This being my third post, not all my recipes will come with a story. This one, however does. Here is how an American boy has come to expand his cooking into the Oriental cuisine. It wasn't too long ago that I started this. Sweet & Spicy Beef, however was my first foray. One Wednesday evening, as the Prayer meeting was relaxing after a dinner of slop joes and green beans, I thought that the people would enjoy something Oriental. It needed to happen.
The interesting thing about the courtship between my wife and I is that until I met her mom, I thought my wife was Hispanic. Her sister's name, Young, wasn't necessarily exclusively Oriental. Her brother's name, Kwon, was said with a softer K making it sound in my slightly hearing impaired head as "Juan". So when I met her mom, I turned to Carol and said, "You're Oriental?!" Her mom treated me to the most delicious cooking of squash cakes. Her mom then cooked a few more times during the courtship other great and tasty treats for me.
At this point, I was quite regretful of how I behaved growing up. Even through college, I kept to my disdain of Oriental food, though I did enjoy the Burmese cuisine that my missionary club at Ozark enjoyed. If I had only trusted my parents the few times they attempted to take the family to Gene's restaurant. Though Gene's did make a great burger. (The other regret from growing up was to never try Chili Pepper's.)
Yet in the near 17 years of marriage, Carol doesn't really make Oriental food. There has been pugogy and teriyaki beef or chicken. Any other dishes have come the Chinese restaurants we've visited. Now in the last couple of years, Carol has added stir fries of sorts. So when I asked her about making something for the Wednesday evening She stated that it was my doing and therefore I should cook the dinner. The following week, she guided me. And this evening, I made the Sweet & Spicy Chicken Stir-fry. Here's how:
5 chicken thighs, boneless & skinless, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon of minced ginger
1 splash of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/3 cup of rice vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of honey
1 tablespoon of hot bean paste
4 large green onions, diced
1 bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables
1 bag of rice noodles
1 splash of Sesame Seed oil
Mix water, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, and paste together with the minced ginger. Set aside.
In a cauldron, bring water to boil. Add the rice noodles and cook until pliable. This can take up to three minutes. (Depending on the brand you use, the rice noodles may be marketed as rice sticks.) Once cooked and drained, set aside.
Heat wok with oil splash, add garlic then the chicken strips. Half way, while there is still plenty of pink, add a splash of sauce mix. Once chicken is cooked, remove from wok, keeping as much of the liquid in the wok. Return wok to heat, dump bag of vegetables to wok and fry. Once cooked, add remainder of the sauce mix to wok. Bring to a simmer. Add rice noodles. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, then add chicken. Cook additional 5 minutes, add remainder of the green onions and a splash of sesame oil. Mix. Serve.
Takes approximately 30 minutes from prep to serve. Serves approximately 8. This has quite an overt kick. Use more bean paste for greater heat, or augment with crushed red pepper (Oriental pepper). Cut paste in half for more mild taste.
Bon Appetit!
