Origin of Stir Fries

Stir fry is a typical Cantonese cuisine. Canton has a mild climate all year round due to it's located on the southestern coast of China, where an abundant of fresh food is available in general. Therefore Cantonese cuisine emphasizes on preservation of freshness and natural flavors.

The main idea of stir fries is to put food into a preheated cookware at high temperture and cook quickly (by stiring). Each ingredient is added in a strategic manner so nothing is overcooked, and whenever necessary, each ingredient is cooked separately then mix together at the end.

Related recipes:

Stir fried meat with vegetable

Stir fried zucchini

Brown Rice instead of White Rice - part 2

It's tricky to cook a tasty brown rice. Many people even think there's no way for brown rice to taste good. After some research and testing, I finally find a simple way that works. The only drawback is that it has to be cooked in an oven. Rest assured, I'll continue to experiment and find a way that works on a stove top!

Part 1 - the trick:
In order to avoid a mushy result, the trick is to keep the rice thinly spread in the cooking container. You can use any cookware as long as it's oven safe. The larger the opening of the cookware, the more rice you may cook.

Very important! Do not stir, poke or disturb the rice while baking!

Part 2 - cooking:
1 cup brown rice, long grain
1 baking pan, in this case I use a 9" / 22 cm (diameter) baking pan
2 cups water

Preheat oven. Rinse rice until water runs clear. Mix rice and water in the baking pan. Bake it at 350°F (175°C) uncovered for 30 mins. Then cover it with aluminum foil and bake for another 30 mins. Serve!

Once cooled, may freeze rice for later use.

Brown Rice instead of White Rice - part 1

Background:
Rice is a staple food in Asia, and Asian diet is known to be healthy. However do you know that white rice has virtually no nutrient values? Just pay attention to how it can last almost forever when stored properly in a dry cool place, and no bugs even want to bother with it.

Having said that, I recently switched to eating brown rice. It wasn't easy for me since I ate white rice almost every day my entire life, but why would I want to put something in my body that even bugs are not interested, right?

Not only brown rice is much healthier than white rice. It's also more filling, so it's an added benefit for those who are trying to be slim. Futhermore, it's even more environmentally friendly!

10-Grain Rice 十穀米: Nutrient packed! Great for breakfast! - part 2

Above, from left to right:
Top row - brown rice, millet, buckwheat, wheat.
Bottom row - spelt, black sticky rice, foxnut, lotus seeds.

Please note if you have food intolerance or allergy with any of the ingredients listed below, don't use it and use substitute if you can. For example, lentil, wild rice, red cargo rice. The goal here is to eat more of the unrefined grains.

Part 1 - the grains:
1. 糙米 brown rice, long grain; Naturreis Langkorn; riz long complet - this is the unmilled/unpolished/unrefined version of white rice.
2. 小米 millet; Hirse; millet
3. 小麥 buckwheat; Buchweizen; sarrasin
4. 蕎麥 wheat or spelt; Weizen oder Dinkel; blé ou épeautre
5. 燕麥 oats; Hafer; avoines
6. 麥片 oatmeal/rolled oats; Haferflocken; flocon d'avoine - preferably steel cut oats.
7. 黑糯米 black glutinous/sticky rice; Schwarzer Klebreis; noir riz glutineux - often sold in Asian supermarkets.
8. 芡實 foxnut; Fuchsnuesse; euryale ferox - often sold in Asian supermarkets.
9. 蓮子 lotus seeds/nuts; Lotusnuesse; graine de lotus - often sold in Asian supermarkets.
10. 紅薏仁 Job's Tears; Hiobsträne; Larme-de-Job. It's refined version is sold as "pearl barley" in Asian supermarkets. The unrefined version appears reddish brown in color.

Ingredient names listed here are first shown in traditional Chinese, then English, German and French. Hopefully this will be helpful when shopping.

Part 2 - cooking:
Take a equal amount of each ingredient, for example 2 tbsp each, and note how much they measure up to when together in a container like a glass. Let's say 1 cup. Rinse the grains really well until water runs clearer. At least 4 or 5 rinsing. Then add 1 cup of water, since there's 1 cup of grains. Then soak for 4 hrs. Then add 1 1/2 more cup of water and cook in a rice cooker.

Option: May cook in a cooking pot instead. First on medium high to high. When the water starts boiling, turn down to low. Keep lid on and cook on low for 45 mins to 1 hr. If you're still new at making this, pay attention in case the water boils over or drys out.

Part 3 - eating:
Once it's done and cooled. Store in a plastic food storage box and refrigerate. If you use 2 tbsp of each grain, then you'll have enough for several days for one person.

In the morning, I scoop out an ice cream ball size of this (more if you want). Heat it up in a sauce pan with a little water for a few mins. Eat it plain, with milk, soy milk, fruits, cold cuts or an egg. Be creative! I don't use sugar for this recipe, because less sugar is better for health.

10-Grain Rice: Nutrient packed! Great for breakfast! - part 1

The story:
My friend in Hong Kong told me about this Chinese recipe. It's said that a Shaolin monk, age 103 but looks 60ish and still goes about like a young man, claims the secret is having a bowl of 10-grain porridge everyday. There're also many stories about how it helped cancer patients to achieve great recoveries and improve skin condition.

I know this sounds magical, but the fact is that whole grains (unrefined/unpolished) do have a very high nutrient value. Therefore I think it's no wonders that it provides such great benefits. We are what we eat!

Stir Fried Meat with Vegetable - a very basic Chinese style

for 3-4 people

Part 1 - the marinade:
300 g (0.7 lb) meat (beef, pork or chicken), thinly sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce
a pinch pepper powder
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil

Add soy sauce & pepper directly into the sliced meat in a bowl. Mix well, then add cornstarch. Mix well, then add sesame oil. Mix well again. Marinade for at least 20 mins.

Part 2 - the finishing sauce:
1 tsp-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Just enough water to dissolve the cornstarch

This is a very typical Cantonese Chinese way to finish a stir fried dish (pronounced as "mai xian" in Mandarin Chinese). It thickens the sauce, so the sauce sticks better to the food. Hence the food tastes more flavorful.

Part 3 - cooking:
1-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
1-2 tbsp cooking oil
4-6 tbsp water

Preheat a frying pan or a wok with oil. Then add garlic. Stir to keep garlic from burning. When the aroma of garlic starts coming up, add the marinaded meat and stir. When the meat is seared (the surface of the meat appears cooked), add some water for sauce. When the meat is cooked, add the finishing sauce.

This can be combined with many different vegetables to create different stir fried dishes (for example, the zucchini dish on the prevous post)!

The vegetable should be sliced and cooked separately in the same way as in part 3, with or without garlic, (for example, napa cabbage, Chinese cabbage, Shanghai pak choi) unless it can be cooked in a very short time (for example, snow peas, paprika, sprouts, tofu, oyster mushrooms). This is not to over cook the meat and toughen it. In this case, add the cooked meat sauce into the vegetable while cooking to increase its flavor!

Option: Before adding the meat into the pan, add a red chilli sliced, with or without seeds, for a spicy version!

Stir Fried Zucchini - a very easy Chinese dish

for 3-4 people

Part 1 - the what's:
1 zucchini (courgette), cut off both ends and discard
1-2 tbsp cooking oil

1/2-1 tsp salt

Part 2 - the how's:
Cut zucchini in half in the long way, then slice into approx 1-1.5cm (0.5") thick sections. Preheat a frying pan with oil in it. Add salt and stir to distribute it over the pan. Add zucchini and continue stirring. When most of the light part of zucchini turned somewhat transparent (similar to the effect of oil getting on a piece of paper), remove from heat and serve!