Fearless Kitchen

Recipe: Bok Choy Wraps

Recipe Source: Smith, Fiona. Dim Sum. Ryland Peters & Small, London, 2001 p. 39

I have to admit that I really, really hesitated before selecting this recipe for our Fourth of July party. When I sat down and looked at it the finished product seemed to essentially be stuffed cabbage, which was the particular bane of my existence as a child. Still, I needed a recipe that could be eaten as finger food, that tasted good, that involved a vegetable in some way, so this was the way to go. I was also trying to come up with something that was gluten-free, as my friend's daughter was recently diagnosed with celiac disease, but as it turns out hoisin sauce is not a gluten-free product. (It's probably just as well, since this toddler firmly declines to eat anything green anyway.)

I did make a few changes. I doubled the recipe because we were expecting a very full house. I used ground turkey in place of ground chicken because I strongly prefer turkey. I had apparently run out of five spice powder – who knew? – and so had to improvise. I increased the amount of ginger and garlic. While I used Serrano chilies for the green chilies, I did not increase the amount in keeping with the doubled recipe. We were having some guests who really don't tolerate heat well and I didn't want to churn out something they couldn't eat.

Bok Choy Wraps (makes about 48; approx. $0.97/ea)

1 cup basmati rice

2 pounds (approx.) bok choy leaves

24 ounces ground turkey (I like dark meat for ground turkey)

7 garlic cloves, crushed

3 ounces minced fresh ginger

2 Serrano chilies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground fennel

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground coriander

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 6-oz cans water chestnuts, finely chopped (who are we kidding, I threw them into the mini-prep, but if you have the time to do it this way then go for it.)

Equipment:

• Steamer
• Large saucepan
• Medium saucepan
• Mixing bowl

1. Boil the rice in water 10 minutes, then drain.
2. Fill the large saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
3. Blanch the bok choy leaves, then refresh under cold water.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients in the bowl and mix well.
5. Put 1 tablespoon filling in the center of each leaf and roll up. Place the cylinders in the steamer basket, seam side down.
6. Steam over boiling water 10 minutes, then serve. This can be made ahead of time and re-heated.

Recipe: Fish with Mushrooms

Recipe Source: Doeser, Linda. The Ultimate Chinese & Asian Cookbook. Anness Publishing, New York, 1999

I sometimes feel like I'm in a bit of a rut. I've got a couple hundred cookbooks lying around the house, but I often feel like I'm only using two or three of them. I've been making an effort lately to fix that. When I make my menu for the week I go through my cookbooks and I say, "Have I made something from this one recently?" and try to find something interesting in it. I can't say how well this is working. I still feel like I'm using the same three cookbooks, but the pile of recipes I still need to write up suggests otherwise. Anyway, I've had this cookbook (a gift from my parents) since I had my first apartment, longer ago than I care to contemplate. I don't think I've made anything from it since I started this blog, so I decided to go for it here.

I made a few changes, because I kind of felt I had to. I reduced the amount of oil. The recipe called itself a braised fish, but the amount of oil originally called for looked more like deep-frying to me! I also omitted the salt and egg white for frying the fish, since it wasn't going to be deep-fried. I increased the ginger, because I like ginger. I omitted the sugar because I don't care for it. I lacked rice wine or sherry and so I substituted a dry Marsala, which worked surprisingly well. (I can't speak to its authenticity but it tasted good.) The stock I used was Lemony Vegetable Broth. There were some procedural changes as well. The result was actually a pretty tasty dish, if I do say so myself. I was a little irritated by the way the fish fell apart, but ultimately it didn't affect the flavor.

Fish with Mushrooms (serves 4; approx. $3.69/serving)

1 pound lemon sole filets, very thinly sliced

2 tablespoons cornstarch

5 tablespoons olive oil

3 scallions, sliced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

12 ounces white button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine

1 tablespoon brandy

2/3 cup Lemony Vegetable Broth

Equipment:

• Large wok
• Slotted spoon

1. Dust the fish with the cornstarch. Toss well to coat.
2. Heat the oil in the wok.
3. Add the fish gently and cook about 1 minute. Remove with the slotted spoon.
4. Add the scallions, ginger and mushrooms. Cook 1 minute.
5. Add the soy sauce, wine, brandy and broth. Bring to a boil.
6. Return the fish to the wok. Cook about 1 minute.
7. Serve.

Recipe: Hand-Torn Cabbage

Recipe Source: Dunlop, Fuchsia.  Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.  W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006 p. 217

I've hated cabbage for as long as I can remember.  I know why I hate it: the smell while it's cooking.  (It also tends to be a little on the sweet side, which for a vegetable is kind of unforgivable with me.)  I just remember when I was a kid my grandmother would make cabbage for my mom, and the wonderful smells of her kitchen would be replaced by this stink from beyond the grave.  This is something that I need to work on, and I will freely acknowledge this.  I am well aware of the many nutritional benefits to cabbage, and I am well aware of the fact that it is cheap.  Sorry.  I still can't get past the smell.  I'm working up to it, though.  I'm trying to use more members of the cabbage family in an attempt to get closer to the real thing.

That's one of the changes I made here.  The original recipe called for green or Chinese cabbage.  I used bok choy, because I actually really like bok choy.  I also increased the number of red chiles (I've got them to spare) and used olive oil instead of peanut oil (and less of it).  Finally, instead of Chinkiang vinegar, which I don't have, I used a pomegranate balsamic vinegar.  I read somewhere once that balsamic vinegar can be used as a substitute for Chinkiang vinegar, although it's entirely possible that I'm misremembering the quote, and pomegranate balsamic was all that I had.  The result was a fairly delicious dish that we both wanted more of. 

Hand Torn Cabbage (serves 4; approx. cost per serving not available)

1 large head of bok choy

6 dried red chiles

1 pinch kosher salt

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Equipment:

• Large wok or saute pan

1. Tear the bok choy into pieces with your hands. 
2. Crumble the chiles.
3. Heat the oil in the wok.  Add the greens and stir-fry until just tender. 
4. Push the greens to the side and add the chiles.  Allow the chiles to cook briefly before stirring back into the bok choy.  Add salt.
5. Transfer to your serving vessel and drizzle with vinegar.  Serve. 

Recipe: Dry-Fried Glass Noodles

Recipe Source: Yan, Martin.  Martin Yan's China.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2008 p. 139

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but since the birth of the Fearless Baby I'm finding that I have a lot less time to spend in the kitchen.  This is oddly fine with me, because right now she brings new meaning to the term "bundle of joy," but I still feel bad.  I feel bad because we're eating out more often as a result, and that's no good.  I've therefore been trying to find recipes that can either be made well in advance or that cook up quickly, and so far it seems to be helping.  This recipe, despite the long ingredient list, is actually really simple to make.  It's a perfect weeknight meal. 

I did make a few changes, of course.  I reduced the amount of oil, simply to reduce the fat.  I also apparently no longer have chili bean paste in my inventory, so I had to use Thai red curry paste.  Yes, I know that's not the same thing.  It still tasted good.  In fact, it tasted so good that my husband was disappointed that there wasn't more. 

Dry-Fried Glass Noodles (serves 4; approx. $1.07/serving)

4 ounces brown rice vermicelli, soaked in warm water 10 minutes and drained

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

4 ounces ground turkey (other meats may be used, but I like turkey.)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste

3 dried red chiles

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 scallion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1 serrano chile, sliced

Equipment:

• Large wok or saute pan

1. Cut the noodles into pieces, approximately 3", and set aside.
2. Combine the rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons soy sauce and corn starch in a bowl.  Mix well.
3. Add the meat and stir to coat.  Set aside and let stand 10 minutes.  (This should be enough time to prep your other ingredients.)
4. Heat a wok over high heat.  Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the sides.
5. Add the garlic, ginger, curry paste and dried chiles.  Cook until fragrant, stirring.
6. Add the meat.  Stir-fry until cooked.  This will vary depending on what kind of meat you use, but turkey cooks up pretty quickly.
7. Add the remaining soy sauce and noodles.  Stir-fry 2 - 4 minutes.
8. Add the sesame oil and scallion.  Remove from heat.
9. Turn out into your serving vessel.  Garnish with the sliced serrano and serve.

Recipe: Sesame Noodles

Recipe Source: Passmore, Jacki.  Savoring China.  Oxmoor House, Menlo Park, 2003 p. 192

I can't believe I haven't posted this before, because I know I've made this recipe.  Repeated searches through TypePad have convinced me, intellectually anyway, that I have not posted it, so I'm going ahead and posting it now.  In my heart, though, I have a sneaking suspicion that one of you is saying, "Less than two years and she's already recycling recipes?" 

Anyway, I made this dish so that there would be something high in carbohydrates when my husband got back from his big regional sports practice, but there was an ulterior motive as well.  As I've mentioned - repeatedly - neither our refrigerator nor our freezer holds much of anything.  This leaves me with periodic purges of both resources.  In a recent purge, I discovered two open containers of tahini.  They must go.... but tahini isn't cheap.  At the risk of boring everyone to death with tahini recipes, I really need to find ways to not waste this stuff.  I suspect that the sesame paste used in Chinese cooking is rather different from tahini, but that's missing the point. 

I made a few changes.  I substituted cashews for the peanuts in the original, to accommodate a food allergy.  The "vegetable oil" was olive oil, because that's my default cooking fat.  I also decided that I just couldn't bring myself to deep-fry the cashews in that much oil, and roasted them instead.  This is less authentic, but I don't much care at this point.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it. 

The result was a very tasty treat that perfectly satisfied both me and my husband. 

Sesame Noodles (serves 4; approx. $1.52/serving)

2 ounces toasted cashews

9 ounces fresh Chinese-style noodles

1/4 cup tahini

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons hot pepper sesame oil

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 cayenne pepper, chopped

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Strainer
• Bowl

1. Chop the cashews finely and set aside.
2. Bring a large saucepan filled with salted water to a boil. 
3. Add the noodles and boil 3 - 4 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Combine the next 6 ingredients in the bowl and mix as well as you can, whether that's with a whisk or a fork or whatever. 
5. Drain the noodles.  Put them in your serving bowl.
6. Add the sauce.  Toss well to coat.
7. Top with the cashews, scallions and cayenne.  Serve.

Recipe: Chicken with Ginger

Recipe Source: Dunlop, Fuchsia.  Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.  W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006 pp. 130 - 1

As I think I've mentioned before, the first leg of the MLB Playoffs (the ALDS, for those of you who follow baseball) was challenging culinarily.  I don't think we ate a home-cooked meal the entire week, and the reason for that is simple.  I just didn't want to cook.  Well, that's not entirely accurate.  I wasn't willing to tear myself away from what was sometimes 12 hours of baseball to putter around in the kitchen where there is no baseball.  I decided that what I was going to do was to make dishes ahead of time that could be reheated and served with a minimum of fuss or effort on my part.  We would then eat said dishes, freeing ourselves from the tyranny of take-away. 

This was not one of those dishes.  This was, instead, a dish that I made to help me purge the freezer.  My freezer is small.  It holds essentially nothing.  You can probably get a pint of ice cream onto each shelf and then you're pretty much done.  This makes it very difficult to enact my clever plan of making tasty food ahead of time, and I have no idea at all what we're going to do when the Fearless Fetus graduates to being an actual baby.  Anyway, I needed to use up some boneless, skinless chicken thighs, so I made this.  The only other significant changes I made (the original called for chicken with the bone in) were to use duck stock instead of the Everyday Stock called for in the original and to use sesame oil instead of peanut oil for cooking, because I'm allergic to peanuts. 

Chicken with Ginger (serves 4; approx. $2.06/serving)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size chunks

2 teaspoons soy sauce, plus extra for seasoning if need be

One 3" piece of fresh ginger, unpeeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

2/3 cups duck stock or water

3 scallions, finely sliced

1 teaspoon hot pepper sesame oil

3 tablespoons sesame oil

Equipment:

• Wok or saute pan
• Bowl

1. Put the chicken into the bowl.  Add the soy sauce and mix well.
2. Heat the sesame oils in a wok over medium heat, or possibly a little lower - sesame oil has a much lower smoke point than peanut oil.
3. Add the ginger.  Stir fry until richly fragrant.  The thinner you got the slices of ginger, the quicker this step will be.  I'm just saying. 
4. Add the chicken.  Stir-fry until it is tinged golden. 
5. Splash the wine into the side of the wok.  Mix well.
6. Add the stock and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer, seasoning with soy sauce to taste. 
8. Add the scallions when the liquid is significantly reduced.  Stir a few times. 
9. Add a little more hot pepper sesame oil if you like, then serve. 

Recipe: Sunflower Sprout Salad with Cashew Dressing

Recipe Source: Yan, Martin.  Martin Yan's China.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2008 pp. 57 and 141

Our Sunday open houses center around specific activities.  Specifically, they involve a lot of people doing very strenuous physical activity in my backyard.  One recent Sunday those people were doing that very strenuous activity in heat that registered over 95 degrees.  As a general rule, my husband really wants carbohydrates when he's sweating a lot.  The hotter the temperature, the more he sweats, and the more carbs he wants.  Of course, you want protein when you're working out to help build those muscles, and it's important to me to have a lot of vegetables on the table.  This dish covered all of those needs. 

I made a few changes.  Okay, I  made a lot of changes.  I doubled the quantity of noodles.  I couldn't find bean sprouts at my local Whole Foods (honestly!), so I substituted something that looked "interesting."  That "interesting" product was sunflower sprouts, which none of us had ever tried before but which everyone seemed to like.  I omitted the fish sauce, both because it's definitely an acquired taste and because someone had put it away someplace weird at some point and I couldn't find it.  (This problem has since been rectified.)  I also changed anything with the word "peanut" into cashew products, although I forgot to add the cashews at the end. 

The resulting dish was a major hit.  It was the favorite dish of the night for most of our guests.  I've always tried to avoid making food that was too spicy, lest our guests not come back, but the little bit of kick to this dish tells me that it's probably okay to loosen up a little. 

Please note that because I used egg noodles for this dish, it is neither vegetarian nor vegan.  However, if you can find an appropriate substitute for the egg noodles, this would be an excellent vegan dish. 

Sunflower Sprout Salad with Cashew Dressing (serves 12; approx. $1.38/serving)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 bulb green garlic

2/3 cup Lemony Vegetable Broth (or other stock or broth, the original called for chicken)

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

3 tablespoons smooth cashew butter

1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce

2 9-oz packages fresh Chinese-style noodles (I like Nasoya brand.)

2 packages sunflower sprouts

6 scallions, thinly sliced

1 cup (2/3 bunch) cilantro, chopped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon hot pepper sesame oil

Equipment:

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Mini-prep food processor

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in the mini-prep and process to a sauce-type consistency. 
2. Fill the saucepan with water and bring to a boil.  Cook the noodles according to package instructions.  Drain and rinse well with very cold water.
3. Put the noodles in the serving bowl. 
4. Add the remaining ingredients and toss well.
5. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well again.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Recipe: Vegetable Fried Rice

When I made the Sumakiyah, I decided to serve it over rice instead of with bread.  Since this was a substitution anyway, I made quite a lot of rice.  This resulted, not only in a very filling dish, but in a kind of generous quantity of leftover cooked rice.  What to do, what to do?  Of course.  Fried rice.  I'm not sure what it is about fried rice that I like so very much, but I really enjoy it.  I guess you could say that I'm always kind of hoping for leftover rice, just so I have an excuse to fry it up. 

To make this, I used an eggplant and some celery that I had lying around in the fridge.  You can use whatever vegetables you need to get out of your way, although I personally really like eggplant.  I would usually use all hot pepper sesame oil because that's just what I prefer, but this time I was nearly out of the stuff and needed to use it for the Ma Po Dou Fu.  The eggs make this a non-vegetarian dish for most herbivorous humans, but if you want to make this dish you can just leave them out. 

Vegetable Fried Rice (serves 4; approx. $1.85/serving)

1 eggplant, diced

5 celery stalks, diced

4 cups cooked rice

1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoons hot pepper sesame oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 scallions, thinly sliced

Equipment:

• Wok

1. Heat the oil in the wok over high heat.
2. Add the celery and saute until very bright green.
3. Add the eggplants.  Saute until softened.
4. Add the rice.  Stir until heated through and well mixed. 
5. Add the soy sauce. 
6. Add the eggs.  Let them sit for a few moments, until just beginning to set, and then stir vigorously into the rice. 
7. Remove from heat.  Stir in the scallion slices and serve. 

Recipe: (Not Really) Ma Po Dou Fu

Recipe Source: Dunlop, Fuchsia.  Revolutionary Chinese Cooking.  W. W.  Norton & Company, New York, 2006 p. 193

This is a recipe I've been wanting to make for a very, very long time.  My dad was the first one to tell me about this dish and the legend behind it.  Of course, as a young kid, the story captured my imagination.  Bean curd distinctly did not.  Even in my vegetarian phases, I've always kind of found tofu to be a bit more challenging than I'd have liked.  I've gotten a lot better as I've gotten older and as a general rule I now quite like tofu.  (Tofu in its proper place, of course.  Not something like tofu pretending to be a steak.  That's just wrong.) 

Of course, since I've been wanting to make this for a long time, part of me is really frustrated by the number of changes I made.  Some of them were made because I couldn't find ingredients when I needed them.  This would have been avoided had I simply gone to Super 88 like I should have, but frankly I didn't feel like shopping in the first place.  Some of the changes I made because while I thought I had certain ingredients on hand, they were nowhere to be found when the time came to cook.  You can say that this is further proof that I can't organize my way out of a paper sack, but the fact of the matter is I've had Help organizing the kitchen, and now quite a few things are not where they should be.  Eventually, the next time I have an unpleasant and rainy day, I will go to the Asian market and stock up again. 

Anyway, while part of me is certainly disappointed in having to make so many changes, the rest of me (this would include the part that has the taste buds) really liked this version.  It cooked up VERY quickly, making it perfect for weeknight meals.  The spice level was exactly what I wanted, and the texture was pretty good too.  In fact, the only complaint I have is that I wanted more.  So I've decided to call this (Not Really) Ma Po Dou Fu, because of all the changes, but I'm still going to recommend that you make it sometime soon.  If pork isn't your thing, use ground turkey or even make it all tofu. 

(Not Really) Ma Po Dou Fu (serves 4; approx. $1.74/serving)

4 ounces ground pork

1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine

1 package extra-firm tofu (14 ounces), cubed

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 ounce dried chanterelle mushrooms, soaked and squeezed dry, 1/2 cup soaking liquid reserved

2 tablespoons chili-garlic paste

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 habanero, chopped

1 teaspoon potato flour mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

3 scallions, sliced

1 1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoons hot pepper sesame oil

Equipment:

• Wok
• Bowl

1. Place the pork in the bowl with the soy sauce and the wine.  Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat the oils in the wok over high heat until the oil is shimmery.
3. Add the pork and stir-fry until it is broken up and has changed color.
4. Add the garlic, mushrooms and chili-garlic paste and stir-fry until fragrant. 
5. Add the cayenne and the habanero.  Stir a few times.  Your vent hood will probably come in very handy right now, for a variety of reasons.
6. Add the tofu to the wok, along with the reserved 1/2 cup soaking water from the mushrooms.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
7. Turn up the heat and add the potato flour mixture.  Stir until the sauce has thickened to a gravy-like consistency.
8. Add the scallions, stir a couple of times and remove from heat.  Serve hot. 

Recipe: Red and Gold Fried Rice

Recipe Source: Yan, Martin.  Martin Yan's China.  Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 2008 p. 130

Are you a Harried Homemaker(tm)?  Are you always looking for something quick to make that is both nutritious and easy?  If so, this recipe is for you.  The original recipe said that it served four; we managed to get six servings out of it easily.  It came together amazingly quickly once the rice was done; if you make the rice ahead of time it will be even easier. 

I made a few changes, as always.  I didn't have dried black whole mushrooms, so I used pre-sliced black dried mushrooms.  This made the dish even easier.  I used hot pepper sesame oil instead of vegetable oil, because the hot peppers do nice things for my sinuses in spring.  I used a whole onion, increased the amount of ginger, substituted white wine for chicken broth (I didn't feel like thawing out a whole container of broth for one tablespoon of liquid) and omitted the final salt.  I used ground turkey instead of ground beef to give the dish an even lighter flavor, and Worcestershire sauce instead of hoisin sauce because that's what I had on hand.  I didn't have prepared rice on hand and had to make it from scratch, which probably resulted in a more glutinous texture than I would have liked but that was certainly not a meal killer. 

We both really, really liked this dish, but I should point out that we didn't much care for it until we added soy sauce.  Adding soy sauce to taste really brought out all the flavors and brought the dish together.  My husband also tried it with Red Hot sauce and more Worcestershire sauce, but neither worked as well as additional soy sauce. 

Red and Gold Fried Rice (serves 6; approx. $1.70/serving)

2 handfuls dried sliced black mushrooms, soaked in warm water 20 minutes

2 tablespoons hot pepper sesame oil

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons minced ginger

4 ounces ground lean turkey

3 cups cold cooked long-grain rice

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

5 scallions, sliced

2 tablespoons ketchup (I like Muir Glen, but it's up to you)

1 tablespoon white wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more to serve

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

4 eggs, lightly beaten

Equipment:

• Wok

1. Heat the oil in the wok over high heat.
2. Add the onion and ginger.  Stir fry until fragrant.
3. Add the turkey and mushrooms.  Stir-fry until the meat is no longer pink.  This shouldn't take long.  Break up the clumps of meat with your spoon as you go.
4. Add the rice.  Cook until heated through.
5. Add the tomatoes, scallions, ketchup, wine, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix well.
6. Push the rice to the sides of the pan, creating a little well in the middle.  Pour the eggs into the middle. 
7. Let the eggs start to set up a little, then quickly stir into the rice.
8. Serve.