Sesame Beef and Bok Choy

Alright, this is one of my husband's recipes, and in truth, I am not sure there is really a science to it at all....stir fry is kind of a free for all.  But I am going to try to put this in a recipe form, as well as I can.  My husband loves to cook Chinese food--it reminds him of his 2 year LDS mission in New Zealand, which was about 6 years ago.  He served the Chinese people in Aukland, and he loves cooking with a wok.  So I let him, naturally.  What wife wouldn't let her husband cook if he wants to?  Especially if he is good at it? No one.  So here is what he made the other night.  As I said before, the measurements are approximate, but you get the idea.

Sesame Beef and Bok Choy

2 pkgs stir fry style sliced beef
1 head of bok choy, chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 c soy sauce
1/2 an onion, sliced
3 carrots, cut into coins
1 small can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
peanut oil, for stir frying
steamed rice, to serve with

In a large wok, pour a couple of tbsp of the peanut oil and heat til it starts to ripple.  Add the beef, and cook, stirring as you go, until cooked through.  Add carrots and onions, and continue to stir while cooking.  Add garlic and ginger and water chestnuts, and then bok choy.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds last, and cook til the bok choy begins to wilt.  Remove from heat, and serve over rice.

**Note: if you have never used a wok before, you need to take note of a couple of things.

• First, woks are best used over high, but controlled heat--it's best to use them over a gas stove or outdoor cooker if possible.  Electric heat is too hard to control.  
• Also, because the heat is high, you need to continue stirring as you cook so your food does not burn.  
• Always cook meat first to avoid food contamination.  
• Follow cooking the meat with the harder, or more solid veggies, such as carrots, celery, and onions.  Wok cooking goes fast, so you have to make sure you time everything right so you get everything to the right tenderness.  

Pork Fried Rice -- Using Up Leftovers

So I had all of the leftover pork from the night before sitting in the fridge and I needed to use it up in some creative way so the family would eat it, and so it wasn't like eating the same thing over and over again.  So here is what I did....I added some veggies, diced up the pork, and stirred in all of the veggies, the apples, and the onions with some of the leftover rice I had served with it.  Turned into sort of a stir fried rice thing...and it was pretty good.  So enjoy!

Pork Fried Rice

1 1/2 c diced leftover pork tenderloin
Leftover juices and apples and onions from tenderloin
1/2 c carrots, diced fine
1/2 c corn
frozen peas would work in this too...whatever you have around.
3-4 c steamed rice, depending on how many people you are serving

In a skillet or wok, heat a bit of olive oil.  Add the pork, and cook til warmed and slightly browned.  Add carrots and apple/onion mixture, and keep cooking til carrots are tender.  Add rice and corn and whatever other veggies, and keep stirring til all mixed well and rice is heated through.  Serve warm.

Wonton Soup

Okay, I got a request to find a recipe for Wonton Soup, and because I love requests and new challenges, I have been working on doing this for awhile.  We finally got all of the ingredients, and so now I am happy to announce that I found a good recipe, tested it on my in-laws, and I am now very excited to share this information with you.  I made veggie tempura on the side, and it was a hit!

I must admit, I did borrow this recipe from Emeril Lagasse on the Food Network website.  But I loved it, and so did my family.  Try it, you will like it too!

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions, plus 3 tablespoons finely chopped
• 10 cups canned low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• About 30 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced bok choy
• 1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushroom caps
• 1/4 cup sliced bamboo shoots

Directions

In a large saucepan or soup pot heat the oil over medium high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of sliced scallions and the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low so that the broth just simmers. Allow broth to simmer for at least 20 to 30 minutes while the wontons are being assembled.

In a small mixing bowl combine the remaining teaspoon of minced garlic, remaining tablespoon of chopped ginger, 3 tablespoons of finely chopped scallions, the pork, egg yolk, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and crushed red pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Working on a flat work surface, lay out a few of the wontons. (Keep remaining wonton wrappers covered with plastic wrap.) Fill a small bowl partially with cool water and set aside. Using a teaspoon measure, place a heaping teaspoonful of the meat filling in the center of each wonton. Using your fingers, lightly wet the edges of the wonton. Bring 2 opposite corners of the wonton together to form a triangle and enclose the filling, pressing edges firmly around the mound of filling to eliminate any air pockets and seal. Moisten opposite corners of the long side. Curl moistened corners toward each other, overlapping one on top of the other, and press the edges together to seal. You should now have a rounded stuffed wonton with a triangle poking up at the top. Assemble the remaining wontons in the same manner. When the wontons are all assembled, set aside.

Add the sliced bok choy, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots to the broth and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Using your hands or a slotted spoon, gently add the prepared wontons to the simmering broth. Increase the heat slightly so that the broth returns to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally (very gently), until the wontons float and the pork filling is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

**NOTE** Instead of chopping the ginger, I used a fine grater (grates stuff really small) or you could use a microplane.  I used a garlic press for the garlic, as well.  I think the broth tasted good, but I think I could probably get away with watering it down a bit next time, it had a strong enough flavor that if you needed to stretch it with some more liquid you could.  I also used dehydrated shitakes, and just hydrated them by boiling some water, removing it from the heat, and then tossing in the mushrooms to soak for about 20 minutes.  Make sure if you have leftovers, you fish out the wontons and store them in a separate container, or they will get mushy in the soup broth. If you have leftover wontons, either freeze them or refrigerate them on a cookie sheet, and then once frozen, transfer them to a ziplock bag.  You can fry them in a deep fryer or toss them in the soup the next time you make this.  

Hubby is a Tech Geek

This is Jeff, I post on this from time to time for example I did the eggrolls bit a while back.  Anyway mostly I'm here for tech support.

So added to the site is a paypal donate button, not so much because I expect money mostly because I'm taking advantage of having a lab to work in.  But if you send me money awesome.  Or if you want to help out you can visit our sponsors.  See by the miracle of Google I can type a word like "GPS" and then the advertiser robots on my blog will try to sell you a GPS and if click on the GPS links you can go see their products and Google gives me money because of my superior street cred.  For my wifes blog however it's more likely to sell you fancy sausages and cheeses.  Though I'm not sure why you would buy that online.  Or it might try to sell you Pampered Cheif, and if it does go visit those people because they have awesome stuff that would make Alton Brown jealous.

Also here's a button.  That is over in the right column.  If you like the blog and would like to help us with our street cred (although we can't pay you for it like Google you just have to like us) then you can have the little decal just by copying the HTML code in the box below and putting it on your website.  You don't even need to know HTML isn't that great.  So here it is and if you miss this blog post it will always be in the right column->

To link to us copy the HTML code in the box

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Eggrolls

I was told that we made this recipe already.  So we did.  BUT I GOT PICTURES!  This is a really good recipe because making spring rolls could be  a whole lot more involved.
Step 1
Coleslaw mix in a bowl.  Er… take it out of the bag.  Now there’s a side experiment I’m running I’m wondering if our sponsors robot will try to sell you the same products I mention in the blog like Dole Classic Coleslaw mix.  Yeah my wife blogs I experiment.

Step 2 brown a pound of ground pork.

put it in the coleslaw,  If you looked at the recipe from before you probably noticed here I haven’t done anything with the rice sticks.  I couldn’t find them at Walmart today.

Now get yourself some eggroll wraps

It’s important to put enough mix into the wrapper but not so much that it breaks.  Seriously if you get holes in the wrap especially big ones it will make a mess.

get a glass of water, water will make the wraps stick to themselves.  Hey look at that sexy hand.  Hope you washed your hands.
Fold one grab one corner pull it nearly to the other.




Fold the other two corners in and roll it up like a burrito.


And stick them on a cookie sheet for later.




Fry them,  my mom does this in the deep fryer.  I don’t like to clean my deep fryer so I did it in the wok.  Fill it with some vegetable oil and put it on high heat.  Thermodynamics is important here, the hotter your oil the less soggy these will get; greasy is bad.  If you get the oil too hot it will smoke or worse.  So here my lawyers make me point out Don’t put out grease fires with water.  This thing here with the chopsticks you don’t have to do that.  In fact if you aren’t good with chopsticks… Just don’t do this, if you drop an eggroll you’ll splatter boiling oil all over yourself.
We eat these with a sweet and sour sauce.  So now that you’ve gotten this far and forgot, have your wife in a sauce pan stir together
1/4 C chicken broth
4 t cornstarch
1/4 C Splenda (you can use sugar if you’re not diabetic)
1/4 C Vinegar
1 1/2 t coriander
1 t ginger
2 T ketchup
Eggrolls are really good as leftovers cold or hot.

Egg Rolls

Another Chinese thing that Jeff's family has done for awhile.  Probably not authentic, but they sure are tasty!  I won't venture to say that I make the wrappers from scratch, because I don't.  They're still a winner though, and one recipe makes A LOT!

Egg Rolls

1 pkg egg roll wrappers, any brand.  need to be about a 4 inch square
1 pkg coleslaw mix, or shredded cabbage and carrots in equivalent volume
1 lb ground pork, or pork sausage
1 pk rice vermicelli (in the Asian section of the grocery store) 
small bowl of water
vegetable oil for frying

Soak vermicelli in cold water til flexible (these are sold dry and you don't cook this kind of noodle.  it generally takes about half an hour to be soft enough).  While soaking noodles, brown and break up sausage into small pieces, drain off fat.  Once noodles are ready, drain them and cut them into one inch pieces.  Add coleslaw mix and sausage, and stir to combine.  Lay a wrapper down on a cutting board, with a spoon, put some of the filling in the center, then fold the edges together, corner to center, kind of like a burrito.  Use the water to dab the edges to seal it closed, and one at a time, fold corner into the center over the filling, and then roll the last corner around the outside.  I hope that makes sense.


Fry them in either a deep fryer or in a skillet with a good amount of oil in it.  Outside should be golden.  Serve with sweet and sour sauce our soy sauce.

Ham and Vegetable Fried Rice

Part 2 of the Chinese Series...Fried Rice!  Jeff makes this most of the time, but for some reason I can never get him to post stuff on here.  So here we go.    Most measurements with this aren't exact because it depends on how much rice you have.   This is actually traditionally made in China with leftover rice from whatever you made the night before from dinner.  So you use pretty much whatever veggies you have in the house along with some ham or spam and some eggs.  So this is just one version, but you can make it with whatever you like.

Right this is Jeff I type in red when I edit blog posts.
First it must be understood that cooking Chinese food unlike most baked goods is more art than science and so the exact quantities don't matter.  And this is how Chinese people do it outside the restaurant (and sometimes inside the restaurant world).


Ham Fried Rice

2 c steamed rice  Whenever you cook rice cook 3 cups.  It doesn't matter if you'll eat it or not, because Fried rice works better with leftover rice.
1/2 c diced ham or spam Carmel doesn't like SPAM, and I don't measure.
2 eggs, scrambled and cooked  I cook my eggs separately, I've seen great Chinese chiefs fry rice then move it all to the side cook the eggs in the same wok and mix it together.  But seriously unless you have lots of practice your eggs stick to your wok and you have little burned particles of egg in you rice. Yuck!  So I just scramble them in a frying pan and throw the results in at the end.
1/2 c we don't measure carrots we count them 2 carrots. chopped carrots, celery, or broccoli (or all 3)
1/2 c frozen peas Um... unfreezed them before putting them in a frying pan
1/2 c chopped onion half onion, whole, whatever you like
1 tbsp minced garlic do I do this? don't remember....
soy sauce
olive oil

Get everything minced chopped, whatever before you cook because once you're started you won't have time to go chop something else.  Rice sticks to woks.  To mitigate this it's best to let your rice dry out a bit.  Fried rice is best with last night's leftovers anyway.  I also like to add a little oil to the rice and stir it around this will help too.  But in the end realize the rice will stick, let it and don't scrape it out of the pan.  Burned rice is Yuck.  Having that burned rice stuck to your wok is really doing you a favor.


Heat wok over high heat, and add oil to heat.  If you can get your wok hot enough you'll have to stir often. Add vegetables and cook til tender.  If ham came in the can or is cold add it with the vegetables. Add ham, eggs, and rice, eggs last. Stir well to combine and to keep rice from sticking.  Add soy sauce, stir again, and then serve.

Sesame Chicken

And so begins the series of Chinese recipes my husband (and sometimes I) cook.  We tried this once on a whim and it was delicious, but we have yet to do it again in order to take pictures and post here.  So I am going to post the recipe and add the pictures the next time we make this tasty dish (I know, I say that, but I mean it this time).

Sesame Chicken

We don't measure this
1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, depending on size and how many you are feeding
1/2 c cornstarch, plus
2-3 drops sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 c chicken broth or stock
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c white or rice vinegar
1/4 c white sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Cut chicken breasts into small bite sized pieces.  Dredge in  1/2 cup cornstarch, then fry in wok (If you fry it in a wok you'll burn it, unless your deep-frying) or frying pan in a tablespoon or two of vegetable or olive oil.

Measure this: In a small saucepan, combine sesame oil, chicken broth, soy sauce, cornstarch and ginger.  Whisk over medium heat, til cornstarch causes it to thicken.  Toss sauce and chicken pieces together in the wok or frying pan, then serve over rice, with veggies.

Oriental Salad with a twist!

This one was an experiment my husband and I came up with a couple weeks ago, and it turned out great! We wanted pot stickers for dinner, but also felt we needed some vegetables in our meal, so it became a salad. We have since experimented again with the recipe and decided what we liked in the salad and what didn't work so well. You can try what ingredients you like, and change it if you want, this is just what worked for us. Oh, and you can substitute the pot stickers for chicken or beef too, we just thought they were tasty and fancy.

Asian Pot Sticker Salad

1 head romaine lettuce
1 head napa cabbage
2 scallions, or green onions
2 carrots, grated
1/4 c finely chopped celery
1 pkg dry ramen noodles, seasoning pkg removed
12 potstickers of your choice (we use chicken, but whatever you like)

Asian dressing

1/4 c soy sauce
1/2 c olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp honey mustard
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 drops of sesame oil
1/4 c white or rice wine vinegar

Whisk together all ingredients for dressing, then stream in oil as you whisk. Set aside. (You can make this ahead and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.)

Cut head of lettuce into 1/2 inch slices, then place in bowl. Add sliced cabbage, celery, carrots, and scallions, toss together. Cook Potstickers according to pkg directions. Right before serving, break up ramen noodles and toss into salad, then add dressing and toss again. Serve salad with 3 potstickers on top of each salad serving. Makes approximately 4 servings.

One of these days it should be noted that I intend to get a real Chinese recipe for dumplings, but making them from scratch is kind of involved so I'm content buying them for now.