Egg Foo Young

I used this recipe to make mine, with a few modifications. https://www.recipetineats.com/egg-foo-young/

I minced up cooked chicken breast that was marinated in tequila lime and grilled. I added carrot and cooked the carrot and green onion prior to putting it in the raw egg mixture.  Do not double the sauce/gravy. There is plenty for rice and the egg pancakes as is.

Enjoy!

Egg Roll in a Bowl

This low carb meal takes some prep work, but once that's done, it cooks in 10 minutes or less. The five-spice powder is a must-add ingredient. Making fresh five-spice powder (recipe below) is even better.

1/2 Tbsp oil (olive, canola, or coconut all work)
4 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped or slivered
1 red pepper, chopped
2  large cloves garlic, minced
2 generous tsp. chopped ginger root
3 (about a 1/2 cup) green onions (with tops), sliced
4 oz. or more whole mushrooms (sliced) - (optional)
1 can water chestnuts, diced
1 pound or more cooked pork loin, chicken, or beef, thinly sliced
fresh bean spouts, rinsed and drained (optional)
1 large handful cilantro, chopped

Sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
4 tsp dry sherry
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1-2 tsp five-spice powder (see recipe below)
pinch red pepper flakes (add sparingly unless you like it spicy)
1- 2 tsp cornstarch
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Mix all sauce ingredients into a bowl and set aside.

Five Spice Powder
1/2 tsp each - whole cloves, whole fennel seed, whole star anise, whole peppercorns, whole or ground cinnamon) - place whole spices in a coffee grinder or spice grinder until well crushed. Save leftover spice for another day

Instructions
1. Add oil to a wok or large non-stick skillet. Heat until it shimmers (be sure to turn on your stove vent)
2. Add cabbage, onion, and red bell pepper. Stir fry until veggies begin to soften (about 2-3 minutes). 3. Add garlic and ginger, green onions, mushrooms and water chestnuts. Cook until veggies are to your likeness (at least 2 minutes longer).
4. Add the sliced, cooked meat and stir until meat is hot.
5. Add the sauce and toss together thoroughly. Cook an additional minute.
6. Add bean sprouts, if using and remove from heat. Stir well and place into a serving bowl.
7. Top with cilantro and serve.
8. For additional heat, top with Sambal Oelek or Siracha sauce.

This dish is great without any accompaniments, but if you want some carbs, serve with fried rice or top with crunchy chow mein noodles.

Smells and tastes amazing!

Easy Hot and Sour Soup

16 oz. package of firm tofu, drained
4-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (can also use vegetable broth)
1/4 c. white vinegar, plus a splash if you use 6 cups of broth
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp finely chopped, fresh ginger root
3 large crimini mushrooms, sliced (about 1/3-1/2 cup)
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
2 tsp natural cane sugar
1 tsp. black (or white) pepper, freshly ground (used a lot to make it more "hot")
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c. cold water
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, drained and cut into julienne strips
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup sliced green onion tops (green part only)
1 Tbsp sambal oelek (hot chili sauce), don't use or use less if you don't like spicy food

Remove tofu from package and place on several layers of paper towel, top with more paper towels and place a heavy pan (like an iron skillet) on top. This will squeeze most of the moisture out of the tofu and keep it together when you add it to the soup. Set aside and assemble the soup.

Pour the broth into a large stockpot. Add vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, mushrooms, garlic, sugar, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes until the mushrooms begin to get soft.

Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Combine cornstarch and water and stir until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture, bamboo shoots, and tofu and boil gently for about 1 minute or until the soup begins to thicken. Meanwhile, beat the egg in a small bowl.

Remove soup from heat and swirl the egg in a circle into the soup. DO NOT STIR. Place the soup back on the heat and cook for about a minute until the egg firms up. It should create strands of egg (like egg drop soup), but if you have large chunks, just break it apart with a spoon. Stir in green onion tops and the sambal oelek.

 Serve immediately in small soup bowls and eat with a Chinese ceramic spoon. Can add crunchy chow mein noodles on top if you want. Soup will be very hot, so eat slowly and enjoy the hot and sour flavor. This is a great appetizer soup or it can be served as a light meal.

OPTIONAL: Can add meat (such as pork, chicken, beef) or shrimp to make it heartier, but it tastes good and has plenty of protein with the tofu alone.

Bourbon Glaze for Salmon, Chicken, etc.

3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. bourbon
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh garlic, minced (about 2-3 cloves)
1 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black peper

Mix together until sugar is dissolved. Place in a large ziplock bag with 1 1/2 -2 lbs. of fish or chicken (recommend cut up so marinade penetrates the meat). Marinate for 1 1/2 hours.

Heat large skillet and and coat pan with non-stick spray. Add the protein and cook for 4 minutes on a side (turning once) or until fish flakes easily or chicken is done. Add the marinade to the pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Marinade will reduce quickly and burn, so be sure to watch carefully. Serve fish or chicken with the glaze on top. Sprinkle with fresh green onion, sliced thinly and toasted sesame seeds, if desired.

Easy Fried Rice

Shrimp fried rice with edamame

This recipe makes a great lunch but requires some planning ahead. Make extra rice for dinner and then you can put it into the fridge overnight and make fried rice for lunch the next day!

2 Tbsp. Canola oil
1 tsp. butter
2 eggs
Black pepper
2 cups cooked COLD white rice
1 medium carrot, diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced (including green part)
1-2 tsp. fresh ginger, minced (more if you love fresh ginger flavor)
1 large garlic clove, minced (or pressed through a garlic press)
1 cup cooked edamame or cooked green peas (optional)
Soy Sauce (about 1/4 cup or more)

Crack eggs into a small bowl, add one to two grinds of black pepper. With a small whisk or a fork, whip the eggs until smooth and "scrambled."

Heat a small non-stick pan with small dab of butter. When hot, pour a small amount of egg the pan and move the egg to cover the bottom of the pan.

Egg should cook quickly and look like a large pancake. Turn over the egg and finish cooking egg just until it is no longer glossy.

 Remove egg onto a plate. Repeat with the remainder of the egg until it is cooked, adding more butter, if needed. Roll up the egg "pancake" like a crepe and slice into thin strips. Set egg aside.

Heat a large wok pan over high heat, adding 1/2 Tbsp. oil. When oil is hot, add the carrot and stir fry for about 1 minute or until it is tender, but not completely cooked.

Add green onion, ginger and garlic to the pan and stir fry about 30 more seconds.

Drizzle another tablespoon of oil around the sides of the pan. Add the cooked rice to the pan and break it apart, stirring to move it constantly and mixing the vegetables together to distribute throughout the rice.

Add more oil by drizzling it around the side of the wok so it is heated quickly. Continue to stir the rice mixture until it is heated and begins to brown. Rice will likely stick to the bottom of the pan, but don't worry about that. It adds flavor.

Once the rice is heated and fried slightly, add soy sauce by sprinkling it all over the top of the rice and stirring rice to distribute it. The soy sauce should be enough to help bring up the rice bits sticking to the pan, but not so much as to make the fried rice too salty.

Add the cooked egg and edamame or peas if using and give the rice a good stir. Taste the rice and add more soy sauce if needed.

Remove from heat and place fried rice into a bowl or onto a plate. Serve with additional soy sauce.

• This recipe will make 2 side dishes or 1 large serving for a hungry person. To make it more hearty, add cooked and diced chicken or pork or shrimp when you add the rice to the wok.
• All amounts are estimates -- there is no magic to the amounts indicated. Add more or less, based on your individual tastes and how many veggies you want in your fried rice.

Fried rice with nothing extra added.

Orange Chicken in the Crock Pot

2 tsp. good quality balsamic vinegar
6 Tbsp. ketchup
12 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
6-8 Tbsp. brown sugar
1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1-2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
 4-5 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks
1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large sweet red pepper, chopped in large chunks**

In a small bowl, mix vinegar, ketchup, orange juice, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper until completely smooth. Taste to make sure it is sweet enough to your liking.

Toss chicken in a bowl with flour until completely coated. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Working in batches, brown chicken on all sides, but do not cook chicken completely as it will finish cooking in the crock pot.

Put browned chicken in the bottom of a crock pot. Cover chicken with orange juice sauce and stir. Add sweet red pepper and stir slightly.

Cook on low 5 hours, watching to make sure it doesn't burn. Chicken should be very tender and not dry.

Serve over rice. Serve with spring rolls!

Shown with homemade spring roll and peanut sauce.

**You can also add chunks of sweet onion, or other vegetables if you'd like.

A Good Sweet-Sour Sauce

Below is a combination of a couple of recipes that I found and decided to write down the final product. This sweet-sour sauce is great with pork, chicken, shrimp or even just stir-fried vegetables. It has a good enough flavor to eat it right out of the bowl like my mother-in-law used to do at the Chinese Restaurant (Ho Wa) in Waukegan!

Combine:

1 cup pineapple juice (drained from a can of pineapple is fine)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 large clove garlic crushed
1/2 tsp. ground ginger (or use fresh ginger, finely chopped)

Stir until cornstarch is incorporated, then heat on medium, stirring constantly until it boils and is thick and smooth. Add a few drops of red food coloring to make it more orange-red color.

Add chopped green pepper, chopped onion, pineapple chunks, and your favorite meat (already cooked and tender) to make a yummy sweet-sour dish. Serve over white rice.

Chicken & Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles

1 6-oz package of Chinese egg noodles, cooked, drained and rinsed with cold water (set aside)

Oil for frying
3 chicken breasts (1.5 pounds), cut in 1/2 inch chunks
2 tsp. grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and thinly cut
2-3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1-2 cups broccoli, cut up
1 md. onion, cut in chunks
1/2 green pepper, cut in strips

For sauce stir together and set aside:
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
2-3 Tbsp. corn starch
3 Tbsp. dry sherry
3 Tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil

In a large wok, stir fry broccoli for 1-2 minutes, add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry until crisp-tender. Remove veggies and keep warm.

Add more oil, half of the garlic and ginger and half the cut-up chicken and stir fry until chicken no longer pink. Remove and place with veggies. Add other half of the garlic, ginger and chicken and stir fry until almost done.

Stir up sauce until completely blended and add to wok. Stir and cook until bubbly and thickened. Add the veggies and chicken and cooked noodles. Give it a good stir until everything is coated. Remove from wok into a large serving dish.

Top with red pepper flakes, nuts (cashews, peanuts, almonds) or a large handful of chopped cilantro to flavor. Pass the soy sauce if needed.