Americanized Chinese Chicken. General Tso I think...

Because this sounded good and the picture of it in my food and wine was too good to pass up I decided to make the ultimate Americanized Chinese food this last weekend. I mean how much more Americanized can fried chicken with an Chinese-style sauce get. After making it though I would make a few changes and forward people from the frying part, -cough- Lien -cough.- Since your fridge story, I'm not sure I want your roommates coming home finding you cowering behind a pot lid as you toss chicken pieces into hot oil....>_<

Here is the recipe with my altered changes as well.

General Tso's Chicken:

2 chicken breasts (the original recipe calls for thighs, really it's your preference)
1/4 cup of corn starch
1/4 plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 large egg white
1 1/2 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon chile garlic sauce
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil plus more for frying
2 tablespoons very finely chopped fresh ginger, I really just have kind of chunky ginger, it's tasty!
2 large garlic cloves, minced
4 scallions (green onions) thinly sliced

two heads of broccoli
Olive oil for drizzling
spices

Rice

1. Start the rice in the rice cooker

2. Preheat oven to 450 for the broccoli

3. Combine 1/4 cup of cornstarch plus 2 tablespoons, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, the egg white, and the sesame oil in a bowl and mix. Then cut up your chicken into bite size chunks. Add the chicken and coat in the marinade. Let it sit at room temp for 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile cut up the broccoli. I like to long stemmy pieces. Put in a baking tin/glass pan. Then drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper. I also added garlic to it to make it more in theme with the dinner.

5. In a small bowl, like a soup bowl. Add the chicken broth, 1 talbespoon of cornstarch, chile garlic sauce, sugar, and remaining soy sauce. Whisk it together. Yes, whisk, it helps to break down the sugar.

6. In a small saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the ginger and the garlic and cook until fragrant, like a minute. The add the broth mixture and let it cook until thick and glossy. Now honestly this did not take 3 minutes when I made it and it never got very thick. So I took down the amount of chicken broth for this post, and hopefully that will help. It was still tasty though. If it still isn't thickening as much as you want, add a teaspoon of cornstarch and whisk it in.

7. Once the oven is preheated add the broccoli. It worked well to do this for me at this point, but you can always do it sooner. Just keep an eye on it for when it starts to get nice and browned. See roasted veggies recipe for more explicit details.

8. In a large skillet and I do mean large. I didn't use a big enough one. :-( But in a large skillet, heat about 1/4 inch of oil. The original recipe says for 1/2 inch, but really you could still fry it with 1/4 inch. Once hot and shimmering, Lien be careful. Then add the chicken SLOWLY. I tried using chopsticks for it, and am not an adept enough Asian...yep Asian now, and quickly realized I could slowly pour it in. But do be careful as the oil will most likely splatter. Cook the chicken until very browned and crisp, turning a couple times as well. It doesn't take long, like 4 minutes if that. Then drain your chicken on paper towels. Lien, use a slotted spoon or spatula for this as you dont need buckets of oil on your paper towels. After immediately add to your sauce with your scallions, stir until coated, about 30 seconds and then serve.

9. The rice and broccoli should be done as well at this point.

Yum!

Honey and Oven-Dried Tomato Bruschettas

Hello again! Rachel is back thanks to not having student teaching any more and being unable to look for a summer job as yet.

So for class this week we were asked to bring in food for a potluck. Katie (Missouri one...yes, Bordo there is another Katie in my life :-P) and I were super excited to get to make food. She wants to start a pastry shop too. Anyways, I immediately decided on the Bruschettas in this post because well, they are like crack for me, and, wait for it...they get me to eat tomatoes! Katie made this wonderful smoked salmon dip, even though we ate it tonight instead of last night at class. Still delicious! And super easy...so Lien, I will reiterate how to make that at the end of this post too.

For the Bruschettas though, here we go. (Lien you can improvise this if you want with pre-bought sun-dried tomatoes.)

1 lb of grape or cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons of honey plus more for drizzling
2 tablespoons of olive oil (I always eyeball this...so maybe a little more?)
1 teaspoon of thyme
a few dashes of salt

Fresh chopped basil
Fresh sliced mozzarella cheese (the baby kind in the milky-looking liquid)
Fresh Baguette, sliced

Olive oil for brushing

Honey for drizzling
Balsamic Vinegar for Drizzling

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

2. Cut the tomatoes in half, length wise and stick in to a large bowl. Add the next ingredients, through the salt and mix. I always like my tomatoes to be really coated, mostly because when you cook the tomatoes the liquid gets all syrupy and caramelized on the bottom and is delicious! Anyways, add more honey and olive oil as you see fit. Lien, this does not mean add A LOT, but add another teaspoon if you think it is needed.

3. On a parchment lined baking pan pour your tomatoes. The parchment isn't THAT necessary, it just mostly makes clean up a heck of a lot easier. Line all your tomatoes up, so they are cut side facing up. Put them in the oven and let them cook for about 1 hour and a half. I usually do an hour an 40 minutes but it depends on your oven. The tomatoes should be just starting to brown. Take them out and let them cool to room temperature. They can be kept in a container in the fridge for a few days as well. Bring them back to room temperature to serve.

4. Turn your oven up to 450 degrees for the bread. Cut the bread into thin slices for the bruschettas. They should be about 1/2 thick. Then put them on a baking sheet and brush them with olive oil on both sides. Put them in the oven and cook for about 3 minutes, until they are just starting to brown as well and get crispy.

5. Meanwhile take out your mozzarella and begin to slice thinly. Once the bread is done place three to four mozzarella slices on top. Then add the tomatoes, chopped basil, and drizzle all of them with honey and balsamic vinegar. Then enjoy!

And then for Katie's fabulous salmon dip. She said, if I remember correctly:  get one container of sour cream, a block of cream cheese, a pallet (one thing of Trader Joe's size) lox (so the smoked salmon you put on BAGELS, not the flaky cured stuff), some sprigs of fresh dill, and the juice of one lemon. Put that all together in a food processor/Cuisinart and blend it all together. Then serve with crackers.

Now I want to have an appetizer party. I'll keep you posted on that one...

Banh Chuoi (sweet rice and banana roll)

Get ready for a long post. This was my first time helping out to make this. Banh chuoi is a dessert that is typically made for Lunar New Year. It's a steamed roll that has bananas wrapped around coconut-scented sweet rice. The whole thing is wrapped in banana leaves. A savory version that has a mung bean layer and also a layer of fatty pork is called banh tet. Another variation is to package it more in a square shape instead of cylinder. The following is how my mom makes it. We only do it once of year because of the amount of work and cook-time this takes. We make big batches of it (this year we spent three hours making 12 rolls) and they take five hours to steam. So probably none of you would ever make this, but it was still fun to document how it's done.

Banh Chuoi (makes about 12 rolls)

14 cups uncooked sweet rice (aka glutinous rice or sticky rice)
4 14-ounce cans coconut cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons salt

18 bananas, very very ripe
2 1/2 tablespoons salt

3 bags banana leaves


The night before:
Fill your sink with cold water and soak the banana leaves. Use a clean towel to wipe each side of the leaves clean. Banana leaves are tricky in that they tend to rip easily. Try to keep the leaves as intact as possible. Sort out the leaves that are skinny strips, you will need them later. Let the leaves dry overnight.  The leaves won't dry out completely, but that's okay.  You could prepare the leaves the same day that you make the

Preparing the sweet rice:
The rice needs to be prepared in batches due to the sheer amount of rice involved.  We have a large wok and was able to prepare this in two batches, but others may need to prepare the rice in three or four batches.

1. Heat  2 cans of coconut cream, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 3/4 tablespoon of salt in a large pan or pot on high heat.

This is the brand of coconut cream that we use

2.  Once the coconut cream mixture has reached a simmer, add 3 1/2 cups of sweet rice.  Stir until the sweet rice has absorbed all of the cream.  The sweet rice won't be cooked or dry, it will be moist.  Let the rice cool before using.  You can start making rolls with this batch or start preparing your other batches or rice.


 3.  Peel bananas into a large bowl.  Add 3/4 tablespoon of salt and mix.  Slice six of the bananas lengthwise.

Assembly!

1.  Set up: have your cleaned banana leaves in two piles, one for large pieces and one for skinny strips (about 4 inch strips).  Have your bowl of bananas and your bowl of rice on the side. Keep a clean cloth to wipe the leaves dry and a moist cloth to keep your hands clean in between wrapping.  You need rubber bands to temporarily secure the rolls and also string to tie them up later.

2. Arrange one sheet of banana leaf with the grain going horizontally, wiping excess water off both sides.  Place a second, wiped sheet on top of it, this time with the grain going vertically. 







3.  Spoon a thin layer of sweet rice onto the leaves.  Leave 1.5-2 inch margins along all sides.  Place one whole banana and a halved one in the center.  Leave a 0.5-1 inch of space between the banana and the rice.  You might need to cut off some of the banana.






4.  Gather the top and bottom of the leaves together.

 
5. Tuck the leaves onto itself and then flatten it.  Make sure the wrapping is tight.  Squeeze the sides to make a rectangle shape.  Also, try hard not to make the leaves rip at the seams.  If you do, take another large piece and wrap it around the whole roll.

Fold the end onto itself

Then fold it flat

  

6.  Fold one end of the roll simply, so that you can turn it on its side.  Use your finger to scrape any rice on the inside of the sides.  If you can see banana peeking through, add some more rice and then tamp it down.  Fold the sides of the roll similar to folding the sides of a gift-wrapped box. You may need to trim off excess banana leaf.

 





 7.  Reinforce the sides with some strips of banana leaves.  Lay one strip to wrap end in one direction.  Lay another strip crosswise.  Tie the end with some string or a rubber band.  You will properly tie the whole thing up later.




8. Flip over and wrap the other end.



9.  Continue to wrap until you are out of bananas.  Now it is time to tie all of the rolls.  Use one piece of  string to tie the long sides of the roll.  Use the same method as tying ribbon on a present.  Tie the ends of the string together.  My mom likes to do this fancy thing where she uses one string to wrap the long sides for two rolls.  That way, it is easy to hand the cooked rolls.  That isn't necessary, but feel free to do that if you want.



10.  Tie more string around the center of the roll.  In the end it will look like this: four strings around the roll and one string going lengthwise.  If you wrapped it the fancy way, you will be able to hang the rolls up like this:



11.  Set up the steamer.  We have a large metal one that comes with a bottom pan, two steamer pans, and lid.  Fill the bottom with water and a small lemon, cut in half.  The lemon prevents mineral build up on the pan (easier cleanup later).  Cover and bring to a boil.  Lay the rolls into the steam pan.  Do not place rolls on top of each other.  If you can, keep some space in between rolls so that the steam can circulate.  Steam the rolls for  five hours.  When they are done, allow the rolls to reach room temperature before slicing.

And that is how we make banh chuoi.  As you can see, it is a laborious process.  Below is the finished product!  We cooked ours for six hours, a little too long, so that's why it appears soggy.  The banana turns red because of the salt added, and the rice turns greenish because of the banana leaves.  You can leave the rolls out at room temperature, but if it's too hot, then refrigerate them.  To reheat, slice however many you want, peel off the banana leaves, cover and microwave for about a minute.  Will any of you ever make this?  Please let me know how they turn out if you do!