Ramen Vegetable & Steak Stir-fry

I have loved noodles way back from when I can remember. Whenever we would go out to restaurants in India, my first choice always would be noodles. But I never waited around for restaurant trips to enjoy these. The Maggi noodles that we get in India was probably one of my favourite quick-fix food back home. My friends and I would come home from college, hungry, and quickly put together the delicious Masala maggi noodles and be transported to noodle heaven. Even now, they never fail to remind me that the next time I go home to India, I would have to make the noodles for our gathering, just for old times sake! ;-)

But in the US the flavors of Chinese food is markedly different from the Indo-Chinese versions that we were used to. I rarely enjoy the noodles available here (preferring fried rice more) but once in a while would long for the flavor of Indo-Chinese food. This recipe is one such making use of the very cheap Ramen Noodle Soup mix, creating a very distinct and flavorful stir-fried noodles. Those who long for the Masala flavors of Maggi would definitely love this. Make sure that you use the Oriental flavor of the ramen noodle which is what lends this dish the extraordinary flavor.

Eventhough the recipe mentions frozen veggies, I have used fresh carrots (slice thin at an angle), broccoli and white button mushrooms. Vegetarians can make the same stir-fried noodles without the steak which I guarantee would be just as good. Do try this out and let me know how it turned out!

I bought the Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook a few months back and have had my eyes on this particular recipe for some time. As soon as I get a chance, I would definitely try out more recipes from the book and share them with you.


Recipe (Makes 4 - 1 1/2 cup servings) :

Beef tip steaks - 1 lb, cut crosswise into 1" wide strips
Garlic cloves - 2, minced
Sesame oil or Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
Cayenne pepper - 1/4 tsp
Oriental Ramen Noodle soup - 1 package (3oz)
Water - 2 cups
Frozen broccoli, Carrots, Waterchestnuts and Red peppers - 1 (1 lb) package
Sesame oil or Vegetable oil - 1 tsp
Whole mushrooms - 1 (4.5oz) jar, drained
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Green onions - 4

Method:

In a medium bowl, combine beef strips, garlic, 1 tbsp sesame oil and ground red pepper.

Toss to coat and set aside.

Remove noodles from the package.

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.

Break block of noodles into 3 pieces and add to water with frozen vegetables.

Return to a boil.

Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender, stirring occasionally. Drain well.

Return vegetable mixture to the saucepan.

Cover and keep warm.

Rub 1 tsp sesame oil over a large skillet or wok.

Heat over medium-high heat until hot.

Add steak, cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.

Stir in vegetable mixture, mushrooms and soy sauce; heat thoroughly.

Garnish with green onions.

Source: Recipe by Linda Morten, Pillsbury Best of the Bake-off Cookbook.

Tips:

1. I used fresh vegetables like carrots, broccoli and mushrooms for the stir-fry.
2. I didnt use water chestnuts because I am not crazy about them. I would believe green peppers would work as well as the red peppers, both of which I havent used for this trial. I also havent garnished with green onions.
3. The fresh vegetables can either be cooked either by boiling or in a microwave (which I did) - except the mushrooms.
4. Experiment with additional veggies like celery, peapods, baby corn, onions and chopped cabbage.

I am sending this Ramen Noodle Stirfry to Presto Pasta Nights guest hosted by Aquadaze of Served With Love. Check out the event announcement.

Just reminding you that the deadline for Lets go nuts : Almonds being hosted right here on Tasty treats is March 31. So rush in your delicious entries with almonds to jz.tastytreats@gmail.com. Multiple entries are welcomed. I would love to feature recipes by non-bloggers too. So friends (you know who you are!!) send me your favourite recipes using almonds and a picture of the featured dish and I will include yours in the round-up as well.

Have a great day!!

Stir-fried Chicken and Broccoli with Noodles

Hey Friends, hope you all are having an awesome time! I have missed quite many wonderful posts and milestones of you all, but I hope I will be able to catch up on everything soon. My family and I are really busy going on small outings everyday with my in-laws and we also have a major trip in the making! Eventhough I hoped that I would be able to post as frequent as earlier, I understood that it would not be the case. But still it really is hard to stay away from the blog, without interacting with all my friends!!

Anyways, coming to the recipe, this is a stir-fry that I made from a cookbook that has become my favourite in no time. This was actually a stir-fry with pork, which I adapted to be made with chicken. My vegetarian friends can do without chicken/meat and add other veggies like snow-pea pods, mushrooms, carrots and onions along with broccoli to make an delicious and healthy meal. This recipe is distinct in that the cooked noodles are pan-fried with garlic which imparts a delicate flavor and texture to the noodles. The stir-fry also has a very balanced flavor, the white wine lending a unique and extraordinary distinction to the dish. It is kid friendly too. I have used dried (and not fresh) egg noodles, which was cooked to perfection in boiling water. My lil one and I thoroughly enjoyed it for lunch and JM, for dinner. It simply was perfect! Hope you all would give this a try! I will be back with another recipe soon. Until then, have a great time and enjoy!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Chicken (Beef/Pork) - 6 oz
Salt - 1/4 tsp
White pepper - a pinch
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp, divided
Broccoli - 10 oz
Oyster sauce - 2 tbsp
Dried egg noodles - 8 oz
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp, divided
Minced garlic - 2 tsp
White wine - 2 tbsp
Chicken broth - 1 cup
Green onion - 1, shredded

Method:

Cut the chicken into thing strips and mix with salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp cornstarch.

Cook the fresh florets of broccoli in boiling water for a minute and drain.

Immediately rinse in cold water, drain well and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 2 tbsp cornstarch, oyster sauce and 2 tbsp water.

Cook the egg noodles in a pot of boiling water until just al dente (about 5 minutes for dried noodles and 3 minutes for fresh noodles).

Drain well and set aside.

Heat a non-stick skillet over high heat.

Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil, garlic and noodles and pan fry until both sides are browned (about 2 minutes). Keep aside.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil to the skillet.

Toss in the marinated chicken and stir-fry until the meat is cooked (about 1 minute).

Pour the white wine and stir well.

Add the broccoli and chicken broth to the meat and heat to boiling.

Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly until thickened.

Pour the chicken and sauce over the noodles.

Garnish with the shredded green onion.

Serve immediately.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.


Tips:

1. Fresh egg noodles (14 oz) can be used instead of dried egg noodles.
2. I used frozen broccoli and cooked it slightly in the microwave.
3. Vegetarians can adapt this recipe by omitting the meat and adding a bit of their favorite veggies. Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
4. The picture shows a garnish of green onions and red hot chilli peppers.

Sichuan Beef Stir-fry

I have a little news to share, I have family "coming over" to my home for about 2+ months. Yes, my in-laws are coming for a small vacation to the US. They will reach here on Monday. Hopefully I would be able to continue posting regularly, but be prepared to see more traditional Kerala recipes from now on. There might be some other posts in between, and ofcourse some dessert recipes too, but mostly it would be of the traditional recipes that I am going to learn from my MIL. This is why I am pretty busy nowadays, getting the house ready for the arrival of our "guests".

Recently on a trip to the grocers, I picked up this small packet of Asian Sichuan seasoning mix (powder form) which was tucked away in a corner beside the more popular stir-fry sauces and noodles. I also picked up some Japanese stir-fry blend from the frozen section which actually is a blend of broccoli, carrots, snowpea pods, onions and mushrooms. I knew I would be able to make a sizzling meal out of these two. I wasnt wrong! The color of the dish was just awesome, and very appetizing. We all had a very satisfying meal, thanks to the wonderful flavor imparted by the unassuming packet of seasoning mix - Szechwan (as on the packet). The stir-fry can be made vegetarian by omitting the meat, or beef can be replaced by the all-time favorite chicken or pork. Experiment with your favorite blend of vegetables and enjoy!!

Recipe (Serves 5) :

Beef - 3/4 lb, cut into strips
Sugar - 1 tsp
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tbsp
Fresh mushrooms - 1/4 lb, sliced
Bamboo shoots - 1 can, drained
Japanese stir fry mix - 8 oz, frozen **
Hot & Spicy Sichuan/Szechwan seasoning mix - 1, (3/4) oz packet


Method:

Combine the seasoning mix, sugar, soy sauce and water.

Blend and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil, add meat and stir-fry until browned.

Add the frozen stir-fry vegetables and saute until cooked and tender.

Toss in the sliced mushrooms and bamboo shoots, stir-fry.

Add the seasoning mxiture.

Stir fry for another minute or until thickened.

Serve the stir-fry over noodles or fried rice.

Tips:

1. I served the stir-fry on a bed of enriched lomein noodles.
2. Chicken or pork can be substituted for beef in this recipe.
3. Make a quick vegetable stir-fry by omitting the meat.
4. The actual recipe called for fresh vegetables. So instead of the stir-fry vegetables blend, you can use onion (1 medium, sliced), carrots (2, sliced) and red or green bellpepper (1, sliced).
5. I did not use bamboo shoots.
6. Stir-fry over high heat so that the vegetables would stay crisp.
   

I am sending this stir-fry to the "Eat Healthy - Protein Rich" event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food. Check out my other entries like,

Chicken tikka masala
Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Stir-fried Chicken with Mango
Baked Buffalo Wings
Chicken tikka
Diced Chicken with Vegetables
Hot and Sour Pork with Celery
Sweet and Sour Chickpeas

Have a great weekend ahead!!

I had been tagged by Skribles of Food with a pinch of love for a meme which I had already done. Check this out for my previous post on the meme! But today, the five things on my to-do list are

Keeping in touch with my friends
Cleaning the house (to welcome my in-laws!) and more cleaning!
Cooking
Blog-hopping
Shopping

Anyone who is interested can take up the tag and enjoy doing it!! :-)

Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Pasta, in their noodle form, was one of the most welcomed food when we were young. I had no trouble polishing off my plate if noodles were served anytime of the day. I would almost always order noodles in some form or the other when we would go out to eat! But times changed, our tastes and preferences changed. Nowadays, eventhough I dont choose noodles at restaurants, it always has a lot of fond memories associated with it, reminding me of the good, carefree times of my childhood. In those days all you had to do was "order around" your mom to get a steaming plate of noodles! ;-). I am noticing the same thing with my lil one who would eat without complaining when I serve noodles on her plate. It might be that the kids have some kind of fascination towards the long slender pasta or maybe it is sloppiness involved in eating it ;-) !

Anyways, I fell in love with this peanut sauce the first time I made it. I made a minor change, but the resultant sauce was terrific!! I made this dinner twice in the same week. The sauce is quick to make and just involves mixing together a few ingredients. The only work is to cook the noodles. The vegetables are cut very thin and again there is no cooking involved. This is a very tasty quick lunch or dinner, especially when you are feeling lazy to make elaborate meals. Try it out sometime, its delicious!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Egg noodles - 6 oz, fresh or dried
Salt - 1 tsp
Vegetable oil - 2 tsp
Green onions - 2, with tops, shredded
Carrot - 1 small
Cucumber - 1 medium
Snow peas - 2 oz

Peanut sauce:

Creamy peanut butter - 1/4 cup
Sesame oil - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp
Vinegar - 2 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Water - 3 tbsp
Dry mustard - 1 tbsp

Method:

Cook the noodles with salt and vegetable oil, until the noodles are done.

Rinse with cold water and drain. Set aside.

Place the shredded green onions in ice water for 10 minutes. Drain well.

Peel the carrot and cut into matchstick strips.

Peel the cucumber and slice into 2" pieces, then cut into matchstick pieces.

Remove and discard the string from the pea pods.

Place the peas in boiling water and return to a boil.

Immediately rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly.

Cut into 1/8" matchstick strips.

To prepare the sauce, in a medium bowl, thoroughly mix the peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry mustard with 1 tbsp water until smooth.

Add this mixture to the peanut sauce and stir until well combined.

Place the noodles on a serving platter.

Arrange the carrot, cucumber, and snow pea pods in a spoke on top of the noodles.

Place the green onions in the center of the spoke.

Before serving, pour the peanut sauce over and toss gently.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.

Tips:

1. I omitted cucumber and snowpeas. Since I didnt use these ingredients, the whole prep was pretty simple.
2. I also didnt have any dry mustard.
3. I only had chunky peanut butter, so I used the specified quantity of that.

I am sending this to "Its all about memories" event at Jeena's Kitchen of Chef Jeena! Eventhough this sauce was not something I was familiar with during my early days, noodle dishes have plenty of fond memories associated with them! ;-)

I am also sending this to "Eat Healthy-Protein Rich" event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food, since peanuts are a good source of protein.

Stir fried Chicken with Mango

Once again I made something just for an event on the Foodie blog world, for MM - Mango Mania hosted by Meeta of Whats For Lunch Honey? I should say I managed to come up with it just in the nick of time because today is the last day for the entries. This recipe is from the Chinese cookbook which has become my favourite in no time. The main feature of these Chinese recipes is that the prep work takes the time whereas the cooking is real quick with thin strips of meat and veggies cooked rapidly over high heat. I made this stir fry yesterday and had it for lunch. We had it with plain basmati rice which wasnt a good idea (they didnt taste great together!). I thoroughly enjoyed the stir fry with chunky mango pieces and chicken in a tasty sauce. JM really didnt like the mangoes in his share, but ate it anyways! ;-) So I guess this stir fry is for people who love mangoes and for those who like sweet and spicy stuff in the same dish. The white wine lends a distinct flavor to this dish, so try not to do without it. It also is not very spicy and could be considered kid friendly too!! My only suggestion would be to serve it with fried rice or noodles. Enjoy!!

Recipe (Serves 4) :

Boneless chicken breast - 1 lb, skinless
Salt - 1/2 tsp
White pepper - 1/4 tsp
Fresh ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped
Egg white - 1 small
White wine - 2 tbsp
Minced garlic - 1 tsp
Ketchup - 4 tbsp
Hot red pepper sauce - 2 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Mango - 1
Green bell pepper - 1 small
All-purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp
Vegetable oil - 2 tsp



Method:

Trim the fat from the chicken and cut the chicken into 2 by 1/2" strips.

In a medium bowl, mix together salt, white pepper, ginger and egg white.

Add the chicken, toss, cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the white wine, garlic, ketchup, red pepper sauce, sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.

Peel the mango and cut into 2 by 1/2" strips.

Place the mango strips in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes; drain.

Core and seed the green pepper and cut into 2 by 1/2" strips.

In a small bowl, mix the flour and cornstarch together.

Toss with the marianted chicken to coat and set aside.

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Add the vegetable oil and chicken pieces.

Stir and separate the chicken pieces.

Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the sauce mixture and green pepper and stir well.

Cook for 1 minute and add the mango.

Cook and stir until well mixed, about 30 seconds.

Serve hot.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.


Tip:

1. The stir-fry would taste best when served with Chinese fried rice or noodles.

I am also sending this stir-fried chicken to the "Eat Healthy Protein Rich" event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food.

I received the "Friendship" award from Trupti of Recipe Center. I am so happy to know that I am lucky enough to be considered a friend by some of the bloggers. Thank you so much Trupti! I really appreciate your loving gesture.

I would like to pass this on to,

Vandana Rajesh of Cooking up something nice
Vani of Mysoorean
Maheswari of Beyond the Usual
Madhuram of Eggless Cooking
Cham of Spice-club

Enjoy your awards and have a nice day!

Pineapple Fried Rice : Main Course for AWED

I finally got around to making a vegetarian entry for AWED Chinese, not exactly vegetarian, but with eggs. I am happy the theme for this month is Chinese because I got the chance to explore a lot more recipes from the ever popular Chinese cuisine. This was a fun recipe to make with many of my favourite ingredients. The actual recipe had chicken and shrimp too as ingredients, but I made it AWED-ed by omitting those and keeping eggs. I really enjoyed this dish and it was our Sunday lunch. My lil one enjoyed picking out the green peas and pineapple whereas her dad cleaned out his share. The key is to fry the cooked rice without mashing it. Keep the ingredients ready so that they can be stir fried on high heat in quick succession. And when you do, you will have tasty Chinese food to enjoy! I am posting the modified recipe. (The actual recipe suggests using chicken and shrimp along with the eggs and veggies. It also mentions using a whole pineapple and then dicing its flesh). Do try this out when you would like a change from your daily menu. This way you can incorporate a lot of veggies into your main course without seeing grumpy faces. Enjoy!!

I am sending this to the AWED: Chinese (which includes - Sichuanese and Indo Chinese/ American Chinese versions) hosted by DK of Culinary Bazaar. The deadline is July 15, so hurry in your entries.

Recipe (Serves 2-3) :

Pineapple - 1 can (20 oz)
Salt - 1 1/2 tsp, divided
White pepper - a dash
Eggs - 1 medium, beaten
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp, divided
Cooked white rice - 3 cups
Light soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Button mushrooms - 1/2 cup
Frozen peas - 1/2 cup, thawed
Green onions - 2, chopped with tops

Method:

In a medium bowl, add 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper to the eggs.

Heat a wok until very hot.

Add a tablespoon of oil and tilt to coat the sides of the wok.

Add the eggs and cook until the eggs are thickened throughout, but still moist.

Remove the eggs from the wok and set aside.

Wash and dry the wok thoroughly.

Make sure all the ingredients are dry before cooking.

Reheat the wok until very hot.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil and tilt to coat the sides of the wok.

Add the rice and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat if the rice starts to burn.

Stir in the soy sauce and continue stirring until the rice is mixed well with the soy sauce.

Stir in the eggs, mushrooms, peas and the remaining salt.

Stir fry for 2 minutes or until the entire mixture is hot.

Stir in the pineapple and green onions.

Serve warm.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.

Tips:

1. I used canned pineapple rings (20 oz) and chopped it up.
2. Basmati rice was used for making the fried rice.
3. I added about 4 cups of rice for the given proportion of other ingredients.
4. I chopped up a small carrot for a splash of color and stir-fried it along with green peas and mushrooms.
5. The suggested serving in the book is to serve the fried rice in a pineapple shell.

Once again I would like to mention two awards that I received yesterday. Trupti of Recipe Center passed me the "Yum-Yum Blog" award and Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner passed me the "Friendship" award. I would like to pass these awards on to,

Sujatha of Spicy Khazana
Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Vandana Rajesh of Cooking up something nice
Easy Crafts of Simple Indian Cooking

Enjoy your awards and I hope you all enjoyed the post.

UPDATE: I am sending this to "Rice Mela" hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons.

Diced Chicken with Vegetables

This is another one of the recipes from the cookbook of Leeann Chin, the famous restaurateur. I adapted the recipe to work with the vegetables that I had and I must say we enjoyed it very much. It actually tasted a bit like the Knorr Chinese soups that we used to have in India. Since JM was working from home on Friday, I was actually spirited to try out another recipe from the book, and I chose this. Excellent quick stir-fry!! If I had to compare between this and the hot and sour pork with celery (the first recipe I tried from this book) I prefer the pork and celery over this one, but this is also an excellent chinese recipe. The recipe seems long because it has detailed step-by-step instructions, not because it is tough! Watch out for more recipes from this cookbook. Since this is a yummylicious recipe with chicken, I am sending this to "Chicken - My Favourite" event at Vandana Rajesh's Cooking Up Something Nice. Since this a no-carb, low-fat source of protein, I am sending this to "Eat Healthy - Protein Rich" event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food.

Recipe (Serves 2) :

Chicken breast - 8 oz, skinless, boneless
Salt - 1/2 tsp
White pepper - a dash
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp + 1 tsp, divided
Carrots - diced, 1/2 cup
Celery - diced tender heart center, 1 cup
Oyster sauce - 2 tbsp
Chicken broth - 1 1/4 cup, divided
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp
Onion - diced, 1/4 cup
Minced garlic - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped
Button mushrooms - 4 oz can, drained
Green onions - 1/4 cup, chopped

Method:

Cut the chicken into 1/2" pieces.

In a medium bowl, combine the salt, pepper and 1 tsp cornstarch.

Stir in the chicken, cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Bring a small saucepan of water to boil. Add the carrots and celery and return to a boil.

Cover and cook for 1 minute.

Immediately drain and rinse in cold water, drain.

In a small bowl, mix the oyster sauce, the remaining 2 tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 cup chicken broth and the sugar. Set aside.

Heat a wok or nonstick pan over high heat until very hot.

Add a tbsp of vegetable oil and the chicken pieces and cook until the chicken turns white, stirring to separate the pieces, about 2 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan.

Reheat the pan over high heat.

Add the remaining vegetable oil, the onions, garlic and ginegr and cook for a minute.

Add the celery, carrots and mushrooms and cook for a minute.

Add the chicken and the remaining 1 cup chicken broth.

Cook until the broth comes to a boil.

Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Garnish with the green onions.

Serve hot.

Source: Everyday Chinese Cooking by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.


Tips:

1. I didnt have mushrooms, onions or green onions, so I omitted those.
2. I used about 1 cup of frozen green peas instead.
3. The dish can actually serve 3-4 if used as a side dish.
4. I cooked the green peas along with celery and carrots.

I also received a giant bear hug from Srilekha of Me and My kitchen. Thanks a lot Sri, that really felt good!! :-) I would like to pass the award on to,

Asha of Foodies Hope and Aroma!
Meeso of For The Love of Food!
Sig of Live To Eat
Cham of Spice-club
Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen

Enjoy your hugs girls!

Hot and Sour Pork with Celery

Mmmm..Chinese food. Who doesnt love chinese food!? My family and I are great fans, we could eat almost everything if its made the Chinese way. The theme for AWED this month is Chinese and that made me hunt for Chinese cookbooks at the library. And I just found three books, but they were gems!! In one of those books I made a great discovery that it was by the famous restaurateur Leeann Chin who has several namesake restaurants around Minneapolis and a few other states. I've always enjoyed eating out at her restaurant, maybe thats why I wanted to try all ..... and I mean you cannot really choose .... all of the recipes from her book. I had some pork at hand and decided on making hot and sour pork with celery. When I try to do wannabe chinese, without a recipe, I just dump a few sauces in and be content with what I get. But with this recipe, I followed the recipe exactly, and what a difference it made! It simply was awesome! I would suggest this recipe to anyone in a heartbeat! For non-pork eaters, the book mentions that pork can be substituted with chicken. I just though I would mention it so that many more of you can enjoy! Since this is a non-veg dish, I cannot send it for the event, but I am only happy to find another vegetarian recipe from her cookbook!! :-) Enjoy your weekend everyone!


Recipe (Serves 4) :

Pork tenderloin - 8 oz
salt - 1/2 tsp, divided
White pepper - a pinch
Cornstarch - 1 tsp
Hot red chilli pepper - 1
Celery stalks - 8
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
Minced garlic - 2 tsp
White vinegar - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Light soy sauce - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 2 tsp

Method:

Cut the pork into thin matchsticks 2 by 1/8 by 1/8 inch.

Toss in a bowl with 1/4 tsp salt, the pepper and cornstarch.

Cut open the chilli pepper and remove the seeds, then cut into thin 2" strips.

Remove and discard the celery leaves and the stringy stalks.

Cut the stalks into 2 by 1/4 inch.

Heat a wok or skillet over high heat and add the vegetable oil, garlic, celery and remaining 1/4 tsp salt.

Stir fry for 30 seconds and add the marinated pork strips.

Turn the heat down to medium and stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes.

Add the vinegar, sugar, soysauce, sesame oil and chilli pepper.

Stir fry over high heat for 1 more minute.

Serve hot or cold.

Source: Everyday Chinese by Leeann Chin and Katie Chin.


Tips:

1. Chicken can be used instead of pork, in this recipe.
2. I used a small serrano pepper in place of hot red chilli.
3. Distilled vinegar was used as the white vinegar.
4. It is a good accompaniment to Noodles with Peanut sauce which I will share with you once I try it out!

Try this out friends, you wont be disappointed.

I was tagged by Sailaja of Sailaja's recipes for a meme. Since I did the meme just a week back, I am hereby redirecting eveyone to that post. Read my meme here. Anyone who is interested can take up this meme.

My blog was given a giant bear hug by Vani of Illatharasi. Thank you sooo much Vani, I am so happy that you like my blog!!

I would like to pass the hug to,

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner
Bhags of Crazy curry
Shubha of Chutki Bhar Pyar who badly needs a hug
Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Sailaja of Sailaja's recipes

Once again, have a great weekend everyone! Oh, one more thing, my wrist is feeling much better now, thanks for all your concern! Your comments themselves made it all the more bearable! :-) Hugs!

I am sending this to Eat Healthy - Protein Rich event at Sangeeth's Art of Cooking Indian Food.

Hot n' Sour Vegetable Soup and my FIRST award!!

After a period of extreme activity I had started to cool off in terms of my cooking/baking in the kitchen. I dont know what happened, but it was like I was getting a bit discouraged or something! I was trying hard to get out of it, but inertia of the mind was much stronger than I thought it would be...I wanted to sumbit recipes for the blog events and thought that looking at the upcoming deadlines for foodie events would drive me back into action, but it was like I was in a gutter!! Finally a small cold passed from my lil girl to her dad drove me into action. Together with that the magic happened! Along came Trupti with the best encouragement a foodie blogger could get. She passed on the "Yummy Blog Award" to me. Thanks a lot Trupti, it means the world to me. It definitely feels good to be appreciated!

As per the rules of the award, I have to pass on the award to four of my blogger friends, which is extremely hard! But I would like to let all the others know that their blogs are also as yummy as can be! Thanks for all your support!

I would like to pass this on to:

Mansi Desai of Fun and Food

EC of Simple Indian Food

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Annita of My treasure My pleasure

What could be better than a nice hot bowl of soup, when you have the cold!?. With MBP: Soups and Salads in my mind, I looked around and found the perfect soup at Mansi's Fun and Food. For probably the first time, I had everything at home, and I set out to make the quick, easy and spicy hot and sour soup. I am once again motivated to experiment and create. I hope this is the start of the rest of my blogging days! Check out Mansi's blog for the recipe. This is my entry for the Monthly Blog patrol: Soups and Salads hosted by Raaga of "The Singing Chef" and started by Coffee of The Spice Cafe.

Tips:

1. The chilli sauce I had was the thai sweet chilli sauce. Together with the ketchup, the soup turned out to be a little sweeter than I would've liked, but at the same time having the spicy flavor of the pepper. So if using sweet chilli sauce, omit tomato sauce or you can add some green chilli sauce.
2. For the veggies in the soup, I used ready-to-use coleslaw veggies (shredded cabbage and carrots), scallions and green bell peppers.
   

Noodle doodle

Another day, another discovery!! I spent a part of the morning working on my blog, blog browsing and caring for my toddler. When it was almost noon, I realised that I didnt have anything for lunch. But again I was in the mood for experimenting and so was thinking about what to prepare for lunch. My lil one, the never-hungry miss, was running around playing and I thought I will make something that she would love to have - Noodles. In India, we get a quick-make noodles called Maggi, which has a taste-maker powder along with it and gives it the yummy masala flavor that we just love!! It is so popular than when you talk about noodles, everybody just assume that it is the Maggi noodles! But my aunt makes tasty noodles starting with plain noodles and that too with just a few ingredients, so I tried to recreate her recipe from my memory. I started with lomein noodles, added some veggies and sauces. I was pretty happy with the result because my li'l one ate the whole thing served to her which has happened very few times! This is probably an Indian-ised version of noodles, but it sure suits our tastes.

Recipe (Makes 2 medium sized servings):

Lomein noodles - 4 oz

Carrot - 1 medium, cut into thin matchsticks

Green beans - 5, cut into matchsticks

Green peas - 3/4 cup

Garlic - 1 clove, chopped

Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Soy sauce - 2 tsp

Tomato ketchup - 2 tsp

Sesame oil

Sesame seeds - 1/2 tsp toasted, for garnish (optional)

Method:

Cook the noodles in boiling water according to packaging instructions.

Drain and drizzle vegetable oil over it to prevent sticking. Toss to coat.

Toast the sesame seeds in a skillet until light brown. Keep aside.

Heat sesame oil in a pan and saute the garlic until fragrant.

Add the carrots and saute until wilted, about 2 minutes.

Saute the beans along with the carrots until slightly cooked, about a minute.

Now add the peas and stir until the peas are also cooked and tender, about 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle the pepper powder and mix well.

Toss in the cooked noodles and mix in the veggies.

Pour the soysauce and ketchup on the noodles and toss to coat.

Stir until the noodles and sauces are heated through.

Serve hot, garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Tip:

1. I used frozen beans and peas, but had fresh carrots.

Simple egg fried rice

To start off my blog, I am posting a very basic and simple recipe for egg fried rice. This recipe is a quick, easy change from the routine menu and offers a delightful twist in your meal !!

Recipe (Serves 2)

Long grain / Basmati rice cooked - for 2 people (about 3 cups)
Carrots - 1 medium sized - cubed or approx 15 baby carrots
Celery - 2 stalks - chopped
Green peas - about 3/4 cup
Capsicum - a quarter - cut into squares
Eggs - 2
Oyster sauce - 2tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 1 or 2 pods - chopped fine
Oil

Cook and chill the rice, preferably overnight.

Heat the skillet on high heat and add oil. High heat is advised so that the vegetable are fried and cooked, rather than getting steamed, becoming overcooked and watery.

When the oil is hot, add the carrots and the chopped garlic. Saute for a few minutes stirring continuously to prevent the garlic from burning.

Now add the chopped celery and mix well, stirring for a minute or two. Do not overcook.

Add green peas and mix together. After a few minutes, add the capsicum pieces. Stir them around for just a couple of minutes, so that the capsicum remains crisp.

Once the vegetables are cooked to your personal preference, add the chilled rice and mix until it is heated through. Push the rice and vegetable mix to the sides and make space in the center to scramble the eggs.

Add a bit of oil in the center, and scramble the eggs.

Mix-in the scrambled eggs with the rice-vegetable medley.

Combine the oyster sauce and soy sauce in a bowl, add to the fried rice. Toss to coat or mix well.

Serve hot. Enjoy!!! :-)

Tips:

1. The pictured fried rice was made using basmati rice.


2. Any type of protein (shrimp, chicken etc) can be added to the recipe to make a tasty non-vegetarian fried rice, or drop-out the eggs for a simple vegetarian fried rice.