Volcano stir-fried vegetables

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As promised, I am resting my Indian palate and paying some attention to my inner Asian.  I am working with what I have in the kitchen; had I what I wished for, I would add wood ear or shiitake mushrooms, and perhaps some shrimp and bean sprouts - but here we are.  This turned out INSANELY well, with great heat and cooling balance from the five spice powder.

THE RECIPE

2 T olive or vegetable oil
4 peeled carrots, sliced on the bias, 1/4" in. thick
4 ribs celery, sliced on the bias, 1/4" in. thick
Heat the pan over medium heat, saute for 3 minutes

1 onion, thick slices
2 large jalapeno peppers, medium sliced
Add and saute for 3 minutes

4 cloves garlic, minced
1 t grated fresh ginger
1/8th head cauliflower, small florets
1/8th head broccoli, small florets
1/2 can (3 oz.) sliced water chestnuts
1/2 can (15 oz.) sliced bamboo shoots
Add and saute for 3 minutes

6 Thai chile peppers, thinly sliced
1 T chili garlic sauce
1 T Chinese five spice powder
Add, simmer for one minute

1 T Shaoxing wine
1 t salt (OR MSG if you have no issues with this product)
1/2 t ground white pepper
1/4 bunch cilantro
1 can green curry sauce

EMERGENCY KIT
1 T corn starch
1 T cold water
Stir together and add if curry sauce does not reduce.

Add, sauté and flip for 2 -3 minutes.  Settle the curry in and flip two or three times in a ten minute time frame.  Check and balance seasonings as desired.  Do not overcook vegetables.  If the sauce has not thickened enough, stir in corn starch slowly with a whisk.

3 scallions, bulbs and leaves, thinly sliced.

1 Cup prepared Calrose or other sticky rice, for service.

Serve in large bowls over rice.  Garnish with scallions and keep some water or milk handy.  Despite my tolerance, this one lit me up.

If you wish, serve over noodles, brown rice, or any other starch you prefer.

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Curried Lamb "Lo mein"

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Rarely will you see the words, "quick" or "simple" on this blog; it's just not in me, but this is an exception.  So often I get home past the time where I even want to cook and think I'll do without, then later just end up eating badly.  Hence the need, as always, for quick dishes.  This may not be the most healthy, but I had to do it.

I love the variety and value at the local Asian markets, and quick components are easy to find.


My thoughts were first to work out a simple lo mein (protein, vegetables and noodles) until turning the corner onto the aisle with the curries.  That got the ball rolling, and thus a fusion dish with Chinese, Thai and Korean elements resulted.

The consistency is not extremely saucy, rather more like a sopa seca, this was intentional; but you can easily just add more liquid and emulsify with some corn starch if you wish.  I ended up using the whole tin of spicy Phaenang curry and it brought the heat - taste and use only as much as you can take if you try this one!

THE RECIPE

2 T corn or peanut oil for frying
1/2 # lamb, thinly sliced against the grain
2 shiitake mushrooms, sliced (I used dried slices)
2 carrots, shredded
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, grated
10-12 slices bamboo shoots matchstick cut (I used the chili & sesame marinated style; you HAVE to try these if you like spicy foods.)
1 bunch sliced scallions, white ends and leaves separated
2 large ribs bok choy, thinly sliced including leaves

1/4 cup curry paste, red or green (more to taste); I used 1/2 cup of red curry and I'm breathing fire but it's SOO good!
1/4 cup water (flex according to your taste)
2 T Shiaoxing wine or sake
2 T Chinese black vinegar
1/2 t ginger powder
1/2 t gochugaru, or other chile powder
2-3 dashes thin soy sauce

1 gallon boiling water
1 # chow mein or other stir fry noodle

crushed red chile flakes, if desired

Heat a wok over high flame; bring water to a boil in a large pot.

Swirl some oil into the wok and sear the lamb; if using reconstituted mushrooms, add these at the same time.  Set aside and reserve.  Stir fry the remaining vegetables, giving the bok choy just a minute.  Return the lamb and combine all ingredients by tossing.

Dip the noodles into the boiling water and cook according to instructions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.

Add the sauce ingredients and a final splash of oil.  As noted above this is fairly dry; if you want to have more of a sauce just add more water and wine, and thicken with equal parts corn starch and water.  Add a portion of noodles equal to the volume in the wok and stir fry, "pulling through" the noodles and mixing in the lamb and vegetables.  Serve garnished with scallion leaves and chile flakes, if desired.

Yield 2 portions as an entree or 4 if a side dish

Stir-fried beef with yam noodles in soju coconut cream sauce

This is another East meets West, Amer-Asian experiment.

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I've apparently sat on the wheat noodles I picked up at the Vietnamese store too long and they are unusable, SO I went to the Korean store for a replacement - yam noodles.  I've cut up thinly sliced eye of round steak into matchsticks and worked up a spicy sauce based on my favorite Asian liquor - soju.  If you are not familiar with this product, it is very distinctive - it has been described to me as similar to gin; that analogy holds for a bit.  Soju is distilled from grain (often rice), sweet potato and tapioca.  I've infused this with lemongrass, ginger, garlic and scallions and mellowed it out with coconut milk then swirled in the yam noodles over the beef and shredded vegetables.

THE RECIPE

SOJU SAUCE
One small bottle (200ml) soju, preferably Jinro brand
One inch ginger, matchstick cut
1 T dried lemongrass
4 cloves garlic, sliced
One bunch scallion ends, cut 1/4in. up from the root

7 oz. (1/2 can) coconut milk

2 t corn starch
2 t cold water, more of both as needed

Infuse the soju with the first four ingredients;

Dried lemongrass, ginger and onion steeping in the soju.

keep on low flame until reduced just under half its volume, approximately 20 minutes.  Strain through a fine mesh sieve and reserve.  Warm the coconut milk over low flame, add the seasoned soju and as much of the corn starch mixture as needed to achieve a thickened sauce.  Set aside.

STIR FRY
2-3 T corn or peanut oil for frying
1# thinly sliced beef
2 carrots, grated
2 ribs celery, matchstick cut
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup Napa cabbage leaves, shredded
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallion leaves, slivered
1T kecap manis (Indonesian sweet / spicy soy sauce)

1# yam noodles, drained and cut into 1/3rd pieces
1/2 t furikake, for garnish

Heat a wok over high flame; add oil and sear beef.  Remove and reserve; bring pan back to heat and quickly cook vegetables.  Return beef to pan; flip to heat, add noodles, kecap manis and heat through.

Swirl in sauce and heat until ingredients are coated.  Serve immediately garnished with the furikake.

Twice - cooked spicy beef with scallion omelet

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LEFTOVERS - the bane of my existence!  Especially when paired with an empty fridge, these are my nemeses.  I am coming out of one stretch of not being home to cook and going into another, SO I challenged myself tonight to work with only what I have here at the house in a quick dish.  The "quick" part is another challenge.

The star ingredient tonight is the last of a London broil which produced some really good french dip sandwiches a couple nights ago (That's the "twice cooked" part).  This was dipped into a chili oil egg wash and stir fried with vegetables in a rich, spicy sauce.  I dropped another egg into the remains of this egg wash with some scallions to make a thin omelet with which to wrap up the ingredients.  I'm very happy with the result, but I created more leftovers.  Oh well, such is life.

THE RECIPE


1/2 pound roast beef (or any other protein, in any quantity you want), julienne sliced
2 eggs
2T Shaoxing wine
Several dashes chili oil (start out with just a little if you are unfamiliar with this ingredient)
3-4T corn starch, more as needed
2 scallions, thinly sliced



1 carrot, matchstick cut
1-2 ribs celery, matchstick cut
1/2 large onion, 1/4 inch slices
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced on the bias


Corn or peanut oil for frying (approximately 4T)


3 ounces bamboo shoots, julienne sliced


1T dark soy sauce
2T kejap manis (sweet / spicy Indonesian soy condiment)
1T Garam masala curry paste
2T Shaoxing wine
2-3T water, or as needed
1t crushed red chili flakes






Steamed white rice or cooked rice / egg noodles


Heat a wok over a high flame.  Add 2T oil and the first 4 vegetables.  Cook until tender but not mushy.  Remove to a plate and return the pan to heat.



Meanwhile, drop the beef pieces into the egg wash and drain, then dredge in the corn starch.  Add 2T oil the heated wok and fry on all sides.


Add scallions to the egg wash; add another egg if need be.  Whisk and cook in an omelet pan, turning once.  Cut into quarters once cooked and set aside.


When the beef has been fried, add vegetables back to the pan.  Add bamboo shoots and sauce ingredients, one at a time, stirring constantly.  Add as much water as needed to thin them out to the consistency you like.


{This goes against convention for stir fry as we have cooked the protein last, but it was already cooked and we want the corn starch to thicken the sauce.}


Serve the dish beside or over the rice or noodles.  Use the omelet pieces as a wrapper (similar to moo shu).