Asian Baked Chicken

This is what a perfect week night dinner recipe should be...easy, inexpensive, delicious, and most of all, fast.

I adapted this recipe from here but instead of chopping the aromatics, I grate them.  Much, much quicker.  And all moms know that on week nights, every minute counts!

I marinate the chicken the night before so that I can just pop the entire thing in the oven when I get home.  But if you're using boneless chicken pieces, even just a couple of hours in the marinade is enough.

Anyway, here goes...

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-2 tbsp grated ginger (depending on how much you like ginger!)
5-6 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
10-12 pieces of chicken

For the chicken, I sometimes buy a whole one and have it chopped, or I use a combination of chicken pieces (like in the photo above), or I will also use boneless, skin-on thighs or breasts.  You can use skinless chicken pieces too but I find that it dries up too much before the sauce gets nicely caramelized.

And another tip: When I buy ginger, I cut them up into 2-3 inch pieces and grate as I need. I could never finish those huge pieces and used to end up throwing a lot of shriveled ginger.  Now, I always have fresh ginger on hand.  Plus, if you grate it, you don't even have to peel!  How grate (pun intended) is that?!

On to the rest of the recipe...

In an oven proof dish, mix the first 6 ingredients.  Coat chicken pieces well with the marinade and leave for 12-24 hours in the fridge.  When you're ready to cook, take the chicken out about an hour before to let it come as close to room temperature as possible.  Bake in a 475 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.  Baking time will largely depend on what pieces you decide to use and whether you use bone-in or boneless chicken.  If you don't get that nice crust on top and the chicken is already done, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.  Watch closely because the sugar in the marinade will cause it to burn quickly.

Serve with lots of white rice to sop up all the sticky, sweet, savory sauce.

Chili Mushrooms and Tofu

Stir frying is one of my favorite cooking techniques. It's quick and always produces such excellent results. There are a few things to keep in mind when stir frying though. First, have a HOT pan. Second, have dry ingredients. These two factors will contribute greatly to the success of the dish. Third, make sure the ingredients are cut in relatively small pieces. They will need to cook in a very short period of time so size is important. Fourth, work quickly. Mise en place is especially important when stir-frying. And last, serve the food while it's hot. They Cantonese have a term for the aroma that comes from freshly stir-fried food..it's called wok hay, a concept I came to know through one of my favorite cookbooks.

1 bag pre-fried tofu squares (any Chinese grocery should have this)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I used king oyster)
2 stalks green onions, sliced
2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 tbsp. XO sauce ("bits" and oil)
3 tbsp. oyster sauce
3 tbsp. sweet chili sauce
2 tbsp. bland cooking oil with a high smoke point (e.g. peanut, safflower, etc)
few drops of sesame oil

1. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan until very hot. Stir-fry garlic and green onions.
2. Add mushrooms and all the sauces. Stir-fry for a minute or two.
3. Add the tofu. Mix until all the tofu pieces are coated with the sauce.
4. Sprinkle a few drops of sesame oil. Stir a few times.
5. Done!

Chicken with Szechuan Peppers

I'm always on the look out for new spices. So when I saw these Szechuan peppers in my regular Asian supermarket haunt, I quickly put them in my cart to use for my next cooking adventure.

Normally, when I cook, I don't measure. I open my pantry, see what I have, take it from there, and play it by ear (or by tongue, I suppose). This also means that I normally don't use measuring spoons. I often pour and sprinkle, going mostly by gut feel, and taste as I go along. But once in a while, I regret not using a measuring implement. Today was one of those days...

I snipped a corner of the Szechuan pepper bag and poured what I was planning to be about a teaspoonful of pepper. Instead, I must have put 2 tablespoons worth! I tried to get as much of it out of my already sizzling pan, but I could only do so much damage control. Luckily, the dish turned out okay. The peppers added an unintended "crunch" which I'd much rather not have with my chicken :-P

Chicken with Szechuan Peppers
400g ground chicken
1 asian eggplant, minced into 1/4 inch pieces
5-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, minced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp. minced garlic
6 slices ginger
2 stalks green onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp. szechuan peppers
2 tbsp. chinese cooking wine
1/4 cup chicken broth
2+2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. chili garlic oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1. Marinate ground chicken in 2 tbsp. soy sauce and cooking wine. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar and chicken broth. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok/pan until very hot. Put szechuan peppers and saute until fragrant.
3. Add garlic, ginger and green onions.
4. Saute aromatics for a couple of minutes.
5. Add chicken, cooking until it is no longer pink.
6. Add eggplant and mushrooms, keeping the food moving in the pan. Cook until vegetables are soft.
7. Pour in sauce mixture and saute just until the chicken and veggies are coated with the sauce.

Bang-Bang Beef Curry

I got the "bang-bang" idea from someone who makes her roast chicken with whatever sauces and condiments she has in her fridge. Bang-bang refers to the banging on the bottom of the bottle to get every bit of sauce out. Great way to use up those bottles, eh?

Anyway, I had some beef shank, half a cup of left-over coconut milk, a cup of left-over canned whole tomatoes and half a bottle of Indian curry paste. With a bit of tweaking here and there plus some hot mango chutney on top, it was another successful dinner :-)



Bang-Bang Beef Curry

1 kilo beef shank, cut into cubes (any stew cut will do)
6 cups water
1 onion, sliced
10 slices ginger
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp. salt
4 tbsp. curry paste (I used Patak's mild curry paste)
4 tbsp. tamarind sauce (I had the Maggi brand)
1 tbsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. cumin
1 cup canned whole tomatoes (about 4 tomatoes plus juice)
1/2 to 1 cup coconut milk

1. Simmer beef, water, 1/2 of the onion, garlic, 5 slices of ginger and salt until beef is tender. I used a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. Reserve broth and set beef aside.
2. In a heavy pot, saute rest of onion and ginger.
3. Add curry paste, beef, tomatoes, tamarind sauce, turmeric, cumin and coconut milk.
4. Add about a cup of the broth.
5. Simmer for another 20 minutes, adding broth as needed to keep the dish "saucy."
6. Skim off fat as the dish is simmering. Adjust salt to taste. I didn't need to add any more since the broth already had salt and the curry paste was adequately flavored as well.
7. Serve with rice (or naan) and mango chutney.

The boys really liked it! The level of heat was perfect and the sweetness of the chutney went with the curry flavors very well.

This is why I love cooking...a few left over ingredients, a hint of creativity, a sense of adventure and voila...instant gratification on a plate :-)

Tonkatsu

Breaded fried meat. Every culture has its version. The Italians have parmigiana. The Viennese and Germans have schnitzel. The Polish have kotletschabowy. And the Japanese have tonkatsu, which is my favorite. Somehow panko stays crisper than traditional breadcrumbs and cooks more evenly, giving you that golden brown, crunchy coating that makes breaded cutlets so good!

The key to frying up these babies is to keep the oil at a constant temperature, which means not overcrowding the pan. Fresh oil with a high smoke point is crucial too. When you bread the meat, you want the first layer of flour to be as thin as possible, just enough so that the egg has something to adhere to. After dipping the meat in the panko, let it rest for 5-10 minutes, so that the panko stays on.

Alton Brown says that you should keep one hand "wet" and one hand "dry" to prevent what he calls "club fingers." That piece of advice is good in theory, and it does minimize "clubbing" (and I mean this in a very non-medical way), but I find that clubbing is inevitable. You just need to keep a dish towel or some paper towels nearby.

Anyways, here's my version of tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu

6 pork cutlets (I use center cut quick-fry porkchops which I pound until they're about 1/4 inch thick)
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tsp. salt.
1 tsp. pepper

1. Put flour, egg and panko in three separate wide dishes.
2. Add 1 tsp. of salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper each to the egg and the flour. Mix well.
3. Make sure pork cutlets are dry. Dip cutlets in flour, making sure to shake off excess.
4. Dip in the egg, then into the panko. Press the panko onto the meat, making sure that the meat is well coated.
5. Set aside meat while you heat up your pan.
6. Fry over medium-high heat until golden on both side.
7. Slice into 3/4 inch strips and serve with tonkatsu sauce*.

*There's a brand of tonkatsu sauce that I really like, but you could substitute this home-made version in a pinch. I didn't have tonkatsu sauce tonight, so I made this. The kids couldn't even tell the difference.

For the tonkatsu sauce, mix together:

4 tbsp. tomato ketchup
2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. kecap manis (or 1 tbsp. soy sauce with 1 tsp. sugar)

In the picture above, you can see garlic kuchay, which we also had, beside the tonkatsu. Always good to have some veggies to lessen the guilt of eating something fried :-)

Asian Brined Chicken

It's been a crazy week. Son #1 needed surgery and the past few days felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster. Fortunately, everything went well and he's home now, recuperating.

I've missed my kitchen, I've missed cooking, and I've missed blogging. And after preparing tonight's dinner, laying out the table, saying grace and eating together, I feel some semblance of normalcy already.

I brined this chicken last night and the 24-hour soak really worked wonders. The chicken was very juicy and amazingly flavorful. Even the breast meat, which can sometimes taste bland, was excellent. Of course having each bite with a bit of crisp skin helped.

Asian Brined Chicken

1 3-4 lb. chicken
4 cups water
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/2 cup dark soy sauce
1 tbsp. sriracha hot sauce (optional)
2 tbsp. grated ginger
1 tbsp. minced garlic
3 stalks lemongrass, chopped into 1 inch pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves
1/4 cup chinese rice wine
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. five spice powder

1. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken until well blended.
2. Soak chicken in brining liquid for 12-24 hours. Keep chicken in fridge.
3. Butterly chicken (or not, if you so prefer) and roast at 325 for 45-50 minutes.
4. Raise oven temperature to 400 and roast chicken for 15 minutes more.
5. Alternatively, you could use a turbo broiler and roast chicken at 175, skin side down for 30 minutes. Flip chicken over and roast another 30 minutes.
6. Allow chicken to rest for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

The low roasting temperature for this dish allows the chicken to cook without overbrowning. The soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar will burn if you roast the chicken at a high temperature. So start low and then increase the temperature toward the end of cooking to brown and crisp the skin.

Son #2 had his chicken with hoisin sauce, but I enjoyed mine with a sprinkling of Eurasian Black Sea Salt, which has an "eggy" flavor due to its higher sulfur content. It was a very nice "welcome back home" meal indeed.

Green Chicken Curry

This is my version of "thirty minute curry." It's delicious, simple, and very easy. Plus, it's a great way to get my kids to eat their veggies. I like the Mae Ploy brand of curry paste but I always fix it up. Somehow, ready made pastes and powders lack that oomph that gives Thai curry its kick.

• 6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 heaping tsp. shrimp paste
• 2 tbsp. green curry paste
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 5 slices ginger
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 stalks lemon grass, cut into 1 inch pieces (white parts only)
• 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 cup sliced white mushrooms
• 1 cup snow peas
• 1/2 red pepper, cubed

1. Simmer coconut milk with shrimp paste, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar, ginger, lime leaves and lemon grass for 10 minutes.

2. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes.

3. Add veggies. Simmer for a few minutes more.

4. Serve with jasmine rice.

Vietnamese Pork Chops

Once in a while (actually more than once in a while), I will use premade marinades, sauces, dressings, etc. I think it's inevitable, especially when moms are so often part of the work force too. I saw this marinade for Vietnamese BBQ during one of my many forays into an Asian supermarket. The ingredients read: lemongrass, paprika, chili, black pepper, cloves, and monosodium glutamate (Gasp! Yes, yes, I know, I know. I don't normally cook with this but I figure once in a while isn't so terrible). It sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try.

I marinated (actually the husband) 8 quick-fry pork chops for a couple of hours in a paste made with the prepared spices and some oil. I grilled them up quickly and served them with nuoc cham and some long beans with crab and shrimp paste.

From top to bottom: pork chops, nuoc cham, long beans






Nuoc Cham

• 2 1/2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. water
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 thai bird chili, minced (optional) -- I used chili flakes in oil
• 1-2 tbsp. shredded carrot

Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.

For the long beans, I stir-fried the long beans in garlic, 1 tbsp. crab paste, 1 tbsp. shrimp paste and 2 tbsp. oyster sauce.

What to serve with all of this? Rice, of course! It was an excellent meal :-)

Seafood Curry

I'm so happy that my 2 sons have acquired the taste for spicy food :-) It definitely widens the scope of our gastronomic adventures. I remember 2 years ago, Tita N. came and we took her to a Thai restaurant. Son #1 was 8 at that time and Son #2 was 6. So while the adults enjoyed our pad thai and curries, we had to buy pizza for the boys. It's a good thing the restaurant was so accommodating!

But now, they actually request that I make our food even spicier! Today, we had dimsum for lunch and they put chili oil in their soy sauce. Yes, I have made them into spicy food fiends. Success!!!

So while this curry might be a tad hot for some people, our family enjoys this level of heat.

Yellow Seafood Curry

300 grams peeled black tiger prawns or large shrimp
300 grams squid or cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into 2 inch squares (I used frozen ready to cook, that's why it looks so fancy)
2 cups snow peas, topped and tailed
8-10 stalk chinese broccoli, cut into manageable pieces
6 slices ginger
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
1 small onion, quartered
1 can coconut milk
3 tbsp. yellow curry powder
1 tbsp. shrimp paste
1/2 tsp. sugar

1. In a pot, put the coconut milk, onion, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, shrimp paste and curry powder. Simmer over low heat for about 7-10 minutes.
2. Once the coconut has thickened slightly and has given off some oil, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes more. It won't take long because the seafood and the veggies need only a few minutes to cook. The squid, particularly, will become tough if cooked for more than a few minutes.

Just some notes. The saltiness of shrimp paste varies greatly with brand and country of origin. I used to use belacan, but I've now gone back to Filipino bagoong (I always use the Barrio Fiesta brand). It's gentler and less smelly and has that sweet-salty balance that I like. Also, belacan needs to be sauteed before using, which adds another step. If you don't have shrimp paste, fish sauce is an ok substitute but it doesn't have the depth of flavor that shrimp paste has. My suggestion is to taste the coconut milk before adding the seafood and veggies so you can adjust your seasoning then.

You can use any combination of protein and vegetables for this curry. I've made this with chicken and will try it with beef next time. Mushrooms work very well and so does broccoli. I just tend to use whatever I have on hand :-)

Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic

This dish was inspired by a restaurant we used to frequent back home in Manila. Hap Chan started out as a small hole in the wall serving food that was reminiscent of the food in Hong Kong tea houses. The restaurant became so popular, which resulted in many branches and copy cats, but the original one in Malate will always remind me of the many lunches I spent there :-)

Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic

Fish:

3 white fish fillets, skin removed (I used cod but the Hap Chan version uses grouper)

4 slices ginger, cut into matchstick pieces

• In a shallow bowl, spread ginger pieces and put the pieces of fish on top. Steam for 10 minutes. Pour off the excess liquid which accumulates in the bowl after the fish is cooked. Set aside.

Sauce:

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp grated ginger

• Simmer ingredients together just until everything blends together. Set aside.

Garnish:

2 stalks green onion, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Oil:

1/4 cup neutral cooking oil like canola, corn or peanut oil

2 heaping tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. sesame oil

• Heat oils over medium heat. Add garlic and gently cook until garlic turns light brown. Watch carefully because garlic quickly turns from brown to burnt. Remove from heat.

To assemble:

1. Pour sauce over steamed fish.

2. Top with green onions.

3. As soon as the garlic-oil mixture is done, pour it over the fish. The hot oil will sizzle and will cook the green onions.

Garlic Kutchay

Three bunches for a dollar. That's how much kutchay costs here. This lovely, slightly sweet, crunchy relative of the onion family can be had for almost nothing. I love it.

Stir fried with garlic, with a simple sauce of chicken broth sprinkled with a touch of sugar, thickened with a cornstarch slurry, and finished with a few drops of sesame oil, the beautiful garlicky flavor of this vegetable shines through.

Kimchi Fried Rice

During our recent Chicago trip, we got together with Tito L's kids and they took us to dinner at this wonderful pan-Asian restaurant called Joy Yee. We had soooo much food and we enjoyed every single dish, from the eggplant, to the chicken wraps, to the bubble milk tea and fruit slushies. J, J, J, and B ordered for us, so unfortunately, I didn't know what any of the dishes were called. But the Kimchi fried rice, served with grilled skewers of shrimp, chicken and mushrooms, stood out in my mind.

I had a stash of Kimchi in the fridge so I thought, why not give it a try...

FRIED RICE with KIMCHI (inspiration by Joy Yee, execution by me)

---don't know it, but I'm a poet

4-5 cups cooked jasmine rice, preferably cooked a day ahead, grains separated

2 eggs, lightly beaten in 2 separate bowls

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp minced ginger

2 stalks green onion, sliced into pieces

6 stalks garlic chives, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup dried shimp

4-5 slices cooked ham, chopped into small pieces

3 heaping tablespoons of kimchi

1 cup iceberg lettuce, chopped into smallish pieces

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1/4 cup light soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1. In a bowl, mix together one of the beaten eggs, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Set aside.

2. In a large wok or non-stick saute pan (which I prefer when cooking fried rice), heat a small amount of oil and cook one egg, making a flat omelette. Chop this into small pieces and set aside.

3. In the same pan, heat some more oil and saute garlic, ginger, and green onions for a minute or so.

4. Add in the chives, ham, dried shrimp and kimchi.

5. Add rice, breaking up the clumps until the grains are separate and mixed well with the other ingredients.

6. Pour in the egg mixture.

7. Mix/stir until egg mixture is thoroughly dispersed.

8. Lastly, add in the chopped egg and lettuce. Stir a few more times.

9. Serve hot.

Thanks J & B and J & J! It was great to spend some time with you guys!

Chinese vegetable v. 2

This is actually the third iteration of this particular veg. The first batch was used in sinigang. The second batch was used for v. 1. And now here is v. 2.

I love the fact that you can get these gigantic bags of veggies at the Asian grocery for a grand total of $1.29. Three different dishes for less than what half an hour of parking would cost in downtown TO. What a deal, eh?

Chinese vegetable v. 2

2 -3 handfuls of mystery veg

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup shrimp, shelled

1/2 cup chicken broth/stock

1/2 tsp. salt (omit if using salted chicken stock)

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp. water

splash of sesame oil

1. Heat a bit of oil in a pan/wok.

2. Saute garlic.

3. Add shrimp and veggies.

4. Add chicken broth/stock and sugar

5. When veggies are almost done, add cornstarch slurry.

6. When sauce thickens, finish with a few drops of sesame oil.

Chinese vegetable v. 1

The huge variety of produce at the Chinese grocery lends itself so well to experimentation. Whenever I go, I pick up one two vegetables that look interesting (and are on "special") and we try them out at home. This is how I introduced the boys to snow pea shoots, kutchay, watercress, and many other unidentifiable leaves and stems.

This one was a cross between kangkong and gailan or chinese broccoli. It had the bite and crunch of gailan but the stems were much thinner. It also did not have that bitter undertone that you can sometimes get when the gailan is too mature. Needless to say, son #2 loved it.

3 handfuls of mystery vegetable (any other robust leafy veggy would work too)

5 cloves garlic, sliced

1 heaping tsp. bagoong

3 tbsp. oyster sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp. water

1 tsp. sesame oil

1. In a very hot pan or wok, saute the garlic and quickly add in bagoong.

2. Add the vegetable and stir constantly.

3. Add oyster sauce and chicken broth and stir-fry until veggies are cooked but still crisp.

4. Add in cornstarch and sesame oil.

5. Simmer for a few more seconds just until sauce thickens.

6. Serve hot.

Ribs and Rolls

Another successful dinner tonight...Korean BBQ beef ribs and Vietnamese rolls. I had originally planned to grill the beef but alas, the weather did not cooperate. It's been raining on and off since 2 days ago. Not a very good start for the summer...

So I used the broiler and the ribs still turned out very well. We just had to contend with the smoke detector. Hehe!



KOREAN BBQ BEEF RIBS

3 lbs beef ribs (Korean style cut)
1 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar (dark brown, preferably)
2 tbsp. vinegar
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. chili in oil (optional)
1 tsp. sesame oil

1. Marinate ribs for a few hours.
2. Grill or broil until charred in a few spots
3. Serve with rice, lettuce leaves and kimchi. The lettuce is used to wrap a small portion of rice topped with some beef, like so...

Now for the VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS

For 6 rolls, you will need:

• 6 rice paper wrappers
• 9 pcs. shrimp, boiled/steamed, shelled then cut in half (butterfly style)
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• a handful of rice vermicelli, soaked in boiling water until soft
• 18 very thin cucumber slices
• 18 thai basil leaves

1. Soak the rice paper wrapper in a bowl of water for several seconds until slightly soft.
2. Wrap all the ingredients.
3. Serve with dipping sauce.

For the dipping sauce, mix:

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. sweet chili sauce
• 3 thai basil leaves, sliced thinly
• 3 slices cucumber, sliced into thin strips

Lemongrass Chicken with Shrimp Paste

It was Thai night tonight and this dish was a resounding success! It doesn't look pretty but it was excellent! In fact, Son #2 wants to bring the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, never mind that the shrimp paste smell might scare off his classmates. :-)

I didn't really use a recipe but just improvised as a I went along. I have a bunch of kaffir lime leaves in the freezer. The leaves freeze extremely well, which works out because you only really need a few leaves at a time. I also freeze ginger slices (usually 5-6 slices in a tiny ziplock bag) so that I always have some on hand. Next time, I'm going to try freezing lemongrass and see whether the flavor holds up.

Lemongrass Chicken with Shrimp Paste

500 grams chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch strips

3 stalks lemongrass, cut into 1 inch pieces (white parts only)

1/2 tsp. chili flakes

6 slices ginger

1 tsp. chopped garlic

3 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch sitaw (snake/long beans), cut into 2 inch pieces

2 asian eggplants, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds

3 heaping tsp. bagoong (shrimp paste) -- I used Barrio Fiesta

3 kaffir lime leaves

1/4 cup water

3 tbsp. oyster sauce

2 tbsp. sweet chili sauce

handful of whole thai basil leaves

1. Heat about 2 tbsp. oil in a pan/wok.

2. When oil is very hot, add garlic, ginger, chili flakes, green onions and lemongrass.

3. Saute for about a minute then add chicken pieces. Spread chicken over bottom of pan and don't touch for a minute or two.

4. Add in the beans and eggplant.

5. Put in kaffir lime leaves, oyster sauce and shrimp paste. Saute everything together.

6. Add water and chili sauce. Mix.

7. Cover for a 3-4 minutes to let veggies cook.

8. Remove cover. Add in basil leaves and sesame oil.

9. Stir just until everything comes together.

10. Serve with hot jasmine rice.

Beef with Broccoli

Surprisingly, my 2 sons LOVE broccoli. And other cruciferous vegetables too. I've fed them cauliflower, kale, rapini, broccolini, chinese broccoli, broccoflower, bok choy, cabbage, watercress, and even the dreaded brussel sprouts. They will eat them all! In fact, among Son #2's favorite foods is kale. Weird, no?

Stir fried beef with broccoli, because it's a complete meal in itself (with rice of course), is a staple recipe in our household. The thing about today's version is that...

...the hubby cooked it! Yes, my husband, whose culinary skill is limited to frying Spam, actually cooked. Of course I did most of the prep work like slicing the beef. But his first foray into cooking was a resounding success :-) Sa uulitin! Hehe!

Beef with Broccoli

Beef

300-400 grams flank steak, sliced across the grain into thin pieces

2 tbsp chinese cooking wine

3 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 tsp pepper

Sauce

1/2 cup beef broth

4-5 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 heads broccoli, cut into florets

2 tbsp oil

4 slices ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

3 stalks green onion, chopped into 2 inch pieces

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water

sesame oil

1. Marinate beef in next 3 ingredients for abour 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, parboil broccoli. We use a microwave broccoli steamer. Make sure not to over cook.

3. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together. Set aside.

4. In a stir fry pan (I use a wok but I let hubby use a non-stick pan--less tricky to work with), heat 2 tbsp oil. When hot, put in garlic, ginger and green onions. Saute for about a minute.

5. Put in beef. Spread around pan to let it caramelize a bit. Don't touch for about a minute then start sauteeing with the aromatics.

6. Once the beef is no longer pink, add broccoli and sauce mixture.

7. When the sauce comes to a boil, add in the cornstarch mixture and cook until the sauce thickens.

8. Add a few drops of sesame oil to finish the dish.

This dish comes together in no time at all. The only thing is that you have to work fast because you're going to be working with high heat. Such is the beauty of stir-fry. It's quick, easy, relatively healthful and delicious. Plus, you can let your husband do it.

Korean Beef Stew

One of my favorite food court places is Kimchi, that Korean stall that's been around forever. I remember as a child, my lola would pick me up from school, we'd then pick up my brother and we would all head straight to Greenhills for merienda. Beside Unimart, where all the tiangges now are, there used to be a food court. And Kimchi was one of the stalls. I remember always being torn between the beef stew and the beef bbq. Such were the decisions I had to make in my childhood :-)

After Kimchi, it was a scoop of Coney Island ice cream for dessert. My favorites were New York, New York and Mandarin Orange Royale. My brother would choose between Grape Cordial and Bubble Gum.

I look back now and I can't believe we would eat all of that for an afternoon snack! No wonder we're all "not slim"...

Anyways, I've tried my hand at Korean beef stew several times in the past, but this, I think, is my favorite recipe. The broiling step makes a huge difference.

Korean Beef Stew

1 kilo beef ribs, cut into 2 inch cubes

2 cups water

1 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup dark brown sugar

6 slices ginger

10 cloves garlic

6-8 green onion stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tsp. sesame oil

sesame seeds, toasted

chili flakes (optional)

In a heavy pot, simmer ribs in the next 7 ingredients until tender. If you're using chili flakes, this would be the time to add it too. This step takes about 2 hours. Just make sure the liquid doesn't all evaporate. If the liquid runs low, just keep adding water so that the pot doesn't dry out.

Once the ribs are tender, take them out, drain well and put them on a baking sheet or broiler pan. Broil for about 5-10 minutes until you get some dry, crisp spots. Flip and broil another 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, reduce the sauce until thick and syrupy. Put the meat back in and simmer for a few minutes more, just until all the meat gets wet again. Drizzle with sesame oil and sesame seeds. Serve with lots of rice, kimchi and blanched bean sprouts drizzled with sesame oil.