I always add the green beans to my plate whenever we hit the Chinese buffet that’s located in the same complex that holds the grocery store and the farm goods retailer. I tell myself I’m going to make them next time I have some fresh beans but I never seem to remember. I made a point of making them today since I was already set on stir fry. They aren’t too hard, trim to the size you like and cook them in oil with minced garlic in whatever measure you like. I added sliced onions to these and cooked them for three or four minutes before adding a splash of water and covering the pan. Cook for another few minutes, add a slug of oyster sauce and toss to coat. Cover and reduce the heat until you are ready to plate. I cut the onions too small this time.
The main dish was chicken and snow peas in a spicy brown sauce over rice. Cut up the chicken into bite sized pieces and marinate in soy sauce, minced garlic, a splash of Chinese cooking wine, a few tablespoons of water or stock, a tablespoon of chili garlic paste, and a spoonful of corn starch. I usually make additional sauce that is similar to the marinade but with more stock and a splash of oyster sauce or sugar to sweeten it a tad. I find that if I nuke the snow peas for a minute or two in the microwave all they take is another minute in the wok, added with the extra sauce when the chicken is finished.
chili garlic paste
Stir fried shrimp with snow peas and mushrooms
We haven’t had shrimp for a while. This dish used much the same sauce as did the chicken with peppers yesterday, though I did chance the Wrath of Mrs J by adding some heat via dried red peppers and a little sesame chili oil. The shrimp marinated for a bit in rice wine and black vinegar with corn starch and flour. I deep fried the battered shrimp for a minute to set the crust and then drained them on a paper towel. I stir fried the veggies for a little while then added the semi-cooked shrimp and a sauce of rice wine, black vinegar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken stock, sesame chili oil, and corn starch. I’m really liking this sauce. The key flavors are found with the rice wine and the black vinegar: Also in the flavor mix are the usual suspects – garlic, and ginger. I’m using those giant garlic cloves in these dishes but they don’t add giant garlic flavor, it’s pretty subtle so you can use a lot of it. There is more of the garlic in the fried rice:
I took this opportunity to massage the heat in my dish with some extra chili garlic paste. There was a scant teaspoon of it in the main shrimp dish as well, any more would have been suicide by angry stare. I’ve seen Mrs J look birds from the sky so I go light with communal seasonings.
Mmm… ramen
Not much to this, just a basic ramen with some additions. I tossed some dried red peppers into the chicken broth to simmer along with a few dried shiitakes. When the mushrooms were tender I sliced them and then added the package of noodles and a few pieces of roast pork from the freezer. 
There are all sorts of amendments possible with these sorts of quick dishes: Various vegetables like carrots and broccoli, onions, bean sprouts, or water chestnuts all come immediately to mind.
Mmm… not so sticky chicken
I did something similar not too long ago. The wings were cooked in a crockpot that time but that was overkill so I roasted these in a similar marinade in my trusty toaster oven. I finished the thighs I used this time on the stove top in a non stick pan after separating the fat from the marinade and cooking juices. These spent some time in the pan over medium low heat but they never got to the sticky as glue stage. I decided I wanted sauce more than a crusted glaze so I added some stock with a bit more soy and oyster sauces along with more grated ginger root and minced garlic. Yummy stuff. Made fried rice to accompany the chicken.
Mmm…Ramen
Haven’t done one of these is a while:
Sure is a quick lunch. Boil a couple of cups of broth, toss in some sliced veggies and whatnot, add the noodles and stir for a minute. Good to go!
Mmm…spicy chicken with peppers and noodles
Chicken and red bell pepper and a sliced onion combine with a spicy brown sauce to make an excellent noodle dish. The sauce is the real story here, some beef broth, a dash of dark soy sauce, a good heaping tablespoon of chili garlic paste, a couple teaspoons worth of crushed red pepper flakes, a little Splenda for sweetness and a teaspoon or two of corn starch for a thickener and the dish just came together. Great tasting stuff.
Mmm…more ramen
I just love this stuff. It cooks quickly, the dishes are colorful, I can make them spicy to my heart’s content. I usually whip this dish up when Mrs J is off to the shelter. I don’t have to worry about not feeding her, or rather, fixing a spicy dish that she would refuse to eat.
This time I have some broccoli, a nice bit of those sweet Vidalia onions, some shredded carrot, the last of my dried shiitake mushrooms (note to self: get more), shrimp, and some dried red chilies to go with the noodles.
While the noodles boil, stir fry the veggies and the peppers in hot chili oil, toss in some ground szechuan peppercorns for a little extra kick. I made a quick sauce of chicken stock, corn starch, chili paste, ginger paste, and some minced garlic, leaving out the soy sauce this time. Add the shrimp to warm, drain the noodles and dump them in and stir about to coat everything.
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