Chinese Stir-Fried Shrimp with Green Peas (Ch'ing Tow Hsia Jen)

A quick and simple Chinese recipe for the busy week nights. It's easy when you have the ingredients in hand and all you really need to do is to prep the ingredients. Cleaning the shrimp can be time consuming. It's a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it. You have to peel off the shell, slice the back open and de-vein the black goop from the shrimp. Then you rinse and set it aside in a bowl. Repeat until you finish with all the shrimp. If I'm lucky, sometimes the market sells the shrimp already peeled. If you hate green peas, you can substitute with other vegetables like snow peas or sliced carrots.


Serves 6

Ingredients

1/2 lb. raw, shelled shrimp
1 1/2 tbs oil
1 green onion, cut into small slices
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup green peas, frozen

Sauce #1
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cooking wine
1/3 egg white
3/4 tsp cornstarch

Sauce #2
1/3 tsp each: cooking wine, salt, sesame oil
dash of pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tbs water

Directions:

1. Rinse and devein the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a bowl and mix it with Sauce #1 in order listed. Mix well after each addition. Set aside.
2. Mix Sauce #2 in a bowl. Set it aside for later use.
3. Heat the wok or large saute pan with 1 tbs oil. Fry the shrimp over medium heat until almost cooked. Remove the shrimp and place in a plate.
4. Reheat the work or saute pan with the remaining oil. Stir-fry the green onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the frozen green peas, stir for a minute. Add the shrimp and Sauce # 2 to the pan and stir another minute or two. Mix well and transfer to a serving platter. Serve with Jasmine rice.

Stir-fry Green Beans

This Asian-style green bean has loads of flavor packed with a punch. A hint of nutty and spicy flavor. Another quick and simple recipe I have created. I didn't measure my ingredients as I tend to eye-ball it whenever I create my own Asian recipes. Please use it as a guideline. You can find a jar of "Chili Soy Bean Paste" in any Asian specialty markets.


Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1/2 tsp cooking oil
3 cloves of garlic, mined
1 1/2 tbs Chili soy bean paste
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp soy sauce
black pepper, few dashes


Directions

1. Wash the green beans, trim and cut in desirable length. In a pot of boiling water, cook the green beans for 3 minutes. Drain them and rinse in cold water to stop the green beans from further cooking. It will help retain their green color and keep the "crunch".
2. In a sauté pan or wok, add cooking oil and mince garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes. Add the green beans, chili soy bean paste, sugar, soy sauce and black pepper. Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
3. Serve it as a side dish. This can be served hot or cold. You can eat it alone with jasmine rice.

Sweet Glazed Salmon with Sauté Onions

Here's another impromptu dinner I made tonight. Salmon is highly nutritious. Just to name a few, it has high protein, "good fats" and omega-3 fatty acids. If you have high cholesterol, eating fish can help lower bad LDL cholesterol and reduces your risk of heart disease. Eating fish is also good for your hair and skin. So eat at least 2-3 times a week for health benefits.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 salmon pieces
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1/4 Cup Agave Nectar (or honey)
1/3 Cup orange juice, fresh
1/2 tsp white ground pepper
2-3 garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
Sprig of parsley, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together EVOO, Agave Nectar, orange juice, white ground pepper, and garlic. Add the salmon pieces and let it marinade for 15 mins.
2. In a large sauté pan in med-high heat, pan fry the salmon for 5 mins on each side or until it's golden brown. Place the salmon on a plate and set it aside.
3. In the same pan, pour the remaining marinade and cook the onion until soft and caramelized.
4. Plate the dish and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

Grilled Chicken with Sauté Onions & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Sometimes, I don't have time to cook a gourmet meal especially after a long day at work! So I made an impromptu dinner with items I found in my fridge and pantry. Quick, healthy, easy and it took me 30 minutes to cook dinner. For the seasoning, I didn't use measuring spoons, I just eye-ball it. I used 2 cups Minute Ready to Serve Brown Rice. The brown rice has a nutty flavor and slightly chewy texture. What's great about Minute Ready to Serve Brown Rice, it comes in individual cups and it takes only 1 to 1 1/2 mins to cook in the microwave. Talk about time saver!

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

Italian seasoning

Olive oil

1 medium onion

8 sun-dried tomatoes (from jar packed with oil), chopped

Garlic-Salt seasoning

2 cups cooked Brown Rice (or use Minute Ready to Serve Brown Rice)

Directions

1. Cook the brown rice according to directions on the package.

2. Pound the chicken breasts to even thickness. Season with Italian seasoning on both sides.

3. Grill the chicken breasts until cooked throughly. Another option is to pan fry the chicken breasts with a little olive oil. Once cooked, set aside.

4. Cut the onion in half and slice them thinly. In a sauté pan, add olive oil and cook the onions until soft and caramelized in medium-high heat (about 10-12 mins). Add garlic-salt seasoning (few dashes). Then add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cook for a few minutes more (about 5 mins).

5. Cut the chicken breasts diagonally and plate everything together.

Easy Peasy Bacon Kimchi Bokumbop

Kimchi Bokumbop is fried rice with kimchi. In Korean, bokum means sautéed or fried and bop means steamed rice. Kimchi is an essential part of any Korean meals and made up of fermented vegetables. It is a common banchan, or side dish, in South Korea. You can buy kimchi at any Asian specialty markets. There are many variations making Kimchi Bokumbop. You'll get best results if you use leftover rice from last night. Steam rice holds too much water and it will turn your fried rice into a mush so cook your rice a day ahead.

When I cook Asian food, I try to keep it healthy and avoid using too much cooking oil, sodium, etc. This recipe is very simple and you can find most ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator. You can improvise and add additional ingredients such as chopped garlic, chopped onions, soy sauce, salt & pepper, ground meat, etc. I didn't want the recipe to be high in sodium because the bacon and kimchi are salty as is! Based on your preferences, it's up to you how you want to make your Kimchi Bokumbop.

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 cups of cooked rice (day old)

8 slices bacon, diced thinly

3 eggs, lightly beated

1 1/2 cups kimchi, chopped

2 1/2 tbs kimchi juice (taken from the kimchi jar)

1 1/3 cups peas & carrots (I used the frozen package)

3 tbs green onions, chopped

1 1/2 - 2 tbs cooking oil

Directions

1. In a wok or large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in med-high heat for a few minutes. Cook the diced bacon until almost crisp. Take it out and put it on a plate covered in paper towel. It'll absorb the excess oil.

2. Using the same pan, pour out the oil and wipe away the bacon residue with a paper towel (or you can wash the pan). Heat the remaining 1/2 to 1 tsp oil on med-high. Cook the eggs scrambled and set it aside in a small bowl.

3. In the same pan, add the rice and stir fry it for 1-2 minutes. Add the kimchi and stir fry again for a minute. Then add the kimchi juice, peas & carrots and scrambled eggs into the mixture. Stir fry for another 3-4 minutes. Add the green onions last and give it a few more stir.

Cook's Notes:

• You can garnish your dish with fried egg sunny side up on top or cut thin strips of nori (seaweed) for presentation.
• When cooking bacon, watch out for oil splatters. It almost hit my left eye!