Stir Fry Udon Noodles

Adapted from :
http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2013/02/shanghai-fried-noodles.html

I love her website but some of the recipes are hit or miss for our family's taste buds.

This one is a hit for the eldest boy. No pics as dinner was served very late to very hungry peeps in the household.

I have tweaked the recipe according to the amount i am serving up.

Ingredients:

• 500 gm pork, shredded
• 1 TBsp garlic, minced
• 2 packets of Trident Udon Noodles. 400gms each
• Half a wombok sliced

Marinade:

• 1 TBSP light soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour / corn starch
• 1 tbsp sugar
• white pepper, to taste
• sesame oil, to taste

Sauce:

• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 4 Tbsp water
• sesame oil, to taste

Method:

1. Mix pork with marinade and leave it for about 20 minutes.
2. In the meantime, cook the noodles in boiling water according to the instructions on the packaging, until tender, but still firm. Drain thoroughly. Rinse with cold water, drain well again. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add marinated pork and cook over medium heat until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Add some oil if necessary, sauté garlic. Toss in the cabbages, add a little of water if you find it’s too dry. Add the noodles, then pour the sauce and stir to coat the noodles. Add the pork stir to combine well. Serve immediately.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

• 600g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm diced, coat with flour and salt, set aside
• 4tbsp of vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 green capsicum, sliced
• 1 can of pineapple , drained with juice reserved
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of sugar 
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp cornflour combined with 1 tbsp water

Method:
1. Shallow fry the chicken strips in batches. Set aside on a paper towel
2. Whisk the pineapple juice, tomato paste, sugar, white vinegar, soy sauce and Worcestershire Sauce in a bowl
3. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry the garlic and onions till fragrant.
4. Add in the chicken, capsicum, pineapples.
5. Stir in the sauce and cook until capsicum are done
6. stir in the cornflour and water as the final step and cook till sauce thicken. My family likes lots of sauce so i lessen the cornflour to make a runny sauce.

 I think it is a decent meal for the family. I served this with a nice pot of cabbage soup.

Stir Fry Pork and Snow Peas

Another one of those quick dinner stir fries.

Ingredients:

- 500gms of thinly sliced pork strips

- 2 packets of snow peas, remember to pull off the tough strings that run along the pods

- one carrot sliced

- 1 small onion

Seasoning:

- 1 tbsp of oyster sauce

- 2 tbsp of soy sauce

- 1 tbsp of chinese rice wine

- Salt and pepper

- 3 garlic cloves

- 1 tsp grated ginger

Method:

1. Seasoned the pork strips with the seasoning for 15-20 minutes

2. Heat oil in a large wok and start cooking the seasoned pork after the oil is well heated.

3. Stir through the meat until they are 80% cook (partial pink)

4. Remove from wok and continue to cook vegetables

5. Add in more oil and cook the onions till soft

6. Add in snow peas and carrot and cook till vegetables are cooked.

7. Throw in the meat and add some water if you like your dish with sauce. Cover and cook for next 5-10 minutes until meat is all cooked and no longer pink. 

8. Serve with white rice

Stir Fry Chicken and Kale

Ingredients:
500gms of chicken strips
8 ounces kale (peeled only the leaves and leave the branch)
Handful of Shitake Mushrooms (soaked till soften)

Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sesame oil
pinch black pepper
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
 
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil for stir-frying

Method:
1. Combine the sauce ingredients

2. marinade the chicken pieces in the sauce for around 15-20 minutes
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok over high heat with a tablespoon of the canola or vegetable oil. Add the chicken pieces and stir fry until they are no longer pink, 2 - 3 minutes. The chicken does not need to be cooked through at this point.

4.Add the kale, mushrooms and the remaining sauce. Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through and the kale and mushrooms are softened, 4 - 5 minutes. Serve hot on top of rice or with a separate bowl of rice. I added a few tablespoon of the water used to soak the mushroom as i wanted more sauce in my dish.

Stir Fry Kale

One of my quick side dish. I am trying to get more vegetables in our family meals. It is difficult with children that despise anything green (or orange or purple...)

I love working with Kale. I just recently discovered this vegetable while having a casual conversation with my sister. I did a quick search and found this vegetable to be very nutritious. The good thing,  it is so easy to cook Kale. It can be used in soups, pasta sauce, and even stir fry. It does not taste bad or smell weird. Just plain simple and a pretty good texture too. 

I did this quick stir fry on one of the weekday dinner meals.

Ingredients:

- whole bunch of Kale (around 5AUD each bunch)

- 2 cloves of garlic

- Seasoning of Soy Sauce, Chinese Wine, Pepper

Method:

- Wash the Kale

- I only use the leaves as the stalk is so hard!

- Chopped all garlic and make the seasoning and set aside

- Heat up oil in pan

- Stir fry garlic until fragrant

- Toss Kale in and wait till it settles (the leaves can consume alot of space before it is cooked)

- Pour in seasoning sauce

- Once Kale turns bright green, it is happy and done. Do a few stirs and it is ready to be served.

This just half of the leaves. I do need a bigger pan to fry this. It was as high as a mountain.

Cover it and let it cook a while. The leaves will soften and there will be enough space.

Look at that vibrant green colour. I just love it.

Done.

Stri Fry Beef and Tomatoes

Simple everyday dinners.

Ingredients:

100gms of minced beef

1 onion chopped

2 medium sized carrots- minced

3-4 fresh tomatoes- chopped

3 cloves of garlic- minced 

Thick soy sauce

Olive oil

Seasoning - season the beef for around 10-15 minutes

Chinese rice wine - the rice wine takes the beef smell away so it is good.

Cornstarch

Soy Sauce

Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Heat up wok with 2 tbsp of olive oil

2. Throw minced garlic when oil is hot

3. Once fragrant, throw in the minced beef

4. When it is turning pink, throw in the chopped onions

5. I added in a swirl of thick soy sauce for the dark colour and also some sweetness

6. Cover to cook and you will get some juice in the dish from the beef. I added some additional water as the kids like to have sauce in their dish.

7. Once nearly cook, add in the carrots. Give it a couple of stirs then the tomatoes.

8. Done. This makes enough for our dinner and also enough to pack for lunch the next day.

Stri Fry Beans with Black Bean Garlic Sauce

Simple weekday stir fries.

A packet of long beans

A tablespoon of black bean and garlic paste

Chopped up 3 cloves of garlic.

I cooked the beans in hot water first so it will cook faster when i stir fry the other stuff.

Once beans turned green,take them out.

Throw some garlic into a pan, stir fry till it is fragrant then add the paste then the beans. Quick and yummy.

Stir Fry Fish With Ginger Scallion

Adapted from: http://rasamalaysia.com/ginger-and-scallion-fish-recipe/

Ingredients:
10 oz. Basa fish fillet (cut into pieces)
2-inch ginger (skin peeled and cut into thin slices)
2 stalks scallion (cut into 2-inch lengths)
1 1/2 tablespoons oil
Sauce:
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
3-4 tablespoons water
Salt to taste
3 dashes white pepper powder
Marinade:
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
Method:
Marinate the fish for about 10 minutes. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat up the wok with cooking oil. Add ginger slices into the wok when the oil is very hot. Stir-fry the ginger until aromatic and add in the fish fillet. Stir-fry the fish until they are half cooked. Add in the sauce and continue to stir-fry until the fish is cooked through. If the sauce dries out, add in a little water. Add in the chopped scallions and do a few quick stirs, dish out and serve hot.

Stir Fry Pineapple Chicken

Monday's dinner was simple stir fry and omelet.

Lots of peppers and the sauce is very easy and tasty to make. Cut the sugar down to make it more sour. Kids like it overall, had extra for lunch today.

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon ketchup
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 inch strips
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables
1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained, reserve 1/4 cup juice
hot cooked rice

http://chinese.food.com/recipe/chicken-pineapple-stir-fry-24306

Directions:

1
Mix first 7 ingredients with reserved 1/4 cup pineapple juice in small bowl.
2
In large skillet, stir-fry chicken in hot oil 5 minutes.
3
Add vegetables, stir-fry 4 more minutes.
4
Stir in pineapple and sauce, heat through.
5
Serve over rice.

Read more: href

="http://chinese.food.com/recipe/chicken-pineapple-stir-fry-24306?oc=linkback">http://chinese.food.com/recipe/chicken-pineapple-stir-fry-24306?oc=linkback

Stir fry chicken and long beans

I am trying to keep track of my recipes as they are slowly disappearing from the Internet. Let's hope my blog don't disappear as well.

I found this simple stir fry from this link:
http://www.chinesegrandma.com/2010/08/easy-chicken-green-bean-stir-fry/

Chicken and green bean stir fry
A light, simple and delicious stir fry. Not authentic, but easy, healthy and extremely versatile.
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 1/4 pounds green beans
• Cooking oil

Marinade

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sherry
• 1 clove garlic

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (white vinegar or rice vinegar also fine)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (Kikkoman is best)
• 1 tablespoon sherry
• 1 clove garlic

Optional

• Dash sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
• Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions

1. If starting with frozen chicken breasts, set in bowl of cold water to defrost.
2. Take end off green beans and wash.
3. Rinse rice in several changes of water until water is mostly clear. Add fresh water for cooking and set aside.
4. Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces (approx 1/2-inch cubes). Place diced chicken in bowl.
5. Add marinade ingredients to chicken – soy sauce, sherry, garlic (chopped or pressed through garlic press). Stir well to distribute marinade.
6. Refrigerate chicken.
7. Start rice to cook before starting stir fry.
8. Prepare stir fry sauce (note: you can double the stir fry sauce if you prefer a saucier stir fry). Add brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sherry and garlic (again chopped or pressed through garlic press) in small bowl. You can also add fresh ginger if you have it.
9. Add cornstarch and stir well, pressing out any lumps until sauce has a consistent milky brown color.
10. Heat two tablespoons of oil in an large skillet over medium-high heat.
11. Add green beans. If green beans don’t fit in one batch, cook half at a time. Use long tongs to turn beans over while cooking so that they do not burn.
12. If beans are particularly thick, add two tablespoons of water to pan and cover skillet for a couple of minutes to steam-cook beans to desired tenderness. Do not overcook, as beans will go back in the pan briefly later.
13. Remove beans from pan.
14. Add two more tablespoons of oil to pan. Add chicken and stir to separate pieces.
15. When chicken is cooked (turns from pink to white), add prepared stir fry sauce and stir. Sauce will quickly turn from milky light brown to glossy dark brown as it cooks.
16. Add string beans and stir to combine. Add dash of sesame oil if desired.
17. Remove chicken and string beans to serving dish.
18. Serve over rice

My variations and tweaks:

I minus the sugar by 1 tablespoon. Too sweet for my liking.

I added more water as the sauce is quite thick.

Fried the beans separately.

Marinated my chicken overnight.

Simple recipe and ready in matter of minutes and good thing is the boys love it too