Happy New Year!

If we were home in San Francisco, we would have had dim sum at Yank Sing, dinner at Andy’s or the place around the corner from us whose name I forget.  All of them were great.  But we’re not.  We’re 3000 miles east, give or take a couple – so I thought I’d try my hand at a few things tonight.

I do stirfry’s a lot, but I rarely coat the meat first or go to a lot of trouble with them – stir fry’s are supposed to be no-brainer couple of minutes dinner.

Tonight, I decided I needed to get a bit fancier.  I did a few web searches for recipes and, while I found a few ideas, nothing was saying “this is it.”  Sio I decided to take a few suggestions from various recipes and go for it.

One sad note is that I used the very last of our Black Japonica rice, tonight.  I love it and will now have to find someone who sells it at a reasonable price.  But I digress…

General Tim’s Chicken

  • 2 boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 egg whites
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch

Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup rice wine (or sherry)
  • 2 tbsp Chinese barbecue sauce
  • 3 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp chili paste
  • 1 tbsp ginger, minced

The Vegetables

  • 4 carrots, cut into thin strips
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 green pepper, sliced

Mix together egg whites and cornstarch. Cut chicken into cubes and coat chicken in cornstarch mixture.
Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
Heat wok. Fry chicken strips in oil until they turn white. Remove.
Add vegetables and stir-fry for a minute or two, and then add sauce.
When heated through, add chicken.
Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with rice.

I really liked coating the chicken in the egg white and cornstarch.  It came out almost tempura-like.  Light, with a bit of a crunch.  Oh – I added a bit of Jay’s Guamanian Boonie Pepper to the egg/cornstarch mixture to jack up the flavor a bit.  It was a most excellent addition.

1-26-cny-2

Vegetable lo mein

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces noodles, uncooked
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 5 cups chopped bok choy
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp chili paste
  • 2 shredded carrots
  • 4 chopped green onions
  • 8 quartered mushrooms
  • 1/2 ea red and green peppers
  • 6 oz bean sprouts

Cook pasta according to package. Drain and set aside.
Heat wok with 1 tbsp sesame oil. Add garlic and Stir-fry for a minute.
Add bok choy and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add chicken broth, soy sauce and chili paste. Stir fry another minute.
Add rest of vegetables and stirfry until cooked to your liking.
Add cooked pasta and toss gently.
Thicken slightly with a bit of cornstarch, if desired.

It was a fun dinner.  It was definitely more food that two (or four) of us needed, so we’re going to be having leftovers for a few days.  Actually – it looks like leftovers for most of the week!  There’s still tamales from yesterday – and baked pasta!

I ain’t complainin’!