Tasty Egg Roll Rice

(Before starting the main dish, set your rice to cook.)


In a large soup pot, combine:

• 5 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 5 lbs. ground pork

Cook fully, until no pink remains.

Add:

• 1-2 large onions, chopped
• 1 head purple cabbage, thin-sliced & cut to bite-sized strips
• 1 head green cabbage, thin-sliced & cut to bite-sized strips
• 1-2 large carrots, shredded (I use a cheese shredder for this)
• 5 Tbsp. grated ginger
• 1/4 c. minced garlic
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 5 Tbsp. liquid aminos

Stir & cook for 3-7 minutes, until cabbage softens & onions are transparent.

Generously salt before serving. Serve over rice.

This was easy and EVERYONE in the family loved it. Various kiddos said: "tasty," "filling," "super-good.

Chinese Green Beans

This is my FAVORITE way to eat green beans, taught to me by a friend who was born and lived in China until she was about 40 years old.  It is packed with flavor and absolutely delicious.

• Buy fresh green beans from the produce section.  (1 pound will make one serving for a family of four.  2 pounds will give you enough for either a couple families, or to have a bit for leftovers.)
• 1-2 large yellow sweet vidalia onions, sliced.
• garlic (either 2 garlic heads or 2 Tbsp. of garlic), chopped
• Salt & Pepper
• Canola oil

(1) Take your green beans to a cutting board and line them up, 10-20 at a time, with the ends all pushed to the same height, and then cut off the ends.  Flip the beans, line them back up, and cut off the opposite ends as well.  

(2) Take each bean, and slice end to end in long lines (3-4 long, skinny slices to a bean pod).  Place in a separate mixing bowl/plate.

(3) Repeat steps 1 & 2 until you're through the whole bunch.

(4) Pour enough canola oil into the frying pan to cover the bottom of the pan, and heat over high heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

(5) Place the thin onion slices into the oil & cook until softened and they become more caramelized.

(6) Next, pour the green beans over the top of the onions, and carefully stir and fold the green beans until all are moistened with oil.  Then, top with a lid and leave to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so (replacing the lid each time).   The heat should stay on high heat.   About 10 minutes into cooking, add in garlic and season with salt & pepper, and cook at least 5 minutes longer.  Once the beans are a nice dark green color and softened, and the onions are all browned, remove from heat and serve.

I hope you love these as much as I do!!!   Enjoy.

Tempura Batter

This recipe is from my Japanese friend, Ai, who spent several family holidays with us during college, and taught us this basic recipe.

• 1 egg
• 2 c. ice water
• 2 c. flour

Combine, and coat fish, shrimp, veggies, whatever you want, in this batter, drop into frying oil, fry, and serve over rice! Delicious.

Sesame Chicken

(Thanks to my friend Jamie for introducing us to this recipe!)

• 1 pound chicken, chopped
• Coat in 1 part flour/1 part cornstarch
• Fry on stovetop in small amount of oil
• Brown sesame seeds in pan in small amount of oil
• Mix together the following for sauce:
  

  - 1 c. water
  - 1 c. sugar
  - 1/4 c. vinegar
  - 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
  - 2 Tbsp. cornstarch

• Add to fried chicken pieces, and stir until thickened.
• Add sesame seeds, and serve over rice.

Chicken Teriyaki

Another family favorite-- mmm mmm mmm!

(Note: This is the amount I make, to feed our family of 6 eaters, plus have a little leftover for the next day. Quantities can be easily halved or cut into thirds for smaller families.)

1-2 pounds chicken thighs, chopped roughly into 1-inch cubes

Vegetable oil

1 & 1/2 cup soy sauce

1 & 1/2 cup sugar

6 Tbsp mirin/white wine (if you don't have this, as I never do, I sub in a splash of lemon vinegar)

2 Tbsp grated ginger

1 garlic, chopped fine/minced

1 & 1/2 tsp cornstarch

roughly 1/2 a tsp of red pepper flakes, give or take, according to your taste

Instructions:

***(as a sidenote, you'll want to start up your rice first, before you even chop the chicken. By the time it's done cooking, your chicken will be ready too.)***

Chop up the chicken. Nearly cover the bottom of a frying pan with vegetable oil, then add in chicken, and brown over medium-high heat. You want the chicken to be cooked, but still tender. Once chicken is cooked, add all other ingredients, in the order they appear above, to the frying pan, combine, turn down the heat, and simmer. Let thicken slightly, and then serve over rice.

Easy & delicious!

Authentic Chinese Spring Rolls

A Chinese friend of mine taught me how to make these, and they are SOOOOO yummy and very easy to make. (I should've taken pictures and I didn't... forgive me.)

Ingredients:
3-4 zucchini, diced small
2 medium-sized purple onions, slivered
1.5-2 pounds chicken thighs, cut into small chunks/pieces/slivers
soy sauce
salt
phyllo dough (cut roughly into 5 x 8 inch rectangles or triangles of that same basic size--it'll work out great either way)

Directions:
Marinate chicken pieces in 1-2 Tbsp (or more, if desired) of soy sauce. Sprinkle with salt.

Mix marinated chicken, zucchini, and onions until well-mixed in bowl. Then use 1-2 heaping Tbsp. of mix per eggroll wrapper/phyllo dough piece.

Place mix at base of wrapper/dough and roll twice. Then fold sides in and keep wrapping to the end of the dough.

Fill corn oil to about 2-3 inches deep in a small sauce pan and heat. Once ready, quickly (and carefully!) place eggrolls side by side in the oil so that they press up against each other to help keep them wrapped. Use tongs or chopsticks to keep the dough from unrolling as needed. Fry in oil until the dough is a nice golden color, then turn over if needed to brown the top.

Place on paper-towel lined plate to cool and serve hot, warm, or room temperature-- it's delicious no matter how it's served! ENJOY!!!