Chicken with Tomato Sauce

Chicken with Tomato Sauce produced one of the tenderest chicken I've had. It tastes kind like sweet and sour chicken, except in terms of texture, it is tender soft because of shallow frying for a short time vs. the crispy deep fried version. This recipe came from a Chinese cookbook.

Serves 2

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

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 tablespoon egg white
4 tablespoon corn starch
2 cups peanut oil or vegetable oil
3 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon ketchup
2 tablespoon and 2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Tips:

1. The key to this recipe is the tender texture of the chicken, so the shallow frying step will determine how tender the chicken will come out. If you get the oil temperature right, you are much closer to getting it perfect, therefore it helps to get a deep-fry thermometer. To use a thermometer, make sure the tip is inside the oil but doesn't touch the wok or pot, because the wok might be at a higher temperature than the oil.
2. The other key to the tender chicken is to cut the chicken pieces as evenly as possible, this ensures all the chicken pieces will be cooked evenly.
   
3. Once you master the shallow frying to produce extra tender chickens, you can apply this technique to other chicken dishes, or play around with the tomato sauce to adjust it to your liking.
   

Instruction:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, add the chicken cubes, egg white and 3 tablespoon cornstarch. Mix them well using a circular one direction motion.
   
2. To shallow fry the chicken, heat oil in a wok or a soup pot over medium heat to about 200°F. Add the chicken, and use a chopstick to gently separate the pieces. The oil temperature now shouldn't be above 175°F, if it does, remove the wok from heat until temperature drop down. Just when all the chicken pieces are turning white, quickly remove them with a slotted spoon and drain off the excess oil. The chicken should be white on the outside and still be pink in the middle.
   
3. Remove all the oil from the wok, and heat it over high heat, add the ketchup, sugar and 1 tablespoon water, stirring and bring to a boil, mix 1 tablespoon water with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add it to the sauce. When the sauce thickens, add the chicken pieces and stir well, cook for 1-2 minutes then turn off heat. Check if the chicken is done by cutting into the largest chicken piece and make sure the inside is no longer pink. Mix in the sesame oil and serve.
   

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.

Chicken Lettuce Cup

Chicken lettuce cup is a one dish healthy meal, it's got skinless chicken breast, bamboo shoots and water chestnut. Oh wait, did we forget lettuce? If we've got left overs, it keeps well in the fridge for another delicious meal. This dish came from http://hubpages.com/hub/Just-Like-PF-Chang-Recipes

Serves 4

Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
8 dried Shiitake mushrooms, soak in hot water for 30 minutes, woody stem removed, chopped
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
Marinate:
2 teaspoons cooking sherry
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and pepper to taste

5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices
8 oz can bamboo shoots, drained, chopped into small pieces using a food processor
8 oz can water chestnuts, drained, chopped into small pieces using a food processor
2 small dried chilies (optional)
1 package of Chinese cellophane rice noodles (about 3-6 oz), cooked according to instructions on the package
1 iceberg lettuce, stem removed, and sliced into halves
Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cooking sherry
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Tips:

1. I went to 3 different western grocery stores, and between the 3 I was able to find oyster sauce and hoisin sauce, if you've searched and still can't find them, you can substitude:

• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce: 2 tablespoon soy sauce mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce: 1/2 tablespoon ketchup mixed with 1/2 tablespoon of molasses
  

Instruction:

1. Combine marinate ingredents in a medium mixing bowl, mix well with the chicken cubes and marinate for 15 minutes.
   
2. Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat, add chicken cubes and stir fry for 3 minutes until the chicken is turning white and no pink is shown, remove chicken.
   
3. Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in a skillet or wok over medium high heat, add the ginger, garlic, green onions, and stir fry for a minutes until the flavor comes out, make sure the garlic doesn't get burned. Then add the chopped dried mushroom, bamboo shoots and water chestnut, stir fry until they are cooked thru (about 2 minutes). Add the chicken along with the sauce and mix everything well and let the sauce thickens (about 1 minute). Transfer to a serving bowl.
   
4. To eat, start with a lettuce leaf, add some cellophane noodles then top with the chicken mixutre, eat it like a taco.
   

Orange Chilled Noodles

I am starting to like chilled noodles, I use to love only noodle soups, but in the summer days, it is simply too hot to have a bowl of piping hot noodle soup, so I started to make chilled noodles. I find they are pretty easy to make, and keeps really well in the fridge. This dish came from www.cdkitchen.com.

Serves 2

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
10 oz thin egg noodle or angel hair pasta
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
3 tablespoon roasted peanuts or pine nuts or almonds, chopped

Sauce:
2 tablespoon chili oil with pepper flakes
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon Chinese or cider vinegar
4 teaspoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 fresh orange, grated zest without the white pith

Tips:

1. Please feel free to substitute any of your favorite roasted nuts for the peanuts

Instruction:

1. Roast the peanuts in a small pan over medium heat until lightly brown and fragrant (about 5-10 minutes), turning frequently towards the last half of the cooking. Remove from pan and chopped into small pieces.
2. Meanwhile, cook noodles in a boiling pot of water until done (about 3-7 minutes). Drain and use running water to cool the noodles down. Drain well and set aside.
   
3. Make the sauce by putting all the sauce ingredient in a blender and blend for 30 seconds.
   
4. Mix the noodles with the sauce in a large mixing bowl, when mixed well, transfer to serving bowls and scatter with green onion, cilantro and chopped peanuts.
   

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.
   

Broccolli Salad

This is a summer salad that is very similar to the cauliflower salad, except we are using broccoli instead of cauliflower this time. The main cooking method is still the same: boil vegetable-->sesame and salt-->chicken stock.

Serves 2

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 head broccoli, break into bite-able florets
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon chicken stock

Tips:

1. Cook the broccoli to your liking, for me I prefer cauliflower soft but with a little crutch
2. This cooking method can be apply it to a lot other vegetables like napa cabbage, baby bok choy, etc.

Instruction:

1. Boil enough water in a 6-quarts soup pot to cover the broccoli over high heat, once water boils, add in 1 teaspoon salt and broccoli.
2. Cook until broccoli are done, about 3-5 minutes
3. Drain and refresh broccoli in cold water
4. Drain again and put broccoli in a mixing bowl, mixing well broccoli with 2 teaspoon of salt and sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
   
5. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with chicken stock

Califlower Salad

This is another summer salad using cauliflower. The main cooking method here is: boil-->sesame and salt-->chicken stock. This cooking method can be applied to a lot of vegetables besides cauliflower, for example, broccoli, napa cabbage, baby bok choy, etc.

Serves 2

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower, break into bite-able florets
half red bell pepper, optional, cored and thinly sliced
half green bell pepper, optional, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon chicken stock

Tips:

1. Cook the cauliflower to your liking, like for me I prefer cauliflower soft but with a little crutch
2. The bell peppers are optional because they are more for looks
   

Instruction:

1. Boil enough water in a 6-quarts soup pot to cover the cauliflowers over high heat, once water boils, add in 1 teaspoon salt, cauliflowers and bell peppers.
2. Cook until cauliflowers are done, about 5 minutes
3. Drain and refresh cauliflower in cold water
4. Drain again and put cauliflower in a mixing bowl, mixing well the cauliflower with 2 teaspoon of salt and sesame oil. Taste and adjust seasoning.
   
5. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle over the chicken stock