The Apartment Kitchen » chinese

Quick Wonton Soup

theapartmentkitchen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:50:36 +0000

I don’t (generally speaking) order a lot of take out. Ordering take out is sort of a special occasion for me. When I am too busy to cook, which is almost never, I have to admit it is fun to not only let someone else do the cooking for you, but bring it to your door as well.

Recent cravings for Chinese take out soup led me to this incredibly easy recipe. It may not be quite the same as your local take out joint, and it is certainly not traditional, but it was inspired by having several assorted cans of broth and not being sure what to do. I sort of “fortified” the broths with scallions, garlic, and ginger – and the mixture of the three broths was quite delicious and tasted fabulous with my standard wonton/dumpling filling. So, I’m calling it “Quick Wonton Soup”. Sure, it takes a little while to form the wontons, but the opening the can part couldn’t be easier.

Quick Wonton Soup

Served 4.

Leftover Potential: Reheats well, though the wontons can fall apart with excessive stirring and heating.

Wontons

1 package wonton wrappers (mine had about 50 wrappers)

1 lb ground pork

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch scallions, minced

1 Tbsp ginger, minced

3 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tsp oyster sauce

sriracha, as needed

1. Open the wonton wrappers and cover them with a damp paper towel. Prepare a small bowl of water.

2. In a large bowl, combine the pork, garlic, scallions, ginger, soy, vinegar, oyster sauce, and sriracha.

3. Use your finger to dampen two sides of a wonton wrapper. Fill it with about 1 Tbsp of filling (don’t overfill or your wontons will burst).

4. Fold the wonton in half, to that the side with water encases the filling. Press to seal. Repeat with remaining wontons and filling.

***This makes more wontons than my soup needed, I panfried the rest to eat as an appetizer. You can use your judgement about how wonton-y you want it.

Soup

1 Tbsp oil

2 bunches scallions, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp ginger, minced

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth

2 (14 oz) cans vegetable broth

1 (14 oz) can beef broth

prepared wontons

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the scallions, garlic, and ginger, and saute until aromatic. Stir in the pepper.

2. Add the broths, and bring the mixture to a simmer. When it has reached a simmer, add the wontons, and simmer until they are cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.

3. Serve warm.

***You could add more flavoring ingredients to the broth, or use your own broth, and let it simmer for a while to let flavors develop before adding the wontons to cook.

Mongolian Beef

theapartmentkitchen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:25:47 +0000

If you are a steak lover, if you are a Chinese (yes, take out!) lover, if you are lover of all things too easy and good to be true – you MUST make this dish.

Perhaps I’m coming off a little strong, but I had no idea this dish would turn out so incredibly good with such a minimal ingredient list and almost no time. This is how fast you can make this dish: I didn’t have air conditioning in my house over the weekend, so Matt and I took refuge in the basement, where it was at least 10 degrees cooler. Every time we emerged onto the main floor, we nearly passed out. He sliced the meat, I prepared the sauce, and we were back downstairs in less than 10 minutes, enjoying this awesomely simple meal.

Ok, I’ve gushed enough…just try it!

Mongolian Beef

Served 2.
Leftover Potential: Reheats well in the microwave, but even better re-stirfried!

1 1/2 lbs chuck eye, flank, or other thin, tender steak, thinly sliced
3-4 Tbsp cornstarch

2 Tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
1 bunch green onions, sliced into bite size pieces
1/2 cup chicken or beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Place the steak and cornstarch into a bowl, and toss to coat. Add more cornstarch as needed to completely coat.
2. Heat the oil in a large saute pan or wok, and add the garlic, ginger, and scallions. Saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add the steak to the pan, and stir fry until the meat is browned on the outside but still tender, about 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the broth, soy sauce, Worcestershire, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes to the pan. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let the mixture boil lightly to thicken, about 1-2 minutes. Serve with rice.

Chinese Stuffed Cabbage

theapartmentkitchen — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:07:24 +0000

I’m always talking about quick, easy meals. But even better than meals that are simple, only take one pot, or can be made with very few ingredients are make ahead meals. This meal is absolutely perfect for that. After I made a super quick all-in-one pot meal last week, I made a super quick dinner: stuffed cabbage which sat in the fridge in it’s baking dish, and a delicious sweet and sour sauce that were all ready and waiting when I got home from work the next day. I just poured the sauce over the cabbage and baked. When you’re pressed for time – this is totally a go-to dish…that still offers something a little different!

Chinese Stuffed Cabbage

Served 2.

Leftover Potential: Re-heat in the oven. Any leftover sauce keeps well under refrigeration and is a great multi-purpose dipping sauce!

Stuffed Cabbage

8 large cabbage leaves (gently pulled from the outer layers of a large cabbage)

1 pound ground pork

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp ginger, minced

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup brown rice, cooked

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Sriracha, to taste

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the cabbage leaves (sometimes it’s easier to do it 2 or so at a time) until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain from the water and let cool.

2. In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients to combine. Place a handful of filling inside of each cabbage leaf. Fold the sides in towards the center, and then roll the filling up so it is completely enclosed. Place the rolls into a baking dish. Set aside.

Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp fish sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp ginger, minced

2 tsp Sriracha

1 1/2 cups beef broth

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1. Mix all ingredients except the broth and cornstarch in a small pot over medium heat. Stir to make sure the sugar dissolves.

2. In a small bowl, mix the the cornstarch with 4 tbsp of the broth and mix to combine. Add the remaining broth to the heated sauce mixture. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture.

3. Bring the sauce to a boil, whisking constantly until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Remove from heat.

4. Ladle the sauce over the cabbage rolls. Wrap the dish in aluminum foil, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Uncover, spoon some sauce from the bottom of the dish over the rolls, and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes. Let cool and serve with sliced scallions!

Kung Pao Chicken

theapartmentkitchen — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:48:00 +0000

It snowed all day Sunday. Even though we got plowed at noon, my housemate still had to shovel at 5, and Matt and I had to shovel this morning. On a day that cold and snowy, nothing feels better than staying inside. And to keep warm, we spiced up the afternoon with some Kung Pao chicken. The perfect Sunday food – and the take-out drivers will thank you!

Kung Pao Chicken

Served 2.

Leftover Potential: Just as good if not better than the Chinese food that comes in a box. Made 2 meals after the initial dinner.

1 lb chicken, cut into bite size pieces

salt, as needed

pepper, as needed

flour, as needed

1 Tbsp oil

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/4 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp ginger, finely sliced

10 dried chilis, split, seeded, and cut in half

1/4 cup soy sauce

5 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup water, or as needed

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dip lightly in flour. Set aside.

2. In a large pan or a wok, heat the oil over medium heat.

3. Add the onions, and cook until translucent. Add the garlic. Stir fry for about a minute.

4. Add the mushrooms, bell pepper, scallions, ginger, and dried chilis and stir fry over medium heat.

5. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. Stir fry to create an even sauce. Add the chicken, and stir fry until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Add water as needed to thin sauce so as to coat the chicken.

6. Serve in warm bowls with rice.

Spicy Szechuan Chicken

theapartmentkitchen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:42:00 +0000

I’m a sucker for Chinese food..both classic and Americanized versions. There’s something especially comforting to me about the tastes and flavors. Plus, I love any excuse to make things spicy. Now, nothing will replace your combo of choice from your favorite Chinese restaurant, but it’s just as easy to make some in your own kitchen.

So if you’re feeling bold, try this recipe for a spicy chicken dish that will remind you of Sesame or General Tso’s chicken. It’s quick…it takes even less time than waiting for the order you’ve called in!

Spicy Szechuan Chicken

Served 3

Leftover Potential: reheats decently, but since it is fried it loses some of it’s original texture. Provided one meal after the initial dinner.

For the batter:

3 Tbsp all purpose flour

3 Tbsp corn starch

salt, as needed

pepper, as needed

2 eggs

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2″ cubes

oil, as needed for frying

1 onion, sliced

For the sauce:

1 Tbsp oil

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 Tbsp ginger, finely minced

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup crushed tomato

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

3 Tbsp water

cilantro, as needed, coarsely chopped

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the ingredients for the batter. If the batter is too thick, thin it out with some water.

2. Add the cubed chicken in the batter and toss to coat well.

3. Heat the oil to 375 degrees in a deep pan. If you don’t have a thermometer, use a piece of chicken as a tester. If it sinks, the oil is not hot enough, but if it rises easily to the surface, the oil is ready to use.

4. Fry the chicken in batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat the oil in large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir fry until aromatic.

6. Add the remaining ingredients except for the cornstarch, water, and cilantro. Mix to combine and bring to a simmer over medium high heat.

7. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and the water, and add to the sauce. Simmer until the sauce thickens.

8. Finish the sauce with the chopped cilantro, and add the chicken. Toss the chicken in the sauce to coat, and allow to simmer for a few minutes until heated through.

9. Serve in warm bowls with steamed rice and more cilantro on top.