Three Cup Chicken

 

This week’s kitchen traveling adventure took me to Taiwan. If you love Chinese food, you will love Taiwanese food. Essentially the difference is that Taiwanese food adds some local Taiwanese flair using local ingredients.

In my International Law class last semester we actually talked quite a bit about Taiwan. Though I’m considering Taiwan its own country for purposes of my food travels, Taiwan actually is not considered a sovereign nation in international matters and instead is considered part of the People’s Republic of China (Taiwan is formally known as the Republic of China.) I’m sure the reason for the similar foods is due to these cultural identities and the international view of Taiwan’s and China’s relationship.

Now that I’ve given you a mini-lesson the big of the day is: I’m done with law school!!! Well, that’s hoping I passed everything.. But done for now!

And in other other news, I forgot to photograph this dish after the basil was added as garnish.

Three Cup Chicken
(source)

Ingredients
4 chicken drumsticks, skinned with the meat cut off and cut into chunks
3 slices ginger, peeled
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine
Thai basil, chopped
1/2 tbsp baking soda

Directions

1. Sprinkle the chicken with the baking soda. Set aside for 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes has passed, wash the baking soda off the chicken, making sure to get it all off.

2. In a skillet (I used my cast iron) heat the sesame oil. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragrant. Add in the chicken and stir around a few times. Add the soy sauce and white wine and continue to stir-fry. Cover the chicken and on low bring the liquid to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the basil and stir into the chicken. Serve over rice.

* serves 2
* shared with Tasteful Tuesday & Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Spicy Asian Hamburger

Final number one is out of the way. I have three finals and a paper until I’ll no longer be a law student, but will start studying for the bar exam instead. I guess that’s still sort of a law student though, isn’t it? I probably should be studying for my exam for tomorrow, but I feel sort of brain dead after the one I had today.

On Sunday of this week I made this delicious hamburger. Infused with Asian flavors, this made such a great meal. And instead of serving it just with french fries, I roasted some asparagus as well and tossed the french fries and the asparagus in Argyle Street Asian Blend, which I had received from a Foodie Pen Pals some months back. And instead of ketchup for the fries, I mixed up some sriacha, mayonnaise,  and ketchup which also was the spread on the burger. Both the fries and the asparagus tasted good with the dip.

All in all, this was a very satisfying meal!

Spicy Asian Hamburger
(source)

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1 tbsp vegetable oil
all-purpose flour (for dusting)
4 hamburger buns
2 green onions, roughly chopped
1 tomato, sliced
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp sriacha

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, and egg. Mix together with your hands. Shape the mixture into four patties and dust with flour.

2. In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil. Once hot add the patties. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side.

3. In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, and sriacha.

4. Toast the buns. Spread each bun with some of the sriacha spread. Place a burger on each bun and top with tomato. Cover with other half of the bun.

* serves 4
* Shared with Kahakai Kitchen’s Souper Sundays, Wednesday Whatsits, Cast Party Wednesday, & The Busy Bees

Yakisoba

 

This month Chris asked us bloggers to join him on a trip to Japan. I sometimes wish Chris’s travels with us were real. My brother’s been to Japan three times. I’m sure if he ate my dinner he would have turned his nose up and claimed it not to be Japanese enough. I’m not claiming it’s super authentic either. I had to make several substitutions that probably minimized it’s Japanese value because I couldn’t justify buying sake (rice wine) or mirin (a sweeter rice wine) for cooking this dish. I had some sake and had to toss it because it was way too old. I just can’t justify buying ingredients I don’t use frequently. So I used white wine instead.

I probably should have just taken a picture of the Japanese curry and the tonksatsu that we had for lunch at the Japanese restaurant.

Yakisoba
(the more authentic recipe)

Ingredients
6 oz dried chow mein noodles
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz pork chop, cut into small chunks
2 oz cabbage, shredded
2 oz carrot, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet or wok and add the oil. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until brown. Add the pork and stir a few times.  Next add the cabbage, carrots, and onions. Stir a few more times. Add the noodles and the remaining ingredients. Stir fry until the vegetables are cooked and the noodles are warmed through.

* serves 2
* Besides Bloggers Around The World, I’m sharing this dish with Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck, & Foodie Friday

Sesame-Crusted Fried Chicken

 

I love Asian-inspired food. While I love going out and having Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. etc., I also really like making dishes that are vaguely Asian, but obviously not traditionally using the ingredients. This particular dinner made perfect use of my cast iron skillet which I received for my birthday back in December. I almost forgot I had it and I almost cooked the chicken in the stainless steal skillets I use, but I am so happy I remembered I owned cast iron. Seriously, I doubt my chicken could have gotten so crispy and brown while not sticking if I had made it in anything else.

What are your favorite ways to use your cast iron?
What recipes do you rely on your cast iron when making?

Sesame-Crusted Fried Chicken
(source)

Ingredients
1 egg white
1 tbsp sesame seeds
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into strips
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp sesame oil, divided
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Directions

1. Put the egg white in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine the sesame seeds with the bread crumbs.

2. Pat your chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper. Dip in the egg yolk and then dredge in the bread crumbs.

3. Heat 2 tbsp of sesame oil in a cast iron skillet. Once hot add the chicken and cook for 4 minutes per side.

4. Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the skillet and keep warm. Whisk together 1 tbsp sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and ground ginger in a small bowl. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces.

* serves 4
* shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Green Tea Soup

 

This month at this blog’s monthly Pantry Party, the theme is soup! Essentially the goal is to look into your pantry and make a dish that meets the theme with at least one (or more!) things found in your pantry. This month I relied on two pantry items to make soup.

- Rice
- Green tea

I also now have a new addition to my pantry: nori.

I was skeptical of this dish when I first started. But I was intrigued by this recipe from Sunset magazine. The idea of my broth being green tea seemed so odd, but.. I had to try it! I ended up adding some soy sauce to the broth because I felt like it needed a salt element to it. The addition of the soy sauce was perfect. I was so full after this bowl of soup.

Don’t forget to enter this month’s soup themed Pantry Party! I’d love to see what other soups came out of pantries this month. Entries are due by the 28th.

Green Tea Soup
(source)

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked basmati rice
1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided
1 sheet nori, cut into strips
1 green onion, chopped
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb swai (or other white fish), cut into 2 fillets
4 green tea tea bags
4 tsp soy sauce

Directions

1. In a rice cooker, cook the rice with 1/4 tsp of salt according to the rice cooker instructions.

2. Preheat the broiler. Rub your broiler pan with oil. Put your fish on the broiler pan and turn the fish over on the pan to get oil on both sides. Sprinkle remaining salt on the fish. Broil 3-4 inches away from the broiler until cooked through (when the fish flakes), about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

3. Bring 4 cups of water to boil, either in a pot or a teapot. Once boiling add the tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove the bags and stir in the soy sauce.

4. To pull your dish together, put 1 cup of rice into each bowl. Place a fish fillet on top of the rice. Pour half of the broth into each bowl. Garnish with green onions and nori.

* serves 2
* Besides Pantry Party, this recipe is shared with Food of the Month Club, Souper Sundays, Tasteful Tuesday Party, Recipe Box, Tasty Tuesdays, & Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Spicy Marinated Pork on top of Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Milk

 

I have a love affair with mashed sweet potatoes. When I was a little girl I LOVED mashed potatoes. I would eat them and eat them and never stop. As I have grown up, I continue to love mashed potatoes. But recently with my discovery of sweet potatoes, I think they may be even better than a standard mash – well, I guess sometimes at least. This was one of those times though. This dish needed these sweet potatoes. A normal person making this dish would have paired the pork with rice. The pork recipe is actually for Dae Ji Bool Goji (Korean Spicy Marinated Pork). The suggested way to serve the dish was with rice and kimchi.

But sweet potatoes? Why not.

The pork is really spicy. The sweet potatoes helped balance the level of spiciness and made it palatable (otherwise I think the pork would have been too spicy.) The flavors of the pork was wonderful paired with the sweet potatoes/coconut milk. This is a dish I’d make again!

Spicy Marinated Pork

Ingredients
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup garlic chili sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 onion, sliced
1 lb pork loin, cut into pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

1. Stir together the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic chili sauce, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, black pepper, green onions, sugar, and yellow onion in a large bowl. Mix in the pork and evenly coat it with the marinade. Put in the refrigerator and marinate for 3 minutes.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the pork into the skillet in batches and cook until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes.

* serves 4
* 441 calories per serving

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Milk

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb sweet potato, peeled and cubed
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

1. Fill a large pot with water. Place over high heat until boiling. Add the sweet potato and boil until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain the sweet potatoes and return to the pot.

2. Add the coconut milk, ginger, and salt to the sweet potatoes. Mash until the consistency of mashed potatoes.

* serves 4
* 157 calories per serving

* Shared with Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff Saturday & Weekend Cooking

Orange Peel Beef

 

I probably should have served this beef recipe with rice, but in the moment I didn’t consider it. I paired it with an Asian Asparagus and Orange Salad, which was good but not something I would add to my recipe cards. The beef on the other hand was absolutely something I would make over and over again. It was a simple recipe with very tasty results.

Orange Peel Beef
(source)

Ingredients
3/4 lb thinly sliced beef, cut into pieces
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, mined
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tbsp orange zest
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine the beef, 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp of sesame oil, and baking soda. Cover and refrigerate for about 3 hours.

2. Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large skillet.  Stir in the garlic, ginger, orange zest, and red pepper flakes. Cook until the garlic begins to brown, about 20 seconds. Add the beef, cooking until the beef begins to crisp and is no longer pink.

3. Whisk together the remaining soy sauce, orange juice concentrate, rice vinegar, the rest of the sesame oil, brown sugar, and 1/2 tsp cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir into the beef and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds.

* serves 2
* 303 calories per serving
* Shared with Mealtime Monday & Mix it up Monday

Fried Rice Two Ways

 

Since Monday this week was a holiday, I had time to make dinner and didn’t need to rely on the slow cooker. But just because Monday allowed enough time to make dinner, Tuesday still did not. Because of this, I knew I needed to make enough dinner Monday to have on Tuesday and also to change the dish up a bit so I could have it two ways.

Clearly I’m not very good at keeping up with challenges I keep for myself (as you can see my 52 Week Around the World Challenge) ended short, but at least through this semester there should be a dish a week that I make two ways just because my schedule sort of forces it.

This fried rice made use of the crystallized ginger Rose sent me a few months ago in my Foodie Pen Pal box. Because it was cut up very fine, it wasn’t overpowering but to get a piece of that sweet ginger was excellent in the rice.

 

Day 2 got a bowl of fried rice soup, which was an easy way to make the dish into something else. In retrospect though, it could have used more broth.

Day 1: Fried Rice
Day 2: Fried Rice Soup

Fried Rice

Ingredients
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shrimp, shelled, deveined, and cut into pieces
1 10-oz package frozen peas
3 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped
4 tsp toasted sesame oil

DAY 2 EXTRA INGREDIENTS
1 cup chicken broth

Directions

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until medium. Combine the eggs and pour into the skillet. Cook, stirring, until scrambled, about 1 minute. Break into small pieces and transfer to a bowl.

2. Add another tbsp of oil. Add the onion and the garlic to the pan, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and peas. Cook until the shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the eggs.

3. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in the skillet of medium-high heat until hot. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until crispy.

4. Stir together the soy sauce, white wine, ginger, and sesame oil. Add to the skillet along with the egg. Cook until heated through.

5. DAY 1 INSTRUCTIONS: Serve as is.
DAY 2 INSTRUCTIONS: Heat the chicken broth and the rice in a large pot until simmering. When warm, serve.

* makes 4 servings of rice (DAY 1 & DAY 2 each make 2 portions)
* DAY 1 CALORIES: 498 calories per serving
* DAY 2 CALORIES: 503 calories per serving

Chicken Lo Mein

You’re right. This isn’t really lo mein. I really should have just titled the post “Chicken and Ramen with A Lot of Vegetables” but that hardly sounds exciting. For as simple and quick as this dish was, it really was full of flavor. I need to find more recipes like this before school starts next month because while I do love cooking and spending time in the kitchen, sometimes I really do only have 20 minutes.

Chicken Lo Mein

Ingredients
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1 package chicken flavor ramen noodle soup
1 1-lb bag of mixed veggies
1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Heat oi in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until no longer pink.

2. Add vegetables and lid. Cook until the vegetables are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

3. Cook the noodles (without the flavoring pack) according to the package directions. Drain.

4. Add the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and ramen seasoning to the water. Mix well. Pour over chicken and vegetables. Add the noodles and toss to mix.

* serves 2
* Shared with Full Plate Thursday 

Stir-Fry with Brown Sauce

I’m trying so hard to get back to cooking nearly every night! I never understood it before when my mom would tell me she was tired of cooking. I always have found cooking dinner to be so relaxing, so I couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to do it. But over the last few months I totally started to understand it. But after standing on the scale and seeing what not cooking does to my gut is putting things into perspective and getting me back to cooking – so you should be seeing more stuff posted.

Stir-frys are easy. I love things I can cook quick but still taste delicious. My boyfriend said it would have been good with corn in it. This is definitely a dish I will remake and it will have corn next time.

Stir-Fry with Brown Sauce
(based on this recipe)

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil, or less
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped broccolini
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 onion, diced

Directions

1. In a small amount of oil brown the chicken on all sides. Don’t worry about cooking through. Remove and set aside.

2. Add the garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Stir together and bring to a simmer.

3. Add the chicken and vegetables. Cover with a lid and let simmer in the liquid for 20 minutes.

4. Stir the remaining chicken broth with the cornstarch.

5. Pour the broth and cornstarch into the stir-fry. Stir and simmer until the liquid thickens.

* serves 2
* 234 calories per serving (excluding the rice)
* Shared with What’s Cooking Wednesday