Posts Tagged ‘Asian’

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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Ingredients:

 

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 deveined 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 for flavor. 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. Do not 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.

You don’t have to stand by your smoker and cook for hours to have amazing ribs. As the glaze cooks down, it gets sticky, gooey and delicious…but use a non-stick pot if you can or you’ll be scrubbing when you should be eating!
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 Ingredients:
Marinade: ¾ cup light soy sauce
                     6 Tablespoons 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 marinade ingredients. Set aside.
If the ribs are large, cut them into 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 ribs on a sheet pan with a rack and coat with marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake ribs in sheet pan with rack for 30 minutes.
While the ribs are baking, start sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
When ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until rib meat is tender.
Turn heat on high, uncover pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce heat as sauce thickens to avoid sugars in honey from burning. When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they are ready!

 

Well, that’s what I call it. Sometimes the most interesting creations happen by accident, and this is one of them.

My plan was to make my Chinese Style Honey Ribs (http://wp.me/p1c1Nl-i7) for dinner. But I accidentally took a slab of pork belly out of the freezer instead. 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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 Ingredients:
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 marinade ingredients. Set aside.
Cut the pork belly into pieces that are about 3 inches square. Place in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
Place pork belly on a sheet pan with a rack and coat with marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pork belly pieces on foil-lined sheet pan for 30 minutes.
While the pork belly is baking, start sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring 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 heat as sauce thickens to avoid sugars in 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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Soy sauce, citrus and honey is always a winning combination with chicken. The addition of toasted anise seeds adds that touch of licorice without overpowering it. The sugar in the honey can make these thighs burn, so keep an eye on them. But I do like a touch of char on my chicken!

chix thighs

 

Ingredients:

 

2 teaspoons anise seed
4 cloves garlic, through a press
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
8 chicken thighs (about 4 lb), skin on

Toast the anise seed in a small dry skillet over medium heat, tossing until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let it cool to room temp and then grind with a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. (I have one I use just for spices.)
Combine anise seed, garlic, 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.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
Cover a sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil and place thighs skin-side down on foil.
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, then flip thighs over and cook another 15 to 20 minutes.

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. I prefer using a whole pasture-raised organic chicken from my good friends at Fire Fly Farms in Stonington, CT (www.fireflyfarmsllc.com).

 

Cantonese chicken

 

Ingredients:

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 Garlic Powder

2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

 

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

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

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Place chicken in a pan lined with aluminum foil (cleanup will be easier) and bake.

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

 

Let rest about 15 minutes before carving.

 

CHINESE STYLE HONEY RIBS

Posted: October 25, 2013 in barbecue, Food, pork, Recipes
Tags: , ,
You don’t have to stand by your smoker and cook for hours to have amazing ribs. As the glaze cooks down, it gets sticky, gooey and quite delicious…but use a non-stick pot if you can or you’ll be scrubbing when you should be eating!
chinese ribs
 Ingredients:
Marinade: ¾ cup light soy sauce
                     6 Tablespoons 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 marinade ingredients. Set aside.
If the ribs are large, cut them into 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 ribs on a sheet pan with a rack and coat with marinade. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake ribs in sheet pan with rack for 30 minutes.
While the ribs are baking, start sauce in a large non-stick pan or pot: combine lemon zest and juice, star anise, cinnamon sticks, honey and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
When ribs have finished baking, add them to the sauce pot and simmer (covered) for at least 15 minutes or until rib meat is tender.
Turn heat on high, uncover pot and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze that coats the ribs. Reduce heat as sauce thickens to avoid sugars in honey from burning. When the ribs are sticky and gooey, they are ready!

 

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. I prefer using a whole pasture-raised organic chicken from my good friends at Fire Fly Farms in Stonington, CT (www.fireflyfarmsllc.com).

 

Cantonese chicken

 

Ingredients:

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 Garlic Powder

2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

 

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

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

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Place chicken in a pan lined with aluminum foil (cleanup will be easier) and bake.

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

 

Let rest about 15 minutes before carving.

 

There’s something about Asian noodles with peanut sauce that I find addictive. They are great hot or cold, and desperately in need of a fix, I decided it was time to make them at home. I have an arsenal of basic Asian ingredients in my pantry, so slapping this together was no effort at all, and damn, does it taste good!

Since the only peanut butter I had at home when I first created this recipe was the portable Jif-to-Go containers, I still use them to this date!

Asian noodles

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter (or 2 Jif-to-Go containers)

2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 Tablespoons Satay sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic sauce
12 oz package Chinese noodles

Combine all ingredients except noodles in a bowl. Set aside.
Boil noodles until al dente. Drain.
Mix noodles with the sauce. Devour.

When you’ve had enough of Buffalo wings, try this Asian version. They are easy to make, and taste awesome. A nice change of pace from your usual wings. This recipe works well with larger chicken pieces, too.
Asian style chicken wings
10 lbs chicken wings, the larger the better
2 cups soy sauce
1 small can (6 oz) pineapple juice
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon powdered onion
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
a squirt of sesame oil
Salt and pepper
Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large Ziploc bag, shake to mix, and then add the chicken. Marinate in the fridge overnight, turning the bag once in a while to make sure everything gets an even coating of the marinade.
The next day, pour off the marinade and discard, remove chicken wings from the bag, place on a cookie sheet lined with foil, and bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes, until sizzling and done.