Asian brown rice, avocado, ginger and peanut bowl

May 13, 2015February 8, 2016 Belinda1 Comment

The combination of crunchy peanuts, creamy avocados, and the sweet bite of ginger make for a dish that’s full of complex flavors, yet easy to make. Serve it on its own or with tofu for a vegetarian meal, or add grilled chicken, fish, or shrimp.

1 cup short grain brown rice (or leftover cooked short grain brown rice, then miss the rice-cooking part of the recipe))
Kosher salt, to taste
3 1⁄2 tbsp soy sauce
3 1⁄2 tbsp. mirin
3 1⁄2 tbsp. sake
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup cilantro leaves and tender stems, plus more for garnish
1⁄2 cup dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1⁄4 cup pickled ginger, thinly sliced. (Available from the Asian section at your supermarket. It’s in a glass jar)
5 scallions, thinly sliced
2 avocados, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1⁄4” pieces (1/2 moon shape)
Zest and juice of 1 lime

Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Bring 12 cups water to a boil in a large pot with a tight-fitting lid over high heat. Add the rice, stir it once, and boil, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Pour the rice into a strainer over the sink; cool to room temperature.

Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar in a 2-qt saucepan over medium-high; cook until sugar has dissolved, 3-5 minutes. Cool the sauce slightly. (It is a teriyaki sauce)

Combine rice, teriyaki sauce (You may only need half of it at the most. taste to tell), the cilantro, peanuts, ginger, scallions, avocados, cucumber, and zest and juice in a bowl; transfer to a serving platter and garnish with cilantro.

** I had some leftover salmon in the fridge and put chunks of it in the salad and it was delicious!

Asian flavors · Curry · Pasta · Poultry · Soup

15 minute Coconut curry noodle soup

May 2, 2015September 13, 2018 Belinda

Want a bowl of heaven in 15 minutes? This recipe is from a great blog called Woks of Life and has all my favorite ingredients rolled into one bowl of deliciousness.

Makes 2 generous portions

You’ll need:

2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 heaped tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste (or 3 tbsp if you like it really spicy)
8 oz. boneless chicken breast or thighs, sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 tbsp fish sauce
2/3 cup coconut milk
6 oz. dried rice vermicelli noodles (or the fine rice noodles)
A bag of beansprouts (about 10 oz)
1 lime, juiced
Sliced red onion, red chilies, cilantro, scallions to garnish

In a large pot over medium heat, add the oil, garlic, ginger, and Thai red curry paste. Fry for 5 minutes, until fragrant.
Add the chicken and cook for a couple minutes, just until the chicken turns opaque.
Add the chicken broth, water, fish sauce, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil. At this point, taste the broth for salt and adjust seasoning accordingly (add salt if needed, or if it’s too salty, add a bit of water).

Put the dried rice vermicelli noodles in each of your large soup bowls, add a large handful of beansprouts, a good amount of roughly chopped cilantro and about 1/4 cup chopped scallions per bowl.
Pour the boiling soup over all this and add a good squeeze of lime juice to each bowl.Let sit for about 4 minutes until the noodles are cooked. Serve

(Alternatively, you can add the noodles to the boiling broth to cook them, and then divide among serving bowls).

Asian flavors · Curry · Gluten Free · Poultry

Asian roast chicken with red curry and coconut gravy

March 4, 2015September 13, 2018 Belinda

Roast chicken is my go-to comfort food if we’ve had a really busy week and have eaten out a lot. The week of the Oscars was like that and I was craving a roast chicken. This is a fabulous alternative to the usual traditional flavors in a roast chicken.

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp Thai spice blend or Chinese five-spice powder
½ tsp coarse salt
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime, plus extra 1 lime, halved
3 1/2 lb whole free-range chicken
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
4 thick slices fresh ginger
2 lime leaves (look for Bart Spices dried lime leaves, from major supermarkets)
7 oz carton coconut cream
7 fl oz chicken stock, hot
1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Mix together the oil, spice blend, salt and lime zest and juice to make a paste. Rub the mixture evenly onto the chicken skin.
Pop the lime halves into the body cavity, along with the lemongrass, ginger and lime leaves. Sit in a roasting tin and roast for 1½ hours, until the chicken is cooked through.
Tip any juices inside the body cavity into the tin, then lift the chicken onto a plate and rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour off the fat, then stir the coconut cream, stock and curry paste into the juices left in the tin, and cook in the oven for a further 5 minutes, until hot.
Carve the chicken and serve with the coconut gravy and some steamed greens, such as pak choi, and rice.

Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Poultry

Slow cooker Asian BBQ chicken wings

February 1, 2015September 7, 2022 Belinda

Given that it’s Super Bowl Sunday, what more do you need than a large platter of these! The meat literally drops off the bones and the sauce…. what can I say???

4-1/2 lb. chicken wing drumettes, winglets, or both
8 medium scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup hoisin sauce
3 tbsp Asian sesame oil
1-1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1-1/2 tbsp sambal oelek
2-1/2 tbsp cider vinegar
Asian chile oil (optional)

Tip:
Chicken wings are often sold divided into drumettes and winglets—buy either (or both) according to your preference. If you buy whole wings and cut them into pieces yourself, you’ll need about 5 lb. to start.

In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, stir the chicken wings, all but 2 tbsp of the scallions, the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and sambal oelek until the wings are evenly coated. Cover and cook until the wings are cooked through, but not falling off the bone, 2-1/2 hours on high or 4 hours on low. (The wings can stay on the keep-warm setting for up to 1 hour.)

Use tongs to transfer the chicken wings to a large foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Strain the sauce into a fat separator and set aside for a few minutes. Pour the defatted sauce into a 2-quart saucepan, add the vinegar, and boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 15 minutes.

Position a rack 4 inches from the broiler element and heat the broiler on high. Brush the wings with the sauce and broil until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn the wings over, brush them again, and broil until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes more. Brush with the sauce once more before serving, topped with the remaining 2 Tbs. scallions and drizzled with the chile oil, if using. Serve any remaining sauce on the side for dipping.

Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Meat · Poultry · Soup

Asian slow cooker bone broth

January 31, 2015September 7, 2022 Belinda

As one gets older one needs to retain as much calcium as possible, and I have been reading that in most Asian countries they have a version of this broth that they eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner and add noodles, vegetables or anything else to it, depending on what takes their fancy. It is loaded with calcium from the bones for your bones and is incredibly tasty and light.

The slow cooker can be bubbling away slowly for several days with this and you just have to remember to top up the water level and add ginger, garlic, scallion and lemon grass if you have it.

It is tremendously simple to make and the whole house will fill with the smell of the broth as the slow cooker gives forth it’s wonderful goodness. I have a 6 qt slow cooker, so I can fit in 4 to 5 lbs of bones.
If you use pork or chicken bones, you don’t have to roast them, but if you use beef bones, you may want to roast them at 350 F for 30 to 45 mins so the broth will be richer. Remove any marrow from the beef bones before you put them into the slow cooker or the broth will be cloudy and somewhat mushy!

Recipe

4 to 5 lbs organic chicken or pork on the bone. (For pork I use the spare ribs. For chicken, use wings and feet.)
Two good sized 2 inch chunks of fresh ginger, cut in half and peeled
2 stalks lemongrass (optional) peeled, halved and bruised
6 scallions,white and green parts, halved then tied with kitchen twine
1 head of garlic halved horizontally.

Put the meat in the slow cooker, add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass and scallions then fill the slow cooker up to within 1 inch of the rim with cold water. Put the lid on.
Turn the slow cooker on high for about 1 1/2 hours so it bubbles and gives off scum. Open the lid and skin off the scum at this point.
Put the lid back on and turn it to low and cook for about 8 hours. You may want to skim again during the cooking process.
After 8 hours, ladle out the liquid, put into containers and let cool until the liquid is cool enough to put into the fridge. Top up the slow cooker with more water and turn on for another 8 hours, repeating the process.

You can scrape off any fat from the refrigerated liquid and add fresh chopped scallions, chopped cilantro, some red chilli, some noodles or anything else you fancy and you have the most wonderful meal that is very low calorie and incredibly good for you.

Gluten Free · Vegetable sides

Wilted spinach with creamy lemon and ginger sauce

December 31, 2014 Belinda

This is a real beauty with the tangy flavor of the lemon, the slight heat from the ginger and the smooth creaminess of the sauce. Super served with grilled or roasted meats and fish.

Serves 2, but can easily be augmented

For the sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 glass of white wine
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into julienne strips
1 lemon, zested
9 oz heavy cream
For the spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
9 oz fresh baby spinach
pinch sea salt

Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion for 3 to 5 minutes until soft but not colored.
Add the ginger and lemon zest and cook for a further minute
Pour in the cream and white wine, stirring to combine
Simmer gently for 4 to 5 minutes until the sauce is reduced and thickened and coats the back of a spoon. At this point you can remove the ginger pieces. Set aside.
For the spinach
Heat the oil in a saute pan and add the fresh spinach, cooking to wilt, about 2 minutes.
Season with the sea salt.
Spoon the spinach gently into the cream mixture, mixing gently or what is also nice, is to put the spinach into 2 x 3 inch chef’s rings on serving plates, pour the sauce around and over the spinach and remove the ring, leaving this lovely mound of green and the pretty sauce floating around it.

Asian flavors · Poultry

Soy braised chicken thighs with star anise and orange peel

November 2, 2014February 7, 2016 Belinda

I love braising, especially now the colder weather is here.
I also love this time of year when we start putting the fire on in the kitchen and making lots of comforting, rich braises and soups. This combination is divine with the pungent Asian flavors. All you need is plain boiled rice.

Serves 4

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, plus more if needed
2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp chicken stock
8 bone-in chicken thighs
3 tbsp peanut oil, divided use
3 scallions
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 dried small red chile
3 short strips orange zest removed with a vegetable peeler
1 whole star anise
2 tsp cornstarch

Heat the oven to 325 F
In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, vinegar, fish sauce, brown sugar and 1/4 cup stock or water. Stir to mix and set aside.
Season the chicken pieces well with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large ovenproof skillet or other heavy-lidded braising pot over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Add half of the chicken pieces, skin side down, and sear without disturbing, until the skin is crisp and bronzed, about 7 minutes. Turn the pieces carefully to avoid tearing the skin and brown the other side, about 7 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a large plate to catch the juices. Cook the remaining chicken the same way.

While the chicken is browning, coarsely chop the scallions separating the white and green parts. Set them aside.
Discard all the fat from the pan and return the pan to medium heat. Add the remaining tbsp of oil, then add the white part of the scallions, garlic, ginger and chile. Stir and cook just until you can smell the garlic and ginger, about 30 seconds. Pour in the reserved soy mixture and stir to combine. Add the orange zest and star anise.

Set the chicken thighs in the pan and add any juices that have accumulated on the plate. Cover the pan with parchment paper, pressing down so the paper nearly touches the chicken and the edges extend about an inch over the sides of the pan. Cover with a secure lid and place the pan in the lower part of the oven.
After 15 minutes, turn the chicken pieces with tongs and check to be sure there’s at least 1/4 inch of liquid in the pan. If not, add a few tablespoons of stock. Replace the parchment and lid and return the pan to the oven until the chicken is fork tender and pulling away from the bone, about 20 more minutes.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a serving platter without crowding the pieces and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Remove the star anise and orange peel from the pan. Set the pan over medium high heat and bring to a simmer. Skin off any surface fat.Add the scallion greens.

Put the cornstarch in a small bowl. Add the remaining tbsp of stock and whisk briefly to combine and smooth out any lumps. Pour the mixture into the simmering liquid, stirring to incorporate it evenly.
The liquid will immediately thicken to a glossy sauce the consistency of maple syrup. Pour any juices the chicken has released into the sauce and simmer for another minute.
taste for soy sauce and vinegar. The sauce should be salty,but not too much. If it’s too salty another splash of vinegar will balance this out
Spoon the sauce over the chicken and stir

Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Pasta · Vegetarian pasta

Indian-style macaroni and cheese

October 14, 2014September 7, 2022 Belinda

Don’t be put off by the list of ingredients, they are all pantry staples which I’m sure you have. I adore Indian food and who doesn’t love mac and cheese? This combination is superb!

Serves 6 to 8

3 tbsp butter
Salt
4 cups dried macaroni (14 oz)
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, minced
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin (I roast mine)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
1/4 tsp red chile pepper
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
a pinch of pepper
3 cups whole milk
4 cups grated mature cheddar (about 14 oz)
1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9″ by 13″ ovenproof dish with 1 tbsp of the butter.

Fill a large pot with water and place it over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil and add a good amount of salt. Add the macaroni and cook until tender, but still firm. About 8 to 10 mins. Drain.

Melt the remaining butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic and onions. Stir and cook until the onions are just beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garam masala, cumin, turmeric, paprika, cardamon, chili powder and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the flour and a pinch of salt and pepper and stir for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk and continue to stir as it thickens. Cook until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the 3 cups of cheese and stir until melted.

Add the drained macaroni to the baking dish and then pour over the cheese sauce, stirring well and making sure all the macaroni is well coated.
Sprinkle the top with the rest of the grated cheese and the breadcrumbs and bake until the top is golden and the macaroni is hot and bubbling. About 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot

Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Gluten Free · Whole30 compliant

Spicy sesame Asian guacamole

September 26, 2014September 7, 2022 Belinda

Who doesn’t like guacamole? Well, as I’m an Asian food nut, this recipe ticks all the boxes for me, especially if it is served with sesame rice crackers or fried wontons.

Serves 4 and the total time is 15 minutes.
3 ripe Haas avocados
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions,white and light green parts only
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp chile-garlic sauce
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp black sesame seeds
Coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Sesame rice crackers for serving

Cut each avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit from the avocado and discard. Remove the avocado from the skin and place the avocado flesh in a bowl.
Add the red onion, scallions, lime juice, chile-garlic sauce, soy sauce, ginger, 1 tsp of the sesame seeds and the sesame oil.
Mash with a fork until half smooth and half chunky. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.
Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 tsp black sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Accompaniments · Asian flavors · Do-ahead · Fish

Homemade ginger-infused tartare sauce to serve with fish.

September 23, 2014September 7, 2022 Belinda

This ginger-infused tartare sauce is gorgeous dolloped on or alongside a fillet of broiled salmon, swordfish, cod or halibut. It can be made in advance which will give it time for the fresh ginger to reach it’s full potential.

Serves 4
1/2 cup good mayonnaise like Best Foods or Kraft
2 tbsp chopped pickles or whole capers
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil,parsley,mint or cilantro sprigs
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1 tsp your favorite hot sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours before using.