July 31, 2001

General Tso’s Chicken

General Tso’s Chicken

Ken Hom

Prodigy Guest Chefs Cookbook


3/4 lb boneless chicken breast (1 whole breast)
2 tsp Dark Soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp Cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil
1/3 cup peanut oil
2 dried red chiles cut in half lenghwise
1 tbsp chopped orange rind OR 2 tsp dried citrus peel (soaked and coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp roasted Sichuan peppercorns, finely ground (optional)
2 tsp Dark Soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Instructions


1. Slice chicken into thin slices 2 inches long cutting against the grain. Put into a bowl with soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, ginger cornstartch and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Mix and marinate for 20 mintutes

2. Heat oil in wok until very hot. Remove chicken from marinade with slotted spoon. Add it to the wok and stir fry for two minutes until it browns. Remove chicken and drain in colander.

3. Pour off the oil leaving 2 tsp. Reheat wok to high and add the dried chili’s. Stir fry for 10 seconds and return chicken to wok. Add remaining ingredients and stir fry for 4 minutes, mixing well. Serve the dish at once.

Todd’s Fried Rice

Fried Rice

Todd Beaird


2 cups cold cooked rice, lumps broken up
2 eggs slightly beaten
2 green onions, sliced
3 - 5 tbsp oil (your choice)
2 tbsp Soy sauce
Optional ingredients
1 cup chopped chicken, pork, shrimp or crab or a mix.
1 5oz. can water chestnuts (drained)
1 to 2 oz baby corn sliced lengthwise into fourths
1 oz. bamboo shoots
1 cup sliced mushrooms
other stuff you might like: carrots, peas, and so on.

Instructions


1. Add 2 tbsp oil to hot wok. Add green onion and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add beaten eggs and stir fry until soft curds begin to form. Remove eggsand onion and set aside.

2. Add 1 tbsp oil to heated wok and fry optional ingredients being sure to thoroughly cook any raw meat/seafood ingredients. - Several minutes, depending. Remove from wok and set aside.

3. Add 2 tbsp oil to heated wok. Add rice and stir fry for a few minutes. Rice should turn from white to a slightly golden color. Add 2 tbsp Soy sauce and reserved optional ingredients. Mix and heat for a few minutes. Add eggs and fold into mix, heat for a minute more.


8/9/01 - Cecil Coupe. Yup. Do it Todds way! I resconstituted 5 dry “Chinese shitake” mushrooms, sliced them thin and added them to the onion frying step (#1), skipped step 2 (obviously) and I’m well pleased.

July 30, 2001

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Moo Goo Gai Pan

Cecil Coupe

adapted from various sources


3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thin
1 1/2 tbl peanut oil for stir frying
Marinade
1 tbl grated ginger
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt (see note about chick stock)
1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
Cooking Sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch
5 tbl chicken stock (if using chicken broth/bullion, omit salt in marinade
and veggies)
Veggies
2 tbl peanut oil for stir frying
1 tbl minced ginger
1/4 tsp salt (omit is using broth)
4 oz can shitake mushrooms, sliced (Polar brand?)
6 oz snow peas (Maybe be cheaper to use frozen)
1/4 cup sliced bamboo shoots (or 1/2  of 8 oz canned, drained)
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts (or 1/2 of 8 Oz canned, drained)
1 tbl minced garlic
1 tbl Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

Instructions


  1. If using frozen snow peas, thaw in colander (approximately two hours)
  2. Slice chicken and mix with marinade ingredients.
  3. Start rice in steamer (roughly 35 minutes)
  4. Drain canned veggies and chop if whole. Put on a plate.
  5. Make chicken broth (if using bullion)
  6. Add Cooking Sauce ingredients in a small bowl
  7. Mince garlic and and ginger, (put the ginger on the veggie plate)
  8. With 7 - 10 minutes left before rice is done, heat the wok and then add 1 1/2 tbl peanut oil in the wok. When it just starts to smoke, add the garlic, stir for a few seconds and add the chicken and marinade. Cook until white (about 2 minutes).  Drain in the (empty colander)
  9. Add remaining oil to wok and when starting to smoke, stir fry ginger for a few seconds, add snow peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Stir try for two minutes.
  10. Add chicken and continue stir frying for two minutes
  11. Add cooking sauce and bubble until desired thickness (30 seconds to a minute)

 


Notes
7/30/01 (Cecil Coupe) - Cheap canned mushrooms have no flavor, but it was worth a chance. If you like lots of sauce (I do) you could double the chicken broth and add a little more cornstarch to the cooking sauce. It was good though.

July 21, 2001

Traditional Pepper Beef

Traditional Pepper Beef

Ken Hom

Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood

Serves 4


1 lb flank steak
2 tsp light soy sauce
1tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp Asian sesame oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cornstarch
3 tbl peanut oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1 red onion
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock or reduced salt canned broth
1tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbl oyster sauce
2 tsp Asian sesame oil

Instructions


Cut steak in half lengthwise and the slice into thin slices, 2 inches wide by 1/4 inch thick, cutting across the grain. Mix beef with soy, rice wine, sesame oild, baking soda, and cornstarch. Let it sit for 20 minutes.

Heat a wok or deep pan until it is very hot. Swirl in the peanut oil and when very hot and smoking, add the beef and stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove beef with a slotted spoon and drain off all but one tablespoon of oil.

Reheat the wok and oil, toss in the garlic and onions, stir fry for 3 minutes. Then toss in the peppers and add the chicken stock, rice wine, soy, sugar, salt and perrper and cook over high heat for 2 minutes. Mix well, return the beef to the mixutre, and continue to cook for another minute. Stir in the sesame oil, transfer the contents of the wok to a platter, and serve with rice.

Notes



7/21/01 (Cecil Coupe) - I already had 3/4 pound of trimmed round steak which I pounded to tenderize, sliced and let marinate longer because its round steak. I couldn’t find Shaoxing rice wine so I went with a Gallo Very Dry Sherry - $4.25 at the liquor store. I omitted the yellow pepper because of price and I wasn’t using a full pound of meat anyway. The oyster sauce was supermarket Sun Luck.

I started the rice in the steamer (35 minutes) and then cut up the veggies and got everything ready to cook. A few minutes before the rice was done I did the stir fry.

Make this this one