Asian Broccoli

This is a simple side that's sure to please, and the best part is its ease of preparation.  I'll admit that finding the right vegetables to serve with Asian dishes can be tricky for me, and that's why this recipe struck me as such a win.  Betsy and I chose it to go with the Chicken Yakitori Rice Bowls I made in Houston, and it was perfect!  It has lots of flavor, and it's beautiful on the plate.  Enjoy!

Asian Broccoli

chefjennylyn.com

4 cups broccoli florets
2 tsp. peanut oil
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. lower-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil, and add broccoli.  Boil 2 minutes, and drain.
Heat a stir-fry skillet over medium heat.  Add peanut oil to pan; swirl to coat.
Add crushed red pepper and garlic, stirring for 30 seconds.
Add broccoli florets; cook 2 minutes.
Stir in salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.
Toss broccoli in remaining ingredients (soy, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil).

Prep. Prep. Prep.  Garlic and spices are in Pinch Bowls, and I'm using the Measuring Spoon Set for things like red pepper.  My Garlic Press is ready to go, and I've got broccoli in the Small Batter Bowl.  Everything is on a Cutting Mat.

Hello, Garlic Press.  I've loved you for 13 years, and I'm going to keep on loving you.  Thanks for keeping stinky garlic off my hands for so long!

I love this step.  Everything is ready to go, and I'm just going to throw it in the Stir-Fry Skillet when the recipe tells me.  See the Mini Easy Read Measuring Cup?  It's not just cute, friends.  That think is so stinking handy!  I promise you need 1-4 tbsp. of liquids in a recipe a lot more often than you realize, and this is just the tool to measure once instead of two, three, or four times.

You may notice a lack of photographs on this post, but I was making Chicken Yakitori Rice Bowls at the same time.  In my defense, there was a lot going on.  That said, I'm really sorry you're not getting to see what boiling broccoli for two minutes looks like.  Make this broccoli!  You'll like it - I promise!

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Kung Pao Tofu

My dad gave Betsy this great Chinese cookbook, Chinese Cuisine Made Simple by Dorothy Huang (even had it autographed!), and it's proven a great resource as Betsy has strived to learn new tricks and techniques.  When she told me she'd like me to make this recipe for her and Jason because it was one of his favorites, I was a bit intimidated.  I mean, Kung Pao Tofu?  I'd never even heard of dry tofu, and I didn't like the thought of making something Jason really liked after he'd had Betsy's version.  Anyway, I dove in, and I was pretty pleased with the results.  Here's to trying new things!

Kung Pao Tofu

chefjennylyn.com

1/2 pound dry tofu
1 red bell pepper

Seasoning Sauce:
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. sesame oil

2 tbsp. cooking oil
6 dried chili peppers
1 tsp. minced garlic
Salt, to taste
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
1 tbsp. chopped green onion

Cut dry tofu and bell pepper into 1/2-inch dice
Combine seasoning sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a wok over high heat.  Add dried chili peppers, and cook until they are almost black.  Add ginger, tofu, and bell pepper.  Stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Pour in sauce.  Stir a few seconds.  Salt to taste.  Add peanuts.  Remove to a serving platter.  Discard red chili peppers.  Sprinkle chopped green onion on top.

Note: I skipped the chili peppers and the green onion at the end.

I love the Forged Cutlery Collection, and one thing that's so great is the sharpener.  Betsy has been preoccupied with pregnancy and birthing her first child, so I understood when her knives struck me as a little dull... all of them.  A few swipes on the Knife Shapener, and they were as good as new!  This also works for other brands, by the way.

I'm using my favorite knife, the 5" Santoku, to dice my tofu and pepper.  Ingredients are going into 2-Cup Prep Bowls, and everything is resting on a Large Cutting Board.  Love love love this cutting board!

Hoisin sauce, peanut butter, shortening, honey - These types of ingredients are kind of annoying to measure, but the Measure-All Cup takes them to school.  Push to the measurement you want, fill the cup, and pop the ingredient right out.  So simple!  Other ingredients are in the Measuring Spoon Set and the Easy Read Mini Measuring Cup.  That's the Small Batter Bowl I'm using for my sauce, and I've got the Mini Mix 'n Scraper to stir it all up.

Betsy did me a solid and showed me her method for roasting peanuts.  They're pretty common in Chinese cooking, and her husband also enjoys them as a snack.  In short, Betsy has become the peanut master.  A bit of oil, a bit of heat, and a constant stir.  Done!  This is the Stir-Fry Skillet from the Executive Cookware Collection, and Betsy is using a Bamboo Spatula.

 

This is where things get hairy.  There will be no other pictures until the finished product because high heat, oil, and steady ingredient additions simply don't equal, "Oh, time for a great shot!"  That said, I rocked this recipe like a hurricane.  I could have been on the Food Network with my mad skills.  Why so simple?  Yeah, that would be the prep work I did ahead of time.  Notice that every step is in its respective bowl or measuring cup.  My sauce is mixed, pepper and tofu are prepped, and the peanuts are sitting measured and ready.  Do not attempt a stir-fry without prepping!  It's a recipe for burning food, smoking up the kitchen, and *probably* setting off the smoke alarm.  Ask me how I know.

 

 

Beautiful kung pao tofu!  This turned out to be a great dish that I plan to make again once I get home.  Now that I know what dry tofu looks like, I think I can pull it off.  I'm pretty sure you can, too!

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Chicken Yakitori Rice Bowls

I know you're shocked to see a new recipe from me, but see my last post for why I've been away.  The bottom line, however, is that I'm back, and I'm eating chicken yakitori rice bowls!

My sister had a baby two weeks ago, and I came to Houston to help her and her husband for a little while.  You know, making sure they have food and all of that good stuff.  Tonight I made this Asian dish that I'll be sure to repeat at home.  It's kind of funny because my sister and I both married Asian men, so we enjoy sharing recipes suited to their palates.  (Before you say it, yes, my sister's little Chinese baby is absolutely adorable!)

Chicken Yakitori Rice Bowls

chefjennylyn.com

2 (3.5-ounce) bags boil-in-bag basmati rice
1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

3 teaspoons peanut oil, divided

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs

8 ounces snow peas, halved lengthwise diagonally

1 bunch green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Combine soy sauce and next 4 ingredients (through broth) in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken thighs to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Transfer to a cutting board; cool slightly. Cut into (1-inch) strips.

Return pan to medium-high heat; add remaining 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add snow peas and onions; sauté 2 minutes. Add soy sauce mixture and chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes or until liquid is syrupy and chicken is thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Place 1 cup rice in each of 4 shallow bowls; top each serving with 1 cup chicken mixture.

Update: I just posted the Asian Broccoli served with this dish.

You need to look at all of one of my posts to realize I'm a huge fan of prep work.  Not like, "Oh, I enjoy it!" but more like, "This will keep me from completely screwing up this recipe."  I have especially come to appreciate prep as I've done more Asian recipes that involve high heat and quick cooking.  In short, when there's a stir-fry happening, it's not the time to try measuring out rice vinegar.  In the above picture, I've got my sugar in a Pinch Bowl with a Measuring Spoon sticking out, and my liquid ingredients are in Easy-Read Measuring Cups.  Then I've got a 1.5-Qt. Executive Saucepan, and everything is resting on the Flexible Cutting Mats.  Why two mats?  Because I was too lazy to get one out from underneath the other.  Sorry.

I like a knife that makes quick work of a full bunch of green onions.  The 5" Santoku Knife from the Forged Cutlery Collection is my absolute favorite knife ever!  I use it constantly, and it's the one I always recommend people try first if they prefer to build a set one knife at a time.  Here, I'm using it on a Flexible Cutting Mat, and I'm putting my sliced onions in the 2-Qt. Stainless Mixing Bowl.

Soooo... Here's what happened with the chicken.  Betsy and I were going to make our mom's chicken & dumplings recipe, but we quickly decided that was a little ambitious considering that one of us just had a baby, and the other just wasn't up to trying and failing.  That decision was made after purchasing a whole chicken, so then came the question of what to do with the bird.  Ever the resourceful home chef, I decided I'd just cut the dark meat up for this recipe instead of buying boneless, skinless thighs.  Then I opened the package and found whatever this thing is.  Um, is that the spine or something?  There's only one thing to do when you're in charge of putting dinner on the table for new parents, and that's to power through.  Enter: wine.  A couple of hearty gulps, and I was able to manhandle the pieces of chicken that were actually, well, pieces of chicken.  Wash your hands between touching the meat and wine, kids.  No cross contamination!  (That's the Large Cutting Board, by the way.)

I cut the chicken before cooking it since I used whole. pieces. of. the. dead. bird., so my pictures are going to look different from what you'll read in the recipe.  That's the Stir-Fry Skillet, and I'm making magic with the Bamboo Spatula Set.

Then comes the color!  How great does it look with those snow peas and onions?  Oh, and you should have smelled that delicious sauce hit the pan!

This really was a great dish, one I'm looking forward to making my husband soon.  Thanks, Cooking Light, for yet another big hit!

 

Does this face say, "Wow, that yakitori stuff smells delicious!" or what?

 

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E-mail me: chefjennylyn[at]gmail.com

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