"one dish meals"

Valentine's Day Ideas: Home cooking is Best!

February 13, 2015 By Eleanor Hoh 5 Comments

The dish I’m proposing for your Valentine is surprise, surprise – an Italian dish made in my wok! Valentine’s is all about the table presentation and ambience! A simple table setting with pop of color from red napkins, centerpiece with low flower arrangement, a must are red candles and you’re set!

This pasta dish coincides with a theme for this month’s #LetsLunch, a virtual lunch with food bloggers from around the world (see below for lots more noodle dishes!) I’ve also been experimenting Italian dishes in my wok to prepare for my first cooking class hosted by a fabulous new Italian wine bar and gourmet deli in Wynwood, Miami called Made In Italy Gourmet, I’m so excited to expand my repertoire. Just a little tidbit…you know that Marco Polo discovered noodles in Asia and brought it back to Italy and called it pasta, you knew that right?

Few notes about this dish…
I make marinara sauce in my cast iron wok. It is acid so don’t do this if you’re a new Wok Star, build up your patina first. Having said that, your cast iron wok will build its patina quickly if you do use it for acidic dishes, just not when it’s new. If you don’t have a wok, your best bet is to use a wide stainless steel flat pan but you’ll need to use a lot more oil. Please NO nonstick because it cannot handle high heat that’s required for cooking meat.
Remember to wash out wok and dry with paper towels, then dry on stove. Always use a clean wok otherwise food or liquid stuck on will burn and create a crust and ruin your dish.
Marinading meat using my basic marinade: TSPC (see below under ingredients) I teach in class and on my DVDs. You only need to know these 4 seasonings because you can use it for any style of cooking whether it’s Italian, Hispanic, Greek etc. tamari is a liquid salt but doesn’t make your food taste Asian!
Hope you’ll branch out and try making Italian in your wok, and if you do, please share with us. Here’s a sausage and rapini pasta dish for you to try!

3 easy steps to Marinara Chicken in a wok….
Ingredients:
Marinara sauce:
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 ripe beefsteak tomato or 4-6 plum tomatoes, cubed
4 cloves garlic smashed whole
handful of crimini mushrooms, sliced thick
handful of flat leaf parsley for garnish, chopped
1 lb. organic chicken thighs or breast, cut into medium chunks
2 scallions cut into diagonals
thin pasta (whatever pasta you like!)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
red hot sauce
T – tamari (San-J brand is best)
S – sherry (medium drinking sherry NOT cooking sherry)
P – pepper (white pepper)
C – cornstarch
1) Make pasta in a pot, add a few drops of oil and salt. The oil prevents pasta from sticking together. Drain and set aside. When ready to serve, run under hot, hot tap water.
2) Heat wok on medium high, when you see first wisp of smoke, add 2 swirls of olive oil, then immediately add chopped onion and cook till transparent. Add mushrooms and tomatoes and cook till they just become soft but not too watery. Set on dish.
3) Marinade chicken with TSPC. Heat wok on high this time for chicken! When you see first wisp of smoke, add in 4 swirls of olive oil, add garlic, then spread chicken out in one layer so they all get some heat love. Test piece of chicken at base of wok to see if it’s golden color before flipping. If ready, flip chicken back and forth quickly so they don’t burn. Add in marinara sauce and scallions, warm through and you’re done!
Plate pasta, top with chicken marinara sauce, sprinkle chopped parsley if you like. Light the candles, kiss your honey, SLURP your pasta and enjoy!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Go check these other amazing noodle dishes from my Let’s Lunch buddies and if you want to join us, use #LetsLunch on twitter or leave a comment below and we’ll connect! It’s so much fun…
Annabelle‘s Emergency Anti-Hibernal Salad at Glass of Fancy
Betty-Ann‘s Chicken Noodle Soup with Roast Barbecue at Asian in America
Demetra‘s Southern Style Ramen with Bacon at Sweet Savant
Juliana‘s Grilled Tofu Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad at J. Loh
Linda‘s Taiwanese Hot Pot at Spicebox Travels
Lisa‘s Lokshen Kugel at Monday Morning Cooking Club
Naomi‘s Biang Biang Noodles at The Gastrognome
Pat‘s Korean Stir-Fried Glass Noodles (Japchae) at The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook
Tammi‘s Thai Glass Noodle Salad at Insatiable Munchies

How to make Malaysian Street Food, Char Kuey Teow in your Wok!

August 14, 2014 By Eleanor Hoh 8 Comments

If you love Asian food, Char Kuey Teow, a famous and very popular Malaysian street food is heavenly. Once you’ve tried it, you’ll crave it and dream about it. Its heady aroma, spicy complex flavors and textures are downright addictive. It doesn’t matter how many times you eat it, you’ll want MORE, it’s that good.
My mom used to make Char Kuey Teow on special occasions and it became one of my family’s all time favorite dishes. Today is one of those special occasions because it would have been my mom’s 90th and I wouldn’t be teaching wok cooking if it weren’t for her!

I didn’t make the Char Kuey Teow in this post, I was acting as sous chef for my sister so I could watch, take photos, shoot videos and learn all the secrets to share with you! It’s a lot of work but with 3 sisters prepping, it’s not as intimidating, so invite your family and friends to lessen the load, it’s always much more fun cooking together.
If you follow these tips, you’ll get a better chance of success! It’s the same approach I teach in wok cooking…
1. use good, fresh ingredients
2. use a well seasoned, lightweight cast iron wok for better wok hei (high heat) Otherwise, a cast iron skillet but definitely NOT nonstick because it can’t withstand high heat required to make this dish!
3. high heat is ESSENTIAL, preferably gas not electric…
– so the noodles don’t stick and get all goopy
– to get that wonderful umami flavor when soy sauce hits the heat
4. Make small batches, the smaller the better the results. In Penang, they make enough for only one person at a time and it’s perfect every time!
Visit Char Kuey Teow Pork Jerky for tips and substitutions which are all part of being a Wok Star and my mom would have approved, she used to do that too and no one was the wiser. Make Char Kuey Teow your memory anchor for good times and I would love to hear how your dish turns out?
Char Kuey Teow was a perfect fit for this month’s Let’s Lunch theme for a summer dish from our childhood memories. Whenever I eat this dish, all my childhood memories start flooding back, like my family at the beach or at a picnic and having a fantastic time. But my best and favorite memory is of cooking with my sisters and mom, giggling and having a blast!
Let’s Lunch is a monthly virtual gathering of foodies from all over the world and take turns hosting with a theme. Anyone can join, just use #letslunch on twitter and someone will reach out to you or leave a comment below. Check out other Let’s Lunchers’ posts, they’re always an interesting read…
Betty Ann‘s Suam Na Mais (Corn Soup with Shrimp and Spinach) at Asian in America
Eleanor‘s Mom’s Malaysian Char Kuey Teow at Wok Star
Grace‘s Mung Bean Popsicles at HapaMama
Karen‘s Watermelon Salt Water Taffy at GeoFooding
Linda‘s Auntie Number One’s Fresh Peach Ice-Cream at Spicebox Travels
Lisa‘s Aunty Myrna’s Cabbage Rolls at Monday Morning Cooking Club

1. Prep of Kuey Teow ingredients, top left to right: blanched rappini (sub for choy sum), 4 eggs, bean sprouts, ready fried shrimp, scallions, chopped garlic, diced red chilies, dried chili flakes, — 1. Prep of Kuey Teow ingredients, top left to right: blanched rappini (sub for choy sum), 4 eggs, bean sprouts, ready fried shrimp, scallions, chopped garlic, diced red chilies, dried chili flakes. If you can get Chinese pork sausage, slice thin and fry on medium heat to render the fat and soften the pork.

2. Lightly cook wide and thin dried rice noodles, should be al dente. Dry well with dish towels. But best is to use fresh noodles. — 2. Lightly cook wide and thin dried rice noodles, should be al dente. Dry well with dish towels. Best is to use fresh rice noodles, just separate each strand so it doesn’t goop up.

3. Lightly stir fry bean sprouts, scallions and rappini. — 3. Lightly stir fry bean sprouts, scallions and rappini (typically choy sum but you can omit and will be fine) Notice nice patina of my sister’s cast iron wok, same as mine. She had a gas stove and I got her to use the smaller burner which focuses heat at base of her wok and resulted in much better heat distribution.

4. Lightly stir fry shrimp with garlic. — 4. Lightly stir fry shrimp with garlic and chilies.

5. Fry chilies and garlic, then add in one portion of rice noodles.

6. Add in bean sprouts, shrimp to noodles and combine. This is when you taste and add your dark soy and little salt so it's not too dark. Test for spiciness. Push your noodles to one side and fry some chilies in wok first before recombining. — 6. Add in 1/2 of bean sprouts and shrimp to noodles and combine. This is when you taste and add your dark soy and little salt so it’s not too dark. Test for spiciness. Push your noodles to one side and fry more chilies in wok first before recombining noodles.

7. Push noodles to one side and add drop 2 eggs into wok, cover the eggs with noodles to cook them a bit. Then frantically start stir frying everything so the eggs get to cook through into yummy chunks and coat the noodles. — 7. Push noodles to one side and drop 2 eggs (1 egg per person) into wok, cover the eggs with noodles to cook them a bit. Then frantically start stir frying everything so the eggs get to cook through into yummy chunks and coat the noodles. Do the whole process with the other portion and cook it fresh to eat immediately.

Ta Da! Mom would be proud of my sister's masterpiece! — Ta Da! Mom would be proud of my sister’s masterpiece!

How to make Malaysian Street Food, Char Kuey Teow in your Wok!

August 14, 2014 By Eleanor Hoh 8 Comments

"one dish meals"

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