Chinese Walnut Chicken

Chinese New Year is Monday, February 8th, and it's never too early to start thinking about what to serve. If your larder is lacking some of the more obscure ingredients used in Chinese cooking, you'll appreciate this simple, tasty recipe. It hails from the early seventies and my mother’s recipe box. I think one of the reasons that I liked it so much as a kid is because it didn’t have any vegetables in it and, back then, I wasn’t a fan. I did find, though, that it really needed something to perk up the overall brown look of things, so I added a couple of handfuls of fresh baby spinach. Mr. O-P isn’t a fan of spinach, so I just told him that it was bok choy! (Evil grin) My guess is that this basic recipe is fairly adaptable. I served mine on top of Basmati rice. If you plan to do the same, be sure to start your rice about ten minutes prior to making this dish as it cooks up rather quickly.

 Chinese Walnut Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons canola oil, divided

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

1 pinch sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon ginger powder

1 cup walnuts, broken into large pieces

¾ cup very warm water

½ cup low-sodium soy sauce

Cut chicken breast into bite-size (half inch) pieces.

Mix cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of the oil, and 2 tablespoons of the low-sodium soy sauce in the bottom of a large bowl, until the cornstarch is smooth and semi-liquid. Add the sugar, garlic and ginger powders, and stir to blend. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat; set aside.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat in a 12-inch saute pan. Add the walnuts and saute until they are golden brown. This can be tricky. It seems to take them forever to get going, but once they do, the browning process happens very quickly. Remove the walnuts from the pan to a bowl and set aside.

Into this same pan, add the chicken pieces and stir fry until they are evenly browned on all sides. Add the nuts to the chicken and stir fry for a couple more minutes. Add the warm water and soy sauce to the pan and stir to make a sauce. Do not reduce, or the dish will be too salty. If you need more liquid just add more water and soy sauce.

At this point if you’d like to add vegetables, now is the time. Stir fry until evenly warmed and serve on top of hot rice.

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Sukiyaki

One of the great things about making a stir-fried dish, besides the ease, is that, generally, all of the ingredients are readily available in your fridge. A protein, a variety of fresh vegetables, and a tasty sauce are pretty much all that you need. This dish, from one of my most often consulted cookbooks, mentioned here and here, is one of my favorites. 

An obsessive note taker, I see that I first made this recipe in 2004.  I made it again last night and marveled at the goodness of it, particularly considering the little time it took to put it together and the overall ease of preparation. I did all of the prep work in advance (truth be told, during the commercials in between airings of a Jesse Stone marathon).  A half an hour before I was ready to eat, I put the previously rinsed and draining rice on to cook, then started then stir fry process. I do have a wok, but it is always trouble trying to unearth it from the bowels of the kitchen cabinets, so I just used a 10" sauté pan. Easy, healthy, delicious. What more could one ask of dinner? Oh, and one more thing, it reheats beautifully!

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Beef, Shiitake, and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

A number of food bloggers have started something called Wok Wednesdays.  Since I love to stir fry, I thought I’d join in on the fun.  My first recipe contribution yields a quick, delicious meal that can be on the table in half an hour providing you cut up your ingredients ahead of time.  A little bit of planning early in the day can be a big time saver come evening.  

Once the coffee maker has shut off and the breakfast dishes are piled into the dishwasher, I’ll start thinking about supper. This recipe is a favorite, and I had everything on hand, so while engrossed in a rerun of “CSI” I sliced up everything, jarring it in the order in which it was to go into the wok, i.e. ginger, garlic, mushrooms in one container, snow peas, scallions and half of the cilantro in another, etc.  I had the foresight to move a sirloin from the freezer into the fridge before retiring last night, so it was thawed just enough to be able to slice with ease, giving me nice, neat, thin slices. 

Start your rice when you heat up your wok and both will be ready simultaneously.

Beef, Shiitake, and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

Adapted from Bon Appétit, October 2010

1 1-pound top sirloin steak, cut into 2-inch-long, ¼ -1/8” thick slices

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon corn starch

1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh Melissa's ginger

1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped

12 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, thickly sliced

8 ounces snow peas

1 bunch green onions, sliced, divided

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, divided

5 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce

½ cup beef stock

Slice beef as thinly as possible and place in a zippered plastic bag.  Stir together soy sauce and corn starch; pour over meat in bag, squish together and allow meat to marinate for 30 minutes.  Remove beef from bag, shake off excess marinate and place on plate. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large wok or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger, garlic and mushrooms; stir-fry until mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes. Add beef to skillet; stir-fry until beef browns but is still pink in center, about 1 minute. Add snow peas, half of green onions, and half of cilantro; stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in hoisin, chili-garlic sauce, and sauté until peas are crisp-tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour beef stock over all and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining green onions and cilantro.  Serve over rice.

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Beef and Broccoli for Two

If you're anything like me, you occasionally get a hankering for Chinese food.  If you are even more like me, when it gets to around seven o'clock in the evening you're often too tired to go out for Chinese.  Here is a great recipe for two that cooks up in no time and tastes as close to restaurant-style beef and broccoli than any other that I've tried.  It's adapted from a recipe that I found on epicurious.com, but I like my version better.

Beef and Broccoli for Two

Marinade for Beef:
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound boneless sirloin, cut across the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Sauce:
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon medium-dry Sherry
1/4 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Oriental sesame oil

For rice:
1/3 cup Basmati rice, well rinsed
2/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon butter

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
1 medium head broccoli, cut into flowerets

Prepare the beef:
In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, sugar, and the salt.  Add the beef, and let it marinate for 30 minutes.

Make the sauce while the beef is marinating:
In a small bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the soy sauce and stir in the Sherry, broth, oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.

Make the rice:
 Spray a medium-small saucepan with canola oil.  Put the rice, water, salt, and butter in the pan and place over high heat.  Bring to a boil and let the rice simmer until the level of water is equal to that of the rice.  Cover with lid and reduce heat to low.  Simmer 20-25 minutes.  If you happen to find yourself cooking the beef mixture longer than the rice is to cook, simply turn the heat off and let it rest the in the pan while you prepare the remainder of the meal.  It will keep for another 30 minutes without any adverse effects.

Heat a wok or large heavy skillet over high heat until it is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, and heat it until it just begins to smoke. Stir-fry the beef in the oil in batches for 1 minute, or until it is no longer pink, and transfer it as it is cooked with a slotted spoon to a plate. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to the wok, heat it until it is hot but not smoking, and in the oil stir-fry the gingerroot, the garlic, and the chili for 30 seconds, or until the mixture is fragrant. Add the broccoli and stir-fry the mixture for 1 minute. Add 1/3 cup water and steam the broccoli, covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until it is crisp-tender. Stir the sauce, add it to the wok with the beef and any juices that have accumulated on the plate, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and the beef is heated through. Transfer the mixture to a heated platter and serve it with the rice.

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