Tag: asian

Chili Tuna Fried Rice

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This pantry-friendly fried rice is quick enough for a weeknight meal (for when the world gets back to working outside the home), and makes a great lunch the next day if there are leftovers.

Gluten-free, pescatarian

Chili Tuna Fried Rice

1.5 cups leftover cooked rice (I used sushi rice)

1/3 cup frozen shelled edamame

1/3 cup frozen cut green beans

2 Tbsp. neutral oil

2 eggs

1/4 cup coconut aminos

1 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. sambal olek

1 green onion, sliced

1/2 can chili tuna in oil, drained

Add your neutral oil to a large pan over high heat. When it shimmers, add the frozen veggies and green onion. Stir fry until no longer frozen and starting to look cooked.

Add the rice and tuna. Continue to stir fry until the veggies begin to brown.

Make a well in the center of the rice mixture and crack the eggs in. Let sit until the bottom is firm, then scrape up, folding into the rice mix.

Add the coconut aminos, fish sauce and sambal. Stir quickly to combine.

As written, serves 2 for dinner

Chapaguri/Ramdon (aka that ramen noodle dish from the movie Parasite)

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Sorry I’ve been AWOL from recipe posting lately – I’ve put my pantry cleanse on hold (or actually have restocked it even fuller in recent weeks), and have been making nothing terribly new or inspiring. Tasty things from staples, but not exactly balanced Internet-friendly dishes.

When it was in theaters, DH and I saw Parasite – which was fantastic – and were just as curious as to what the mixed ramen noodle dish with steak was. We heard it was delicious, and were having friends over for game night – so we decided to make a whole Korean-themed meal.

For sides, we had 4 banchan (vegetable side dishes): spicy cucumbers, sauteed spinach, lightly blanched and seasoned bean sprouts and kimchi. This dish was our main, and the recipe is only slightly augmented from the official recipe(s) listed here. When I made this a second time for just the two of us, I couldn’t help but add a little seasoning to the steak and some green veg.

Chapaghetti (green), Neoguri (red)
Mmmmmm …

Ram-don (Chapaguri)

1 package Chapaghetti

1 package Neoguri (combo pack for the two on Amazon)

200g good steak

2 tsp. neutral oil

2 tsp. butter

1/2c. frozen spinach

2 green onions

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Boil a large pot of water.

While the water is working, add the neutral oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Add the steak bits, hit with salt, pepper & garlic powder and sautee until your desired doneness is reached.

While the steak and water are working, thinly slice your green onions.

About halfway through cooking, add the sliced green onions and hit a second time with seasoning.

Add the butter and toss until melted. Set aside.

Add the noodles and dehydrated veggies from both packages to the boiling water.

Boil 4:30, adding the frozen spinach in the last minute or so.

Strain, keeping enough water so the mixture is nice and wet still – not swimming, but not dry. The directions say to keep 150ml, but my American non-metric self had no idea what this looked like with noodles so I guessed.

Turn off the heat and add the strained noodles back to the pot. Add the seasoning packet from the green package (the green packet that looks like beef bouillon). Add the oil from the green package and half the spicy looking seasoning (all if you like spicy) from the red package. Stir to combine.

Divide between 2 bowls (can easily stretch to 3 or even 4 if you serve with banchan), and top with steak.

Serves 2 – 3

Pantry Clear: Chili Tuna Rice

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As you can see from my last post (see pantry clearing post #1), my pantry is all over the map – but the bulk of the ingredients center on Southeast Asia, specifically Japan.

Japanese is a cuisine my DH and I both love and both crave when we either need a little comfort (among other cuisines, tbh) but feel like we need to be a little nice to our bodies and digestive systems.

This dinner is quick, easy, and feels like a healthy hug. If raw egg yolk freaks you out, omit.

Gluten-free

Chili Tuna Rice

1 cup premade sushi rice (1/2 cup short grain rice cooked in 2 cups water + 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, and a few grinds salt)

1/2 can chili spiced tuna, drained

2 Tbsp. dried wakame

1 tsp. powder-style chicken bouillon

1/2 cup hot water

1 egg

1/2 tsp. ginger garlic paste

1 Tbsp. coconut aminos

1 tsp. butter

Generous sprinkle toasted sesame seeds

1 green onion, thinly sliced

Set the sushi rice on to cook however you cook rice. While the rice is cooking, boil the 1/2 cup water.

Add the wakame and chicken bouillon to a small bowl and add the boiling water over top. Stir to combine and let sit until the seaweed is reconstituted. Drain loosely when you’re ready to serve and add back into the bowl.

Add the butter, rice, coconut aminos, ginger garlic paste, tuna, and egg yolk. Stir well to combine.

Top with the sesame seeds and green onions and serve.

Serves 1 for dinner

Crispy Miso Tofu Bowl

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This is a great little choose-your-own-adventure dinner that’s perfect for batch cooking – or a party.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan

Crispy Miso Tofu Bowl

1 block extra firm tofu
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder
2 tsp. honey or agave
2 tsp. date molasses
2 Tbsp. sriracha
3 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
2 tsp. white miso
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
3-4 big handfuls baby spinach
2 c. sautéed green beans, chopped
1 green onion, sliced into thin rounds
1 Tbsp. pickled ginger, minced
Nori, snipped into small strips
Furikake
Toasted sesame seeds
Togarishi spice or red pepper flakes
Sushi rice (short grain rice cooked with 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil and salt)

First, place paper towels or a tea towel over your tofu and press with a plate or something heavy about 30 minutes to remove all the water.

Prepare your oven to 200C/375F. Line a baking sheet with paper or a silicone pad.

Make a sauce by whisking the sweetener, molasses, soy, sriracha and miso.

Slice the tofu into small squares, and fold 2 Tbsp. sauce into the tofu carefully – making sure not to break the squares up. Dust with pepper & cornstarch and toss.

Dump out into the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.

Bake 10 mins, flip, and bake an additional 10 to crisp.

Sautée the spinach with the garlic and ginger and add the green beans to warm through. Add the rest of the sauce and toss to coat.

To assemble, place rice in a bowl, add the tofu and veggie mix. Top with furikake, nori, sesame seeds, togarishi, pickled ginger and green onion.

Serves 4

Chicken Katsu Curry

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Ooh, this is a good one. Not *quite* like the katsu from my regular takeout spot, but not far off. Add a dash of pumpkin purée and some white pepper, and it’s there. Delicious.

Chicken Katsu Curry

Chicken Katsu

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

40 grinds salt

Generous amount black pepper

1/4 cup flour

2 eggs

2 cups panko

Curry

1/4 cup neutral oil

1 yellow onion

1 medium carrot

1 inch ginger

4 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. curry powder

1 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce

1 Tbsp. honey

Katsu Sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. oyster sauce

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp. honey

Preheat your oven to 375F/200C. Add a silicone liner or tinfoil to a baking tray and set aside.

Lay your chicken breasts in a single layer between 2 sheets of baking paper and pound to 1/2 inch thick.

Set up a breading station by placing shallow bowls or plates of flour seasoned with salt & pepper, beaten egg, and panko in a row. Coat the chicken with the flour mix, then dunk in the egg, and dredge in panko. Put on the prepared baking sheet and let stand 10 mins to rest.

Bake 10 mins, flip and bake an additional 10 mins.

While the chicken is cooking, chop the onion and carrot. Add the oil to a large pan and set over medium-high. When the oil comes up to temperature, add the onion and carrot and sautée, stirring frequently, until softened.

While that is working, chop the ginger and garlic. Add to the pan and sautée another few minutes.

Whisk in the flour and curry powder to combine.

Whisk in the chicken stock, soy sauce and honey.

Simmer, stirring frequently, 15 – 20 minutes or until reduced by about half.

Let cool and blend.

For the Katsu sauce, whisk together the ketchup, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 Tbsp. honey.

Serve with a bowl of sushi rice. Makes enough for 4.

Indonesian Coconut Curry

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Oooooh, this is a good one. Velvety, unctuous, vegan – and delicious.

If you’ve got it, some quickly fried tempeh would be fantastic – and location-appropriate- here. I used crisped tofu, which is also great.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan

Indonesian Coconut Curry

3 cloves garlic
2 small shallots
2 red chilis
1 Tbsp. turmeric powder
1.5 inches fresh ginger
4 macadamia nuts
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. black pepper
Few grinds salt
4 Tbsp. coconut oil
6 small white potatoes
1 can light coconut cream
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
1 pkg. extra form tofu
1 Tbsp. neutral oil
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

First, preheat the oven to 200C (375F).

Prep the tofu by slicing into bite-sized squares, covering with paper towels or a tea cloth and pressing with something heavy. Let sit half an hour.

Delicately place in a large bowl. Add the oil, coconut aminos and cornstarch – lightly fold to combine without breaking.

Turn the tofu out onto a prepared baking sheet in a single layer, ideally with a little space between the pieces. Bake 10 minutes, flip, and bake an additional 10 minutes or until crisped up and browned. Remove and set aside.

Make a curry paste by whizzing everything above the coconut oil in a food processor until a paste forms, adding a little water if necessary.

Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.

In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the curry paste and fry until very fragrant and just beginning to brown.

Add the potatoes, coconut cream and kaffir leaves and stir to combine. Sautée 15 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are softened and the sauce reduces down to a velvety smoothness.

In the last 5 minutes of cooking, fold in the crisped tofu.

Serves 4

Nasi Goreng: Version 1

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I just got back from a fantastic vacation spent exploring a new place – and a new food culture – and wanted to come home and continue that goodness.

Random tidbit of information: tempeh is actually from Indonesia, it’s not just an OG hippie food.

That has little to do with this recipe (though most of the dishes of Nasi Goreng I had in Bali came with sides, including some ridiculously delicious tempeh).

Nasi Goreng is one of the dishes typically associated with Indonesia (some say it’s the national dish), although it’s popular in other Southeast Asian countries as well as the Netherlands. This dish is basically just fried rice – with no singular recipe, instead typically consisting of leftovers from the previous day.

This version of the dish doesn’t taste exactly like what I had on vacation, but it’s delicious nonetheless. I feel the sauces I had in Indonesia were richer, and in subsequent versions I’ll be working toward that – but this is a great starting place.

Can be made gluten free (just sweeten some coconut aminos), paleo (swap out the rice for Cauli rice and the ketjap), pescatarian (omit the chicken), or lacto-ovo vegetarian (omit the shrimp, shrimp paste & chicken)

Nasi Goreng: Version 1

3 cups leftover cooked rice (I used short grain sushi rice)

1 shallot

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup frozen carrots

1 bok choy

2 eggs + 1 per person

250g chicken breast

200g tiny shrimp, chopped

4 Tbsp. prepared ketchup

4 Tbsp. ketjap manis

2 Tbsp. sambal olek

2 tsp. shrimp paste

Neutral oil

Salt & pepper

Chop the chicken into small bite-sized pieces, liberally season with salt and pepper, and sautée in 1 – 2 Tbsp. neutral oil until cooked through. Remove.

While the chicken is working, mince the shallot and garlic. Chop the bok choy and separate the stems from the leaves. Defrost the frozen veggies. Assemble the rest of the ingredients. Mix the ketchup, ketjap and sambal to form a sauce. Crack 2 eggs and lightly scramble.

Fry the shallot & garlic in 1 Tbsp. neutral oil over medium-high heat in the chicken pan, making sure to scrape up any browned bits and incorporating them.

When the shallots go translucent, add the shrimp paste. Stir to combine.

Add the bok choy stems and stir-fry until beginning to soften. Add the peas, carrots and bok choy leaves. Stir fry a minute or so until combined.

Add the rice, chicken & shrimp. Stir fry a minute or so to combine.

Add the sauce, stir to combine, and push the rice to the sides of the pan to make a well in the center. Add the scrambled eggs, let sit a minute to firm up on the bottom, and stir through the rice mixture until cooked.

Serve topped with an egg that’s been fried on medium-high heat until the edges are really crispy and the yolk is just set.

Serves 4 – 6 depending upon whether you are serving with sides (popular sides include: tempeh, fried tofu, hard boiled and then deep fried eggs, green bean and cabbage salads, and shrimp chips – plus I’m sure more – this is just what I was served as sides; I’m sure every household has its own version)

Bulgogi Chicken Bowl

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Another dinner from my week whose directive from the hubbs included chicken & rice. This was another fantastic one – though fair warning: it’s a bit spicy. Deliciously so.

gluten-free

Bulgogi Chicken Bowl

1 Fuji or Gala apple

1 pear

1 thumb ginger

1 green onion

1 white onion

5 cloves garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos

1/2 cup gochujang

Sprinkle black pepper

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 – 1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken (I used thighs and breasts)

A second green onion

A sauce you enjoy (I used Bulldog bbq in place of the brand of slightly sweet teriyaki I was searching for)

Kewpie mayo

Toasted sesame seeds

1/2 – 1 cup cooked short grain white rice per person

Make the marinade by blending all ingredients above the chicken until mostly smooth.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to the marinade. Let sit an hour to the next day.

Place into your favorite multi or slow cooker. Mine has a button for “meats”. I punched that and 20 minutes later, the chicken was done.

Serve over rice, garnished with the sauce, mayo, second green onion and sesame seeds.

Serves 4 – 5

Dashi Chicken & Rice

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The directive for this week was simple: chicken & rice. DH said he didn’t care what nationality and what fanciness happened on top, just that he was craving chicken & rice.

IMHO, this was a bang-up week for dinners, yielding two that I can’t wait to share with you guys.

This is a quick weeknight dinner, and can be changed up easily by tossing in a handful of green leafies or something orange.

gluten-free

Dashi Chicken & Rice

1 – 1.5 lb. boneless skinless chicken (I used a mix of thighs and breasts)

1 yellow onion

2/3 cups dashi stock (I used instant granules)

2 tsp. rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 – 1 cup cooked short grain rice per person

1 scallion

1 egg per person

2 Tbsp. neutral oil

Salt & pepper

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to your largest skillet, which has been brought to temperature over medium-high heat with 2 Tbsp. neutral oil added.

Sautée until white. Hit with salt & pepper.

While the chicken is working, halve and thinly slice the onion. Toss in when ready. Continue sauteeing until the onion is softened.

Add the dashi, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar.

Kick the heat down to medium and sautee until the chicken is cooked through.

Portion out, leaving a single serving in the pan. Crack in an egg and whisk lightly with a chopstick.

Let cook until set, and turn out over your bowl of rice. Serve topped with a liberal sprinkle of green onion.

Summer Roll in a Bowl

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This recipe came out of a craving for veggies and color + yet another scroll through Instagram for inspiration.

Summer rolls can be made a million different ways, but this version incorporates most of my favorite elements – some sort of crunchy brassica, sweetness from carrots, the fresh crispness of cucumber, and a little kick of heat from pretty red chilis.

I also tried to recreate a slightly less suspect in color version of the sweet chili sauce often served with rolled appetizers – and then went a little heavier on the savory components because I really like to doctor my own sauces tableside.

Gluten-free, vegetarian

Summer Roll in a Bowl

The Salad

1 inch fresh ginger, sliced into thin matchsticks
1 medium carrot, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1 cucumber, sliced into half moons
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red chili, sliced into matchsticks
2 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
1.5 cups red cabbage, finely chopped
2 cups rice noodles, soaked in hot water 10 minutes to soften and drained

The Dressing

2 Tbsp. honey
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp. sriracha
3 Tbsp. neutral oil (I used canola)
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Toppers

Big hand full chopped nuts for crunch and fat (I had roasted peanuts)
Big hand full chopped cilantro
Protein of choice (Simple poached chicken or shrimp would be great)

Boil water, add the rice noodles to a big bowl, and pour the boiling water over the noodles, making sure they are fully submerged. Let sit while you prep the rest o fly the salad.

Prep the salad veggies and add to a large bowl.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad.

Drain the noodles and add to the salad + dressing, tossing to combine.

Let sit at least half an hour to combine flavors.

Add toppers, toss again and serve.

Serves 3 – 4