The Main Ingredient – Chinese Cuisine
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*** THE MAIN INGREDIENT segment aims to inform, educate, share skills and knowledge. It also hopes to satisfy most of our TASTEBUDS (the five elements of taste perception: salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami or savoury). Email your request INGREDIENT(s) be featured for its uses, nutrient contents and/or cooking tips, and comments/suggestions. ***The author has had 13 years of experience in the field of Food and Nutrition, Research, Community/Public Health and Food Services combined. Earned the Degree in Nutrition & Dietetics (Philippines.) and Food and Nutrition Technology Program (Canada). Information presented in this segment is based on nutritional books, online searches and personal knowledge of the author. Furthermore, all recipes featured in this segment are personally developed and/or original creations of the author, and are intended solely for personal use of the end users. This article and contents are copyrights and patent pending and therefore, no portion/ parts or whole can be re-produced for any other use other than stated above without the author’s expressed permission. Mbpd
Chinese cooking is one of the world’s oldest and most popular cuisines. Over many thousands of years, Chinese have developed great food. Whether it is Cantonese, Peking, Szechuan or Hunan, the vast range of dishes of different characteristics were distinctly their own.
Filipino cuisine is predominantly influenced by China brought by Chinese traders who lived, settled and married to Filipino wives. This bloodlines brought the development of Chinese-inputs into Philippine cuisine. This influence gave birth to dishes such as lumpia (eggroll), pansit(noodles), siopao ( meat-filled steamed bun) chopsuey (stir-fry), molo( pork- filled wonton soup), and desserts such as egg tart or fortune cookies.
Since this is my birthday month, a celebration of thanksgiving deserves an array of wonderfully prepared dishes that is trul Chinese inspired.
TASTEBUDS
Siomai |
Wor Wonton soup |
Ingredients:
- 1 pound pork
- ½ cup chopped shrimp
- ¼ cup water chestnuts, minced
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp ground black pepper
- ¼ onion, minced
- ¼ cup carrots, minced 1 pack won ton wrapper
- ¼ cup scallions, minced
2 tsp salt
1 piece raw egg
Sauce:
1 Lemon, squeezed
¼ cup soya sauce
Water for steaming
Procedure:
- Mix all the ingredients except for water and wanton wrapper.
- Blend to evenly mix all ingredients
- Using a teaspoon, drop the mixture in the middle.
- Fold the sides of the wrapper and put in a mold.
- Steam for 15 to 25 minutes.
- . Serve hot with soy sauce with lemon juice
Yield: 24 pcs. |
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 200 grm Cabbage, fine diced
- 100grm minced chicken
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1 pack wonton wrapper
- · Egg white for sealing
Stock
- 3 cups of chicken stock
- 2 tsp. soya sauce
- 175g Broccoli florets
- 150 grams carrots, sliced
- 150 grms button mushrooms
- 2 Tbsps green onions, chopped
Procedure:
- Blanch the cabbage in boiling water until soft. Drain and squeeze to remove excess moisture.
- In bowl, mix chicken, cabbage & seasonings.
- Take 1 tsp. of the mixture and place in the middle of your wrappers. Dip your finger in the egg white and run it around the edge of your wonton.
- Fold wonton in half, pressing down on edges to seal.
- In a medium saucepan, add stock and soy sauce.
- Add wonton and boil until they float to the surface
- Add your broccoli, mushroom and carrots/and simmer for 2 minutes
- Pour into bowls and top with chopped green onions
Yield: 4 servings |
Shanghai Noodles |
Pineapple Chicken |
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts, 6 to 7 ounces each
- Marinade:
- 2 tbsps soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tsp granulated suga
- 2 tsps cornstarch
- 2 pounds fresh Shanghai noodles
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- 2 cups Sui Choi, shredded
- 1 green onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoon Housin sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil, optional
- Oil for stir-frying
Procedure:
- Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes. Add the marinade ingredients, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes.
- Fill a large pot of water with enough water to cover the noodles. Bring to a boil. Add the noodles and boil the noodles for 5 minutes. Drain, run under cold water, and drain again. Toss with 1 tablespoon sesame oil.
- Wash the vegetables. Rinse and drain the sprouts.
- Heat the wok over medium-high to high heat. Add 3 tablespoons oil.
- Add the green onion. Stir-fry for 10 – 15 seconds, then add the chicken cubes. Stir-fry until the chicken until cooked.
- Add the cabbage. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes and season with hoisin sauce . Remove the chicken and cabbage from the wok.
- Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the bean paste. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the noodles. Stir in the housing sauce and sugar.
- Add the other ingredients back into the wok and mix thoroughly. Stir in the silver sprouts. Heat through. Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve hot.Yield: 4-6 servings
|
Ingredients:
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 -8oz cans pineapple tidbits, drained and juice reserved
- 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp water
- 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp peanut oil
- Hot chili sauce (optional)
- Cut each breast into 1 inch pieces.
- In a container add 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce and mix it in thoroughly using your hand to make sure that each piece is evenly coated. Place chicken in the refrigerator and let it marinate for 30 minutes
- In a pan, heat peanut oil t on high.
- Add the chicken and stir fry it until it browns, about 10 minutes. Remove it from the wok and set it aside.
- Drop pineapple tidbits in the wok and let them cook for 1 minute. Then add in the sauce and bring it to a boil.
- To the juice add the remaining 3 tablespoons of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Mix these liquids together and then add the sugar and stir until it dissolves. Once the sugar dissolves, add the water and set this mixture aside.
- In a small container, mix the cornstarch with just a little water until it dissolves and set it aside.
- Once the sauce begins to come to a boil, add in the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly until the sauce becomes thick.
- Then return the chicken to wok and stir until it is thoroughly coated with the sauce. Serve hot
Yield: 3-4 servings. |
Shrimp/Eggs Chopsuey ( Stir Fry) |
Egg Tart |
Ingredients:
- 1 pound shrimp
- 1 dozen quail eggs, boiled and shelled
- 4 tablespoons chicken broth
- ¼ cup cashes, roasted
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup cabbage, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms,
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts, sliced
- 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced diagonally
- 1 onion, coarsely choped
- 1/2 pound snow peas
- Oil for stir-frying
Sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 3/4 to 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Procedure:
- 1. Heat wok and add oil. Stir-fry shrimps until pink. Remove and set aside.Reheat wok and add more oil. And heat until ready. Add onions and celery and water chestnuts together, Stir fry for 1 munte.
- 2. And bell pepper and snow peas tand mushrooms. Stir fry for another minute. Add cabbage and stir.
- 3. Add oyster sauce, water and cover for half a minute.
- 4. Make a “well” in the center and gradually add the sauce, stirring to thicken. Add quail eggs and cashew nuts.
- 5. Serve Hot
Yield: 4-6 Servings |
Ingredients:
Shell:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup butter
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 dash vanilla extract
Filling:
- 2/3 cup condensed milk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 9 eggs, beaten
- 1 dash vanilla extract
Directions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg and vanilla until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist. Add more butter if it is too dry, or more flour, if the dough seems greasy. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use 2 fingers to shape the edge into an A shape.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- Beat eggs and pass through a sieve,
- Whisk into the evaporated, condensed milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.
Yield: 24 pieces |
ana on Sun, 30th Jan 2011 9:41 am
great one…. keep it up… hope to see more of these…..