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cast iron wok

Best Pork Belly Tacos on a moment’s notice…

May 25, 2021 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

The Best Pork Belly Tacos on a moment’s notice came about when I only had two strips of grilled pork belly left over.  Not enough for a complete meal but looking in my fridge and finding Cauliflower Sandwich Thins (my current fav) and many possible fixings, I had an epiphany. 

That’s how the Best Pork Belly Tacos on a moment’s notice came together…

USE VEGGIES YOU HAVE, MINE WERE…
asparagus
shimeiji mushrooms
red bell peppers 
red onion
scallions

Chop them into cubes, a variety of crunchy, soft and colorful veggies.

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FRY UP!
Of course I fried up in my cast iron wok, the best for frying anything.
Avocado oil
Diced garlic and ginger
Dash of San-J tamari and medium drinking sherry 
Squirt of fresh lime or lemon

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USE A TACO ALTERNATIVE
Cauliflower Sandwich Thins from Outer Aisle are ketogenic, low glycemic and low carbs but most importantly, so tasty compared to other “healthy” taco versions.  They hold up really well. Grab them here. Just warm under broiler. 

PORK BELLY…
These pork belly strips were grilled with my own mix of dry spices. Warm them under the broiler and slice into bite size pieces.

Now we’re ready to put together the Best Pork Belly Tacos…
Lay out Cauliflower Sandwich Thins, pile on veggies first, then pork belly, top with kimchi (optional), swirl a dollop of Chosen Food’s Avocado Mayo and you’re DONE! 

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I’ve now created my own gourmet Best Pork Belly Tacos on a moment’s notice! 

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Delicious with a sharp arugula salad sprinkled with chopped tomatoes, red onion and walnuts with my own vinaigrette. 

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Would love to hear your Taco creation and what alternative tacos you use as a wrap? 

Note: I’ve included Amazon affiliate links to make it easy to access good ingredients and seasonings I use. I will get a commission if you click the links, yippee.

Filed Under: "one dish wok meal", blog, cast iron wok, tacos Tagged With: "healthy eating", best tacos, cauliflower sandwich thins, ketogenic, low carb, pork belly tacos, tacos

Dream Dish: Steamed Ribs in Brown Bean Sauce

August 18, 2019 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

Do you ever dream about a dish you like?  For me Steamed Spare Ribs in Black Beans is one of them. It’s a mystery to me why it’s only served as a dim sum lunch item and never on the dinner menu?  

Addictive Dream Dish! Every riblet is so tender and tasty.

Note: I have an Amazon affiliate store for those who cannot get seasonings and products easily. I will get a fee when you click on these links.

This is what makes being a Wok Star so fun, because we don’t follow rules, we swap out ingredients and often get better results than the original dish PLUS get a nice surprise! 

When I came across pork riblets at Costco recently, I immediately thought of making Steamed Spare Ribs in Black Beans for dinner. 

Here’s video as promised, https://youtu.be/Mdwo742mmDg

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Mdwo742mmDg

About Pork Riblets
I’ve only seen pork riblets at Asian supermarkets and Costco only has St.Louis Ribs, not Spare Ribs which have more marbling. If your market or Costco don’t have riblets option, tell butcher to cut ACROSS the ribs to bite size chunks. It’s more versatile, you can make so many kinds of stews, soups and curries. I’ll share more soon.  

The secret to getting these little pork riblets tender is to steam long and on low heat in your wok. Yes, another way of using your cast iron wok. Choose a dish that’s wide and can hold some sauce! 

About Brown Beans
Steamed Ribs in Black Beans are typically made with fermented black beans but I didn’t have any and I find they are too salty and overpowering. Don’t confuse these fermented black beans with the Latin Caribbean Frijole.

The Koon Chun Brown Bean Sauce I use are more mellow and easier to prepare. They come ready mashed in a saucey consistency. This is the same sauce that comes in your Wok Star Kit. I also use this sauce in my cooking class to poach Tilapia and it’s always a big hit.

NOTE: Fermented Black Beans come in a sack and will take you a year to get through them, ha, ha. They have to be rinsed and mashed. If interested in its origins and want to try them, Chef Norman Van Aken does a great job explaining.

What to pair with?
Because Steamed Ribs in Brown Beans has quite strong flavors, it’s best to pair with a simple stir fry or blanched vegetable to complement each other. I chose Baby Bok Choy and brown rice, yum. My hubby raved about my traditional Chinese dinner, a rather rare occasion! He slurped down all the sauce with rice.

Here’s how to make this dish so you can have it anytime, it’s SUPER EASY and what a WINNER..

Serves 2 
Ingredients:
6 ribs cut across
2 scallions cut diagonally

Brown rice 

Ribs marinade:
TSPC…
Koon Chun Brown Bean Sauce
Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce
Toasted Sesame Oil
Garlic and Ginger Chopped 

Vegetable:
6-8 Baby Bok Choy bunches, split lengthways
Garlic and Ginger thwacked
Avocado Oil

Seasoning:
San-J Tamari
Medium drinking sherry wine (from your local supermarket, NOT sherry vinegar)

Method:

  1. Start with cooking brown rice.
  2. Marinade ribs in wide dish.
  3. Put steamer rack OR pair of wooden chopsticks in your wok, add water to just reach top of rack.
  4. Put dish of ribs on rack and close with wok lid, switch stove to high. As soon as water boils, switch to medium low. Check every 15 minutes and add more water if needed. 
  5. After ribs finish steaming, sprinkle chopped scallions and cover to keep warm. Remove rack and empty any water. Wipe wok clean and dry.
  6. Start with stir frying Bok Choy with a squirt of avocado oil and garlic and ginger. Add a little water and cover with lid. When Bok Choy is tender, drizzle San-J tamari and sherry and squeeze of fresh lime or lemon. Done.
  7. Zap steamed ribs if needed.

ENJOY! 

Garlic & Ginger (aka G&G)
Start with TSPC; add Koon Chun Brown Bean Sauce, Kadoya Toasted Sesame Oil and Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce.
Use metal or bamboo rack to set dish of ribs. In my video, I show how to use a pair of wood chopsticks set apart to balance the dish. Do NOT use disposable wood chopsticks.
My wok lid is stainless steel but very light.
TA DA! Taste better than it looks. You’ll want to drown your rice in this sauce!
Look how simple this Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry is!
Split Bok Choy lengthways, they’ll cook faster!
Self Explanatory! But PLEASE use AVOCADO OIL instead of Grape Seed Oil.
Fry Bok Choy with avocado oil, garlic & ginger, add a little water and cover with lid. When tender, sprinkle San-J tamari, sherry, squirt of lime juice, DONE!

Filed Under: blog, cast iron wok, spare ribs, Steaming, wok cooking Tagged With: "weeknight dinner", "brown bean sauce", "steamed ribs", cast iron wok, wok cooking

Best Ground Turkey Weeknight Dinner Ever!

January 16, 2019 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

Seriously, this easy Ground Turkey dish for a weeknight is the BEST!  And so EASY.  You can adapt it to whatever diet you’re on…Weight Watchers, Keto, Paleo, South Beach, etc.  Vegetarian or vegan, no problem!  Try with kidney, red or black beans, chick peas, butter beans, lentils or tofu. This delicious Ground Turkey dish was inspired by a conversation I had with my sisters, isn’t it funny the power of association?

Ground Turkey with multi-colored, mini sweet peppers, tomatoes and a handful of peas on a bed of soba noodles. Add some chili oil for extra heat if you like.  I did, yum!

For 2019, I wanted to reintroduce you to my approach to cooking without recipes or measuring and use what you have in your fridge and pantry. It’s what I teach in my cooking classes in Miami and in my online Udemy course (click for your discount!). So, be prepared because I may not include specific measurements.

Cook this way and you’ll be less stressed AND you’ll start enjoying coming up with surprise dishes of your own! It’s a meal that can stretch for big families, for one tray of ground turkey, it gave my hubby and I enough for 3 meals. 
Go wild with variations and combinations! You can keep it even simpler and use only ONE veggie like frozen peas. No need to defrost, just throw in a couple of minutes when you’re doing recombine, easy, DONE!
Try with just one veggie like tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, you get the gist!
About the meat…
If you stick with using Ground Turkey, don’t use breast cause it’ll be dry and tasteless.  Ground Pork is not common at western supermarkets but it’s very popular in Asia.  Get your butcher to grind the pork for you. The best cuts are pork butt or shoulder, you need marbling of fat so it’s not dry.

Use this cooking process…
– cook soba noodles first
– prep veggies
– make sauce, using TSPC, my 4 basic seasonings for marinade and sauce..
T: San-J tamari; S: Sherry (medium);  P: Pepper (white pepper); C: Cornstarch 
+ 1 tblsp. Koon Chun Brown Bean Sauce + 1 heaped tsp. Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce
– marinade meat with same TSPC 

Use same stir fry process…Wok Stars, check your Stir Fry Crib Sheet!
– fry veg
– fry ground turkey in 2 batches, flip over when it’s golden brown one side and cut into crumbles
– heat sauce
– recombine veg + meat in sauce

It”ll be your GO-TO dish you’ll want often!  Don’t forget to invite your kids, family and friends to chip in with prepping and cooking. Cooking together makes it less lonely and you’ll find it’s a great time to bond!  Most of my food memories are of cooking with my mom and sisters and I KNOW those moments have contributed to our close relationships to this day!

Here are my complete step by step process for the BEST Weeknight Ground Turkey dish ever!

 

Drain soba, sprinkle sesame oil to prevent sticking
Prep veg, push trimmings on produce bag, leave on chopping board
TSPC for marinade and sauce

 
Fry onions
Fry mini sweet peppers

Fry ground turkey in 2 batches. Fry one side till golden brown before flipping.
After the flip, let it cook first before breaking up.

 
Heat sauce till bubbles.
Recombine veg+ground turkey, add frozen peas and turn over in sauce.
Save some in glass container!

 
Here’s another great dish using Ground Turkey, my famous, signature Rainbow Lettuce Wrap Appetizer I make this in my cooking class and is a big hit! 

Filed Under: blog, cast iron wok, Easy Weeknight Dinners, healthy eating, wok cooking Tagged With: "easy dinners", "ground turkey", "healthy eating", "one dish meals", "spicy dish", cast iron wok, stir fry, weeknightdinner, wok cooking

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