easy and quick cashew chicken stir fry and a trip to china town

Photo for "Less is More" Photography Exercise 

When we were kids, on Sunday after breakfast mom's kitchen was closed, and that was one day in the week she usually didn't cook. Sundays meant church, grocery shopping or trips to the zoo or the park, all of us watching the Mahabharata or Tipu Sultan on Door Darshan ( ah! those days before cable!) and the highlight being when dad would take us to our favourite neighbourhood eat out. Most often these were small hole in the wall kinds of places which I have learnt have some of the best food! Annapurna for crispy Dosas, the Shawarma stand at a nearby park, Moti Mahal for their yum butter chicken or to Golden Dragon, our neighbourhood Chinese restaurant where the food was in no way authentic to China but modified and spiced up to suit local tastes which is why I will only call it Asian inspired or Indo-Chinese.

Now that we live in the San Francisco Bay Area,  I have the opportunity to taste and discover many kinds of cuisines and sample unusual dishes and ingredients - from fresh tofu straight from the bamboo molds to funky fermented things. But even today when I crave Chinese food what I usually mean is the familiar, Indo-Chinese dishes like sweet and sour pork,  chilly chicken, gobi manchurian etc. that I grew up eating.

So when I recently wandered around the colourful and bustling San Francisco China Town where I guess I will taste the most authentic versions of Chinese Cuisine without actually taking a flight to China, I found the food ( apart from the dim sums which I LOVE) to be bland to my taste buds accustomed to the heavy dose of garlic and ginger and assaulted with spices. Although I am beginning to appreciate more subtleties and nuances in flavour, more often I like my flavours really bold!

Visiting China Town:
Walk! It's impossible to find parking here. Plus it's great to wander around and soak in the ambiance and especially interesting to visit during parades and festivals- though ofcourse would be much more crowded then.
My little one loved the stone lions outside the Chinese Benevolent Association building.
For knick knacks and props : The Far East Flea Market 
and The Wok Shop for cast iron woks and other kitchen utensils
Keep an eye out for street art by the UK artist Banksy 

I love going to China Town to pick up unusual ingredients and inexpensive little props for the blog. It's good to carry cash as some stores don't take cards.
It's also great fun to walk through the busy market and see weird things like dried sea urchin that I someday hope to find a way to use in my cooking! There are also lots of familiar things too, like this dried shrimp that made my Mallu mouth water.

China Town has very unique bakeries with impossibly fluffy sponge cakes and filled steamed cakes, and these cute shaped breads, that I spotted while I was traipsing down the busy markets, camera in one hand and my delicious bubble tea in the other. That was a good day!



When I got back home I was craving some of the kind of spicy Asian inspired stir frys that for me ( An Indian in the US)  is quintessential Chinese food. I am very curious to hear suggestions for authentic and unique Chinese food I should try next time in China Town.

I usually make stir frys in my cast iron skillet to give the chicken a nice sear and a better alternative to deep frying. Garlic powder gives it that restaurant type taste, though I often add a lot of fresh garlic as well, being a household of garlic lovers! I toss in what ever vegetables I have on hand- broccoli, mushroom, peas, even a bag of frozen mixed veggies. That day it was bell peppers and onions and a handful of cashews for crunch!  It may not be authentic, but it sure tastes good!

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nutella swirl steamed cupcakes in 15 minutes

This is what I made for World Nutella Day yesterday. I've been excited about it for weeks. Sooo many ideas for nutella oozing desserts to make kept buzzing around my brain. I have been happily digging into my jar of nutella all week in anticipation. Finally I was jolted out of my daydreams to realize that I had better make something or it would be too late to post even by today. It was quite late in the evening and the sun had already set so the pics were going to be quite terrible to begin with. I reached into the cabinet for that little jar to see that we were nearly out. Of nutella. There was probably a few tablespoons left in the jar. Great, just great. I had to make a nutella dessert for world nutella day  with a couple of tablespoons of nutella.

That's when I chanced upon a recipe for these steamed cakes. I loved that the recipe calls for very little amounts of ingredients so that it yields only 4 cup cakes- perfect for my current obsession for portion control and small batch baking. And all I had to do was swirl a spoonful of nutella into the batter to make a perfectly delicious nutella dessert. They take about 15 mins to make, use basic ingredients and all you need is a saucepan or skillet with a lid and a stove. No oven required. But best of all is the texture! oh the texture!- its  moist but not dense, fluffy and airy without being dry! I did find the basic cake to be a little less sweeter than I like but that spoonful of nutella will take care of that :)

This is a nutella-tised version of Mushi-pan a Japanese steamed cake. Steaming is a common alternative for baking in Asian cuisine. In Kerala we have a variety of steamed rice flour appams as part of our traditional cuisine. A lot of western style sponge cakes are also made in steamer baskets or pressure cookers in Asia because not many people have ovens. Growing up some of my birthday cakes were cooker cakes since most ovens in India run on electricity and we are plagued by frequent power cuts and voltage problems. Even during my last visit to India in December I had rotten luck with the power cuts seemingly scheduled for the exact moment that I put a pan full of batter into the oven!
Brands like Pillsbury even make cake mixes especially meant for pressure cookers in India and those were some of the first cakes I made, often for roommates birthdays when we had a stove but not even our dinky little toaster oven yet.
These little cakes brought back a lot of memories of those birthdays and they are quick and easy enough that I will be making them in other variations soon. Stay tuned.

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Easy & Quick Bourbon Chicken

Bourbon chicken is a flavorful chicken dish named after Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana and for the bourbon whiskey ingredient. The dish is commonly found at Cajun, Chinese, and American BBQ themed restaurants.

The recipe includes soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and bourbon in the base, and the chicken is marinated in this sauce. - Wikipedia 


Almost all Chinese take out menus and those at the mall food courts feature some version of this chicken in a dark sweet/sour sauce served over mounds of steaming white rice. I found this recipe while looking for something to whip up quickly for dinner one night and was intrigued by the more than 2000 reviews it had received over at recipezaar. It may not be athentic, but so many people thought it was great- fast to whip up and delicious, and I do too!


Bourbon Chicken
Recipe source: LinMarie on recipezaar now Food.com from here


Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or tenderloin, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic pod , crushed ( I used garlic paste)
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger ( I used ginger paste)
• 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup apple juice ( I used store bought prune juice, others have used orange)
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar ( I used regular sugar)
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp to 1/4 cup Bourbon whiskey ( Optional) 

Method

• Heat oil in a large skillet.
• Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
• Remove chicken.
• Add remaining ingredients, mix well over medium heat until everything is dissolved and well combined.
• Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
• If you like the sauce to be thicker, you can add 1 tsp of cornflour diluted in about 1/4 cup water while boiling and mix well. 
• Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.
• Serve over rice and with steamed vegetables.

Verdict: 

Ease:  * * * * *

Taste: * * * * *

It's all done in about half an hour and is so easy to prepare but tastes like you have slaved for hours. Was an instant hit and will definitely be made very frequently.
Thanks Anonymous commentators, have included your suggestions and will try them next time I make this! Do leave your names so I can thank you by name :) 

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Sweet and Sour Pork with Vegetables- Smoky & delightful

I have been waiting to post this delicious recipe for an awesome sweet and sour pork that a friend sent me long ago. I played around with it quite a lot adding and subtracting until it was exactly how I liked it and so it is very different than it was originally but thanks V for bringing this to me. It is typically Asian with the soy sauce and ginger-garlic-chilly flavour combination. The smoky taste of pork elevates this dish to truly astonishing heights. I have also used this sauce base to make sweet and sour vegetables and sweet and sour chicken as well.

Sweet and sour pork with vegetables
Recipe source: My friend, the teller of stories-V

Ingredients

• Pork- ½ Pound (cut into cubes)
• Vegetables – 1 can or 1/2 packet frozen mixed veggies like broccoli, peas, carrot, beans etc.
• 1 pod garlic- slice thin
• 2-3 Green chillies ( I like the really small, extra spicy thai variety) 
• 1 tsp ginger (minced or use ginger paste)
• Cooking oil – 3 tbsp
• For the pork marinade:
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)

For the sweet sauce:

• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup water or chicken stock
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp corn starch 

Method

• Mix ingredients for marinade in a bowl. Add the pork and rub until fully covered.Keep in the fridge for 20 mins or overnight to marinate.
• Take the cooking oil in a wok. Fry the marinated pork well until browned on all sides and the flesh is flaky and not pink. Take out and drain the excess oil. Keep the wok aside but do not wash away the glorious pork juices, we'll use this in a bit.
• Take all the ingredients for sauce in a bowl and mix well till the sugar dissolves and everything is well combined. Keep aside.
• Take the wok you used to fry the pork . Add 1 tbsp of oil. Fry the garlic, and ginger until the raw smell is gone. Now add green chillies and fry on low for a few mins until cooked. Be careful that they don't burn or you and everyone in your house will have a coughing fit!
• Add the can of vegetables and stir fry for 2 minutes or if using frozen vegetables cook as per packet instructions.
• Make some space like a well in the center of the vegetables and add in the sauce. Stir till bubbles appear as the sauce boils.
• Add the fried pork and mix well. Stir till all vegetables and pork is well coated with the sauce.
• If the sauce is a little thin and you want to thicken it, mix the corn flour with about 3-4 tbsp s of water and pour it into the sauce. Mix and let it simmer until it has thickened.
• Serve hot with plain or fried rice.

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How to cook rice

There is nothing more appealing than a bowl of fluffy, perfectly cooked, steaming hot rice. 
Although I love tasting food from around the world, comfort food to me is a bowl of rice and dal. 
From a lot of trial and error, I think I have learnt how to cook rice perfectly.
The secret to cooking perfect rice i found is to wash it 4-5 times before cooking to ensure that all the sticky starch has been removed. You should also soak it after washing for about 30 mins to ensure it comes out just perfect. I use a pressure cooker & put a little more than double the amount of water per cup of rice.You can also use a pan with a tightly fitting lid. I wait exactly until the first whistle ( about 10-20 mins) after which I quickly run the pressure cooker under cold water  to release the steam ( this step is of course unnecessary if you are not using a pressure cooker) & immediately strain the rice so that it doesn't get overcooked. If you leave the rice in the hot water in the pot you run the risk of it continuing to cook and turn mushy.


 However, accidents do happen. If they must, you could use some of the following little tricks that I found here and have used to rescue my rice, sadly a few more times than I would like to admit. 
 
 Problem: The rice is still very chewy or hard in the middle. 
Solution: Add just enough water to create a little steam, 1/4 cup or less. Put the lid on and cook the rice on very low heat for another 5 minutes. 

 Problem: The grains are split and the rice is mushy because of over cooking. 
Solution: This is the worst problem because you can't really fix over cooked rice. You could wash the sticky rice under cold water. That helps a little, but the best way to use it up would be to make rice pudding with it, 


 Problem: The bottom layer of rice has burned. 
Solution: Run cold water over the outside of the pot's bottom to stop it from continuing to cook, and preventing the burnt flavor from permeating the rest of the rice (don't add water to the rice itself).Tip out as much rice as you can salvage. Be careful not to mix the burnt part at the bottom with the rest of the rice.


 Rice is usually eaten with curries. It is also often flavoured and cooked with ingredients as in fried rice, biryani etc.

South Indians have an interesting variety of rice dishes like curd rice, mint rice, coconut rice, spinach rice, tomato rice, sambhar rice, tamrind rice and my favourite, the tangy Lemon Rice.

Lemon Rice
Ingredients: 
2 cups cooked rice 
2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil 
1 tsp mustard seeds 
3-4 curry leaves 4 green chillies slit lengthwise 4 dry red chillies 
1 tsp ginger paste or grated ginger 
1/2 cup peanuts (roasted and unsalted) 
1 tsp turmeric powder 
Juice of 2 lemons 
Salt to taste 


Preparation: Add salt and lemon juice to the cooked rice and mix well so that it is spread evenly. Keep aside Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry till the spluttering stops Add the ginger and peanuts. Fry for another minute. Add the turmeric powder and red chillies and stir. Turn off the fire. Add the rice and mix well so that it takes on the bright yellow colour from the turmeric. Can be eaten plain, with pickle or served with a raita ( Yogurt mixed with a little salt, finely chopped onion, cucumber or tomatoes)

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Banana- Breakfast & Dessert

South Indians especially the Malayalis can do amazing things with bananas. Almost every part of the tree, including the flower and the spongy bark is used in cooking.The leaves are used to serve food in. The fruit of course is enjoyed on it's own or cooked in various ways, some of which I've featured here. The following are popular desserts as well as eaten for breakfast or as a snack.


Caramelized Banana 


Ingredients

• 1 Ripe Plantain (Nendrapazham)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Cup water

Method:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon sugar in a saucepan until it melts and turns brown.
2. Add the peeled and sliced banana and 1 cup water per banana.
3. Boil till soft.

Serve hot/cold with custard. Good over pancakes. 


Buttered & Sugared Banana Ingredients

• 2-3 bananas
• 4-6 tablespoons sugar (or more)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Method

1. Slice bananas into thick coins or lengthwise strips, depending on your preference.
2. Pour sugar onto a plate. Roll bananas in sugar, until completely coated.
3. Heat butter in a non stick pan over medium high heat. Add bananas and sugar.
4. Cook bananas until light to golden brown underneath, about 4-5 minutes (you can lift with a spatula to peak). Be careful not to overcook or burn them (if you smell them browning, or see color in the pan, flip them right away).
5. Gently flip bananas over to brown other side, turning heat down to medium. The second side will brown in about one minute.
6. Transfer to a plate that has been coated with cooking spray (otherwise they may stick) and serve. Alternately, slide them right onto your ice cream or breakfast food.
7. Soak pan in hot water to facilitate cleaning.

Pazham Puzangithu 


Boil an unpeeled and sliced banana with 1 cup water, 1/4 th cup sugar and a clove, until the banana is cooked and the water combines with the sugar to form a syrup. Good with breakfast items like puttu, upma etc. 


Pazham Chuttathu ( Roasted banana)

1. Take a ripe nendrapazham and place it on a pan ( preferably a hardy non stick one since this gets a little messy)
2. Cover the pan with a lid and turn on the flame to allow the banana to roast until the skin turns black.
3. Turn over until all sides are evenly cooked and the skin is flaky black.
4. Serve plain, or with a little sprinkled sugar and a pat of butter or warm with chilled custard.

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