Braised Mushroom Meat Sauce Recipes

Weather is getting cold now and the days seem to be shorter, dark and dreary. Today is another cold and rainy day here in PA and it makes me crave for some comfort food. What can be more comforting than a bowl of meaty noodles? When I first saw this interesting recipe at Kokken 69 back in August I was intrigued by it and bookmarked it right away. Since I have all the ingredients in my fridge I cook this for our lunch. Just like Shirley said this sauce is meaty, flavorful and versatile. You may used the sauce on your steamed rice, noodles, blanched vegetables, porridge, etc. This is my quick version of the meat sauce but for the original recipe and version please refer here .

Ingredients:

300 gram ground pork (you can replace it with ground chicken, beef or turkey)
3 pcs dried shitake mushroom – soak until soft and cut into small cubes
3 shallots – sliced thinly
100 -150 ml chicken stock (depend on how saucy you like)

Marinate for meat

1 tbsp soy sauce
¼ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch

Seasoning

1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp 5 spice powder
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

1. Season the ground meat and set it aside. Heat up the wok with a bit of oil and fry the sliced shallots until lightly brown and crispy. Remove and drain the oil.
2. In the same wok and oil, stir fry the mushroom until fragrant. Add in the marinated ground meat; stir fry until the meat changes color. Add in all the seasonings. Adjust the seasonings according to your liking.
3. Add chicken stock and let it simmer on low heat for 15 min. Add crispy fried shallots. Continue to cook another 10 minutes or until the gravy thickens. Check seasonings.  Remove and serve with rice or noodles.

Szechuan Peppercorn Chicken II Recipes

My friend Roselind prepared this dish for lunch not too long ago. She used to live in China for a few years and she learned to cook this dish from a friend of hers there. I just love this dish as the chicken pieces are so flavorful and well blended with the spicy condiments and the generous amount of dried chilies. You might just find yourself tearing from the hot numbing sensations but still wanting more of this addictive dish

I cooked a similar dish before and you can check out the recipe here . This is Roselind recipe for Szechuan Peppercorn Chicken. Do give it a try as I am sure you are going to like it as much as I did.

Ingredients:

6 boneless chicken thigh meats – cut into small bite size pieces
5 slices of ginger
1 clove garlic - chopped
½ cup dried chillis – wash and cut into 1” length
2 spring onions – cut into 1” length
2 tsp Szechuan peppercorn
Salt and sugar to taste
1 red chili – for garnish

Marinate for chicken

1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

1. Marinate chicken and set it aside  for an hour. Heat up some oil and deep fried the chicken until lightly brown and cooked. Remove the chicken and drain the oil on paper towel.
2. Remove all the oil from the wok and leave about 1 tbsp in it. Heat up the oil, add in the garlic, ginger and dried chilies. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add in the Szechuan peppercorn and chicken.
3. Continue to stir fry, add in salt and sugar to taste. Continue to stir fry until chicken are well mix. Add in the spring onions. Dish out, garnish with some red chili and serve with warm rice.

Stir fry Chicken in Osmanthus Syrup Recipes

Osmanthus is a plant which produces flowers called gui hua (or cinnamon flower or cassia flower). The flowers are used to infuse with tea leaves to create a scented tea called gui hua cha. It can also be use to make jam, dessert and even in stir fry dishes. I bought some when I visit New York some time ago and I cooked chicken with it. This is an appetizing dish as it has the sweet, sour, salty and a nice fragrant of the osmanthus.

For more information about Osmanthus please refer here.

Ingredients:

Half chicken – clean, remove skin and cut into bite size pieces
1 carrot – sliced
4 pieces dried black fungus – soak in water until soft
1/2 cup ginko nuts
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
salt to taste
1/2 tsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water
2 tbsp osmanthus syrup (more if you like a sweeter dish)

For the syrup:

1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp dried osmanthus flower

Bring the water and sugar to boil.  When the syrup is slightly thickens add in the dried osmanthus flower. Let it simmer for another minute and turn off the heat. Let the syrup stand for 5 minutes before using.

1. Drain and cut the fungus. Heat up wok; add in about 2 tbsp olive oil.  Add in the chicken, spreading chicken on bottom and sides of wok to cook until it turns white and slightly brown about 2 minutes. Add garlic and stir-fry 30 seconds. Stir in fungus, gingko nuts and carrot.
2. Continue to stir-fry for another 30 seconds and add in about 1 cup of water (more or less depend on how much gravy you like). Bring it up to boil and add in the soy sauce and vinegar. Cover and simmer until the chicken cooks.
3. Add in 2 tbsp of the osmanthus syrup and continue to cook for another minute. Check seasonings. You might want to add a bit more salt or syrup to it. Add in the cornstarch mixture and bring it to boil and sauce thickens.
4. Dish out and serve with rice.

Note: Osmanthus flowers are available by mail order from TeaSpring.com. You can keep the extra syrup to make dessert or to sweeten your tea.

Stir-fry French Beans with Szechuan Vegetables Recipes

Every two weeks I will check the vegetables compartment in the fridge and see what leftovers I have in there before buying new ones. Normally I will make a quick stir-fry with all the leftovers and this is one the dish that I came up with.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of French beans – cut into ½” length
1 small packet of pickle Szechuan vegetable – soak in water for half an hour
1 chicken breast – minced
1 carrot – cut into small cubes
2 shallots – sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 red chilies – cut small
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
Some pepper to taste
Sugar to taste

1. Heat up the wok with a bit of olive oil, add in the shallots and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the meat and stir-fry until it changes color and lightly brown.
2. Add in carrot, French beans and chilies. Continue to stir fry for a minute. Add in Szechuan vegetable and the seasonings. Add in a few tbsp of water and continue to cook until vegetables are cooked and the water evaporates. Check sesoning as your might need to add a bit of salt to this dish.
3. Dish out and serve with warm rice

Note: You can replace the french beans with long beans and the meat with any type of protein of your choice.

Pan Fried Bean curd Rolls Recipes

Who can resist these crispy rolls? It is a must order dish for me if I go for dim sum restaurant. I just like the crispy skin made out of bean curd skin and the fillings of ground meat, carrot bits and crunchy water chestnuts. Since I still have bean curd skin leftover from my Yong Tau Foo I decided to make some.

Ingredients:

16-17 pieces of 5 1/2” x 3 1/2” bean curd skin
3 tbsp of flour + 4 - 5 tbsp of water – mix into a paste for sealing the rolls

Filling:

½ pound ground chicken or pork
15 large shrimps – peel, deveined and roughly chopped
6 water chestnuts – cut into small cubes
1 small carrot – peels and grated
3 spring onions – cut small
1 small red chili – chopped (optional)
2 tbsp cornstarch
½ beaten egg
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp black pepper
Salt the taste

1. Mix all the filling ingredients until well combined. Set it aside in the fridge for an hour.
2. Take about 1 ½ tbsp of filling and spread it at one end of the beancurd skin. Brush a bit of the cornstarch mixture on the other 3 end of the bean curd skin. Roll up to seal. Do the same to the rest of the beancurd skin.
3. Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan, pan fried both side of the rolls over medium heat until golden brown. Drain the oil on paper towel.
4. Serve warm with some chili sauce.

Salt and Pepper Fish Fillet Recipes

I’ve tried this incredible fish dish at a Chinese restaurant in New York. The fillets are cut into bite size pieces and dip into a light batter and fried and then toss lightly in some chopped garlic and ginger. Here I am trying to replica it at home and the result is not bad at all. You can always replace the fish fillets with shrimps or calamari.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of white fish fillet (I used tilapia)
3 cloves garlic
4 bird eyes chills
1 tsp chopped ginger
Some chives or spring onions – cut small
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
A few dash of Chinese cooking wine

Marinate for fish:

1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 egg white
2 tbsp corn flour

1. Cut fish into bite size pieces. In a big bowl, mixes marinates together and add in the fish and set it aside for 15 minutes. Put some oil in a frying pan and pan fried the fish on high heat until golden brown. Remove and drain the oil on paper towel.
2. Remove all the remaining oil from pan and leave about 2 tbsp of it. Sauté the garlic, ginger, chili until fragrant. Add in the salt, pepper and sugar.
3. Add in the fried fish, add in a few dash of Chinese cooking wine and give it a few quick toss. Add in the chives or spring onions. Remove and serve warm.

Lemon Chicken Delicious Recipes

Carlos and I are not a fan of Chinese take-out as we find their food tasted bland, loaded with MSG and too oily. Since moving to PA we can’t find a good decent Chinese restaurant around our area. So if we want good Chinese food I will normally cook it myself or we drive all the way to Delaware for it.

I was invited by Rita of Mochachocolata to take part in her first virtual party to celebrate her 88th post at her blog. She wanted us to prepare a dish that resembles a Chinese take out. I actually had to crack my head to think of what to cook so I went through my kitchen drawers to see if I have a take-out menu there. Lucky I found one and look through it and decided to cook this dish.

Ingredients :
3 pcs of chicken breast - pound thinly
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of cooking wine
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 egg white
5 tbsp of cornstarch

Sauce (combined)

Juice of 2 lemons
3/4 cup of chicken broth
1 tsp of corn starch
3 tbsp of honey or sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
Salt and pepper to taste

1 clove of garlic - chopped
some lemon slices

1. Marinate chicken with the cooking wine, soy sauce, salt and pepper and let it marinate for 15 minutes
2. In small bowl, beat eggs and mix in cornstarch to form smooth batter (if it is too day add a bit of water). In wok or large skillet, heat up some oil.
3. Coat chicken with batter; fry until brown. Drain the oil on paper towel. Remove oil and leave about 1 tablespoon of oil in the wok.
4. Add in garlic and stir fry until lightly brown. Add in the sauce and bring to boil. Add in the lemon slices. Cook until sauce thicken. Check seasonings and see if the sweetness is to your likings. Turn off the heat.
5. Slice chicken and pour the lemon sauce over chicken. Serve immediately.

Rita, thank you for inviting me to your Chinese Take-out Party and hope you like the dish I prepared. For those of you who are interested in participate do check out her blog. Closing date is on the 12th of May.

Note : You can add in more honey or sugar if you want a sweeter sauce.