Lamb and Onions with Cumin

Lamb is something that is very popular in the Middle East, Australia and parts of China. Some people don't like it because of their gamey smell, and there are others who prize lamb's tenderness and its aroma. For me, I love any lamb cooked in such a way that removes the gamey smell and preserve the aroma. Actually one of the best lamb stir fry dish (Chengdu Spiced Lamb) I've had is at the PF Chang's restaurant in Boise, ID. We also tried the same dish at PF Chang's in Fremont, CA and it wasn't as good as Boise's for some reason. If you have a PF Chang's restaurant nearby, I'd highly recommend you to give it a try. Anyhoo, today's cumin dish is kind similar to the PF Chang's version, but with a simpler flavor. I will probably post another one that is more similar to their flavor sometime later. This recipe is adapted from a Chinese recipe site.

Serves 3

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound lamb leg or shoulder meat, thinly sliced into 1/4 inch thick biteable slices
2 scallion, minced
1/2 inch ginger, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cooking wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon corn starch
2-4 tablespoon water
1 cup corn or vegatable oil
1 6-inch diameter onion, cut into wedges, halved and seperate the onion layer
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1-3 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped



Tips:

1. The amount of salt, cumin and chili powder is based on your taste, so during the last seasoning step, taste the dish and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
   

Instruction:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix the lamb slices with the salt, 1 teaspoon cooking wine, soy sauce and corn starch. Water should be the last ingredient to add to the marinate, the amount of water gets added depends on how much the lamb slices absorbs. Add in 2 teaspoon of water at a time, mix it well with the lamb with your hand in clockwise circular motion, then keep adding more water until the lamb can't absorb anymore water and the meat feels springy when pressed. Let it marinate for 10 minutes. After the lamb is marinated, if there are some water came out of the lamb, use the clockwise hand motion to mix it back in with the lamb, then mix it well with 1 tablespoon oil. This lamb marinate process is to let the moister get in the lamb while add the oil coating prevents the moister escape during the cooking process, our goal is to make the lamb more tender. This marinating process is exactly the same for beef, which we talked about in the Mongolian Beef recipe.
   
2. Heat 1 cup of oil in the wok or skillet over high heat till pretty hot but not smoking, put in the onion wedges and cook until onion start to soften (1-2 mintues), use a mesh to scope out the onion and put it on a paper towl lined plate. Reheat the oil till pretty hot and drop in the lamb slices, quickly cook the lamb until the lamb slices are barely cooked (white on the outside and pink in the middle). Use a mesh to scope out the lamb and drain on the paper towl.
3. Leave 1 tablespoon of the oil in the wok or skillet over high heat, put in the onion and lamb and quickly add salt, 1 teaspoon cooking wine, cumin and chili powder, mix everything so the lamb and onion is well coated. Cook till the lamb is no longer pink, taste to adjust seasoning, and mix in the sesame oil and cilantro. Serve over white rice.
   

Coffee Spareribs

Coffee spareribs is a dish that I am hesitant to put up because it takes a while to make and it is definitely not healthy. But at the same time, this is one dish that received 5 out of 5 stars on my taste rating and I GUARANTEE it is going to impress your family and guests like no other, in terms of its tender texture, surprising flavors and the shear creativity involved. We first had this dish in a Chinese Dim Sum place (Chinese breakfast restaurant) near San Francisco, and just thought it was the bomb. I came home and immediately started looking up ways to recreate this dish at home. This recipe is adapted from http://jinglerecipe.blogspot.com

This image came from the web because I forgot to take a picture when I made it last time.

Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
1 pound spareribs, rinsed well and cut between the bones into individual ribs (about 5-10 ribs)
6 cups peanut or corn oil
Marinate:
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon cooking sherry
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoon 3-in-1 instant coffee mix powder (see tips #3 for substitution)
3 tablespoon water
2-5 tablespoon cornstarch
Sauce:
5 tablespoon 3-in-1 instant coffee mix powder (see tips #3 for substitution)
2 tablespoon ketchup
5 tablespoon water
sugar to taste

1 cup "Cool Whip" cream, or freshly whipped heavy cream with sugar at room temperature

Tips:

1. It would be great if the spareribs you have is already trimmed into St. Louis style. If that is not the case, then just cut the ribs into matching bite-able sections.
2. Since this recipe contains a fair amount of coffee, if you are sensitive to caffeine, it might be better to serve this dish at lunch time instead of dinner, because then the caffeine won't keep you awake at night.
3. 3-in 1 instant coffee powder is a mix of instant coffee powder with cream and sugar. If you can't find this coffee mix, you can use either regular brewed coffee with cream and sugar added to your taste (then you don't need to add water), or regular instant coffee powder (need to add powdered cream and sugar).
   

Instruction:

1. Mix all the marinate ingredients well in a large mixing bowl using a whisk to form a thick, slurp batter, vary the amount of cornstarch added to achieve this consistency. Add in the ribs and mix well, cover and let it marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
   
2. When the marinate is almost done, mix the sauce ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
   
3. Once marinate is done, heat oil in a deep soup pot or wok over high heat until oil start to smoking, add rib pieces one by one into the oil, deep fry the ribs until they are no longer pink on the outside (about 3-6 minutes), remove them with a slotted spoon.
   
4. Wait till the oil is smoking again, add in all the ribs at once and deep fry for 1 minute. Check to see if the ribs are done by cutting into the biggest rib and see if the meat near the bone is no longer pink. Remove them with a slotted spoon on to a plate lined with paper towels.
   
5. Leave 2 tablespoon oil in the pot or wok, add in the sauce and bring to a boil over high heat, add in the ribs and coat well with the sauce, taste to see if more sugar needs to be added. Transfer to a big coffee mug or plate and add the cool whip cream on top of the ribs. To eat, dip the ribs in the cream.

Mongolian Beef

Mongolian beef is a pretty common dish at Chinese restaurants nowadays. It is so popular that if you walk into a random Chinese restaurant, chances are they probably have it on their menu. This dish is salty and sweet and it goes really well with steamed white rice. This recipe came from www.bakespace.com.

Serves 2

Prep time: 17 minutes
Cook time: 13 minutes

Ingredients:
Marinate:
1 pound boneless beef flank or chuck, sliced against the grain into 1/4 inch thin (as thin as possible) bite-able slices
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1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine or medium dried sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4-8 tablespoon water
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1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Sauce:
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Other:
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large green onions, sliced into 3-inch sections or one 3-inch diameter onion, sliced into 1/2 inch wide wedges
2 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon water

Tips:

1. I believe the traditional Chinese version of this dish is made with green onions, I actually prefer substitute it with onions, as onions have a better texture than green onions.
2. The beef marinating process does take a while, especially doing it the first time, after doing it for a couple of times, you will be very comfortable with it.
   

Instruction:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix the beef slices with the salt, cooking wine and corn starch. Water should be the last ingredient to add to the marinate, the amount of water gets added depends on how much the beef slices absorbs. Add in 2 tablespoon of water at a time, mix it well with the beef with your hand in clockwise circular motion, then keep adding more water until the beef can't absorb anymore water and the meat feels springy when pressed. Let it marinate for 10 minutes. After the beef is marinated, if there are some water came out of the beef, use the clockwise hand motion to mix it back in with the beef, then mix it well with 1 tablespoon oil. This beef marinate process is to let the moister get in the beef while add the oil coating prevents the moister escape during the cooking process, our goal is to make the beef more tender.
   
2. Making the sauce by heating 2 teaspoon of oil in a medium sized pot over medium-high heat, add in the ginger and garlic cook until they are fragrant (about 30 seconds), then add the soy sauce and water, bring to a boil. Once boiling, dissolve in the brown sugar, and lower the heat to medium and boil for 6-8 minutes until the sauce thickens.
3. When marinate is done, heat 1 cup of oil in the wok or skillet over high heat till pretty hot but not smoking, put in the beef slices and stir fry till beef is barely cooked (about 30 seconds to 1 minute), white/brown with a little bit of pink. Quickly use a mesh to scope out the beef.
4. Leave 1 tablespoon of the oil in the wok or skillet over medium-high heat, put in the green onion or onion and stir fry until the flavor comes out, about 1-2 minute. Add the beef and sauce, cook for about 2 minutes. Add the 2 teaspoon cornstarch with water mixture and thicken the sauce. Transfer to a serving plate.
   

Orange Peel Chicken

This orange peel chicken recipe is taken from the cookbook written in Chinese "Standard recipes for Sichuan dishes". I like the orange peel flavor in this dish and how the orange flavor is blended with sweet and spicy flavor. The chicken comes out very tender also. This dish can be served either hot or cold.


Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
Marinate:
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine or medium dried sherry
1 inch ginger, sliced
2 green onions, cut into 4 inch long sections, white part crushed
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
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1 pound of boneless chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes

Sauce:
2 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine or dried sherry
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sugar
4 cup chicken broth
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1 teaspoon Chinese black vinegar or wine vinegar 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Other:
15 whole Sichuan peppercorn optional
5 dried orange peel, cut into 2 inch squares or zest from 1 medium sized orange
6 whole dried chili, seed taken out, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 inch ginger, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
4 green onion, cut into 2-inch length
1 cup peanut oil

Instruction:

1. Mix the marinate in a medium sized bowl then add the chicken cubes, marinate for 15 minutes
   
2. Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients and sauces
   
3. When marinate is done, heat peanut oil in the wok till pretty hot but not smoking, put in the chicken cubes and fry till chicken pieces turns golden, use a mesh to scope out the chicken
4. Leave 1 tablespoon of the oil in the wok, put in Sichuan peppercorn if using and stir fry until the flavor comes out, discard the peppercorn. Put in the orange peel and dried pepper, cook until the oil turns red. Then add in ginger, green onion, and garlic, stir fry for a bit, then add in chicken, put in the sauces,cooking wine, salt, soy sauce, sugar and chicken broth, make sure the chicken broth will cover all the chicken pieces, use medium low heat to cook until all the sauces are evaporated and becomes thick, then add in vinegar and sesame oil
5. Transfer to a plate and serve either hot or let it completely cool and serves it cold