Chinese – Page 2 – Grow. Cook. Eat.

September 11, 2009

… But it has a Great Personality (Recipe: Cantonese Lobster)

Long gone are the days when people shop daily for provisions – making separate stops at the produce market, fish market and butcher shop. Too often, convenience trumps tradition. And supermarkets push out the fishmongers and butcher-shops. A few relics of this by-gone lifestyle remain in Wellesley, MA – Capt. Marden’s (fish market) and John Dewar for meat.

On Tuesdays, I teach at Babson College just a mile away from Capt. Marden’s. I always make sure to stop there on my way home for provisions. The freshness and quality always surpass Whole Foods (which is my usual marketplace) and the selection can’t be beat! This is their advantage of also running a wholesale division which supplies many of the fine-dining establishments in Boston.

With lobster prices at an all-time low, I couldn’t help myself and buy a few for dinner the other night. Steering away from my usual lobster-salad, I turned to my favorite Chinese cookbook for a Cantonese preparation. Ginger, scallions and cucumbers came from the garden, and the eggs from the farm.

It’s not an attractive dish, but it more than makes up for it in taste!

Lobster Cantonese
adapted from The Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

2 tsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 tbs. oyster sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. sesame oil
pinch of black pepper

2 – 1 1/2 lb. lobsters — while still alive, cut the tail in half and then into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Discard the body (or save for stock)

1/4 lb. ground pork
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp. sugar

2 tbs. plain oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 large egg
2 tsp. fresh ginger
2 tbs. ginger
2 tbs. gin
2 scallions, cut into rings
1 cucumber, thinly sliced

1. Mix lobster with the first six ingredients, and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Mix pork with sugar and salt.
3. In a large skillet over high heat, add 1tbs. of oil. Add 1/2 the garlic and ginger, and saute until aromatic. Add pork and cook until it loses the pink. Add the eggs and cook until scrambled softly. Remove and set aside.
4. Remove lobster pieces from marinade, reserving the marinade.
5. Wipe the skillet clean. Return to high heat and add remaining oil. Add remaining ginger and garlic and cook until aromatic. Add the lobster and spread out in a single layer. Let the shells roast for a few minutes and turn bright red. Add the gin and the reserved marinade. Cook for 3 more minutes.
6. Add the pork mixture back to the pan, along with scallions. Continue cooking until just heated through.
7. Garnish with cucumber slices.

April 22, 2009

The First Harvest: Scallions

It wasn't much, just a few scallion stems. But it was enough to inaugurate the growing season in my garden. And the perfect garnish for dinner tonight.

Claypot Chicken
4 chicken thighs
8 shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 cup jasmine rice
3 cups water
2 chinese sausage, cut lengthwise

Marinade
2 tbs. oyster sauce
1 tbs. double dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon shiox xing wine
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon minced ginger

Scallions to garnish.

1. Combine ingredients for the marinade. Toss in chicken, mushrooms and chinese sausage.

2. In a claypot, combine water and rice. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Put chicken, mushrooms and sausage on top.

3. Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until chicken is done.

4. Garnish with scallions

UPDATES:

Here's a photo of the Chinese Sausage Package.

Also, I'm submitting this to April's Grow Your Own Round-Up. Founded by Andrea's Recipes, this month's round-up is being hosted by Nate-n-Annie at House of Annie. The growing season in the US may be early, but there's still lots going on.

March 8, 2009

Wasted Food – Revisited

My name is Julia and I’m a recovering food-waster. I’ve been reducing my food- waste for nine months.

This change in behavior was inspired by an article by Jonathan Bloom in the New York Times about wasted food. Before I had my moment of enlightenment, I had a notorious habit of food-shopping without a plan, then devising a plan for my meals which invariably involved ingredients I hadn’t yet purchased, and then shopping a second time. This amounted to a huge pile of wasted food that went into my compost bin. Good for my garden, I suppose, but not good for my wallet. And especially bad as I work towards, “reducing, reusing, and recycling.”

One key success factor in my behavior modifications was utilizing my freezer more. Whenever I had leftovers that I didn’t think I could consume within a few days, I’d pop them in a ziploc bag or Tupperware and into the freezer. But as I discovered the other night, my freezer was PACKED!
I just returned from a few days out of town. Needless to say, the refrigerator was bare. Being tired from my travels, I didn’t want to grocery shop. I knew I had things in the freezer, and after unpacking, I realized I could make a simple, complete meal including green vegetables and protein.

The answer: Fried Rice (and Quinoa) with Edamame.

The quinoa was leftover from the Black Bean Salad (yes, a few quarts of black beans still line the freezer shelves) and the edamame was from…. from…. gosh, I can’t even tell you. And carrots, ginger and garlic lay in the bottom of the refrigerator crisper drawer – still crisp.

I also found some squash puree that will be lunch tomorrow and apple sauce that will be a little snack as soon as I finish this post!

My recipe for fried rice combines the elements of Eileen Yin-Fei Lo’s recipe with a Balinese twist.

Leftover Fried Rice
1 tbs. peanut or canola oil
2 tsp. fresh minced ginger
2 tsp. minced garlic
3 cups cooked rice and/or quinoa, cooled
¼ cup shredded white cabbage or carrots
¼ cup chopped tomatoes or edamame
2 tbs. fried shallots

Sauce
1 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. Chinese Rice Wine
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
½ tbs. oyster sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1-2 tbs. srirachi chili sauce (depending on taste)

1. Combine ingredients for the sauce.

2. Heat skillet on high heat. Add 1-2 tbs. oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, but not browned (you may need to add more oil to the pan). Add ½ of the fried shallots, cabbage and tomatoes (or carrots and edamame). Cook for 1 minutes more. Add rice. Break up and stir fry until slightly brown and heated through. Stir in the sauce.

3. Remove rice from pan and put on a serving dish. Garnish rice with remaining fried shallots

December 1, 2008

Spicy Pork Tenderloin

In a previous life, I must have been Chinese. My refrigerator shelves are loaded with different soy sauces, chili pastes, bean sauces and a host of other condiments necessary for many of my favorite recipes. I’m just as happy to whip up a spicy pork stir-fry as I am Chicken Picatta on an idle Tuesday. And I rarely tire of the flavors – even after three weeks in China eating “authentic” food 2 meals a day.

With a well stocked pantry, most Chinese recipes are easy to execute. The condiments I don’t have in the refrigerator, I have in the garden: ginger, scallions and celery.

Spicy Pork Tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin, cut into thin slices
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon tapioca starch
½ teaspoon salt
¾ tsp. sugar

Sauce
2 tsp. double dark soy sauce
1tsp. sugar
1 tablespoon Shao-Hsing wine
2 tablespoons sweet bean sauce
1 tablespoon Lan Chi chili garlic paste (more or less to taste)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tsp. vinegar

1 tbs. chopped ginger
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 stalk celery
3 scallions diced.
1 tablespoon plain oil

1. Marinate pork with egg white, tapioca, salt and sugar.
2. Combine ingredients for sauce.
3. Heat a large skillet or wok over high flame. Add pork slices and cook until golden brown. Add garlic, ginger, and celery and stir fry for 1 minute.

4. Add sauce and continue cooking until pork is cooked through. It maybe be necessary to add a tablespoon of water or chicken stock if the sauce gets too thick. Add scallions
5. Serve with steamed rice and sautéed mustard greens.

July 31, 2008

Garden to Table: Eggplant

I harvested my first eggplant today! It’s especially exciting since I’ve tried growing this purple vegetable before with little success. My previous attempts yielded a total of one eggplant. When I tried grilling it, it was so small that it fell through the grates and instantly burst into flames.

This year, I’m already ahead of the game. The eggplant I harvested today was large enough for two people to share, and I have several more coming in on its heels. No doubt my success this year can be attributed to the fact that I did not crowd the plants. Each plant had a solid 18 inches of growing room in any direction.

The fresh eggplant had no traces of bitterness, even without salting. It cooked more quickly than the conventional variety, and the flavor was sweeter with a creamy texture.

This recipe is an adaptation from Eileen Yin-Fei Lo’s Chinese Kitchen.

2 Italian Eggplants
2 ½ tablespoons tapioca flour
2 tablespoons plain oil
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh garlic, chopped
3 scallions, cut into rings

Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons gin
¾ cup chicken stock
1 – 2 teaspoon chili paste or sriracha – depending on taste

1. Combine ingredients for sauce.

2. Cut eggplant into 1 inch cubes and toss in tapioca starch

3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the oil. When oil is hot, add eggplant in a single layer.

4. Cook eggplant until it starts to brown, and toss. Add ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant.

5. Stir in sauce and scallions and cook until the sauce thickens.

6. Serve over rice.

Garden to Table: 20 minutes<

July 23, 2008

General Gau’s Chicken: The Man Behind the Myth

Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
describes Chinese Cuisine in America as “the biggest culinary joke played by one culture on another.” General Gau’s chicken tops that list in that it appears on nearly every Chinese menu in the US as a chef specialty. While the General was real – a soldier from the Hunan region in China – his chicken is wholly an American invention.

The dish varies from restaurant to restaurant, but the theme is consistent: crispy fried chunks of chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. Despite its inauthentic origins, it’s still a personal favorite.

My favorite Chinese cookbook, The Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo features a recipe that continues to receive rave reviews from my dinner guests. The sauce is nicely balanced, not overly sweet, and fragrant with ginger and chilies. My continual challenge – which most restaurants mastered – is frying the chicken nuggets so they stay crunchy after they’ve been tossed in the sauce. The chicken, marinated in egg and corn starch, is dusted with more corn starch just before frying. I’ve experimented with the oil temperature, twice frying and even trying to caramelize the sauce, to no avail.

When I was in China a few years ago on a summer internship from business school, I broke away on several occasions to take cooking lessons. The top technique on my list was learning how to get the crispy chicken nuggets even after they were tossed in sauce. My cooking instructor in Beijing happily obliged me.

The first secret is in the corn starch. He used “wet” corn starch. To make wet corn starch: combine ½ cup of corn starch with enough water to make a slurry, about ½ cup. Let the mix sit for at least ½ hour until the water and starch separate. Pour off all the excess water. What you’re left with is the wet corn starch. It’s slightly chalky, but dissolves into liquid when you run your fingers through it. It is this mixture that he tossed the chicken cubes in before frying.

The second secret, which really isn’t as critical as the first, is in cooking the sauce. The sauce must be reduced until almost all the water has evaporated. It is then reconstituted with a little oil.

General Gau's Chicken

adapted from Eileen Yen-Fei Lo

4 chicken thighs, cut into cubes
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tbs dry corn starch
2 ½ tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons Shao-Hsing Wine
½ cup wet corn starch
3 cups plain oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
8 small dried chilies
1 bunch scallions, cut into rings.

Marinate chicken with salt, egg and corn starch for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, hoisin, sugar, vinegar and wine.

In a large pot, heat the oil to 350F. Toss the chicken in the wet corn starch and then add to the hot oil. Cook until crispy, about 5 minutes.

While the chicken is frying, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tbs. of frying oil to the pan. Add ginger, garlic, scallions and chilies and cook until aromatic.

When chicken is crispy drain and add to ginger mix. Pour in sauce and reduce.

Serve over rice with steamed broccoli.