Stir fry!

I’m a little late to the party on this post, but hey, Happy New Year anyway. Friday was the Chinese New Year, so I decided to make some chicken stir fry with my fancy schmancy new Wok. I’ve wanted a new Wok for a while now, and finally bit the bullet at Costco. It’s amazing! I can’t believe I waited so long to buy one. Let me tell you, it makes this so much easier.

And btw, if you’ve seen my bio page you already know I’m clearly not Chinese. So no, this is not authentic. It’s just good and really easy.

You will need:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, chopped into equal bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp corn starch
Rooster sauce to taste
2 large zucchini, chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 or 2 medium onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
*or sub any vegetables you might like in here

For the sauce:
1/2 Soy Sauce
Splash (or more) of fish sauce
Rooster sauce to taste
1 tbsp white sugar (or more if you like it sweet)
1 tbsp cornstarch

**And you will need your FULL ATTENTION. Turn off the Kardashians, people, because this is going to be hot and fast.

Not unlike Ms. Kardashian. Oh no she didn’t! Yes, yes I did. Sorry Mrs. Kanye, your baby is really adorable.

Here we go!

Chicken!

Start by cutting up a pound (or more) of boneless, skinless chicken. I use chicken thighs, but use whatever you like. Don’t let me wax poetic about the virtues of thigh meat. It’s way better. I suggest you try it. Marinate the chicken with a quarter cup of soy sauce, two tablespoons of cornstarch and a splash of rooster sauce. Or, if you’re like me, a quarter of a bottle of rooster sauce.

Zesty!

Mix the whole shebang and let sit while you work on everything else.

Next, chop up one medium onion, two large zucchini, three cloves of garlic and one jalepeno. I also had some leftover cabbage, so I threw that in there too. There are no rules in the Thunderdome, after all.

Now the key is to chop everything about the same size, so everything cooks evenly and is easy to pick up with your chopsticks. Put the vegetables in a bowl. Of course, your garlic can be chopped smaller.

Vegetables!

Then, create the sauce you’ll pour over the top in a separate bowl.

Soy, fish sauce, sugar and rooster sauce.

Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, rooster sauce and sugar to a bowl. Taste it. If you think it is too sour, add some more sugar, a tiny bit at a time. This isn’t rocket science, folks. You can do it! I swear! Now, I will tell you that if you have added a ton more vegetables to the recipe, you will probably need more sauce, so adjust the proportions accordingly. When the sauce tastes about right, add in the cornstarch and mix thoroughly.

Cornstarch in the sauce.

Next, get that wok flaming hot with a tablespoon of oil! Remember how we like a really hot pan, right? We’re going for wok hei, or the little brown bits of food that have been properly cooked in a wok. You’ll see, I’ll show you.

But first, let’s stop for a moment to admire my new pan. It’s so pretty. Well hello, Wok. Thanks for joining the Mealy household. You’re going to be very, very busy.

Working in batches, add the chicken to your screaming hot pan. It will sizzle and pop and burn the crap out of your arm. That’s okay. Wear long sleeves. Turn it down if you must, but only a little bit! Don’t be a weeny. Spread the meat on the bottom of the pan and don’t touch it for a minute. Let the chicken develop that nice golden brown-ness (wok hei!).

Notice the small amount of meat, maybe half the batch. After a minute or so, start stirring the meat quickly, then let it settle again for more browning! Look at you, giving your food wok hei like a pro.

Toasty brown-ness = tasty.

When that batch of chicken is done, remove it to a waiting dish with a cover. Add the rest of your chicken and repeat. Easy, right? Make sure that pan is hot!

When you’re done with the meat, start the same process with your vegetables, a small batch at a time. Treat them just like you treated the meat, allowing the vegetables to cook until they get brown bits. Now, don’t overcook them. Just get them browned and fragrant before putting them in a waiting dish with a cover. Repeat until all the vegetables are cooked.

Next, dump EVERYTHING back in the medium/high pan.

Pour on the sauce, enough to generally coat the mixture but not drown it. So pour half in, then a little more, etc. Toss until the sauce is bubbling, everything is hot and the sauce looks a bit thickened.

Carbs!

Grab the nice white rice you made in the background but forgot to mention.

Chicken and zucchini stir-fry glamour shot.

Serve the stir fry over white rice. Splash some sesame seeds on top because that’s what the husband likes. Use your prettiest red chopsticks and enjoy!

See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Teriykai Chicken, stir fried cabbage and rice.

Hey folks! I’m impatiently waiting on some book stuff, so I’m getting a little squirrely. Is that a real word? Anyway, I realized I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, so I took pictures of what I made last night. Teriyaki chicken! Here in the Northwest, we eat a lot of Teriyaki. It’s a Japanese method of grilling meat with a sweet/salty glaze made of soy sauce, mirin, and some other things. Here’s my recipe, with a lot less oil than the restaurant versions 😉 Feel free to add more if you like.

What’s that? It sounds too hard? Put down the take out menu, and back up slowly. This is going to be easy-peasy. For real. Let’s do this, and in less than ten steps!

You’ll need:
1 lb chicken (I use organic boneless, skinless thighs)
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced
2 small onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced. (or more!)
Prepared Teriyaki sauce (or make your own, see the end of the post)
White rice to serve

For the marinade:
1 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil

OR

Just soy sauce and oil, if that’s all you have 🙂

One: Marinate your chicken (I only use boneless, skinless thighs as they are more moist) in a mixture of Soy Sauce, a splash each of Dark Soy, Fish Sauce, Sriracha hot sauce and vegetable oil. Now, if you are like me, you add a ton of hot sauce. Up to you. If you only have Soy Sauce, just do that with about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. 🙂 Mix ’em around with tongs.

Boneless chicken thighs marinated in Soy, Dark Soy, Fish Sauce and Sriracha Hot Sauce.

Two: Chop up your vegetables. I used a half head of cabbage, two smaller onions and two cloves of garlic. Chop them into uniform sizes, and put in a dish to use later.

Chop that cabbage!

Three: Get your pans ready. You’ll need a grill pan (unless you don’t live in Seattle and can grill outside. If so, well, stop bragging about it), and a large frying pan. I need to buy a Wok sometime, but until then, this will do. Make sure the pans, even if they are non-stick, are well oiled. See how shiny mine are? That’s a good thing. Promise.  Now, Turn up the heat! I want that grill pan smokin’ hot. When I put meat on it, it’s going to pop and sizzle and burn the crap out of my arms. Got it? Good. Oil burns are badges of honor.

NOTE: There is a pot of rice cooking there, too. Feel free to use a rice cooker if you need to, though.

Grease up your pans!

Four: Throw the chicken onto the blazing hot grill. We’re going for a bit of char to get that authentic Teriyaki taste.

Throw on the chicken!

Five: When the chicken is about halfway done, heat up your fry pan. Add a tablespoon of oil, and throw in HALF of your veggies. Seriously. DO NOT OVERCROWD YOUR PAN. You will be sorry. Your veggies will turn to mush. Toss them around until they start to get little blackened bits on their edges. Toss veggies into a dish to wait, and then throw in the rest. Repeat.

Getting brown and tasty.

Six: Now you should also remember to check on the chicken. When it gets those blackened grill marks, flip it over! Then, throw your old tongs into the sink and get new ones. Those others are all chicken-y and gross. Prepare the Teriyaki Sauce by putting it into a bowl with a little brush (or spoon for drizzling). Brush some of the Teriyaki Sauce onto the chicken. Once your other side is suitably blackened, flip it and add more sauce. Repeat until you get a nice sticky glaze, but make sure to work fast. You may even want to turn down the temp a bit so you don’t burn the chicken.

Grilled and shellacked with teriyaki sauce.

Seven: Now that your chicken is almost done, make sure your veggies are, too. Add everything back into the fry pan. Drizzle a few tablespoons onto the cabbage mixture and stir well. When it’s heated through, take it off the heat and put it in a bowl.

Drizzle the Teriyaki Sauce onto the cabbage mixture.

Eight: When the chicken is done, remove it from the heat. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, over a bed of fresh white rice. Eat a generous helping of cabbage because those are the rules. I don’t make them, I just follow them. Drizzle Teriyaki sauce over the whole darn thing if you like.

Mmmm. Teriyaki.

Side note: So I make my own Teriyaki sauce because storebought stuff is too sweet and full of weird chemicals. It’s super easy. Add about a cup of soy sauce to a small pan on low heat. Add a quarter cup of Mirin (Japanese Rice Wine). I add a splash of Sriracha, but feel free to leave the hot stuff out. Now as the mixture gets warm, add two tablespoons of brown sugar. Stir until the the sugar is melted. Taste. If you like your sauce sweeter, add more sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Heat mixture until it reduces a bit and gets slightly syrupy. Cool and store in tupperware in your refrigerator. Note: I add some Fish Sauce and Dark Soy to mine, but you certainly don’t have to. Enjoy!

Make your own Teriyaki Sauce. It’s easy!

Tonight I made Chao Nian Gao, or stir fried rice cakes. I was hungry and didn’t remember to take pictures while I was cooking, but here is an excellent recipe from the Steamy Kitchen! Visit the website, she has some amazing recipes. I bought my sliced rice cakes (the “noodle” part) at the H Mart, a giant Korean grocery in Federal Way. I added beef, cabbage, zucchini and green peppers. Basically, leftover vegetables and noodles combined 😉

My husband and I tried this at our favorite restaurant, Szechuan First in Renton. They have the best Szechuan food I’ve ever eaten. Try it for yourself today!

I found these interesting carrots at the market today, and had to try them. I love how the purple carrots are white inside! I’m always jealous of my friend A’s carrots, so I had to buy some for myself.

Aren’t they pretty? What do you like for a snack? I’m hoping the prettiness of the carrots offsets the fact that they are not chips, which is what I’d rather be munching on at work.

Who’s excited for the Pacific Northwest Writer Association’s Conference tomorrow? I know I am!

In celebration of the conference tomorrow, we had pasta for dinner. Exhibit A:

You can make pasta, too! Here are the ingredients (sorry for the cell phone pics), which include – chopped garlic, zucchini, kale, basil, chili peppers and olive oil:

Cook your pasta as directed. Save at least a cup of pasta water. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan and add garlic and chili peppers (or chili flakes):

Just when the garlic becomes fragrant, and not brown, add your zucchini. Stir around for a bit, and then add your kale. Stir it around until it all begins to wilt. Now you can add some of that pasta water to make a bit of a sauce. Taste and add salt and more chili flakes if needed (it always needs it!):

Voila! Now serve this over pasta with Parmesan cheese on top.

You can change this up to include any vegetables you like. We also really like it with Italian sausage, crumbled and fried with the oil and garlic. Try it the next time you have no idea what to make for dinner, are freaking out about a conference, and need carbs. Desperately.

Enjoy!

Time to take a break from preparing for the upcoming PNWA Conference by eating curry!

Hi everyone! Today I decided to take a break from preparing for the 2012 PNWA conference and make some Thai food. My husband and I love Thai food. It’s spicy, salty, sweet and all things delicious.Now, I’m not a very good photographer, but hopefully you get the idea!

Today I made Red Curry with chicken and fried tofu, as well as prepared Gyoza (potstickers) and Jasmine rice.

Ingredients:

The ingredients: Red curry paste, fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, zucchini, small Asian chili peppers, fresh bamboo shoots, Thai Holy Basil, cilantro, garlic, coconut milk, fried tofu, limes.

The ingredients: Red curry paste, fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, zucchini, small Asian chili peppers, fresh bamboo shoots, Thai Holy Basil, cilantro, garlic, coconut milk, fried tofu, limes. Feel free to pour yourself a Disaranno Sour, like I did. 🙂

Step 1: Start by getting all of your ingredients chopped and ready. Rinse the bamboo shoots and strain them. Then, chop the garlic, zucchini, herbs and chicken.

If you are asking, what are bamboo shoots? You’re not alone. You can buy them in cans or fresh at an asian market. They need to be rinsed and chopped before use. What’s nice about bamboo shoots is that they stay crunchy in sauces like curry.

Chop the bamboo shoots! They feel like crunchy spaghetti noodles.

To save yourself time later when you are cooking, dump the zucchini, bamboo shoots, and any other vegetables you are adding that will cook in the same amount of time in to one bowl.

Throw your vegetables in to one bowl.

Step 2: Next, add a few tablespoons of oil to a pan. Add the chopped garlic and raise the heat to medium. I’ve added chopped chilis, but if you are not a fan of hot flavors, go ahead and leave them out. I’ve also added a few tablespoons of the red curry paste. Mash this up with the back of your spoon.

Heat this on medium heat until fragrant.

Step 3: Next add the chopped chicken (or whatever meat you would like). Cook until it is about three-quarters done.

Cook the chicken until it is about three-quarters done. Then move to the next step.

Step 4: When the chicken is almost cooked, add the coconut milk.

Add the coconut milk to the chicken.

Step 5: Bring the chicken and coconut milk to a simmer. I usually add a quarter cup of water to the can of coconut milk can, swish it around, and then dump it in the pan, too.

After about five minutes the chicken should be cooked. Add your vegetables, in this case, bamboo shoots and zucchini.

Add the vegetables to the sauce.

Step 6: At this point, add a tablespoon of fish sauce, a dash of sugar and the fried tofu.

Add the fried tofu near the end of cooking.

Now you should taste the sauce. Add more fish sauce if it needs salt, or sugar if it needs sweetness. I usually squeeze a lime in at this point to give it a little more kick. Chili sauce wouldn’t hurt, either, if you really like some heat!

Step 7: Time to eat! Serve this with white rice and gyoza. I used the fish sauce and sweet chili sauce, plus a bit of water and sugar, to make a dipping sauce.

Spoon the chicken and sauce mixture over your Jasmine rice, and voila! Dinner is served. This is a tasty break from writing my pitch!

Dinner is served! Red curry, Jasmine rice, gyoza and dipping sauce.