Polly's Cashew Chicken - YIAO GUWO JI DIEN

Sometimes, you really wanted to eat well, and wondered what to do with all those celery in the vegetable compartment?  Make fresh health drinks, eat raw, etc... a number of recipes come to mind, then, again, noooot... I don't know why, but sometimes, you just don't feel like it.  But this time, I see a jar of nuts that I bought from COSTCO with various types of nuts in it.  And I noticed there are bunch of cashew nuts in it more than other nuts.  The Cashew Chicken! I thought.  Cashew Chicken is not our traditional family dish when I was growing up.  Because cashew nuts were not available at the local markets,  they are imported.     But here they are, right before me are the great tasting cashews.   So, for my office lunch, I made this in the morning right before I left the door.... nope! it didn't last till lunch time.  I end up eating it as a breakfast.  

Tip:  In Chinese cooking, you often stir fry ingredients and set aside to stir fry the next ingredients, then combine them together for the finale. 

I remember my mother always marinate the meat in KATAKURIKO (Japanese potato starch) with some seasonings.  It makes them taste tender, seal the flavor, etc.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 - 1/2 Cup Cashew nuts - Toasted in some olive oil in the Wok and set aside.

Slice chicken breast thinly (as you know they normally shrink and become thicker as they are cooked.)

Marinate with 2 tsp of KATAKURIKO and pinch of salt (potato starch or Corn starch.  *FYI - Cornstarch prepared food tend to form 'water' in the overnighted dish in refrigerator.)

Salt 

White ground pepper

Some water

3 Defibered/deveined celery sticks - sliced slanted into 1/2 chunks.  To defiber - pull down (toward back - convex side) at the stalk joint where leaves start to grow and pull down toward the root.  It will pull the stalk fibre off to make it more tender and less fibrous when chewing.) 

 I didn't remembered about thinly slicing the chicken until afterwards, as I have not cooked the chicken this way for a while.  Then, I remembered what my mother said, to slice chicken fairly think for better taste.

Stir fry the chicken breast - Medium high heat just enough till most of the pink is gone. 30 seconds to 45 seconds.  Normally for a larger family dish, meat will be taken out and set aside and celery is stir fried next in the same Wok and in the same oil left behind.

 As this is a small batch, and I am in a hurry, I add the celeries.  Stir fry for 30 seconds at medium high heat. 

 Add Cashew nuts.  Add salt and white ground pepper to taste.  

** If  liquid is desired in this dish, add 2 Tablespoon of water.  This will cause the interaction with the starch enveloping the chicken slices and thicken.  Otherwise, make the starch slur and add to the Wok and bring the liquid to boil and cook for a minute longer.  

Remove from heat and serve.

 Taste the celery.  If you like the crisp state that it is in.  It's done!.

Family Hamburger Steak - Nie`O ROU Biean

We were very lucky when it comes to exposures to various food types in our younger days.  We were exposed to TV dinner, waffle, sausage, apple sauce, chocolate cakes, Hershey chocolate bars, Foremost ice-creams, milk shakes, soft drinks, ketchup, hotdogs, and hamburgers that other kids in the neighborhood have never seen or heard before.  This is one of our favorites that my mother prepared for us.  I always enjoyed it because I can't believe that on one plate, you can have rice, meat, vegetables, and a fruit all together and served with our favorite TONKASTU sauce (*thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce.)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Wash and clean  1/4 head of cabbage - finely julienned.  Set aside

10 oz ground chuck (home grounded)

4 Tb onions fine brunoise

1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

Pinch fresh ground black pepper

Cooked rice to serve with

Sliced apple of your choice

Japanese TONKATSU sauce (thick Japanese Worcestershire sauce)

 

It's important that the cabbage is finely sliced.  My mother can slice them hair thin-threads.   This will effectively taste less 'bitter'.  Mix all the ingredients, except cabbage in a gentle tossing motion until all is mixed well without the fat to get gelatinized/integrated with meat.  Pan fry the hamburger.

 Serve with rice, cabbage, and apple slice.  Topped with TONKATSU sauce.

Lion Head - Pork Meatballs Stew

It's getting a bit challenging trying to translate or interpret some of our family's favorite dishes.  The LION HEAD is a description of well seared large pork meatballs, then simmered with Chinese Nappa Cabbage - BAI TSAI, dried SHIITAKE - DONG GU, Firm TOFU, Bean thread,... It's our father's favorite dish.

My mother makes it the best.  And here is mine. 

I made enough to serve 4.

Ingredients: 

1 Quart Chicken Stock - home made & pre-frozen

2 C to 4 C water - (2 Cups come from the hydrated dried mushroom below)

3 hydrated SHIITAKE - dried Chinese mushrooms - Microwave it with enough water to cover the mushrooms (leave a small plate on top to keep the mushroom in the liquid.)  Place the bowl over a microwave tray to catch spilling liquid.  Bring the water to boil. Remove from microwave and set aside to hydrate in liquid.  *transfer liquid to the pot when ready to add mushroom into the stew

1-1/4 lb of ground Pork - fatty pork is preferred, but mine is 95% lean.

130 grams - 1 small can - water Chestnut (discard liquid and washed & rinsed well) - chopped

3 grams of minced fresh Ginger (Tip:  cut and prepare fresh ginger into various size and Freeze them in plastic bag.  Use the ones you want.)

1 Large egg

32 grams of chopped green onions - about 3 slender American green onions - Stir Fried in teaspoon of Olive Oil till browned.

Salt to taste - at least 1 to 2 tsp will be used in meat - Tip:  season the liquid as you go.

White ground pepper.

(Click on any of the pictures to view in larger size.)

 Water chestnuts are my father's idea.  He told me that since our ground pork is so lean, add chopped water chestnuts to give the nice fluffiness and at the same time it gives the enjoyable crispness.   Normally you would put the fresh chopped green onions, but I wanted to try with pre-stir fried green onions.

 Mix well by tossing motion.  Do no stir crazy in circling motion with the chop sticks or spoon.  That will make the meatball 'tough', unless your intention is to make the meatballs with gelatinized texture.

 Instead of pan frying the meatballs because I do not have the normal rounded end cone shaped Chinese iron WOK like my mothers, which will keep the rounded shape of the meat as they fry, I decided to test my new tool - meatball baker pan (I got it from the AVON catalog.) 

 If the pork is really fatty, this would really helped in getting rid of the extra fat.  But on the other hand, normally when pan fried in the Wok, some of the fats are left in the Wok to complete the stew, and it gives a lots of flavor.

 Here is the hydrated mushrooms.  I only used three.  Cut them into quarters.  Add to the stew.  Wash and rinse the Chinese Nappa Cabbage well.  Cut the broad leaf into halves - lengthwise.  Then cut into 2 to 3-inch chunks side ways.  Add Nappa Cabbage into stew. 

Open up your Firm or extra Firm TOFU package.  Drain the liquid.  Set the TOFU on a plate with rim or bowl and place a plate on it to extract some more water.  Drain.  Repeat 2 times.

Cut into nice large chunks.... like 1-1/2 inch size.

Add salt and white ground pepper to the soup, as needed.

** Be aware of the "fake" Bean thread vermicelli.  This one I have turned out to be it!  I forgot that the good bean thread vermicelli in this brand is always "individually" wrapped and tied close in red and white ribbon.  This one is in one whole plastic bag.  Also, the good bean thread vermicelli's brand has blue coloring on the plastic wrap at one end.   I totally forgot to be careful when I purchased it.   The whole thing turned into glue like when added to the stew. 

To hydrate bean thread, add the bean thread vermicelli into a bowl of hot boiling water.  In this one, I just took out the mushrooms and quartered it and added to the stew.  Then, I reboiled the liquid in the microwave and added the bean thread vermicelli.  When soft, use scissors and cut the both ends of the vermicelli, so it will not be toooooo loooong.

 Add the bean thread vermicelli at the end  - like three minutes before serving.  Otherwise, you will not find them - all dissolved into the soup.

Serve with soy sauce as dipping sauce.