Sweet and Spicy Asian Chicken

We seem to be on a chili-and-honey kick right now. Let's see how many ways we can use those ingredients on chicken! Tonight's dinner was a variation on a theme:  it's what happens when you realize you were supposed to marinate something just as you get ready to cook it. (Oops.) I think I liked this dish better than the original that inspired it:  Chili Honey Chicken. It cooks quickly; start the rice before you start the chicken!

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Singapore Street Noodles

This is one of those "kitchen sink" recipes; there is a ton of ingredients but I'm sure that some substitution wouldn't turn out badly. I thought the sauce in this recipe would work well with just about any combination of stir-fry vegetables.

I taste-tested this recipe with just my 10-year-old. I thought he might back away from the spice in it, but he never complained about it. He loved, loved, loved the rice noodles and asked me to make it again. I served mine on top of the noodles, but he wanted his noodles separate from the meat and vegetables.

SINGAPORE STREET NOODLES, my way (serves 4)

SAUCE:
1 TBL rice wine vinegar
2 TBL curry powder
1 pinch turmeric
2 TBL soy sauce or Ponzu
1/2 cup oyster sauce
2 TBL sriracha (sweet chili) sauce
2 TBL ketchup

VEG/MEAT:
1/2 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and tails removed
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut in thin strips
2 TBL vegetable or peanut oil for the pan
1 cup cole slaw mix
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
2 cups baby carrots, julienned
1 TBL minced garlic
1 medium tomato, cut in chunks

NOODLES:
1 pound Asian rice noodles, uncooked
1 tsp sesame oil
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, cut in quarters

1.  Mix vinegar, curry powder and turmeric until well blended. Add remaining sauce ingredients and stir. Set aside.

2.  Boil water in large pot for noodles.

3.  Stir-fry shrimp and chicken in oil until cooked through. Push to edges of pan and add all vegetables except tomato. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, then stir in tomato and sauce. Cook until everything is heated through.

4.  Cook noodles 2 to 3 minutes (according to package directions), stirring occasionally. Drain and toss with cilantro and sesame oil.

5.  Serve noodles with meat and vegetables and 1/4 lime to squeeze over the dish just before eating.

I plan to make a big batch of this (just the meat, vegetables and sauce), then divide and freeze it. The rice noodles take no time at all to cook, so this would be an amazingly quick meal for those really busy days. But I'm probably going to leave out the tomatoes next time and use some other vegetables instead. Also, some chopped dry-roasted peanuts or cashews would add to this dish.

Source for original recipe: Food.com (I changed some ingredients and re-worked the directions so the steps were actually in order. In the original recipe, also, there were some ingredients in the list that never were accounted for in the steps of the recipe.)

Vietnamese Tacos and an OXO Good Grips Giveaway

This recipe has all the necessary qualities for a fun family meal:  it's easy to make, it tastes great, everyone can customize his own meal, it's super-healthy, and what's more fun than dinner rolled up in a nice warm tortilla?  My whole family (and two dinner guests) loved these Vietnamese Tacos!  I found the original recipe in the April 2012 issue of Southern Living and modified it slightly.

VIETNAMESE TACOS

2 1/2 pounds sirloin steak (London Broil)
6-inch flour tortillas
1 bag Cole Slaw mix or 3 cups shredded cabbage and carrots
2 scallions, sliced
2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin

Marinade:

Get this recipe (with nutrition facts) at Cook and Count!

Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 TBL sugar
juice of one lime
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp freshly-ground pepper

Marinate steak for 8 to 24 hours.  Mix dipping sauce and chill until ready to serve.  Grill steak until done, discarding remaining marinade.  Allow meat to rest 10 minutes before slicing.  Slice into thin strips and serve in warmed tortillas with dipping sauce and vegetables.

This made a great and easy meal with a side of salad, steamed rice and a raw vegetable platter.  Everyone used the extra dipping sauce on the raw vegetables (it was particularly delicious with cucumbers.)

Slicing those cucumbers was really easy thanks to a cool kitchen tool from OXO Good Grips!  I used the Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer to make short work of that job.  This slicer was easy to hook over the top of a bowl, and the cucumbers were sliced in no time at all.  With a carefully-designed finger guard, I never had to worry that I'd slice off a fingertip or knuckle on the mandoline blade.

It was easy to adjust the thickness of the slices with a nonslip knob located on the side.  The thinnest slices were practically transparent--there's no way I could have done that with a knife.

I've also tried this slicer with onions and it made that chore quick and easy.  There's no better way to get paper-thin onion slices to top burgers or sandwiches.

This mandoline is dishwasher-safe (top rack) and the finger guard fits over the blade for safe storage of this handy kitchen tool.  It's going to be well-used in my kitchen this summer!

Thanks to OXO, I have a Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer to give away to one reader!  It's easy to enter this giveaway.  Simply leave a comment on this post, making sure there's an email address where you can be reached.  For one extra entry, "like" Mom's Fridge on Facebook and leave a comment here letting me know you did that.  The contest will close at 11:59 PM EDT on Thursday, May 24 and the winner will be chosen and notified on Friday, May 25.  Because of the holiday, the winner will have until 11:59 PM EDT on Tuesday, May 29 to respond.

I received a Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer to try out for the purposes of this review and giveaway. The winner of the giveaway will receive an identical product. I did not receive any other compensation from OXO or any other source. All opinions are mine. UPDATE: And the winner is...comment #5, Jamie! The winner will be contacted via email as described above. Congratulations and thanks to everyone for participating!

Chicken Lo Mein

It's not that I can never leave a recipe alone.  Well, I usually can't.  But this time I changed up a recipe because I didn't have the fresh ingredients in the house to make it the way it was originally written.  I found this recipe for Jamie's Chicken Chow Mein at Barbara's, and since I'm a big fan of lo mein, I wanted to give this one a try.  The sauce is different from the lo mein I usually make.  This had a much lighter flavor, with a little more kick from the spice.

Chicken Lo Mein
serves 4

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Chili Honey Chicken

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Spicy Asian Chicken Wraps

I saw this recipe at Barbara's cooking blog and thought it would be something my family would enjoy.  On the way to the supermarket today, though, I heard a news story on the radio about salmonella in ground turkey, so I decided to revamp the recipe. Instead, I used slices of boneless, skinless chicken breast. The cooking technique is changed a bit to reflect the change in ingredients. Next time I make this, I won't change a thing: we loved this! (Plus, the chicken was on sale!)

Spicy Asian Chicken Wraps
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Asian Green Beans and Sort-of-Spicy Orange Chicken

Cheaper than takeout and very easy! This made enough for 2. Double everything except the sauce to feed 4--there was plenty of sauce for the chicken.

ASIAN GREEN BEANS

Find this recipe and nutrition info at Cook and Count.

SORT-OF-SPICY ORANGE CHICKEN

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Honey Chicken

TheDad and I really like Spicy Orange Chicken, but the kids don't care for the "spicy." So I invented this recipe as a way to start with the same base chicken, and just use a different sauce for the kids. It's not so bad to use 2 skillets anyway, so the chicken isn't crowded (it steams that way, and doesn't taste as good.)

Boneless chicken breast chunks
1/4 cup flour
2 tbl vegetable or peanut oil
3 tbl honey
3 tbl soy sauce
Sesame seeds (optional)

Dredge the chicken in flour. Saute it in a skillet in the hot vegetable oil.
Mix soy sauce and honey together. Add to skillet and stir.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Originally posted by Lizzie-boo at Family Corner.

1 1/2 lbs. pork shoulder, cut into thin strips or cubes*
2 Tbsp. oil
1/2 cup water
20 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained, reserving juice
2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin diagonal slices
1/2 medium onion, cut into chunks
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into squares
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into squares

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Brown pork in hot oil. Add water; cover and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. At the half-hour point, add carrots and onions on top of pork to steam. At the 3/4 hour point, add peppers and pineapple.

Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Add reserved pineapple juice, vinegar and soy sauce. Cook over low heat until thick, stirring occasionally. Pour over hot pork mixture, stir to combine, and heat gently for 10 minutes or longer.

Serve over rice.

*Boneless pork loin or pork chops, cut in strips or cubes, can also be used.

Osaka's Pineapple Stir-Fry

Serves 4-6

1 1/4 pounds of boneless chicken breasts, skinned and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
4 tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
2-ince piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 15 ounce can of pineapple chunks in natural juice, or you can dice up a fresh pineapple.
1 tablespoon of sweet soy sauce
6-8 scallions, white parts left whole, green tops sliced
salt and ground black pepper

Toss the strips of chicken in the cornstarch with a little seasoning.
Fry in hot oil until tender.

Lift out of the wok and keep warm. Reheat the oil and fry the garlic, ginger and onion until soft, but not browned.
Add the canned pineapple and it's juice. If you are using a fresh pineapple then add 1/2 cup of water.

Stir in the soy sauce and return the chicken to the pan to heat through.

Stir in the white parts of the scallions and half of the sliced green tops.
Then serve it garnished with the remaining sliced green scallions.

Source: Family Corner forums

Sesame Garlic Stir-Fry Sauce

Why use the bottled stuff when you can MAKE YOUR OWN?

My father-in-law bought a bottle of sesame garlic stir-fry sauce at a supermarket so he could make this recipe. It was really good but some would have preferred less spice. I looked at the ingredient list on the sauce bottle and figured it wouldn't be too hard to make at home.

Did you know that manufacturers must list ingredients in order of quantity? The first ingredients on the list are the major ingredients in a food. Keeping that in mind, here's how I wound up making the sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbl EACH water and cornstarch (dissolve the cornstarch in water before adding to sauce)
1 tbl sesame seed
1 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic
1/4 tsp fresh-ground pepper blend
1/4 tsp ground ginger (not in the sauce but we like ginger in our stir-fry)

Stir to mix, and microwave for 1 minute before adding to the pan. Cook until sauce thickens a little.

Hawaiian Chicken

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Teriyaki Pork

Teriyaki Pork for Nesco

4 boneless pork chops, cubed
1 tbl cornstarch
1 tbl cold water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup Dark Soy SAUCE (reg. works too)
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbl Orange Juice (optional)

Put all of the above into a saucepan over LOW heat until it bubbles...it will thicken up more later. Pour some of the sauce into bottom of cookwell of roaster oven. Add pork cubes and then the rest of the sauce. Bake at 325 degrees; stir 1/2 way through cooking. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

This can also be made in a regular oven, in a Pyrex pan.

I serve it with brown rice...it has a rich, not too sweet sauce.

SOURCE: Bensmom526 at Family Corner

CARBS in the sauce:  70