful when doing this step as it has a tendency to splash
• Stir until thoroughly incorporated and then add salt.

Note: Traditionally served with Chicken!

Beef and Asparagus

 would like to point out that the picture to the right is taken by yours truly. Ah, my loverly first picture of my own--not too shabby, eh? And yes, that shadow is my head! :0) This recipe is taken from one of Don's Chinese cookbooks from Taiwan called "Chinese Cooking Made Easy" by the Wei-Chuan company. It has been adapted as most of the places where it calls for 'water' the original recipe called for wine. Either way, it still tastes goood!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 lb beef flank
• 1/2 Tbsp each of green onions and ginger root
  
• 1 1/2 cups asparagus
  

Part I:

• 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce and water
• 1 Tbsp each of cornstarch and water
• 1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

Part II:

• 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce and oyster sauce (if you don't have any oyster sauce just use 2 Tbsp of soy sauce)
  
• 1/2 Tbsp each of water, sugar and cornstarch
• dash of pepper
• 4 Tbsp water
  
• sesame oil as desired

PREPARATION:

1. Cut beef into 2-inch wide strips along grain, then slice across the grain; mix in Part I. Mix in 1 Tbsp oil with beef before frying so beef will separate easily during frying.
2. Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp oil then stir0fry beef until medium well; remove. Use remaining oil to stir-fry green onions, ginger root, and asparagus until fragrant. Add mixed Part II and beef. Cover and cook until steamy, then stir-fry to mix well. Remove, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Note: The asparagus can be substituted with other vegetables.

Potstickers aka Gyoza

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small chopped cabbage
• 3 Tbsp chopped green onion (if you like onion flavor use white/yellow onion as well)
  
• 1/2 lb ground pork/chicken/turkey
• sesame oil-generous amount (enough to make it stick)
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (for frying)
  
• 50 gyoza skin wrappers
• 1 bottle gyoza dipping sauce

PREPARATION:

Chop green onion (and whatever other onion you're using), cabbage very fine. A food processor works quite well. Mix green onion and cabbage mixture with ground meat. Add other ingredients and mix well. Add sesame oil until mixture starts sticking together.

Wrap meat mixture up in wrappers using water to seal the edges (see photo for wrapping ideas). About 1 tsp per wrapper works quite well. Heat up vegetable oil in frying pan. When pan is hot lay down potstickers in single layer along bottom of pan and let fry until bottoms brown. After add water and steam until done-approx 5-10 min. Serve with dipping sauce onside-tastes great!