Wok Star Eleanor Hoh

Roundup of Festive Dishes, Wok Star Way

December 27, 2020 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

If you need some last minute ideas what to cook for a festive occasion, I’ve put together a Roundup of Festive Dishes, the Wok Star Way. It’s what being a Wok Star is all about! Do things differently and out of tradition with your own twist!

Let’s start with a few appetizers that are sure to please…

This wok frittata or tortilla can be made ahead of time and served at room temperature. It’s so versatile, good as an appetizer, for breakfast when you have a lot of people or a perfect tapas or brunch dish.

Wok Frittata

Rainbow Lettuce Wrap is always a BIG HIT and will WOW your guests. As the name says, it’s a “rainbow” of colors and beautiful presentation with flavors and textures that explode in every bite.

Rainbow Lettuce
Wrap

Next course, and going the Wok Star Way, an Asian 5 Spice Roast Pork joint so there’s enough for several meals. It’s so simple, helps save time and most important, it’s delicious!

5 Spice Pork

OR, you could go with Grilled Korean Style Kalbi Short Ribs, who doesn’t love beef ribs?

Kalbi, curry quinoa and stir fried baby bok choy

Grilled Kalbi

OR CHEAT and purchase a whole Roast Duck from Whole Foods, then reheat and crisp up!

Roast Duck

OR CHEAT again and purchase ready cooked Maple Leaf Farm duck, grilling it and stir fry some Brussels Sprouts. This combination immediately conjurs up a Festive Dinner.

Grilled Duck
Leg

Sides are EASY, there’s so much to choose from…

This Stuffed Squash a la Wok Star Style is festive, colorful and tasty. Use whatever colorful veggies you have, add quinoa, or rice and voila!

Stuffed
Squash

My Honey Ginger Wok Brussel Sprouts were inspired by Sakaya Kitchen’s dish. They cause such a stir when you mention them, you either hate or love them.

Ginger Honey
Brussels Sprouts

These vegetables were all holiday colors with crispy textures to complement any bird or surf and turf, a lovely Festive Side.

Festive
Vegetables

For the following day, if you have any leftover duck, throw some into a noodle soup. It is so quick and easy to put together. If you don’t have any Asian green vegetables, throw some romaine lettuce leaves in the soup last minute. A great Duck Noodle Soup using leftovers.

Duck Noodle
Soup

Now, for an Asian dessert that will round out your festive feast…my mom’s Malaysian Banana Fritters with ice cream of your choice but I think vanilla complements instead of overpowers the fritters.

Malaysian Banana
Fritters

My Roundup of Festive Dishes has something for everyone! With the Wok Star Way, you’ll be introducing your family and friends to new flavors and spark some interesting conversations around the dining table.

Wok Star’s Famous Rainbow Lettuce Wrap

December 24, 2020 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

This Rainbow Lettuce Wrap is an “Asian taco”, I serve this as an appetizer in my cooking classes. It’s always a BIG HIT and will WOW your guests. A “rainbow” of colors and beautiful presentation with flavors and textures that explode in every bite.

Pairs beautifully with Zonin prosecco, ice cold Tiger Beer, both light and bubbly and of course Fiji Water.

Use a crispy Romaine Leaf. Slather sweet Koon Chun’s Hoisin Sauce on leaf, fill with ground turkey and a “rainbow” of multi colored bell peppers, crunchy jicama and/or chayote, topped with toasted pumpkin seeds.

I call it a “Party Dish”, cause it’s a PERFECT appetizer for entertaining at home, savor during Game Day or show off at Tailgate. It’s FAST to pull together. I have eaten this as my main course dinner. Make in small batches so it’s fresh and warm. It’s addictive! You can even make the dishes ahead and just warm up last minute, of course not the lettuce leaves.

You may have had a P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wrap, so now you’ll be able to make your own version at home, fresh and delicious.

Here’s my Famous Rainbow Lettuce Wrap ‘recipe card’ I developed for Tiger Beer for a sponsored mini launch in North Florida.
In Asia, ice cold beer is always served with spicy food.

Feel free to swap out with any crunchy veggies or nuts you love, that’s my whole philosophy of what I teach anyway.

The beauty of my wok and stove setup is that you can cook anywhere! Many Wok Stars will take their handy portable kitchen and make this Rainbow Lettuce Wrap to show off in front of their guests, I’ve heard outside by the patio, poolside, on a yacht, during camping trips, the list is endless! I’ve even taken my Wok Star Kit to give presentations during Wellness Week at a luxury Wellness resort, Grand Velas in Los Cabos, Mexico. My presentations were very well received by adults and kids alike. They even asked the Hotel manager if my Rainbow Lettuce Wrap could be incorporated into their restaurant menu, ha, ha.

Enjoy being hero worshipped, ha, ha!

DISCLOSURE: I’m providing Amazon affiliate products I like or use and maybe included in my Wok Star Kit. They help you become a Wok Star, get creative and have fun. I will get a commission if you click on the links, your price is not affected by these links.

Links to past partners include Zonin Prosecco, Tiger Beer, Fiji Water.

Dreamy, Creamy Curry Coconut Seafood Soup

March 12, 2019 By Eleanor Hoh 12 Comments

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.

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.

Garnishes:

Put garnishes in separate bowls in case guests don’t like a certain one (I learned that one!)
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.
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!

Wok Star Eleanor Hoh

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