General Tso’s Chicken

This is another thing I ALWAYS eat when I go to an Asian buffet. And boy oh boy is it good! Juicy tender chicken in a thick, savory, sweet, and not so spicy sauce – it’s the quintessence of American Asian buffet food!

General Tso's Chicken

1½ cup cornstarch
¼ cup water
1½ tsp minced garlic
1½ tsp minced ginger root
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup soy sauce
¼ cup white vinegar
¼ cup cooking wine
1½ cup hot chicken broth
3 lbs deboned dark chicken meat, cut into large chunks
1 tsp white pepper
1 egg
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 cups sliced scallions
16 small dried hot peppers

Mix ½ cup cornstarch with water. Add garlic, ginger, sugar, ½ cup soy sauce, vinegar, wine, and chicken broth. Stir until sugar dissolves.

In a separate bowl, mix chicken, remaining soy sauce, and white pepper. Stir in egg. Add remaining cup cornstarch and mix until chicken pieces are coated evenly. Add 1 cup of vegetable oil to help separate chicken pieces. Divide chicken into small quantities and deep-fry at 350 degrees until crispy. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Place a small amount of oil in wok (or sauté pan) and heat until wok/pan is hot. Add scallions and peppers and stir-fry briefly. Stir the cornstarch, water, garlic, ginger mixture and add to wok/pan. Place chicken in the sauce and cook until sauce thickens. Serve this alongside a heaping bowl of hot fluffy rice and enjoy!

Lo mein.

We are all familiar with this stuff. You know, that greasy tray of noodles with skimpy flecks of who knows what kind of vegetables we find at all Asian buffets – right next to the fried rice. Yup, that’s the one. Though it may be greasy, oily, unhealthy, and not much to look at - it sure does taste good! Seriously, no matter how much I tell myself that lo mein is bad for me, I still end up getting a plate full of it anyways.

So what exactly is this stuff anyways? Lo mein is a Chinese dish of Chinese egg noodles, a mix a veggies (usually carrots, cabbage, and onions), and some form of meat (most times chicken, beef, or roast pork) – all stirred in a brown sauce (soy sauce, corn starch, sugar, and other stuff I just don’t know exactly). Then, when these ingredients – simple they may seem – are combined, you get one heck of an addicting dish.

It’s salty, savory, soy saucy, slurpable, tender, cheap, tummy filling, and just plain DELICIOUS! I can’t get enough of it.

Maybe it is oily mushy bleh. SO WHAT? It’s taste (and price) makes up for all it’s bad attributes. It’s a great on the go meal for a great price. However, if you are too worried about the calories – don’t worry – I am too. Usually I just eat lo mein in small platefuls as a guilty pleasure. Other times I just make it at home where I can control the fat content.

So, if you haven’t tried lo mein before…ARE YOU CRAZY? If you have, then try making it at home! Here’s a healthy lo mein recipe courtesy of EatingWell:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/lf_hl_eatingwell/recipe/0,,FOOD_30878_100796,00.html

Isn’t lo mein just great?

Braised tofu.

Ok, so this is yet another recipe my mom picked up from her Korean cooking class (hey what can I say – they’re good!). But let me tell you, this by far is my most favorite recipe out of all the ones she learned. It’s savory, salty sweet, oniony, garlicky, gingery, and not so spicy. It is topped with basically raw garlic, ginger, and scallion – but don’t worry. Their flavors marry so well together and with the braised tofu that somehow the garlic tastes less breath damaging, the ginger less biting, and the scallion less like…well…a scallion. Many times I even end up just eating the garlic ginger scallion topping by itself because it’s so lip-smacking tasty!

On the serving plate, it’s the perfect combo of juicy tofu, soy sauce, and sweet thinly sliced garlic, ginger, scallion, and red pepper. Not only is this my favorite Korean dish from the cooking class, it’s also the most appetizing. As they say, we eat with our eyes first. And as soon as you see this dish, your eyes will be stuffing themselves silly! Before I say any more that might possibly bore you out of trying this – here’s the recipe:

Braised Tofu

1 pack firm tofu
2 Tbsp starch
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
¼ oz peeled ginger
¼ oz peeled garlic
¼ oz scallion
¼ oz cleaned red pepper
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cooking wine
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp rice wine

Cut tofu in half (not lengthwise) and then into ½ inch thick square slices. Pat tofu dry with paper towel. Sprinkle salt over one side. Coat all sides in starch and shake off the excess. Heat oil in a skillet and add tofu. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Turn off the stove. Julienne ginger, garlic, scallion, and red pepper. Mix soy sauce, cooking wine, sugar, and rice wine – this is for the sauce. Sprinkle the julienne ginger, garlic, scallion, and red pepper evenly over the tofu in the pan and pour in the sauce. Cook the tofu in the skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. And enjoy!