Tag: main course
Peking Roast Chicken
Peking Roast Chicken
I must say that this chicken turned out absolutely beautiful, as well as delicious. They dark soy sauce and the honey give it that reddish color from the caramelization. While this chicken looks like it is super fancy and took a ton of effort to make, it is quite simple. It does require marinating in the refrigerator overnight. Other then that, it’s really just about basting the chicken with the oil from the drippings for the first hour of cooking; then basting with the glaze the last 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 4-5 lb whole roasting chicken
Marinade
- 1/2 cup lght soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp five spice powder
- 6 slices ginger
Glaze
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Mix together the marinade ingredients.
- Add the marinade and roasting chicken to a gallon sized ziplock bag. Marinate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the chicken rest on a rack at room temp for 30 minutes. Fold the wings behind it’s back. Put the ginger slices inside of the chicken’s cavity.
- Pour any of the remaining marinade into a small pot with 2 tbsp of honey. Cook this on medium low heat for 10 minutes until thickened. This will be our glaze.
- Roast the chicken for 20 minutes. Take out of th oven. Baste the chicken with the oil that drips out pit at the bottom of the pan. Do this every 20 minutes for the first hour of cooking.
- The chicken should be a golden brown after the first hour of cooking.
- Brush the chicken with the glaze. Do this every 10 minutes for the next 30 minutes. You should have 3 layers of glaze on the chicken by the time it’s finished.
- When the chicken is done, it should have a dark red color to it.
- Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.
Beef Chow Fun
Beef Chow Fun
This restaurant style beef chow fun is very easy to make and fairly inexpensive depending on the cut of beef you use. Chow Fun always contains a flat rice noodle, looking very similar to fettuccine. You can find these noodles at Asian markets for no more than $1.50/14oz package. These noodles are dried and typically need to be soaked in warm water for an hour if being used in a stir fry. You may be able to find these fresh in the refrigerated sections. When choosing beef for a stir fry, I like to use top sirloin. It is tender, flavorful, and cost effective. Other cuts that will work well in this Chow Fun include, flank steak, skirt steak, flat iron, or even NY strip if you want to use a higher end cut. Fattier cuts don’t work in this dish. If you want to substitute a different protein; chicken, pork, shrimp, or tofu are all acceptable.
Ingredients
Beef Marinade
- 1 lb top sirloin 1/4” thick pieces
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 4 tsp cornstarch
Sauce
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 4 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
Beef Chow Fun
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1/2 medium white onion sliced
- 14 oz wide rice noodles prepare according to package
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 6 green onions cut into 1” pieces diagonally
Instructions
- Mix together the marinade ingredients.
- Add in the beef, making sure that all of the pieces are coated. Give the beef a little massage. Let marinate for 15 minutes.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of cooking oil in a large sauté pan or wok over medium high heat. Add the beef in a single layer. Sauté the beef for 1 minute a side without stirring. This will allow the beef to get a nice sear. When done, remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium. In the same pan, add another tbsp of oil. Sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger for 2 minutes.
- Add in the last tbsp of cooking oil. Stir in the rice noodles, making sure that they are coated in the garlic, onion, and ginger. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes. If the noodles begin to stick to the bottom, add a little bit of water.
- Stir in the beef and the sauce. Make sure all of the noodles are coated in the sauce. Cook for a minute.
- Stir in the bean sprouts and green onions.
- Cook for 2 more minutes.
- Chow down the Chow Fun.
Orange Shrimp Stir Fry
Orange Shrimp Stir Fry
Once you make the orange sauce up ahead of time, you can pretty much make the stir fry in 6-10 minutes depending on the type of protein or vegetables that you use. With shrimp, it takes 6 minutes in total. Beef or pork are about 8 minutes. Chicken is about 10 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 medium green bell pepper chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 medium white onion chopped
- 8 oz broccoli chopped
- 3/4 lb 21-25 shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp chili oil
- 1 cup orange sauce
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil and chili oil in a wok or large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add in all of the vegetables. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the shrimp. Stir fry for another 2 minutes.
- Stir in the orange sauce. Cook for 2 minutes until the shrimp are cooked through.
- Serve with steamed rice.
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.
Orange Sauce
Orange flavored stir frys are a popular menu item in Chinese American restaurants. In China, oranges aren’t available. Tangerine peel and juice is what’s used. So you’ll see tangerine chicken, shrimp, etc, instead of orange. The tangerine peel usually is found dehydrated. It requires soaking in warm water for 20 minutes before being chopped up.So this particular recipe will use freshly squeezed orange juice and zest. It’s pretty straight forward from here on out. The cornstarch is used a a thickening agent. Constantly whisk while it thickens to break up any lumps. When it is finished, the orange sauce should be able to coat the back of a spoon.Orange Sauce is very versatile. It works with any protein, tofu, or vegetables. Keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup orange or tangerine zest
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice cooking wine
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp ginger minced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
- Mix together the zest, orange juice, sugar, soy sauce, cooking wine, rice vinegar, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a small pot over medium high heat. Stir in the garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in the orange mixture.
- Cook for 4 minutes until it thickens; constantly stirring with a whisk. Take off the heat.
- Store in a container. Let cool. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
