Gingery Egg Drop Soup

Better than the Chinese restaurant egg drop soup!  Easy.  And Fast!

This is another 15 minute meal.  My “go to” soup recipe when I’m pressed for time or I’m simply being lazy but I want some soup.

The tiny strips of crunchy, tender ginger in every spoon are what make this soup.  This is absolutely perfect with fried rice. Another quick and easy dish… Or paired with egg rolls.  Sam’s club sells pretty decent egg rolls and is best warmed up in the oven.

Other than this is being tasty… it is very affordable.  This recipe serves 6 people and cost less than $3 provided you already have the other ingredients on hand.  And if not, the other ingredients are worth the upfront investment because you will be using them again, and again for this recipe and other Asian recipes.  This soup is of course a great break from Ramen noodles if you are a college student. 

You can split this recipe in half if you’re only serving 2 or 3 people…

Step by step instructions and recipe below:

Gather all your ingredients.  Remember the chicken granules.  I forgot to take a photo of it…

Sprinkle a pinch of ground black pepper over the cracked eggs and beat lightly. Set aside.

Mix cornstarch and water.  Sorry. This is not a good photo.

Combine chicken broth, water, ginger, wine, sesame and hot pepper oil and chicken granules in a 2 quart pot.

Bring to a boil.

Give the cornstarch another stir, and drizzle cornstarch mixture into the boiling chicken broth, while stirring with a long chopsticks or ladle.

Drizzle beaten eggs, in circular direction, over the broth.

Stir immediately three or four times.

Add chopped green onions.

Stir and taste to see if additional ground black pepper and or salt is needed.

Serve hot.

Gingery Egg Drop Soup

2 – 14 ounces low sodium can chicken broth

2 cups filtered water

1 ½ inch piece ginger – peeled and sliced into tiny strips

1 TBSP. white wine

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. hot pepper oil

1 tsp. chicken granules

4 TBSPs. cornstarch + 6 TBSPs. water

4 large eggs – lightly beaten

¼ 8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

3 stalks green onions – chopped

Crack the eggs into a medium size bowl and sprinkle ground black pepper.  Beat the eggs lightly and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with 6 tablespoons water.  Stir until cornstarch is dissolved.   Set aside

Combine chicken broth, water, ginger, wine, sesame and hot pepper oil and chicken granules in a 2 quart pot.

Bring these combined ingredients to a full boil over medium heat.

Give the cornstarch another stir, and drizzle cornstarch mixture into the boiling chicken broth, while stirring with a long chopsticks or ladle.  Boil chicken broth for another minute.

Reduce heat to low.

Drizzle beaten eggs, in circular direction, over the broth.  Stir immediately three or four times.

Add chopped green onions.  Stir and taste to see if additional ground black pepper and or salt is needed.

Serve hot.

Tess’ Kitchen Secrets:

1. Be sure to pick young, tender ginger.  I found that Wal-Mart sells the best ginger.  Whoever is their supplier… their ginger is always fresh, young and tender.  How can you tell a young ginger from the mature ones?  Young ginger has a light yellowish skin, plump and tender to the crunch.  The skin is most definitely not dry and the flesh not stringy.
2. As for the wine, you may use white wine, medium dry sherry and or rice wine.  I used white wine because that’s what I had on hand.
3. When I was still on the experimenting stage for soup, the soup was good but it tasted as if something was missing… And I found that adding a teaspoon of chicken kicked this soup to another notch.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Tess

P.S.  I wanted to leave you a photo showing you the difference between young and mature ginger.  I know most you already knows… so this is for those who don’t and would appreciate the information…

Salt N’ Peppa Shrimps

I first moved to Vegas, by myself and stayed with my sister, while Ramon finished the school year and Willie was waiting for military retirement.  On one of his visits, I told him about the restaurant my sister bragged about.  The name was Sam Woo BBQ Restaurant.  A Chinese restaurant that served authentic Chinese foods.  It was Friday night and there were about 15 – 20 people waiting to be seated.  The Hostess went through the line and assigned numbers to the people waiting.  Then she came to us.  We were the last couple in line.

“Your name!?” The young Asian lady asked rudely.

We told her our name.

“It’s going to be 30 minutes!  We have no seats right now!  You can wait if you like.” She yelled.  Her tone was offensively condescending, eying us up and down.  Examining as if we were good enough to be granted a table.

I noticed that she was rude to the people ahead of us, mostly Asian.  But I also noticed that she was particularly more rude to us.

My husband got so pissed off.

“Let’s get outta here!  I don’t need this kind of treatment.  If I’m going to spend my hard earned money at this place… I would like to be treated like I’m a decent human being.  I would like to be treated with respect!”

“I don’t care if they serve the best food in the world.  I will never, ever go back there! They don’t get my business. I’ll take my money somewhere else.”

We walked out.  It was around 9:30 and didn’t know where to go.  I drove back and parked at a nearby high school.  My husband was still pissed about the incident that happened tonight.  We haven’t eaten.  We were both hungry.  And I know there wasn’t any food to eat at my sister’s house.  Besides, it was late to cook dinner.

“How about we just grab some Chinese Food at Boulder Station (Hotel & Casino)?”  I suggested to him.

“Frankly, I don’t want to go anywhere!  I had lost all my appetite!” He was still fuming about the incident

“But it’s already 9:30pm and we haven’t eaten!” I reminded him.

“All I want wanted to do was treat my wife to a nice dinner.  A good Chinese food.  How hard is that?  Instead, I got treated like shit by a racist Chinese woman!”

“Fine.  Let’s get some food at Boulder Station.”  He reluctantly agreed.

And so we went.

We ordered our food and sat at a small, dimly lit table.  This was a last minute decision.  And a bad one at that.  The food was not good.  In fact, was one of the worst Chinese food we’ve eaten.

No luck.  Our night was supposed to be enjoyable.  Instead, we had nothing but bad luck.  Bad service.  Bad food.  Bad night!

I felt responsible.  It was my idea to go to Sam Woo.  I felt guilty and ashamed.  I felt awful.  And I was beginning to get pissed off too.

~~~

Several months later, I convinced my husband that we ought to try Sam Woo again.  I suggested that maybe we should go there in the afternoon when it might not be as crowded.  I told him that my sister and her boyfriend took me there one night and the food was indeed real good.  And the service wasn’t that bad.  Maybe they just had a bad Hostess that night.

“Fine.  This is their last chance to redeem themselves.  I’m only going because you’re bugging the shit outta me.  Their food better be damn good!”

So we did.  This time the Hostess wasn’t rude like last time.  She wasn’t overly nice either.  And that was OK.  I wasn’t expecting a royalty treatment.  And we got seated right away.

We ordered several shrimp dishes:  shrimp with lobster sauce, beef in black beans sauce, salt and pepper shrimp, fried rice and iced tea.  All these dishes were good.  The sauces were perfectly spiced and seasoned.

But the “salt and pepper shrimp” was the dish that intrigued him.  He particularly liked the sauteed peppers which appeared to be Serrano peppers and green onions that was served with the shrimp.

So instead of us going back to Sam Woo, I decided to recreate the “salt and pepper shrimp” dish that my husband liked.   And this is what he has to say…

“Mmmm.  You cook this shrimp better than Sam Woo!  And better than any other place I’ve been to…  At least I don’t have to put up with bad service. ”

The key to cooking the shrimps is the oil temperature.  The oil must be around 350°F when you start frying the shrimp.  No higher.  Or the shrimps will burn.

To be sure I attach or place a thermometer in the frying pan.

You could also just use your judgment.  Gauge it.  The oil must be hot but not smoking.

If the shrimps are fried correctly, they should be crunchy.  And you should be able to eat everything.  I mean everything, including the shells which is fiber.  If the eyes and heads of the shrimp bother you, you can take them off after frying and just serve the body with the tails on.

For Westerners, this dish may seemed bizarre and weird.  One might wonder how could you possibly fry and eat shrimps with the shells on?  Most Filipinos don’t know this either.  I remember when I bought a big bag of whole shrimps at the Filipino Food Store here in town.

The owner ask: “What are you going to do with all that shrimp?  How are you going to cook them…?”

“Oh.  Simple.  I am going to lightly dredge them in seasoned flour and fry them whole.  With heads and tails on, unpeeled.”

“Really?  Aren’t those shells going to be tough?”

“Nope.  Not at all.  When the shrimps are perfectly fried.  Heads, shells and tails become crunchy.  And they taste great!”  I assured him.

“Hmmm.  I didn’t know that.  I’ve have never tried eating shrimps that way.  I just learn something new! Thanks!”

You do have to choose shrimps with soft shells.  And most farmed shrimps’ shells are thinner and softer compared to the ones harvested from the Gulf of Texas.

With this dish every part is eaten.  The head, the shell and tails.  When fried perfectly.  All parts become crunchy, and therefore, edible.  My favorite part is the tail much more than the head.  The same part that my son leaves on his plate.  He doesn’t like the heads and the tails.  He is a typical American kid.

When I was little, I remember my grandparents cooking a pot full of small shrimps.  All body parts intact.  The shrimps were about the size of my pinky and was perfectly cooked in a large deep pot with only a little bit of water and a good amount of sea salt.  They were salty.  But very good.  Because they were freshly caught from the sea.

Whole shrimp, shell on with heads and tails are hard to come by.  Our local grocery stores rarely carries them.  So I have been buying the “easy peel” ones that’s already been deveined.  Their headless.  But works just fine.

As for Sam Woo.  The food was great.  But the service is left to be desired.  Most days the wait is too long and the Hostess need an attitude adjustment.  She seems rude to all the customers, which are mostly Asian.  But I guess a lot of Asian, especially Chinese people, didn’t mind the rudeness and bad treatment.  Because this restaurant is never empty.  In fact, the line is always over flowing at the door.

However, for Americans, this leaves a “bad taste” in their mouths.  My husband feels exactly this way.  He doesn’t think it’s right for any restaurant to treat it’s good paying customers badly.  No matter how great their food.

So… to avoid all these hassles.  I’m better off cooking these shrimps at home…

Washed and drained.  Easy Peel Shrimps.  Seasoned with coarse sea salt or kosher salt and plenty of ground black pepper.

All purpose flour plus kosher salt and plenty of  ground black pepper.

Mixed them up real good.

dredge 8 – 10 or more shrimps at a time, depending on how large your frying pan…

Be sure to coat the shrimps nicely with the seasoned flour.

Place the dredged shrimps in a plate or over waxed paper and allow the shrimp to rest for about five minutes.  This resting period will allow the seasoned flour to stick on the shells.

Heat a large skillet or frying pan and add 1 cup or more oil.  The shrimps must be submerge in hot oil.

Fry shrimps until crispy on one side.  About 3 minutes on each side.  As you can see, I should have heated more oil to have the shrimps more submerged.

Flip the shrimps to the other side.

Fry them until crispy like these…

Remove the shrimps from the pan…

Drain them over paper towels…

They are now ready to serve.  You can serve them with rice and Sweet Chili Sauce as dipping sauce.

This is the best Sweet  Chili Sauce we’ve tried… available in Asian market and most supermarkets…

Or… If you are like my husband.  The Sauteed Jalapenos is a good accompaniment…

About 15 jalapenos and 1 bunch of green onions.  Chopped.  Here I didn’t have enough jalapenos so I threw in a handful of red peppers.  Which of course make the sauce more spicy.

Saute them in the pan with 2 tablespoons for the same oil used for frying the shrimps.  Add added the salt and black pepper.

Saute them  until they nice and tender…

Ready to serve! You need plenty of rice on the side…

Salt & Pepper Shrimp with Sauteed Jalapeno Peppers

2 pounds whole large shrimps (shell on with heads and tails if available)

2 tsps. kosher salt or 1 TBSP. coarse sea salt

1½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. cayenne (optional)

~~~

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsps. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

~~~

2 cups canola oil for frying

Cut the antenae off the shrimps.  Wash and drain shrimp in a colander.  Place in a large bowl.

Season Shrimps with salt, black pepper and cayenne.  Let it set four about 10 minutes.

In a large ziploc bag, combine flour, salt and black pepper.

Heat a large frying pan and add the oil.  Heat oil to 350°F.  Oil must be at least an inch deep.  Shrimps must be fully submerge.

Place 8 – 10 shrimps in the flour and shake the ziploc bag to coat the shrimps.  Shake off excess flour from the shrimp and fry them in the hot oil.

Fry Shrimp for 3 minutes on each side.  Remove and drain on paper towels.

Repeat procedures with the remaining shrimp.

Serve with rice and your choice of sauces below:

Sauteed Jalapeno Peppers

15 medium size jalapeno peppers

1 bunch green onions – chopped

1 tsp. coarse sea salt or kosher salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

2 TBSPs. of oil used to fry the shrimps

Wash the jalapenos and pat dry with kitchen towel.  Cut the stems off slice them in halves.  Chop thinly and set aside.

Wash the green onions.  Cut the roots and discard.  Remove yellowed or wilted pieces.  Cut the welted top.  Chop green onions.

Using the same frying pan, pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil.  Saute Jalapenos and green onions for a few minutes, until Jalapenos slightly soft.  Add salt and black pepper.  Stir again for a few minutes.

Transfer the sauteed jalapenos to a small bowl.  Serve on the side.

Or you can serve the shrimps with bottled Sweet Chili Sauce.  This sauce is perfectly fine.  It’s mild and sweet which offsets the saltiness of the shrimp.

Tess’ Kitchen Secrets:

#1 – The secret is really using a whole shrimp.  Shells on with heads and tails.  Find them as fresh as you can find.  Use only shrimps with white soft shells.  Brown shrimps tend to have tougher shells.

#2 – Frying time.  The shells must almost look wrinkly.  Try eating one shrimp out of the first batch to be sure.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Tess Harris

Roped, Saddled and Tamed

Here I am… still awake at 7 in the morning and have nothing to post.  I am empty handed…

I had a whole week to think about what I was going to post today.  But all of my ideas lead me nowhere.  I managed to write a 1500 word easy on one subject: divorce, which took  me several hours.  I cited examples using several couples we knew – including family and friends who have gotten divorce, but it didn’t feel right.  So in the end, I decided to stash it somewhere -  for my eyes only.

Sometimes… writing comes easy when I write from the heart.  But there are times when my mind wants to run.  It wants to do whatever it wants to do, other than what it needs to do.   It acts like a wild horse that needs to be roped, saddled and tamed…

So I decided to just post something… something I have cooked hundreds of times before and one of my husband’s favorite Chinese food – Hot Pepper Beef.  I have made many improvements since I first cooked this dish and posted the recipe over three years ago.  So I thought I’d be nice to share it with you…

As with most Chinese dishes… there are certain things you’d have to do to get the same results that Chinese restaurants do.  They use specific techniques like blanching marinated meats in hot oil… and stir frying at a very high heat.

I’ve adopted some of those techniques in this recipe.  It is a bit time consuming to do, especially if I am doubling the recipe… but my husband loves Hot Pepper Beef so I cook this for him at least once every two weeks…  It’s better to prepare this dish if you have an extra time to spare… maybe on Friday nights…

NOTE:  If you do not or cannot eat hot and spicy foods… simply omit all the hot peppers from the marinade and the sauce.

New and Improved Hot Pepper Beef

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds top sirloin steaks
• Marinade – see below
• 1 large red or yellow onion – cut into bite sizes
• 1 large green bell pepper – seeds removed and cut into bite size pieces
• Sauce – see below

Step 1: Marinating the Beef

• 2 pounds top sirloin steaks – sliced thinly into 1 x 2 inch strips
• Marinade:
• 3 TBSPs. medium dry sherry or rice wine (I use white wine if I don’t have sherry or rice wine in stock)
• 3 TBSPs. Soy sauce
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. ground hot pepper – use according to your ‘heat’ tolerance
• ¼ tsp. msg (optional)
• 3 TBSPs. Cornstarch + 3 TBSPs. Water
• 4 cups vegetable oil for blanching

Wash the steaks and squeeze off excess liquid.  Slice them into 1 x 2 inch thick strips.  Place in a large glass or ceramic mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine medium dry sherry, soy sauce, salt, baking soda, ground black and hot pepper and msg.  In yet another small bowl, combine cornstarch and water and stir until smooth.  Add cornstarch mixture to the  marinade mixture.

Pour marinade over the beef, and mix until beef absorbs most of the marinade.

Marinade beef overnight in the refrigerator or 30 minutes at room temperature.

Step 2:  Blanching the Beef

Heat the wok and add the cooking oil.  Heat oil until  until it reaches 300°F. (I always use a candy thermometer to be sure…)

Drizzle two tablespoons of vegetable oil – not hot oil – over the steaks and toss to loosen or separate them. Divide the steaks into 4 portions…

Blanch steaks in the heated oil, one portion at a time, for about 5 – 7 minutes or until steaks turn brown but not burned.

Remove steaks with a slotted spoon or skimmer and drain on paper towels. (I use a skimmer with a bamboo handle which I bought at an Oriental store for less $10.)

Be sure to bring the oil back up to 300°F before continuing with the next batch.

Finish blanching the rest of the steaks following the same process.

Remove all, but 2 tablespoons oil from the wok.

Step 3: Making the Sauce

• 6 garlic cloves – peeled and minced
• 1 inch piece ginger – peeled and thinly sliced
• 8 – 10 fresh or dried hot peppers
• 3 stalks green onions – chopped
• ¾ cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup water
• 3 TBSPs. brown sugar
• 2 TBSP. dry sherry or white wine
• 1 tsp. ground hot pepper (or to taste)
• 1 TBSP. Cornstarch + 1 TBSP. water

Combine soy sauce, water, sugar, sherry, hot pepper, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisk until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.

Using the same wok… heat two tablespoons oil and sauté the garlic, ginger and hot peppers, and green onions for a few minutes or until garlic turns light golden brown and hot peppers dark red.

Stir the sauce and pour over the sautéed garlic, ginger, hot pepper and green onions.  Bring the sauce to boil over medium high heat, while stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to medium and add the blanched beef into the sauce. Stir until beef are coated well with the sauce. Reduce heat and simmer steaks for 5  minutes.

Stir in the onions and bell peppers.  Stir until combined well with the beef and coated with the sauce.

Remove wok from the heat and serve.

Serve hot pepper beef with rice or egg noodles.  (Cook egg noodles as directed on the package.)

Tess’ Kitchen Secrets:

#1:  Marinate the beef overnight – in the refrigerator.  Marinating tenderizes the meat.

#2: Baking soda and msg are good tenderizers

#3: Blanching the marinated beef at 300°F until brown or caramel in color

#3: I grind my own hot peppers.  I buy dried hot peppers from Asian stores; which usually comes in a plastic bag.  First I put them in a blender to grind them coarsely and to break up whole pieces.  Second, I grind them again using a Cuisinart Coffee Grinder into a finer powder.  My Cuisinart Coffee Grinder is only used for grinding spices.

The beef should look like these after they have been blanched in hot oil.

Hot Pepper Beef – the finished product.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Tess

Eat Your Rum and Drink Your Pork

“Dad… wake up!” the little girl shaking his father on the left shoulder.

“Huhh…?  ssshhhhhh… ssshhhh…” the father snored while leaning his head on a big rock.

“Dad… c’mon, let’s go!  Let’s go home…!”

“It’s getting dark and I’m scared…” the little girl is now on the verge of crying.

This man is my dad.  He is drunk.  He is too drunk too keep walking and so he laid down right in the middle of the dirt path beside a big rock.  We are about 3 miles from our nipa hut, five miles away from the town.

As a little girl, I always wanted to go with my dad wherever he  went.  And this day was just one of the days I went with him.  He couldn’t refuse his friend and  drank too many shots of Tanduay Rum while we were in town.  He managed to head home with me… but midway to our nipa hut, he couldn’t keep his eyes open and slump right in the middle of the dirt road… This is not the first time he’s done this – got drunk and slept in the dirt path halfway home.  My mother was hoping that because I am with him, he wouldn’t get too drunk.  But she’s wrong.  I am just a little girl, no match to his friend who was offering him free drinks…

At least this time he is sleeping, instead of going to one of his violent and crazy rage…

Five years back… when I was even younger, probably four years old… I remember running with my little brother, while my mom holding my other youngest brother and youngest sister, yelling:

“Let’s go, Eday (baby)! Let’s go… let’s go.  Hurry!”

I was confused… I was dazed…. I didn’t understand why we were running.  And where we running to…? What’s happening…?

Finally… we arrived at the Barrio Captain’s house, all wet  and covered in mud…

I was sitting on the floor, in the corner, still holding my little brother’s hand, shaking… trembling from fear and exhaustion.  We ran through the rice fields,  and across the muddy and wooded marsh before we reach the small town…

“Mrs… what happened? How can I help you?” asked the Barrio Captain.

“My husband… Please hide us.” said Mrs… in tears and shaking.

“Why? What did he do? Why are you so afraid?” The Barrio Captain with a worried look on his face, wanted to know.

“My husband… He is very angry.  He pulled out his long knife and was going to kill us – me… and my children.  Please hide us? Please!” said Mrs, signaling for me and my little brother to come to her.

She pulled me and my little brother closer to her… She, looking at the Barrio Captain, pleading… look at me and my children… I don’t want to die… I don’t want them to die…please help me…

I don’t exactly remember why my dad was angry that night.  Something must have set him off, but I didn’t know what.  Could it have been my mother? What did she said?  I sensed that he came home drunk again and the slightest thing made him angry…

My father did not drink every day. Not even every week.  He got drunk intermittently.  But when he did, he became aggressive… mean… and very intimidating.  He looked for fights and we hoped that no one would engage him.  We hid when he’s drunk because we were scared he is going to physically hurt us.

My mother… she drank occasionally, at party celebrations.  When she did, her face turned bright red and she’d start crying.  She became depressed.  She strummed her guitar and cried uncontrollably.

~~~

I was 16 when I had my first drink.  It was white, clear, liquid.  Very strong, intense and fiery on the tongue.  I was with my cousin who was 18 and my step sister, who was 19.  We were on our way to the big city… to school.  That night, before we boarded a small boat, our friends – much older than us, persuaded us to have a drink…

“Here, drink some!” Said Renato, pushing the small glass towards me.

“What is that?” turning the glass with my finger.

“How does it taste?” I asked curiously.

“Well, try some and you’ll see.” Renato assured.

I picked up the glass and drank the content.  It burned my throat as the clear liquid went down my esophagus.  I felt my stomach burst into fire.  My head felt funny…  my eyes were seeing double… and the wall was spinning.

I don’t like the taste of straight alcohol and my body has low tolerance for it.  I very,  rarely drink, and won’t drink any alcohol unless it is camouflaged with sweet juices or sweet syrup. And even this, I can’t drink that much.

But… I like how some alcohol make certain dishes taste.  So I often use medium dry sherry or white wine in my sauces and marinades.  I use white wine with chicken and pork, and red for beef dishes.

Here in this dish, I used Myer’s 100% Jamaican Rum.  Dark rums are ideal for cooking.  It makes food and sauces very flavorful.

Pork Steaks with Rum Barbecue Sauce

Serves 3

3 large pork blade steaks – about 3 pounds

Sweet RUM Barbecue Sauce:

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup hoisen sauce

2 TBSPs. dark rum

1 TBSP. genuine wasabi or 2 TBSPs. deli style mustard with horseradish

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

Combine sauce ingredients in a medium size glass bowl.  Stir until well blended and smooth.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line a heavy duty cookie sheet with heavy strength foil.

Wash pork steaks and pat dry with paper towels and place them on foiled lined baking sheet.  Using a pastry brush, liberally brush pork steaks, on one side with the barbecue sauce.

Roast pork steaks in a preheated oven at 400°F for 30 minutes.

Remove pork steaks from the oven and pour off excess liquid.

(Usually, I  temporarily transfer them into a large plate, while I pour the liquid from the baking sheet.)

Turn the pork steaks on the other side and again, liberrally brush with the barbecue sauce.

Return pork steaks to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

Serve with rice or potato salad.

OR

Chop pork steaks into small pieces, discarding the bones, and serve pork steaks as sandwiches…

Sweet RUM BBQ Sauce

Pork steaks freshly brushed with the sauce

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Tess

Shrimp with Black Bean Garlic Sauce

This is another Chinese dish I cooked the other night.  I must say… this is very good with rice.  The “black bean garlic sauce” is what gives this dish a great flavor.  It has that salty and slightly nutty taste from the black bean sauce.  With the green and red bell peppers… onions and ginger… this dish is rich in flavor and taste.  Of course… as with any Chinese dishes… you’ve got to enjoy this with rice.  This is fairly easy and quick to make.

Here’s what you need to prepare this mouth-watering “Shrimp with Black Bean Garlic Sauce.”

Ingredients:

1 ½ pound raw, peeled and deveined shrimps

3 TBSPs. medium dry sherry, or rice wine, white or red wine

½ tsp. kosher salt

3 TBSPs. cornstarch

In a large mixing bowl… mix the sherry or wine, kosher salt and cornstarch.  Stir until salt and cornstarch dissolved.  Add the shrimps.  Let the shrimps marinate while you make the sauce and chop the vegetables.

Sauce:

1 ½ TBSPs. soy sauce

1 ½ cup chicken stock or water

1 ½ tsps. sugar

2 TBSPs. medium dry sherry or rice wine, white or red wine

1 ½ TBSPs. cornstarch

1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

In another medium size bowl… mix all the sauce ingredients.  Stir until the brown sugar and cornstarch dissolved.  Set aside.

Vegetables and other ingredients:

4 garlic cloves – smashed, peeled and chopped

¼ cup sliced ginger

½ large onion – sliced

1 green bell pepper – seeded, membranes removed and diced

1 red bell pepper – seeded, membranes removed and diced

3 TBSPs. ‘black beans garlic sauce’ or fermented black beans – available in Asian Market

2 TBSPs. sesame oil

Using a large wok or deep skillet, heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil.  Add the marinated shrimps and stir fry until halfway cooked, about 3 minutes.  Removed shrimps unto a plate.

Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons sesame oil.  Sauté the garlic, ginger and onions… until onions are translucent, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the “black beans garlic sauce, “the green and red bell peppers.  Stir to combine all the vegetables… about one minute.  Add the shrimps and stir until vegetables and shrimps are well incorporated… about one minute.  Make a well in the middle of the wok, by pushing the shrimp and vegetables to the side.

Stir and pour sauce in the middle of the wok.  Quickly boil the sauce by turning the heat to medium high.  Stir to combine the sauce, the vegetables and the shrimps.  Keep stirring until the vegetables and shrimps are well coated with the sauce.  By this time the shrimp should be pink, the bell peppers are bright green and red.  The whole mixture should be saucy.  Remove wok from the heat.

Serve Shrimp with Black Beans and Garlic Sauce hot over rice.  Serves 3 – 4 people.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Tess

Buns of Sweet & Spicy Pork

Great food on the go…
Lunch at school or work…
Food while traveling be it a road trip or plane…

I really do not have a story to go with this recipe… other than these buns are one of my husband’s favorite food on the go, and one of my son’s favorite snack. The dough recipe itself can be used for making sweet dinner rolls, dinner rolls which is comparable to the taste of the dinner rolls served at Texas Roadhouse – a popular steakhouse here in the south. To make the dinner rolls simply follow the direction for making the dough, and instead of stuffing with the sweet n’ spicy pork, simply rise the 16 dough balls for 25 minutes and then bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter.

The Dough and the Buns:

1 packet Yeast (1/4 ounces)

1 TBSP. granulated sugar

1 cup + 3 TBSPs. lukewarm water (about 110°F)

3 cups high protein flour or bread flour

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 TBSP. Baking powder

1tsp. Kosher salt

1/8 cup vegetable oil (extra light olive oil)

1 TBSP. White vinegar

In a large measuring cup, combine water, sugar and yeast. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes or until mixture is bubbly on top. Using an electric mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using the paddle attachment, blend the flour mixture until well combined. Add the yeast mixture to the flour and blend on low speed for about 1 minute. In a small bowl, combine oil and vinegar and add them to the flour mixture. Blend until well combined and mixture becomes sticky. Remove the paddle attachment and replace it with the dough hook. (If the dough is too wet… gradually add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour.)

Knead the dough on medium high speed for 5 – 8 minutes or until the dough clings on the dough hook and away from the sides of the bowl.

Lightly flour your board or a clean kitchen counter. Knead the dough, by hand, for another 2 minutes. Form the dough into a smooth ball.

Grease a large bowl with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, coating the bottom and sides of the bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and let rise until doubled, about 60 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and lightly grease them. Set aside.

After the dough has doubled, lightly flour the board or clean kitchen counter. Punch the air bubbles and knead the dough for a few minutes and cut it into 16 portions. (The easiest way to do this is to first divide the dough into four portions, and then further divide each portion into four.) Form each portion into a smooth ball, being careful not to tear the dough. Cover the rest of the dough balls while you flatten and fill each one.

Flatten each dough ball with your hands, and then with a rolling pin until it measures about five inch circle. Fill each circle with about 2 tablespoons of the pork filling and a quarter slice of the hardboiled eggs. Gather the edges of the dough, pinch and twist to seal. Place filled buns, twisted side down in a lightly oiled parchment or foil lined baking sheet.

Cover the buns with waxed paper or kitchen towel. Let buns rise for 25 minutes.

Bake buns in a preheated oven at 350°F for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove buns from baking sheet unto a wire cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with or without dipping sauce.

Buns can be left at room temperature overnight, and then store in the refrigerator for a few days. If refrigerated, microwave for 10 seconds before serving.

Sweet n’ Spicy Pork Filling:

1¼ pound ground pork

2 TBSPs. Bacon dripping or vegetable oil

1/3 medium onion – minced

2 TBSPs. Ginger – peeled and minced

5 cloves garlic – minced

4 TBSPs. Hoisen sauce

4 TBSPs. Plum sauce

2 TBSPs. Soy sauce

1 TBSP. medium dry sherry or rice wine

1 tsps. Sesame oil

½ – 1 tsp. ground hot pepper

½ tsp. ground black pepper

¼ tsp. monosodium glutamate or msg (optional)

1/8 tsp. five spices or ground anise seeds or fennel seeds

3 stalks green onions – chopped

4 boiled eggs – quartered

Heat bacon drippings in a medium size sauté pan.

Saute onions until translucent. Stir in ginger and garlic. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the ground pork. Sauté for a few minutes, while breaking large pieces of meat with the spatula. Simmer over medium low heat for about 10 minutes or until the pork is cooked, stirring once or twice while simmering.

In a small bowl, combine hoisen sauce, plum sauce, soy sauce, medium dry sherry, sesame oil, hot and black peppers, msg and five spices. Add sauce to the pork and stir until pork and sauce are well combined. Simmer pork until sauce is bubbly for five minutes to ten minutes. Stir in the chopped green onions. Remove pan from heat. Pour off excess oil that may accumulate at the bottom of pan. Fill buns as directed above.

Dipping Sauce:

2 cups chicken stock

1 TBSP. ginger – peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic – minced

3 TBSPs. plum sauce

3 TBSPs. hoisen sauce

2 TBSPs. soy sauce

½ tsp. ground hot pepper (optional)

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. five spices or ground anise seeds or fennel seeds

3 TBSPs. Cornstarch mixed with 2 TBSPs. water

In a small sauce pan, combine all ingredients except cornstarch. Bring to a boil over medium heat. While boiling, stir in the cornstarch mixture. Keep stirring until the soup is smooth and slightly thick. Remove pan from the heat. Serve as dipping sauce.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking!

Tess