Asian Stir-Fried Cauliflower

 

Asian Stir-Fried Cauliflower

Treat yourself to this delicious stir-fried vegetable dish which complements any Asian meal. I used an American cauliflower, but I've heard that Asian cauliflower which is not so compact and has long stems is the most flavourful. Once the vegetables are sliced and diced, it takes just a few minutes to put this dish together. Add a punch of flavour with a jalapeno pepper or red pepper flakes.

Angel Hair Spaghetti and Dace in Black Bean Sauce

 

Noodles with Dace
in Black Bean Sauce

After reading this article, I was hooked on Dace and finally found a 3-pack on eBay. I hesitate to use spaghetti when cooking Chinese food, but it worked exceptionally well in this recipe. There was a lot of excitement on a Facebook food page about fried dace in black bean sauce, so I watched the YouTube video, made my own adjustments and produced a rich noodle dish that was brimming over with umami.

Sesame and Soy Sauce Chicken

Sesame Soy Sauce Chicken

If you're looking for a quick and easy stew to make during the week, here's one option using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and minimal ingredients. It's mildly sweet, tangy and hearty when served with a side of steamed greens and long-grain white rice.

Pan-Fried Fish with Bok Choy

Pan-Fried Fish
with Bok Choy

This is a simple and delicious combination, quick and easy to prepare, that tastes great with steamed long-grain rice.

Golden Fried Rice

 

Golden Fried Rice

Left over white/steamed rice, unless cooked at home, usually turns hard and inedible the next day.  I freeze the left over rice in Ziploc bags until I'm ready to turn it into fried rice.

Silken Tofu in Spicy Garlic Sauce

 

Silken Tofu in 
Spicy Garlic Sauce

I love the soft, velvety texture of silken tofu. This quick and easy tofu dish is nutritious and low in fat, and is boosted with protein with the addition of ground chicken. Every time we bring home ground chicken, I brown the chicken and freeze smaller portions so that it's ready to cook when I need it. Silken tofu absorbs the flavour of any sauce it's cooked in, much more easily that firm tofu. This tastes good with hot, steamed long-grain rice.

Spicy Garlic Green Beans

 

Spicy Garlic Green Beans

Spicy green beans, served in Chinese restaurants, is difficult to reproduce at home, so I came up with my own recipe. To retain crispness in the green beans, they are tossed with besan or chickpea flour and fried before stir-frying. If you prefer to use green beans without the besan, make sure the oil is very hot before frying them so that they remain crisp.

Chicken Porcupines

Chicken Porcupines

The next time homemade meatballs are on the menu, reserve 10-12 meatballs for this appetizer, especially if you have young children around. These 'porcupines' are kid-friendly because they're bite-sized and small enough to hold in their little hands. The porcupine quills are formed by rolling the meatballs in long-grain rice and steaming them.

These were steamed in a rice cooker at the base of which egg-drop soup bubbled happily. They're ready when the grains of rice begin to stick out of the meatballs, resembling porcupine quills. This could take a while so be patient.

Serve with a drop of Sriracha sauce or ketchup, as shown above, or make a dip as described below. These are great for starters and could also be served at a potluck or picnic because they're convenient to transport and eat.

Stir-Fried Tofu & Bok Choy

Stir-Fried Tofu & Bok Choy

A quick and easy stir-fry that took under 15 minutes from stove to table, was our dinner last night. Extra-firm tofu is a staple in our fridge along with simple sauces like teriyaki and oyster sauces. A dash of sesame oil, as a garnish, made a delicious gravy that went well with a steaming bowl of rice.

Singapore Egg Noodles with Shrimp

Singapore Egg Noodles

I generally make Singapore noodles with rice noodles, but egg noodles work just as well. This is a one-dish meal that can be made in under 30 minutes and is a great lunch idea. Accompanied by a serving of pan-fried dumplings, this hits the spot and keeps you satiated for a while.

Chicken & Broccoli Lo Mein

Chicken & Broccoli Lo Mein

Any noodle dish, whether in the form of a soup or stir-fried is so comforting, especially during these cold winters. Today we had a lo mein with chicken & broccoli that was drenched in a garlic-soy sauce which was poured over and tossed with a package of Ajinomoto Vegetable Chow Mein. Delicious!

If you're making your own there's no need to add sauce to your noodles. Use this sauce instead.

Pork Lo Mein

Pork Lo Mein

Watching Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade show on TV taught me to simplify some of my cooking by using store-bought foods instead of making everything from scratch. 

Frozen Vegetable Chow Mein

Ajinomoto makes a frozen Vegetable Chow Mein that is always available at the membership club store I frequent. It's fully cooked with an assortment of Chinese vegetables so all I have to do is take it up a few notches with the addition of baby spinach or baby kale leaves along with meat or seafood. I take one package of chow mein out of the freezer an hour before cooking and allow it to thaw on the kitchen counter at room temperature. The box contains 6 packages, each of which easily feeds two people. To make your own noodles from scratch, I found this recipe on the world wide web that looks delicious!

For Thanksgiving this year I made a sausage stuffing with onions, carrots and celery, so I saved a portion of each of these ingredients for this lo mein. I used sweet Italian sausage meat and also added a 16 oz. package of baby kale leaves. The sausage meat had enough flavour and fat that required no more oil or sauces to be added to the pork lo mein.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

A favorite among children, this light and simple meal is fun for them to assemble and hold in their little hands. It’s also easy to brown the chicken and mix the sauce beforehand and cook just before serving. For children this works as a main course, but for adults this probably would work better as an appetizer for dinner or as a main course for a light lunch.

Ingredients:

1 lb. minced chicken

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
¼ tsp. sesame oil
1 can water chestnuts, diced

6-8 button mushrooms, diced
12 leaves Boston or Romaine lettuce

½ cup roasted almonds or peanuts, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Separate lettuce leaves, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Whisk 1 tsp. oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil together until thoroughly combined.
3. Add remaining oil to a non-stick skillet on medium heat, and cook chicken thoroughly for about 20 minutes, until browned.
4. Add sauce to chicken in pan along with water chestnuts and mushrooms.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish.
7. To serve, place 1-2 Tbsp. chicken in a lettuce leaf and garnish with nuts and/or green onions.

Spicy, Sweet & Sour Chicken

This semi-homemade recipe was inspired by Tyson Any’tizers Mango Habanero Flavored Boneless Chicken Wyngz. It has a sweet and tangy flavor with a kick of spice which prompted me to try my hand at a spicy, sweet and sour chicken. For readers who live in places where this snacking chicken is not available, I’ve provided instructions for making fried nuggets of boneless & skinless chicken thighs coated in corn flour, but chicken breast would work just as well. The spiciness in the sauce comes from sweet chili sauce, the sweetness from pineapples, ketchup and brown sugar, and tanginess (sour) comes from pineapple juice and rice wine. Play around with the sauce ingredients to suit your taste.

Chicken Corn Soup

The little red dot is a drop of Sriracha chili sauce

This is one of my family's favourite soups to order at a Chinese restaurant, so here is my take on it. It is a popular item on Chinese menus in Kolkata, India and can also be found at Indo-Chinese Hakka restaurants in Toronto, Canada, where the signs often call out 'Calcutta style Chinese food'. 

Chicken Chow Mein & Crispy Rice Soup with Dumplings

This is a real "cheater's lunch". The Chow Mein is a mixture of frozen, pre-cooked & packaged vegetable Chow Mein from Sam's Club and left over Chicken & Vegetables cooked in a white sauce from our favourite Chinese take-out restaurant.  The soup is made from chicken broth, dumplings and crispy rice from the Vietnamese grocery store called Com Say Cha Bong, whose listed ingredients are crispy rice, dried shrimp floss, red chili flakes and deep fried onions. The dumplings are also available frozen from the Vietnamese store and are stuffed with shrimp.  Here's how I put together this speedy lunch for two.

Ingredients:

Chow Mein
1 pkg. Ajinomoto Vegetable Chow Mein (6 or 8 pkgs./box)
Left over Chinese Chicken & Vegetables in White Sauce

Dumpling & Crispy Rice Soup
2 cups Tyson or Campbell's chicken broth
1 cup water
8 frozen, pre-cooked shrimp dumplings
1/2 pkg. Com Say Cha Bong (from Vietnamese store)

Directions:

Chow Mein

1. Remove packaging from noodles, place noodles in a covered pan over medium heat and cook until thawed.
2. Stir in chicken & vegetables along with sauce and simmer until thoroughly combined and heated.
3. Divide between 2 noodle bowls.

Dumpling & Crispy Rice Soup

1. Bring broth and water to a boil in a saucepan.
2. Add frozen shrimp dumplings and cook until dumplings float to top.
3. Divide Com Say Cha Bong between 2 soup bowls.
4. Top each bowl with 4 shrimp dumplings and pour the broth over.
5. Enjoy the sound of the snap, crackle and pop of the crispy rice when the hot broth is poured on it.

Enjoy!