Tag: East Asian
Chicken Egg Rolls
Chicken Egg Rolls
Egg rolls have been around for hundred of years as part of southern Chinese cuisine, but are really only eaten during Chinese New Year and Spring Festivals. You won’t really find them on any menu unless at a dim sum restaurant. They aren’t part of a households daily diet. They’re not even called egg rolls. In China, they’re known just as spring rolls. Egg rolls are really more popular in Chinese American cuisine, since they come with pretty much every menu item. With that being said, they’re fairly easy to make. There are a couple important tips and techniques for making egg rolls. Make sure that the filling is complete cooled before rolling. If it is warm, it will create condensation in the wrapper, making the egg roll soggy before you even fry it. Make sure your oil is hot enough and don’t overcrowd the pan when frying. This will also create soggy egg rolls. Drain the grease on a rack instead of paper towels. This will keep your egg rolls crispy instead of soggy. If you haven’t yet caught on, the ultimate goal here is crispiness instead of sogginess. Soggy egg rolls bad. It is best to fry up the whole batch of egg rolls and then freeze down what you don’t plan on eating. The egg rolls will need to be reheated in the oven from frozen. If you freeze down raw uncooked egg rolls, you introduce moisture to them. When you go to fry them, you get – soggy egg rolls. Soggy egg rolls are the enemy.
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cups cabbage shredded
- 1 cup carrots julienned
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3 green onions finely chopped
Egg Roll
- 25 egg roll wrappers
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the cabbage and carrots for 2 minutes.
- Add in the bean sprouts. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the soy sauce and honey. Cook for 1 more minute. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
- Sauté the garlic and ginger in the same pan for 30 seconds.
- Add in the ground chicken.
- Brown for 6-7 minutes, making sure to break up large clumps into fine crumbles. Add in the hoisin sauce and pepper. Cook for 1 minute. Let cool.
- Stir in the cabbage mix and finely chopped green onions.
Egg Roll Assembly
- Place a couple of heaping tbsp of the filling across the bottom center of an egg roll wrapper like so.
- Fold up the bottom over the filling.
- Fold in both corners. Rub a little bit of water on the top point of the wrapper.
- Roll it up. Don’t spark it.
- You should yield 20-25 egg rolls.
Frying
- Heat up 2” of cooking oil in a pot or sauté pan over medium high heat. Place some of the egg rolls into the oil, making sure not to overcrowd. Fry for 3-4 minutes a side.
- Drain the grease on a rack.
Mongolian Beef
Mongolian Beef
Mongolian beef is one of the more popular Chinese American dishes on any menu. It also happens to be one of the easiest dishes you can make. It only takes 5 minutes to cook. Yes, that’s right. 5 minutes. The beef gets marinated in shaoxing cooking wine. It’s then seared for a minute per side. Then garlic, ginger, and green onions are cooked for 30 seconds. The sauce is poured in. It thickens in just seconds. Then the beef is added back in and cooked for 1 more minute.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 lb top sirloin thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves sliced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 5 green onions cut into 2” pieces; white and green parts separated
Sauce
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup light soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Marinate the beef with shaoxing cooking wine and salt for 15 minutes. Then coat the beef in cornstarch. Set aside.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add in the beef in a single layer.
- Sear on one side for 1 minute without moving. Then flip on the other side and sea ffor another minute. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add in the garlic, ginger, and the white part of the green onions. Sauté for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the sauce ingredients. Immediately give it a stir. It will thicken very quickly.
- Add in the beef and the green part of the green onions. Cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
Xinjiang Cumin Lamb
Xinjiang Cumin Lamb
North Western China has a Muslim population of about 20 million; where lamb is quite popular. Cumin lamb is one of the more commonly eaten lamb dishes. Cubes of lamb are stir fried with onions, garlic, ginger, and dried red chilies. The lamb is seasoned with cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili flakes; ready in under 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless leg of lamb cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
Spice Mix
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
Stir Fry
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup dried Sichuan chilies
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 6 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped
Garnish
- toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Marinate the lamb with the soy sauce, cooking wine and salt for 30 minutes.
- Pour out the liquid and coat the lamb in cornstarch.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Add the lamb, sautéing for a minute a side. Remove from the pan.
- Pour in the rest of the cooking oil. Sauté the onion, ginger, garlic, and dried chilies for 1 minute.
- Add the lamb back into the pan. Season with the spice mix. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the cilantro.
