Chinese Chicken Salad

CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 teaspoons salt

1 head romaine lettuce, shredded very thin

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 carrot, shredded

1 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon peanut oil

1/2 cup peanuts (see headnote)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon chile flakes

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon ponzu

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup sesame oil

*I would also like to add crispy noodles and mandarin oranges on top

DIRECTIONS

1. Fill a medium pot with enough water to cover the chicken by 2 inches. Add the salt to the water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to just below a simmer. Place the chicken in the water, making sure the water does not boil so that the chicken stays tender. Once the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F or is firm and white in the center (not pink), remove from the pot and set on a plate to cool. Then cut into 1/2-inch cubes. 

2. In a salad bowl, combine the romaine, iceberg lettuce, carrot, and cilantro. 

3. To prepare the "wok"-style peanuts, in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the peanut oil, peanuts, sugar, and chile flakes. Stir occasionally until the peanuts have small char marks on them but are not burned, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. 

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the rice wine vinegar, orange juice, ponzu, soy sauce, and sesame oil until well combined. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Toss all the ingredients together with the dressing and serve.

Cashew Chicken with Noodles

Cashew Chicken with Noodles
Recipe from Taste of Home
Serves 8

16 oz uncooked thick rice noodles
1/2 Cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
4 Tbsp cornstarch
6 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 Tbsp peanut oil (or canola oil)
2 Tbsp sesame oil
12 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 Cups unsalted cashews
4 Tbsp sweet chili sauce

Cook rice noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a medium sized bowl, combine the soy sauce, cornstarch and garlic.  Add chicken.  In a large skillet or wok, saute chicken mixture in peanut and sesame oils until no longer pink.  Add onions; cook 1 minute longer.

Drain noodles; stir into skillet. Add cashews and chili sauce and heat through.

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers
Recipe from Our Best Bites blog

12 chicken tenders (more or less) (I cut up 4 chicken breasts)
1-2 eggs (start with 1 and crack another if you run out)
1/2 c. flour
1 c. sweetened coconut flakes
1 c. panko breadcrumbs
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or can leave out for non-spicy eaters)

Preheat oven to 450. Give coconut a rough chop so its about the same size as the Panko breadcrumbs. Combine coconut, panko, and spices to a bowl and mix well. Place the flour in another shallow bowl and the egg, beaten, in another bowl. Dip chicken in flour, then egg, then panko mix. Place chicken pieces on a foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (Optional: you can drizzle with olive oil on top to help crisp nicely).

Bake for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear. If they are smaller chicken tenders, try 15 minutes...if larger try 25 minutes. Watch closely so they don't overcook. The coconut will be nice and golden but will still be light in color. Dip in sweet 'n sour sauce (a recipe I used below).

Sweet 'n Sour Sauce
Recipe found online somewhere

*Alright, I'm putting on two recipes for this because there was a basic one I found but I decided to use a slightly different version. It was really good with the chicken but it may be too potent to use with other things in my opinion.

1st Recipe (the basic one...I didn't use)

3/4 c. white sugar
1/3 c. white vinegar
2/3 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. ketchup
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Place sugar, vinegar, water soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.

2nd Recipe (one I used)

1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 . white sugar
1/4. c. pineapple juice
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. ketchup
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Dissolve cornstarch and pineapple juice until dissolved. Add in all ingredients to saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir continuously until mixture has thickened.

Chicken Katsu

Chicken Katsu (and sauce)
Recipe somewhere online

Chicken thighs, de-boned
1-2 Eggs, beaten
Panko bread crumbs or Corn Flake/Rice Krispy crumbs
Oil (for deep frying)

Cut off any access fat to the chicken if needed. Lightly pound into 1/2 inch thickness. Dip, not soak, the chicken into egg batter. Lay the chicken in the breadcrumbs and be sure to coat them. Get your wok or large skillet heated with the cooking oil. Once the oil is hot and sizzling, slowly drop the chicken pieces into the pan. Use the sides of the pan to drop the chicken in to avoid oil splattering. Remove chicken pieces once they are a golden brown color on both sides. Also check by making a small slit with a knife to see if pink inside. Serve on bed of lettuce for good looks (which I obviously didn't do).

Katsu Sauce

1/3 Cup ketchup
1/4 Cup Soy sauce
1/4 Cup sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (or cayenne)

Pour the ingredients into a sauce pan. Mix together and bring to a boil. Serve on the side as a dip for the chicken or lightly spoon over chicken.

Fried Rice

*I just guesstimated how much veggies and rice to put in...just throw in what you have available and it will be just fine. No need to measure, just make however much you want.

Fried Rice
Recipe from Mom

6-8 Strips bacon (or 1/2 c. chopped ham)
1-2 Cups vegetables, chopped
Choose from carrots, onion, peas, celery, green pepper,
bean sprouts, broccoli, or cabbage
3-4 Cups cooked rice (preferably cold, leftover rice works great)
1-2 Eggs
Salt
Pepper
Soy sauce

Fry bacon until barely done. Add vegetables and cook until just heated through. Turn down heat to medium and add rice, stirring constantly. Once rice is heated through, add egg. Stir until egg is completely added and cooked. Season with salt, pepper and soy sauce to taste. If you use ham, fry in 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil.

Coconut Chicken Curry

Coconut Chicken Curry

Recipe from PrudencePennywise Blog

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped

Generous dash of ground red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 cup raisins

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 large potato, peeled and chopped

1 and 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut cream or half and half

hot rice, for serving

Garnishes: chopped cilantro

sweetened coconut

chopped almonds or cashews

lemon wedges

In a large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium high heat. Add onion and chicken and cook, stirring often, until chicken is almost cooked through. Stir in garlic, ginger, red pepper, salt, pepper, curry, raisins, carrots, and potato; cook stirring often for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until carrot and potato are tender, adding more broth if needed. Add coconut milk or half and half and bring almost to a boil. (The sauce will be thin but the rice will soak it up.) To serve, put rice in individual bowls and top with curry and a generous amount of liquid. Top with cilantro, coconut, almonds and lemon wedges.

Spam Musubi

*These are definitely hard to explain directions for such an easy thing to make. I wish I had taken pictures step by step...maybe one day I will. If anyone else reads this...that isn't Asian...you may not understand any of this...

Spam Musubi

1 Can Spam
1 Cup cooked sticky rice (basic recipe here)
1 Cup teriyaki sauce (or 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and pinch of garlic salt)
Package of nori (seaweed)

Take the Spam and slice horizontally (or the way it fits into the masubi maker). Dip pieces into teriyaki sauce and place in a frying pan. On medium-high heat, brown on both sides of Spam. On the side, place half sheet of nori on a flat surface. Put the musubi maker in the center of the nori. Place rice inside and squish down until about halfway full. Put teriyaki Spam inside. Put another layer of rice inside and squish together. Using the top of the maker to push down, take the outside of the masubi maker off (to reveal a well formed square). Fold the nori around the rice/Spam.

Mom's Teriyaki Chicken or Beef

Mom's Teriyaki Chicken or Beef
Recipe from Mom

1 Cup soy sauce (if using Kikkoman, do 3/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup water)
1 Cup sugar
4-5 Chicken thighs and/or legs or 1 cut up chicken or thinly sliced beef
1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated or 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger (optional but recommended)
1 Clove of garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients together (make sure the mix fully covers the chicken/beef, if not, make more sauce). Cover and marinate in the fridge for an hour or more (overnight works well or freeze at this point and cook it up at a later date). Put in baking dish, cover, and bake at 350 for 1 hour, turning occasionally. OR cover and cook on the stove. Put on high heat until it comes to a boil. Cover and turn to low heat for about 45 minutes. OR grill it until crisp on the edges.

*Don't have to marinate before cooking, just do all you can.
*Chicken breasts are much tougher than the thigh, you can use it but it's not nearly as good.

Sticky Rice

Sticky Rice

1 Cup rice (short or medium grained, Calrose)
2 Cups water

Stove: Rinse rice in water. Add water and rice. Turn on high until boils. Cover and turn down heat to low for 20-25 minutes or until tender.

In Rice Cooker: Rinse rice in water. Add water and rice to cooker. Press button and let sit.

Teriyaki Chicken Bowl

Teriyaki Chicken Bowl

*To simplify: Don't HAVE TO thicken the marinade, still tastes good, just thinner.

Teriyaki Chicken (click here for my mom's teriyaki recipe)
Marinade from teriyaki chicken
1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch
Cold water
Frozen Asian stir fry
Sticky rice (click here for basic recipe)

Make the teriyaki chicken. Heat the leftover marinade and bring to a full boil. Let boil for 15 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in cold water. Mix in with marinade to thicken. Cook frozen stir fry according to directions. Serve over sticky rice.