Recipes for Chinese/Asian food

[Enchantra]

I've been Googling recipes and looking through my expansive library of cookbooks. I'm specifically looking for any Stir Fry or other dish that is made in a wok that does not contain any of the following items:

 

Pork (off my diet)

Coconut (Dad's highly allergic)

Paprika (Dad's highly allergic)

Horseradish (Dad's VERY highly allergic)

Anise (It's found in Chinese five spice, me and Dad cannot stand anise or the licorice flavor it gives.)

Onion (Small amounts are alright, but large amounts become bad as Mom breaks out in hives.)

 

Any ideas? I want to be able to cook a decent meal with my relatively recent Rummage sale find of an electric wok. I don't want to be sending people to the Hospital though. My Parents cannot tolerate very spicy food either.

 

Ideas? Suggestions? I'm new to Cooking Chinese/Japanese/Asian Cuisine.

[eastman]

a lot can be improvised.

 

pick your favorite meat sliced thin

 

any combination of vegetable items: onion, bell pepper (can look really good with multiple colors of pepper), carrot, celery, brocolli, water chestnut, bamboo shoots, peapods (or use sugar-snap peas), bok choy, etc

 

for the seasoning: garlic, ginger, soy sauce (optional: corn starch to thicken, red pepper)

 

I usually cook the long cooking vegetables first, remove from the wok, add the meat and near the end add the quick coking veggies and the already cooked veggies.

 

Peanut oil has always worked well for me (has one of the highest smoke points, so it works for high temperature stir fry)

[ixminis]

There's alot of starter stuff in most groceries these days... I had a room-mate who was from malaysia who used kikoman cheater stuff as a starting point... beware of the huge leek like onions in some of 'em...

 

If fresh is what yer looking for (and it is the better way to go) use the pre-packed stuff as a guide...

 

I'm really not used to anise in asian quisine... but I tend to go Korean or Chinese.... hrm...

 

Rgds,

[Enchantra]

Eastman: Thank you! The brain for some reason just never clicked with the thought of "Going from scratch." I had it stuck in my brain that I should go with some recipe in a book first. Doh! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!

 

I remember a roommate in grad school making stir fry a lot because she loved it. She enjoyed using that Chinese five spice I despise. One night she told me she made this great dinner. She did too. I took one bite of the meat, which literally tasted like licorice and I almost lost the rest of my dinner right there. That's one flavor I cannot tolerate. After that she avoided using the five spice if she was cooking for me too. She was a good one for just throwing some bok choy, soy sauce, peanut oil and meat into a large deep frying pan and having at it over high heat. It smelled awesome, tasted that way too.

 

Ixminis: I'll look into those kits when I go shopping this Friday for the painting party nibbles at one of the larger supermarkets. The local ones near me don't carry much.

[Kheprera]

My standard stir fry does contain onions but you can leave them out. Actually, you can put in whatever veggies you like. I make it almost weekly.

 

Beef or chicken, 1 pound, cut into thin 1 1/2 strips. Lucky me I can get this already done in the grocery store.

8-12 ounces spaghetti noodles or 1 bag of chow mein noodles

 

Mix and match (or use all) of the following:

1 green and 1 red bell pepper

1 cup shredded cabbage (I get a bag that's pre-shredded, but I don't use the whole thing)

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup celery

1/2 cup water chestnuts

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup diced onion or about 10-15 small pearl onions

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup snow peas (I love these things)

1 cup baby broccoli florets or cauliflower tips

1-3 chinese red peppers with the seeds removed but not minced (leave in large pieces for easy removal - these things are hot!) * Only recommended if you want spicy! *

 

Spices, mix and match as desired:

Ginger

Teriyaki

Soy sauce

Garlic

1 cup Beef or Chicken Stock or Boullion, depending on meat used, with one tablespoon of cornstarch added

Oregano

Basil

for those who like it spicy: Cayenne, Chili Powder (but not too much or the flavor overwhelms) and paprika

Poultry Seasoning if using chicken (double check ingredients to make certain it doesn't contain paprika as some do)

Sage

Rosemary

Thyme

Extra fine dry mustard

(no I don't use ALL the spices mentioned above all the time, I just pick and choose depending on my mood)

 

If using spaghetti noodles (or the linguini noodles work as well) prepare just beforehand or have ready to throw into the wok just as everything else is done. Marinate the meat in the spices (except the stock/boullion with the cornstarch) while you're preparing the veggies. If the veggies are pre-chopped, marinate for 15-30 minutes, but no more.

 

Heat the wok, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add beef and turn down heat just slightly.

 

Once meat has browned, add vegetables. Cook for about three minutes more then add the stock/boullion. Allow to thicken then add the spaghetti noodles and toss over medium-low heat. If you're not using the spaghetti noodles, serve hot over the chow mein noodles.

 

I can normally have this meal completely prepared in less than 45 minutes if all the veggies are pre-chopped for me. Often I can find the veggies I want in the frozen veggies section in bags, premixed. I just toss them in, but you have to pour out excess water if you use the frozen kind.

[deep_sashelas]

Mmm. So just how Asian were you planning on going? Here's a couple of tips from South-East Asia...

 

If you're thinking of a simple quick one-dish meal, chinese fried rice is pretty much complete in itself and -very- adaptable. Here's a sample recipe:

 

2 tbs vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

thumb-length ginger, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped (forget this one if any of you are allergic, including for completion since I'm just copying from a recipe book)

1/2 cup ham, diced (hate pork? switch with minced or sliced chicken or beef, works just as well)

1/2 cup char siew (barbecued pork), diced (ditto, swap it with something you like, I've fried rice with SPAM before.)

1/2 cup small shrimps, peeled (I personally hate shrimps in my fried rice, ymmv)

1 cup green peas

1 tbs light soya sauce

6 cups cooked rice

2 eggs, beaten

1 stalk spring onion, chopped (ditto about onion if it's no good for you)

1 tsp salt

pepper to taste

 

Heat oil in wok. Saute garlic and ginger till fragrant. Add onions, ham, char siew and shrimp. Stir well before adding the peas. Season with light soya sauce.

 

Now add the rice. Season with salt and pepper. Toss continuously to ensure that every grain of rice is coated with the flavoured oil and the ingredients are well mixed.

 

Make a well in the middle of the rice. Heat 1 tsp of oil in this space and pour in the beaten eggs. Allow to set, then cover with the rice to steam cook. After a few minutes, toss thoroughly again. Top with spring onion (my comment: this is evidently some sort of garnish, can be done away with, in the blink of an eye) and serve immediately.

 

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Commentary: The basic idea in chinese stir fry (where I come from anyhow) is kinda like pasta and flavoured oils. Take a bit of oil and put as much garlic (and/or ginger) as you like in it, and let it heat for a minute or two until the whole place becomes insanely fragrant. Some people like to brown the garlic before continuing. Some prefer their garlic cooked but not brown. On no account do you ever burn or blacken the garlic.

 

Toss in whatever cooks the most slowly. Followed by the next slowest cooking, etc. Keep whacking (er, tossing) the food with a spatula so that it doesn't burn and gets coated in flavor. Throw in any kind of sauce you like - oyster sauce, black-bean sauce, fermented bean curd, sweet and sour, etc. (Just not all at the same time. ) For fried rice, soy sauce and salt/pepper should be good enough.

 

Fried rice specific tips: carrot, and celery also works well, beansprouts, shredded cabbage, green peppers. Seriously, nearly anything you like can go in. It'll be fine. If you don't like your rice too oily, a trick is to use less oil and throw in a bit of water when you feel the rice is sticking - a nonstick pan/wok helps too. Not too much or too often, or your rice will turn into soggy porridge.

[deep_sashelas]

A bit more elaborate would be to do a multiple dish meal. Steamed white rice, one meat, one veggie are the basics.

 

Get white rice. Toss in a rice cooker with appropriate water measurement. Or if you don't have a rice cooker, take a pot/saucepan. I think the ratio is about 1 cup rice: 1 cup water. Or at most 1:2. 1:5 would yield congee/porridge. Toss it in the pot, and set it on the stove to boil. Cover for best flavor.

 

Vegetable: Any chinese veggie at the supermarket like bok choy, beansprouts, snow peas etc. Or more familiar ones like broccoli, cabbage, green peppers. You need some oil (olive oil works if you want to be healthy about it) and a heapload of chopped garlic. Same thing, flavor the oil with the garlic, toss the veggies in, stir, add salt to taste and done. Vegetables cook ridiculously fast.

 

(I seriously hope you like garlic/aren't allergic or you'll have to try swapping with ginger or doing without any such flavoring.)

 

Meat: Pick your favorite meat. This should work well with both chicken or beef. Sliced is best. The trick to well-flavored meat is to marinade it first. If you just grab it from the supermarket and toss it into the pan, it's going to smell frozen.

 

What works as a marinade? Some salt, some sugar. Add some light soy sauce, some dark soy sauce and/or oyster sauce if you have it. Mix it with the raw meat, cover with cling film or a plate and let it sit in the fridge/chiller for some hours. The longer it sits, the more the flavor goes in. Just watch the hygiene and remember the fridge - food poisoning from raw meat is NOT cool.

 

Marinades are all about preference so I haven't added any measurements. Friend I know has used herbs and even fruit juice before. Fun to experiment with.

 

When nearly ready to eat, take from the fridge. Heat up the oil, toss meat into wok. Stir until cooked. You can add a bit more of whatever sauce you'd like. Oyster sauce works. Black bean sauce if you can get it over there and you're brave enough to try it (it's real salty though, so you need to bear in mind when previously marinating). You could toss a second type of vegetable in for more color and variation.

 

Stir-fry is very liberating, it's not like a cake with atomically precise measurements needed. It's whatever you like to eat, tossed together. Enjoy.

[Enchantra]

Thanks everyone for the help!

I'm hopefully going to give this a shot Friday night after I get paid. I'll have cash to make a nice meal for the family then.

 

Deep Sashelas: It's not that I don't like pork. I was raised on it. But after converting to Judaism, it's a no no.

[Java Fiend]

Sesame oil. Don't forget the sesame oil, it adds a great and very distinctive flavor. Except, it burns at high heat so don't use it as your main frying oil.