Moo Shu Chicken Lettuce Wraps

From "The Great American Eat-Right Cookbook" by Colleen Doyle and Jeanne Besser. Making moo shu at home is a breeze and more healthful when you use lettuce leaves as wrappers instead of the traditional Chinese flour pancakes. Just spoon the chicken mixture into the lettuce "cups."

This dish can also be made with beef, shrimp, or pork. Shiitake or other wild mushrooms can be added as well.

Prep time: 15 minutes or less
Total time: 30 minutes or less

Serves 4


1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into very thin strips
3 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
1/2 cup matchstick-cut carrots
1/2 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce, or to taste
1 small head Boston or Bibb lettuce, leaves separated and core discarded




In a wok or large skillet over high heat, add oil. Add chicken, cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, and scallions and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, or until tender.

Add hoisin sauce and stir to combine. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until vegetables and chicken are cooked through. If sauce is too thick, add 1 tablespoon water.

Spoon moo shu into lettuce leaves. Top with a small dollop of hoisin, if desired.

Nutrition Information Per Serving
Calories 185, Calories from Fat 55, Total Fat 6.0 g, Saturated Fat 0.9 g, Trans Fat 0.0 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.8 g, Monounsaturated Fat 2.9 g, Cholesterol 50 mg, Sodium 230 mg, Total Carbohydrate 12 g, Dietary Fiber 3 g, Sugars 7 g, Protein 21 g

Sriracha Deviled Eggs

I made a similar recipe of these little gems on Thanksgiving and decided to bring them out again for New Years. The heat is a nice touch to these Asian-inspired deviled eggs.

INGREDIENTS

12 eggs
6 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Hard-boil the eggs; cool, peel, and halve them; and carefully remove the yolks. Reserve the whites.
Combine the egg yolks, mayonnaise, Dijon, Sriracha, and lime juice in a medium nonreactive bowl. Season well with salt and pepper, then mix well until the yolks are broken up and the ingredients are evenly incorporated.
Evenly pipe or spoon the yolk mixture into the reserved egg white halves. As desired, top with smoked paprika.

Crunchy Vietnamese Cabbage Salad With Pan-Seared Tofu

This salad is so good. I could eat it everyday. In fact, I will be. I made enough to last me for lunch for at least two more days. These flavors are sooo good. I think if you had to describe umami - one bite of this salad would do that perfectly. Umami /uːˈmɑːmi/, a savory taste, is one of the five basic tastes, together with sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons Asian fish sauce
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/2 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 pound extra-firm tofu, cut into slabs, 3/4 inch thick
6 cups shredded cabbage
1 large carrot, grated
1/3 cup coarsely chopped roasted, salted peanuts, plus more to serve
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, plus more to serve.

Make it:
To make vinaigrette, whisk together 2 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce, lime zest and juice, jalapeño and garlic. Whisk in 3 tablespoons peanut oil.

Pat the tofu dry with paper towels. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick. When it shimmers, add the tofu. Cook 3 minutes without moving, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce. Move the tofu to a cutting board, and brush both sides of each slice generously with this mixture. Cut tofu into bite-size pieces.

In a large bowl, toss together tofu, cabbage, carrot, peanuts, cilantro and vinaigrette. Garnish with more peanuts and cilantro. Yield: 4 servings.

Oyster Sauce Chicken with Bok Choy

Fresh Direct sent me two big containers of bok choy on accident. I turned my lemon into a bangin' chicken dish. Oddly enough, the sauce smelled like it would be super strong but came out tasting mild and my sous chef described it like a "brown gravy". I've never made this before. I hope that's how it's supposed to taste! Either way, it was yummy!

What you need:

2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch cubes
Pinch salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch

SAUCE:
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon black bean sauce with garlic

STIR-FRY:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tsp Mirin
6 baby bok choy, white parts cut into 1-inch pieces leaving green parts whole


DIRECTIONS
For the chicken: In a large bowl, sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Add the cornstarch and toss to coat.

For the sauce: In another smaller bowl, combine the stock, cornstarch, oyster sauce, soy sauce and black bean sauce. Mix well and set aside.

For the stir-fry: Heat a wok over high heat and, when the wok starts to smoke, add the oil. Add the chicken, let settle for 1 minute, and then stir-fry for 3 minutes more. As the chicken starts to turn opaque, add the Mirin and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Stir in the reserved sauce and bring to a boil. Add the bok choy stalks and cook for 1 minute. Then stir in the bok choy leaves and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat. Transfer to a serving dish, serve immediately.

K-Pop

Had brunch the other day that turned into a dinner party (those are the BEST kind!!!). Anyways, I ordered dinner snacks for everyone from K-Pop. I ordered six steamed pork dumplings, Pancake with kimchi, bibimbap: Mixed vegetables with rice and an egg on top and curry sauce over rice. Freaking delicious. I will definitely order from them again.

Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce

My family really surprised me when I made this dish at our family BBQ and it was the one that I got the most compliments on. I really thought the flavors would be too bold for a lot of folks, but they really loved it. I would definitely recommend making for your next BBQ.

Ingredients

For the Peanut Sauce:
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons lime juice from 1 to 2 limes
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 medium garlic clove, minced
2 scallions , white and green parts, sliced thin

For the Satay:
1 large whole flank steak (about 2 pounds)
1/8 cup fish sauce
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Sriracha
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
4 scallions , white and green parts, sliced thin
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Make it:
1. Whisk peanut butter and hot water together in medium bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients for the peanut sauce; transfer to serving bowl and set aside.

2. Freeze flank steak for 30 minutes until firmed up. While the steak is is in the freezer, combine the fish sauce, oil, chili sauce, brown sugar, cilantro, garlic, and scallions in a small bowl. Remove from the freezer and slice the steak across grain on a bias into 1/4-inch-thick strips. Place the steak in a Ziploc bag, pour in the marinade, seal and toss to evenly distribute; open and reseal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Weave meat onto individual skewers and lay flat in shallow container.

3. Place the skewers on the grill and cook until the meat is cooked through and is lightly charred around edges, about 7 minutes, flipping them over halfway through grilling. Transfer to a platter, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve with the peanut sauce.

Sesame Ginger Shaved Beef

This was easy and delicious. Doesn't look like it, but it was.

Ingredients:
6 oz. Shaved Beef Steak
Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette

Recipe for Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette:
1 cup sesame oil 

1/2 cup rice vinegar 

2 tablespoons chopped ginger (fresh or in a jar) 

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds 

Directions: Toast sesame seeds in a dry, hot skillet just until they turn brown and begin to pop. Be careful not to burn them. In a food processor blend vinegar, ginger, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Slowly blend in sesame oil until emulsified. 

Poor the vinaigrette on the meat and let cook on low heat. You'll need tongs to pull the meat apart and cook properly. I served mine with sauteed spinach and brown rice.

Pork Stir Fry

This  hard to see photo is my pork stir fry bake... it's super easy to make and tastes delicious. Not to mention very healthy for you.

What you need:

8 oz pork center cut loin chop (no bone)

Assorted veggies cut bite sized (I have carrots, green and red peppers, red onion, broccoli, baby corn, and water chestnuts)

1/8 c low sodium soy sauce

1/8 c ponzu sauce

1 tbsp Mirin

2 tbsp EVOO

What you do:
Heat oven to 350. Dump veggies into casserole dish. Cut the pork into tiny bite sized chunks (removing any visible fat). Add pork to veggies. Pour in the EVOO and combine well (coating all the pieces). Add soy sauce and ponzu sauce. Toss and make sure everything is coated. Cook uncovered for about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with noodles or rice or nothing at all.

Asian Style Ribs

Dinner is served! Proud of myself - I can't lie. These ribs are tender and pack a little heat, but not too much. Delish!

Ingredients
2 pounds baby-back pork ribs, cut into individual ribs
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp scallions, thinly sliced
3 tsp Sriracha
3 tablespoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons honey
2 cap fulls of Liquid Smoke
3 tbsp Ponzu sauce
1 tsp Kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper 

6 cilantro sprigs for garnish
1 small orange, sliced thinly for garnish

Directions

1. Heat oven to 300° F. Place the ribs in a large roasting pan and season with 1 teaspoon pepper.
2. In a small bowl, combine all remaining ingredients; spoon the glaze over the ribs. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake until the ribs are tender, about two hours.
3. Heat the broiler. Remove foil and brush drippings on top of ribs. Broil until just beginning to char, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with the scallions and garnish with cilantro and oranges.

Tofu Udon

 It was 80 degrees last week and today it's 47. Last night it got down to 29. What the heck? This must be why my throat is sore today. I wanted something hearty and healthy today and found this gem. This is an old Food and Wine recipe from Takashi Yagihashi but I doctored my recipe by adding yummy gummy udon noodles and removing the shitake mushrooms. Fungus. *shudders*. It's super delicious. A MUST try. Plus, a pot can go a long way. I'm going to be eating this for lunch tomorrow for sure.

Ingredients

1. 4 tablespoons dashi miso paste
2. 4 cups water
3. 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
4. 1/2 cup shelled edamame (3 ounces)
5. One 14-ounce package firm silken tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
6. 8 water chestnuts, thinly sliced
7. One 5-ounce bag baby spinach
8. 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
9. 2 tablespoons mirin
10. 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
11. 1 scallion, thinly sliced 
12. One package cooked Udon 
13. 4 teaspoons bonito flakes, optional (see Note)
    

In a large saucepan, bring the dashi and water to a simmer. Add the grated ginger, sliced shiitake, edamame, tofu, udon and water chestnuts and simmer over moderate heat for 5 minutes. Add the spinach, soy sauce, mirin, and lemon juice and stir just until the spinach is wilted. Serve in bowls with the scallion and bonito. Note: Bonito (dried tuna flakes) can be found in the Asian section of supermarkets.

Yasmin's Steamed Buns

 We headed uptown to hang out with some dear friends the other night and boy did we make out - not only did we have fun playing board games and catching up - they cooked for us! These are two steamed buns - one chicken, one steak. Boy, they were good.

 The toppings were intense - shallots and garlic, mushroom with lemon and olive oil, braised brussel sprouts with dill and mustard seed and chopped carrots.

 I was so impressed that they made steamed buns. I asked Yasmin how she pulled it off and she presented to me the Momofuku Cookbook. Damn. I didn't know Momofuku had a cookbook! Wish list NOW oh husband of mine. Anyways, you can find the recipe for the Momofuku steamed buns online here too.

As much as I enjoyed the steamed buns, I enjoyed these gems much more. They are called Pao de Queijo - which means Brazilian Cheese Puffs. These things are SO good. They are made with tapioca flour which gives them a unique chewy texture - kind of like rice cakes. I found a recipe online here. You can use any kind of cheese you want. This recipe had 75% reduced fat cheddar and Parmesan.

Healthy Fried Rice

 Sometimes you want to order in Chinese food. You know you shouldn't because it's loaded in sodium and oil but it tastes so good! Well, know you can have fried rice - guilt free! Follow me please...

Make about 2 cups of brown rice (I used instant). Also, chop up about 1/2 yellow onion and about 1/2 cup green cabbage. Saute that in 2 tbsp sesame oil and also add 1 tbsp chopped garlic.

 

My pan doesn't look too appetizing but whateves. Cook the cabbage and onion down about 5 min or so then add one egg. Scramble it.

 

 Add about 1/8 c light soy sauce and a few dashes ponzu sauce. Add sliced cherry tomato at very end before serving. I don't know, maybe I was starving - but this tasted sooo good. Plus it's mad cheap to make and very healthy for you too.

Shrimp and Pork Dumplings with Bamboo Shoots

  

This recipe is courtesy of Martin Yan from Food and Wine magazine. I thought they'd be good to have with friends while we watched the Superbowl. If you plan to make a bunch, start early! These suckers are time consuming!

Ingredients

1. 2 teaspoons canola oil
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
4. Cornstarch, for dusting
5. Soy sauce and Chinese chile sauce, for serving
6. 1/4 cup finely diced bamboo shoots
7. One 12-ounce package wonton wrappers
8. 10 ounces shelled, deveined medium shrimp, cut into 1/3-inch dice
9. 2 ounces ground pork ( 1/4 cup)
10. 1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1. In a medium bowl, mix the diced shrimp with the pork, bamboo shoots, canola oil, sesame oil, salt and white pepper.
2. Work with a few wonton wrappers at a time: Brush the edges of each wrapper with water. Spoon a scant tablespoon of the filling into the center of each wrapper and fold the dough over to form triangles. Press the edges to seal. Place the dumplings on a cornstarch-dusted baking sheet. Keep the finished dumplings covered with a lightly dampened towel while you work.
3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dumplings and boil until tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Drain the dumplings well and serve with soy sauce and chile sauce. 

Make Ahead
The uncooked dumplings can be frozen on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a single layer, then transferred to an airtight container and frozen for up to 1 month.

Shilla in K-town

In NYC, when you want good Korean food, you go to K-town. Tonight, a bunch of us went and had a feast at Shilla. Ugh! So MUCH FOOOOOOD!!! I really wanted to try Bibimbap for the first time. I love Asian food - but I had yet to try Bibimbap! Weird, right? I was reeeealllly looking forward to runny egg yolk. We ordered a pork version at first and the server said there were no veggies in that version. So we opted for the chicken version. It was really good - I can't deny that. BUT - there was no egg! BAH! Tip to you first time Bibimbap eaters - stir that shit! That rice will burn in that hot pot!

 Chicken Teriyaki Gobdol: chicken teriyaki, vegetables in hot pot

 Bulgolgi with bib lettuce, bean sprouts and spicy sauce. Probably my #1 pleaser of the night! I wish I had more of these! This meat was scrump-diddly-umptious. And on lettuce with condiments it was heaven! My favorite bite all night for sure!

 

Tuck Po Ki: spicy rice cake stew w/ vegetables. I've had rice cakes before and I loved them then just as I knew I would now. I ate these two pieces of rice cake like I was eating treasure. They are chewy and divine - like gnocchi but better.

 

Haemool Or Kimchi Pajun: seafood/kimchi scallion pancake. Holy hell. Really yummy but super heavy. I could only eat half of what was on my plate.

 Beef Ribs. Delishhhhhhh! Super fatty and chewy but sweet and meaty too. I ate these outright. No bib lettuce involved. We also had pork belly - not sure where that photo went - but it was also delicious.

Broiled Yellow Corina: lightly salted broiled Croaker. I was scared of this guy but I found breaking him apart with my hands wasn't too bad. I ate around the bones. Really yummy actually!

Beef "Stir Fry" with Chinese Noodles

Sorry for my hiatus. I've been really bad about keeping this updated. I'll try to be better at that, folks. :) Funny thing is I'm taking photos of my food all the time - I just forgot to blog about it!

So, here we have a yummy beef dish. I call it a stir fry because it has all the makings of one but the way I prepared this was I actually roasted the veggies in the oven first.

To make this you'll need:

4- 5 cups assorted veggies (I used cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, celery, tomato, onion, carrots)

Beef Cubed (You know the stuff you see for stews - I took that and diced it up much smaller)

Ponzu Sauce

Chopped Garlic

Olive Oil

Stir - Fry Sauce (Unless you want to make your own, I just bought some)

Chinese Noodles (I got mine in the produce section. They were already cooked and I just reheated with boiling water but they sell dry ones too. Either are fine)

Directions:

Roast the veggies first. I put one tablespoon of EVOO and try to coat as much of the vegetables as I could. Sprinkled with salt and pepper and then blasted them for about 25/30 min at 450. (I like them to brown). After you cut up your meat into tiny bites sauté it in a pan with garlic and Ponzu sauce. When the meat is almost done cook the noodles and the turn the heat off the meat. In a big bowl combine veggies, meat and cooked noodles. Add a little stir fry sauce and mix. Everything is hot so the stir-fry sauce will get hot too. (It was kinda hard for me to separate the noodles - they like to clump together. I tried to separate them as I was mixing in the stir-fry sauce).

Enjoy!

Rai Rai Ken

We went to the small 14 seats Rai Rai Ken for dinner and I'm sold on their Miso ramen. Seriously. It's amazing. Miso Ramen is a soy bean based noodle soup topped with beansprout, cabbage, onion, crispy garlic, chicken and scallion. Out of town friends, get ready! This place looks unassuming but you will thank me!

Curtis went the more traditional route. He had the Shoyu Ramen-- soy sauce based noodle soup topped with bamboo shoot, boiled egg, roast pork, spinach, fish cake, dry seaweed, and scallion. (This was also good, but mine was better!)

Mono Mono

We ate at Mono Mono the other night for Alicia's Surprise B.day dinner! You can find this spot in the fabulous East Village - (which is convenient for me) but this place is cool! They have over 30,000 vinyl records played through vintage tube amplifiers. The place is a Korean chicken heaven, but not only that - the Soju comes with flowers...how nice...

Korean Fried Chicken. Nothing beats a soy garlic glaze on a fried piece of heaven...

Not sure what those girls got but I think it was Prosciutto on a bed of grilled calamari with lemon, aioli, Parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley.

Wedge cut fries with rosemary sprinkles, spicy mayo and hot bacon mustard sauce. You can also spy the grilled edamame with lemon in the background.

More Soju...this one was fruit infused. We also had the Dduk Galbi on a Stick with rice cake balls. It was amazing - so amazing we forgot a photo...

P.H.O. Real

Man, oh man. Ok, this sandwich was featured in Grub Street NY as one of the 101 best sandwiches in NYC. It's called P.H.O. Real because it tastes just like a bowl of Pho. No lie. At first, I was skeptical. I like the broth part of Pho...I didn't think it would be the same between 2 slices of bread - but I was pleasantly surprised! This thing has it all: eye of round, sriracha, onion, cilantro, bean sprouts and avocado. Mmm...mmm...mmm... You can get this conveniently from the deli on Ave B (down the street from me) called Sunny and Annie's. AND the kicker - it's cheap -- about $6 a pop...kinda like Pho.

Bon Chon

Holy hell. Amazing fried chicken with a garlic soy sauce. Served with Kimchi coleslaw and some kind of pickled something...turnip? Radish? Who knows?!
All I can say is - I want more....NOW!

Take out dinner

Fried crab wontons.

Com Chien Bo Luc Lac

(So yummy! Curtis and I were supposed to split - but he ate it all in 5 minutes!)

Putting my meat into my broth....I love Pho...

Now dumping in my noodles. ;)

I made a HUGE mess. My tupperware overflowed - got broth and noodles ALL over the floor.