Recipes

Better Than Restaurant Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

May 20, 2013 By Jena Leave a Comment

Marty and I make a ton of stir fry recipes. We used to go to our favorite Chinese restaurants a lot because we had such a hard time making good Chinese food at home, but then I came across Rasa Malaysia awhile back and that completely changed my outlook on authentic Asian cooking! Now we almost never go to Chinese restaurants. We do still venture out sometimes for a hot bowl of Pho, but Pho is a post for another day. Marty is half Cambodian, so he was familiar with some Asian cooking (and navigating our local International grocery store to get the right ingredients) but we still struggled with some of our favorite restaurant dishes.

Interestingly, my favorite dishes changed once we started making them at home. I almost never ordered Kung Pao Chicken at restaurants, but I could eat gobs of my homemade variety. I think I particularly like it made at home because I like to have veggies on the side, and Kung Pao at restaurants typically does not come with many. When we make it at home I can make a side of steamed broccoli, or we can just toss some veggies right in the stir fry. Stir fry dishes are so easy to customize to your liking.

We typically shop at our local Asian/International grocery store for all of our stir fry ingredients, but if you don’t have one nearby you should be able to get by with the International section of your local grocery store for this recipe.

This recipe has been adapted from the Rasa Malaysia version.

Kung Pao Chicken Recipe

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1 1/2 boneless & skinless chicken breasts sliced very thin
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
2-4 dried red chilies sliced in half and remove seeds*
3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
5 slices peeled fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 small can sliced water chestnuts (optional)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 stalk green onion, chopped

Marinade

1 tablespoon corn starch
2 teaspoons soy sauce**
1 tablespoon Shaoxing (rice cooking) wine
1 teaspoon vegetable or peanut oil

Sauce:

1 1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce***
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black vinegar (I use Chinkiang brand. Can substitute balsamic vinegar)
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon corn starch

*Add additional red chilies if you prefer more spice. Wash hands well after handling chilies.

**I use Kimlan brand soy sauce. Brands such as Kikkoman are widely available, but I find the flavor of Kimlan to be superior and better for stir fries. If you are using Kikkoman, I would use half low sodium as the sodium content is higher.

***Light soy sauce can be found at many Asian supermarkets, which is different from low-sodium soy sauce. If not available, use regular soy sauce.

Directions:

Mix together Marinade ingredients in a large bowl
Cut the chicken into thin strips and add to marinade for 30 minutes.
Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Heat up a wok or large skillet with one tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the marinated chicken 70% cooked. Dish out and set aside.
Clean the wok and add in the remaining 2 tablespoons of cooking oil until it smokes.
Add in the ginger and garlic slices and stir fry for 30 seconds
Add mushrooms and stir fry until browned (optional)
Add water chestnuts (optional) and red chilies and stir fry until chilies are aromatic
Stir in sliced chicken
Add the roasted peanuts and continue to stir
Add in the sauce and stir continuously until the chicken meat is nicely coated and the sauce begins to thicken.
Stir in the green onion
Dish out and serve hot with steamed rice.

This recipe also doubles well. I typically double this recipe and use my largest cast iron skillet to make enough to last us a couple days.

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Eggy Oatmeal

May 24, 2012 By Jena 1 Comment

I’m a big breakfast eater, always have been. First thing I do is make my morning latte (what would I do without my Nespresso machine??) and hop on my computer for a little while. Second thing is make my oatmeal. For many years I have been eating oatmeal with a banana on top as my regular breakfast, but a few months ago I came across this recipe over at Can You Stay for Dinner. I tweaked it a bit so that I could just pop it in the microwave.

This is my new favorite breakfast. I eat this pretty much any day that I’m making breakfast at home, which is most days. It is healthy, filling, easy, and yummy. Good combo right?

You only really need oatmeal, water, and eggs, but I also add a dash of vanilla and cinnamon for flavor.

Grab your bowl, add the eggs, oatmeal, vanilla, and cinnamon (everything but the water).

Stir together until egg is thoroughly mixed with oatmeal.

Add the water and whisk until mixed.

I find that this turns out better if I microwave on a lower power level for a longer time, so I microwave for 5:30 mins at a power level of 6. I like to make sure the egg gets nice and cooked and I feel like the longer time in the microwave helps with this.

On a side note, one time in my morning stupor I was reaching to take the bowl out of the microwave and accidentally stuck my hand in the oatmeal. HOT! I ended up somehow flinging a bunch of oatmeal clear across the kitchen all over the cabinets. Good thing our cabinets wipe down easily :)

When you take it out of the microwave, mix it up. It should resemble regular oatmeal but fluffier. I add a dash of milk to give it a bit of creaminess. I forgot to snap a picture before the milk, so this is after milk.

Add in your favorite oatmeal toppings. I used banana, strawberry, and blueberries for this go round. Getting a bite with banana, strawberry, and blueberry is about the most perfect fruit combo I can imagine.

It reminds me a little bit of the rice pudding my mom makes on occasion. The egg isn’t overwhelming but adds just a little something extra that I really miss when I make plain oatmeal now. This recipe also cuts in half nicely if you aren’t quite as hearty of a breakfast eater :).

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quick oats (if using steel cut you may need to adjust your cooking times)
2 eggs
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash cinnamon
1 cup water

Directions:

Add eggs, oatmeal, vanilla, and cinnamon to bowl (everything but the water). Mix so egg is thoroughly mixed with oatmeal. Add water and stir until combined. Add a little less than 1 cup water for a thicker oatmeal. I like to add a dash of milk when serving so I make mine on the thicker side. Microwave at 60% power for 5-6 minutes. Microwaves vary, so I would suggest checking half way through.

Other mix ins I’ve tried that are good:

1 tablespoon of canned pumpkin and a good sprinkle of pumpkin pie seasoning – mix in during preparation and cook as normal
Dash of maple syrup for flavor and sweetness
Raisins and/or dates

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Homemade Chocolate Syrup in 5 Minutes

March 19, 2012 By Jena 4 Comments

The other day I was craving something fudgy, but I didn’t want to make a whole batch of something baked. Since I pin just about everything gooey and chocolatey I can find (among other things), I looked through my recipes board and found this one from One Good Thing by Jillie that I had recently saved. It was quick and I had all the ingredients on hand and sounded like it would hit the spot. And oh yes, it sure did. I halved the recipe and it was a good amount.

It was more chocolatey than store bought chocolate syrup and has a really smooth texture. The flavor was more similar to hot fudge but without the gloppy texture. I served it hot over ice cream and it was so so so good.

It only has 5 ingredients, one of them being water. I bet many of you have these ingredients on hand right now, just sayin ;)

Dump the sugar, cocoa, salt, water, and vanilla into a saucepan.

Bring to a boil, stir frequently.

Boil for about a minute.

Pour over your ice cream, cakes, brownies, broccoli (what? I would), or anything really.

You can tell yourself it’s chocolate soup and eat it with a spoon too. Maybe I should have called this recipe Homemade Chocolate Soup in 5 Minutes. I think I ate as more with my spoon than I did with my ice cream.