Q&C – Minced Pork in Lettuce Cups

We’re rolling along right through February and we’ve got another delicious recipe that helps celebrate The Year of the Snake! Minced Pork in Lettuce Cups (p. 82) is not only healthy and fun, but it also symbolizes bounty, family unity, growing fortune, prosperity, wealthy, and intelligence.

This recipe would make a great lunch or part of a multi-course meal. Get your kids involved in the assembly of the cups as well – its never too early to start people on their wok adventures!

Have any questions or comments about the recipe before you get started? Leave them below and we’ll try to get them answered ASAP.

– Matt

Q&C – Chicken Lo Mein with Ginger Mushrooms

In honor of the Chinese New Year and the upcoming Year of the Snake we’ll be making Chicken Lo Mein with Ginger Mushrooms from page 249 of SFTTSE. This recipe not only promises to be delicious, but it also symbolizes longevity, growing fortunes and intelligence for the New Year. We haven’t done a noodle dish yet so this should be another first after our previous adventure with velveting. If you are unable to find the Chinese lo mein noodles I would suggest finding a spaghetti-style egg noodle, cooking it according to the package instructions until al dente, and thoroughly shaking it dry before proceeding with the recipe.

Any questions or comments before you start?

New Years decorations in Chinatown. Photo: Grace Young.

Q&C – Hoisin Explosion Chicken

Our next recipe is Hoisin Explosion Chicken on page 114. If you love hoisin sauce as much as I do then I bet you’re excited about this one! Traditionally hoisin sauce is made from toasted mashed soybeans although most brands today contain a number of starches like sweet potatoes, wheat, or rice. It is a sweeter sauce that is commonly found in Cantonese cooking. You should be able to find hoisin sauce in the Asian foods section of almost any grocery store these days. Grace recommends the Koon Chun brand and says that she has found it to be far superior to other brands of soy sauce. If you can find Koon Chun locally it is available on Amazon.com and at Kalustyan’s.

The recipe also keeps with our healthy stir-fry focus this month. it calls for skinless chicken breast, uses only 2 tbsp of oil, and is packed full of vegetables! Try serving it with brown rice instead of white for an additional vitamin boost.

As always, leave any questions or comments you have about the recipe in the comment section below and we’ll try to get them answered before Wednesday!

Q&C – Curried Beef

New year, new recipe! In honor of “fresh starts” we’ll be focusing on healthy recipes and tips this month, and we’re starting off with Stir-Fried Curried Beef from p. 86 of SFTTSE. This dish is chock full of protein and vitamins and uses less than two tablespoons of oil. It also has a little “heat” from the curry powder, making it perfect for a cold winter day. Here’s some tips before you get started:

• The recipe calls for shredded ginger – consult page 42 for instructions and a photo on how to shred ginger.
• If you live in northern climes its probably useless trying to find a tomato worth eating, but you can substitute a few halved grape tomatoes from the grocery store if you don’t have access to a fresh tomato.

Any questions or comments before you give this recipe a go? Leave them in the comment section below and I’ll try to get them answered before Wednesday!

– Matt

December 26th – Choose Your Own Wok Adventure, Part II

We’re going to mix it up a bit for our second December recipe – because it falls on the 26th and many people will be busy with holiday celebrations, I thought it would be nice to have another Choose Your Own Wok Adventure. The concept is simple – you can choose any recipe you want from SFTTSE, give it a go, and tell us the results! Feel free to go back and retry an old recipe or forge ahead and try something brand new. The choice is yours!

This post will also serve as the Q&C and LYL post for next Wednesday, so leave any questions or comments about the recipe you’re interested in trying below and I’ll try to get them answered ASAP.

– Matt

(PS. If you find yourself just plain swamped you can take this opportunity to have a Wednesday off!)

Q&C – Stir-Fried Ginger Broccoli

Our recipe this week is a fairly simple one – with the busy holidays we didn’t think attempting a complicated recipe would be a good idea! The stir-fried broccoli and ginger would make a great side dish (Grace suggests serving alongside roast chicken) or a quick lunch with a bowl of rice. Any questions or comments before you give it go?

Q&C – Stir Fried Mussels with Ginger and Scallions

I hope everyone has had a restful and relaxing holiday! I myself am still recovering from the gluttony, but I’m ready to get my wok fired up for next week’s recipe! I’ve never stir-fried shellfish before, so it should be an adventure! Before we get started we’ll have our usual questions and comments discussion, both here and in our Facebook group. Have at it in the comments with any thoughts or questions you might have, and we’ll try to get them all answered before next Wednesday!

– Matt

PS. Fellow wokker Rob asked about using frozen mussels if fresh ones aren’t available, and the response from Grace was that she has never tried frozen ones. If anyone would like to try frozen mussels we’d love the feedback!

Choose Your Own Wok Adventure!

October is a long month, which means THREE Wok Wednesdays. I don’t want to overload us with recipes, so I’ve decided that next Wednesday will be a freebie! You can choose your own wok adventure, so to say; revisit an old recipe, skip ahead and try something we haven’t gotten to yet, or be super creative and come up with your own recipe! I’m not-so-secretly hoping most of you will choose the last option because I’d love to see what everyone comes up with.

This post will be both the Q&C and LYL for our freebie Wednesday. Leave a comment below with any questions you might have about a recipe or technique you want to try, or want to re-try, and come back and tell us how it went! Grace and I will keep an eye on the comments and try to answer any questions ASAP, and I know Grace would LOVE to hear about any original stir-fry recipes you come up with.

Happy Halloween, and Happy Wokking!

– Matt

Q&C – Spicy Orange Chicken

(Thanks to Judy White for the nomination!)

Our next Wok Wednesday recipe will be Spicy Orange Chicken (p. 119). This should be a fun chance for us to try our hand at a Chinese take-away standard! I myself am partial to sesame chicken, but orange chicken is always my back-up.

For those of you in warmer climes this will be a chance to take advantage of the last of the season’s tomatoes. This recipe also some non-traditional ingredients like white pepper and chili bean sauce, both of which will show up in future recipes; take the opportunity to stock up now! Lastly, I’d recommend purchasing a scallion shredder to help slice the scallions – they are incredibly inexpensive, easy to find online or at most kitchen supply stores, and will make quick work of those scallions.

Any questions or comments before you start? Are you an orange chicken fan?

Q&C – Stir-Fried Eggs with Tomatoes

Tomato season is almost done, and we chose this recipe to take advantage of the last of the season’s beautiful heirloom tomatoes. This dish works best with fresh eggs and vine-ripened tomatoes from your local farmers’ market, but store bought will suffice if that is all you can get your hands on.

Questions? Comments? I’m thinking of actually cooking this for breakfast instead of my usual Wok Wednesdays dinner!

– Matt