Korean Beef Bowl-Secret Recipe Club

When I get my assigned blog for Secret Recipe Club, it is so much fun to go there and hang out for awhile.  I try to skim through all the posts back to the beginning of the bog when I can.  I found that I can find some hidden jewels in older posts.

This month my blog was Bitchin’ Kitchin'.  Ellie has been blogging since 2009 so she has posted many wonderful recipes.  One of her recent recipes that caught my eye was Mini Double Chocolate Cake Donuts.  They immediately went on my to make soon list, and I did consider them for my Secret Recipe Post.  However, in looking through the blog further, I found Korean Beef Bowl and knew that was the recipe I would make to post.  I was working on a Saturday that week and planned to pick up some Chinese food for dinner that night.  I like to stretch the purchased food with fried rice that I make at home and thought that the recipe would fit right in with dinner.  I am always on the look out for new recipse using ground beef, and this one was different from the ones I usually find.  Ellie has great step-by-step photos.

I decided to serve the beef in lettuce leaves as sort of a wrap, hence the lettuce in the photo.  Alas, I forgot to sprinkle the green onion over the meat in my photo.

Since I am a whimp when it comes to spicy food, I used only a pinch of red pepper flakes, and it was plenty spicy for me, so use your own judgment regarding how much red pepper you want to use.  Next time I make this, I think that I will add some onion and red pepper to the mix.  Thanks, Ellie for a great recipe that I will be making often.

A little note:  Ellie has recently moved her blog to The Hobo Kitchen.  You can access her recipes on either site.

Korean Beef Bowl from The Bitchin’  Kitchin.
1/3 c. brown sugar packed
1/4 c soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
1t. sesame oil (I used toasted)
1/2 t. crushed red-pepper flakes (you may want to start with just a pinch)
1/4 t. ginger
1 T. vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 green onions, thinly sliced

cooked rice for serving if desired or lettuce leaves to make wraps

In a small bowl combine brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and ginger.  Beat until combined with a whisk.  Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add ground beef and cook until well browned, breaking the beef up as it cooks.  Drain fat, if necessary.  Stir in the brown sugar/soy sauce mixture and heat through, about 2 minutes.  Turn in the serving dish and sprinkle with green onions.  Serve immediately over rice or in lettuce leaves.  Makes 3-4 servings.

If you would like to find out how to join in the fun of Secret Recipe Club, just visit the page here.

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Oriental Fried Ramen-Starving Student’s Survival

My granddaughter calls Oriental Fried Ramen Starving Student’s Survival.  That is because this recipe can feed four people for less than $2.00, and she is a starving student in California.  It is a "go-to" recipe for her.

I like to have fried rice as a side dish when I make something Oriental.   Since hubby doesn’t really care for rice, I often make this dish instead.  Use your favorite ramen noodle flavor in this.

Like all recipes for fried rice, you can use whatever veggies that you want in this dish or whatever you happen to have in the fridge.  I rarely make this exactly the same way twice in a row.  I do almost always use onion and red pepper.  This particular time I used carrots and snow peas.  I also sometimes add chopped nuts.

Although I include eggs when I make this, they can be left out, and almost any kind of cooked meat (even bacon) can be used to make it more of a main dish.

The recipe is loosely based on a recipe I found at  - http://busycooks.About.com a number of years ago.

Oriental Fried Ramen
2 pkgs. Ramen noodles, flavor of choice
3 c. boiling water
1 T. vegetable oil
1 t. sesame oil (optional)
1/2 c. chopped onion (regular or green)
1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1/2 c. carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch matchsticks
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. frozen peas (or chopped snow peas or sugar snap peas)
2 T. soy sauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 to 2 c. chopped cooked meat or poultry

Break ramen noodles into six or eight pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl.  Sprinkle with the contents of the seasoning packets.  Pour boiling water over noodles and let set while preparing rest of ingredients.  Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a medium skillet.  Add onion, red pepper, carrots and garlic.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until tender-crisp, about 7 minutes.  Drain noodles well and add to skillet.  Add soy sauce and mix until well blended.  Cook and stir noodles 1 or 2 minutes.  Push noodles to the side of the skillet and pour eggs into the center.  Cook eggs, scrambling and cutting into small pieces as the eggs cook.  Mix eggs with noodles.  Add meat or poultry if using and heat through.  Serve as a side or main dish as desired.  Makes 4 servings.

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Oriental Cherry Chicken Salad

Happy Monday to everyone.  Welcome to my new followers.  It is so nice to have you aboard.  I want to extend my weekly thanks to all who take time from their busy lives to read this blog.  It is greatly appreciated, and I hope that what you find here is useful to you.
 
It is almost the end of cherry season here, but hubby bought some free ones home a week or so ago.  I was when it was so hot here so I enjoyed some of the cherries in this Oriental Cherry Chicken Salad.

As with all salads, change the ingredients to suit your personal preference.  I like to put the mandarin orange can in the refrigerator to chill.  Although the components  and the dressing can be made ahead, this salad is best assembled shortly before serving.  The cherries will turn everything purple if the salad sits too long.  The salad is still very good, just not so pretty.

I have a wonderful cherry pitter made by Progressive that pits four cherries at a time so the cherry pitting goes really quickly.

The original recipe came from a recipe card that a local grocery store gave out many years ago.

Oriental Cherry Chicken Salad
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 t. soy sauce
1 T. lemon juice
1/8 t. ground ginger
1/8 t. pepper, coarse ground if possible
2 c. fresh sweet cherries, pitted and halved
1 (11 oz.) can mandarin orange segments, well drained
1 to 1 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken
3/4  c. diced celery
1/2 c. sliced sugar snap peas
3 green onions, chopped
1/3 c. toasted, slivered almonds

Combine mayonnaise, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger and pepper until well blended.  Chill several hours or overnight to blend flavors.  Combine cherries, orange segments, chicken, celery, pea, green onions and almonds in a medium bowl.  Spoon dressing over salad ingredients and mix well.  Serve immediately.  Makes 4 servings.

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Hoisin Noodles with Veggies

Sunday I felt like doing something Oriental inspired for dinner  As usual I had round steak in the freezer so decided to use that and make some Teriyaki Beef (recipe coming).  I wanted to make a chow mein or low mein (I am not sure exactly what the difference is) type of side dish to go with the meat.  We were already planning to have deep-fried asparagus so I had the veggie covered.

I looked in my cookbooks and on the internet and couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I used bits and pieces from several recipes and came up with my own version.

Like most things of this type, lots of different ingredients could be added.  Water chestnuts come to mind.  I did not use them because hubby isn't that fond of them, and he was going to be eating leftovers from this for two nights.  This time of year, I would add some chopped asparagus if I was making it just for me to eat.  Chopped green beans and snow peas are other things I would probably add if I had them available.

I posted two DIY Hoisin Sauce recipes yesterday for those who might not have that available and wanted to make this.

I served this with the Teriyaki Beef, but any kind of chopped cooked meat or poultry would turn this into a main dish, so it is a good use for leftovers.

Hoisin Noodles with Veggies
8 oz. Chinese noodles or spaghetti
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into match-stick pieces
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced horizontally
quarter of a small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced on the bias
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced or 1/2 t. dry ginger
2-3 T. vegetable oil
1/4 c. low-sodium chicken broth or water
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce

Heat water and cook Chinese noodles or spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.  Heat 2 T. oil in a large skillet until hot.  Add carrots,  onion, red pepper, cabbage and celery.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes until crisp-tender.  Remove vegetables and set aside.  Add another tablespoon of oil to skillet and heat.  Add spaghetti, garlic and ginger.  Cook, stirring,  for two to three minutes until spaghetti is lightly browned.  Return vegetables to skillet.  Combine chicken broth or water, hoisin sauce and soy sauce until well blended.  Pour over spaghetti and vegetables.  Heat and stir until liquid boils and is slightly thickened.  Transfer to a serving bowl.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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DIY Hoisin Sauce-The Battle

It is no secret that I am delighted when I find I can make a homemade version of a commercial product.  Several months ago I found a recipe for Hoisin Sauce in a microwave book.  The author indicated that the recipe had come from Recipezaar which is now Food.com.

I thought I would go check the recipe out on the site.  When I got there I found that there were two very different recipes for making Hoisin Sauce.  The one in the book which makes quite a bit and another one that made a smaller amount.

I decided to make both recipes and see if I liked one better than the other, and, of course, I had to make my own changes, too.  The results were mixed.  They were both easy to make and used ingredients that I keep on hand.   I didn’t really like one that more than the other one.  The shortcomings in both recipes were that, as written, neither of them had the thick, paste-like texture like the commercial Hoisin sauces I have purchased.  I have adjusted my recipes for that.

So, try them both.  If you need just a little Hoisin Sauce make the recipe the yields the smaller amount.  The recipe that makes the larger amount says that it keeps 2 weeks.  For longer storage, I don’t see why the sauce can not be frozen, so I would dollop recipe amounts out on a parchment paper-lined pan, flash freeze, and put the dollops in a freezer bag or container.

The first recipe uses black bean sauce or peanut butter.  I used peanut butter since I always have that on hand.  One recipe said 1 T., one recipe said 2 T.  I used 1 T.  I think that the peanut butter flavor may be a little too much with 2 T.

DIY Hoisin Sauce-small quantity
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1-2 T. black bean paste or creamy peanut butter
1 T.  molasses, honey, or brown sugar, firmly packed (I used molasses)
2 t. unflavored rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or white vinegar (use use rice wine vinegar)
2 t. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced or 1/4 t. garlic powder (I used the powder)
1/8 t. onion powder
2 t. cornstarch
20 drops hot sauce, preferably Chinese (I did not use this much)
1/8 t. black pepper

Combine soy sauce, peanut butter, molasses, vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, onion powder in a glass measuring cup.  Microwave on high 30 seconds to melt peanut butter for easier mixing.  Beat with a wire whisk until well blended  and cool.  Stir in cornstarch, beating until well blended.  Microwave 30 seconds to 1 minute until mixture is thickened.  Stir well.  Add hot sauce and black pepper.  Makes about 1/3 cup.

DIY Hoisin Sauce-large quantity
1 c. beef broth (low sodium if possible)
1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. dry sherry
2 T. cornstarch
2 T.  molasses
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. tomato paste
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 t. ginger
black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a 1 qt. glass measuring cup or microwave-proof bowl.  Stir with a whisk to dissolve cornstarch.  Partially cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave on high 2 minutes.  Stir with a whisk.  Microwave 1 1/2 to 2 more minutes until thickened.  Stir again with a whisk until smooth.  Let cool and store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.  Ingredients may also be put in a small saucepan, and mixture cooked on the stove until boiling and thickened.  Makes about 2 cups.

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Ingredient Spotlight-Oriental Pasta

I really like Oriental food and try to prepare something Oriental at least once a month.  Although he will eat my fried rice, hubby is not a lover of rice so I was very happy to come across today’s recipe. I found it on a package of Italian Chef Fancy Egg Noodles which is a bit of a strange place to find an Oriental recipe.  I have made this a few times now as an alternative to fried rice, and hubby really likes it.

Of course, I  had to play around with the basic recipe.  I sometimes replace part of the water with a couple of tablespoons of sherry and am thinking about using at least part chicken broth if I am serving this with a chicken dish.  I have made this with noodles, spaghetti, and angel hair pasta.  The pasta in the Oriental food aisle at the grocery story would be good also.  I use sesame oil for part of the vegetable oil and sub frozen green peas for the snow peas most of the time since I always have the green peas on hand.  I am thinking about adding very thin matchstick cut carrots and maybe some chopped red pepper the next time I make this.

Oriental Pasta
adapted from an Italian Chef Noodle package
12 oz. pasta (noodles, spaghetti, angel hair, etc)
1/2 c. water (part sherry if you like)
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
2 t. vinegar (I use rice vinegar)
2 t. sugar
2 t. cornstarch
1  1/2 T. vegetable oil (part sesame oil if you have it)
1/4 c. scallions or green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried ginger
1 c. frozen green peas or 1/2 lb. snow peas, trimmed

Cook pasta according to package directions only until al dente.  While noodles are cooking, combine water, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl.  Stir until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved.  Set aside.  When pasta is done, drain well.  Heat oil in small skillet.  Add scallions or green onions, garlic and ginger; cook and stir over medium heat about 30 seconds.  Add the peas or snow peas.  Cook, stirring until peas are warmed or snow peas are just beginning to change color.  Place pasta back in the pan it was cooked in.  Add  pea mixture to pasta and mix until pasta is well coated.  Return pan to burner.  Add water/soy sauce mixture and mix well.  Heat and stir over medium heat until sauce is thickened.  Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.  Garnish with sliced green onions and slivered almonds if desired.  Makes 8 servings.

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What Works for Me

Fried Rice-Japanese Style

Everyone probably has their own recipe for this, but I thought I would share mine.  This is loosely adapted from the Benihana Japanese Fried Rice recipe in "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes".  I use more ingredients in mine.  I don't know if there is much difference between Japanese and Chinese fried rices, but I am going to call this Japanese.  I sometims garnish this with toasted, slivered almonds.  Diced, cooked meat, poultry, or even seafood could be added to make this a main dish.

Fried Rice-Japanese Style

2 c. well-chilled cooked rice (1 c. rice cooked according to package directions)

1 1/2-2 T. butter

1/4 c. minced or grated carrot

1 bunch green onions, sliced or 1/2 c. diced regular onion

1/2 c. finely diced red pepper

3-4 T. low-sodium soy sauce

2  eggs, beaten

1 c. frozen peas, thawed

Melt butter in medium-sized frying pan.  Add carrot, onion, and red pepper.  Cook until tender, stirring often.  Add rice, cook and stir for a few minutes.  Add soy sauce and mix well.  Push rice to ide of frying pan.  Pour eggs into frying pan and scramble quickly, breaking egg up into pea-sized pieces.  Mix egg and rice together, blending well.  Add peas.  Cook, stirring often, until peas are heated through and everything is hot.  Makes 4 servings.

Simmered Chinese Chicken

We made a quick trip out of town yesterday (Sat.), just got back early this a.m. (Sun.), and I see that this did not post like I thought I had scheduled it.  So, there will be two posts today (Sun.).

I make this recipe a lot.   Very quick, very easy.  You can cook a whole 3-4 lb. chicken in less than an hour.  This recipe produces very moist meat with a slight teriyaki flavor.  I usually use sherry in this, but had some apple juice I needed to use up so I used that.  If I don’t have green onions on hand, I usually just use a tablespoon of dried, minced onion.  Since I can make this so fast, I have never made this in a slow cooker, but I am sure that you could.  Unlike roasting, the skin will not be crisp, but it will come right off.  This recipe came from a Foster Farms Whole Chicken package.  The recipe suggested serving with rice.  Hubby is not a big plain rice eater so I serve it with fried rice and green beans with almonds

 

Simmered Chinese Chicken
1 whole chicken, 3 to 3 1/2 lbs.
1 T. oil
1/3 c. soy sauce, regular or reduced sodium
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. water
1 T. ketchup
1/4 c. dry sherry or apple juice
1/2 to 3/4 t. crushed dried red pepper (opt.)
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 bunch green onions sliced
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. water
2 t. toasted sesame seeds (opt.)

Heat oil in Dutch oven, brown chicken on all sides. Mix together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, ketchup, sherry, red pepper, garlic, and onion. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and simmer 35 to 40 min. I usually turn the chicken over once or twice so all sides get immersed in the sauce for a while. Remove chicken to a platter, draining juices back into the pan. Skim fat from sauce. Blend together, cornstarch and water, stir into sauce. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Sprinkle chicken with sesame seeds. Serve with sauce.

This is pretty fast for time, but here are microwave directions: Place chicken in 3 qt. casserole. Pour sauce mixture over chicken. Cover, microwave on HIGH 5 min. Microwave on MEDIUM 15 min. Turn chicken. Cover, microwave on MEDIUM 15 to 20 min. Remove chicken to a platter. Blend cornstarch and water, stir into sauce. Microwave on HIGH 1-2 min. until thickened.

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Chinese Filled Buns

Last weekend my daughter said to me she was craving Chinese Filled Buns.  So I made some.  This was something I used to make all the time when the kids were at home. I don’t make these as often now because I love them, but I hate them.  If these are in my fridge, there is a constant battle between my mouth and my hand.  Every time I walk by the fridge, mouth wants my hand to reach in and get a bun.  Hand resists, mouth insists.   For me, these are like eating popcorn. I can easily eat a whole loaf of bread’s worth in an afternoon

Although somewhat time-consuming, these are very easy to make; and there is a lot for the effort put in.  They are good hot or at room temperature.  They make great picnic food, appetizers, and snacks.  The basic idea can be used with fillings other than what I am posting here.  Some ideas:  ham or bacon  and eggs, Italian sausage and cheese, taco meat, barbecued meat or chicken, ham and cheese just to name a few.  Also, the two fillings can be served in flour tortillas if one doesn't want to go to the effort of making the buns.  Kids like to help make these by stretching out the dough balls. I found this recipe in Sunset magazine sometime in the 80's. 

My photos aren’t great, but I am going to try a little bit of a tutorial.

You will need 3 loaves of frozen bread dough,  thawed until just pliable, about 1-2 hours.  (I forgot to take a photo of the bread.)

To make the pork filling, which is what I made, you need the ingredients  below.

You cut the pork butt into 1/2-inch cubes, pour a garlic, ginger, soy marinade over them, brown the cubes, add a cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry, water mixture to thicken them up.

The thickened mixture will look like this. Set aside to cook.

You cut each loaf of bread into 16 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and stretch the dough ball out to about 4 inches, just as if you were making mini pizzas.

 

Place 1-2 T. of filling into the center of the dough circle.  I use about 1 1/2 T.

Pinch the edges of the dough ball together, and place on greased baking sheet.  Repeat with all the pieces of dough.  Let rise in warm place 20-30 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees about 20 minutes.

.

Chinese Filled Buns (Bow)
3  loaves  (3 lb.) frozen bread dough

Choice of Filling below. Other fillings may be used, try taco meat, ham and cheese, Italian sausage, etc.

Remove bread dough from freezer and thaw as package directs, covering it with a moist cloth or brushing surface with salad oil; thaw just until the dough is pliable, 1-2 hours at room temperature.  Meanwhile prepare filling.

With a lightly floured knife, cut a thawed loaf in half lengthwise and then cut each half into 8 equal-sized pieces, making 16 total pieces.  Roll each piece of dough into a ball.  Pull and stretch the dough as if making a mini pizza until it is about 4 -inches in diameter.  Place 1-2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each round; pull edges of dough up around filling and tightly pinch together to seal.  Place buns, pinched side down, about 2-inches apart, on a greased cookie sheet.  Cover and let rise in warm place until puffy and light, about 20-30 minutes.

Brush each bun with melted butter.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  I also like to brush with butter when they come out of the oven.  Serve warm, reheated or at room temperature.  Repeat with remaining two loaves.  Makes 48 filled buns.  Store buns in refrigerator or freeze.

These can be made ahead, and, in fact, we like them better after a day or so in the refrigerator.  To heat individual buns from refrigerator, place in microwave and heat 30 seconds.  If doing more, increase the time by 15 seconds or so for each additional bun.

Buns may be frozen.  Flash freeze on a baking sheet, then seal tightly in a freezer bag.  To reheat, place the frozen buns, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes or until heated through.

You may use chicken breasts or thighs in either of the recipes below.

Chinese Pork Filling
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. grated fresh ginger root (or 1/4 t. ground ginger)
2 t. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 lbs. boneless pork (such as butt), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 t. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. sherry
1/4 c. water
1 T. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped

Combine garlic, ginger, sugar and soy sauce.  Add pork cubes to this mixture and stir to coat.  In a small dish combine sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, sherry and water.  Mix well and set aside.  Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add pork, cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 5 min.  Add onion and continue stir-frying for about 2 minutes more or until onion is limp.  Stir cornstarch mixture into pork; cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens, about 30 seconds.  Skim off and discard any fat.  Cool.

Curry Beef Filling

1 t. curry powder
1/8 t. cayenne
1/2 t. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 t. grated fresh ginger root (or 1/2 t. ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb. boneless beef (such as top round), cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 more t. curry powder
1 T. cornstarch
3 T. water
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. vegetable oil
1 med. onion, finely chopped

Combine curry powder, cayenne, sugar, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.  Add beef and stir to coat.  Combine second curry powder, cornstarch, water, and soy sauce.  Set Aside.  Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat.  When the oil is hot, add beef and cook, stirring, until meat is lightly browned, about 2 min.  Add onion and continue stirring until it is limp, about 2 min.  Add cornstarch mixture to pan and cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens, about 30 seconds.  Cool.

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