If Yan Can Cook, You Can Too!!

Wok Carefully

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:05:00 +0000

cooking, Martin Yan, Gordon Ramsey, Asian Stir Fry, Chino's Cafe, Chinese Food, Asian Stir Fry

Memories of Manila

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:37:00 +0000

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Super Game Finger Food

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:31:00 +0000

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Check Me Out HERE!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:38:00 +0000

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I have MOVED!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:53:00 +0000

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Healthy Delights

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:03:00 +0000

Hmm... "It came down to time and money. No excuses to not cook a great meal, or have a dinner party." Sage advice given, when inquiring about her reason for writing.

"What are we doing for dinner tonight?"

"um... I have no idea..." Typical issue faced by my family, and those around us. The end result is usually the nearest drive-thru quick-service food establishment, with nowhere near the necessary nutritional value that families these days need.

After having a long conversation with Christina, fellow Foodie and accomplished writer whom I have known for nearly 30 years, I realized that, despite all appearances, we, like most others, already have dinner at the house. It is simply going to be a matter of browsing the shelves and puting the good stuff together again. (Hence the whole ability to "wing it" that drives my wife nuts.

"You're demystifying Asian cooking. Why order out/in when you can put it together just as easily? Basic ingredients at home, that you keep stocked, allow you to make it healthier AND just as fast as delivery.

Without having to tip."

I love it. So Stir Fry it is tonight, quick, healthy and easy to do, with what we have. (I think. I don't remember what we have in the pantry, since I inadvertantly made 2 planned meals into one last night.)

If you are wondering, the Crispy Crysanthemum Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce was a success, and it paired well with the Black Pepper Shrimp. Both the girls loved it. That speaks volumes as far as I am concerned.

Now, it's just a matter of doing something that everyone will enjoy tonight. Ideas?

"Make sure people know how awful the calories are in delivery. Making it at home makes it edible and not something you'll have to walk to California to burn off.

Losing weight never goes out of style.

So, tell that tidbit to Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers- who are showing vast gains in revenues this year- even in a recession." Yeah, I am sure they know, even though the Weight Watcher's store at the mall closed recently.

Most Americans eat some form of Chinese foods ordered from restaurants. This ethnic cuisine is generally regarded as healthy, however, it has always been difficult to determine actual values in a meal, because so many portions differ by restaurant, based on serving size, ingredients and even packaging.

For example, my General Tsao's Chicken is typically made with dark meat, but the Kung Pao Chicken is made with white, thereby increasing the fat content in the General Tsao's Chicken. Amazingly enough, the fat content in the General's Chicken is higher than that of my Broccoli Beef, which is made with Flank Steak. Compared to hamburgers and pizza, the Chinese entrees are low in fat and in saturated fat and high in protein and in carbohydrate amounts. So, do not forget to eat your Chinese entrees with a good-sized portion of steamed white rice. That enhances their nutritional quality. Vegetable oil contributes most of the calories in Chinese restaurant food where approximately one-quarter of the calories are derived from fat. Just about half (49%) of calories in frozen Chinese entrees, hamburgers and pizza are derived from fat. When Chinese Restaurant entrees are consumed with equal or double portions of steamed rice as Chinese people would eat them, the nutritional quality becomes more favorable. Chinese restaurant food has about four to seven percent of its calories coming from saturated fat compared to around one-quarter of the saturated fat (17 to 28%) in pizza and hamburgers, respectively. In addition, frozen Chinese entrees are low in cholesterol. Also, sodium and cholesterol amounts are lower in Chinese restaurant food than they are in almost all hamburgers. Not only that, but hamburgers are customarily consumed with French fries and perhaps a milk shake. Pizza, on the other hand, is low in cholesterol but relatively high in sodium. And the favorite drink to wash pizza down with? Beer. The second worst empty calorie diet buster.

The highly touted sporting event of the year is coming up in about two weeks, and that special day results the highest volume of pizzas made, delivered and consumed for the entire year. The only food service industry that fares as well is that of the Chicken Wing business.

Here’s the problem: I like to eat and I like to cook — but I have not got room in my closet for two sets of clothing ('short' and 'portly short'), anyway. Dieting is a problem. Most diets are utterly unrewarding. Weight loss is difficult to achieve and more difficult to recover, after the inevitable relapse. Frankly, it includes meals that range from boring to downright unappetizing.

The answer appears to be a low-carbohydrate diet. However, it is extremely impractical as an attempted application in Asian Cuisine (or any other cuisine that I may love at any given moment.) However, I am generally not convinced about dieting programs even though people around me have been nagging me about my near-rotundness for years. (Relax, ladies, as my daughter said, I am a 3-liter bottle away from those 6-pack abs I have been striving for.) I have tried various programs and they simply have not achieved the requisite result.

I looked the Atkins diet up on the web. The Atkins establishment maintains a substantial web presence at www.atkinscenter.com. The late Dr. Atkins and his colleagues have decided not to be greedy; the basics of the program are all there, along with supporting documentation for the ‘how-it-works’ part. The best for me: All the things I like to cook (stuff my wife tells me has to be unhealthy, it tastes so good) fits right into the program.

There are sacrifices, to be sure: I am more than mildly fond of crusty sourdough breads, crépes filled with currant jelly, pasta with various sauces (my wife makes a garlic caesar sauce that surpasses most stuff I ever had in Europe). This diet even allows an occasional sin--and tells how to fit it in.

But: A nice hamburger de luxe (cut in a little kosher salt, some freshly ground pepper and some minced shallot and grill) with a dollop of homemade sauce béarnaise is compensation.

OK, so there is a program that works. But is it for me, as Chinese food is my favorite? I live in Texas, about a 2 hour drive from Chinatown-in Houston (or a good 1900 miles from San Francisco.) This distance makes it impractical to visit and eat someone else's cooking, leaving me to create my own concoctions and creations. Can one eat a good range of Chinese dishes if following this low carbohydrate dietary regimen?

After careful consideration--including substantial risk to my now-somewhat-increased waistline (about two inches thus far…) in the experimental phase, it seems that many of my favorites fall right in line. Those that do not--well, one cannot appreciate virtue without sinning occasionally.

Cooking Chinese-style at home is a challenge and impractical at best for the unseasoned cook. First, my stove’s burners simply do not generate the kind of heat a Chinese cook commonly uses. My stove at Chino's Cafe produced a much larger fire, to the tune of 90,000 btu's of roaring fire. Newer stoves seem worse than old ones, with their darned built in regulators, but I do like my new stove’s enamel top, it is easy to clean but takes forever to heat a pan.

Second, most Chinese cooking involves techniques that create an aerosol of oil-laden steam. There can be oil on everything, impossible to clean, absent a really good range hood with a serious exhaust fan (my mom's old house had an exhaust fan that would do credit to some smaller restaurant kitchens in Chinatown-but was commonplace in Taipei). Then too, there are the ingredients. We live in Texas, and have only one Chinese-oriented supermarket, and it is too far away to make getting authentic ingredients more readily than some. But some of those things simply aren’t in the cards for low-carb cooking.

The practical solution? The right assortment of vegetables, with the best accompaniment of seasonings and flavors. As to vegetable flavorings: Onions, while wildly unpopular in my house are nice and shallots give more flavor-bang for the buck, I think. Small amounts of chives and the like work well, they add authenticity as well as intensity to foods. What else works well? Consider that quintessential Chinese food: Tofu. I am unsure what the Atkins folks think about it, but the labeling suggests it is about as low-carb as one might want, so tofu in reasonable portions, tofu is acceptable. I prefer mine firm and pressed over the usual softer types; I like the texture better and it holds up to the vigorous action that stir frying inflicts on it. Some (but not all) Chinese grocers have this ready pressed; one can press it oneself, but the process is both tedious and not very successful. Commonly put up in shrink-wrap packages, I think one cake is enough per person, and I get two nice dishes from that amount. Tofu is an acquired taste that has yet to establish itself as a popular flavor in our house.

I could go on. The principles are clear, though: A low-carb Chinese diet is entirely possible. The range of possibilities is wide and varied. Where ingredient compromises must be made, they need not affect the resulting flavor. Simplifying tricks for a 'mixed kitchen' are eminently possible. It is simply a matter of determining which flavor profiles will go over well in your house, then adhering to the regimen to achieve the desired result.

Onwards towards a healthy meal. Until Then, Good Eating, Friends...

Colin's Vegetarian Stir Fry

The beauty of this recipe is that the list of vegetables is not fixed. It can be modified to your taste and personal preference.

Ingredients:

•3 tbsp hoisin sauce
•1 tbsp sesame oil+ 2 tbsp
•2 tbsp soy sauce + 2 tbsp
•1 tbsp rice vinegar
•2 tbsp sugar or liquid sweetener
•3/4 cup vegetable broth
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
•1 tbsp corn starch
•3-4 green onions, chopped
•1 red or yellow bell pepper
•approx 2 cups broccoli, chopped
•1 cup sugar snap peas
•1 cup sliced carrots
•1 cup sliced mushrooms (shiitake are best)

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, whisk together hoisin sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, vegetable broth, garlic, ginger and corn starch over medium heat. Allow to simmer until mixture thickens, about 5-7 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.

In a large wok or skillet, heat 2 tbsp sesame oil and toss in onions with 2 tbsp soy sauce until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add pepper and broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and sugar snap peas and stir-fry another 2-3 minutes.

Add sauce mixture to the stir-fry and combine well, allowing to cook another 2-3 minutes, until broccoli is done cooking.

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Shrimp - Fried, Stir Fried, Honey'ed

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:15:00 +0000

Last week, I had forgotten to pack a lunch, and Gerry, my Maintenance Manager offered to take me to lunch. Originally, I suggested McDonald's because it was cheap, quick and close. Knowing that Gerry is not a burger guy, I was surprised when he readily agreed.

As we were heading out, he suggested a different option: Luby's Cafeteria. Luby's offers a wide array of dishes to choose from, in a caferia style, but while it is a tasty option, it can be somewhat expensive. I, not being a huge fan, asked if there was another option. After a moment's thought, Gerry suggested the Fishland Fish Market on Walzem Road. I have driven past the place on numerous occasions but had never dared venture inside. I was, however, in the mood for something new, so off we went.

As we approached the restaurant, I peered into the windows and saw that there were only a couple of seats left for dining, in a dining room meant for 8 people max. (The best bet would have been to call the order in and have it made to-go, which maybe I will do next time.) The restaurant was filled with the aroma of frying oil and seafood (thankfully) and the dull roar of the people waiting for their food as well as the two Asian ladies cooking it.

I ordered the 2 item combo of Fried Oysters and Fried Shrimp, and Gerry ordered the Fried Fish (catfish, although tilapia was an option) and Shrimp. The food arrived rather quickly, though we did see a gentleman who ordered nearly $80 worth of food have to wait for 45 minutes. With the meal came a small garden salad, fries and hushpuppies.

Prior to coming to Texas, I had absolutely no idea what a hushpuppy was. I thought they were a kind of slipper or house shoe that one was to wear around the house. Turns out they are a mealy version of doughnut holes, with a crispy crust and hot flavorful breading. (At one point, while up in Dallas working with Michael Carter, I came up with a great Hushpuppy Restaurant concept, featuring jalapeno bread hushpuppies, breakfast bacon hushpuppies, and even a dessert style option.)

The fries were hot, crunchy and tasty. It was clear to me that the ladies know there stuff, because there was not a hint of fish flavor in the fries. Clearly they have the foresight to know better than to use the same fryer for fish as they do their fries or onion rings or hushpuppies. The shrimp? Very tasty, and perfectly cooked, with the cornmeal crust giving them a good crunch at first bite. And the oysters? Wonderful. True flavor, and well seasoned. It was definitely a good idea, and amazingly, I left the place satisfied, and not hungry.

Would we be able to get a fish-fry type of meal of Asian design? Probably not. If anything, it would be a tempura style meal, with a Japanese influence. One of my personal favorites is the Honey Walnut Prawns*, a dish with fried prawns and sweetened carmelized walnuts, made here in the states and definitely not native to China. (The recipe uses mayonnaise, most definitely not of Asian descent.)

Sadly, while available in many of the Asian restaurants here in the states, and with exception to the coastal regions of China, seafood is not a prominently featured protein option on the Chinese menu. Those positions of availability are filled by pork and chicken, then followed by beef and shrimp. This has created the diverse recipes that many of the restaurants offer. In manipulating the standard themes of protein, starch and sauce, menu items have begun to represent the local tastes that are the region.

This complex of interrelated features of Chinese food can be described as the Chinese fan-ts'ai principle. ("Fan" is the standard word for grain or rice, and "ts'ai" describes meats and vegetables.) Send a Chinese cook into an American kitchen, given Chinese or American ingredients, and he or she will (a) prepare an adequate amount of fan, (b) cut up the ingredients and mix them up in various combinations, and (c) cook the ingredients into several dishes and, perhaps, a soup. Given the right ingredients, the "Chineseness" of the meal would increase, but even with entirely native American ingredients and cooked in American utensils, it is still a Chinese meal. Given this flexibility and adaptability, the distinctive Asian flavors, appearances and taste do not depend on actual or specific ingredients.

As a result, even if I were to decide to cook a specific "Chinese Recipe" for shrimp, I would still be able to modify it in my own way, adhering to the principles of cooking in the "Chinese Style" and produce a tasty "Chinese Meal." To qualify as a true Chinese Gentleman, in the country itself, I would have to be able to demonstrate knowledge and skill pertaining to food and drink. As a member of the race of peoples who have clearly been preoccupied with the art of dining, food and eating, I can say with authority that in this facet of our lives, China has definitely shown more inventiveness than any other nation. hmm... wonder what I should do tonight... I do know that shrimp is on the menu...

Until Then, Good Eating, Friends...

Crispy Tea Shrimp

Ingredients:

12 large shrimp

dash of coarse salt

1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine or sherry

1 teaspoon minced green scallion

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

2 teaspoons white tea leaves, ground fine

1 egg

3 Tablespoons plain or tapioca flour

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 cup corn oil

Preparation:

1. Shell and devein the shrimp, then mix them with the salt, rice wine, scallion, ginger, tea leaves, egg, flour, and sesame oil. Let them marinate about ten minutes.

2. Heat oil. Remove a shrimp from the batter mixture and deep fry for one minute. Do not fry more than a few at a time. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until done, and when all are fried, serve.

*Honey Walnut Prawns

Ingredients:

1 lb of Large Shrimps, peeled and deveined

1/2 cup Walnuts

5 cups Water

1 cup Sugar

2 cups Oil

1/2 cup Cornstarch

1/2 cup Egg whites

2 Tbs Honey

3 Tbs Mayonnaise

1 Tbs Fresh lemon juice

1/2 Tbs Condensed milk

1/2 cup Oil
Directions:

1. Rinse walnuts, then boil in 5 cups water, continually changing water until clear.

2. When clear, boil with sugar until sugar dissolves.

3. Heat 2 cups oil until almost smoking, then deep fry walnuts until they're shiny and brown, no longer golden.

4. Place walnuts to cookie sheet, let cool.

5. Mix cornstarch and egg whites together to form a thick, sticky texture and mix well with Shrimp. Set aside. Mix honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and condensed milk in a medium bowl until smooth.

6. Heat oil until boiling, then deep fry the Shrimp until golden brown.

7. Drain, then fold in honey mayonnaise mixture. Mix well, sprinkle with walnuts, and arrange on platter

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Up in Smoke, Texas Barbecue Style

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:06:00 +0000

Picture this:

It is Friday evening, I have just gotten home, and I am getting ready to start cooking dinner. I have gathered the primary ingredients and have gotten my younger daughter to pull out the dishes and silverware that we will be needing, when the phone rings.

"Uncle David and Aunt Maryann want to know if we want to join them for dinner at the barbeque place down the street from their house."

How could I say no? I enjoy dining with family, and it seemed like a good idea to get together. And as an added bonus? Barbeque. Who doesn't like the smell of mesquite grilled brisket, or andouille sausage on a pit, or chicken quarters with a crispy skin, still sizzling when placed in front of you? So, without further ado, off to Home of Da Smoke, in Adkins.

When you get there, the pitmaster squints through the smoke and nods in acknowledgement, then peers into the smoke as he opens the giant steel door. From your place in line, you watch him fork and flip the juicy, black beef briskets and sizzling pork loins.

Your heart beats faster as he opens a steel door to reveal a dozen sausage rings hissing and spitting in the thick white cloud.

Slowly, the sweet cloud of oak smoke makes its way to you, carrying with it the aroma of peppery beef, bacon-crisp pork, and juicy garlic sausage. Your mouth starts watering. You swallow hard. Your stomach rears back and lets out a growl. You're in a frenzy by the time you get to the head of the line, where the hot meats are being sliced and weighed. You order twice as much as you can eat. You carry it away on a sheet of butcher paper, with an extra sheet tucked underneath for a plate.

Not.

That is the kind of meal I LOVE, but sad to say, it was nowhere close to that kind of visit.

Use to be, way back when, a party of 4 plus 2 kids would not have been able to find a table big enough without having to wait long. The wait for the food was worth it, because it was always served piping hot and tasty. That was then. This is now.

We found our table right away. (From all appearances, because Madi and I were the last ones there, and there were still plenty of tables available.) We hemmed and hawed through the menu, which, strangely, had gone to a generic 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper in a sheet protector. Far from the fancy menu with inserts that it used to be. I ordered the 2 item combo with Ribs and Chicken, David glommed that idea off of me, Kim had double sausage, and Maryann had a brisket sandwich with bbq sauce on the side.

(Now, ask Maryann what she originally wanted. Oh. A hamburger. Sure. Why not? Except for the simple fact that the place was OUT OF BURGERS!!) What kind of barbeque joint worth its salt is out of burgers?

Oh well. When the food arrived, the fries smelled good and were still hot. Shoestrings, with a seasoned salt on them. That was about where the good things stopped. When I reached for the chicken, to start pulling some pieces off of it to share with Madision, it was cold. Not lukewarm, cold.

SCREEECH!!!

For those of you who really know me well, you already know that Hot food Hot, and Cold food Cold are very important tenets when it comes to serving food. Especially when dealing with chicken and pork. And I had both on my place.

How does one politely ask a waitress who already does not seem to care too much about you or your visit to warm up the chicken? (Anybody seen the movie "Waiting?") Yeah, and by the way, David needs his cooked through as well.

Turns out that their microwave does a darned good job of heating chicken... because that is all they did. Yup. Fork still stuck in the chicken and all. I guess I should have known that there was something amiss when I watched their cook pull the chicken out of the walk-in cooler and walk it to the back, where they then "cooked" it.

It is really too bad, because I am not a fan of slamming food establishments, but when such blatant mishandling of food that my family is going to eat goes on, sorry, folks, we will not be going back.

Trusted advice for a Barbeque joint means that you will be getting flavorfull, stick-to-your-ribs food. You want your first bite of beef brisket, smoked to an impossible tenderness over three days,and has no seasonings or spices during the smoking process, to assault your senses with unsullied flavor that pairs perfectly with the dark, sweet, house barbecue sauce served in a squeeze bottle.

There are many barbeque joints that I like to go to here in South Texas. First off has to be Rudy's BBQ, where they advertise themselves as "The WORST bbq in Texas." (That saying drives them to make darned sure they don't succeed in meeting that expectation.) Their barbeque "sause" is available by the bottle, or the gallon, and it goes GREAT with virtually anything. They also use Oak, as opposed to the majority of the joints that use mesquite. They offer brisket, turkey, porkloin, chopped beef, spare ribs, baby back ribs, chicken and sausage, most in 1/2 lots, but also in sandwiches. Then, they toss on a huge stack of white bread plus your choice of sides. (Go with the creamed corn. Have yet to taste better.)

Second barbeque choice here would be... umm... umm... crap... dunno... Strangely, while there are 73 different locations here in San Antonio, barbeque is not one of my favorite types of meals. I REALLY have to be craving it, and that rarely happens. When I do want it, I usually go for chicken, or maybe a sausage po' boy with sauce on the side.

Welcome to Texas barbecue.

I often receive a derisive snort in response to my declaration that I am not a huge fan of Texas Barbeque. Where did I go wrong?

Texans love to eat it. They love to make it. And they love to argue about it. It has taken such a stand in the culinary world to merit its own reality cooking show on The Learning Channel. There are competing theories on the etymology, the definition of the word, and on those characteristics that make it uniquely Texan. Texans don't agree on the kind of wood, the need for sauce, the cut of meat, or which part of the state does it best. And Texabs all have their favorite pit bosses. But regardless of what Texans believe, we can all agree that non-Texans don't understand it.

Traditional barbecue definitions don't make sense here. "Barbecue is always served with a distinctive sauce," say some. Not in Texas—some of our most famous barbecue joints serve no sauce at all. "Barbecue means slow cooking over the low heat of a wood or charcoal fire," say others. Sorry. Some of the best smoked meat in the Lone Star state is cooked at 600° F.

So what is Texas barbecue exactly?

Taking a look at Texas barbecue history may be the easiest way to understand it. The Caddo Indians cooked venison and other game over wood fires in Texas ten thousand years ago. They were followed by the Spanish shepherds, who spit-roasted kid goat and lamb al pastor (shepherd style) on the South Texas plains, starting in the 1600s. Mexican barbacoa, meat sealed in maguey leaves and buried in hot coals, has been seen along the Rio Grande Valley for a couple hundred years.

The Southern version of pit barbecue migrated to Texas in several stages beginning in the early 1800s. Black slaves recount cooking barbecue to celebrate the harvest on Texas cotton plantations before the Civil War. And Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the freeing of the slaves in Texas has been celebrated with barbecue since 1865.

The Southern version of barbecue begat the first big civic barbecues, which fed hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. These began to be held around the state in the early 1800s. Whole sheep, goats, pigs and steers were cut into pieces and cooked over oak or hickory coals while being continuously basted. The standard cooking time was 24 hours. This tradition lives on in such events as the XIT Annual Reunion in Dalhart, Texas, where tens of thousands of people gather year after year to attend the "world's largest free barbecue."

While the ultimate in Southern barbecue was cooking a whole hog, cooking a whole steer was the ultimate in Texas barbecue. Barbecued beef cuts remain the most common in Texas barbecue, although pork, mutton and other meats remain popular.

In the early 1900's, earthen pits of Southern barbecue were abandoned in favor of enclosed smokers modeled after those used by the German butchers in their meat markets.

And so the old meat markets came to be considered the quintessential Texas barbecue joints—despite the fact that the German smoked meats and sausages they originally produced weren’t really barbecue at all.

Southern barbecue is a proud thoroughbred whose bloodlines are easily traced. Texas barbecue is a feisty mutt with a whole lot of crazy relatives. With the crazy relatives comes the confusion, and the diffiulty in becoming one of the many fans of... Barbeque. Maybe I will get there. Maybe...

Until Then, Good Eating, Friends...

Island BBQ Sauce

1 1/2-inch piece ginger, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, stem removed

3 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 1/2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup mango juice

1/4 cup guava juice
1/4 cup passion fruit juice

1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup dark molasses

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a food processor, add the ginger, jalapeno and green onion. Pulse until they are finely chopped. In a medium saucepan, add the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the ginger mixture and saute until tender. Combine the ketchup, mango, guava, pineapple and passion fruit juice, cider vinegar, molasses and dry mustard in a bowl and add to the saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Let simmer, stirring often for 10 minutes for the flavors to blend.

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Where's the Beef?

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

So after an entire day of Eleyna pondering her options for dinner yesterday, we decided to just wing it and go out. First choice? Freddy's Custard. Not a personal favorite of mine, but why not. It was going to be a rare moment for some valuable Father-Daughter bonding, and if she wanted to go there, then so be it. While driving north up Interstate 35, we saw Buffalo Wild Wings, and Eleyna perked up. "Can we go there?"

"Do you want to?" Her excited grin was enough to convince me to swerve across 3 lanes of traffic and catch the last exit before having to do the turnaround. We found parking about a mile away (okay, maybe it wasn't that far...) and made it into the restaurant. We were promply seated by a smiling hostess, and that was where the positive elements of the visit ended. After waiting 7 minutes to be greeted, and after having fully perused the menu, I said, "We should have gone to Genghis Grill."

Eleyna looked at me in surprise and said,"Can we?" At my nod, she said, "What do we do, just get up and go?" And we did.

Genghis Grill ended up being the visit we expected, with Eleyna creating a teriyaki chicken bowl served on their fried rice (which is one of the worst I have ever tasted) and then polishing off dessert while I plowed through my bowl. I built mine with the ever-present chicken, beef, shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, beansprouts, tomatoes and garlic. It was DIY mastery. In a perfect world, the beef would have been shredded, and while Genghis Grill does offer a sliced beef, it is not as flavorful as their marinated stew meat.

I remember just what a rarity eating beef at home was. Mom always used to make us Chinese food with seafood or chicken. While I never complained, probably because I did not really know better, I often wonder what marvelous creation would have come to fruition had she made a beef recipe. I asked her once, many years ago, why we did few recipes utilizing beef, and the response I got made perfect sense.

Years ago beef was a luxury in the average Chinese kitchen because of its short supply and high cost, and Mom wanted to make sure that we understood the significance of that kind of scenario. As a result, it was rarely seen on dinner tables when I was growing up. Thankfully, things have changed significantly since then. Nowadays, beef is just as common as other meats in Chinese households. More and more Chinese youngsters are influenced by western diets, putting pressure on moms to conform, and to cook them hamburgers and steaks. But for the older Chinese, traditions still prevail. In the hands of an experienced cook, there can indeed be a multitude of ways to prepare a delicious beef dish. In addition to various beef stir fries, we have very elaborate beef stews, beef cold cuts, aromatic beef dumplings, beef egg rolls, crispy or tender meatballs made of chopped or ground beef, and much more.

Stir-frying seems to be designed especially for beef since it cooks rather quickly. This method is a real saver of time, money, and calories. Imagine a chunk of sirloin steak that serves only one; that same steak cut into thin strips and stirred with a head of broccoli, also cut up, and now you have a dish that serves three or four.

The hearty flavor of beef goes well with almost every vegetable. The most popular accompanying vegetables for beef are usually the ones with strong flavors such as green peppers, scallions, or celery. Greens with a crunch and refreshing taste such as asparagus, green beans, and snow peas are also good matches. One little used vegetable which gives beef a unique good taste is tender young ginger shoots.

Unlike pork, beef demands more care in stir-frying; otherwise you can end up with tough and tasteless meat. Many inexperienced cooks fail to meat the criteria for tenderness and smoothness when they cook beef because they lack the required knowledge to treat beef in the proper way. For satisfying results, remember these guidelines:

• Flank steak is the best choice if it is fresh; but if not available fresh, use other tender cuts such as sirloin or tenderloin. I try to find flank steak as often as possible from a Chinese market for stir-frying, and the resulting dish is surprisingly tender and very flavorful, indeed!

• Cut against the grain for better texture. Allow the beef to absorb enough liquid (soy sauce, sherry, and a small amount of oil) during the marinade (30 minutes or longer). The purpose is to create a tender and juicy texture. Mixing continuously helps bring the desired results.

•For a smooth texture, mix in half-teaspoon baking soda. This is a very efficient tenderizer which has been widely used by many restaurants. If you do not want to use baking soda, use one teaspoon of cooking oil and a small amount of egg white. This combination will also give beef a smooth texture and help it remain tender.

Apart from these special techniques, another important factor when cooking with beef is the sauce. A dish is usually named after the sauce in it. Besides soy sauce, the most popular seasonings for stir-fried beef are oyster sauce, fermented black bean sauce.

Ground beef may receive less attention than whole beef in the average Chinese household, nevertheless, it stars in a few famous dim sum dishes such as Cantonese Steamed Beef Meatballs and Northern-style Pan Fried Beef Dumplings. (This recollection brings to mind the gross potstickers I had at Asian Buffet a couple of days ago, and in their defense, I will allow myself to believe that they were TRYING to replicate that recipe.) In many cases, beef may be used the same way as ground pork if measures are taken to eliminate its strong taste and improve its texture. Some of the Chinese secrets for use with ground beef include:

•Use Szechuan Peppercorn Oil, minced ginger and scallion to combat any gamey or strong tastes.

•Mix in egg, cornstarch, and sesame oil for added smoothness.

Interestingly, Pan Fried Beef Dumplings, when made properly, are a tasty beef snack made from ground beef, have a better taste than egg rolls. These dumplings are juicy and flavorful on the inside, aromatic and crusty on the outside.

One advantage of Chinese cooking is that everybody, even the novice cook, can discover the ability to transform uninteresting inexpensive cuts of meat into delicacies. A good example of this can be seen in Beef Stew Noodles, which is made from beef shin or brisket. Almost all Chinese people love this dish. When it is cooked to perfection, it tastes robust and incredibly delicious. Another famous beef shin dish is Five Spice Beef. It is succulent and aromatic, and the beef is usually cut into large slices and served as a first course at a banquet or as cold cuts during a regular meal.

While I am bound to the flavor profiles that the family enjoys when cooking a meal, I do enjoy the ability to throw a meal together and call it my own. As long as it is tasty and the kids eat it, I consider it a success. So now, comes the question: What is for dinner tonight?

Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

Tomato Beef

Ingredients:

1/2 pound flank steak

4 Tablespoons oil

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1 Tablespoon chopped scallions

1 teaspoon sugar

salt to taste

1 Tablespoon chopped garlic

Marinating sauce:

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon oyster sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon dry sherry

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

Preparation:

1. Cut beef into thin slices, and mix with the marinating sauce, and allow to stand for at least fifteen minutes.

2. Heat two Tablespoon oil until very hot and saute scallions until they are light brown. Add the tomatoes and while stirring, add the salt and sugar. Cook about two minutes until the tomatoes are barely limp. Remove and set aside.

3. Rinse and dry the wok or pan and heat the rest of the oil. Saute the garlic half a minute then fry the beef until no longer red. Return the tomato mixture to the pan, mix well, and cook one minute longer then remove to a serving platter. Serve with steamed rice.

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Better Than the Real Thing. Really?

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:46:00 +0000

"Asian Buffet down the street is one of the best here in San Antonio."

"Really?"

"I have never had a bad meal, and no one else can come close to cooking anything as tasty."

"Really?"

"Yes. Have you not read the many reviews about it? Nobody ever has anything bad to say about it."

"Really?"

"That's right. Unless YOU think you could do better. Anyways, what are you...Vietnamese?"

"Really?"

"If I were to say, maybe, Garlic Chicken, I bet you couldn't make a recipe that good. Or even Broccoli Beef, much less, say, a really good Fried Rice. I invented the fried rice that they use down the street."

"Okay. You need to leave my office now. Have a good day."

Almost verbatim, this conversation I just had with some poor ignorant woman who obviously forgot to take her meds. (This is the same woman who says that even though she pays her phone bill, the bears and cats that prowl around underground have been clawing up the lines, and that she is the one who invented all of the "stuff in H.E.B.", or that she personally pays George W. Bush his SSDI payments on a monthly basis.)

While I don't take what this poor woman has to say seriously, sadly, I do believe that her words and opinion mirror very closely the sentiments of many naive souls here in San Antonio. People who live in a community where rice and beans are the primary starch choice, or where the only word that should precede "sauce" is barbeque, enchilada, or tabasco will never really have a true grasp of what the original flavors of authentic Chinese Cuisine are.

The popularity of Chinese food has created a fascinating phenomenon. With the exception of pizza, it is the most widely recognized food available, and its recognizability comes both from the various flavor profiles as well as its presentation. As extensively as it is eaten, it is written about in newspapers, magazines and books, and presented on television. It is discussed to such a degree that most people believe they know just about all there is to know about Chinese food.

Those who write about it and others who present it, generally do so with confidence but more often than not do so with arrogance and ignorance. They allow us, their audience, to believe that they, too, know just about all that there is to know about this great historic kitchen when in reality, they do not. Very few of those who profess such knowledge really know very much. Worse, perhaps, is that in most cases they proceed with ignorance. They do not take the time or the effort, and they seem not to care or learn about Chinese food and cooking.

To add insult to injury, many successful television network stars create their own version of popular dishes, professing them "better than the real thing." Any creation of a dish that was created by food network for their targeted audience, which does not include the majority of the Asian population, should NOT be described as better than the real thing.

For the most part, they write about and present time-worn clichés, blatant inaccuracies, information gotten from second- and third-person sources, or from inaccurate translations. Suppositions and ill-founded research become perpetuated. What results is a circle of ignorance regarding Chinese foods, traditions, and preparations.

The resulting information as to what Chinese food is, when it is not, ends up being the general perception, hence the misguided belief that what is not good, is. What are presented below are what Chinese food is thought to be; examples have appeared and continue to appear in newspapers, magazines, or on television. In none of these examples, are names of authors given; the purpose is not to embarrass anyone, rather to hope that those who write about food will devote the time necessary to study what Chinese food is before they write or broadcast what it is not.

Witness the following statements, assertions, and/or conclusions. All are in error even though all are reported as Chinese food fact. Along with them are what I will call occasional notes, in italics, all mine.

* From a magazine food critic who described a dish as 'Cantonese Empanaditas' and really loved the 'Grilled Black Grouper Szechuan.' That type of inattention to detail sends incorrect information regarding menu offerings. "Empanaditas?" Isn't that a Spanish word?

* From a television cook who described hoisin as a sauce of 'mostly soybeans, sugar and tomatoes, I think,' and later referring to sambal ulek first as 'Indonesian' and later as 'Malaysian.' Reading what one writes before allowing it to be printed is needed here.

* From a newspaper writer, generally well-regarded, who said 'The dim sum (called Yum Cha in Australia) knocked our socks off.' Yum Cha is a Cantonese phrase meaning 'drink tea;' it has nothing to do with Australia.

* From a magazine writer discussing cooking in Shanghai: 'Duck is the mainstay of the eastern provinces.' For the record, Shanghai is a city, not a province. And this from a magazine writer: 'Shanghai region is partial to chicken dishes.' Look; this city now becomes a region!

* From a magazine writer: 'Chinese foods are most often fried in cottonseed oil.' Currently, rapeseed oil is popular in China; in the United States, soy bean oil is used more frequently.

* From a television presenter, after dropping more than a spoonful of MSG into a wok, as he demonstrated: 'It's natural. They always use it.' No, it is not always used, and certainly not by a teaspoon full of it.

* References, too numerous to count, are made to 'Mandarin' cooking or cuisine or to 'Mandarin' restaurants, as a school of Chinese cooking. There is no such school of Chinese cooking.

* An article about Fujian food contains recipes that are not from Fujian, likewise one about the cooking of Chiu Chow. A restaurant review is presented about supposed Hakka food when the dishes reviewed are not Hakka. Likewise, an article on Asian green vegetables that misstates their properties and tastes, but which were beautifully photographed. In this country, foods from Boston would not be touted as Texan; why such ignorance about China, or about properties or tastes?

* From a food magazine quoting a Western teacher of Chinese food. 'Very few Chinese can cook dishes from other regions than their own'... (the) 'food of native Cantonese chefs is usually bland.' This was followed by an assertion, 'I know how to teach them what they need to know. I have never met a Chinese-born instructor who does.' Aside from the obvious prejudice of this one, it surely is most outrageous.

* From a newspaper writer on the cooking of the Chinese-Malay people of Singapore known as Nonya, when describing what a 'rempeh' is, said it was 'A spice mixture called rempeh cooked like a roux, (it) is a base for most curries and sauces.' It is not rempeh but rather rempah and it contains pounded raw ingredients, which when cooked are referred to as sambal.

* From a food critic who loved a 'flavorful and densely packed eggroll.' The eggroll is not Chinese, the spring roll is.

* From another writer who suggested that a 'Spring Egg Roll'...(is) 'similar to a typical egg roll.' Ignorance is bliss in this case, don't you think?

* From a magazine writer who described Hunan as 'China's rice-producing province.' Geography and agriculture lessons needed here; as to the latter, all southern provinces raise considerable quantities of rice.

*From a food critic who said she could not make out what a 'water dog' was in the Chinese restaurant she visited. What she reacted to, in ignorance, was the word gow which, depending upon intonation, is either dog, the number nine, or a dumpling. In this case, had she done some work and not opted for a laugh, she would have found that what was referred to as 'soy gow' was a water dumpling, a staple of the 'dim sum' kitchen.

* From a newspaper food writer describing a preparation as 'washed' in a 'sticky, sweet Hoisin style glaze.' Anyone care to take a venture and explain just what that might be?

* That same writer, in the same account, suggests that a dim sum dumpling skin would stretch 'two, even three inches' and that in Peking Duck, the 'fat is hardened' and that crisp-fried seaweed is 'actually deep-fried shredded cabbage.' What is the purpose of stretching and how much dough was stretched? In Peking Duck, rarely is there any fat because most is melted and drained in the roasting of the duck...and it is never served. As to seaweed, it, Chinese broccoli leaves, pearl leaves, and other greens are occasionally deep-fried.

* Nor is this writer alone. Another writer, interviewing a Chinese restauranteur noted that in his restaurant there was 'no cornstarch, no MSG and no gunk' and then actually set down as fact the restauranteur's assertion that all of his food was cooked only with scallions, ginger, garlic, tangerine skin and a 'hint of chili' and 'that's about it.' What is gunk?

* From a magazine writer: 'Fish balls...can make or break a (Chinese) chef.' No one succeeds on one food item, and anyway, fishballs are served only in Chiu Chow, Hakka, and noodle restaurants.

* From another, a critic, who wrote about 'Plum Duck' as a 'lightened-up version of Peking Duck; it is lean and boneless in a beany sauce.' Beany? And, variously we have the 'five' schools of Chinese cooking referred to as 'Canton, Szechuan, Peking, Honan, and Fukien,' or the three as 'Peking, Szechuan, and Hunan.' Then there are such marvelous additions to the pseudo-Chinese table as an authentic 'Chili Crustace Sauce' or 'green oriental radishes,' or 'souffle balls,' even 'Melon balls in ginger ale.' Not to mention the ghastly food called Chinese served up not only in those steam-table, fast-food outlets, but also in such chains as China Coast and Chopstix, to cite just two, or the all-purpose Chinese sauce marketed as 'Soy Vay.' Think you have my point.

* From a cookbook author, whose announced expertise is not Chinese, yet felt she could describe the 'traditional' way of presenting Peking Duck classically....the first course, she said, consisted of skin in a dipping sauce of hoisin, sherry, and sesame oil; the second course 'meat folded into flour doilies;' the third, duck appetizers 'which included the liver and jellied duck webs;' the fourth, a 'thick duck soup.' All of this is so inaccurate as to defy correction. Perhaps that was its intent.

* From another cookbook author, who wrote in a food magazine that prosciutto could be substituted for Yunnan ham. How soft sweet ham can replace hard, salty ham is beyond belief. Also mentioned was Beggar's Chicken as 'roasted' instead of baked, and that it was cooked in a paper oven bag. How far can tradition and adaptation be stretched?

* From another cookbook author who advises that if fresh water chestnuts are not available, then substitute apples. Or another, who suggests that tortillas can be substituted for the pancakes served with Peking Duck and Moo Shu Pork. Read on dear friends.

* What all of the above say is a result of a stunning degree of lack of knowledge, or sadly, an indifference to the properties and tastes of foods that make up the Chinese kitchen. The following are other substitutions, all of them offered in a book alleged to be about Chinese cooking: For bamboo shoots, substitute celery, green peppers, carrots, or rutabaga; for water chestnuts, substitute basically the same; for bean spouts, substitute shredded onions; for brown bean sauce, substitute Bovril; for ginkgo nut or lotus seeds, substitute blanched almonds; and for fermented black beans, substitute salt. Yes, salt.

* From a television food person who demonstrated how to steam a fish 'the way the Chinese do.' He said to place all of the ingredients of what normally would be a marinade into the bottom of a wok, heated to boiling, then place a fish on a rack over the boiling marinade. Really?

* From a food critic who wrote of her Chinese meal saying that one dish was covered with a 'malty black bean sauce,' that another was beef 'plated with colorful Asian vegetables;' also, that 'despite being fried the duck had a light taste' and, that a breaded pork dish was 'without a whit of the flaming taste of lemongrass.' Mixed cultural signals, I think.

* From a magazine food writer who, after a visit to that public relations exercise in Singapore known as the Imperial Herbal Restaurant, wrote that its food 'combined haute cuisine techniques and delicate, subtle flavors with traditional Chinese herbal cooking.' Huh?

* From a newspaper writer who described as 'dim sum' as a dish of soft shell crabs cooked in a black bean and coriander sauce. Huh? again.

* From television food people who seem to have difficulty with the word Sichuan. It usually comes out as 'Sesh-Wan' or 'Shush-Wen' as it did in a program about 'white Taro cake' which in reality is a cake of turnips. Listen also to what happened with Shao-Hsing wine which on television becomes 'Shee-Shing' or 'Show Shin' or simply 'Chinese cooking wine.' Seems they rarely make such gaffes over locales or words related to the news.

And so on. As I noted earlier, all of these, all of which are incorrect, now reside somewhere in newspaper morgues and libraries, in computer resource banks, in television storage facilities waiting to be found and used as research. How sad!

Let us hope that those that are interested, or who regard it as an obligation to tell the reading and watching world what Chinese food is, will discard all of the above and study and consult with those who know what Chinese food is, really is. Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

Easy Barbeque Steak

Ingredients:

2 pounds lean, boneless beef steak

1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

1 Tablespoon finely chopped garlic

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons soy jam (thick soy)

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Preparation:

1. Braise the steaks on a hot grill until done to your taste.

2. Make a sauce blending the scallions, garlic, soy sauce, soy jam, mustard, and sesame oil.

3. When the steak is done to your taste, smother it with the sauce mixture.

4. Serve over rice with your choice of vegetable side.

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MSG - Unveiled

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:37:00 +0000

Lunch.

At an Asian Buffet.

It was a veritable hodgepodge of unidentifiable items on the plate in front of me, and the flavor profile was even more obscure.

"Fried Potstickers." Filled with seasoned ground beef. (Really?)

"Stir Fried Mushrooms." Drowning in Soy Sauce.

"Pepper Steak." Yes, there was a bell pepper, and yes there was steak.

"Sesame Chicken." Fried chicken with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

"Garlic Chicken." Unidentifiable bits of fried (I think...) chicken with a salty peppery sauce.

"Mongolian Chicken." More of the same fried chicken (?) with an overly salty sauce.

"Spicy Tuna Roll." A sushi-styled roll - maybe the only good thing on my plate, but with nori so stale it stuck to the roof of my mouth.

"Rose's Special Chicken." A flavorless strip of baked chicken.

Oily steamed Rice.

That was all I dared try, even though I did take a cup of won ton soup, but after one bite, I could not finish it...

All of that on one plate, enough to fill me up, and "ice cream" for dessert. For the bargain price of $10.00. (Thank God lunch was not on me.)

There were close to 100 different offerings on the island of Asian Buffet, with 2 kinds of fried rice, a vegetable lo mein, egg rolls of some sort, won ton chips, spring rolls, enchiladas, a cheese covered fish of some sort, chicken on a skewer, sweet & sour chicken, onion rings, fried mushrooms, sesame balls, chicken nuggets...

They had stuffed fresh fruit, canned fruits, pastries, jello, pudding, cookies, cakes and some other bizarre sweet offerings as well, should one not be full prior to hitting those options...

It was salty. Very salty. It was also sweet. Very sweet. Overall, an overload of salty and sweet, with no room for middle ground on flavor.

Was it worth it? Probably not.

Sadly, an hour later, I had a really bad headache and I was hungry, again. I think that I became a victim of the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, a Monosodium Glutamate induced attack of headache, flushing and palpitations. Monosodium Glutamate, known more commonly as MSG is used as a flavoring agent and preservative.

For thousands of years, Japanese cooks used a special ingredient called konbu, in their cooking. It was made from seaweed and used to make their dishes more tasty and more savory. In the early 1900's, an active ingredient was isolated from this seaweed and identified as monosodium glutamate (MSG). Shortly after that, the Japanese started to manufacture MSG in large quantities. It soon became a multi-million dollar business. Among the first to use MSG to enhance food taste were Chinese Restaurants in the United States. After World War II, all the major food companies in the world and many restaurants used MSG in their products.

Twenty-five years ago, more than two hundred fifty thousand metric tons or five hundred million pounds of MSG were being produced and sold. It is estimated now, that over one billion pounds are produced and sold annually. It is found in most processed foods, and many popular quick-prep food and soup items. While many people believe that MSG makes foods taste better, others disdain it.

By the end of the 1960's, research data caused alarm about side effects associated with the use of food products made with MSG. At that time, Chinese Restaurants were exceptionally popular. About the same time, a famous Chinese doctor complained about getting headaches and tightness of his temple whenever he ate at a Chinese restaurant. Also, at about this time, the phrase 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome' first appeared in the media. Some time thereafter, due to an outcry of indignation from the Chinese restaurants, it was relabeled 'MSG Syndrome.' Nonetheless, 'Chinese Restaurant Syndrome' is still widely used to describe any unpleasant reaction people experience who think they are sensitive to MSG.

How is this so? MSG is a modified form of glutamic acid to which sodium replaces hydrogen forming monosodium glutamate or MSG. According to research data, the glutamate radical of the molecule is the part that causes the 'MSG Syndrome.' Other substances such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) and autolyzed yeast contain anywhere from ten to fifty percent MSG. Many oyster flavored sauces and other Chinese sauces, which are used extensively by Chinese restaurants, have MSG in them. It is also used in some chicken bases that make up many a Chinese restaurant soup; there are a number of cooks who believe that these soup products do not contain MSG and unknowingly, they use them.

Because of earlier unfavorable publicity regarding MSG, many people are aware that the Chinese restaurant industry has suffered. This is true, even though most people know that when Chinese food is properly prepared, it is the most healthy and tasty of all known cuisines, and that it does not have to have MSG to make it so.

My personal advice to the Chinese restaurant industry is todo everything it its power to try to remove the stigma of this syndrome associated with Chinese foods. Only then can the Chinese restaurant industry regain its position, in the mind of the American public, as provider of wholesome and healthy cuisine.

That is the bad news for Chinese restaurants. The good news is that the MSG syndrome problem can be eliminated by better cooking techniques and by using newer products on the market. These new products, most called ribotides, are powders that can be used the same way one uses MSG; they enhance the taste of all food products and will not cause 'MSG Syndrome.' Now, they are used by many major food manufacturers to replace MSG as a flavor enhancer. Not only are manufacturers using these new products, restaurants and individuals are, too.

The Chinese restaurant you frequent that clearly says No MSG, may be using a ribotide. Restaurants that are not Chinese are using them, too; so are many major hotels. Ask your local restaurant not to use MSG. Most will willingly oblige. When in doubt, ask for nutritional information from the restaurant that you frequent most often. That way you will discover a surprise or confirm that indeed, the restaurant does not use MSG.

Until then, I think I am going to do my simple recipe of Black Pepper Shrimp for dinner, instead of what I had planned (Drunken Prawns.) Good Eating, Friends...

Black Pepper Shrimp

Ingredients:

2 pounds whole jumbo-size shrimp in their shells, heads left on

2 Tablespoons corn oil

2 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 red hot chili pepper, seeded and minced

2 shallots, peeled and minced

1/4 cup corn oil

1/4 cup rice wine or dry sherry

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 Tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Remove the tiny feet of each shrimp, leave head and tail on. Then rinse well and paper-towel dry them.

2. Heat oil and saute ginger, garlic, chili pepper, and shallots for one minute then add shrimp and stir-fry for two minutes.

3. Add wine and cover and cook another two minutes, then remove cover and add the salt and pepper and stir for a minute, then serve over rice.

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Eating Like a Foo' (Egg Foo Yung)

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:37:00 +0000

So I have been invited out to lunch today by Ms. Park, an acquaintance of mine, who wants to take me to this Asian Buffet down the street from my office. Now, please don't misunderstand. I like Ms. Park. She brightens my day, in her eccentric way, and, although she is an 80 year old Korean woman, she feels that we share much in common, despite the decades of differences between us. She loves my girls, says that they should be her great grand-daughters, showers the family with gifts, talks with a VERY strong accent (even after 74 years here in the United States) and loves to eat. But she LOVES to eat at the Asian Buffet. (and I am too polite to decline...)

GRRF... (really, this place serves ENCHILADAS and JELLO...)

blech...

San Antonio seems to be the market for Asian Buffets, and they are as populous as Starbucks. Indeed, there are more Asian Buffet Restaurants here than there are Starbucks, and they are HUGE, sprawling restaurants, designed to pack anywhere from 150 to 200 people in their dining rooms.

Their food bars are islands which allow the guests to forage, scavenge and fight over the food from both sides of the pan, but heaven help you if you ask for something that is not on the bar. Hot & Sour Soup? check. Egg Drop Soup? check. Chicken on a skewer? check... Jello? check.

It is almost like a DIY Panda Express. And don't get me started on that place...

When we first moved to San Antonio, I knew I was going to be in a world of hurt, because the first place we went to eat was one of those "Super Buffets" - China Sea, I believe it was called. While I had transfer orders from the place I was working at in the Bay Area, I even entertained the idea of working at China Sea...until I tried their food. Yeah. No. Not good. Really.

I have developed a somewhat unpopular opinion of the Chinese food here in San Antonio. Having been able to enjoy the true taste in the Bay Area, I know that what we have here, with exception to 1 restaurant, is just an "American bastardization of Chinese Food." The flavors lack the subtleties of true Chinese cuisine, and are often over-salted, or excessively sweet, or simply too spicy. And people like that?!?!?

Apparently so. People look at me like I have another arm growing out of my torso when I turn up my nose to The Golden Phoenix, or China Garden, or Wok on Wheels, or Ding How, or Taste of China Super Buffet, or... (the list goes on...you name it...) because I know better than to go there more than I absolutely have to, which thankfully, is almost never. If people want to believe that the offerings at those locations are the real thing, I will let them believe so. But go into the dining room and look around...

(My Dad brought this to my attention.) If there are no Asian people eating in an Asian restaurant, you are in some trouble.

If you REALLY want to understand the differences between Chinese-American food and what I consider Chinese food, you MUST go to Chinatown in San Francisco or New York, then try the food here in San Antonio. Ask the proprietor to bring three different dishes: Chicken Chow Mein, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, and Egg Foo Yung. The only stipulation was that each of these dishes be prepared two ways, one for the American palate, and one for the Chinese. The overwhelming majority at many Chinatown restaurants are westerners, and such is the case at the place am being taken to today. The owner of this restaurant should know exactly what you are talking about when ordering the dishes made these ways.

You will be astounded when the Egg Foo Yung American Style comes out as a solid mound with brown gravy on top; whereas the Chinese version resembles scrambled eggs, omelet style. They won't taste too different, but they sure as heck will look different.

As for the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce--the quality of the ingredients should be the same in both dishes. The shrimps should be large, fresh, and cooked just right. The one made for western guests will be swimming in a bland white sauce, while mine will have been made with black bean sauce and garlic. (yumm... I am drooling just thinking of it...) Of course, any diner worth their salt, with a reasonable palate will favor my dish.

The most obvious difference will be from the Chicken Chow Mein. The western version is everything you'd expect--vegetables with shredded chicken sprinkled on top. I love it, usually thinking it a real treat, since I am generally too embarrassed to order it in this form. The Chinese version, is a wonderful combination of chicken, vegetables, and gravy, all poured over Chinese fried noodles. This kind of dish can be ordered at Golden Wok, made the right way...

So there is still a gap--though shrinking--between what some perceive as Chinese food for Chinese consumption, and Chinese food for western consumption. This is not true for all dishes--just for the more popular Cantonese dishes--such as the items mentioned above. The question is, how do you know what you will get when you order?

For me it is simple. I order in Chinese (when I can,) and automatically the waiter understands that I want everything made Chinese-style. For most people, the best way around this is to understand that items such as Chow Mein, Egg Foo Yung, Shrimp in Lobster Sauce, Lobster Cantonese, even Chop Suey are prepared differently for the Chinese palate.

Cantonese Chow Mein has yellow egg noodles, Egg Foo Yung is an omelet, Shrimp and Lobster Sauce has black beans and garlic, and Chop Suey is a combination of different sauteed ingredients. Tell the waiter you want it a certain style--the way Chinese people like it, and if the restaurant can make it that way, it generally will be happy to do so. Not all Chinese dishes have a counterpart for the American palate--generally this only exists with the more popular and familiar Cantonese dishes.

According to a good friend of mine, who finally agreed to be interviewed, and who has spent the best part of twenty-five years cooking in what he called the "most expensive chop suey house," differences in the two styles of cooking evolved because of customer preferences. "Americans thought black beans looked dirty," he said, "so we took them out of the shrimp and lobster sauce, and made it in a white gravy."

Gravy is perhaps the greatest difference between 'American' and 'Chinese-style' Chinese food. "Americans like lots of gravy," he continued, "and it has to match the ingredient. Take lobster: Americans like a white gravy, whereas Chinese prefer a drier sauce with black beans." (Thankfully, his accent was strong enough to mask the scorn that any westerner woudl have otherwise heard dripping from his voice.)

That same chef advised that he prepares a darker gravy for beef to match the coloring of the meat, and a lighter colored gravy for chicken. He also said that it was common for waiters to specify whether the dish is for an American or a Chinese customer. This he advised would determine how he prepares the dish.

Sweet & Sour sauce, in its red form, for westerners, is prepared with ketchup as its base. The TRUE Chinese taste will be able to recreate the flavors using plum sauce, mirin, brown sugar, light soy, vinegar and salt.

Differences in the way foods are prepared tend to be more common in the Chinatown setting, where there is, on balance, a large community of Chinese patrons. Outside of Chinatown, restaurants tend to prepare their dishes for western tastes unless otherwise specified.

Certain restaurants (such as the local Asian Buffets) have built a reputation on serving a predominantly western crowd, others cater mostly to Chinese taste. Neither is necessarily better than the other; it is more a question of the kind of food the customers want to eat. Those serving mostly western tastes would probably make better Chicken Chow Mein, Egg Rolls, or Spare Ribs. Those with more Chinese patrons tend to offer different types of dishes, such as tripe in clay pot. How you figure out which kind of restaurant is which, is not always easy.

"Americans enjoy Chinese food, but they appreciate items they find pleasing to the palate that are familiar to them," the owner went on, "but it is different from what we eat. For instance, Cantonese people love white meat chicken--but it has to be cooked just right, so the meat is silky, but the inside of the bone still hints of blood. But if you serve chicken that way to American customers, most would feel it undercooked." This gentleman also advised that "anyone coming in and saying that he knows Chinese food who then proceeds to order Sweet and Sour Fish, obviously does not. The Cantonese like their fish steamed, so the flavor can be savored, rather than deep fried. It takes six minutes to steam fish--the meat should be smooth, and easily removed from the bone. Fish, too, can be overcooked, and one of the first things cooks learn, is how to properly steam fish."

Whether it is New York, San Francisco, or any other major city, the possibility of getting the kind of food Chinese people are accustomed to is far greater in the Chinatowns of those cities than outside of them. The point is, the Cantonese dishes--which most Americans eat, and think of as Chinese food--very often are prepared differently for Chinese customers than for the Americans; even though the names of the dishes are the same. It is not a question of restaurants not wanting to serve the authentic stuff. Rather what is served to western patrons, has evolved though the years because of customer preference.

As western patrons learn more about good Chinese cooking, they have become more demanding, willing to experiment, and willing and wanting real Chinese food. The rise in popularity of Szechuan and Hunan cooking over the last fifteen years is evidence of this.

Furthermore, the two-tier styles of cooking--for western versus Chinese tastes--does not exist for these two regional styles of Chinese cooking. That is because they were popularized overnight, and unlike Cantonese cooking, have yet to be 'Americanized.

Perhaps Szechuan and Hunan cuisine won't undergo the same evolution as Cantonese did in this country. Today, American tastes and understandings about Chinese food are much more sophisticated than they were eighty years ago. Americans are eating more Chinese food than ever before, and many want to try something different. They are and they find that they are enjoying it. Of course they are, because real Chinese food is absolutely wonderful!

Until later, Good Eating, Friends...

Crispy Chrysanthemum Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Chinese Style

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. firm white fishfillets, such as catfish or Tilapia

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

1/8 cup Shaoxing wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup chicken broth

3 Tbsps. plum sauce

2 Tbsps. light brown sugar, packed

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/4 cup minced celery

1/4 cup sliced carrots

1/4 cup minced onion

1/4 cup minced green bell pepper

vegetable oil for deep-frying

1/4 cup cornstarch

Cooking:
1. Lay one of the fillets on a cutting board with the tail end facing you. Working with a thin-bladed knife and holding the blade parallel to the cutting board, cut through the center of the fillet starting at one of the long sides. Do not cut all the way through the fillet: the idea is to ‘butterfly’ it, so it opens up like a book. Close the fillet back up and cut it crosswise—through the uncut side—into 1/2-inch wide strips. Sprinkle fish filets with salt and pepper. Let stand for 15 minutes.

2. Prepare the seasonings: Whisk the ketchup, vinegar, plum sauce, chicken stock, and brown sugar together in a small bowl until well blended.

3. Heat a 2-quart saucepan over high heat until hot. Add oil and swirl to coat the bottom. Add the celery, carrot, onion and bell pepper and stir-fry until vegetables begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the seasonings, bring the sauce to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low to keep the sauce warm.

4. Pour enough vegetable oil into the wok to a depth of 3-inches. Heat over medium-high heat to 375 F. Dust the fish strips with cornstarch to coat them lightly and shake gently to remove any excess. Hold one of the fish strips by the uncut end and slowly lower the cut end into the oil. Gently move the fish constantly as you lower it so the cut ends begin to curl. When the ends begin to curl, release the fish into the oil. Repeat with as many of the remaining fish fillets as will fit into the oil without crowding. Cook until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the fillets with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining fillet strips.

5. Arrange the fried fillets on a warm platter with the curled ends facing up. Spoon the sauce over the fish and garnish with steamed bok choy. Serve immediately.

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Thyme to Dine

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:44:00 +0000

This weekend was one of the best that I can think of, from a culinary standpoint. There were so many tasty treats coming my way, via 2 birthday parties, that, had I been on a diet, I would have blown any chance of shedding any pounds this year. Now, I am going to have to work twice as hard to prevent any excess baggage from attaching itself to my gut.

My daughter DID agree that I now have a 4-pack and am well on my way to the 6-pack abs that I have been shooting for before we go on our cruise, but before I started working on it, I only had "3-liter bottle" to speak of.

Wow... from the mouth of babes...

The birthday celebrations actually started with being taken to Genghis Grill for lunch, where I made a delicious bowl with chicken, beef, Dragon Salt, spinach, bok choy, mushrooms and tomatoes, with my own sauce concoction, served with Udon Noodles. This bowl was a standard representation of the meals I used to make for myself there on a regular basis, and it was good to see that after 3 months, I still had the touch. (Sadly, the picture does not do it justice...)

Saturday brought with it a much anticipated poker party, attended by 18 of my good friends, and we all got to enjoy Doug's spaghetti, plenty of garlic bread, and an awesome cake made by Renee, made in the shape of a poker table, decorated with cards and poker chips.

The pièce de résistance, however, came on Sunday, when Kim made me a shoulder roast with a wonderful mushroom sauce, asparagus and Yorkshire Pudding. A shoulder roast is typically a tougher cut of beef which has the most flavor; many times it is used in making pot roasts. It requires slow cooking over low heat to ensure tender, flavorful meat as the slow cooking dissolves the connective tissues while allowing the meat to soak up the juices and wonderful flavors.

Kim's recipe included a rub of thyme, garlic, salt and pepper, and she roasted it on a bed of sliced white onion ringss in a 350 degree oven for over 2 and a half hours. The drippings from the roast were used to make the mushroom sauce and the yorkshire pudding. That plus steamed asparagus and a bottle of DC Builders' custom made chianti? Wow... awesome...

Yorkshire Pudding is one of the main components of an English meal that includes roast and vegetables. There are many different ways to make it, but our personal favorite is in muffin pans, which allows us to enjoy it in smaller portions, and it makes a great snack after the meal as well. (Light, fluffy, yet crispy on the outside? yumm...) It absolutely MUST be accompanied by the gravy or sauce made for the roast as the sauce gives it a whole new dimension of flavor. (although, as a snack, it goes well with jam or jelly...)

And then, a Snicker's Cake for dessert...

It is going to be REALLY tough to best this weekend's meals. Maybe next year we will let Morton, or Ruth or that Fleming dude do all the work, but many thanks go out to this weekend's extravaganza. Doug, Renee, Kim, Eleyna, Madison - You all outdid yourselves. Thanks a bunch for a great weekend.

And to think... Now, we have to plan this weeks' meals... I almost hate to...

Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

Your Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons vegetable oil or reserved beef drippings from roast (butter may also be used)

Instructions:

In a blender blend flour, salt, eggs, and milk until just smooth. Chill batter, covered 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/220 degrees C.
Spoon 1 tablespoon oil or beef fat (or butter) into cups of a jumbo size muffin pan or popover pan with 6 cups. Place pan on center rack of oven for 5 minutes to heat the oil. Quickly pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup batter into each muffin or popover cup and bake until puddings are puffed and golden brown, about 18 minutes. With tongs remove puddings from muffin pan and serve immediately.

Makes 6 large or 12 mini yorkshire puddings.

Note:

Puddings can also be made in a mini muffin pan or popover pan with 12 cups. When using mini pans, you will need to decrease the amount of batter that is poured into each muffin or popover cup. Use half the amount of above batter for each mini cup (for 1/3 cup batter, substitute 5 1/2 tablespoons, for 1/2 cup batter, substitute with 1/4 cup batter).

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Cookbooks - The book of LOVE

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:06:00 +0000

Aah, how the mind and world works in circles, even at a distance of 1335 miles...

Kim and I were discussing just a few minutes ago what we should be doing for meals for the upcoming week. I said that I wanted to do some more of the recipes that I have been writing about, but of course we would make some sort of compromise and do a little of each: 4 meals that I choose and 1 that she chooses.

The discussion wound its way towards us having to look through our cookbooks, and I just figured that "what the heck, let's just wing it again," because I hate poring through cookbooks to find a recipe that SOMEONE ELSE HAS WRITTEN that may or may not be good.

How is it that others can get PAID for writing recipes for those who don't dare try to create their own? Heck, throw me on a deserted island with nothing but a coconut tree and I will show you how to make a delicious flaky fish with coconut milk.

(duh...catch the fish, evaporate some sea water for salt, crack open a coconut, saving the milk, grind or mash the coconut meat and coat the fish in it, smoke it over your fire that you slaved hours over to light, sprinkle some salt and coconut milk on it and enjoy.) But I digress...

Plus, we have SOOOOOO many recipe books, even after having pared the collection down some...

So I decided to take a break from thinking about what to do for dinner and read up on what Nancy Wolter had to say for the day. (Sadly, she has gone to a two-a-week format, from the three posts that she had been doing, leaving me REALLY looking forward to Tuesdays and Fridays.) And guess what Nancy had to write about today???

The same nightmare that befell me today was what Nancy was musing about...

http://gulfgal-nancysworld.blogspot.com/2010/01/menu-madness.html

As a general rule, there are only a few cookbooks that we now keep in our library. We used to buy every cookbook that piqued our curiosity. After a few years of that, we had a cabinet literally overflowing with cookbooks, of which we maybe referrred to 2 or 3. So, we have literally resorted to tearing out the pages that we use on a regular basis and disposing of the rest.

There are a few exceptions to that rule. Gordon Ramsay, Martin Yan (for traditional Chinese Cooking) and Rachael Ray (even though on tv she annoys the heck out of me) hold a hallowed place on my bookshelf, and I have no qualms about referring to their recipes in the event I am looking for inspiration. I am not keen on having to follow a recipe, but I usually end up using their literature as a foundation for whatever it is I end up making. (unless I don't feel like perusing through an index looking for a Ground Beef recipe...)

When I entertain at home, I prefer to cook easy to make but tasty recipes. I try to come up with a meal that allows me to enjoy the company of my guests, instead of spending a bulk of the time slaving away in the kitchen. This is why I like Fast Food by Gordon Ramsay. Don't let the title deceive you. It is not a culinary take on the drive through restaurant. It is a quick, healthy way to cook for the family when time is not on your side. One of my favorite sections in his book is the list of essential ingredients for every cook's pantry. Who ever thought that olive oil, which is one of the staples in our pantry, would be held in such high regard?

“However amazing a dish looks, it is always the taste that lingers in your memory.” Ramsay's most important advice. Don't worry so much about how the dish looks. Edible? Appealing? of course, but if it tastes better than it looks, you have succeeded.

Yes, all good hosts should make an effort on food presentation. But we must accept that we are not all Chefs either. My priority for easy entertaining is to design a stunning tabletop, cook a delicious meal and after, try to plate the food more beautifully.

I follow Gordon Ramsay on TV somewhat religiously. He has a kindred spirit that I can relate to. I also feel for him when watching him have to battle testosterone-gifted alpha dogs who can't handle a line station on Hell's Kitchen. I enjoy watching his antics on TV because he exhudes the same energy and passion while in the kitchen that I feel I have to contain. I enjoy Fast Food because his cookbook provides tasty recipes built around menus and types of food plus some essential cooking tips.

You get recipes for fast soups, appetizers, antipasti, salads, sandwiches, eggs, working lunches, pasta, shellfish, fish, meat, vegetarian, side dishes, fruity desserts and creamy desserts.

The pan-fried hake with tomato relish sounds delicious. In fact, they are plenty of tempting fish and shellfish recipes. I prefer eating fish instead of meat in the summer time.

Half the menus are for everyday meal while the second half is filled with menus for casual entertaining. Be creative with your décor and you can throw memorable parties around these mainstream themes:

A taste of Morocco
Viva Italia!
Outdoor Eating
Tapas Spread

Summer Special – I really want to taste the avocado and cucumber soup followed by the Salmon with Mediterranean flavors (stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes, basil leaf, an olive and a sliver of garlic)

Thai Feast

Fast Drinks Party – nibbling food and large serving drink recipes

My only complaint about this book relates to the poor choice of fonts on certain sections. The extra-bold font used for the ingredient list makes them harder to read. Graphically, Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food felt short of being a beautiful cookbook. Nonetheless, due to the recipes and good advices, Fast Food makes a nice addition to my cookbook collection.

For now, Good Eating Friends... I think I know what I am doing for lunch today... (Sorry, Jenn, they are not going to Florida any time soon...)

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Kremm Broo-lay

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:56:00 +0000

"Excuse me, Sir, but my baked potato is cold."

"Oh. I am sorry. Do you want another one?"

Gee, I wonder... No, I didn't want another one, I wanted the one I ordered to be hot when it was brought out, instead of the token, rather insincere apology.

As a stickler for the whole "Hot food hot, cold food cold" mantra, it was rather disappointing to go out to dinner, to a restaurant with locations around the nation, that has been a family favorite for years, and, after waiting an interminably long time, receiving with my filet mignon and asparagus a cold baked potato. To me, it was an indication that the potato had been loaded and put up in the "window" long before the steak, which was ordered medium rare, was ready. Years in the business have taught me not to make a scene, or ask for a second portion of whatever was not right. (Anyone seen the movie "Waiting?")

I was never one to plate a steak that had hit the floor, or spit in someone's food (although I can't say that I was never tempted to do so...) or do anything else foul to someone's food, because I am also a firm believer in Karma. Hence no asking for a "re-cook." Yup. In the business, it all comes right back to you. That is why, even at home, I don't toss a dropped vegetable back in the pot. Don't want the kids learning that.

Luckily the restaurant had my favorite dessert: Creme Brulee. There have been instances when we have visited this restaurant and for some reason, they have not had an appetizer or dessert that I wanted, but the General Manager, Joe, would always make an effort to make sure that my family and I were well taken care of. Last night? Not so much. Too bad for us, because Joe isn't there any more.

Sadly, a good creme brulee requires an hour to cook correctly, then 2 hours to chill, and that kind of time is not something everyone is willing to spend on custard. But mmm... the satiny taste, with vanilla coming over the top... to me, definitely worth the wait.

Thankfully, creme brulee requires very little in terms of ingredients to make well. So, guess what we are going to make for dessert sometime this week? I will let you know how it tastes.

Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

Creme Brulee

Ingredients

9 egg yolks

3/4 cup superfine white sugar plus 6 tablespoons

1 quart heavy cream

1 vanilla bean

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream together egg yolks and sugar with a whisk until the mixture is pale yellow and thick.
Pour cream into a medium saucepan over low heat. Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean down the middle, scrape out the seeds and add them to saucepan. Bring cream to a brief simmer, do not boil or it will overflow. Remove from heat and temper the yolks by gradually whisking the hot vanilla cream into yolk and sugar mixture. Do not add hot cream too quickly or the eggs will cook.
Divide custard into 6 (6-ounce) ramekins, about 3/4 full. Place ramekins in a roasting pan and fill pan with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until barely set around the edges, about 40 minutes. You may want to cover loosely with foil to prevent browning. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Transfer the ramekins to the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar on top of each chilled custard. Hold a kitchen torch 2 inches above surface to brown the sugar and form a crust. Garnish with cookies and fresh fruit. Serve at once.
Variation: Before dividing into ramekins: add 3 ounces of shaved dark chocolate for chocolate creme brulee; add 4 slices of crystallized ginger for ginger creme brulee; add 3 slices of orange peel for orange creme brulee. Let steep 20 minutes to infuse the flavor. Strain out the ginger and orange peel before baking.

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You Tiao + Chinese Drunken Shrimp = You Drunken Chinese Man!!

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:13:00 +0000

"So are you going to make the Taco Soup tonight?"

*sigh* "Yeah, I guess so..."

6 hours later... "Hey, Eleyna, you are cooking dinner tonight."

"Okay, what are we having?"

"Taco Soup."

"Okay. What do I do first?"

10 minutes later... "Can I just turn the stove up to 'high' so that we can eat sooner? I don't want to wait for 20 minutes."

20 minutes later, we had dinner. It was a successful experiment, and all I ended up doing was opening the cans of beans and corn. Piece of cake. It is nice to know that with minimal supervision, even our 11 year old can make a tasty meal.

Now, all I have to do is train her on the finer points of cooking. She has mastered scrambled eggs and taco soup. Next up? Chinese food. I will probably test her patience with some variety of Shanghai styled cuisine.

While Shanghai is one of the largest and prosperous regions of China, it does not have its own "true" style of cuisine. Instead, it blends tastes and flavors from surrounding provinces while incorporating cooking elements and ingredients specific to their location.

One particular element that makes Shanghai Cuisine distinctive is their use of alcohol. It goes as far as creating labels for their food directly relating to the use of wines and spirits. "Drunken Shrimp," which uses a native red wine is one of my favorites. (Here in the Western world, the term is used to describe shrimp that have been marinated in alcohol prior to eating, but the true Chinese interpretation of the meal is best described as eating live uncooked shrimp* that have been "stunned" by immersion in alcohol.) If live shrimp cannot be found to best make this recipe, then frozen shrimp will suffice.

*Please note that I am not advocating eating raw or undercooked shellfish, as it can pose a significant health hazard.

Because Shanghai is close to the East China Sea, accessibility to fresh seafood is not a problem. This access also creates a high demand for dishes including hairy crab and oysters.

My personal favorite food item that is of the Shanghai influence? A nifty, fried bread stick called You Tiao. (pronounced yo tee-ow.) Yum... memories of this wonderful breadstick bring to mind trips to San Francisco's Chinatown and seeing it stacked in bakery display cases and having to make a quick detour into the store to buy some. Mom would buy it a couple sticks at a time, and if we were lucky, it would last for more than a block as we wandered our way down Market Street. It was always best when hot, but it went GREAT with rice porridge that had flakes of fresh fish tossed in at the last minute.

I remember one time when my sister and I were really young, (yeah, ages ago) and Mom had bought some You Tiao to go with the won-ton soup that she had made. (Hey, there is a great idea for the next recipe...) My sister and I were tasked with cutting the strips of You Tiao, which start out about 24 inches long, into half inch pieces. We could not help but snack on it while cutting it, and there were times when even Dad would get in on the poaching. Often, Mom was lucky if half the stick made it to the serving plate.

Sadly, there are no truly authentic Chinese bakeries here in South Texas so I have had to find my own recipe for making You Tiao. I just hope that it can be replicated as closely as possible to the real thing. So, for next week's meal? Drunken Shrimp with steamed rice and You Tiao. Yum...Can't wait...

Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

Colin's Drunken Shrimp

Ingredients

1 pound shrimp, shell on

4 cups water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon vinegar

6 to 8 tablespoons Chinese Cooking Wine or sherry

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 slices fresh ginger root

Directions

1. Wash shrimp. Remove legs, leaving shells intact; then devein.

2. Boil water and poach shrimp until pink (about 2 minutes); then drain.

3. Combine soy sauce, sherry and salt; pour over shrimp and toss. Let stand 1 hour, turning occasionally. Drain, discarding marinade.

4. Mince ginger root and sprinkle over shrimp. Also sprinkle vinegar over. Let stand 30 minutes more, turning occasionally; then serve.
(A blend of balsamic vinegar, sesame oil and garlic makes a perfect dipping sauce for these shrimp.)

Colin's You Tiao

Ingredients

*6 c. (1 lbs) high protein flour

*2 c. water

*1 T. baking powder

*2 t. baking soda

*1.5 t. alum

*1.5 t. salt

*oil

Directions

1. Place ingredients of ammonim bicarbonate, baking soda, alum and salt in a mixing bowl; add water and stir until the ingredients have dissolved. Add flour and mix well; let stand for 15-20 minutes.

Use hand to take some dough from around edges and drop into the center of the dough; let stand for 15-20 minutes. Continue to drop the dough in the center of the bowl 3 or 4 times until the dough is elastic and smooth.

Turn the dough over and lightly coat the surface with oil so that the dough will stay moist. Let it stand for 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a sheet of plastic wrap; wrap the dough and form it into a rectangular shape. Let it stand for 4 hours. If a large batch is made, cut the dough into several 1.25 lbs. pieces, then wrap each piece in a sheet of plastic wrap.

Unwrap the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough and strech it into a long strip. Roll the dough into a rectangular shape, 3'' wide and 0.1'' thick.

Crosswise cut the rectangular shaped dough into strips, 0.25'' wide.

Put two strips on top of each other; Use a thin rod (skewer) or the back of a cleaver to press lengthwise in middle of the strips; this will attach them securely to each other. Follow the same step for the other strips.

Heat the oil for deep-frying; anout 350 degrees.

Pick up a strip from the ends and gently stretch it to make it longer. Carefully drop it into the hot oil and turn it over continuously with chopsticks until the crueller expands and turns golden brown; remove.

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Is It REALLY Worth the Clean Up?

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:53:00 +0000

So yesterday, after dinner, Kim asked Eleyna whether or not the meal was worth having to clean up after the cook. (Our rule in the house is that He who cooks, does not clean.) It's good for me.

I got a begrudging affirmation, when Eleyna, with her typical pre-teen "I can't stand this" attitude, said, "Yeah, I guess."

Her one stipulation to being willing to clean? I cannot continue to leave such a mess. This dinner was no such exception. She hates it when I leave such a Mess in Place. The solution? Mise en Place.

Umm... Okay, a French term for a Chinese Food Blog. Yes, but I did say that we would be exploring GLOBAL cuisines and that incorporates multiple terms and tools from multiple nations.

All mise en place, pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs, means is to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start cooking. Simply put, “ to put in place.”

It's kind of like how Kim prepares for a trip. Or Christmas. Or preps for doing taxes. Buy or assemble all the stuff you need then prep it all, and put it all together. (months in advance.)

More often than I care to admit, I jump right into a recipe with little or no prep believing that I can chop the garlic while the onions are sautéing. 4 steps into the recipe I then find it necessary to reduce some balsamic vinegar before adding it to the dish and invariably end up scurrying around trying to get it done before the onions and garlic overcook, thus throwing my timing completely off.

I’m not sure why it is such a challenge to accept this idea but it’s similar to asking someone to preheat their grill or sauté pan before starting to cook. How many of us just go out to the gas grill, turn it on for a couple of minutes, throw a chunk of meat on it and start grilling? It’s the same with searing or sautéing on your stovetop. Let those pans heat up some before you start cooking. If you are cooking with oil, it should just about be smoking before you add your main ingredients.

The ultimate Mise En Place involves making sure that every single ingredient that is going to be used in a particular meal is readily available. More often than not, I end up having to call my wife at work and ask her to pick up some beef stock, or sliced mushrooms, or an onion, just to be able to put the entire recipe together. (And I wonder why cooking off the cuff is so mentally exhausting...) Yeah. Calling the neighbor to borrow a cup of milk, or a stick of butter? I've been there, and it only makes it harder to get in the habit of assembling everything together if that mini-mart is so readily available.

Here’s where my wife and I approach cooking from different points of view. She is so much more organized than I am and therefore never finds herself running out to the store at the last minute. When we are in the deciding phase of determining what to make for the next week's meals, she discovers a delicious looking recipe in one of our many cooking magazines, makes a LIST of ingredients that she will need, goes to the store and buys all the ingredients on her LIST, and then comes home and has me start prepping all the ingredients on her LIST. This is the way to do it. Forget about trying to wing it like I often do and think, “Oh, if I don’t have what I need I will just find a great substitute for it.” If you are not intimately familiar with the wide array of flavors that cross your palate, then random combinations of flavors could be a REALLY bad thing.

No way. Doesn't work. Maybe if you are a trained professional you could get away with it but it is not a great way for a beginner home cook to learn. And if you ever have the opportunity to meet a professional chef sometime, ask them how much time they put into mise en place everyday.

If you ever have the occasion to dine in a restaurant with an open kitchen that has a counter you can sit at and watch the chefs do their work, give it a go. If you have ever worked in a restaurant that has line cooks, or even a sous chef, you will know that all of their ingredients are prepped and assembled in one station. A pizza parlor has all of their ingredients prepped and assembled on their cooler ready for quick pie assembly.

If you watch the pros, you will see that they can get out many appetizers, salads, entrees, & desserts with relative ease. Sure they have a crew of three or four, but think about how much work goes into cooking a gourmet dinner for six in your own home. These guys are putting out a hundred plus dinners per night.

What should come to your attention is their mise en place. Each station is fully prepped with all the ingredients necessary to make a particular dish. All the meats, chicken, and fish are cut and de boned, the fresh herbs for seasoning sauces are washed, cut, and separated into small bowls, the vegetables are sliced, diced, or julienned to the correct size, everything ready to go because when the show gets going, there is no time to go back and dice up some carrots. The show must go on.

What we don’t see are the hours spent during the day when prep chefs are working hard to get everything ready for the evening event. As many hours going into prepping for a typical night in a good restaurant as there are for actual cooking.

Such foresight would have come in handy, had I not thought to myself "Oh, let's do (this) tonight, to use up (that.)" Sadly, the meal that I ended up cooking was one that should not have been done on a week night, as it required 2 hours to do properly, and I somehow managed to do it in 1. The beef stock should have reduced by half, and it would have required another 30 minutes. The potatoes should have been fully cooked in the oven, which would have required another 45 minutes. The beef should have been allowed to simmer in the juices to tenderize, which would have required another 20 minutes.

But when you have 2 daughters clamoring for food, you have to take shortcuts, that invariably result in compromising the quality of the meal. If you don't have the time to do it right? Don't do it. But, really, besides all that, if your seasoning is spot on, how hard is it to do a Stew-Stuffed Potato? Not really hard, I think...

Until I really find out, Good Eating, Friends...

Colin's Stew-Stuffed Potatoes

Ingredients

8 cups low-sodium beef stock

3 large russet potatoes

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup sour cream

2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Water, as needed

1 1/2 cups sliced onions

2 cups sliced mushrooms

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Put the beef stock in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, leaving 4 cups.

Put the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until just tender, about 45 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut potatoes in half lengthwise and using a spoon, remove the potato flesh and set aside, leaving 1/2-inch thick rim around the edges. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the baking sheet and put potato shells on it, cut side down; bake until the cut side is golden brown and skin is crispy, about 20 minutes.

Pat the meat pieces dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch oven and sear the beef on all sides to a deep golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove the meat to a plate and carefully add a tablespoon of water to the hot pot, scraping up the brown bits from bottom of the pan. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and saute the onions and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook about 7 minutes, stirring often, until the onions begin to caramelize, adding water, as needed, to deglaze the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the onions are a deep golden brown, add the reduced beef stock and the beef and their juices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until the meat is tender, skimming fat off the top, if necessary, about 35 to 40 minutes
.
Pass the reserved potato flesh through a ricer or mash with a masher until smooth, adding hot water to loosen them. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, butter, sour cream, then season with salt and pepper, to taste, and mix well.
Ladle the stew into the crisp potato bowls, top with a spoon of mashed potatoes and enjoy.

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Mom's Stone Soup for Dan

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:57:00 +0000

"Daddy, I'm hungry."

"You're hungry?"

"Yup. I'm a starvin' Marvin!!"

"Okay, what do you want for dinner?"

"I want something DELICIOUS!!"

"Umm... okay, and who is going to make this 'something delicious?'"

"Umm...duh, you are!!"

So on Friday night, after Eleyna's basketball game, Kim and I were in search of sustenance. I had just driven to the other side of town and did not want to drive too much farther to eat, or I, in my own irascible way, would have started to get grumpy, and then NO ONE would have wanted to dine with me. It was also too late to drive all the way back home and make something there, as I am not a fan of dining late at night.

So we settled on a local spot, called Carino's Italian Restaurant. After tasting the meal, and upon further review, I am not sure that what we ate could really qualify as Italian food. The bottomless hot bread basket, served with roasted garlic, olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping was good. The Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, with its peppery bite was excellent. The bottomless soup and salad? Ehh... and the entrees? Not so much.

Against our better judgment, we both ordered off the promotional menu, with Kim selecting their Ravioli dish, and I selecting the Steak Florentine dish. (Most restaurants, when promoting a new dish or menu, mass produce tons of portions of ingredients for that menu item, and this prep format results in a loss of freshness for ingredients.)

I also chose the bottomless minestrone soup, and Kim chose the bottomless Caesar Salad. I kind of wish I had also chosen the salad, as the minestrone soup was not hot, and lacked depth of flavor. More of a watery tomato soup with everything but the kitchen sink tossed in, but without seasoning. Have you ever heard the story of "Stone Soup?"

The salad was the most popular dish around the table, as Madison felt no qualms about grabbing her fork and stabbing away at Kim's salad. It was pretty funny to see, considering that she had picked off all of the croutons as well and was content to munch away on those.

When the entrees arrived, the first thing I said was that it looked better in the picture.

What was I thinking?!?!? Of COURSE it didn't look as good as the picture. It NEVER does. I, of all people, should have known better.

The cream sauce for the Steak Florentine had a bit of a kick, which made for an interesting combination, as the spinach and steak paired well with it. Kim's ravioli dish had a bizarre, unidentifiable flavor to it. It was almost as if the hodgepodge of flavors was an inadvertent result of combining leftover seasonings and ingredients and no one could decide whether it was good or not. Sadly, it was not.

I think that our overall dissatisfaction was due in large part to the fact that we can get the real thing often, when Kim's family makes it...

The expectation was higher than the level of satisfaction, which, sadly, resulted in... *sigh* yup, you're right...

So I was wondering what I could have done to make the meal better. First off, I would DEFINITELY improve the soup recipe. It desperately called out for more substance, more depth, more flavor. It is supposed to be filling, healthy, savory and made with the freshest of vegetables. (Hmph) Then, I would not have ordered that same entree. It was sadly the only way I could think of making the visit better.

Ironically, later that same evening, I got an e-mail from Dan, one of my readers and a dear family friend, asking if I had any experience with minestrone soup. My best recipe is one of my Mom's, that sadly, I have not been able to replicate to my satisfaction. (That is quite possibly due to the fact that I never wrote the recipe down, and was always going off of memory, as well as the fact that no one else in the family likes it, so I refuse to make it for myself.) I will never resort to buying the canned stuff, and maybe one day I will be able to make a batch of it for more than just myself. So, Dan, here is my Mom's recipe, culled from the depths of my memory, and finally put on paper. (The beauty of this recipe is that it can be modified in virtually any way conceivable, through the addition of more vegetables, or even beef stew meat or shredded chicken.)

Until I find someone who is willing to enjoy Mom's recipe with me, Good Eating, Friends...

Mom's Lentil Minestrone Soup

(measurements are approximate, due to the recipe not being written down.)

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoon olive oil

• 1 Tablespoon butter

• 2 Cups finely chopped shallots

(A regular white onion can be used if you don't want the strong flavor of the shallot)

• 4 Tablespoons tomato paste

• 1/4 Cup chopped parsley

• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

• 6 carrots, diced

• 1 Cup diced celery

• 1 Cup diced tomatoes

• salt & pepper
(seasoning to taste)

• 1 Cup green lentils, rinsed

• 2 bay leaves

• 6 thyme branches

• 2 quarts water or vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon Soy sauce

• 1 bunch spinach
• 2 Cups cooked small pasta, such as shells or ditalini

• fresh Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions: Heat the olive oil and butter in a wide soup pot. Saute the shallot over high heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Toss in the garlic, carrots, celery and salt, saute until celery is evenly softened. Stir in water or vegetable stock, diced tomatoes and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Add lentils, bay leaves, parsley branches, thyme branches. After allowing herbs to cook in the soup for about 5 minutes, lower heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add soy sauce. (For additional depth a splash of Worcestershire Sauce can be added.) Remove the parsley and thyme branches. Blanch the spinach in salted water until tender then cut into smaller pieces. Add to soup just before serving. Top with fresh parmesan cheese.

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Sloppy... Sloppy... okay, Joes.

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:33:00 +0000

Last Night's Adventure -

Lettuce? Check.

Tomatoes? Check.

Onions? Check.

Pickles? Check.

Ketchup? Check

Mustard? Check.

Guess what we're making? Not hamburgers, not any more...

Hamburger meat? Check... oh wait, it's not thawed. So now, what the heck are we going to do? Hmm... let me root around in the pantry again and see what inspiration comes to me...

so... Tomato paste? Check.

Vinegar? Check.

Sugar? Check.

Mustard? Check.

Worcestershire Sauce? Check.

What is it going to become? I guess we are having Sloppy Joes. And who doesn't love Sloppy Joes?

From Eleyna "I hate sloppy joes."

Well, then you can have plain ol' boring ground up hamburger meat on a bun. Yup. Really. I cooked the hamburger meat with absolutely zero seasoning, because I knew that if I were to season the meat then add the sauce, it could potentially have been waaaaaaayyyy over seasoned.

Thankfully, Sloppy Joes are simple to cook, with just a couple of basic ingredients, which almost everyone should have on hand at all times. If you ever decide to make tons if it at a time for "Planned Overs" it freezes very well too.

It was a fun experiment, which forced me to really delve into the depths of creativity, as I, while a huge fan of sloppy joes, had never made them before. So going off of what I had tasted in other people's versions of the same was a bit of a comedy of trial and errors.

The sauce never seemed to be just right, probably because, while I did check to see if I had mustard, I forgot to put it in, and because Kim doesn't like onions, I couldn't add those as well. Darned hamburger meat.... sheesh. (Actually, I need to blame the darned refrigerator for keeping everything so freaking cold. Oh, wait... that's a good thing...) And, I was able to wash it down with a pretty decent beer.

Madison seemed to like it though, because I caught her grabbing a spoon and dipping it into the sauce to taste, even though it was REALLY hot. Rather amusing, yet gratifying to see that there was yet another soul who could appreciate food off the cuff. She did not even feel bad about getting caught; in fact, she asked if she could try some more. Too much fun. I have absolutely no idea what we are going to do tonight. Maybe more of the same. Kitchen improv. It's a fun yet risky proposition but hopefully only good things will come out of it.

I have really got to figure something out. Cooking on the fly like that is mentally exhausting. Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

*By the way, this is a new fun blog that my daughters and I are doing: feel free to check it out. http://smilesandfrownsabound.blogspot.com/

Awesome Sloppy Colins (fine, Sloppy Joes)

Ingredients

3 pounds ground beef 1 cup chopped yellow onion 1 cup finely chopped celery 1 (12 ounce) bottle tomato-based chili sauce 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard (optional)

Directions

Crumble the ground beef into a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently until evenly browned. Drain off grease. Add the onion and celery, and cook until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium and pour in the chili sauce. Stir in the vinegar and sugar. Add mustard if using. Simmer until the mixture is your desired thickness. Serve on buns.

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Colin the Hun..or Hunan? (in the style of cooking)

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:54:00 +0000

Kim just asked me "What are you going to blog about today? You didn't make anything interesting for dinner last night..."

After a semi-offended cough of disbelief, I replied "There is nothing that says that my blog entries have to be about what I have cooked the previous night." (And plus, who says that I am the one that has to cook something interesting every night?) oh yeah, everyone did...

Thankfully, I am correct, although writing about the previous night's successes (or failures) is always a fun element of writing. Sadly, we only did ravioli with a 3 cheese sauce, as I felt that I simply could not cook a delicious Chinese foood meal 3 nights in a row. (Wait... it was only 2 nights in a row, because Monday's meal, while authentic Broccoli Beef, was not that good, because I used the wrong cut of beef.)

I am devising, in my head, a way to tackle the next region of flavors from China and get it on the next shopping list, and my primary goal is to come up with, or find, a recipe that the entire family will like. The Hunan Cuisine is a flavor I know my family and many friends love, but they are not aware of the origin of the flavors that assault their senses.

Hunan Style Cuisine

64 million residents of China call the Hunan province their home. As one of the melting pots of the country, it receives cooking influences from far and wide. The agricultural areas produce rich harvests, resulting in additional variety. Credit must be given to one of the largest freshwater lakes in China, Lake Dongting, which has also influenced the cuisine. (We can't call it "Seafood" as the origin is a lake, but does "Lakefood" sound right?) As one of the 8 major regions and cuisines of China, it is well known for its hot, spicy flavor, fresh aromas and deep colors.

All these ingredients from which to choose... So, it's no simple matter for Chinese chefs to simply throw some meat and vegetables into a stir fry and make a meal. Instead, the food in Hunan is prepared with great care, often taking hours to get the results just right. There are many comparisons to Hunan Cuisine and that of the Szechuan province, but while the main similarity is the heat that the various spices add to the food, there are marked differences in the origins of the fire. Known for its liberal use of chilli peppers, shallots and garlic, the Hunan cuisine is known for presenting a dry heat or purely hot, as opposed to the better known Szechuan cuisine,which is known for its distinctive (hot and numbing) seasoning, Szechuan cuisine frequently utilizes Szechuan peppercorns along with chilies which are often dried, and utilizes more dried or preserved ingredients and condiments. Hunan Cuisine, on the other hand, is often spicier by pure chili content, contains a larger variety of fresh ingredients, tends to be oilier, and is said to be purer and simpler in taste. Another characteristic distinguishing Hunan cuisine from Szechuan cuisine is that, in general, Hunan cuisine uses smoked and cured goods in its dishes much more frequently.

Orange beef, a representative native dish and a local favorite, is a perfect example of this elaborate style. Made from beef marinated overnight in a mixture of egg whites, wine and white pepper, Hunan Orange Beef is world famous for its spicy, flavorful and delightful presentation, Hunan cooking at its peak.

Also typical of Hunan cuisine is the rich, strong spice that makes the dishes here hot, hot, hot. Hunan chefs use chiles liberally. With meals often containing ample slices of fresh chile peppers (and with skin and seeds thrown in to boot), be prepared for a mouth-watering, tear-producing nuclear event. A word to the wise: Taste your meal before automatically throwing on more sauce, such as the ever-present Chili Garlic Sauce, or even Sriracha, as you may be surprised by the amount of heat that is produced. (And trying to chase the heat away with beer? not so much, as the oils produced by the chilis repel water.)

As with many Chinese dishes, Hunan style cuisine often makes use of rice. Not true everywhere in China, by the way. Mandarin cuisine relies much more on wheat, for example. But as one of China's largest beef and pork producers, meat is commonly part of the menu, as well.

Of course, because of the large lake that is so prominent a part of the province, seafood (or, more accurately, lake food) is often included, too. Hunan is renowned for its shellfish, which diners will often find dressed with shallots and garlic.

Hunan chefs love to simmer and fry chicken, duck and other fowl. Making ample use of oils is also a provincial custom. Meats are often seared before being simmered or fried, which gives them a crispness unique to this region of China.

Steaming and stewing are also frequently employed techniques. Both allow the meat to exude juices that blend with added chile-based spices, which then wend their way back on and into the meat. This makes for a delicious and healthy meal. Using smoked and cured pork is a regional specialty. That produces results that is often darker than those of its Szechuan neighbors. One of my personal favorites that I can get at the drop of a hat, and only a 10 minute drive, are the Spare Ribs from Golden Wok, which are tiny pork ribs steamed in Chi Hou and a savory black bean sauce.

As usual, I welcome all readers to feel free to contribute their favorite Hunan Style Cuisine recipes as we work to tasting the Perfect Meal. Until then, Good Eating, Friends...

Colin's Hunan Spicy Orange Beef

Made with dried orange peel, this spicy and flavorful dish originates from the Hunan region. Best Practice: deep-fry the beef twice if desired to make it extra crispy.

Serves 3 - 4.

Ingredients:
•3/4 pound flank steak

Marinade:

•1/2 teaspoon salt

•1 egg white

•1 ounce cornstarch slurry

Sauce:

•2 tablespoons water or low sodium chicken broth

•2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

•1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

•3 teaspoons Tomato Paste

(Ketchup will suffice if you don't have any tomato paste lying around the house)

•sesame oil

•1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper, or to taste

•1 fresh orange, including the peel

•1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Veggies

•2 slices ginger

•2 cloves garlic

•2 green onions

•2 medium celery ribs

•Oil for deep-frying and stir-frying

•6 dried red chili peppers

Preparation:

Cut the flank steak across the grain into thin strips. Add the salt, egg white and cornstarch. Marinate the beef in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Complete the next three steps while the beef is marinating.

To prepare the sauce, in a small bowl combine the water or chicken broth, dark soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, ketchup, sesame oil and white pepper. Squeeze the juice from the orange and add to the sauce, along with the sugar. Set aside.

Remove all white rind from the orange peel. Cut the peel into thin strips. Peel and mince the ginger and garlic. Wash the green onions and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. String the celery and cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal.

Heat the wok over high heat. Add oil for deep-frying and heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oil is ready, add the beef. Deep-fry on both sides until it changes color and is nearly cooked. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Add the celery and submerge briefly in the hot oil (the celery should not be in the hot oil for more than a few seconds). Remove and drain on paper towels.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons oil from the wok. Add the dried chili peppers and the orange peel. Stir-fry briefly until the chilies darken, then add the minced ginger and garlic. Stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Stir in the green onion.

Push the vegetables up to the side of the wok. Add the sauce in the middle. Add the beef back into the pan. Heat through and serve hot.
*this picture came from an old highschool friend - Steven Chen, with whom I spent many hours playing the violin as a member of the San Francisco Youth Symphony.

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Pan Seared Steak Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Ask me what I had for lunch today. Go ahead. Ask.

Okay. "Colin, what did you have for lunch today?"

"Fast food. Carl's Jr. to be exact. The Big Carl Combo. With onion rings."

"Eww... I thought you didn't like fast food..."

"I don't...but..."

I simply did not feel like leftovers today, even though we had plenty in the house. Thankfully, some of the meals that I have made recently hold well, and reheat well. I thought I was going to have leftovers from last night's meal, a delicious creation of Pan Seared Steak Rolls, a la Martin Yan, but for some strange reason, the kids ate every bit of it. There wasn't even anything to scrape into the garbage can. (I tried to tell my wife, who was in bed, sick, that the meal was terrible, so that she would not feel bad about not getting any but she didn't believe me.) But she didn't get any anyways. There simply were no leftovers. Wow.

Operationally, this was a tough meal to make on a weeknight. The meat needs to be frozen for about 30 minutes to make it easier to slice into manageable strips, and then it needs to sit in the marinade for up to 2 hours. On a Tuesday night? Yeah, right.

The cut of meat is super important as well. A couple of nights ago I tried to make my Broccoli Beef recipe with brisket that did not have a chance to sit in marinade. (I was trying someone else's recipe. Otherwise, the marinade would have been a given.) Brisket, sadly, if not allowed to smoke on a barbeque and cook for hours, can be a very tough cut of beef. Consequently, Kim had to go on a shopping excursion during her lunch hour yesterday to find me some flank steak, which would have been the optimal cut of meat to use for steak rolls. Unfortunately, the neighborhood meat market did not have flank. Tripe, tongue, liver, pig's feet, sure. Flank steak? Not so much. Weird, right? (For those of you familiar with San Antonio, yeah, that's weird.)

After visiting 2 other grocery stores, and with time slipping away, I told Kim just to get the leanest package of skirt steak. *Skirt steak is a fattier cut of meat, even though both skirt and flank are a tough cut of meat from the diaphragm of the cow. Because skirt is considered a tougher cut of meat, it lends itself perfectly to stuffing, rolling then searing, and us usually the only cut of beef traditional cooks use when making fajitas. Flank steak, my personal preference, is much leaner, and is generally used for cuts of London Broil. When sliced thinly at a diagonal across the grain, if marinated properly, flank steak is delicious.* I still, however, had to wait for her to get home from work to be able to start working with the meat, and by that time, I had already finished most of the vegetable prep.

Best practice with this recipe: Pan seared steak rolls require a lot of different ingredients, for the marinade, sauce and stuffing. I would highly advise keeping the wet ingredients together, then the veggies, as I, in my fervor, just tossed all of the stuffing ingredients in one bowl to mix when I really should have set the oil, garlic and ginger aside to cook separately.

The final result was tasty, if not a little salty. Also, despite my best attempts to adhere to the recipe, I did not get a good "searing" of the meat, instead poaching it more. The solution? I should have used a little less oil and more butter when trying to sear the steak rolls. Upon cutting the Steak Roll open, we were able to view a colorful mosaic of vegetables, which could have only been enhanced by the addition of chives, or green onions that I wanted to put in the recipe. (Onions were only kept out at Kim's insistence, even though she did not even end up being able to enjoy the dish.)

I would definitely suggest that everyone tries this recipe. Perhaps, from many, one can gather THE perfect recipe for this meal. Until we find it, Good Eating, Friends...

Pan Seared Steak Rolls

8 ounces flank steak (4 inch x 6 inch piece) or 8 thin sliced sirloin

Marinade

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

freshly ground pepper

Sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

¼ cup canned chicken broth

Filling

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 carrot, cut into 2 inch matchsticks

½ red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch matchsticks

2 ribs celery, sliced thin on diagonal

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

12 green onions, cut into 3 inches long

4 ounces enoki mushrooms

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons butter

¼ teaspoon sesame seeds

Freeze steak for 30 minutes until partially frozen. Slice steak against the grain, on the diagonal, into 8 equally thin pieces. Use a meat mallet to pound each piece of meat to 1/8 inch thick. If using thin sliced sirloin, skip this step.

Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl and add meat slices. Let stand 15 minutes to 2 hours.

In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients.

To prepare filling, heat a wok or skillet over high heat. When hot, add vegetable oil, swirling to coat the sides. Add garlic and ginger and fry for 20 seconds. Add carrot, bell pepper, celery and stir fry for 1 minute. Add soy sauce, sesame oil and stir. Transfer to bowl and let cool.

To make the beef rolls, lay beef slices out with short side facing you. Equally divide chives, enoki mushrooms and vegetable mixture among the pieces of meat. Roll the beef up, over the filling and secure with toothpick.

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and butter, swirling to coat bottom. When hot, add beef rolls, seam side down, not touching and pan fry for 1 minute, turn roll. Add sauce to the pan. Cover and simmer over medium heat until beef is just cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Remove toothpick, sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.

Yields 4 servings

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Thanks Mom... Enjoy Dining with Angels...

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Recent news of my Mom's passing has led me to explore, introspectively, the origins of many of my passions, and the depth to which I chase or follow them. I have come to realize that while I guide my family through the veritable maze of confusion, chaos and discovery, if I were to look ahead of me, I would see that my parents left footprints for me to follow.

From Mom came the lessons within the dynamic world of food and restaurant management. I was shown the importance, at the ripe age of 6, of having a clean bathroom in a restaurant. I tasted the differences between fresh asparagus and one out of a can. (I still love that memory, and I LOVE asparagus...) I learned the value of behaving myself in a restaurant. I learned that there are true advantages in doing what you love. My Mom was a partner in a restaurant franchise called Coco's Restaurant and Bakery. We made many trips to Orange County to check on the restaurants, and I was always called upon to give my opinion regarding the cleanliness of their bathrooms. When the franchise sold and converted to Carrow's, I felt a bit lost, because it no longer became necessary for me to to do my job as bathroom monitor.

My Mom exposed me to many global facets of the Foodie World. The experiences include restaurant visits in Washinton DC, Boston, New York, Hong Kong, the Philippines, France, Italy and Spain, and I am sure that those experiences would have known fewer boundaries had we been able to explore more.

From Mom came a love of Chinese food made with the freshest of ingredients. Dim Sum, Tomato Beef, and Rice Porridge with fresh fish from Chinatown in San Francisco? Often, almost weekly.

From Mom came the fascination with tricks of the trade, as demonstrated by Martin Yan and Julia Child. I was watching and enjoying their television shows long before the latest movie about Julia Child was produced.

From Mom came the reassurance that it was okay to toss a whole stick of butter in a recipe that I was making for the family. I remember the look of abject horror on my Dad's face when, while making a batch of sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving, I tossed a whole stick of butter into the recipe. My Mom laughed it off and said that she believed that it was going to taste GREAT.

From Mom came the idea that anyone could jump feet first into the business and succeed. While Mom wanted me to go into the Computer Science industry, she fully supported my belief that I could make anybody any great meal.

From Mom came the appreciation for a gourmet home cooked meal. I remember my Mom puting her cooking skills up for auction at our school's fundraiser. When the party of 8 showed up to eat, they were treated to a meal fit for royalty. It included Beef Wellington with fresh vegetables, and a dessert of eclaires made in the shape of a swan.

From Mom, came the seed to this book, and the desire to instill upon those who will read it the same love of cooking.

I am going to miss all these experiences, but I can only hope to be able to share that same passion with my family. I am going to treasure the memories, but I can only hope to be able to create my own unique and memorable moments (and footprints) with my family.

Thanks Mom, for everything. I know you are dining with Angels now...

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How Do You Say "Chinese Food" in Italian?

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:04:00 +0000

After struggling into my pants a couple of days ago, I decided that I had to modify my resolution for the New Year. (Okay, I hadn't really made one, but I decided that I was just going to have to. Oh yeah, and I didn't REALLY have to "struggle" into my pants...) The fact that I worry about actually "filling out" my clothes concerns me no end...

So whilst grumping about my weight gain, which was a direct result of all the Holiday meals that I had enjoyed, I realized that I was going to have to eat better, and eat less, or smaller portions. In my family, however, that is easier said than done. (In fact, refusing an additional serving, or a "Mop Up" is actually considered an insult to the chef.) It is particularly hard when the food that I get to enjoy is so darned good.

The last few days have seen my family try new dishes and recipes, and also enjoy the varied selections of the Italian side of the family. (Obviously hers, not mine.) The conversation around the dinner table ranged from how different we liked our food to how San Antonio, with its taqueria on every corner and fastfood joint on the other needed some exposure to true Chinese and Italian cuisine. We tried a 5-ingredient recipe of Turkey, wheat penne, asparagus tips, olive oil and white balsamic vinegar that worked out wonderfully. It was one of those "spur of the moment" kind of recipes that we had to try to see if it was any good. We also got some of the famous "Colonna Spaghetti." The spaghetti for us was a deviation from the norm, as we don't get to enjoy homemade Italian food very often. The history behind the food? Well storied. The availability? By request only now. The Colonna family has restaurant experience that goes beyond my age, and the popularity of their food still resounds here in San Antonio. I was able to eat at their last restaurant, that unfortunately is no longer open, and I have to say that, while the restaurant experience was always good, having it made specially for you at home is second to none.

David Colonna's bark may be a lot worse than his bite, and one wrong move while trying to help with the food assembly may take you by surprise, and the wait may make you gnaw your fingernails off if you are really hungry, but this is one dining experience where the wait is definitely worth the time.

I have been able to assist in the assembly of my own meals a la Colonna, but the secrets behind the sauces are not divulged, even to the most favorite nephew-in-law. With handmade Italian-style pizzas, steaks, seafood and traditional pasta dishes such as chicken Alfredo fettuccini, calzones and spaghetti and meatballs, I have been the beneficiary of generations of experience in the Colonna Kitchen.

David's keen sense of taste and brilliance in cooking didn't come from years in a culinary academy. It didn't come from hours spent poring over recipes in everyone else's cookbooks. It came from the source. Dave's father Frank opened up the original Colonna's Pizzeria on the Southside of San Antonio in 1967 as a traditional pizza parlor. While it has changed its appearances many times in the last 4 decades, the best way to get the real taste is not in the local restaurant, it's in his kitchen.

Having been in the restaurant business since 1925, the Colonna family had the true experience behind the menu. The family business has roots in New Haven, Connecticut, known as The Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, and has branched out to include locations in Farfield, Manchester, Yonkers, and even inside the Mohegan Sun Casino. Their specialty is, of course, pizza, which they cook the old fashion way - in a HUGE coal fired oven.

A personal favorite of mine is Chicken and Jalapeno, but one made with sundried tomatoes, bacon and sausage is also good. For those unfamiliar with the name or the product, it is a pizza meant to bombard your senses. While it does not feature the neat round that the big national chains pride themselves in, a Colonna's pizza offers more depth of flavor, and the ability to enjoy LOTS of it without getting stuffed on crust. The thinner crust also allows for the entire pizza to cook, as opposed to the gel-line (a layer of dough that looks uncooked and soggy) that often comes with a thicker crust pizza.

The secret behind the taste: Use only the freshest and finest ingredients, and simplicity is best. The famous sauce is made from scratch, and the dough is made from a secret family recipe. The amount of care that goes into a true Colonna meal is representative of what Italian food is SUPPOSED to be about. There are no fancy ingredients in a Colonna pizza unless you put one on it. No preservatives. No pre-frozen dough.

Most non-Italians identify Italian cooking by rattling off some of the standard fare offered in "Traditional Italian Restaurants," like pizza and spaghetti. Some people even go as far as to say that Italian cooking is all pretty much alike. However, those who travel through Italy notice differences in eating habits between cities, even those only a few miles apart. The differences are regional, communal and location specific.

There are individual family recipes for making sausage, cheese and wine, many families have their own bread. The ever-present question about what goes in one man's sauce even has many different answers. Variations in the pasta are another example of this multiplicity: soft egg noodles in the north, hard-boiled spaghetti in the south, with every conceivable variation in size and shape. Perhaps no other country in the world besides China has a cooking style so finely differentiated into different regions and tastes. So why is Risotto typical of Milan, why did Tortellini originate in Bologna, and why is Pizza so popular in Naples?

The beauty of Italian food to me is that it shares many of the unifying characteristics of Chinese food. Cooking it is simply another aspect of the diversity to which we should be exposed on a more regular basis.

Distinctive cultural and social differences remain present throughout Italy, but capitalism has created a new form of evening out the differences from long-established family values. In a country so diverse, it is nearly impossible to define an “Italian” cooking style, just as in China, one must know the region to recognize the taste, but traditional food is still the identifying feature and core ingredient of a region's identity, and both Italians and Chinese react with an ethnocentricity when they are confronted with the challenge of defending, defining or divulging their culture. This pride in cooking, and pride in taste, and pride in global cuisine creates the fusion of tastes that I get to enjoy on a regular basis, and one that I highly recommend that everyone else tries to partake of regularly.

Until then, Buon Appetito, Amico... (Good Eating, Friends...)

Whole Wheat Penne with Turkey and Aparagus

Ingredients

2 pounds turkey breast scaloppini cutlets

1/4 cup garlic-flavored olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
(this stuff is EXPENSIVE so try not to waste any...)

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

16 ounces whole-wheat, whole-grain penne

1 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions

Put the turkey cutlets in a glass bowl and add the garlic-flavored olive oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss to coat, and let stand for 10 minutes.
Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, over medium heat, and add a generous amount of salt.
Remove the turkey from the marinade, shaking off any excess liquid and transfer to a plate. Drizzle with oil to keep it from sticking and season well with salt and pepper. Grill the cutlets, turning once, until the turkey is cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and chop into bite-sized pieces.
Boil the pasta according to the package instructions. Add the asparagus in the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Carefully remove about 1/2 cup of the cooking water and reserve. Drain the pasta in a colander, add some garlic oil to the bottom of the pot and return the pasta to the pot, off the heat. Add the turkey and any juices released to the cooked pasta and toss to combine.
Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste and drizzle with additional olive oil and vinegar, if desired. Add the pasta cooking water, a tablespoon at a time and toss until the pasta is evenly moistened. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl and serve warm, room temperature, or cold right out of the refrigerator

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Mandarin - Duck, Orange, Cuisine...

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:10:00 +0000

It has been cold at home lately, and I have been craving a REALLY good soup that I can whip together quickly. Sadly, what I have been craving I have not had the ingredients for: A REAL Hot and Sour soup. My favorite part of Hot and Sour Soup is its treasure chest of tastes. There is always so much in it that invariably, I either want another bowl, or I end up having to rummage through the pantry to find something else to satisfy my tastebuds. Hot and Sour Soup is a true respresentation of Mandarin Cuisine, as, like the region in China, it incorporates many different flavors and visual perspectives. Garnish a bowl of soup that you are served with sesame oil, green onions and a dash of white pepper and you will have added a whole new realm of depth to the flavor.

Mandarin style cuisine, when cooked well, presents a stunning visual offering, as well as a delectable dining experience. In Mandarin style cooking, presentation is everything. Whether making a crispy Peking Duck or simply a bit of Mu Shu Pork, it has to be done with style.

Mandarin style cuisine links style and flavor together, pairing mild spices together with the colorful array of vegetables. They also blend sweet with sour, and crispy with refined and smooth. The plate that is used as the palette will normally have a mixture of colors and aromas that will wow the crowd.

The Mandarin style cuisine is a combination of influences from all the provinces of China, as it is nestled in the center of all of the action. At the same time, it brings with it an individuality of its own. The finest chefs in the land doing their utmost to create the finest dishes have come from the region, as they are accustomed to having to cook for royalty, as was their responisibility generations ago. The benefit that we reap as a result of this style of cooking is a delightful array of the finest Chinese dishes.

Even smaller dishes often receive elaborate treatment. 'Snack food' such as scallions coated with dark soy paste might well be presented in a range of colors. The colors could be created by using boiled egg yolk, sliced just so in order to represent a flower. Or, they might be formed from multi-colored vegetable dishes combining carrot, beet and green onions.

Breakfast dishes as stir-fried tomatoes paired with scrambled eggs make for a healthy breakfast that is at the same time highly colorful. The goal is to delight all the senses, not just taste.

Surprisingly, wheat, not rice, is the staple starch option. But far from being a mundane structural element, Mandarin dishes with wheat products are a work of art. Whether in the form of Mandarin pancakes or used as a Mung Bean wrap for pork, it is always done with flair.

Ever thought you had a taste of Mandarin Cuisine? Want a truly royal Mandarin dish, but don't have time for something complicated? Try some of the traditional hot and sour soup that is a classic of the genre. Filled with bamboo shoots, chopped chicken, mushrooms and chili oil, you'll find it a feast for the eyes and tongue. Seasoned with red peppers to make it hot and vinegar to make it sour, even a simple Mandarin dish is a kaleidoscope for the senses.

Thinking fondue? Go Mandarin style with a Hot Pot. A simmering bowl of thinly sliced beef or chicken, combined with leafy green vegetables, egg dumplings and mushrooms, this stew is both healthy and delicious. Throw in an ox bone and call yourself a native-style chef. Something simpler? Rice soup, with strips of raw marinated white fish, or lightly sauteed chicken strips, or duck, tossed into boiling hot rice soup at serving will create a savory meal perfect for a cold day.

After you taste a bit of Mandarin cuisine you will discover the true meaning of 'Chinese Food' and in its finest representation of the cultural collaboration. You'll never be the same again.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year, and for now, Good Eating, Friends...

Colin's Hot and Sour Soup

Serves Plenty

Ingredients:

3 Eggs, whisked
1 cup Cornstarch Slurry
1 packaged Firm Tofu, diced into tiny cubes
1 cup rehydrated Dried Mushrooms
1 cup bamboo shoots, finely julienned
1 cup cooked chicken ,diced finely
1 cup green onions
4 ounces soy sauce
4 ounces vinegar
2 tablespoons tabasco
1 gallon Chicken stock

Bring chicken stock to a boil. As it is boiling, whisk in cornstarch slurry to create a slightly thicker base. Once you have your thickened base, while stirring slowly, pour scrambled egg into broth in a thin ribbon. This will result in a cooked ribbon of egg in your broth.

Add all other ingredients, bring back to a boil, and enjoy.

For added flavor, a splash of sesame oil, a teaspoon of green onions and a dash of white pepper over the top will serve quite nicely.

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Journey Back East, to the FAR East.

noreply@blogger.com (Colin) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:18:00 +0000

Every now and then, even the BEST cook can make a mess of a good recipe. I think that happened last night. I was trying to make a Ground Beef with spicy Beijing Sauce and I tried to do it without ALL of the necessary ingredients. Another HUGE mistake I made was not checking to make sure that the ground beef I was using was NOT pre-seasoned. Yeah, there are grocery stores here in San Antonio that offer pre-seasoned ground beef, which, for all other uses, is pretty good. But when you want to make a dish that features its own bold flavors, you must make sure that the meat itself is fresh and plain. The mixing of sauces that I had with the pre-seasoned beef created a flavorful but overly salty final product. Very disappointing, as all of the mechanics were there. And to think: I had wanted to make a Szechuan meal for the family...

Szechuan Style Cuisine

Nestled in the mountains, with the famed Himalayas to the north, Szechuan province has given the world a unique cuisine. In English, the province is also often misspelled Sichuan. The more common spelling is influenced by the Cantonese dialect. Whether it's Kung Pao chicken, Ma Po Tofu or Bang Bang Chicken, Szechuan cooking is renowned for being hot and spicy. It was often the featured style of cooking by Iron Chef Chen Kenichi, the most successful Chinese Chef in the original production of Iron Chef.

The reputation for hot and spicy food is well deserved. The hot, humid climate of the Szechuan province accelerates food spoilage. Pickling, drying salting and smoking with spices help preserve food as well as opening the pores to cool the body. But far from chiefly practical concerns, the spicy foods native to this region of China simply tastes delicious.

Szechuan chefs are well known for using liberal amounts of garlic and dried chili peppers of different varieties. Their use creates a taste sensation that not only wakes up the palette but is said to satisfy the soul. While Kung Pao Chicken is one of the most well known dishes and recipes, the Szechuan province does offer many dishes that utilize little or no seasoning.

But there's much more to Szechuan cuisine than merely stimulating the tongue with chemical heat. In the realm of spices alone the food is rich in garlic hints and full of the flavorful salts popular in the region.

Szechuan cuisine is full of heat and spice and not even vegetables are spared the fire of their savory sauces.

While spice is generally the featured taste, sweet offerings are equally easy to find whose origins come from the region. Beet root and cane sugar often provide a sugary taste to a dish here. They're then combined with everything from orange peel to ginger from pickled vegetables to bean paste and from vinegar to sesame oil. That gives food in the province a combination of delightful flavors. For, Szechuan cuisine is nothing if not varied. While it may be more famous for spicy dishes, there is a wide range of tastes that make up native recipes.

Even the noodles in this once-forgotten area of the country are distinctive. Though made from wheat just as are ordinary noodles, the result is anything but mundane.

BuIf you don't think your tongue or your stomach can handle the heat, not to worry. The hot oils that secure Szechuan spices to the noodles, beef and other solid food are easy to deal with. Drinking water is of limited help, since oil repels it. Water won't wash the hot spice away. A bite of rice, a drink of beer or a bit of plain bean paste can help ease the situation.

While you have time to cool off, Good Eating, Friends...

Ground Beef with Beijing Sauce Over Noodles

If you don’t have bean sauce, it is acceptable to substitute hoisin sauce or oyster sauce and omit the sugar. To save time, boil your noodles according to package instructions while you’re cooking. I’ve added dried peppers, but of course you can leave them out if you’d like. If you enjoy spice, try the “hot bean sauce” instead of the regular bean sauce, add more dried chilies and leave the seeds in or use chopped fresh chilies instead. Serve over your grain of choice.
serves 4
For the sauce

1/4 cup stock (chicken/beef/veg)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon ground bean sauce

1/2 tablespoon cooking wine

1/2 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cooking oil

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1/4 cup minced onions

4 dried chili peppers, cut in half, seeds shaken out/discarded

1 pound lean ground beef or chicken

1/2 cup frozen vegetables (I used carrots and peas), no need to defrost

1/2 cup chopped baby corn (1/2 can)

1 tablespoon cornstarch slurry
cooked rice or noodles
Mix the sauce ingredients together, set aside. In a wok or large over high heat, add the cooking oil. When the oil is just getting hot, add the garlic, onions and the chili peppers, fry until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add the ground beef and stir fry for 1 minute until browned.
Add the frozen vegetables and baby corn and stir well. Pour in the sauce and turn the heat to medium. Bring sauce to a boil.
Add in the corntarch and stir for about 10 more seconds, until sauce has thickened and vegetables have achieved a shiny glaze. Taste and adjust for seasoning – you may add a little more soy sauce if needed. Serve over noodles or rice.

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