This recipe is a variation on something my ex-boyfriends mother made for me. I know, I know it sounds obscure, but she made it and then I started cooking this for myself throughout high school and college, because it was inexpensive and delicious. I have added to it to make it into a meal not just noodles. To start chop and seed a red pepper and set aside. Then, you need a large chicken breast, sliced in half width-wise. This will make it cook quicker and less likely to dry out. Season your chicken on both sides with salt, freshly ground pepper and granulated garlic powder. Heat a nonstick pan sprayed with olive oil cooking spray over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add your chicken and cook it 7-10 minutes per side until cooked through and seared on both sides. Remove and allow to cool. After chicken has cooled slice into strips. Next take a bunch of broccoli and chop off the ends and peel the outside of the stems off, then slice the ends thinly and chop off the florets. Heat a large sauté pan with a 1/4 inch of water over medium heat. Then add your broccoli and cook until bright green and most of the water is evaporated about 5-10 minutes. When it's done, drain the broccoli and rinse with cold water, so the color will stay green and the broccoli will not overcook. Bring a large pot filled with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling remove the pan from the heat and add the ramen noodles, DO NOT INCLUDE THE FLAVOR PACKETS (throw them out, they're garbage), and set aside for 3 minutes. Then immediately drain the noodles and add to a large nonstick sauté pan and wait for the water to evaporate. Then add 3/4 of a cup of reduced sodium soy sauce and cook until most of the soy sauce is absorbed into the noodles and only traces remain, stirring to mix thoroughly. Then add 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil to the noodles and let them sit for 2-3 minutes. Your goal is to fry the noodles a little and crisp them up. Stir them and then let them sit for 2-3 minutes continuing this process 4 times until your noodles are a mixture of crispy and non-crispy, if you need to add more sesame oil you can but be careful you do not want them to end up being greasy I would advise not more than 4 tablespoons total. Then stir in the broccoli, red pepper, and chicken and top with 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds. Eat and enjoy. Sesame Noodles
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As I sit down to type this out I realize that I am not an authority on fried rice, in any official capacity anyways. I grew up loving fried rice, it being a standard part of our Chinese food order. I have eaten quite a lot of fried rice, and since moving to Iowa it has become quite a standard thing we cook often. What I love about fried rice is that it is flexible. If you have tofu, you can use it, chicken, sure, mushrooms, why not, fennel, zucchini, all are welcome. As my mom uses salads and soups for her clean-out-the-fridge meal, my go-to is fried rice. I find each combination is exciting and interesting. This is one of the few foods I do by instinct rather than recipe, so when I sat down to write and test this recipe I needed more than one attempt to mimic what I would naturally do. One other side note is that this fried rice is quite garlicky so if you do not like garlic, I would steer away from this recipe or just omit it altogether. This recipe takes quite a while from start to finish because many ingredients require being prepped ahead of time. Start by cooking 1 cup of rice in 1 1/4 cups of water with a pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, from there place your pot in the fridge, to make this go quicker you can spread out the rice on a sheet tray and put it in the freezer, this will significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to make this recipe. Next take 1 large chicken breast and sprinkle with seasoned salt, I prefer Lawry's Seasoned Salt. I sear it on both sides on medium heat and then place it in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minute or until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Once it is cooked and cooled, chop into 1 inch pieces. Next while your chicken and rice are cooking, prep your vegetables. Peel and mince a 1 inch piece of fresh ginger and 4 cloves of garlic. Next peel and finely chop 2 carrots, 1 piece of celery and 1 onion, I typically leave my onion in larger pieces because I prefer it that way. Also chop your 2 scallions for your garnish. Then heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan on medium heat. While your pan is heating up scramble 5 eggs in a bowl and add to your pan when your butter has melted. Scrambled until cooked through. Once your eggs are cooked remove them to a separate dish. In your same pan add 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil (you can use regular sesame oil instead it just will have a milder flavor). Once your butter has melted add in your minced garlic, ginger, and onions and cook until translucent about 5-10 minutes. Watch closely, you do not want them to burn. Then add celery and carrots and cook until the carrots soften, for me this took about 7-10 minutes. Next add 1/2 cup frozen peas and 1/4 cup frozen corn. I add these from the bag from the freezer. I do not thaw them, but rather allow them to cook through. Cook until they are warmed through and there is no water (from the ice) in the pan. Now add in your rice, eggs and chicken back to the pan and stir to mix, making sure to break up any big clumps of rice. To this mixture add 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, 1 tablespoon butter, 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons of reduced sodium soy sauce (if not reduce add a bit at a time and taste as you go this will probably be too much), 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 2 teaspoons of granulated garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly to spread your seasonings throughout. Garish with your chopped scallions and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Serve with extra garlic salt and soy sauce as needed. This is just a guideline you can change out your protein or your vegetables for what you have in your fridge. Just make sure you chop them small, I feel like it tastes better when they are a smaller size. I also like to cook the eggs ahead of time so they do not get absorbed into the rice but stay more of a separate entity. Garlic Chicken Fried RiceI did not grow up eating lots of Asian food, our family tended towards Italian food and typical "American" classics, although I later learned that there is no such thing as American classics. The food we ate was unique to our family, as is all food, really. We had Chinese takeout, went to hibachi restaurants, occasionally ate at a Korean restaurant, and my mom made an Asian pasta salad, that I will be sharing shortly. I have loved cooking for quite a while. I distinctly remember getting a kid's cookbook when I was young and teaching myself how to make scrambled eggs and grilled cheese. I felt so accomplished and impressed that now I could provide for myself. I am not sure at the time I thought of it in that way, I was more like "I can eat what I want, when I want it, without having to talk an adult into making it for me". Along the way, I have had some serious flops. I remember toasting a bagel with American cheese on top in the microwave. We had run out of tin foil and so I used wax paper instead, I figured what was the difference. As I sat waiting for my bagel, I saw flames erupt from below and just waited, hoping for the best. In this case, nothing disastrous occurred, and when I took out the bagel a ring of wax paper was underneath still. Looking back I wonder how I could be so unaware; wax paper is literally paper covered in wax and when the wax melts all you have left is paper (which is highly flammable). I also remember trying to make homemade lollipops and burning the sugar in a pot and not knowing what to do. I took the pot outside and dumped it on the ground, hoping it would just go away. In college, my roommate and I were cooking and the bottom of our oven erupted in flames. She was concerned. I told her to wait it out, and as always, everything was fine. So it is not to say that cooking is easy or does not have its ups and downs but as Gretchen Rubin says, "The things that go wrong often make the best memories." Since I have moved in with my then fiancé, now husband, I have been cooking everything. I started by cooking through the entire Giada at Home. I have learned a few things as I have gone. One of the things that surprised me the most was the fact that when in doubt, I cook Asian food. The recipe I am sharing with you today was something I originally ate with my dad and grandma as a side dish. So you may read about celery salad and think, meh, celery what do I care, but what I love about this salad is that it turns celery into something else, fresh and delicious, and in fact I could eat an entire bowl of this salad by myself. Also, I love this for the summer because it is refreshing and does not require any heat. To start this salad, peel and chop a pound of celery and add them to a medium bowl. Yes, I did indeed write peel and if you do not know what that means, I will explain. You take your vegetable peeler and peel away the outer shiny layer and all of the strings that go along with it. I am not going to lie, this is a PAIN, but it is worth it and from here it is all downhill. Next in a separate bowl mix up your dressing (the reason you need an extra bowl is so you can taste it and adjust as you see fit). In the bowl add 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, (I used reduced salt), 4 teaspoons of rice wine vinegar (if you do not have rice wine, any wine vinegar will do), 4 teaspoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Mix this up and taste, adjust your ingredients as needed. Then add the dressing to the celery. Finally chop 2 scallions and sprinkle on top of your celery with your 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. You can devour it now or let it sit. I would suggest mixing it right before you serve because if you do not the dressing stays at the bottom and the top loses its oomph. Asian Celery Salad |
About MeI'm Sarah; a wife, traveler, foodie, and adventurer. Archives
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