Two Chinese Dishes

Since coming to China, I've been experimenting a little with chinese cooking.  I will freely admit that I'm not the best chinese cuisine cook.  I love to eat chinese food, but I can't quite get the knack of cooking it.  But these two dishes have turned out pretty well, so I wanted to record them so that I remember how to cook them.  :)

Squash, Chicken and Bell Peppers

1 squash cut in quarter size pieces. Total of about 1 1/2 cups. (I use a squash that is popular here that is like the Mexican squash, or Italian grey that is sold in the U.S.)

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut in cubes

1 Bell pepper cut in cube size pieces

2 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped

Combine the following:
2 TB oyster flavor sauce
2 TB chili garlic paste
2 TB light soy sauce
Salt to taste

Heat a wok or other pan until hot, then add about 3 TB cooking oil.  Add the chicken and stir fry until cooked through.  Add the squash and bell peppers and continue to stir fry until tender.  Add the garlic and stir fry another minute.  Then add the sauces and stir fry another minute or so.  Serve hot!

Beef, Mushrooms and Peas

1 small beef steak cut in domino sized pieces
1 Cup of fresh mushrooms sliced (I have used different kinds of mushrooms, they are all good)  :)
11/2 cups of fresh snow peas
2 cloves of garlic peeled, crushed, and chopped
Salt to taste

Combine the following:
3 TB oyster flavor sauce
2 TB light soy sauce

Heat wok or other pan.  When hot, add about 3 TB of cooking oil.  Add the beef and stir fry for a minute or so, or until it is almost cooked through.  Add the mushrooms and continue to stir fry for another few minutes, or until the mushrooms become tender.  Add the peas and garlic and stir fry until the peas are tender.  Add the sauce, and stir fry another minute until sauce is hot and the food is coated.  Serve hot with rice.

Cooking Chinese

I've lately come up with a couple of chinese food recipes that are winners.  I'll post both here.

Zuchinni, Bell Peppers, and Chicken

1 medium Italian grey squash  (or zuchinni if you can't find the Italian grey) sliced an halved.
1 chicken breast cut in cubes
1 bell pepper cut in cubes
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 TB chili garlic paste
2 TB oyster flavor sauce
1 TB light soy sauce

Heat a wok or other pan until hot, and add a couple of TB of oil.  Stir fry the chicken until just cooked through.  Add the zuchinni and cook another couple of minutes, stirring constantly.   Add the peppers and cook until tender.  Add the garlic and stir fry another minute or so.  Combine the sauces and pour over the mixture.  Stir fry until the ingredients are well coated, and the sauce is hot and bubbly.

Beef, Mushrooms, and Snow Peas with Oyster Flavor Sauce

1 small piece of beef (steak or roast) thinly sliced "domino" sized
1 C thinly sliced mushrooms (I use shitake)
1 C (or more) of snow peas
2 cloves garlic minced
2 TB oyster flavor sauce
2 TB light soy sauce

Heat a wok or other pan, and add about 2 TB oil.  Stir fry the beef until almost cooked through.  Add the mushrooms and cook until tender.  Then add the peas and cook another couple of minutes.  Add the garlic and stir fry for another minute.  Combine sauces and add to pan.  Stir fry until the meat and vegetables are coated and the sauce is hot and bubbly.

Note:  If your sauces ever seem too runny, you can mix a little corn starch in water and add a little bit at a time until you reach the desired consistency.  Make sure you stir constantly while adding the corn starch.  Also keep in mind that sauces tend to thicken as they cool, so don't add too much corn starch.

Chinese Cucumber Salad

I wasn't sure of the right translation for the name of this dish. Chinese do not eat salad as we know it, unless they are trying to cook American food. In fact, they often use lettuce in soup. But this dish is simple, and is a fresh, crunchy addition to any chinese meal. I'm kind of a lazy cook, and don't always use exact amounts. I'm going to estimate for this recipe.

One cucumber, sliced
About 2 TB soy sauce
About 2 TB vinegar (fragrant chinese is best, but you can use white wine)
2 cloves of garlic peeled, mashed and chopped
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil

Put sliced cucumber in a bowl. Mix all other ingredients and whisk until it is emulsified. Pour over cucumbers. Serve cold.

Cream Pie Heaven

I've made a lot of pies throughout my life, but for some reason never made cream pies from scratch. I always cheated and used instant pudding. But recently I decided that needed to change, and I have been learning to make cream pies. I have been using the "Lionhouse" recipe book, and the pies have been turning out heavenly!

I first made a lemon cream pie, and a coconut cream pie for Easter. I know the lemon sounds divine, which it was, but the coconut cream was my favorite. Last week I decided to make another coconut cream pie, and a chocolate cream pie. I still think the coconut cream pie was my favorite, but the chocolate was sinfully good! I think next I'm going to make a banana cream pie.

Because of copyright issues, I'm not going to put the recipes here. But seriously, you should google a recipe and try it. The recipe from the Lionhouse uses just the egg yolks. I saved the whites to use in an omelette the next day. It is a little tricky to temper the eggs, but it's not too hard. And then you have to stir..... a lot. It takes a little while for the mixture to thicken, but it eventually does.

If you need a pie crust recipe, try this one that I posted years ago. The key to a good pie crust is to use ice water when making it. I saw one chef that used cold fruit juice to add a little sugar to the gluten mixture. But I just use water, and my pie crusts turn out good.

Although I"m not sharing a cream pie recipe in this post, I just really want to encourage you to try one. You will never go back to instant pudding again. The only really bad thing about cream pies is that you will want to eat a lot! :)

Chinchilla Delight Makeover

Some years ago I saw a cooking show on television that showed a good breakfast treat. Take a flour tortilla, and put some cut bananas in it. Put in some chocolate chips, then fold it like a burrito. Butter both sides and fry it (first flap side down). When it is golden brown on both sides, remove it from the pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

I don't know what the chef called this, but my kids called it "Chinchilla delight". I had pet chinchillas at the time, and I guess they thought it was weird food. I knew their palette, and knew they wouldn't like the bananas, so I used peanut butter and chocolate chips as the filling. They liked this version.

This morning I had an idea and decided to vary my recipe. It was a BIG hit! I cut up an apple in small chunks, and sauteed it in a little bit of butter. When the apple became softer, I added about 1/3 cup of brown sugar and about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. I cooked that for a little bit longer to try to carmelize it a little. I used this as the filling for my chinchilla delight. My kids likened it to the apple pies you get at McDonald's. :) Try it, you will like it!

Easy Cake For One Person

Some friends just told me about this recipe, and made some for me to try. It's pretty good! It's not something I would feed to guests, but if you are craving something sweet, this is really simple.

INGREDIENTS:

1 angel food cake mix
1 cake mix: your favorite flavor

Mix the two cake mixes, and store in an airtight container. You could substitute brownie mix for the second cake mix. If you do, decrease the water to 2-3 tsp.

Mix:
1/4 C of the combined cake mix
3 TB water

Microwave in a bowl on high for 1 minute.

Oila! Instant one serving cake!

My friends used lemon cake mix, and topped it with some lemon curd. Yum!

Chow Mein

The name "Chow Mein" means "Stir-fried noodle). It's kind of a deceptive name, because the noodles must be boiled and dried first. The "Frugal Gourmet" used to actually blow his with an electric fan to dry them. :) I just boil them as directed on the package, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process, and let stand in the collander for a few minutes. I like to buy a chinese brand of noodle because the flavor and texture are better, but you could use plain old spaghetti noodles. That's good too. Here is how I make chow mein. It probably is different from how the chinese make it, but it tastes good to me. :P

STEP 1:

Cut up the following ingredients in strips:
--1 chicken breast
--1 bell pepper
--about 1/2 head of cabbage (nappa cabbage tastes good) You could substitute broccoli, but if you use broccoli, add it to the pan last, and only cook it until it is slightly tender.
--1 onion
MIX WITH:
--Crush and chop: 3-4 cloves of garlic

STEP 2:
COOKING SAUCE 1
Mix the following to make a cooking sauce:
--1/4 to 1/3 cup of soy sauce (less if it is dark)
--3 TB hot chili garlic sauce (or hot chili bean) This can be bought in chinese grocery stores, and some supermarkets.
--About 3 TB water
--1 tsp corn starch.

STEP 3:
COOKING SAUCE 2
Mix the following:
About 1/4 C of light soy sauce
About 2 TB sesame oil

STEP 4:
Heat your wok until it is HOT. Add about 1/4 C vegetable oil. Add onions and bell peppers and stir fry for just a couple of minutes. Add the chicken. Stir fry until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the cabbage, and stir fry until it wilts. Add garlic, and cook another minute. Reduce heat to medium, and add the cooking sauce, and cook until it slightly thickens. Pour this vegetable/meat mixture in to a bowl and set aside.

STEP 5:
Rinse out the wok. (Some chinese cooks say not to do this, but I don't like burned soy sauce) Re-heat the wok until HOT. Add about another 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Add noodles. Stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add "Cooking sauce 2" to the noodles, and stir until well coated.

STEP 6:
Return vegetable/meat mixture to the wok. Stir fry until the meat/vegetable mixture is well distributed. Serve!