Recipes Discovered

Sweet and Sour Pork

Seth and I were watching a recent episode of Good Eats titled Down and Out in Paradise. It was about basic Island food – mangoes, coconuts, papayas, and pineapple – but the recipe that stood out for me was for sweet and sour pork. Although I ended up changing the recipe slightly, it turned out to be outstanding. Marinating the pork overnight is a must because it really tenderizes the meat and gives it amazing flavor ginger/garlic flavor, not salty like I thought it would be. The sauce was a little sweet for my taste, but cutting down on the sugar would solve that problem. I can’t really think of any other criticism for the dish. It had a ton of flavor, and was seriously Good Eats! (haha)

Fried Rice with Scallion, Edamame, and Tofu Recipe

We have a lot of Chinese restaurants in town, but I don’t think any of them can make great fried rice. There is always something I would change – less salt, more flavor, less dry – and the list goes on and on. I’m not saying this is the greatest fried rice ever, but it’s fairly versatile and it tastes great.

First, heat oil in a large skillet or wok, and then add some garlic, scallions, and ginger. Saute it for a minute, or until it smells outstanding, and then add rice, peppers, edamame, carrot, and tofu. Anything can really be added at this point. The original recipe called for red pepper and corn, but traditional fried rice has peas and carrots. Shrimp would be great in place of the tofu. I really like the edamame, which, in it’s shell looks similar to a pea pod and out of it’s shell looks kind of like a lima bean. It’s actually a soybean, and it’s quite tasty. I’ve seem them whole in the produce section of the grocery store, but I found a bag in the frozen food section that were already shelled. Anyway, after adding the rice and veggies, stir-fry everything until it’s hot, and then make a well in the center of the pan. Add some more oil and then eggs. Cook them until they are almost set and then stir them into the rice. Season everything with soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and some sesame oil, and it’s ready to be served. It’s quite and easy, but like I said, it’s better than any fried rice I can get around here.

Fried Rice with Scallion, Edamame, and Tofu Recipe

Shrimp Stir Fry Recipe

Needing a quick dinner the other night, I went to the refrigerator to see what I could find. With all of our traveling, there wasn’t much to choose from, but I did come across some broccoli and frozen shrimp. I figured I could make a quick stir fry out of those two ingredients, so that’s what I ended up having.
First, I sauteed the shrimp with just a little salt and pepper. As soon as they turned pink (it only takes about 3 minutes), I removed them from the pan. I then added scallions, garlic, and grated ginger root to the pan, and stir fried that for a minute before adding the broccoli. I had fresh broccoli, but fresh could be replaced with frozen, although it wouldn’t quite have the same texture. After stir frying the broccoli for a minute, I added chicken stock, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce to the pan, covered it, and let the broccoli steam for about 5 minutes, just until it was crisp tender. I returned the shrimp to the pan, let them heat through, and then served the stir fry over brown rice with a drizzle of sesame oil (a little bit goes a long way!).
For being so simple, this was a really delicious stir fry. The rice vinegar adds a nice background taste, while the sesame oil brings the whole dish to a new level of flavor. I tried the recipe for a simple dinner, but I will definitely be using it again for future dinners.

Pepper Steak Stir Fry Recipe

Seth’s sister gave me this recipe for pepper steak stir fry that I really wanted to try. I only had chicken, but I figured that would work in place of the steak.

In a ziplock bag, I mixed together vegetable oil, corn starch, soy sauce, and pepper. I left the salt out because I thought the soy sauce would make it salty enough. Once everything was mixed, I added sliced chicken breast and put it in the refrigerator to marinate while I chopped all the vegetables. As with all stir fries, it’s importable to have all the ingredients ready to go. I cut fresh tomatoes into wedges, sliced both a green and a red pepper, diced an onion, and minced a little garlic. I didn’t have any ginger, but would have definitely added it to the mix. Since I was using chicken instead of beef, I made the sauce my combining chicken broth, corn starch, soy sauce, and sugar. >> Read more

Moo Shu Recipe

Moo shu is basically an pseudo Chinese dish served in American restaurants. Generally composed of pork, shredded cabbage, and carrots mixed with a garlic-soy sauce and served on a tortilla like Chinese “pancake” with hoisin sauce. There are many variations and additions that can be made, but I like to stick with the basics (although I do like to substitute chicken for the pork). I found a really quick and easy recipe in a 30 minute cookbookand have made it many of times. It’s great for a quick dinner with big flavor. I have made it with pork, chicken, and beef and all are good. The recipe calls for packaged coleslaw mix, but sometimes I can’t find that in the grocery store, so I just shred some cabbage and carrots and mix in. I usually find the mixture to need more sauce, so I double the sauce part of the recipe. Try the recipe out and mix and match until you find something you like! It’s a great recipe for experimenting.