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Stir-Fried Rice Cake

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A delicious and typical Shanghai dish made with chewy rice cakes stir fried together with vegetables and meat, although very popular during Chinese New Year it has been a daily and regular dish on our table.

If you never had this rice cake you are missing out…I can guarantee that once you try, it will be your favorite…

– What is Asian rice cake?

This is not your usual rice cake, the ones that you find in the cracker section of the supermarket…this are made of a mix of regular rice and glutinous rice flour.

The rice cake is opaque and hard when you buy them, and soften once cooked, and have a nice chewiness.

If you like chewy texture you will definitely love these little bites of rice loaded with the broth flavor and packed with lots of vegetables and meat such as pork or chicken.

– Where can I find rice cake?

These rice cake can be found in Asian market as they are very popular in Korean cuisine as well. They are usually in the refrigerator section. They come in various shape, as a stick, peanut shape of sliced.

– How can I cook rice cake?

First you need to soak the rice cake for a few minutes and separate them.  Drain the water and then boil in water. Many recipes skip the boiling part as they add the drained rice cake directly to the stir-fried. I prefer to boil first as give the final dish a less stick together…

– Ready to give this Asian rice cake a try?

Ingredients:

  • 300 g pork loin, cut into strips (or chicken if you prefer)
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2.2 lbs ( 1kg) rice cakes
  • 1 medium size napa cabagge, sliced
  • 4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water and sliced
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 4-5 green onion, cut into 1 inch length
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • ½ tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cooking wine
  • Ground white pepper and salt to taste

Method:

Slice the pork into strips and add the garlic, salt, pepper, corn starch and oil. Mix well and let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to half hour.

Rinse the rice cakes in water and let them soak for a few minutes, then drain.

Cut the napa cabbage into strips. Slice the soaked shiitake mushrooms and the green onion. Set everything aside.

In a small bowl, mix together soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, 2 tablespoons water, cooking wine, salt and pepper.

In a large pan pot boil water and place the rice cake until the all come to the surface. Drain well and set aside.

Preheat a wok or large skillet medium-high heat until very hot, add 1 tablespoon oil and sear the pork and browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.

On the same pan add the mushroom, sauté for a minute and then add the sliced onion, cabbage and green onion. Stir fry on high heat for a minute or so.

Add the browned pork back to the pan, the rice cakes and mix well, always scooping up from the bottom of the pan, avoiding the rice cake to stick on the bottom.  Add the mix sauce and mix well until all well combined.

Adjust for more salt or pepper as needed.

Serve immediately, hot.

– Care for more Asian dishes? Look at these recipes…

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Braised Sliced Pork Shoulder

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This is a variation of the typical Chinese braised pork belly recipe.  It is delicious and very simple, especially accompanied by rice and vegetables.

Honestly I was not planning in using sliced pork…I actually did not pay attention to the label when buying it…thinking that it was chunks of pork shoulder.  You can imagine my face when blanching the pork and found that it was all sliced…well, I did not let the cut of the pork intimidate me and went ahead to make what I was planning…at the end it was so tasty, each slice was exploding with flavor.

– Mistake turned to be a new finding…

Now I love cooking braised pork using sliced pork as turned out that cooks much faster and yes, infused with all the seasoning…so good!

– Let’s take a look at the recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1.25 lb pork shoulder sliced
  • 3-5 ginger, slices
  • 2-3 green onion
  • 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon Chinese 5 spices
  • ½ tablespoon cooking wine
  • 5 tablespoons soy sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon chili flakes (optional)

Method:

Blanch the sliced pork by bringing a pot of water to boil and blanching the pork for a couple of minutes. Remove the pork and rinse in cold water.

In a small bowl mix cooking wine with soy sauce, set aside.

Over low heat, add oil and sugar in the pan. Melt the sugar until lightly brown and bubbly. Add the mix of cooking wine and soy sauce. Add the Chinese 4 spice, ginger, onion, chili flakes (it desire) and the blanched pork.

Increase the heat to medium until boiling. Lower the heat and cook until the slices of pork are tender.

Serve with rice.

– Interested in more Asian dish?

Thank you for visiting Color Your Recipes…have a colorful week!



Pork with Dry Tofu

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This is a simple and easy dish, it is delicious especially paired with white rice…no need to mention that it makes a great lunch next day. Every time I make this dish, I end up having more than one bowl of rice. I used pork chop in this dish and the frozen French beans from Trader Joe’s. You can always use fresh beans or chicken if you do not care for pork. Just make sure that the beans are not over cooked.

Ingredients:

1 lb of pork chop, cut in thin strips
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 cup string bean, frozen of fresh
5-6 oz of dry tofu cut in strips
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Marinate the pork strips with garlic, ½ tablespoon of olive oil, cornstarch, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Let it sit for a few minutes.

In a wok, add the remaining ½ tablespoon olive oil, pan fry the pork strips. Make sure that the pork in thoroughly cooked.

Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan add the tofu strips and a couple of tablespoons of water, cook until the tofu is somehow soft.

Stir in the pre-cooked beans and cook for a minute or so, and add the pork. Add more salt and pepper to  taste. Serve hot with rice.

If you enjoy this pork strips with tofu, you might want to check on the Baked Tofu Salad.

Did you know that tofu is a product made from coagulation of soy milk? Similar to the production of cheese depending of the amount of water extracted tofu can be found in many different textures.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!



Pork Chop with Cranberry Rice

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This is a very easy and simple recipe to prepare pork chop. I usually grill the chops, but this time I decided to bake first and then pan fry. I served the pork chops with cranberry rice. It is a great combination of flavor…very fruity and colorful.

Pork Chop

Ingredients:

2~3 lb pork chop
6 garlic cloves, minced
½ tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup light soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon cooking wine
¼ cup lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Marinate the pork chops with all the above ingredients.

Let it set in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (preferably overnight).

Arrange the pork chops in an oven safe tray and bake for 40~45 minute at 350 F.

Remove the pork chops from the oven and place them in a fry pan over high heat just to brown, both side.

Cranberry Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup cranberries
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 small onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

In medium heat sauté the onion in the olive oil, add the cranberries until the cranberries are slightly soft. Add the rice pre-rinsed and drained, the salt and the ground cinnamon, mixing gently. Add the boiling water and reduce the heat until all the water is absorbed.

Did you know that cranberries like grapes contain large amount of polyphenols? Polyphenols have the ability to scavenge free radical, therefore are considered antioxidants. Cranberries have been recommended to prevent urinary tract infection due its tannins content.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!



Half and Half Meat Sauce

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I don’t know why I came up with this name…maybe because I used half ground beef and half ground pork…not very creative I must say…
Like many recipes of meatballs that I’ve seen, ground beef and ground pork are mixed together, so I thought why not for a pasta sauce? Well, turn out to be yummie, so here it is…and the amazing thing is that I made breakfast with the leftover, yes…breakfast…can you believe? Stay tune!

Ingredients:

1/3 lb ground lean beef
1/3 lb ground pork
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 small onion chopped
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
1 can Trader Joes tomato sauce
1 pinch ground allspice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a pan sautee the garlic and the onion with olive oil, add the ground meats. Let it brown.

Add the tomato sauce, thyme, oregano, allspice, salt and pepper.

Cook for approximately 20 minutes in low heat.

Serve over pasta.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!