Chinese Recipes | Cooking Tips | Good Eats

Tag:Beef, beef and potatoes, easy chinese recipe

Fried potatoes with beef cubes - how difficult can it be to make this dish right? This recipe which requires approximately 45 minutes of preparation and cooking time took me overnight!! :D How can this be? Well, I can only cook when the baby is sleeping, else I feel guilty not stimulating my baby during every bit of his waking hours :O A is for Asparagus, B is for Broccoli, C is for Crazy mom…

I did the prep work the day before:
- During one of Baby J’s short afternoon naps, which ranges from 20 minutes to 45 minutes, I washed and cubed the potatoes. I had more potatoes than I needed, so I actually cubed all four white potatoes, although I needed only two. I deep fried them and put them on paper towels to drain off the excess oil, then portioned them into two bags - one to be put into the freezer for future use, and the other for the next day.

- Baby J sleeps from 7:30pm-10:30pm every evening, which gives me time to have dinner, wash up, take a shower and surf the net or prepare meals for the next day. I took this time to cube and marinate the beef and cut the onion wedges to the amount I want. This really makes the actual cooking a breeze as everything is really and I just need to throw them together for a quick stir-fry.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 lb beef, cubed (buy those that are meant for stir-frying)
- 1/4 onion, cut into thin wedges (or thick wedges if desired)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables, or more if desired. (Frozen vegetables are really handy!! I used a mix of corn, peas and carrot)
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 2 white potatoes, skinned, cubed, deep fried and seasoned with salt. (I feel that white potatoes are firmer than russet potatoes so when deep fried, they don’t mush up as easily.)
- a few sprigs of cilantro (for garnish only)

Marinate for beef:
- 1/4 pc beef stock, broken into small pieces and mixed with beef (this can be replaced with 1/2 tsp salt)
- a few dashes of black pepper (quantity is up to your own preference)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (oyster sauce makes this a Chinese recipe. :p)
- 1 tbsp rice wine (optional, can also use any other type of cooking wine)
- 2 tsp corn flour (add to marinated beef last, so that the beef can be marinated with the rest of the seasoning first, before the corn flour is used to “seal in” everything.)

Cooking Method:
1. Heat up 2 tbsp oil then stir fry minced garlic until fragrant.

2. Add marinated cubed beef and stir fry until half-cooked. Set aside. If baby cries, turn off stove, and check on baby. Carry baby for a while if required and ask baby for permission for mommy to finish cooking.

3. Add onions and frozen vegetables and stir fry until the onions reach the desired softness. If baby fusses, just let him fuss a bit more or else you will never ever finish cooking.

4. Return beef to wok and mix well. Add oyster sauce to taste.

5. Add fried potatoes and mix well. Garnish with cilantro. Check on baby and oh thank goodness! He is sleeping :)

Cook’s Notes:
- Beef need not be marinated overnight. Just before cooking will do.

- Oil needs to be very hot for frying potatoes else potatoes will end up soggy.

Conclusion:
Fried potatoes with beef cubes - an easy Chinese recipe only when the baby is sleeping.

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Tag:Beef, beef rendang recipe, easy nonya recipe, lemongrass, weekend herb blogging

I named this post “Beef Rendang - Round One” because I would like to make it again. I believe “Beef Rendang” means “Spicy Beef Stew” - whereby cubed beef is cooked in thick coconut milk and aromatic spices.

The good bites:
1. The end result for my Beef Rendang looks like my Dried Chicken Curry, doesn’t it? It did not look quite like the type you find in restaurants and I think the reason is because I used yellow curry powder instead of red curry powder.

2. I probably also need to cook it in the wok a bit longer so that the gravy will dry out. When I had leftovers the next day and heated the Beef Rendang in an oven at 450degF for 10 minutes then put it on broil for another 5 minutes, the meat browned a bit more (see picture below) . There was no sacrifice in taste in the leftovers. In fact, I felt they tasted even better!

The better bites:
1. The texture of the gravy was great! In fact, this time I had spent more time pounding the ingredients to make the paste and the efforts paid off. I really need to polish up my pounding and grinding technique and to have the patience to pound and grind small amounts of ingredients instead of throwing them all into the mortar because that will cause the ingredients to (a) “fly out of the mortar” and (b) be cushioned by themselves in a soft bed.

2. I would rate the spiciness level of this Beef Rendang Recipe as medium intensity (my spiciness threshold is only average). This Beef Rendang goes very well with plain white rice and a simple vegetable dish.

3. Compared to the similar Dried Chicken Curry recipe, the difference here was the additional ingredients that were pounded and ground into a paste: lemongrass and galangal. This gave the Beef Rendang gravy its slightly rough texture.

The best bites:

1. I can use this recipe to take part in this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by the founder (woohoo!) of Weekend Herb Blogging, Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. :)
This is the third time I am using lemongrass as the herb for submission I hope that is a-ok (they came in bundles of 4-5 stalks you see).

2. Lemongrass has many benefits. It is a good cleanser that helps to detoxify the liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and the digestive tract. As it is able to reduce uric acid, cholesterol, excess fats and other toxins in the body while stimulating digestion, blood circulation, and lactation; it helps alleviate indigestion. Would you believe that lemongrass is also known to improve the skin by reducing acne and pimples and acts as a muscle and tissue toner? Eat that!

Here is the Beef Rendang Recipe:

Ingredients (Serves 3):

- 1 lb beef, cut into approximately 1.5″ cubes (I added a few dashes of meat tenderizer too)
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 inch cinnamon bark
- 3 cardamom
- 3 pcs kaffir lime leaves (I used lime peel)
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 pcs tamarind skin (I used 1 tsp of tamarind paste)

Paste Ingredients:

- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 8 dried chillies, pre-soaked in warm water
- 3 slices galangal, cut into smaller pieces
- 2 stalks lemongrass, remove tough outer layer and use only the whitish part
- 3 cloves large shallots

Cooking Method:

1. Mince paste ingredients in an electric blender then pound them in small portions until they become a paste.

2. Heat up oil and fry the cinnamon bark, cardamom, paste ingredients and kaffir lime leaves until fragrant. Use medium heat and add more oil if necessary so that the paste ingredients will not burn.

3. Add in beef, coconut milk, curry powder, salt and tamarind skin and cook until the gravy thickens.

4. Serve with plain white rice.

Cook’s Note:

If you find the gravy too spicy, then add some sugar and mix well. I find that sugar reduces the spiciness of a dish.

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Tag:Beef, easy chinese cooking, easy chinese recipe, stir fry

This is an easy Chinese recipe for anyone who wants to dish out a quick Chinese stir-fry at the end of a hectic day (as if my day was so hectic I needed this) :)

The real reason why I had cooked this was because my fresh rice noodles had gone bad, so I could not make Beef Hor Fun. Now let’s see… the last time I used half that packet of 2 lb rice noodles for my Char Kway Teow was… OMG! it was the beginning of this month! No wonder!

I should have either used all of it that time or put the remainder in the freezer. I have since learnt my lesson.

Anyways, since I already bought my beef flank steak (about 0.8lb for $5.87), I quickly rummaged through my refrigerator and pantry to see what I could use to dish out something from that chunk of beef.

Thankfully, I had these:

Ingredients (Serves 3-4):

- 0.8 - 1 lb beef flank steak (cut across the grain into thin slices)
- 3 slices ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 3 stalks spring onion, cut into 1.5″ lengths, diagonally (they look nicer when cut diagonally)
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 cup corn starch solution (made from 1/2 tsp corn starch dissolved in cool water)

Seasoning for beef:
- 1/2 tsp salt (not so much salt here because you are going to add oyster sauce during the stir fry process)
- a few dashes white pepper
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- 2 tsp Chinese cooking wine (I used rice wine)

Cooking Method:

1. Mix beef with seasoning ingredients. Set aside for 15-30 mins.

2. Heat up 2 tbsp vegetable oil in wok. Medium heat. When oil is hot enough, add sliced ginger and garlic and stir fry until lightly browned and fragrant.

3. Add beef to wok and stir fry well until color of beef changes. Add spring onions and oyster sauce. Mix well.

4. Add corn starch solution a little at a time until desired gravy thickness.

5. Serve with plain white rice.

Cook’s Tips:

1. In order to get thin slices, you can freeze the fresh beef for about 30 mins in the freezer before cutting; or if taken out from the freezer, let it defrost for about 5 hours in the fridge then take it out to cut.

2. For leftovers, I reheated the beef in the oven (broil at 450F) until they turned slightly more brown. Then I served them with dry Instant Noodles and Dodo Fishballs, topped with spring onions. Delicious.

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Tag:Beef, beef satay, easy asian recipe, easy chinese recipe, prima taste premix

I have been cheating and not cooking everything from raw ingredients because:

1) It’s quite tedious to make sauces and gravy from scratch (excuse)
2) Too many plates and utensils to wash after that (lazy)
3) I don’t have the proper kitchen utensils like Mortar and Pestle (Ikea is quite far), KitchenAid Mixer / Blender (expensive)
4) I don’t know how to (truth).

But I am no doubt learning more each day, especially from all the experienced cooks out there in blogosphere who have posted so many recipes of food I am familiar with and I would love to try them out.

This beef satay was done with the help of the Prima Taste Satay Premix. Satay is somewhat like a meat kebab, Asian style. My favorite Satay stall in Singapore is FatMan Satay in Lau Pa Sat. The beef is juicy and tender, the gravy is spicy and full of peanuts pieces. The difference between grilling satay over a charcoal grill versus grilling them over a stovetop is great. The charcoal taste and smell is just something that you cannot get over a stovetop.

The Prima Taste Satay Premix comes with
- 1 packet of Satay Prima Marinate,
- 1 packet of Satay Prima Basting Oil and
- 1 packet of Satay Prima Sauce.

The Satay Prima Sauce tasted a bit wimpy. It was a bit sour and did not have any chunky peanut bits. Hence I went with the Spicy Satay Sauce, Glory brand, as recommended by Tigerfish.

Ingredients (Makes 18 sticks of satay, Serves 3):

- 1 lb Top Sirloin Steak
- Prima Taste Satay Premix
- Glory brand Spicy Satay Sauce

A. Preparation of Satay meat:

1. Cut beef into thin slices. (Tip: If you find the sirloin steak too difficult to slice, put it into the freezer for about half and hour for it to harden a little.)

2. Mix cut beef with Satay Prima Marinate. Leave in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

3. Thread meat on satay sticks or skewers. (Note: My skewers were a bit long, so my satay “thread” is longer than usual. The recommended amount of meat to use for the Premix was 310g, which is about 0.7lb or 104 oz. This means I actually had too much meat for the Premix.)

B. To cook Satay meat:

1. Brush Satay meat with Satay Prima Basting Oil. (Prima Taste recommends using a stalk of lemon grass to brush satay meat. Simply use a knife to divide the end of the stalk into sections to turn it into a brush.)

2. Grill Satay meat until cooked. (My Ikea grill pan was the only pan big enough to hold the full length of my skewers without needing to cut the skewers.)

C: To cook Satay Gravy:

1. Pour Satay Prima Sauce into a pot and heat for 1 min on medium heat.

2. To keep warm, leave on low heat.

If using Glory brand Spicy Satay Sauce, scoop as much Sauce as you want into a microwavable bowl and heat in microwave.

D. To serve:

1. Cut cucumber, red onions and ketupat (compressed rice).

2. Serve Satay with gravy.

Cooking Notes:

1. The beef sirloin steak meat was a bit too lean. Satay always taste best with some fats cos the flavor is in the fats. If possible, buy beef that has 20% fats.

2. If grilling Satay to be eaten later, use a convection oven to heat up, rather than a microwave oven. There is something about microwaves which makes the meat chewy. J said the Satay tasted a bit chewy after microwaving, but when I had leftovers for lunch the next day, I removed the beef off the skewers, poured some Glory Spicy Satay Sauce over the meat and heated it at 450 degreeF in a convection oven. It tasted great! That could also be because there was some oil on the Satay Sauce.

3. For indoor cooking, best to use a grill pan, and not broil the satay in an oven, as I had done for my first Satay attempt. It’s important to have some burnt bits on the Satay. Those are the yummy bits.

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Tag:Beef, fajita, McCormick Seasoning

This Thanksgiving, I am going to run away from all the turkey-related programs from Food Network. Turkey, pumpkin, turkey, pumpkin. Thank god for the long Thanksgiving weekend. I am preparing my tastebuds for Mexico!

What’s needed is a packet of McCormick Fajitas Seasoning, a packet Kraft Mexican Style Four-Cheese Mix (consisting of finely shredded reduced fat Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby and Mozzarella Cheeses with added calcium) and a packet of Mission White Corn Tortillas, beef strips, onion and peppers.

First season the pre-cut beef strips with salt, pepper, 2 tsp of McCormick Fajitas Seasoning and cornflour. (The cornflour is supposed to seal in the beef juice during the stir fry.) Slice up a quarter of a large white onion, (you can use yellow onion if you want to) and measure out 2 cups of pre-cut frozen red, yellow, green peppers.

When the oil in the wok is hot enough, stir fry the beef until their color changes. Set them aside and stir fry the onions and peppers.

When they are almost done, add the beef back to the wok and give them a good mix.

Lay out the tortillas on a plate and put some shredded cheese on top.

Then top that with the stir fried beef strips, peppers and onion mix.

Roll up the tortillas and place them on top of a grill. I used my George Foreman Grill, which is quite amazing because it heats up very quickly on both of the grill plates.

Because I needed to press down the grill plates to prevent the fajitas from unrolling, I ended up with FLAT FAJITAS.

The McCormick Fajitas Seasoning really gave the Fajitas a kick. Two thumbs up for that!

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