Posts Tagged ‘Asian’

ASIAN STYLE CHICKEN WINGS

Posted: June 7, 2017 in chicken, Food, marinade, Recipes, wings
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 Over the years, I’ve tweaked this Asian marinade recipe, adding more ingredients. Feel free to use more or less according to your own taste. After all, that’s how any recipe becomes truly your own.
My wife is on a gluten-free diet, so I cook that way when possible. In this case, the soy sauce usually has wheat, so I use La Choy, a gluten-free brand.  You’ll notice two bottles below. I sometimes mix half regular soy sauce with half lite soy to cut the sodium.

 

10 lbs. chicken wings, the larger the better
1 cup soy sauce (I use La Choy, which is gluten-free)
1 small can (6 oz.) pineapple juice
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon granulated onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon peanut satay sauce (optional)

Place the chicken pieces in a large  Ziploc bag. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the marinade to the bag, seal it well, then squish the bag around so that the marinade makes contact with all the chicken.
To prevent accidental spills, place the bag in a clean bowl. Marinate the chicken for several hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge, turning the bag once in a while to make sure everything gets an even exposure to the marinade.
The next day, pour off the marinade and discard it, removing the chicken wings from the bag. Place the wings on a cookie sheet lined with foil (I use Reynold’s non-stick) and bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.

CANTONESE ROASTED CHICKEN

Posted: March 22, 2017 in Carnivore!, chicken, Food, Recipes
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When I can’t get to Chinatown in Boston or New York, I cook my version of a recipe I discovered many years ago in “The Chinese Cookbook,” a wonderful source of information by former NY Times food critic Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee. Whenever possible, I use a whole pasture-raised chicken.

This recipe can be made gluten-free by using GF hoisin and soy sauce, available in most supermarkets.

 

Cantonese chicken

 

1 whole chicken, about 6 lbs., or 2 smaller chickens (pictured)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

 

Remove all the giblets from chicken. Rub the soy sauce all over the chicken. Then rub the peanut oil all over the chicken.

Combine the Chinese five spice, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl. Season the entire chicken, including inside the cavity, with this mixture.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Place the chicken in a pan lined with aluminum foil (cleanup will be easier) and bake.

Meanwhile, combine the hoisin sauce and sesame oil in a small bowl. When the chicken is about 15 minutes away from being done, brush it with the hoisin/sesame oil mixture. Cook it another 15 minutes until the chicken has a nice dark glaze. Don’t let it burn!

Let it rest about 15 minutes before carving.

 

CHINESE STYLE HONEY RIBS FOR THE BIG GAME

Posted: January 31, 2017 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
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I get requests for this every year because it’s the easiest, tastiest way to make ribs indoors, and perfect for the big game. As the glaze cooks down, it gets sticky, gooey and delicious.
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¾ cup soy sauce
 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork ribs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
Mix the soy sauce and the hoisin in a bowl, and set aside. These are the marinade ingredients.
If the ribs are large, cut them into individual pieces. If smaller, cluster 2 or 3 ribs together. Place them in a large pot. Cover them with water and bring it to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place the ribs on a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil or with a rack and coat them with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the ribs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes.
While the ribs are baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
When the ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until the rib meat is tender.
Turn the heat on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Be sure to reduce the heat as the sauce thickens or it will burn! When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they’re ready.
Substituting grapefruit for the lemon works really well, too!

 

ASIAN BACON

Posted: December 30, 2016 in bacon, Carnivore!, Food, frying, pork, Recipes, Uncategorized
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December 30 is National Bacon Day!

Sometimes the happiest of cooking accidents happen with bacon. My original plan was to make Chinese-style honey ribs for dinner. But instead of pulling a nice rack of ribs out of the freezer, I accidentally took out a slab of pork belly. I only realized my mistake when I thawed it and started cooking it, so I decided to continue the process with the pork belly instead. The results were pretty damn tasty.

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Marinade:
¾ cup light soy sauce
6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
5 lbs. pork belly
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
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Mix the marinade ingredients. Set aside.
Cut the pork belly into pieces that are about 3 inches square. Place them in a large pot. Cover therm with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place the pork belly pieces on a sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil. Coat them with marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the pork belly pieces on the sheet pan for 30 minutes.
While the pork belly is baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
When the pork belly pieces have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until meat is tender.
Turn heat on high, uncover pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce the heat as the sauce thickens to avoid the sugars in the honey from burning. When the pieces are sticky and gooey, they are ready!
Let a piece of pork belly cool…then slice to desired thickness and fry like regular bacon. Makes an amazing omelet!
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ASIAN NOODLES WITH PEANUT SAUCE

Posted: October 7, 2016 in Food, Recipes
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Yesterday, October 6th, was National Noodle Day. But I find any excuse to chow down on a great noodle dish!

There’s something about Asian noodle dishes that make them incredibly addictive. They’re great hot or cold, and easy to make at home, which is important to me because I live in the boonies, about 30 miles from my favorite Asian restaurant. I store an arsenal of basic Asian ingredients in my pantry, so slapping this together is no effort at all.

 

Asian noodles

 

4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons Satay sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic sauce
12 oz. package Chinese noodles (use rice noodles to make it gluten-free)

Combine the peanut butter, sesame oil, Satay sauce, and chili garlic sauce in a bowl. Set aside.
Boil the noodles until al dente. Drain.
Mix noodles with the sauce. Devour.

SOY AND HONEY GLAZED CHICKEN THIGHS

Posted: March 31, 2016 in Carnivore!, chicken, Food, grilling, marinade
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Soy sauce, citrus and honey is always a winning combination with chicken. The addition of star anise adds that touch of licorice without overpowering it. The sugar in the honey can make these thighs burn, so keep an eye on them. Using non-stick aluminum foil saves a lot of clean-up hassles later.

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1 teaspoon ground star anise
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1/4 cup fresh lime juice or lemon juice or combination
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use La Choy to keep it gluten-free)
2 tablespoons honey
8 chicken thighs (about 4 lb.), skin on

I have an old coffee grinder I use for spices, so I toss in a couple of star anise and grind them up. Then I measure out a teaspoon of that for my marinade. (If you don’t have a spice grinder, use a mortar and pestle.)


Combine the star anise, garlic, lemon or lime juice, soy sauce and honey. Pour into a large Ziploc bag and add chicken thighs. Squish around to make sure thighs are well coated. Marinate for several hours, or better: overnight.


Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. 


Cover a sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil and place thighs skin-side up. Cook low and slow for about 2 hours.

 

 

ASIAN SHRIMP WITH SWEET AND SPICY GRAPEFRUIT SAUCE

Posted: October 25, 2015 in Food, seafood, shrimp
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Shrimp with an orange sauce is something you see on every Chinese restaurant menu. I didn’t have oranges, but wanted a citrus kick to my sweet and spicy sauce. I went with grapefruit and I never looked back!

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For the rice:

1 cup basmati rice (I use Texmati brown rice)
2 cups seafood stock (I use homemade shrimp and fish stock)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 scallions, finely chopped
splash of peanut oil

 

For the veggies:

1/2 Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 lb. fresh green beans, washed and cut into 1/4′ pieces
1 teaspoon soy sauce
splash of peanut oil

 

For the shrimp:

2 dozen thawed, peeled and de-veined wild caught USA shrimp
2 tablespoons spicy Schezuan sauce
3 tablespoons hoysin sauce
juice and zest of 1 grapefruit
splash of peanut oil

 

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package. I substituted seafood stock for water. Once cooked, toss in the chopped scallions. Set aside.

Add peanut oil to a hot pan and saute the onions until translucent. Add green beans  and cook until al dente. Add the soy sauce, stir, and then pour the contents of the pan into the rice. Mix well.

Using the same pan, add a little more peanut oil and sear the shrimp on both sides. Don’t overcook! Push the shrimp to the sides of the pan so that a circle remains in the middle. Add the Schezuan sauce and hoysin sauce and stir them together, then blending in the shrimp until the shrimp are covered with the sauce. Add the grapefruit zest and juice and stir until everything is combined and the sauce has thickened just a bit.

Pour the contents of the pan into the rice mix and combine. Add more soy sauce to the rice, to taste.

ASIAN CHICKEN

Posted: October 10, 2015 in Carnivore!, chicken, Food, Recipes
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When I’m jonesing for really good Chinese food, I have to make it myself. I live in the boonies, nowhere near my favorite Chinatown restaurants of Boston or New York City. This chicken satisfies my cravings.

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1 pastured whole chicken, about 5 lbs.
Soy sauce
Coconut oil
1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Sambal chili paste

Pre-heat oven to 325.

Rub the chicken with the soy sauce, and then rub it with the coconut oil.

In a bowl, combine the Chinese Five Spice, garlic, salt and pepper. Rub this all over the bird, placing some in the body cavity as well.

In a separate bowl, combine the glaze ingredients: soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, peanut butter, orange juice, rice vinegar and Sambal.

Cook the bird until it’s about 10 minutes before it’s done. Then brush the glaze on the bird and return it to the oven for 5 minutes. Do this twice.

Let the bird rest before carving.

 

GLUTEN-FREE HOISIN SAUCE

Posted: September 12, 2015 in Food, frying, pork, Recipes
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Hoisin sauce goes great with every Asian-inspired dish I make. But since my wife needs to eat only gluten-free products, finding GF hoisin is not easy. And when I did find it online, it was ridiculously expensive. So it was time to make it myself. The recipe requires gluten-free soy sauce, which is easily found in any supermarket under the La Choy brand. You can also use Japanese Tamari sauce instead of soy sauce, but read the label: some tamari sauces do contain wheat. (The San-J brand is gluten-free.)

If you do a side-by-side taste test with jarred hoisin, you’ll find that this tastes quite different. But if you use it in your favorite Asian recipe, you’ll see that it works beautifully.

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4 tablespoons GF soy sauce
2 teaspoons natural creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon Sambal chili paste

 

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and mix thoroughly, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl to incorporate all the ingredients. Keep it in a tightly sealed container, refrigerated.

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For the dish above…

1 1/2 lbs. boneless country-style pork ribs, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons corn starch
coconut oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 summer squash, diced
2 scallions, chopped (green and white parts)
2 heads of broccoli, washed and chopped into individual florets
hoisin recipe (above)

Once you’ve cut the pork into inch-long pieces, place it in a bowl and toss with the corn starch until it’s coated.

Heat a pan til hot. Add a tablespoon or 2 of the coconut oil and then the pork. Cook until the pork has browned on all sides and has cooked through. Scrape the pork out into a bowl and put the pan back on the stove, setting the heat to medium. Add another tablespoon of the coconut oil and saute the onions until translucent. Add the squash and saute for a few minutes until softened. Add the scallions and saute a couple of minutes more. Add the broccoli, tossing the pan ingredients to combine, and then spoon out about 2 tablespoons of the hoisin sauce into the pan, mixing well.

Add the pork and any juices in the bowl back into the pan and toss to combine. Taste carefully to check for seasoning. Add more hoisin if needed. Don’t add too much or it will be too salty.

Serve over rice, if desired.

CHINESE STYLE HONEY RIBS FOR THE BIG GAME

Posted: January 31, 2015 in barbecue, Carnivore!, Food, pork, Recipes
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I was going to post my “deflated meatballs” recipe, but I decided to go with a classic for the big game! No need to freeze my butt off outdoors for these amazing ribs. I can stay in the kitchen. As the glaze cooks down, it gets sticky, gooey and delicious.
 image
For the marinade:
 ¾ cup soy sauce
 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
Other ingredients:
5 lbs pork ribs
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks (3”)
1/2 cup honey
4 cups chicken broth
Mix the soy sauce and the hoisin in a bowl, and set aside. These are the marinade ingredients.
If the ribs are large, cut them into individual pieces. If smaller, cluster 2 or 3 ribs together. Place in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place the ribs on a sheet pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil or with a rack and coat with the marinade. Let them sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the ribs in sheet pan for 30 minutes.
While the ribs are baking, start the sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine the lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer.
When the ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until the rib meat is tender.
Turn the heat on high, uncover the pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce the heat as the sauce thickens to avoid the sugars in honey from burning. When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they’re ready!

 

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