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Three Treasures Stuffing

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:00:02 +0000

Three Treasures Stuffing

Servings4 Servings

Ingredients

1 red or green bell peppercut into 2-inch pieces
1 Asian eggplantsliced diagonally into ¼-inch thick ovals
6 fresh shiitake mushroomsstems removed
1/2cup cornstarch for dusting
2 -3tbsp cooking oil

Stuffing

4oz ground meat
4oz raw shrimppeeled, deveined and minced
1/4cup finely chopped water chestnutsoptional
1 egg white
1tbsp minced green onion
1tbsp minced cilantro
1tsp sesame oil
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp ground white pepper

Sauce

1tbsp cooking oil
1clove garlicminced
1tbsp minced ginger
2tbsp fermented salted black beansrinsed and lightly mashed
1/2tsp sugar
3/4cup chicken stock
2tbsp Chinese rice wine
2tbsp tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1water

Instructions

In a bowl, mix together all stuffing ingredients until well blended. Light dust pepper pieces, eggplant ovals and mushroom caps with cornstarch to cover insides. Fill each piece of vegetable with about 1 tbsp stuffing, mounding it slightly. Dust each piece with additional cornstarch to coat lightly.
Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan. Starting with stuffing side, pan sear vegetables until golden on both sides, about 3 – 4 minutes. When done, remove from pan and keep warm.
Prepare sauce: In same frying pan, add oil to sauté garlic, ginger and black beans. When fragrant, add sugar, stock and wine; bring to a simmer. Add cornstarch solution; cook until slightly thickened. Ladle over stuffed vegetables to serve.

Recipe Notes

The post Three Treasures Stuffing first appeared on Yan Can Cook.

Poached Eggplant with Savory Garlic Sauce

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 07:00:35 +0000

This is a delectable dish that showcases the tender and melt-in-your-mouth texture of eggplant combined with a flavorful garlic-infused sauce. The savory garlic sauce adds a burst of aromatic and umami notes, elevating the natural sweetness of the eggplant. The combination of soft and velvety eggplant with the bold and garlicky sauce creates a harmonious contrast of flavors.

Poached Eggplant with Savory Garlic Sauce

Servings4 Servings

Ingredients

3cloves garlicmashed
3pieces quarter-sizeginger
2 green onionsthinly sliced
1tablespoon salt
4 Asian eggplants
1/4cup chopped nuts

Garlic Sauce

2tablespoons chopped garlic
1/3cup chicken stock
1tablespoon hoisin sauce
1tablespoon soy sauce
2teaspoons Sichuan bean sauce
2teaspoons sesame oil
1/8teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorn
1teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions

Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside.
Fill a large deep pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add garlic, ginger, green onions and salt. Add eggplants; cook, turning occasionally, until they are just cooked through and tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife, about 8 minutes, depending on thickness of eggplants. Drain, discarding green onions and ginger.
Trim stems from eggplants. Using 2 forks, shred eggplant into long, thin strips.
Drizzle sauce over eggplant. Sprinkle with nuts.

Recipe Notes

The post Poached Eggplant with Savory Garlic Sauce first appeared on Yan Can Cook.

Chinese Paella

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 07:06:05 +0000

Chinese Paella

Paella, Spain's most famous dish is undoubtedly one of the world's great rice dishes. The first time I saw a traditional paella pan, I thought it was a particularly shallow flat-bottomed wok. That got me thinking about how a Chinese cook would prepare the same dish. The result is this East-West hybrid that works especially well in an electric wok.

Servings6

Ingredients

8 dried black mushrooms
12 medium-size raw shrimp
6 chicken drumsticks or 12 chicken wing drummettes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
12 live musselsscrubbed, beards removed, or 12 live manila clams, scrubbed
1/2cup water
3 3/4cups chicken brothapprox.
2tablespoons cooking oil
2teaspoons garlicminced
2teaspoons gingerminced
1 large onionchopped
1 red bell pepperseeded and chopped
1/2teaspoon turmeric
2cups uncooked long-grain ricerinsed and drained
2 Chinese sausagescut into 1/4-inch thick diagonal slices, about 2 oz. each
1 small whole bamboo shootcut lengthwise into thin wedges
12 snow peasends and strings removed
1/4cup cilantrochopped

Instructions

Soak mushrooms in warm water to cover until softened, about 30 minutes; drain. Remove and discard stems and slice caps in half. Set aside.
Remove shrimp legs, leaving shells and tails intact. Cut along backs of shrimp with scissors; rinse out sand veins. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and five-spice powder. Set aside.
Bring mussels and water to a boil in a 2-quart pan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook until shells open, about 5 minutes. Discard mussels that don't open. Lift out mussels and set aside; pour liquid into a 4-cup measuring cup. Add enough chicken broth to make 4 cups of total liquid.
Place a wok over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 5 seconds. Add chicken and cook, turning as needed, for 10 minutes or until well browned on all sides. Add 2 tablespoons chicken broth. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside. Add onion and cook for 1 minute. Add bell pepper and turmeric; cook for 1 minute. Add rice, sausages and the reserved 4 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, until broth evaporates and crater-like holes appear, about 10 minutes.
Arrange chicken, bamboo shoot and mushrooms over rice. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Push shrimp into top of rice and scatter snow peas on top. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Push mussels into rice. Cover and cook until rice is tender to the bite, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Recipe Notes

Recipe from A Wok For All Seasons, Publisher: Doubleday.

The post Chinese Paella first appeared on Yan Can Cook.

Water-Cooked Fish

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 23:44:33 +0000

Water-Cooked Fish

Ingredients

1lb fish filletcut into thin slices
teaspoon ½salt
1teaspoon Chinese rice wine
1teaspoon cornstarch
1cup fresh mushroomssliced
1cup Chinese celerycut into 2” lengths
5tablespoons Vegetable oilseparated
1 star anise
1 1 ” stick cinnamon
5cloves garliccrushed
2 green onionswhite parts cut into 2” lengths, green parts chopped
5slices fresh gingerabout 2” rounds
2tablespoons Doubanjiang spicy bean paste
3cups water
1teaspoon red Sichuan peppercorns
10 dried red chilies
1/2cup fresh cilantro sprigs
teaspoon ½toasted sesame seeds

Instructions

Marinate fish slices in salt, rice wine and cornstarch. Set aside.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add mushrooms and celery and blanch until done, about 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a large serving bowl.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add star anise and cinnamon and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove and discard star anise and cinnamon.
Add garlic, white parts of green onions and ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spicy bean paste and stir-fry for 30 seconds, add water and bring to a boil.
Add garlic, white parts of green onions and ginger. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spicy bean paste and stir-fry for 30 seconds, add water and bring to a boil.
Carefully add fish slices, cover and lower heat to medium-low. Simmer until fish just turns opaque. Pour the boiling fish mixture over vegetables in serving bowl. Sprinkle chopped green onions on top.
Wipe the wok dry and heat remaining 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add Sichuan peppercorns and dried red chilies. Cook until oil turns red.
Pour hot chilies and oil over fish, garnish with cilantro and sesame seeds.

Recipe Notes

Use white-fleshed fish such as flounder.
The fish is sliced thin to keep cooking time to a minimum, ensuring a tender, silky texture.
The vegetables added to the bottom of this dish vary according to personal taste. Mung bean sprouts and soy bean sprouts are both popular choices.

The post Water-Cooked Fish first appeared on Yan Can Cook.

Cold Noodles with Spicy Meat Sauce

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 23:20:07 +0000

Cold Noodles with Spicy Meat Sauce

Ingredients

lb ½noodles

Meat Sauce:

Garnish

Instructions

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water. Drain, rinse under cold running water, drain and set aside.
To make meat sauce, heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and green onions, saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add ground pork, cook until done, using a spatula to break up pieces into small bits. Add oyster sauce, sweet bean paste or hoisin sauce and Douban bean paste.
To serve, toss noodles in red oil. Top with meat sauce, chopped pickled red chilies, cilantro and green onions.

Recipe Notes

If Sichuan red oil is not available, substitute with chili oil.

The post Cold Noodles with Spicy Meat Sauce first appeared on Yan Can Cook.

Calamari with Chinese Vinaigrette

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 06:44:20 +0000

Calamari with Chinese Vinaigrette

Servings4

Ingredients

Dressing

1teaspoon garlicminced
2tablespoons rice vinegar
2tablespoons sesame oil
1tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1teaspoon soy sauce
1teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1tablespoon sugar
1/2teaspoon salt
1/8teaspoon white pepper
1/8teaspoon red peppercrushed

Main Ingredients

1pound small squidcleaned, tentacles separated and body cut into 1/2-inch rings
2ounces snow peasends and strings removed, cut in half diagonally
2 stalks celerythinly sliced
1/2 small red onionthinly sliced
1/2cup water chestnutssliced

Instructions

Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well blended; set aside.
Bring 4 inches of water in a medium saucepan to a boil. Add squid and cook for 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the dressing and set aside for 30 minutes.
Cook snow peas in boiling water until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again. Place squid, snow peas, celery, onion and water chestnuts in a salad bowl. Stir in remaining dressing and toss to coat evenly.

Recipe Notes

Tip:
Many fish markets sell small squid already cleaned. To do it yourself, grasp tentacles and gently pull them away from the hood. Pull and discard long, clear quill from the hood. Squeeze out and discard contents of the hood, then pull off thin speckled membrane from hood to expose the white meat. Rinse well inside and out. With a sharp knife, cut between the eyes and tentacles; discard eyes and the material attached. Pop out and discard hard beak in center of tentacles.

Recipe from Everybody's Wokking, Publisher: Harlow & Ratner. Photograph by Geoffrey Nilsen.

The post Calamari with Chinese Vinaigrette first appeared on Yan Can Cook.

Five-Flavor Grilled Chicken

Tue, 18 Apr 2017 05:42:22 +0000

Five-Flavor Grilled Chicken

Servings4

Ingredients

1pound boneless chicken thighs4 pieces
cooking oilfor coating the grill

Marinade

1teaspoon 5-spice powder
1teaspoon gingerminced
1teaspoon garlicminced
1teaspoon red chiliminced
1teaspoon shallotminced
1 egg
2tablespoons soy sauce
1tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1/2teaspoon sesame oil

Sauce

1teaspoon sugar
1/2teaspoon 5-spice powder
1/2cup chicken stock
1tablespoon dark soy sauce
2teaspoons Chinese black vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1tablespoon cornstarchdissolved with 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

Combine all marinade ingredients in a large bowl, add chicken and toss to coat evenly.
Light a charcoal fire in a barbecue grill. When coals are lit and have turned white on edges, lightly oil top grate with an oil-soaked paper towel. Drain excess marinade from chicken, and place chicken pieces on grate and grill until done, about 5 minutes on each side. If using a grill pan, heat pan on medium-high heat until hot. Oil pan with a brush or oil-soaked paper towel. Place chicken on pan and grill until done, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and place on a serving plate.
Combine sauce ingredients except for cornstarch solution in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add cornstarch solution and stir until sauce thickens. Pour sauce over chicken and serve.

Recipe Notes

Note:
Trim the obvious large fat pockets from the chicken thighs and discard. Otherwise, they will cause flare-ups on a charcoal grill.

Recipe from: Blissful Cooking, Publisher: Innoform Media. Photograph by Kenneth Wong.

The post Five-Flavor Grilled Chicken first appeared on Yan Can Cook.