SUNDAY DINNER ... CHINESE

Our newest kitchen adventure was 2 sundays ago ... and this time it was china style. My family has a serious love affair with all Asian food. Inspiration for this particular Sunday's Dinner was P.F. Chang's. We have been cooking fried rice and won-tons for a long time, but this time we decided to add Chicken Lettuce Wraps and Honey Crispy Chicken. And it went something like this ....

The Ingredients (sadly minus some)

The Shiitake Mushroom!! This little mushroom amazes me ... and this is why. Ancient Oriental healers have used it for centuries to help with a host of ailments (I would go into all of that but some are not table friendly and we are talking about cooking and eating food ... so we won't go there). But this little mushroom is great for your skin, it has even been called the Fountain of Youth. It has also been proven to help with cholesterol, blood pressure, cancer, heart disease, viral infections and even AIDS. Researchers are pumping major cash into this little mushroom to really see how much it can do. Pretty amazing. 

And they are really cute! haha

WON-TONS

This recipe isn’t really formal … we just kinda add until it tastes right. We use shrimp or crawfish that we put into a food processor then add it to cream cheese. We put some green onions in the mix and then add (of course) Tony chachere ‘s until it tastes right. As the pictures depict … 

1. Lay out the won-ton wraps 

2. Add a spoon full of the stuffing 

3. Rub a scrambles egg onto 2 sides

 4. Fold and fry

These are soooo good. The great thing about this recipe and the Fried Rice is that they are great recipes that are easy and for us are usually made from left-overs. Left-over boiled shrimp and left over rice.

SHRIMP FRIED RICE

This recipe is also just made up as we go along, it’s the kinda thing you can pretty much add whatever to (whatever is in the fridge). We also use onions, egg, soy sauce and rice of course. The best is day old rice. We start with the egg, then add the onions and whatever else we are throwing in there (such as the shrimp). Let everything cook down, then add the rice and soy until its browned and tastes just right. Quick, easy and oh so good!

PF CHANG'S CHINA BISTRO CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS

INGREDIENTS:
8 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons water
salt and pepper
1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, minced
5 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, minced
2 small dried chilis (optional)
1 8 oz. can bamboo shoots, minced
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts, minced
1 package cellophane Chinese rice noodles, fried in oil for a minute or two, until they puff nicely.

COOKING SAUCE:
1 tablespoon Hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Lettuce of your choice to make lettuce "cups" (Butter or Bibb lettuce is my choice.)

DIRECTIONS:
Cover mushrooms with boiling water, let stand 30 minutes then drain.
Cut and discard woody stems. Mince mushrooms. Set aside. 
Mix all ingredients for cooking sauce in bowl, and set aside. 
In medium bowl, combine cornstarch, sherry, water, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and chicken. 
Stir to coat chicken thoroughly. 
Stir in 1 teaspoon oil and let sit 15 minutes to marinate. 
Heat wok or large skillet over medium high heat.
When the pan smokes a bit, add 3 tablespoons oil, then add chicken and stir fry for about 3-4 minuts. Set aside. 
Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan. 
Add ginger, garlic, chilis (if desired), and onion. 
Stir- fry about a minute or so. 
Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts; stir fry an additional 2 minutes. 
Return chicken to pan. 
Add mixed cooking sauce to pan. 
Cook until thickened and hot. 
Break the cooked cellophane noodles into small pieces, and cover bottom of serving dish with them. 
Then pour chicken mixture on top of noodles. 
Spoon into lettuce leaf "cups" and roll.

P.F. CHANG'S CHINA BISTRO CRISPY HONEY CHICKEN

FOR THE BATTER:
4 oz. all purpose flour
2 1/2 oz. cornstarch
1 egg
6 oz. water
1/8 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda

FOR THE CHICKEN SEASONING:
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into medium size chunks
1 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. corn starch

FOR THE SAUCE:
1/2 cup sake or rice wine
1/2 cup honey
3 oz. rice vinegar
3 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
6 Tbsp. sugar

TO COOK THE CHICKEN:
Vegetable oil for frying (plus 2 tbsp for finishing sauce)

TO FINISH THE SAUCE:
cornstarch slurry (1/4 cup corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
red bell pepper and/or scallions, julienne

TO SERVE:
Crispy noodles, rice or egg noodles or steamed rice

TO MAKE THE BATTER:
Mix ingredients for the batter together till just combined. Let rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours. 

TO PREPARE THE CHICKEN:
Coat chicken well with seasonings and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. 

TO PREPARE THE SAUCE:
Combine sauce ingredients, mix thoroughly and reserve for serving.

TO COOK THE CHICKEN:
Pour vegetable oil into fryer or heavy bottomed sauce pot. Heat slowly to 340-350 degrees. 

Put 1/4 of the marinated chicken in a clean bowl and pour enough batter over to coat. Remove a few pieces at a time from the batter, using slotted spoon or large fork. Shake off excess batter. Carefully lower chicken into the hot oil. Suspend the chicken until the batter "sets," 20-30 seconds. Chicken is done when golden to light brown and crisp. Remove to platter with paper towels to drain. Repeat for all the chicken. Remember to check the oil temperature, it must remain hot.

TO FINISH THE SAUCE:
Heat the reserved sauce in sauce pan, bring to a boil. Add cornstarch slurry, a little at a time. The sauce will thicken, let it come to a thickness of "loose honey." Let cook for a minute or two.

Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok and add some minced garlic, red bell pepper and scallions and stir-fry briefly. 

Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the chicken (depending on pan size) and stir-fry briefly. Add enough sauce to just coat chicken. Stir-fry again briefly. 

TO SERVE:
Serve over noodles or rice.

THE RESULT