Ken Szulczyk's Website

Asian Style Chicken and Pasta

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Ingredients

Noodles

• 2 packages of Ramen noodles or comparable quantity of favorite pasta
• Low sodium soy sauce

Vegetables

• 1 carrot, julienne
• 1 cup frozen shelled soybeans
• 1 cup fresh snap peas, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 cup cauliflower
• 10 baby corn, cleaned and cut
• 1 onion, cut into strips
• 1 pound boneless chicken tenders, cubed Virgin olive oil

Broth

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup rice wine
• 1 ginger root, sliced
• Ground black pepper
• Salt

Directions

Make this dish in two parts.

Part 1

1. Brown chicken pieces in virgin olive oil.
2. Add vegetables and saute for five or ten minutes.
3. Add chicken broth and rice wine. Then simmer covered.
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper for taste.

Part 2

1. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and add the pasta. Stir occasionally  until the pasta is al dente. Drain water.
2. Sprinkle soy sauce on pasta and mix thoroughly. Place noodles in bowl and ladle chicken and vegetables on top. Ladle some of the broth.

Tip: If one adds the soy sauce to the vegetables, it darkens the vegetables. It still tastes good but lacks presentation.

Tip: Asian stores carry baby corn, but one can substitute a can of baby corn.

Tip: Chicken broth is simple to make. Boil a whole chicken with the neck, liver, and gibbets for an hour with two chicken bouillon cubes. Cool and strain broth. Freeze until needed. If one uses the meat, add meat towards end of dish because meat is very soft and easily falls apart.

Chinese Fried Noodles

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Ingredients

• 3 packages fried noodles
• 1 carrot, julienne
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1/2 head cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 container canned lucheon meat, diced
• Oyster sauce
• Sweet soy sauce
• Salty soy sauce
• Black pepper
• Oil

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and add fried noodles. Strain water when noodles are soft.
2. Add lucheon meat, garlic, and onions to wok and sautee. Add just enough oil. Remove when ham is brown.
3. Sautee carrots first. After a several minutes, add cabbage. Add a little oil if vegetables absorb it.
4. Add fried noodles, lucheon meat, onions, and garlic. Use a fork and spatula to toss. Sprinkle oyster sauce until noodles are dark. You may need to add a half cup of water. Noodles dry fast when cooking.
5. Sprinkle sweet soy sauce and continue tossing mixture. Add a little more water. Then sprinkle salty soy sauce and black pepper. You may need to add another half cup of water.
6. Noodles are ready.

Tip: You may use canned ham, Spam or other lucheon meat.

Tip: You can make this dish vegetarian by removing the meat. Just make a thin omlet with two eggs and cut into pieces. Add omlet towards the end.

Tip: I use an Asian shredder to cut carrots into long strands.

Chinese-Style Fried Rice

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Ingredients

Rice

• 2 cups rice
• 4 cups water
• 4 pandan leaves (optional)

Other Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1 can Spam or pork luncheon meat
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/3 cup chopped green onion
• Soy sauce
• Powered chicken stock

Directions

1. Place rice, water, and pandan leaves into a rice cooker or pot. Bring to soft boil, reduce heat, and cover. Rice is ready once water has evaporated. Remove pandan leaves.
2. Over medium heat, add diced pork. Brown for about 5 minutes. You may add a touch of oil but you may burn the butter if you add at this point.
3. Add garlic and yellow onions and brown for another 5 minutes.
4. Mix garlic, onions, and pork and cover with the cooked rice. Lightly sprinkle black pepper, powered chicken stock, soy sauce, and slices of butter.
5. Mix the rice. Lightly sprinkle more black pepper, powered chicken stock, soy sauce, and slices of butter. Repeat the process for a third time.
6. Remove the mixture from the wok into a large bowl. Add the beaten eggs. Before eggs hardened, add the rice mixture and begin mixing. Then add the green onions and cook for another several minutes.
7. Taste the rice if it needs addtional soy sauce, chicken stock, black pepper, or butter.

Note: I don't add salt because the soy sauce and chicken stock are loaded with salt.

Note: Experiment with soy sauces. After I found the right soy sauce, I couldn't stop myself from eating this rice. (I normally don't like rice dishes).

Note: You can add diced carrots or other favorite vegetables. Add the carrots with the pork since they take time to cook.

Egg Rolls

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Ingredients

• 1 pound minced pork or chicken
• 3 cups finely shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 can (8.5 oz) bamboo shoot, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 4 medium green onions, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon 5 Chinese spice powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 package egg roll skins ,16 - 18
• vegetable oil

Directions

1. Stir-fry minced meat in wok or skillet until brown with olive oil. Add cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Saute for five minutes. Sprinkle soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, 5 spice powder, salt, sugar and pepper, Stir-fry until cabbage is soft.
2. Allow mixture to cool and drain excess liquid. Cover egg roll skins with damp towel to prevent drying. Place 1/4 cup mix on center of each egg roll skin. Fold one corner of egg roll skin over filling; overlap the two opposite corners. Similar to folding an envelope. Moisten fourth corner with egg white and roll to seal egg roll.
3. Add enough oil to cover egg rolls and heat to 360 degrees. Fry 3 to 5 egg rolls at a time until golden brown. Brown each side and place on paper towels to absorb oil.

Tip: Add diced water chestnuts for a little crunch.

Tip: Add your favorite vegetables. Can remove vegetables and meat.

Tip: For thin egg roll skins, use two skins for each egg roll.

Stir Fry

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Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• Pandan leaves (optional)
• 1/2 lb (225 g) beef or chicken, cut into strips
• 2 tablespoon oil

Add your favorite vegetables

• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 broccoli, cut into small pieces
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1/2 cup peanuts or cashews

Sauce

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup red wine or rice wine
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Wash rice until clear. Add to covered pot or rice cooker with two cups of water. Place pandan leaves with rice and steam until finished.
2. Make sauce by blending sauce ingredients. Add water until you have one cup of sauce. Place at the side.
3. Add meat to wok with oil and saute over medium heat. When meat is almost done, add carrots and other vegetables that take a while to soften.
4. Add the remaining vegetables such as green pepper, broccoli, onion, and garlic that cook fast.
5. Add the sauce. The sauce thickens quickly. If sauce is too thick, add more water. Finally, add the nuts.
6. The whole stir fry should take 20 minutes or less. With practice, one can saute the vegetables just right so they are slightly firm. Add stir fry onto rice and enjoy.

Tip: Some add oyster sauce at the end because they believe the heat destroys the flavor.

Tip: Stir fry is flexible. You can remove vegetables or add new ones like bamboo shoots, cauliflower, water chestnuts, mushrooms, minuter corn cobbs, and baby pea shells. Stir fry is one of those dishes that people can enjoy although they dislike vegetables.

Szechuan Tossed Noodles

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Ingredients

• 1/2 pound pork tenderloin or chicken breast, diced
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 pound dry noodles

Marinade

• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Seasoning Sauce

• 1/4 cup red bean paste
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed

Vegetables

• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 cups carrots, julienne
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 2 cups cucumber, julienne
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Combine marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well and add the pork or chicken. Add more dry sherry if necessary. Allow the meat to marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Stir-fry marinated pork until golden brown. Add more oil if necessary. Add seasoning sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove chicken and sauce.
3. Meanwhile, bring water to boil and add noodles. Cook noodles until sightly firm. Add meat and sauce and mix well. You want the noodles to absorb the sauce.
4. Saute onions in wok until translucent. Add carrots and saute another couple of minutes. We want the carrots still firm. Turn off heat and mix in bean sprouts. Keep mixing. We do not want to cook the bean sprouts. The residual heat will help kill the germs. Finally, add the cucumber.
5. When ready to serve, toss noodles with vegetables. The sauce will darken the vegetables, which is why we keep them separate.

Tip: The original recipe required one cup of oil in the sauce. The sauce is not a gravy. Thus, the sauce and oil will separate. I reduced the oil to make the dish more healthy.