Lighted Up Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry

I love making stir-fry because you can do all your prep-work before hand and then when it comes time to cook you only need 1 pan!

The sauce in this stir-fry has a sweet flavor to it but isn't heavy or thick at all. It could be used on a variety of stir-fry ingredients so be adventurous and switch it up.

Recipe adapted from Iowa Girl Eats



WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 small chicken breasts, cut into 2″ pieces
• salt & pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cups broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)

Rinse the rice and prepare according to package directions. 

While the rice is cooking, combine honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic together in a small bowl then set aside. 

In a separate larger bowl, whisk together egg white and cornstarch until smooth. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper then add to egg white mixture and toss to evenly coat.

In a small saucepan, steam broccoli until crisp tender then set aside.

Heat oil in a large wok (or skillet) over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Turn off heat and remove skillet from burner. 

Add prepared sauce and green onions then toss to combine. Stir in broccoli, then scoop mixture into bowls over rice.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

I work in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston so Chinatown is right around the corner. We take a lot trips into Chinatown for Dim Sum, Hot Pot and sushi but recently I was taken to the Asian market C-Mart. 

At C-Mart you will find rows of fresh produce, asiles of noodles, nuts, soy sauce, hot sauce, duck sauce...I could go on forever. They have everything you could ever want to create your ideal Asian dish. And the prices are insanely cheap!!

Most signage is in Chinese so I definitely recommend taking someone who can read what everything is - at least for your first trip over there!

I have been C-Mart a few times since my first visit and on my most recent trip I picked up some fresh broccoli and a package of linguini-ish noodles. I knew then and there I had to make stir-fry for dinner.

The key to stir-frying is to have all of your ingredients portioned out and cut to size before putting anything in your pan. Once your wok (or saute pan) is screaming hot just follow the recipe and add ingredients as needed. 

I loved how this beef and broccoli stir fry came out and I had tons of left overs. I will definitely be putting this meal in my regular rotation!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 lb of boneless sirloin steak, sliced against the grain as thin as you can 
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, divided
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup of beef broth **I used chicken broth because it was all I had at home**
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon of Sriracha (or 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper)
• 2 tablespoons of canola oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon of minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
• 4 cups of chopped fresh broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/3 cup of sliced scallions (the green part only)
• 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
• 1 package of pre-cooked, refrigerated chinese noodles of choice **rice would work too!**

 Combine the sliced beef 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoons of sugar, and beef. Set aside.

Stir together 1 tablespoon soy sauce, broth, cornstarch, hoisin, and Sriracha. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok (or large saute pan) over medium-high heat. Add beef mixture and saute for 3 minutes or until browned. Remove beef from pan. 

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Add ginger and garlic and cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. 

Add broccoli and 1/4 cup water. Cook 1 minute. 

Add scallions and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

Add broth mixture and beef mixture. Cook 2 minutes or until beef is thoroughly heated and sauce is slightly thick. Top with toasted sesame seeds. 

Toss with noodles.

And serve! 

Once you can make one stir-fry there is a million ways to switch it up!

What is your favorite stir-fry recipe?

Chinatown Hot Pot through the Hipstamatic lens

My friends and I love going to Hot Pot restaurants but haven't been in a while. The other weekend we finally got our act together and went to Kaze Shabu Shabu in Chinatown. Hot Pot is where a large bowl of broth is heated at the table and various ingredients are cooked in that broth.

I have been playing around with my Hipstamatic app for the iPhone as I took all of these photos with the John S. lens and Ina's 1969 film.

First thing to do is make the plain soy sauce they give you more flavorful! Ingredients typically given are scallions, minced garlic, hot peppers, and a chinese barbecue sauce. Mix them in the soy sauce until you get a combination you like.

Next up...SAKI BOMBS! If you know me you will know I am not a huge beer fan but at Hot Pot I am always down to saki bomb.

Some people get warm saki but we just get it cold because it is going right into cold beer.

There are a few different kinds of broth you can but we always go with the basic miso soup. Here is how it looks when they bring it to the table. There is a burner in the middle of the table and it heats the broth up really fast.

Of course we need an appetizer. We went for the fan fried pork gyoza.

We have tried a few different entrees and our favorite is short ribs. Each entree comes with a plate of vegetables to add to your broth and a choice of rice or noodles. We usually split one entree between two people.

Vegetables cooking away...

The short ribs only take 10 seconds to cook in the broth  because it is sliced so thin.

Udon noodles 

Jaime doing a saki bomb!

YUM!