Tag: East Asian
Stir Fried Ong Choy
Stir Fried Ong Choy
Ong Choy, or water spinach, is a popular vegetable eaten all over Asia. They have long leaves and hollow stems that give the green a nice crunch. This stir fry is quite simple and can be found on any authentic Chinese or Vietnamese menu. You can purchase ong choy at just about any Asian market for a couple dollars for a huge bunch.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 2 tbsp Sichuan chili oil
- 1 bunch ong choy washed and chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over high heat. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds.
- Add in the chili oil. Cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the ong choy.
- Stir fry for 4 minutes.
- Season with salt and sugar.
How to make Chili Oil in an Instant Pot
Ever eat at a Chinese restaurant and they have that chili oil at the table? Then you end up putting it on everything because it’s so damn good. Well now it’s time to learn how to make it for a fraction of the price of the store bought brands. Making this couldn’t be easier using the Instant Pot. The most important thing in making this chili oil is to not burn the ingredients. You want to keep the oil between 225 and 250 degrees. The Instant Pot has a custom temperature setting which makes making this street free. You can still make this on a stove top if you don’t have an Instant Pot. Just make sure to use a cane thermometer to make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot. If the ingredients burn, you will have to start over.Most cultures have some sort of chili oil in their cuisine, all made very similarly. This recipe is for a Chinese style chili oil, so I used ingredients in Chinese cooking. If you were to make a chili oil for Italian cuisine, you would you’d Italian crushed chili flakes and maybe some garlic and dried herbs in the oil. So experiment with making different oils. The chili flake is always the main ingredient, followed by aromatics steeping in the oil.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 5 star anise
- 3 tbsp Szechuan peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup crushed Szechuan chili flakes
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté function. Choose custom temp. Set to 230 degrees, Add your oil, cinnamon stick, star anise, peppercorns, and bay leaves to the Instant Pot. Cook for 30 minutes, giving an occasional stir. Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Put the crushed chili flakes in a mason jar. Take a small piece of cheese cloth and put it over the jar, with a rubber band around it to hold in place.
- Take out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Pour the oil into the mason jar. The cheese cloth will catch all of the peppercorns and star anise..
- Screw on the cover and let cool to room temp. Refrigerate up to 6 months.
Honey Butter Potatoes
Honey Butter Potatoes
Koreans love the combination of honey and butter. And what better thing to do to a potato. You want to use really small potatoes for this recipe, such as baby yukon golds or baby reds. Boil them in salted water for 15 minutes. When finished boiling, gently smash each of the potatoes with the back of something flat; same way as making tostones. I used a ramekin. Then sauté them in melted butter and honey for 5 minutes a side.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 lbs baby yukon or red potatoes
- 1 stick butter
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 minutes. Strain and let cool.
- Gently smash the potatoes with the back of a spoon, cup, or ramekin.
- Melt the stick of butter with the honey in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the potatoes in a single layer. Brown for 5 minutes.
- Flip the potatoes. Add in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 more minutes.
Wood Ear Mushroom Salad
Wood Ear Mushroom Salad
Wood ear mushroom salad is a popular cold appetizer eaten all over China. The mushrooms have are firmer in texture unlike most other mushrooms. You can sometimes find them fresh in the produce section of the grocery store. They are most commonly found dried and labeled as black fungus. They just need to be soaked in hot water, then boiled for 3 minutes to eat. They will more than double in size once soaked.They salad dressing that the mushrooms are tossed in is a mixture of soy sauce, black vinegar, raw minced garlic, Thai chilies, sugar, and salt. A simple Sichuan peppercorn infused oil is added to the dressing, giving it a slight numbing sensation. If you don’t like a little spice, omit the chilies.
Ingredients
- 2 cups dried wood ear mushrooms
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 tsp black vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 8 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
- 4 thai chilies finely chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes.
- They will expand to more than twice the amount.
- Add the mushrooms to a pot of boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes. Rinse under cold water. Drain. Give the mushrooms a rough cut.
- Heat up cooking oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the Sichuan peppercorns for 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat. Scoop out the peppercorns with a slotted spoon.
- Mix the oil with the soy sauce, black vinegar, garlic cloves, chilies, sugar, and salt.
- Toss the mushrooms with the dressing. Mix in the cilantro. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.
