The Daring Cooks Make Chinese Dumplings and Potstickers

I remember first tasting Chinese dumplings and potstickers when I lived in Saipan, and I always liked ordering them in restaurants, but then I visited Hong Kong and southern China and got hooked. It was so fun to see the dim sum trays in the restaurants, taste different things, and try to figure out what was in all the fillings. Though I have enjoyed Chinese potstickers and dumplings all these years, I’ve never made them from scratch—getting bags of gyoza from Trader Joe’s is just too easy—so I felt a huge amount of excitement when I saw Jen of Use Real Butter had challenged the Daring Cooks to make her family’s recipe for Chinese dumplings and potstickers. Read more

Quick and Easy Mandarin Orange Chicken

Some of my favorite things to order at Chinese restaurants are the dishes I won’t make at home, basically anything battered and fried. I’m not lazy, I just don’t enjoy cleaning up the splattery mess I always seem to make when frying. Orange chicken is one of my favorites, but I always save it for eating out.

Helen Chen’s new book, Easy Chinese Stir-Fries, has a modified recipe that turns the classic battered and fried dish into a quick stir-fry. Some Chinese restaurants ruin orange chicken by making it overly sweet, but Chen’s version gives you orange flavor without all the sweetness. After tasting it the first time we decided we wanted more orange flavor in the sauce and started adding orange zest. I also like to use slivered fresh red jalapeno and used it as colorful garnish at the end rather than the dried chiles. Read more

Chicken Bok Choy

Bok choy is one of my favorite types of cabbage because it’s both leafy and crispy, lending a nice mix of textures in a dish, and I like it stir-fried simply with chicken, garlic, and ginger. This time I tried Jaden’s technique for starting with a cold wok, which was totally contrary to any wokking I had done before, but I like it. The garlic and ginger infused the oil and imparted lots of flavor to the chicken and bok choy. I hardly ever measure ingredients when stir-frying, so the measurements below are an approximation.

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Grilled Chinese Eggplant with Garlic and Ginger Sauce

We planted three eggplants in May, but sadly they were overtaken by flea beetles, a really nasty little pest that devoured the plants. Unable to find an organic solution for getting rid of them, we had to remove the plants from the garden to prevent the pests from spreading. So we’ve been buying eggplants this summer, but the loss won’t deter us from trying again next year.

It’s a good thing eggplant is in season because I’ve been on an eggplant binge. I saw these beautiful Chinese eggplants at the big Asian grocery store for just 99 cents a pound and couldn’t pass them up, or the beautiful black beauty eggplants for the same price. About six eggplants came home with me that day, and Michael was understandably curious about my plans for all the eggplant cluttering the counter. I had grill, roast, and stir fry on my mind.

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Ho Chi Minh Chicken and a Cookbook Give Away

Sometimes I get to make a pretty presentation for photos, but on the average weekday there just isn’t time before food is devoured. I literally take a few pictures then serve. It was another one of those days when I prepared this Ho Chi Minh chicken, and I had to snap the photos while the chicken and vegetables were still in the wok. But it’s an honest photo because we usually serve right out of the wok, and I am even guilty of nipping a piece of meat or vegetable for a taste while cooking. Yes, we’re very casual.

This is my interpretation of a dish from Chef Charlie Ayers, who gained a reputation as the chef who fed Google. He won the job of Google’s corporate chef at a cook-off in 1999, and his cooking became famous for being innovative, healthy, and delicious. Now Chef Ayers consults with companies on restructuring food service to compliment the corporate culture. I would be very interested to see what he and other chefs concerned with healthy eating could do with school cafeteria menus, which are often abysmal at best. Now that is a challenge worth taking on!

As both an amateur cook and professional geek, I have a dual interest in Ayers’ new book Food 2.0. Read more

Chicken Tikka Masala

Though somewhat clouded in history, chicken tikka masala is clearly based on chicken tikka, a popular dish from South Asia. Chicken tikka is made by baking chicken pieces that have been marinaded in yogurt and spices, and often the pieces are skewered and baked in a tandoor, an Indian clay oven, though in some areas the meat is cooked over hot coals. The masala is actually a curry sauce or gravy, and the cooked chicken is added to the sauce, then the chicken and sauce is served with rice or warm naan.

If you’ve never made a curry, this is a very easy recipe to start with. You might have to visit an Asian grocery store to find pure Indian chile powder, cardamom, and garam masala, though I have seen them all at Wegman’s in the Indian foods aisle, or you can make garam masala yourself. The ingredients vary depending on which recipe you follow, and believe me when I say I found a lot of different recipes on the Net. I’ve been cooking with garam masala for a few years, and I can’t live without it now. We love the spicy, roasted flavors in all kinds of dishes. Read more

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