Plum Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use. Refrigerate leftovers for up to four day.


I use this dip with my Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps.

Hoisin Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 tablespoon warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use. Refrigerate leftovers for up to four day.


I use this dip with my Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps.

Ingredients 101: Star Anise

Classification
Dark-brown dried fruit from a small evergreen tree or bush. It is star-shaped and has seeds present in each of its eight segments.

Flavor
It has a strong licorice like flavor and aroma similar to regular anise, only stronger. Its pungent flavor is due to the presence of essential oils present in the walls of the star anise.

Cooking
Star anise is usually added whole (not broken into pieces) and discarded before serving.

Substitutes
A good substitute for meat dishes with a gravy base is Chinese five spice powder. Chinese five spice powder is made by mixing five spices – Szechuan peppercorn powder, cinnamon powder, ground star anise, ground cloves, and ground fennel seeds.

If you are making a dish that calls for whole star anise, you can use equal measures of aniseed and fennel seeds. Aniseed has a flavor and aroma that is very much similar to that of star anise. Fennel seeds have a milder and sweeter taste. By using both these spices together, you can replicate the flavor of star anise in your dish.

Recipes
Beef Noodles

Fried Rice with Teriyaki Steak

Last week I post a recipe for Teriyaki Flank Steak with Scallions. I use all the leftovers to make fried rice. As with my other fried rice recipes, feel free to add other ingredients as you like.

Ingredients:
Leftovers:
Teriyaki flank steak, cut into small pieces
Scallions
3-4 cups cold rice
Broccoli

Other ingedients:
Peanut oil
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
Low-sodium soy sauce to taste
Additional scallions, chopped

Directions:
1. Heat wok over medium heat and swirl in one tablespoon peanut oil. Add bell pepper and stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add steak, leftover scallions, and sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute.

2. Add rice, breaking up rice with spatula until heated through.

3. Add broccoli and peas, stir-frying for 5 minutes. Pour soy sauce around edges of wok and stir. Serve topped with chopped scallions.

Teriyaki Flank Steak with Scallions

This recipe is more Asian than Taiwanese, but it is fantastic so I thought I would share it with you anyway. The teriyaki sauce is bold and pairs perfectly with the steak. I serve the meat with white rice and steamed broccoli. The leftovers (steak, rice, and broccoli) make for great fried rice.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 flank steak (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt & pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Whisk soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, ginger, pepper flakes, and cornstarch in medium bowl.

2. Pat steak dry with paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook steak until well browned and cooked to desired doneness, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer to cutting board and tent with foil. Let rest for at least 5 minutes.

3. Add remaining oil and scallions to empty skillet and cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes; transfer to bowl. Stir soy sauce mixture and any accumulated beef juices into skillet and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Slice beef thin on bias against grain. Transfer to platter and top with sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds. Serve with rice.

* Recipe adapted from Cook's Country.

Skinny Asian Lettuce Wraps

* I love lettuce wraps and started searching for recipes online for ideas. I compiled all my ideas and came up with this.
* I find it easiest to mince the water chestnuts in my mini-prep food processor. You don't need a lot of the dipping sauces...a little goes a long way. I will be posting the dipping sauces by themselves later on in case anyone wants to use them apart from this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken
1/4 cup water chestnuts, minced
1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
Dash ground white pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
2 tablespoon scallions, diced
Peanut oil
6 lettuce leaves (Boston bibb or butter lettuce)
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup cucumber, julienned
1 cup bean sprouts

Hoisin Dipping Sauce:
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 tablespoon warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Plum Dipping Sauce:
4 tablespoons plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon scallions, diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, water chestnuts, and mushrooms. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, chili paste, sugar, white pepper, garlic, ginger, and scallions. Pour sauce over chicken, combine and set aside.

2. Mix desired dipping sauce(s) and set aside.

3. Heat peanut oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add chicken mixture and stir-fry until browned.

4. To serve, spoon chicken onto a lettuce leaf and top with a small amount of dipping sauce onto each one (a little goes a long way), carrots, cucumber, and bean spouts. Roll lettuce around filling and eat.

Ingredients 101: Sweet Sausage

There are street vendors in Taiwan that sold small sweet pork sausages. The vendors had small grills that they would cook the sausages on. Talk about delicious! If you have a Chinese grocery store that sells meat and you like sausage, pick up some of these tasty things. You can eat them by themselves or in a recipe.

Recipe
Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage

Ingredients 101: Tofu

Flavor
Tofu has a very light and somewhat bland flavor. Tofu picks up whatever spices and flavors are in a dish, so I like to use it in recipes that have bold flavors.

Nutrition
Tofu is low in calories and fat, and high in protein and iron.

Texture
Fresh tofu comes in several different textures, from soft/silken to extra firm, all of which are packaged in water. It's texture resembles soft to firm custard. Fresh tofu can also be “dry.” Dry tofu has not been dried out, but rather it has been pressed in order to get rid of a large amount of liquid.

Varieties
For fresh tofu, I prefer using extra firm because it holds up better in cooking, whereas softer tofu can fall apart and get mushy.

An example of dry fresh tofu is spiced tofu. Spiced tofu has 5-spice seasoning in it and is much firmer than regular extra firm tofu.

There are also some processed varieties, such as pickled tofu and stinky tofu.

Cooking Preparation
Fresh tofu – cut tofu into pieces (shape and size depends on recipe), and place in a mesh colander over a bowl. This will allow extra liquid to drain from the tofu pieces.

Dry tofu does not need to be drained. Simply cut it up as the recipe indicates.

Recipes
Here are a few recipes that I have used tofu in:
Schezuan Bean Curd (Mapo Tofu)
Zha Jiang Mein (Pork Sauce Noodles)

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Leave any questions you have in the comments.

Basil Chicken

Simply put, this chicken is incredible. The basil leaves are a wonderful pairing with the savory sauce.
* Feel free to use chicken breasts if you prefer. I must say that I don't love dark meat but loved this.
* I use a skillet to make this dish, not a wok.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sesame oil
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
10 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup whole basil leaves
4 red chili peppers
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup ginger, sliced
1/2 cup rice wine
2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:
1. Heat sesame oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken in single layer and let sear before stirring until cooked.

2. Stir in soy sauce, wine, sugar, and chili peppers. Lower heat to low and simmer until juice is almost gone.

3. Add basil and stir well. Serve.

Technique 101: Ginger Root

There is the right way to peel ginger, and then there is my super-duper easy and quick way. No matter which method you use, peeling and cutting up ginger is very easy and simple.

Substitution: if you do not have fresh ginger on hand, you can always use some ground ginger, at a ratio of 1 to 6 (or so Wiki tells me).

Flavor: pungent and spicy but sweet

Storage: ginger should be stored in the vegetable crisper section of the refrigerator. Wrapped in a paper bag, it will last for up to a week. For longer storage, tightly wrap in a plastic bag; the ginger will last for up to 1 month.

This is how you are supposed to peel ginger. Use a spoon to peel the thin skin away so as to not waste any of the gingery goodness. This works really well, but I’m lazy and want it all done faster, so…

I just cut the sides off a piece of ginger like this. See? I’m lazy.

Next, let’s cut this thing of spicy beauty.

First, thinly slice it into coins (if you’ve peeled it with a spoon) or squares (if you are lazy like me). Some recipes call for larger pieces of ginger, this is how you would slice it up for those dishes.

Other recipes may call for strips of ginger. Stack the thin coins/squares of ginger on top of each other and julienne.

Most recipes call for ginger to be minced. To do that, pile up julienned pieces of ginger and mince.

Ingredients 101: Bok Choy

Classification
Cabbage family

Flavor
Light and sweet. Larger varieties can get a little bit bitter.

Nutrition
High in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and calcium. Low in calories.

Texture
The stalks are crisp and resemble celery, but aren’t stringy. The dark green leaves are tender and resemble Romaine lettuce.

Varieties
There are many varieties of bok choy. The most commonly available variety in American grocery stores is regular large bok choy.

large bok choy

My personal favorite variety is Shanghai or baby bok choy, which are a miniaturized version of regular bok choy. They are sweeter and more tender. Some grocery stores carry baby bok choy, but you may have to go to an Asian grocery.

baby bok choy

Cooking Preparation
To prepare, simply cut of the end of the bulb and rinse in cool water. You can leave the stalks whole or cut them up, depending on the recipe. If using baby bok choy, you can leave it whole and not cut of the end and separate the stalks.

Recipes
Here are a few recipes that I have used bok choy in:
Beef Noodles (Niu Rou Mein)
Stir-Fried Garlic Baby Bok Choy

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Leave any questions you have in the comments.

Taiwanese Tuesday

Do you know how hard it is to come up with something every week for Taiwanese Tuesday? Yikes, it's hard. LOL.

Rusty really likes this series, because I make a lot more Chinese food...except that I don't make some of his old favorites cause I always need to make something new. And that is one reason I don't have a post every single week.

I was hoping that my posts on ingredients and technique would give me more material, and it has some. Can I ask you all a question, my fabulous friends? Is there a question you have on an ingredient or how to do something technique wise?

I thank you for helping me keep this wonderful series alive and kickin'. :)

Beef Noodles (Niu Rou Mein) - #4

Attempt #4
I think I've done it. I've created my favorite version of Beef Noodles! If you can't find short ribs, you can use 4 pounds of chuck roast, cut into large pieces.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
6-9 beef short ribs (6 boneless and 3 bone-in)
3 scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
8 slices ginger
1 onion, thickly sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1 tablespoon rice wine
4-5 cups water
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3-4 tablespoons chili paste
1/4 cup black bean sauce
6-7 star anise
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 scallion, sliced thin - garnish

1 pound wheat noodles (or linguine)
4 baby bok choy - ends trimmed and stalks separated

Directions:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Pat beef dry and sear in batches.

2. Add scallions, ginger, onion, and tomato and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon rice wine and cook for 1 minute. Return beef to Dutch oven. Add water and bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil to skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic and chili paste for 1 minute. Add black bean sauce, star anise, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Stir mixture into Dutch oven along with bay leaves.

4. Simmer for 2 hours. Turn off heat and let rest for 1 hour.

5. Remove meat and let rest for 30 minutes. You can remove the vegetables from broth and discard or leave them in. Which ever you prefer.

6. Slice meat across grain and return to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in soy sauce.

7. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add noodles and baby bok choy and cook 5 minutes or until tender.

To serve:
Place noodles and veggies in large soup bowls. Ladle broth over noodles and place meat on top. Garnish with scallions. Happy slurping!

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My other attempts - #1, #2, and #3.

Beef with Snow Peas

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds flank steak, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 pound snow peas
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup unsalted cashews pieces

Directions:
1. Combine steak and soy sauce in medium bowl.

2. In a small bowl, combine hoisin sauce, water, chili sauce, and cornstarh.

3. Heat wok over medium heat and swirl in 1 tablespoon peanut oil. Add half the steak in a single layer and allow to sear for 2 minutes. Stir-fry until cooked through. Transfer steak to clean bowl. Repeat with the rest of the steak.

4. Add snow peas and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add steak and stir to combine. Stir sauce and swirl into wok, cooking for 1 minute. Add cashews, stir and serve.

Technique 101: Sliced Steak

When a recipe calls for sliced beef, like Beef and Broccoli or Beef with Vegetables, this is the best way to do it. It can be a little time consuming, but it is completely worth the effort. The steak will turn out super tender.

1. Most recipes call for 1 - 1 1/2 pounds of beef. Most flank steaks sold are about double the size. I buy one that is about 3 pounds and freeze half.

2. You can freeze the meat you are going to use for 15 minutes to make slicing easier.

3. Cut the flank steak with the grain into 3 strips.

4. Cut each strip across the grain into thin slices.

5. Stack several strips on top of each other and cut into strips.

Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage

* If you can find Chinese sweet sausage at your local asian grocery store, then you should try this recipe. The sausage makes it amazingly yummy.
* The key to making good fried rice is to use cold day-old rice. Freshly cooked rice turns into a sticky mess, because it is too moist for the rice grains to remain separate. Day-old rice from the fridge is easy to stir-fry and makes for yummy fried rice.

Ingredients:
Peanut oil
1/2 pound Chinese sweet sausage, diced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 green onions, diced
3-4 cups cold rice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Dash white pepper


Sweet and delicious sausage

Directions:

1. Heat wok over medium heat and swirl in 1 tablespoon peanut oil. Add sausage, ginger, and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Add green onions and rice. Break up rice with spatula until heated through. Pour soy sauce around edges of wok and stir in.

Chopsticks 101

Using chopsticks:

1. Place the first chopstick so that thicker part rests at the base of your thumb and the thinner part rests on the lower side of your middle fingertip. This chopstick will remain stationary.

2. Hold the other chopstick in place at the of the index finger, using the tip of the thumb to keep it in place.

3. Use the index and middle fingers to slowly pivot the chopstick.

Basic chopstick manners:

• Do not wave your chopsticks around.
• Do not put any food back into a communal dish after you have touched it or eat food directly from a communal dish.
• It is bad manners to spear food with the points of the chopsticks as if they were a fork.
• Do not lick the ends of chopsticks.
• Do not stick chopsticks in your bowl of food, as it resembles ancestral offerings.

Shrimp Egg Fu Yung

Do not add salt to the egg mixture. Salt draws water out of veggies. You don't want to make the mixture watery.

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, chopped
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, diced
1 cup onion, sliced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1 1/2 cup bean sprouts
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup peanut oil

Directions:
1. Add eggs to a large bowl and beat together. Add shrimp, bamboo shoots, onion, celery, and bean sprouts and combine.

2. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine chicken stock, rice wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened.

3. Heat a few tablespoons oil in large skillet. Use a large ladle to scoop shrimp/veggie/egg mixture into skillet (one ladle full equals one patty). Let patties cook until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side. Serve with gravy.

Zha Jiang Mein (Pork Sauce Noodles)

Such a good and easy dish. If you can't find the spiced dry tofu, just use some five spice powder in the dish. You could also add some diced firm tofu if you want. You can add any other veggie you want to the pork mixture (edamame, diced green beans, diced carrots). The raw veggies on top of the noodles adds such great texture and flavor.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
1 pound ground pork
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, diced
1 package spiced dry tofu, diced
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup cucumber, shredded
1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
4 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, divided
2 tablespoons rice wine
1/3 cup black bean sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 pound wheat noodles or angel hair pasta

Directions:
1. Marinate pork with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon peanut oil, and 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch. Set aside.

2. Combine remaining soy sauce, remaining cornstarch, rice wine, black bean sauce, and rice wine. Set aside.

3. Cook noodles according to package directions.

4. Heat wok over medium high heat then swirl in 1 tablespoon peanut oil. Add pork in an even layer and let cook for at least one minute to allow searing, then stir-fry until cooked through.

5. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add onion and tofu and cook until onion is translucent.

6. Swirl sauce into wok and stir to combine. Cook until sauce thickens.

7. Serve pork mixture over noodles on plate and top with raw veggies.

Sweet Buns

I don't care for coconut or raisins, but I love these buns all warm with creamy filling. Just goes to show that you should always try things. You can adjust the filling to suit your taste buds.

Ingredients:
8 frozen dinner rolls
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 small package of sweetened coconut
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1 egg
1 splash milk

Directions:
1. Thaw rolls on cookie sheet lined with wax paper, 3-5 hours.

2. Beat butter and mix in powdered milk, coconut, sugar, and raisins (I find it's easiest to mix everything by hand).

3. Roll 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling in hands, pressing to form small ball. Wrap dough around filling, pinching dough to seal. Set back on wax paper, seam side down, and fill remaining buns. Set aside for 30 minutes to rise again.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg and milk in small bowl and brush egg wash over each bun. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.