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Vegetables

Stir-fried Beef with Hot Peppers

Feb 17th, 2010
by dave.
2 comments

Stir-fried Beef and Peppers

I had a few friends over for dinner several weeks back and cooked a hodgepodge of Asian dishes. I don’t have a whole lot of experience cooking dinners for more than a couple people and figured it’d be a great opportunity to work on how to get everything on the table while still hot. Unfortunately, that meant that I was busy in the kitchen while everyone arrived but in the end it was well worth the effort.

One thing I’ve picked up is that prepping all of the vegetables, sauces, and marinating the meat ahead of time really helps. This way, you’re never wasting any time chopping garlic when you could be paying attention to the three or four dishes going on the stove! Not to mention, it makes it easier on cleanup too, as the mixing bowls and knives can be cleaned and put away well beforehand as well. And as is with stir-fry, dishes are cooked very quickly so you don’t want to be bogged down with other tasks.

I ended up serving three Cantonese dishes, a Korean dish, and Thai dish. Four things I’ve posted before (Pad See Ew, steamed striped bass, yo-choy, and a seafood stir-fry) and the dish I’m posting about today. I’ve had similar dishes in the past but never tried making it myself. So I figured, what the heck, it’d be a nice dish to try out. This recipe is from Practical Korean Cooking, one of the de facto books on Korean recipes.

A word of caution though. I wasn’t paying attention to how long I had the hot peppers for but they had enough time to get spicier than I remember. One of my buddies was determined to best the spice and I guess he did, but he looked like he was in pain with every bite =P

Stir-fried Beef with Hot Peppers

Time: 25-30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
– 3/4 – 1 lb beef tenderloin/flank/eye of round, matchstick sliced
– 1 tbsp ShaoHsing rice wine
– 2 tsp Soy sauce
– 1 tsp Sugar
– 1 tbsp Corn Starch
– 3-5 Long Hot Green Peppers
– 3-5 Long Hot Red Peppers
– 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Combine meat, rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, and corn starch in a bowl and let marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Julienne the peppers and discard the seeds. They can be soaked in warm water to remove some of the spiciness.
3. In a frying pan or wok, add the peppers and remaining salt and sugar, stir frying for about 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Still over high heat, add a little canola oil and garlic, then after about 30 seconds add the beef. Stir-fry the beef until just barely cooked and then add the peppers back in.
5. Stir fry another minute or so and then serve with rice.

Blanched Yu Choy with Oyster Sauce

Jan 13th, 2010
by dave.
2 comments

Yu Choy

Even though I made a New Year’s resolution to cook more, truth is, I think I already broke it. I’ve cooked exactly twice (counting tonight) since the year started, terrible! And both weren’t anything new, two chicken dishes since it was on sale last week! I even got a couple new cookbooks for Christmas to keep me inspired. Some resolution.

But anyway, this post isn’t about something new or creative at all. Simply vegetables blanched or stir-fried quickly and drizzled with oil and sauce. Not too much to it =)

Blanched or stir-fried Asian veggies are a staple in your average multi-course Chinese meal. They’re easy and quick to prepare, making it a breeze to cook in parallel to all of the other dishes. Usually, I save this until the end because it takes such little time. I typically like to use any of the following : Bok Choy, Shanghai Greens, Mustard Greens, Yu Choy, or Chinese Broccoli. There are plenty of others I just haven’t tried using yet, like Pea Pod Stems, I’ll get to them eventually.

I almost feel bad putting a “recipe” online for this. But hey, it’s a dish worth serving! For something so simple, it adds character to an otherwise vegetable-scarce meal (Read : Most of my cooking). This recipe can be also used with most of the veggies listed above too.

Yu Choy with Oyster Sauce

Time : 10 minutes
Serves : 4 with 2-3 other dishes

Ingredients:
- 1/2 to 3/4 lb Yu Choy, rinsed
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp canola oil

Method:
1. Bring a stock pot of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 tbsp or so of salt to the water.
2. After the pot reaches a boil, blanch the Yu Choy for about 2 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and drain. Place Yu Choy on a serving plate and drizzle with canola oil and oyster sauce.

Szechuan String Beans w/ Minced Pork

May 14th, 2009
by dave.
1 comment

Szechuan String Beans

One thing I never seem to do enough of is to stir fry vegetables with meat/other as more of a garnish. More often than not, I tend to reverse that trend, using vegetables as those “extra” things just to feel good about eating healthier. But I’m starting to appreciate that there are other things than meat that can be the main attraction to a dish :)

I’ve had this a few different times at restaurants and at family friends’ dinners, but I’ve never tried making these string beans myself. The recipe generally calls for an extremely hot wok, and one ends up crisping the beans a little bit (in some households, the shriveled beans are fought over!). It’s actually an extremely quick dish to cook once the ingredients are prepared, taking probably 30 minutes total from start to finish (I’m slow, so it takes me a little longer).

Add some thai chillies or some red pepper flakes for that extra spicy tang if you so desire.

Original recipe seen in Grace Young’s Breath of a Wok

Szechuan String Beans w/ Minced Pork

Serves 4 with rice
Time : 30-40 minutes

Ingredients:
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 pound string beans, ends removed
- 1-inch piece of ginger, grated
- ¼ pound ground pork
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp chopped scallion
- 2-3 thai chillies, chopped (and/or some Sriracha)

Method:
1. Combine broth, sugar, and salt.
2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add in 3 tbsp vegetable oil, pan fry the beans until they begin to wrinkle, about 3-4 minutes. Can break this into two steps if your wok is smaller. Remove from wok
3. Swirl in the rest of the oil, add ginger and ground pork, stir-fry until pork is cooked and broken up with a spatula.
4. Add in the broth mixture, bring over high heat.
5. Add the beans, chillies/sriracha, and toss to combine. Cook until most of the liquid is gone, about 2-3 minutes.
6. Add vinegar, sesame oil, and chopped scallions, serve with rice.

Shrimp, tofu, and mixed veggie stir fry

Apr 22nd, 2009
by dave.
1 comment

Tofu, shrimp, veggie, stir fry

Short post today…been at a workshop all week and as good and interesting as it’s been, it’s been mentally draining. It’s also north of town, in an area where I don’t frequent too often, so I’ve been spending a little time exploring (and eating at New Jang Su BBQ, yum!).

Anyway, this is something I whipped up a couple weeks ago. I had this at a friend’s birthday pot luck and really REALLY liked it (and it’s healthy!) and figured I’d try to make it. So, being terrible at “figuring out” what goes into a dish, I went for my trusty cookbooks and sure enough, found a recipe in Grace Young’s Breath of a Wok. I can’t put into words how much this book (and a couple others) but it’s really helped me understand some of the techniques that’re used as well as to appreciate all of the different ingredients and tastes a dish may have. And some of the dishes are extremely simple too, just the way I like it!

One thing I really liked about this dish in particular was the use of lotus roots. Sometimes I’d end up getting them in one of the Chinese clay pot dishes, but that’s usually something I can’t manage at home (well, especially lacking a clay pot). And after finding them at Russo’s (among many other uncommon ingredients), I set off to my task, and it turned out alright!

Shrimp, tofu, and mixed vegetable stir fry

Serves 4 with rice
Time : 45 minutes

Ingredients:
- 1 large lotus root (4-6 oz)
- 2 tbsp veggie broth
- 2 tsp Shao Hsing rice wine
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
- Dash of white pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp Ketjap Manis, dark sweet soy sauce
- 1 cup sugar snap peas
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined
- 1 container fried tofu, ends up being about 10-12 pieces
- 1 zucchini, sliced
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 2-3 cloves minced garlic
- 2-3 pieces ginger, sliced
- 4 scallions, sliced

Method:
1. Prepare the vegetables. Peel and slice lotus root and carrot. Remove strings from snap peas, slice zucchini. Peel and devein shrimp, slice tofu. Combine broth, rice wine, sugar, soy sauce, ½ tsp salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Bring 1-2 quarts of water to boil over high heat, add the remaining ½ tsp salt. Add lotus root, boil for 30 seconds. Add sugar snaps, boil another 30 seconds. Add carrots, boil another 30 seconds. Add zucchini, boil 30 more seconds. Drain vegetables in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water.
3. Heat a wok over high heat. Add oil, garlic, and ginger, let sizzle. Add the shrimp in, stir fry until about halfway cooked through. Add the scallions and tofu, toss well for a few seconds. Add the vegetables, stir fry for another minute. Add in the sauce mixture, stir fry for another minute or so.
4. Serve over rice.

Oven-roasted Potatoes

May 6th, 2008
by dave.
No comments yet

And this is the 2nd half to the meatloaf dish that I posted earlier. Very easy to make. All it takes is a little time in the oven.

These potatoes are a great compliment to most meat dishes (I need to try it with a steak or some lamb) and if they didn’t take so long in the oven, I’d have them more often.

I’ve used both yellow and red potatoes (doesn’t really make a difference) and they both came out well. The most important thing to do with this dish is to remember to flip the potatoes about halfway through, this way both sides will have the same taste.

Oven-roasted Potatoes

Ingredients
8 – 10 large potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup chicken stock (water is fine too)
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning (Parsley, Oregano, Basil mix)
1 lemon, juiced
Sea salt (use more sparingly if using stock)
Black Pepper

Method
1. Preheat oven to 440 degrees Farenheit
2. Combine the garlic, oil, stock, seasoning, and lemon juice in a baking pan large enough to hold all of the wedges comfortably (majority touching the bottom of the pan)
3. Add the wedges and season with sea salt and black pepper.
4. Hand toss the wedges.
5. Bake for 40 minutes.
6. When a nice golden crust forms on the potatoes, pull them out and flip the potatoes over and season lightly with more sea salt and pepper (can sprinkle some more italian seasoning too). Also, if the pan appears to be getting dry, add about another 1/2 cup of the stock/water.
7. Bake for another 40 minutes

Note: Don’t worry about burning the potatoes, the extra crispy ones are just as delicious!