Recipe: Killer Fried Rice

WARNING: there is no way I'm going to call this "authentic" - but damn is it good... and easy to cook, too! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef, pork, or chicken (your choice :))
3 eggs
5 cups of cold cooked brown rice (cook with about 1/8 less water than package recommends)
2/3 cup of diced carrots
2/3 cup of cooked English peas
1/4 cup of diced water chestnuts
2/3 cup of diced fresh pineapple
1 1/2 cup of diced scallions, green and white parts
2 tbsp. of chili garlic sauce
3 tbsp. of oyster sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. of soy sauce
2 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
3 tbsp. of canola or other neutral oil

Directions:

Cook ground meat until fully browned, removing all of the fat from the meat, set aside.

Soft scramble the three eggs and set aside.

In a large wok, heat the oil over high heat. Add all of the other ingredients except for the scallions and pineapple to the hot wok. Stir constantly for about 90 seconds. Add the ground meat and the cold cooked rice to the wok and blend all of the ingredients thoroughly. Cook, stirring like once every minute, for about 6 - 8 minutes. Add the eggs, pineapple, and scallions, blend together thoroughly, and continue cooking for another 60 seconds. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe: Spicy Yakisoba

Ingredients:

1 bunch scallions, green and white parts loosely chopped
1 tbsp. chili sauce
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. mirin
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1 tbsp. minced garlic
6 oz. soba noodles
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 lb. extra firm tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tbsp. katsuo mirin furikake (seasoned dried bonito and sesame seeds)

Directions:

Place 5 quarts of water on a boil. Add 1 tbsp. of salt to the water. Once water boils, add the soba noodles. Boil for 6 minutes, drain, then run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Heat the canola oil in a wok over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cubed tofu. Cook the tofu until browned, turning constantly, for about 10 minutes. Remove tofu from the oil and sprinkle the katsuo mirin furikake over it. Set aside.

In the food processor, pulse all remaining ingredients until pureed. In a large bowl, place soba noodles, tofu, and sauce mixture. Mix thoroughly. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe: Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound eggplant, cut into thick strips
1 bell pepper, red, diced
6 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
3 tbsp. white vinegar
3 tbsp. rice vinegar
2 tbsp. dry sherry
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. chili oil
2 tbsp. Sriracha (Vietnamese garlic/chili sauce)
2 tbsp. dark sesame oil
3 tbsp. canola oil
12 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup scallions, finely chopped, white and green parts

Directions:

In a colander, toss eggplant strips with the cornstarch to coat evenly. In a bowl, combine sugar, soy sauce, white vinegar, rice vinegar, dry sherry, chili oil, Sriracha, dark sesame oil, and minced garlic together. Whisk to combine. Heat the canola oil in a wok over high heat. Once oil is hot, add the eggplant strips. Saute them, turning frequently, until they are lightly browned - about 6 - 7 minutes. Add the sauce mixture, reduce the heat to medium, and continue stirring. The sauce will begin to thicken (feel free to add an additional 1 tsp. of cornstarch if it does not thicken to your liking). Once the sauce is thickened, add the bell pepper and scallions and mix together to combine. Remove from heat and serve.

Variation:

Add 8 - 12 oz. of cubed firm tofu to the oil in the wok first. Once it starts to brown, then add the eggplant and follow the directions above.

Makes about 4 servings.

Recipe: Garlic Pepper Pork

This dish was inspired by one of my favorite Thai dishes. While not exactly the same as you’d get in a Thai restaurant, this version is still quite tasty. I add asparagus because I think this dish deserves a vegetable and asparagus absorbs the flavors very nicely and gives it a nice balance. If you have green or pink peppercorns around, reduce amounts of black and white pepper to 1/3 tsp. and add 1/3 tsp. of whole green or pink peppercorns to diversify the flavors further.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs. of boneless pork chops, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp. of minced garlic
1 tbsp. of minced ginger
1 tbsp. of low-salt soy sauce
2/3 tsp. of ground black pepper
2/3 tsp. of ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. of dried basil
1/2 tsp. of ground cumin
8 small dried chile peppers (I use dried ancho chiles)
10 oz. of fresh chopped asparagus (see NOTE if you use frozen)
2 tbsp. of hazelnut or almond oil

Directions:

In a large wok, heat the hazelnut oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the pork to the wok and sautee until the pork is nearly done, about 4 - 6 minutes. Add all of the other ingredients to the wok and continue sauteeing stirring constantly for another 4 - 5 minutes until asparagus is cooked. (NOTE: if using frozen asparagus, you will need to cook another 2 - 3 minutes and add 1/2 tsp. of cornstarch in the last minute to thicken the mixture). Remove from heat and place immediately into a serving dish.

Serves 4.