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sigelphoenix) wrote2010-03-25 08:26 pm
sigelphoenix) wrote2010-03-25 08:26 pm
Entry tags:
Recipe recs
I have, as I mentioned, been cooking a lot of new recipes lately, and I thought I'd share some of the things I've tried. I am very solidly a novice cook - I am well-versed in one-pot dishes like soups and stews, for instance, but not things like searing meat or knowing intuitively what spices to add to a dish - and I figure I'm not alone in that. So I want to share out of a feeling of "Look! I could do this without too much trouble. And it's even tasty! Try it!"
I do want to mention that I've been learning to stir-fry (more or less), in that I'm learning the process of letting the wok and oil get really hot, then tossing the food around so it cooks quickly but doesn't burn. That's how you're supposed to stir-fry, but I'm usually a conservative cook who keeps the heat down so I don't burn things even when I don't use much oil. The problem with that is that food will end up steaming more than frying. I don't know if anyone else has that issue when cooking, but it's important to note that these dishes will turn out much better (i.e. not soggy) if you really stir-fry them. I've had some minor scorching of food, but if you have a faster arm than me (or if you're willing to add a touch more oil) I think you can avoid that problem.
I put asterisks next to the recipes that I really enjoyed and want to make again soon. But they were all at least pretty tasty, and are going into my recipe rotation. Also, I'll mention any modifications I made, or would change when I make the recipe again.
Stir-fried Chinese Chives and Pork (Use Real Butter)
This is a pretty simple stir-fry, with the most notable part (for me) being the Chinese chives, also known as garlic chives, or nira in Japanese. I really liked them whenever my mom cooked them when I was growing up, but hadn't made them myself because you generally have to get them at Asian groceries (I got mine at Uwajimaya). But now I have a simple, tasty recipe to prompt me to make the trek to buy them.
I did find, though, that the rice wine (shaoxing) was a bit strong for me. I've also had this issue when using (white) wine in other recipes, so it might just be my personal preference. Maybe try reducing the amount in the recipe just a bit so you can try it yourself?
Black Pepper Beef (Noob Cook)
The big thing I want to note here is to use the right cut of beef! Normally I get cuts from the round, because they're lean and generally the cheapest, and if you simmer the meat (such as in stews and curry) it can get tender. In stir-fry ... not so much. It helps to freeze the meat for half an hour so you can really slice it thin, slice against the grain, and also make sure you keep it in the heat just long enough to cook it through - but even after doing that I found that half the pieces where too chewy and kind of tough.
I've since tried flank steak, since I've seen it recommended as a good substitute for more expensive cuts. It is more expensive than the round (cuts from the round go on sale for $1.99/lb. around here, whereas flank steak doesn't get much cheaper than $4.99/lb.), but I found it way easier to get tender meat using the abovementioned techniques. If you can afford to spend a little more, I think it's worth it to get a better dish.
(If you know as little about cuts of beef as I do, this site is super handy. The descriptions contain information about which costs are more flavorful, expensive, tender, etc.)
After this long digression, to get to the recipe itself: Try adding about half the amount of pepper called for, and then adding more to taste. The blogger mentioned that she likes a lot of pepper, but others might not. Also, if you're grinding your own pepper, it'll be stronger and you can use less.
*Ma Po Tofu (Use Real Butter)
I've found a lot of variations of ma po tofu online, but I was drawn in because this blog has such pretty food pictures. :D It all works out, because I really liked it, and I only made two changes: I cut down the chicken broth and increased the ground pork. I did this because I like a heartier, non-soupy texture, but I don't think it really affects the flavor.
This recipe does use some high-sodium ingredients, namely the combination of soy sauce, garlic black bean sauce, and chili garlic sauce. I eat a lot of salty foods on a regular basis (savory snacks are my weakness), so in the interest of keeping my sodium intake down I'll probably reduce the amount of these ingredients next time. You add them at the end of the cooking process, so it's very easy to adjust to taste.
Lion's Head Meatballs (Use Real Butter)
Right off the bat, one thing I didn't do was add the chicken broth. I was too intimidated by the risk of my meatballs falling apart. I also left out the sauce part, and just went straight from frying the meatballs to steaming them with napa, because that's the lion's head meatballs I'm familiar with.
Besides that, I followed the meatball part of the recipe closely. As with the chives stir-fry, I think the shaoxing was too strong for me, and I would definitely reduce it next time. (On the other hand,ratzeo thought the meatballs were amazing, so YMMV). Both ratzeo and I agree that the ginger could be reduced somewhat. Also, if I make this again, I'll probably make smaller meatballs, so there can be more fried surface area. Less healthy, but more delicious.
After steaming, while the sauce was still hot, I tossed in some cellophane noodles. Even then the dish was pretty intensely flavored, so I cut it with jasmine rice.
*Soy Sauce Chicken (Use Real Butter)
Oh, man, I loved this. I followed the blogger's suggestion and saved the broth (though the fat never congealed into an easy-to-remove layer, which made it difficult to de-fat) to make soup with. Take some broth, dilute with water, add some of the chicken you just made, then throw in whatever else: I used somen (type of Japanese noodle), napa (type of cabbage), and enoki (type of mushroom), and it was really good. Next time I'm going to try topping with a poached egg, like suggested in the blog post.
The only suggestion/change I have is that the 4-6 drumsticks suggested were not enough. It's possible that my drumsticks were just small - the 6 I used came out to about 1 1/2 pounds. And for as concentrated a broth you get out of those ingredients, you can definitely fit in more chicken, thus getting more food out of your cooking and also diluting the saltiness of the broth. So I would recommend going for 2 pounds (8 drumsticks, for the size I used) or more if you make this.
But do make the soup. I'm sure that eating the chicken over rice would be fine, but the soup ... It's just so tasty.
*Beef Broccoli Chow Fun (Sunday Nite Dinner)
I love beef chow fun, and I was glad to find out it's so easy to make! The blog touts this recipe as a healthier version of the dish (less oil and added gai lan), but it does use a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, so ...
Depending on how skilled of a stir-fryer you are, though, you might be able to cut the oil down even farther. Also, I think you can cut down on the oyster sauce and/or soy sauce to (once again) reduce the sodium content. With those two sauces, plus dried black beans, to give it flavor, it's definitely not going to be bland.
One note about handling fresh rice noodles - I didn't know this myself, so it might be useful to fellow noobs - you have to separate them by hand after you chop them. Since it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the instructions, I figured the noodle stacks would break apart as you stir-fried them. Not so, however - they, er, get gooey and stick to each other. -_- Now, the noodles are supposed to be somewhat soft, so it wasn't a big problem when I made this dish. But do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake.
*Basil Chicken (FoodMayhem)
Another nice and simple stir-fry. What I enjoy about this one in particular is the pairing of Thai basil and jalapenos - I wouldn't have guessed it myself. But when you have a bite of black-bean-sauce-covered chicken, spicy jalapeno, and fragrant basil ... it's surprisingly appealing!
I would recommend increasing the snow peas, though. I felt my dish turned out a bit meat-heavy. And, as always, reduce the black bean sauce for sodium control.
*Scallion Pancakes (Use Real Butter)
I had no idea these were so easy to make, but they are! I don't have a food processor, so I used the second method for the dough (using chopsticks to mix), and it was fine.
A few notes: I used sesame oil instead of vegetable oil during the assembly process, which I think adds to the flavor (but stuck with vegetable oil for the frying, because it's cheaper). I also added toasted sesame seeds when I added the scallions. As for salt, I went light, because I served them with this dipping sauce. (You can substitute a common soy sauce like Kikkoman if you don't have Chinese thin/light soy sauce, and rice vinegar if you don't have the Chinese black vinegar.)
I just wish they didn't rely so much on oil (and frying, though I assume you could cut down the oil if you don't need them to be super crispy) because they're such an easy and cheap snack.
I do want to mention that I've been learning to stir-fry (more or less), in that I'm learning the process of letting the wok and oil get really hot, then tossing the food around so it cooks quickly but doesn't burn. That's how you're supposed to stir-fry, but I'm usually a conservative cook who keeps the heat down so I don't burn things even when I don't use much oil. The problem with that is that food will end up steaming more than frying. I don't know if anyone else has that issue when cooking, but it's important to note that these dishes will turn out much better (i.e. not soggy) if you really stir-fry them. I've had some minor scorching of food, but if you have a faster arm than me (or if you're willing to add a touch more oil) I think you can avoid that problem.
I put asterisks next to the recipes that I really enjoyed and want to make again soon. But they were all at least pretty tasty, and are going into my recipe rotation. Also, I'll mention any modifications I made, or would change when I make the recipe again.
Stir-fried Chinese Chives and Pork (Use Real Butter)
This is a pretty simple stir-fry, with the most notable part (for me) being the Chinese chives, also known as garlic chives, or nira in Japanese. I really liked them whenever my mom cooked them when I was growing up, but hadn't made them myself because you generally have to get them at Asian groceries (I got mine at Uwajimaya). But now I have a simple, tasty recipe to prompt me to make the trek to buy them.
I did find, though, that the rice wine (shaoxing) was a bit strong for me. I've also had this issue when using (white) wine in other recipes, so it might just be my personal preference. Maybe try reducing the amount in the recipe just a bit so you can try it yourself?
Black Pepper Beef (Noob Cook)
The big thing I want to note here is to use the right cut of beef! Normally I get cuts from the round, because they're lean and generally the cheapest, and if you simmer the meat (such as in stews and curry) it can get tender. In stir-fry ... not so much. It helps to freeze the meat for half an hour so you can really slice it thin, slice against the grain, and also make sure you keep it in the heat just long enough to cook it through - but even after doing that I found that half the pieces where too chewy and kind of tough.
I've since tried flank steak, since I've seen it recommended as a good substitute for more expensive cuts. It is more expensive than the round (cuts from the round go on sale for $1.99/lb. around here, whereas flank steak doesn't get much cheaper than $4.99/lb.), but I found it way easier to get tender meat using the abovementioned techniques. If you can afford to spend a little more, I think it's worth it to get a better dish.
(If you know as little about cuts of beef as I do, this site is super handy. The descriptions contain information about which costs are more flavorful, expensive, tender, etc.)
After this long digression, to get to the recipe itself: Try adding about half the amount of pepper called for, and then adding more to taste. The blogger mentioned that she likes a lot of pepper, but others might not. Also, if you're grinding your own pepper, it'll be stronger and you can use less.
*Ma Po Tofu (Use Real Butter)
I've found a lot of variations of ma po tofu online, but I was drawn in because this blog has such pretty food pictures. :D It all works out, because I really liked it, and I only made two changes: I cut down the chicken broth and increased the ground pork. I did this because I like a heartier, non-soupy texture, but I don't think it really affects the flavor.
This recipe does use some high-sodium ingredients, namely the combination of soy sauce, garlic black bean sauce, and chili garlic sauce. I eat a lot of salty foods on a regular basis (savory snacks are my weakness), so in the interest of keeping my sodium intake down I'll probably reduce the amount of these ingredients next time. You add them at the end of the cooking process, so it's very easy to adjust to taste.
Lion's Head Meatballs (Use Real Butter)
Right off the bat, one thing I didn't do was add the chicken broth. I was too intimidated by the risk of my meatballs falling apart. I also left out the sauce part, and just went straight from frying the meatballs to steaming them with napa, because that's the lion's head meatballs I'm familiar with.
Besides that, I followed the meatball part of the recipe closely. As with the chives stir-fry, I think the shaoxing was too strong for me, and I would definitely reduce it next time. (On the other hand,
ratzeo thought the meatballs were amazing, so YMMV). Both ratzeo and I agree that the ginger could be reduced somewhat. Also, if I make this again, I'll probably make smaller meatballs, so there can be more fried surface area. Less healthy, but more delicious.After steaming, while the sauce was still hot, I tossed in some cellophane noodles. Even then the dish was pretty intensely flavored, so I cut it with jasmine rice.
*Soy Sauce Chicken (Use Real Butter)
Oh, man, I loved this. I followed the blogger's suggestion and saved the broth (though the fat never congealed into an easy-to-remove layer, which made it difficult to de-fat) to make soup with. Take some broth, dilute with water, add some of the chicken you just made, then throw in whatever else: I used somen (type of Japanese noodle), napa (type of cabbage), and enoki (type of mushroom), and it was really good. Next time I'm going to try topping with a poached egg, like suggested in the blog post.
The only suggestion/change I have is that the 4-6 drumsticks suggested were not enough. It's possible that my drumsticks were just small - the 6 I used came out to about 1 1/2 pounds. And for as concentrated a broth you get out of those ingredients, you can definitely fit in more chicken, thus getting more food out of your cooking and also diluting the saltiness of the broth. So I would recommend going for 2 pounds (8 drumsticks, for the size I used) or more if you make this.
But do make the soup. I'm sure that eating the chicken over rice would be fine, but the soup ... It's just so tasty.
*Beef Broccoli Chow Fun (Sunday Nite Dinner)
I love beef chow fun, and I was glad to find out it's so easy to make! The blog touts this recipe as a healthier version of the dish (less oil and added gai lan), but it does use a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, so ...
Depending on how skilled of a stir-fryer you are, though, you might be able to cut the oil down even farther. Also, I think you can cut down on the oyster sauce and/or soy sauce to (once again) reduce the sodium content. With those two sauces, plus dried black beans, to give it flavor, it's definitely not going to be bland.
One note about handling fresh rice noodles - I didn't know this myself, so it might be useful to fellow noobs - you have to separate them by hand after you chop them. Since it wasn't explicitly mentioned in the instructions, I figured the noodle stacks would break apart as you stir-fried them. Not so, however - they, er, get gooey and stick to each other. -_- Now, the noodles are supposed to be somewhat soft, so it wasn't a big problem when I made this dish. But do yourself a favor and learn from my mistake.
*Basil Chicken (FoodMayhem)
Another nice and simple stir-fry. What I enjoy about this one in particular is the pairing of Thai basil and jalapenos - I wouldn't have guessed it myself. But when you have a bite of black-bean-sauce-covered chicken, spicy jalapeno, and fragrant basil ... it's surprisingly appealing!
I would recommend increasing the snow peas, though. I felt my dish turned out a bit meat-heavy. And, as always, reduce the black bean sauce for sodium control.
*Scallion Pancakes (Use Real Butter)
I had no idea these were so easy to make, but they are! I don't have a food processor, so I used the second method for the dough (using chopsticks to mix), and it was fine.
A few notes: I used sesame oil instead of vegetable oil during the assembly process, which I think adds to the flavor (but stuck with vegetable oil for the frying, because it's cheaper). I also added toasted sesame seeds when I added the scallions. As for salt, I went light, because I served them with this dipping sauce. (You can substitute a common soy sauce like Kikkoman if you don't have Chinese thin/light soy sauce, and rice vinegar if you don't have the Chinese black vinegar.)
I just wish they didn't rely so much on oil (and frying, though I assume you could cut down the oil if you don't need them to be super crispy) because they're such an easy and cheap snack.
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Thanks for the recs! :)
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http://kanakoskitchen.com/
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