Oriental Recipes

To continue on from last week, the first two recipes were also made. The Cucumber Salad I left the radishes out of and it still turned out fine. The original Chow Mein recipe didn’t call for marinating the chicken, but I felt it would give it better flavor. I purchased frozen egg noodles to serve with the Chow Mein but you could just as well make fresh egg noodles to go with the dish.

Cucumber Salad

1 1/4 lbs English cucumber
10 oz. radishes
Run tines of a fork lengthwise down all sides of cucumber, piercing skin. Cut cucumber crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.
Trim tops and root ends from radishes. With a sharp knife, cut narrow V-shaped lengthwise gashes at intervals around sides of each radish, then thinly slice crosswise.
Dressing:
Stir together
2 T. rice vinegar
2 T sugar
2 t. soy sauce
2 t. sesame oil
1/2 t. liquid hot pepper seasoning
Stir dressing together in a serving bowl, then add radishes and cucumber, mix well.
Cover and refrigerate until cold (2 to 3 hours) or until next day. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Chicken Chow Mein

Source: The Encyclopedia of Creative Cooking

1 yellow bell pepper - sliced
1 red bell pepper - sliced
1 c. boiling water
2 1/2 T. butter
1 small onion - chopped
2 stalks celery - sliced
1 T. flour
1 c. chicken broth
2 T. soy sauce
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 (4-oz.) can sliced mushrooms - drained
8 oz. cooked chicken breast - cut into bite-size-pieces
6 c. water
8 oz. egg noodles
salt
Peanut Oil for frying
4 oz. sliced almonds, toasted - slightly salted
Blanch peppers in boiling water 5 minutes. Remove; drain.
Heat 1 1/2 T. butter in saucepan. Add onion and celery; sauté until onion is transparent. Sprinkle with flour. Pour in broth; bring to boil, stirring constantly. Simmer 10 minutes. Season with soy sauce and pepper. Add peppers, mushrooms, and chicken. Cover; simmer 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring 6 cups slightly salted water to boil. Add noodles; cook 4 to 5 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Set aside 1/3 of noodles. Place rest of noodles in heated bowl; add 1 tablespoon butter. Cover; keep warm.
Heat oil in skillet until very hot.
Cut reserved noodles into approximately 2-inch-long pieces. Add to hot oil; fry until golden. Drain on paper towels.
To serve, spoon chicken mixture over buttered noodles; top with fried noodles and toasted almonds. Yield 4 servings.
* Marinate chicken in:
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
fry in small batches.

A few years ago I purchased a microwave rice cooker but didn’t find much success with it; but in one of my Craftsy classes was how to cook rice in the microwave - so I dug out the rice cooker and used her directions and it worked out perfectly. I used white rice but am planning on trying some brown rice in it as well

White Rice in the microwave

Source: steamykitchen.com

1 1/2 cups white rice - basmati, jasmine, sushi rice
2 1/4 cups water or broth
Scoop the rice into the microwave-safe container, pot or steamer. Fill the pot with water and swish the water and rice with your hands. Pour out the water, keeping the rice in the pot (just cup your hands around the rice to prevent it from pouring out). Repeat for 2-3 more times until the water is just barely cloudy.
Add enough water to cover the rice by about 1” - or place your finger straight down touching the top of the rice. The water should meet your first knuckle (ladies or men with small hands) and just under the first knuckle (men or ladies with big hands)
For 1 1/2 cups of rice, this is approximately 2 1/4 cups of water
Microwave on high for 10 minutes. Let rest covered for 3 minutes.
http://steamykitchen.com/22048-how-to-microwave-rice-recipe.html

Brown Rice in the Microwave

Source: steamykitchen.com

The technique for cooking brown rice in the microwave is a little different, as you have to take in consideration the extra layers of bran and germ to cook through.
You can use any type of brown rice - if you are using fat short-grained brown rice, add 3 minutes to the cooking time at the end. IMPORTANT - Use a tall, pot-like container and if the lid is not vented, do not close the lid completely tight. Leave a space for steam to vent out. Corningware-type with glass lid works well too.
1 cup brown basmati rice*
3 cups water - or broth
Wash rice, rinse, drain. Add rice and water to very large microwave safe bowl. Microwave uncovered at 100% power for 10 minutes. Reduce power to 50%, cover the bowl, and microwave another 20 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.
* Rice can cook differently, especially the age of the rice. In areas where rice is a primary staple, you’ll often see “New Crop” on some packaging, meaning that the rice requires less water than older rice.

The last recipe I cooked this last week as part of my assignment in my Rouxbe cooking class. I will have to say that I liked the flavor of the sauce in the Chow Mein recipe better.

Chicken & Shiitake Stir-Fry

Source: Rouxbe

8 ounces chicken breast, sliced across the grain into 1/4” thick pieces
1 1/2 t. cornstarch
1/2 t. rice wine - (or dry sherry)
1/2 t. soy sauce
1/2 t. sesame oil
Place the chicken into a bowl and add the cornstarch, rice wine and soy sauce.
Stir to combine until the cornstarch has completely dissolved. Add the sesame oil and stir to evenly coat. Set aside.
1 c. carrots, peeled and sliced on the bias
1 c. onions, sliced
1 c. snap peas, trimmed
1 c. shiitake mushrooms, sliced 1/4” thick
1/2 c. green onions, thinly sliced on the bias
1 1/2 t. garlic - (about 2 cloves), minced
1 1/2 t. ginger - (about 1/2” -inch piece), mined
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp rice wine - (or dry sherry)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 T sambal oelek
To prepare the sauce, mix oyster sauce, rice wine, soy sauce and sambal oelek together and set aside.
1 to 2 T. peanut oil
To stir-fry the dish, line the ingredients up in the proper cooking order. Heat a wok over high heat. Once hot, Stir-fry chicken - remove. Stir-fry the onions -- mushrooms -- carrots -- snap peas -- add garlic & ginger -- return chicken and juices to wok -- add sauce -- finish with green onions. Feel free to add a touch more oil during the stir-frying process, if needed. Serve immediately. Print this post