Thursday, February 3, 2011

Who Wants Asian Food???



Asian cooking is all about using fresh ingredients. This is the time to visit your local asian market (that you have always driven past, but never been to). The ingredients I find at Eang Hong (off Central Ave)  are cheaper here then they would be at a Harris Teeter. I still get my proteins at the other grocers.

Other than the fresh ingredients, another reason to cook Asian cuisine at home is how fast it is. Prepping the food is where all the time is, cooking is literally just minutes.

Tonight's Menu:

 Ginger Beef with carrots & broccoli
with steamed rice

So let's go shopping:
  • Beef (something lean, the dish not going to cook long enough to melt the fat)
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli
  • Onion
  • Fresh ginger
  • Scallions (green onion)
  • Soy sauce
  • Hosin
  • White wine
  • Jasmine rice
So you ventured out to the asian market:
How was it? Lots of things that you have never seen before?
You are going to be hooked; I go to the Asian market once a week usually.

Now on to cutting the vegetables...
 Julienne onions, cut broccoli off stem. Peel the ginger, using a paring knife or a spoon (I am not crazy: the spoon will work, and you won't lose too much ginger by cutting it with the knife), and julienne ginger. Peel and thinly slice carrots and blanch. Blanching vegetables is a common technique to make vegetable brighter and have a snap in their bite. 

Slice the beef 1/4 inch thick.

Steam rice. Rinse twice (to get it really clean and be sure there are no imperfections in the rice) and add to water (2/1 water to rice), cover and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is soft, but not mushy. 

Mix soy sauce and hosin (2/1 soy to hosin), add a tablespoon of sugar, and simmer until sugar is dissolved.

Ok, that was the hard part. Have someone set the table...you are almost there.

If you have a wok, great. If not, no big deal- a nonstick pan will work.

 Heat pan and add oil. Just before it starts smoking, add ginger.


Add beef


Add onion once beef has started to brown


Add carrots and deglaze with white wine, half a cup
Once reduced, add soy mixture.


Add broccoli, taste with the soy sauce. It should be salty enough, but now is the the time to add
 if need be. Add black pepper.


Asian food to me is best enjoyed family style.


Enjoy!!!

1 comment:

  1. This looks awesome! So, does Ellie (sp?) usually eat what you make? If so, could you write a post with advice on how get your toddler to try new foods. As of now, I can only count on Frances eating eggs, pizza, yogurt, blueberries, and any type of meat.

    ReplyDelete

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