Creamy Walnut Shrimp

This recipe was by far the favorite dish from the Chinese take-out meal I created. I tried to find a recipe that was similar to the Walnut Shrimp I always order when I go to Asian Star. It had a really unique flavor (I think it was something in the 5-spice powder), and we all loved it! Definitely a new family favorite! Oh and I threw in a picture of the table setting I did for the meal. Usually I don't do a table setting, but I though it would kinda be fun to do sort of an Asian theme! I also set some fortune cookies on the table for dessert!

(serves 4)

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. uncooked medium shrimp, shelled and cleaned
oil for deep frying
1/4 cup glazed walnuts

Marinade:
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. minced shallot
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. sesame seeds
1/4 tsp. 5-spice powder (available in the Asian food aisle)

Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. honey
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. mustard powder

Directions:
Mix together ingredients for marinade. Add shrimp and toss in marinade. While shrimp is marinating, mix together ingredients for sauce. Stir until smooth.

Pour oil into wok and heat. Slip the shrimp into hot oil and fry until opaque, about 3 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Place shrimp in large bowl and drizzle with sauce. Toss to coat well and then place onto serving platter. Top with glazed walnuts and garnish with sesame seeds.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

When making my Chinese take-out dinner, I knew I had to make some Sweet and Sour Chicken. For this recipe I turned to a cooking blog I had come across recently called Rasa Malaysia. Between the countless easy but authentic Asian recipes and awesome pictures of her food, I would highly recommend it! The original recipe called for pork, but I used chicken since there aren't many pork fans in our family. It turned out great and I will definitely be making this again!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into pieces
2 stalks scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 small can pineapple chunks
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
oil for frying

Marinade:
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. rice wine

Frying Batter:
1/2 cup water
2 oz. all-purpose flour (I had to look this up, and found out it's a little less than 1/2 c)
1 oz. corn starch (a little less than 1/4 c)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 egg (just whisk it in a little bowl and dump half of it out)
1 tsp. cooking oil
1 small pinch of salt

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
1 1/2 Tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp. plum sauce
1/8 tsp. rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. oyster sauce
1 tsp. corn starch
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. water

Directions:
Cut chicken into pieces and marinate with the ingredients for 15-20 minutes.

Mix the sweet and sour sauce ingredients well and set aside.

Mix together the dry ingredients for the frying batter and then add in the 1/2 egg, water, and cooking oil to form a thick batter.

When the chicken is well marinated, transfer the pieces into the batter and make sure they are well coated. In a deep skillet, pour enough cooking oil to fry the chicken pieces. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the chicken pieces until they turn golden brown. Dish out and drain on paper towels.

Heat up a wok and add in some cooking oil. Add in the chopped garlic and stir fry until light brown, then add the bell peppers and pineapple. Stir fry until you can smell the peppers. Add in the sweet and sour sauce. As soon as the sauce thickens, transfer the chicken into the wok and stir well to coat chicken with sauce. Add in the chopped scallions, do a few quick stirs. Serve with hot steamed white rice.

Hot Sesame Beef

For my homecooked Chinese take-out meal, I also made a spicy beef dish from this cookbook my mom had given me. It was really good, but I should probably warn you, VERY spicy. I'm sure you could adjust the amount of red chile, chile flakes, or chili oil to acheive just the right amount of heat for your taste. Also, you end up cooking the beef twice, so be careful not to overcook it the first time or it will end up overdone.

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 lb 2 oz beef fillet, cut into thin strips (I just bought the meat that comes already sliced and says "stir fry meat" on it and cut each piece in half. Not the stew meat, which can be really tough)
1 1/2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1/2 cup beef stock
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. grated fresh gingerroot (I just used ground ginger)
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely (I always just use the jarred stuff)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. chile flakes
3 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets (I just used frozen broccoli florets)
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 red chile, seeded and sliced finely
1 Tbsp. chile oil, to taste
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish

Directions:
Mix the beef strips with 1 Tbsp. of the sesame seeds in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the beef stock, soy sauce, gingerroot, garlic, cornstarch, and chile flakes.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of the sesame oil in a large skillet or wok. Stir-fry the beef strips for 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Discard any oil left in the pan, then wipe with paper towels to remove any stray sesame seeds. Heat the reamaining oil, add the broccoli, red bell pepper, chile, and chili oil, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the beef stock mixture, cover, and let simmer for 2 minutes.

Return the beef to the skillet and let simmer until the juices thicken, stirring occasionally. Cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Baked Egg Rolls

A couple of weeks ago I was craving some Chinese food and decided I would make an entire Chinese take-out meal from scratch. It ended up being a LOT of work, but was totally worth it in my opinion! For the egg rolls I decided on this recipe because it seemed a like a healthier option and I didn't want to mess around with having to deep fry the egg rolls.

(Recipe yields 14 egg rolls)

Ingredients:

Egg rolls:
2/3 cup coarsely chopped celery
2/3 cup coarsely chopped carrot
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
2/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 pound ground turkey breast
1 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
14 egg roll wrappers
1 large egg white
Cooking spray

Sauce:
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine celery and carrot in food processor, and pulse 10 times or until finely chopped.

Combine celery mixture and cabbage in a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; vent. Microwave at high 5 minutes; drain.

Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add turkey; cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cabbage mixture, 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce, and pepper. Cover and chill 15 minutes.

Place 1 egg roll wrapper at a time onto work surface with 1 corner pointing toward you (wrapper should look like a diamond). Trim 1 inch off right and left corners of wrapper. Spoon 3 tablespoons turkey filling into center of wrapper. Fold lower corner of egg roll wrapper over filling. Fold in trimmed corners. Moisten top corner of wrapper with egg white; roll up jelly-roll fashion. Repeat procedure with remaining wrappers, turkey filling, and egg white.

Lightly coat egg rolls with cooking spray, and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until golden brown.

To prepare sauce, combine 3/4 cup soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon ginger; serve with egg rolls. Garnish with green onions.

Hot and Sour Soup

Callie and I found this recipe a few years ago and it has become a staple in our house. The original recipe (I don't remember where we got it from) called for chicken but we liked it better as a vegetarian soup. Not the prettiest soup but it does taste good! I love how the ground red pepper gives it a little extra heat. So good for lunch on a cold day!

Ingredients:

3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup cole slaw mix
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 egg, beaten
chopped green onion (optional)

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine broth, water, mushrooms, colesaw, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and red pepper. Boil, then reduce to low and cover.

In a separate bowl stir together cornstarch and vinegar. Return to a boil, then drizzle in egg while stirring. Stir in vinegar and cornstarch. Simmer until thickened. Garnish with green onion.

Serves: 4

Crunchy Noodle Salad

I actually made this recipe a while ago after seeing it on an episode of Barefoot Contessa, and I just realized I had never posted it. It was so good! The sauce has a really good flavor and I love the crunchy vegetables. I had forgotten about it, but I think I'll be making it again soon:)

(serves 6)
Ingredients:

Kosher salt
1/2 pound thin spaghetti
1 pound sugar snap peas
1 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, divided
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded, and thinly sliced
4 scallions (with and green parts), sliced diagonally
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring another large pot of salted water to a boil, add the sugar snap peas, return to a boil, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until crisp tender. Lift the sugar snap peas from the water with a slotted spoon and immerse them in a bowl of ice water. Drain.

For the dressing, whisk together the vegetable oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds and peanut butter in a medium bowl.

Combine the spaghetti, sugar snap peas, peppers and scallions in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over the spaghetti mixture. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds and the parsley and toss together.

Ginger Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wraps

For this appetizer, I took this recipe I found for some wraps and decided to just take the recipe for the filling and turn it into lettuce wraps instead. They were SO good! They had so much flavor and tasted really fresh. I will definitely be making these again. They are also nice because you can make the filling way ahead of time and just let it chill in the fridge. So easy!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil
6 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves, cooked (we just baked them with a little salt and pepper on them)
1 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (I just used 3/4 tsp. ground ginger instead)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Lettuce leaves (I used iceburg because I like the crunch:)

Directions:

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Place chicken, cucumber, and bell pepper in a large bowl; set aside.

Whisk together sugar and the next 6 ingredients (sugar through garlic) until smooth. Add peanut butter and water; whisk until smooth, scraping sides. Add peanut butter mixture to chicken mixture; stir well. Add cilantro, and toss well. Serve with lettuce leaves.

Sesame Noodles with Chicken

I was looking through some old recipes today and I found this recipe from a few years ago. I had forgotten about it and I was so excited when I found it. It used to be one of my favorites so I thought I'd share. (Note: it's pretty spicy so if you don't like spicy food I would adjust the amount of hot sauce)

Ingredients:

8 ounces uncooked linguine

1 cup matchstick-cut carrots

2/3 cup vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon bottled ground fresh ginger (I used 1/2 tablespoon dried ground ginger)

2 teaspoons Sriracha hot chile sauce (Rooster sauce)

2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

1 cup thinly sliced green onions

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add carrots to pasta during the last 3 minutes of cooking. Drain well.

Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (through Sriracha) in a food processor; process until smooth (Note: I just whisked the ingredients and they mixed just fine). Combine pasta and carrots, chicken, and onions in a large bowl. Drizzle broth mixture over pasta mixture; toss well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Yields: 5 Servings (1 cup each)

Pad Thai

I made this Pad Thai recipe for dinner a couple of months ago and it has become a family favorite! So I thought I would share! If you don't like tofu I'm sure you could substitute chicken or shrimp.

Ingredients
2/3 cup chili sauce (such as Heinz)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon chopped seeded serrano chile
1/2 pound wide rice stick noodles (bánh pho)
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 (12.3-ounce) package extrafirm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
3/4 cup diagonally cut green onions
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro, divided
1/3 cup coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
6 lime wedges
Preparation
Combine first 6 ingredients; set aside.

Cook noodles in boiling water 5 minutes or until done. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu; cook 7 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan.

Combine egg whites and egg, stirring well with a whisk.

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and sauté for 10 seconds. Add egg mixture, and cook for 30 seconds or until soft-scrambled, stirring constantly. Stir in chili sauce mixture and noodles; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in tofu, bean sprouts, onions, and 1/4 cup cilantro, and cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro and peanuts evenly over each serving of noodle mixture. Serve with lime wedges.

Yield
6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups noodle mixture, 2 teaspoons cilantro, about 1 teaspoon peanuts, and 1 lime wedge)