What do chicken thighs and eggplant conjure up for me? Spicy brown bean sauce! So that’s what I made…
Because this dish can look a bit brown and the texture of eggplant is soft, I added red bell pepper and shallots for some contrast. So, that’s my thought process when I’m deciding what to cook!
Starting with the same 4 seasonings to marinade chicken (TSPC: San-J tamari, sherry, white pepper, cornstarch) and to make sauce, I then added Koon Chun’s delish brown bean sauce, chili garlic sauce and chili oil to the sauce.
The same stir fry process: fry eggplant, pepper & shallots & scallion in hot oil with bashed whole garlic and shredded ginger. Then add sauce to cook down, plate. Clean out wok with sink brush & hot water, 5 second swish.
Next, stir fry chicken till just done (test by slicing through with spatula for pink), add little sauce to just cover, add to eggplant, DONE!
Enjoy!
Asian
Mexican Fried Rice
Mexican Wok Fried Rice is the perfect dish to incorporate my Asian heritage for Asian Pacific Heritage month for a Let’s Lunch post, pay respect to my mom for Mother’s Day and celebrate Cinco de Mayo on a yacht.
For me, a Mexican dish has to include chorizo but I didn’t realize Mexican chorizo (firm texture) is different from the Spanish kind (soft crumbly), so I experimented with both. I discovered Quijote chorizos, one of the most well known brands is manufactured right here in Miami. It’s just like Chinese sausage, lots of fat which has to be rendered out, the trick is to fry on medium low heat in the wok and drain on paper towels.
I used the same process to cook this dish as Pineapple Stir Fried Rice except without eggs, different veggies, meat and added in saffron buds to get the reddish yellow color. You can watch my video that shows you how from scratch. Multi colored bell peppers, onions and tomatoes gave texture and color. The shrimp was seasoned and fried just like I do for an Asian stir fry, and everything was combined in two batches in the wok. It was 1am by the time I finished with all the photo taking but I really wanted to show you can successfully make dishes from all over the world in a wok! Mission accomplished.
Let’s Lunch is a virtual gathering of foodies from all over the world. Anyone can join, just use #letslunch on twitter and someone will reach out to you. I’ve so enjoyed interacting with this group even though I’ve not succeeded in contributing on a regular basis. Check out other Let’s Lunchers’ posts to celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage month!
Annemarie‘s Bulgogi Lettuce Wraps at Sandwich Surprise
Emma‘s Korean Barbecue at Dreaming of Pots and Pans
Grace‘s Mom’s Stir-Frying Tips at HapaMama
Karen‘s Non-Traditional Wonton Soup at GeoFooding
Linda‘s Savory Steamed Rice Cake at Spicebox Travels
Lisa‘s Sesame Eggplant & Noodle Salad at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Lucy‘s Chinese Chicken Salad at A Cook and Her Books
Thanksgiving Leftovers with Asian Spin
What to do with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving? Give them an Asian spin and wok them! I often do that. It’s fun to repurpose food.
Leftovers like turkey, boiled or roasted brussel sprouts, chestnuts that didn’t make it into the stuffing, even stuffing and calabaza, squash or sweet potatoes are perfect candidates for a wok stir fry. I like a mixture of crunchy with different textures. You can make something delicious with any leftovers by adding a dash of tamari, sherry and squirt of lime juice. Instantly transforms any leftovers into a totally new and delicious dish.
The trick is to do them in batches so they’re not a big mish mash. Same concept as any stir fry. Cook different textured veggies separately. Cook veggies first before your meat because they don’t stick to your wok like meat does.
A wok is the most versatile pan for frying anything (use a stainless steel pan or even a pot if you don’t have a wok, please don’t use non-stick, they’re useless for stir and not supposed to use above medium heat.) So, get all your ingredients lined up so your stir fry takes only minutes from beginning to end.
Happy Thanksgiving! Oh, one year I did duck instead of turkey, it was totally memorable. Another year, I gave turkey an Asian twist and slathered my fav 3 seasonings on turkey thighs and grilled them, slurp.
Love to hear how you repurpose your Thanksgiving leftovers.
Ingredients:
Directions:
- Heat your wok till you see first wisp of smoke, squirt 3 rounds of oil down sides of wok, quickly add 1 bashed garlic and half of shredded ginger. Immediately add cubed calabaza, they cook faster than you think. Turn down heat if they start burning and keep turning them. Taste for doness and plate.
- Heat your wok till you see first wisp of smoke, squirt 3 rounds of oil down sides of wok, quickly add other bashed garlic and rest of shredded ginger. Immediately add brussel sprouts and fry till you see burn marks, add in chestnuts. Add to plate of calabaza.
- Heat your wok till you see first wisp of smoke, squirt 1 round of oil down sides of wok. Immediately add turkey pieces and fry till warm, add back all the veggies, add dash of tamari, splash of sherry and squirt of lime juice and give one last quick fry with the seasonings. Done!