Seafood Mix with Pasta

Last week while shopping in supermarket I spotted 2 Lb bag of seafood mix. It looked so fresh and had a mix of clams, squid rings and tentacles, small slabs of cuttlefish and small shrimps. Since I know that each item requires different cooking time I turned to Chowhound discussion board. For 2 days we went back and forth about best way to prepare it. Originally I was considering seafood risotto, then there were suggestions of a hot pot and few others. I definitely will try the hot pot. Anyway, I have finally settled on cooking it in tomato sauce and serve it with fresh fettuccine. My wife declared it absolutely amazing and a definite and regular repeat.

There isn’t really much of a recipe. I just heated tomato sauce with 2 Tbs. of leftover béchamel sauce and when hot I added the seafood mix that was thawed out and at room temperature. Cook for no more then 3 minutes and at very end mix in 1 Tbs. of chopped parsley. Since this meal is so quick, cook the pasta before, toss in butter and keep warm. Serve the sauce on top of pasta and garnish with chopped parsley.

Oriental Enokitake Soup

After all the thick, seasonal comfort soups that I have prepared lately I just felt for something clear and light. Today we went shopping in Asia Chinese Supermart in London and among other stuff I bought pack of King Oyster mushrooms and 2 bunches of Enokitake mushrooms. The King Oyster has a texture and taste of meat when sautéed in butter till nicely caramelized.

For the soup I used chicken stock that was simmered with 1 clove of crushed garlic and 1” of crushed and julienned ginger and 1 chopped green onion. Just before serving I have added 2 thin slices of caramelized King Oyster mushrooms and about 2 dozens of Enokitake mushrooms. When served I garnished with additional chopped green onions and chopped coriander leaves. The texture of both of these mushrooms is amazing. This will be an excellent soup to finish barbecue meal in summer.

Fried Rice with Char Siu

Barbecue Pork Fried Rice

It is absolutely amazing in how many Chinese dishes this great barbecued pork is used. Dim Sums, soups, noodles, rice and even deserts! This pork fried rice is another restaurant favorite. To make it at home traditional way is, as usual, a bit tedious since everything has to be cut in uniform sizes and cuts and then each item is cooked separately. As with so many dishes less is sometimes more. By substituting just one or two items will change the texture and taste of a dish that it is in reality another item on most restaurants menus. It is always better to use at least one day old and refrigerated long grain rice.

Here is my version of this dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup Char Siu, cut into 1/4” strips

12 large shrimps, shell, tail and veins removed

1 carrot, julienned

3 Chinese mushrooms

2 green onions

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 cup green peas

1” piece ginger, chopped

Garlic, 1 clove chopped

2 eggs

3 cups leftover and refrigerated rice

2 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1/2 tsp. white pepper

Preparation (mise en place):

§    Soak mushrooms in hot water for at least 1/2 hour. Remove stems and cut into 1/4” slices. Reserve 1/4 cup of the water.

§    Marinate shrimps in 1 Tbs. of rice wine and sprinkle of salt, sugar and white pepper.

§    Cut ends of green beans and cut diagonally into 1” pieces. Parboil for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and set aside.

§    Peel and julienne carrots into 1/4” pieces. Parboil for 1 minute in boiling salted water. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and set aside.

§    Cut green onions diagonally into 1” pieces and separate white and green parts.

§    Soak frozen green peas in salted hot water for 1/2 hour, drain and set aside.

§    Beat eggs in a bowl with fork, add salt and white pepper and set aside.

§    Crush and chop ginger and garlic and set aside.

§    Break up clumps of cold rice till you have individual grains. Set aside

Sauce:

1/4 cup mushroom soaking water

1 Tbs. of Oyster sauce

1 Tbs. of Hoisin sauce

Stir together all ingredients till well combined.

Directions:

§    Heat a wok and add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. When wok is very hot add eggs and scramble lightly. Remove to preheated bowl, break up the eggs, set aside and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of salt and drop in the rice. Stir till rice is evenly coated and grains are separated. Remove to bowl with eggs.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add shrimps with marinade and stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove to bowl with rice and eggs and keep warm.

§    Wipe the wok clean, add 1 tsp. of oil and spread with steel spatula till sides are well coated. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for few seconds then add mushrooms and stir.

§    Add the pork strips and stir till heated through.

§    Add previously prepared green beans, green peas, carrots and white parts of green onions. Stir-fry till well combined.

§    Add reserved rice, shrimps and eggs and mix well till all ingredients are very hot.

§    Pour sauce on side of wok and stir.

Serve immediately in individual preheated bowls and garnish with green parts of onions.

Braised Fragrant Pork Belly

My version of Chinese classic comfort food



Last week I got my newest cookbook "Mastering the Art Of Chinese Cooking" by
Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. Very good book even though in places it is a bit dictatorial for my taste, I am a free wheeler cook. There are quite a few “you must do this”, “you must use that” etc. Still, an excellent book.

Anyway, yesterday I was reading about slow cooked pork bellies and I just had to have it. Alas, no pork belly, just a thick slices on plain bacon. Good substitute, I thought. Out came my earthenware pot, ginger, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, tangerine peel, hot chilies, yellow rock sugar, sake, dark soy sauce, green onions and of course the bacon. Wasn’t bad at all but next time I’ll include some Chinese mushrooms for texture. Since the bacon was only 1/4” thick it was cooked in less then and hour.

Tripe Dim Sum

Anybody that reads my blog on regular basis must have noticed that I like tripes. Yup, I like tripes a lot! On my last visit to supermarket I passed by meat isle and the Styrofoam tray of tripes was so irresistible that I had to take it home. The second I laid my eyes on it I knew how I am going to cook it – Steamed Tripe Dim Sum. Actually, it is a trice cooked dish: boiled for 2 hours, then briefly stir fried and finally steamed. Lots of work for something that is inhaled in minutes, I have to say. One important note: Traditionally, this dish is done with book or bible tripes but since they are not available in my small town I have to use what I have.

Ingredients:

1 lb tripe

2 green onions cut in 1” pieces, green and white parts separated

1-1/2” piece of ginger, smashed and julienned

1 large clove garlic, chopped

Hot pepper flakes, to taste

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup salt

Directions:

Blanch the tripes in plenty of boiling water for 3 – 5 minutes.

Drain and wash the tripes and pot.

In a same pot with fresh water place tripes, salt and vinegar and bring to boil on high. Lower heat to simmer and cook for 2 hours or till tender but still with some crunch left.

Drain, cool and let dry. Previous steps can be done in one day and following 2 steps next day.

When tripes are dry, heat a wok with a bit of oil and when hot drop in garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and white parts of green onions and stir fry briefly.

Add tripes and stir fry till all ingredients are well mixed.

Remove to steaming dish, place in a steamer, cover and steam for 20 minutes.

Serve with the bamboo steamer with green onions sprinkled on top of tripes.

Happy Lunar Year of a Cat to Vietnamese friends and Year of a Rabbit to Chinese. Mind you, we have an issue with destructive rabbits in our garden!



Char Siu Pork with Crispy Noodles

Chinese Barbecue Pork Chow Mein

Even though the actual stir-fry takes about 3 minutes to make the two main ingredients take a bit longer. The Char Siu pork can be done few days ahead and noodles will take just over half an hour and they too can be done ahead.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup Char Siu pork, shredded into larger pieces 1/4” thick

3 Chinese mushrooms

1/2 carrot, julienned

16 – 20 Snow peas, ribs removed

2 green onions, sliced diagonally

1 large clove of garlic, chopped

1” piece of ginger, chopped

2 tsp peanut oil

Sauce:

1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid

1 Tbs. Hoisin sauce

1 Tbs. Oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp corn starch

In a small bowl mix all ingredients till well combined

Noodles:

Chinese egg chow mein noodles, 2 bundles

1 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

Boil noodles according to instructions on a package drain well and divide into 2 equal bundles.

Heat 1/2 Tbs. of peanut oil and 1/2 tsp. of sesame oil in nonstick frying pan, add noodles and spread evenly. Cook till light brown crust forms on bottom. Turn over and crisp up other side. Place on cookie sheet lined with paper towel and place in 200 °F oven. Repeat with second bundle of noodles.

Stir fry:

Soak the mushrooms till soft, remove stems and julienne. Reserve soaking liquid for sauce.

Heat oil in a wok till very hot. Add oil and coat sides of wok with oil using steel spatula. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for few seconds. Add mushrooms and carrots and 1 Tbs. of soaking liquid. Stir fry for few seconds then add shredded char siu, snow peas and sauce. Cook till sauce thickens a bit and snow peas turn light green.

Place noodles on preheated serving plates, pour wok contents on top and garnish with green onions.

Char Siu Pork

Chinese Barbecue Pork

Ingredients:

4 Pork Tenderloins

3/4 cup Hoisin sauce

1/2 cup Soy sauce

1/2 cup Rice wine or dry sherry

1/3 cup Honey

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 Tbs. minced garlic

1 Tbs. minced ginger.

2 tsp. Chinese 5-spice powder

For Marinade:

Put all ingredients (except pork J) in small sauce pan on low heat and simmer, covered, for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through strainer to remove any solids and let cool. Reserve 1/4 cup for Glaze.

For Glaze:

1/4 cup Marinade

1/4 cup Honey

1/4 cup Hoisin sauce

Mix till well combined

Preparation:

Pierce tenderloins with a serving fork in several places to allow marinade to penetrate meat.

Place meat in sealable bag, pour marinade (minus 1/4 cup reserved for Glaze) over the meat, squeeze out as much air as possible and close. Place in refrigerator and marinade at least 8 hours or up to 2 days. Occasionally massage the meat to redistribute the marinade.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275°F.

Place a cooling rack over baking pan and pour in about 1/4” of water.

Place meat on oiled rack and roast, place in middle rack in preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes.

Turn the pork and reduce the temperature to 185°F and roast for another 15 minutes. Baste every 5 minutes or so.
Remove the pork and turn the broiler on high. Coat the pork with the Char Siu Glaze. Broil the meat for five minutes or till the glaze caramelizes. Remove the meat, turn over and repeat.

Note: Since Pork Tenderloin cooks quickly it is easy to over cook it to a point where the meat dries out.

When edges are charred and meat is golden brown remove and let rest.

Use immediately in your favorite recipe or vacuum pack and freeze for later use.