These Shrimps Were Made For Wokin: Shrimp Stirfry with Brown Rice October 10, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Recipes.Tags: bok choy, brown rice, carrot, ginger, hot pepper, scallion, sesame oil, shrimp, tamari
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I am foreal sweatin this wok. You should def get one. And now that I’m getting the hang of it, I am woking up something major. Here is my weekly wok tip of the day (huh?): Cook fast and cook hot. Make sure your ingredients are ready to throw in cause when the wok calls, you answer gotdamnit.
Chinese Shrimp Stirfry with Ginger and Brown Rice
1/4 cup of fresh ginger (thin strips)
4 small hot, red peppers, sliced (add more or less depending on your fire mouth)
2 scallions, sliced, keep the bottom half separate from the top half, but you will be using both
1 carrot julienned
1 bunch of baby bok choy (can’t find baby bok choy? 1/2 of a mama), chop the stems, slice the greens and keep each pile separate
1/2 lb of medium-sized shrimp, peeled and de-shitted
1/8 cup of tamari (have I mentioned that tamari is the same as soy?)
2 cups of cooked brown rice
veg or peanut oil for frying
sesame oil for garnish
marinade for the shrimp:
1 tsp of chinese 5 spice
1 tbs of tamari
1 tbs of tomato paste
This serves 2 with 20 minutes of prep (if you’re peeling your own shrimp), and 10 minutes of cooking. (That’s 30 minutes total. der.)
First, prepare your shreemps. Peel and do what you gotta do. Mix the chinese spice, 1 tbs of tamari and tomato paste. Coat the shrimp and let it site while you chop the veg. When you’re all prepped, you’re ready to heat the wok.
Heat your wok, add the veg or peanut oil and heat till it smokes. Add the ginger and stir furiously. 30 seconds later, add the hot peppers (this may make you cough). 30 seconds later, add the whites of the bok choy. Your wok’s heat may have reduced a bit, so make sure it is as hot as it was when you started. When it is, add the carrots. 1 minute later, add the whites of the scallions. Now, add your cooked rice. Make sure your wok is hot, the rice should be crisping in some areas, but because you are stirring like mad, it won’t stick. Add the green of the bok choy and when wilted, create a whole in the middle of the grub and add the shrimp.
Stir the shrimp in the middle while it cooks. As soon as the shrimp is done (about 3 minutes), stir everything together, add the remaining tamari and dish up. Garnish with greens of the scallions and sesame oil. Eat with cold cold beer.
Dumpling For You, Dumpling For Me October 8, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Recipes.Tags: basil, beef, cabbage, carrot, cilantro, dumplings, ginger, pork, rice paper, scallion, sesame oil, shitake, sirachi, tamari, wanton wrappers, wasabi
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What do you get when you combine homemade dumplings and spring rolls, wine flowage, and tequila shots to boot? Our house on Saturday night. Oh. Yeah. And I’m not going to lie to you people, the food was banging. Even C said the food seemed easy enough to make at home and her culinary skills peak at choosing a stinky cheese and a dope wine – not that thats anything to laugh about. I can’t taste the difference between merlot and shiraz but give me a blind pork test and I’ll school you. Anyway, make these things at your house to impress your friends.
Steamed Pork and Scallion Dumplings
1/2 lb of ground pork
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup of tamari
3 tbs of sesame oil
dash of vinegar
fresh pepper
wanton wrappers
Makes about 12.
Mix the first 6 ingredients together. Drop a spoonful of mixture on to the center of the wrapper. Wet the exposed edges with water. Grab all the corners, bring to the middle and scrunch together. Steam for 20 minutes. Dipping sauces below.
Steamed Ginger and Beef Dumplings
1/2 lb of ground beef
1/4 cup of finely chopped ginger
1/4 cup of tamari
salt and fresh pepper
wanton wrappers
Makes about 12.
Mix all ingredients together. Drop a spoonful of mixture on to the center of the wrapper. Wet the exposed edges with water. Grab all the corners, bring to the middle and scrunch together. Steam for 20 minutes. Dipping sauces below.
Fried Cabbage, Shitake and Carrot Dumplings
1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup of white cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup of shitake mushrooms, diced
wanton wrappers
veg oil for frying
1/2 cup of water
Makes about 12.
Dice your carrot, cabbage and shrooms and combine in a bowl. Drop a tablespoon or so (you’ll begin to feel it out) onto the wrapper. Guess what you do here. That’s right. Wet the edges, grab the corners, bring together, scrunchy scrunchy. Here is what is different. Heat a frying pan and add a bit of veg oil for frying. When very hot, place your dumpling to fry for 5 minutes. When they have a nice crispy brown bottom, pour in a 1/2 cup of water and cover immediately to finish cooking through with a nice steam bath. Let it do its thing for 5 minutes. Should be ready at this time. Dipping sauces below.
Fresh Spring Rolls
1/2 carrot, julienned (that means cut into thin strips at about 3 inches)
2 scallions, cut down the middle middle and cut at about 3 inches
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of chinese or (uh, american? or italian?.. dunno) basil
rice paper rolls
Cut your veggies and clean and dry your herbals. Add the rice paper to a bowl of very warm water and let it soften for about 30 seconds. Make sure you get all the edges under the water so it doesn’t roll up and crack. When the paper is soft, very gently pull it out and lay flat on a cutting board. Throw a bit of each of your ingredients into the center towards the bottom of the wrapper. Begin to roll the fatty towards the center. Halfway up, grab the right and the left and fold over the rolled half. Then continue to roll up. As soon as the paper dries, it will stick to itself. To serve, use a very sharp knife to cut 2 or 4 slices and stand up if possible.
Dippin Sauces
sirachi
wasabi paste with tamari
chopped ginger in tamari
sesame oil with red pepper flakes (or without)
Let me mention that I particularly like the wasabi with the beef and the sesame oil with the spring rolls. Let me also mention that these are damn easy to do, cheap as all get out and fun to eat. I am not afraid to cater your next dumpling affair. Gimme a date and a time and I’ll be there. You provide the tequila.
Woking On Sunshine September 27, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Fun Gadgets, Recipes.Tags: carrot, chicken, egg, onion, rice, sesami, sirachi, tamari
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I guess I been getting my asian on lately. Got a wok. Now, usually, I am mo patient in the kitchen and I enjoy the projects. But when seasoning my new wok, I thought I would chuck the fiery ass iron out the window onto someone’s cabesa. Lucky R came to my rescue and finished it up for me. Basically, when seasoning a wok, after the initial washing and drying, you wanna wipe a thin coat of veg oil and over a low flame, and heat the metal so it absorbs the oil. First of all, you got to do this 4 times before using. Second of all, if you want an even browning, you have to hold it over the flame to get the sides, I swear you have to be freakin brooke hogan to do that shiv. But you know what? It was worth it, sore arms and all cause shortly after the seasoning debackle, we made some very serious fried rice.
Fried Rice with Carrots, Snow Peas, Chicken and Egg
3 cups cooked white rice (I dare you to try it with brown rice)
handful of snow peas, knotty bits at the end chopped off
1 chicken breast, cubed
1 carrot, sliced
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
2 eggs
1/4 cup tamari sauce (or more if you are into salty)
1/8 cup sesame oil (or more if you are obsessed with that flavor like I am)
sirachi to taste
veg oil for frying
This serves two.
Have all your ingredients cut, ready and accessible cause this shiv is going to go fast like a girl gone wild.
Heat your wok. When the veg oil starts to smoke, throw in your onion and stir like a madman. After 30 seconds, throw in your chicken. It will start to turn white immediately. After 1 minute, add your carrots. One minute later, the snow peas, all the while stirring furiously. When the heat gets back up, toss in your rice. Add tamari, sesame sauce and sirachi. When everything seems to be tasting delicious, make a hole in the middle of the pan and drop your eggs directly onto the wok. Left them fry a bit by continuously giving them real estate on the pan. As the egg hardens, scrape and add to the rice and veg in the pan. Do this until the egg is fully cooked.
Serve immediately in a big ol’ bowl. Offer your guests extra sirachi just in case they like fire mouth.
The key is to have very high heat, so you cook quickly, sear the outside, mainstain crispy veg and make hot food. That’s why the wok is so dope. Hey China, thanks for the wok (you can keep the milk).
