Tag: Asian

Pad See Ew

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Pad see ew is not a flashy dish, which is exactly the point. Wide rice noodles, a hot wok, a little char, a little sweetness, and enough soy sauce to tie everything together. It’s the kind of food that doesn’t need to show off because it already knows you’ll finish the whole plate.

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

  • 6 ounces thinly sliced boneless chicken
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt

For the sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

For the stir-fry:

  • 1/4 cup avocado oil
  • 6 ounces Chinese broccoli, cut diagonally lengthwise so that no stems are wider than 1/2 inch
  • 1 egg
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 ounces wide rice noodles, preferably fresh (and cooked according to package instructions if dry)
  • Soy sauce and white pepper
  • Prik nam som, as desired
  1. Prepare the chicken: place the chicken in a medium bowl, cover with cold water, and vigorously agitate it. Draine through a strainer set in the sink and press on the chicken with your hands to remove excess water. Combine the chicken, soy sauce, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and massage with your fingertips until the cornstarch is evenly distributed. Stir vigorously with your fingertips for 30 seconds. Cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. Make the sauce: combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar in a small bowl.
  3. Make the stir-fry: when ready to cook, rub the inside of a wok with a thin film of avocado oil, and carefully heat over high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of the avocado oil and swirl to coat. Add the chicken and cook, tossing occasionally until nearly cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl.
  4. Wipe out the wok and return to high heat until lightly smoking. Add 1 tablespoon oil. Add the broccoli and stir-fry until lightly charring in spots, about 1 minute, and transfer to the bowl with the chicken.
  5. Wipe out the wok and add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Heat until shimmering, then crack the egg into the wok, being careful to avoid splashing the hot oil. The egg should immediately start puffing. Let it puff for about 15 seconds, then flip it. (It’s okay if it breaks.) Add the garlic and stir-fry, breaking up the egg with your spatula until the garlic is fragrant and the egg is cooked through, about 30 seconds.
  6. Add the noodles to the wok and give them a good toss to coat with the oil, then add the sauce, swirling it around the edges. Return the chicken and broccoli to the wok and stir-fry until the sauce is cooked off and the noodles start to sizzle and char a little, about 1 minute. Season with soy sauce and white pepper to taste. Transferred to a serving platter and serve immediately.

Cheeseburger Potstickers

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At first glance, cheeseburger potstickers sound like the sort of thing that should never have happened. Then you take a bite and realize it’s a perfectly logical collision of two great comfort foods. Inspired by a recipe from Shirley Chung, these crispy dumplings pack all the familiar flavors of a cheeseburger into a package that’s a lot more fun to eat.

Ingredients:
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/3 pound shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • Potsticker wrappers
  • Thousand Island dressing, for serving (you can also make an easy version by combining 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup ketchup, and 1/3 cup sweet pickle relish in a bowl)
  1. In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, cheddar cheese, red onion, and Worcestershire sauce together, and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Put 1 tablespoon of beef filling in the middle of a potsticker wrapper and fold the potsticker. Repeat to make all the potstickers.
  3. After all the potstickers are folded, heat 2 tablespoons of avocado oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, line up the potstickers flat side down in a pan. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover it with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 4 minutes, then remove the lid. Increase the heat to medium and allow the bottom of the potstickers to crisp up, about 2 minutes. When they are golden on the bottom, the potstickers are done. Transfer to a serving platter and serve them alongside the dressing.

Fish-Fragrant Eggplant

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Despite the name, fish-fragrant eggplant contains no fish at all. What it does have is everything else worth loving: silky eggplant, garlic, ginger, chilies, and that perfect balance of sweet, sour, savory, and spicy that makes Sichuan cooking so addictive. It’s the kind of dish that can turn even a casual eggplant eater into a devoted fan.

Ingredients:

For the eggplant:

  • Salt
  • 1 pound Chinese eggplant, trimmed, quartered lengthwise, and cut crosswise into 3-inch batons
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the sauce:

  • 2 teaspoons Chinkiang or balsamic vinegar
  • 3 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons chicken stock
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

For the stir-fry:

  • 6 tablespoons avocado oil
  • 2 to 4 ounces ground chicken (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon doubanjiang chile paste
  • 1 teaspoon minced Thai chile (optional)
  • 2 green onions, whites and pale green parts cut into 1-inch segments, dark green parts thinly sliced, for garnish
  • Small handful chopped cilantro, for garnish
  1. Prepare the eggplant: combine 1/2 cup salt with 2 quarts of water in a medium bowl. Add the eggplant pieces, cover with a clean paper towel, press down to soak the paper towel in brine, and aside to soak for at least 10 and up to 20 minutes. Drain the eggplant and spin in a salad spinner or blot dry with paper towels. Transfer to a bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch, and toss with your fingertips until lightly coated. Set aside.
  2. Make the sauce: combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix until no cornstarch lumps remain. Set aside.
  3. Make the stir-fry: heat 1/4 cup oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the eggplant and spread into a single layer. Cook, turning the eggplant occasionally, until softened and browned on all sides, about four minutes. Transfer the eggplant to a paper towel lined bowl and set aside.
  4. Heat a wok over high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic, ginger, doubanjiang, green onion whites and pale green parts, and Thai chili and stir-fry until fragrant and the oil has become dark red from the bean paste, about 30 seconds. Stir the sauce and add it to the wok by swirling it around the sides. Stir-fry until the sauce is thick, about 15 seconds.
  5. Add the eggplant to the wok and toss a coat in the sauce. If the sauce overthickens, thin it out with a splash of water. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with the green onion greens and chopped cilantro leaves, and serve.

Yakisoba

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Yakisoba is not health food, and it’s not pretending to be. It’s noodles, sauce, a little cabbage to make everyone feel better about their choices, a deeply satisfying flavor. This version isn’t particularly authentic, but it’ll still make you go for seconds.

Ingredients:

For the sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons okonomi sauce
  • 2 teaspoons ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

For the stir-fry

  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  • 4 ounces turkey bacon, cut into 1/2-inch slices
  • 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 small carrot, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
  • 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly shredded
  • 3 green onions, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 pound yakisoba noodles, rinsed under hot water to loosen them
  • Pepper
  • Ao-nori, for garnish
  • Beni-shoga ginger, for garnish
  • Kewpie mayonnaise, for garnish
  1. Make the sauce: combine the okonomi sauce, ketchup, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl and stir together until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
  2. Make the stir-fry: heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the turkey bacon and cook, stirring occasionally until it is starting to turn brown, about five minutes.
  3. Increase the heat to high, then add the onion, carrot, and cabbage and stir-fry until the vegetables are tender and starting to brown slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the green onions, stir to combine, then transfer everything to a bowl and set aside, leaving some of the oil in the skillet.
  4. Reheat the skillet over high heat and add the noodles and cook, tossing, until hot, about 1 minute. Return the vegetables and turkey bacon to the skillet and toss everything to combine. Stir the sauce and add to the skillet. Cook, stirring until the sauce cooks everything. Season to taste with pepper. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with ao-nori and beni-shoga, drizzle with Kewpie mayo, and serve.

Hot and Sour Wontons

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Hot and sour wontons are one of those dishes that make it almost impossible to settle for a bland meal. Tender dumplings swimming in chili oil, black vinegar, garlic, and spice: sharp, rich, and unapologetically bold. Learning to make them at home felt less like a project and more like a necessity.

Ingredients:

For the wontons:

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 green onions (or Chinese chives), minced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
  • 40-50 square wonton wrappers

For the sauce:

  • 1/4 cup chile oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons Chinkiang vinegar or a mixture of 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

To serve:

  • 2 tablespoons crushed roasted peanuts
  • Small handful cilantro leaves, chopped
  1. Make the sauce: Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside until ready to use.
  2. Make the wontons: Combine the chicken, salt, sugar, pepper, green ionions, garlic, and wine in a medium bowl and knead and turn with clean hands until the mixture is homogenous and starting to feel tacky, about 1 minute.
  3. Fill the wontons, using a tablespoon of filling per skin. Use your fingertip to add a thin layer of water around all the edges of the wrapper. Pull two corners together and pinch them shut to form a triangle, then seal up the edges of the triangle, making sure to push out as much air as possible. Moisten the folded corners, then pull them toward each other, making them meet and cross in the center. Repeat until you’ve made all your wontons.
  4. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cook about 20 wontons at a time until they are completely cooked through, about four minutes. Drain the wontons and transfer to a warm serving platter. Repeat with the remaining wontons and spoon the sauce on top of the cooked wontons. Sprinkle with peanuts and minced cilantro and serve.