Wok Star Eleanor Hoh

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Easy Weeknight Dinners

Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, Served 3 Ways

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This Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, served 3 ways means you don’t have to cook from scratch for 3 nights.  I’m a huge fan of using a Slow Cooker, I cannot get used to the Instant Pot mentality, more about this later. A Slow Cooker is so practical and efficient in getting dinner on the table. It’s a huge time saver, locks in the flavors and keeps meat moist and tender.

Pork Ribs, Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, homemade Kimchi

Instead of ‘recipes’, I like to focus on Flavors, Textures and Colors. So, here’s how to tackle the Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew.

About Ingredients…
1 Onion, chopped or half moons
4-6 cloves garlic, thwacked
Thumb size ginger, thwacked
1- 2 carrots, chopped biggish chunks
4-6 dried shiitakes (from Earthy Delights in your Wok Star Kit) directions how to rehydrate is on the label.
Chicken Broth, halfway up the meat 

About Pork Ribs…
3-4 lbs. of pork ribs.
They will be your favorite cut of meat, it’s juicy, meaty and so versatile. I get them cut across the bones so they are smaller and easier to handle and they’re called riblets. Available from Costco or Asian markets. Cut the riblets into individual pieces, see photo below. Fill slow cooker half way.  

About Flavorings…
Basic Seasonings: TSPC.  Wok Stars, you know what these are. Newbies, it’s Tamari, Sherry, Pepper, Cornstarch
2 tsp. each of Brown Bean Sauce (from Koon Chun in your Wok Star Kit) and Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce.

Here’s HOW…

  1. Set slow cooker on LOW before prepping. This will give it a head start. Set your timer for 3 1/2 hours. 
  2. Add pork riblets at bottom then veggies, garlic & ginger and broth into slow cooker.
  3. In a bowl, mix TSPC and extra flavorings. Add into slow cooker. I LOVE the smells wafting through my apartment. This is what the Insta Pot doesn’t allow, no smells and you cannot peek in there for tasting and adjusting flavors. For me, cooking is about LAYERING flavors. You can’t do anything until you’ve released the pressure which takes another half an hour. 
  4. When time is up, test a piece of pork riblet and adjust flavorings, to see if it’s the texture you like, if you like softer, let it cook for another half hour. 
Add pork riblets, then onions, garlic & ginger, carrots, mushrooms. Then chicken broth, flavorings.

Serving suggestions…
You’ll just need to serve reheated pork riblet stew and stir fry or blanche some veggies. So easy, dinner in about 15 minutes or less.  

Allocate about 3-5 pieces of pork riblets per person. Spoon onions, carrots and sauce over the riblets. 

I like to add some homemade kimchi and garnish with chili threads, chopped scallions and cilantro, they just give a pop of color and adds freshness to the finished dish. 

Don’t you love the 3 ways I served this Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew? 
If you try this Slow Cooker Pork Rib Stew, please take a photo and tag @wokstar on Instagram,
I would love to see how you present yours.

First night: Pork Ribs, Stir Fry Mixed Veggies, homemade Kimchi
2nd night: added mustard greens when reheating pork rib stew
3rd night: Blanched Brussels Sprouts and displayed carrots, mushrooms separately for a different look and presented pork ribs on bed of quinoa. 

Dreamy, Creamy Curry Coconut Seafood Soup

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I love challenging myself to come up with a dish using ingredients I already have!  And this Dreamy Curry Coconut Seafood Soup came about after my first attempt at a dinner party with this one-dish soup.  It is so fast, making it a super weeknight dinner!

Some helpful notes…
Use the same technique as with stir frying, cook each vegetable SEPARATELY as they don’t cook at the same rate. 

Use a wide shallow bowl, I got these beautiful orange ones at West Elm and they are perfect for presenting any dish. My new favorite bowls. I have them in white and gold because they ran out of orange.

Use WHATEVER vegetables you have, that’s the beauty of being a Wok Star! None of my cooking is about specific ingredients. 

Use a good brand of curry powder, it makes a world of difference, don’t use curry sauce!   I love Baba’s from Malaysia, a brand of curry powder my mom introduced me.

Start with 1 tablespoon for 3 bowl pot which is what I did for 2 people. Everyone has different taste profiles, so adjust according to how spicy you like it.  Just know when you add coconut milk, it will dilute the spiciness, so adjust after that as well.

This dish was originally inspired by a Curry Shrimp soup I loved at Lillikoi Organic Living in South Beach. If you ever get a chance, pop in there for their version.

When you like a dish at a restaurant,  claim it for yourself, put your spin on it and use what you like and expand on it. That easy, that’s what being a Wok Star is all about. It’s more about the cooking PROCESS than specific ingredients and measurements.

This post is about shifting your cooking mindset…
Cooking is about FLAVORS, TEXTURES AND COLORS, in that order. If you focus on those, everything else will fall into place. I repeat this a lot in my cooking class. Keep practicing and the process will become second nature.  And when that happens, you’ll look forward to CREATING instead of avoiding cooking because it’s drudgery. 

What makes cooking EASY is if you stock some basics then you’ll be able to create some pretty fantastic dinners! This brings me to a much needed blog on stocking basics, that’ll be next. 

Dreamy Curry Coconut Seafood Soup: shrimp, salmon with snow peas and mini sweet peppers. 

I poached salmon and shrimp ahead and reheated broth to pour over when guests arrived. It worked out so well, all about the planning.

Snow peas, mini multi colored sweet peppers and scallions. Crunchy textures and added a pop of color.

Here’s a step by step for Dreamy Curry Coconut Seafood Soup…
Ingredients:
Salmon cut into big chunks
Shrimp
Brussels Sprouts
sweet corn
mini sweet peppers
G&G
Scallions

Flavorings:
TSP (tamari, sherry, pepper white)
Curry powder (see note above)
Coconut Milk

Garnish:
chopped scallions
chopped Cilantro
Lime wedges


Method:

    1. Start by using the bowl you will serve in as a measuring vessel for the broth and add 1 extra bowl because broth tends to boil down over time.
    1. Next, add flavorings to broth: G&G;  TSP and curry powder, mix well.
    1. Poach tilapia on slow simmer so they don’t break. Use slotted spoon to transfer to serving bowl.
    1. Poach shrimp till just pink, spoon around tilapia in bowl.
    1. Blanche SEPARATELY Brussels Sprouts, sweet corn, sweet peppers in boiling broth and take out with slotted spoon and place around seafood in bowl.
  1. Reheat broth to rolling boil. Depending on how many guests you are feeding (1 can of coconut milk for more than 4 people), I only put in about 4-6 tablespoons of coconut milk for 2 of us so it’s not so rich and heavy.

Present garnishes in separate bowls on a nice tray with a flower arrangement.

Garnishes:

  1. Put garnishes in separate bowls in case guests don’t like a certain one (I learned that one!)
  2. Squeeze lime wedge over your soup, lime is amazing, it helps to ‘wake up’ all the flavors and make them shine and accentuated. However, don’t overdo it because then it becomes too sour and ruin the other flavors. You can also swirl in some coconut cream. Sprinkle chopped scallions and cilantro for a complete fresh flavor blast.
  3. I’ve now added my new fav find…Crispy shallots or Crispy Red Onions from Asian market. They have NO MSG or processed chemicals, only fried in either soy bean oil or coconut oil. 

I remember my mom taught us how to shallow fry shallots in oil. They are sprinkled on many dishes in Malaysia especially noodle dishes, they give a nice crunch and superb flavor, salivating just thinking about these, ha, ha. Peeling shallots and cutting them thin, then frying is so much work, I was elated when I discovered them already fried in a jar from the Asian market.

There is nothing more rewarding than hearing your hubby say how much he enjoyed my Curry Coconut Seafood Soup, dreamy and creamy. 

Now, dream up your own version and share with us in COMMENTS below or ask me questions!


Best Ground Turkey Weeknight Dinner Ever!

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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!

 


 


 

 
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!