Black Bean Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry

I never really understood "stir-fry" in Chinese cuisine until I moved to Canada. It is such a widely used term for anything that is "stirred" while cooking. To me, "stir-fry" is more akin to chop suey, which is really anything that you have in the fridge that'll taste good when mixed together.

So, as you browse through my recipes, you may find "stir-fry" dishes popping up several different times. They are not the same recipe that has a variant, but rather they are what I had on hand, tasted amazing, and I wanted to share with you.

This kind of cooking is definitely home-style. They are the easiest dishes to cook, and also the fastest.

Tonight, as I browsed through my fridge and wondered what I would make, kai-lan (pronounced gai-laan) leaves which I had washed and set aside from last night's dinner (I only used the stems last night), and napa cabbage found its way into my hands. I had a packet of ground beef and some mushrooms left over from last night. As I put these things together, my recipe was beginning to form in my head. Below is the result and the photo above is how it looked.

Enjoy!


Black Bean Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 lb Kai-lan leaves, 1" slices
8 leaves Napa cabbage, 1" slices
2 TBSP water
4 mushrooms, cut into 1/8's

1/2 extra large onion, largely diced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 stalks green onion, sliced roughly
1/2" grated ginger (optional)

1 TBSP black bean sauce

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1. Mix well ground beef together with the next four ingredients, let sit 15-20 minutes
2. Heat a wok until very hot, add vegetable oil until smoking
3. Add beef and fry until cooked through, add the onions, garlic, and ginger (if using). Cook until the onions are semi cooked. Add black bean sauce and mix very well
4. Add the kai-lan and napa cabbage, mix together well (add a little water if needed). Cover and cook for about 3, uncover and stir well - if cabbage and kai-lan is not cooked*, cover and cook for another 2 minutes
*You do not want to over cook the vegetables
5. Add the mushrooms, stir well and serve almost immediately

Serve with steamed rice

Easy Chocolate Cake Cookies

This is one of the easiest cookie recipes I have ever come across. It's semi-homemade and fast. I had these done in about 45-mins from start to finish.

The cookies are very chewy and incredibly moist. You can get creative and try this out with other flavours of cake mix.

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil

Heat oven to 350*F

1. Beat everything together, I did it with a wooden spoon as it'll come together into a ball. This will be the longest step as you have to ensure that everything mixes in well together. At the end of combining everything, I "kneaded" the dough just to bring it together. It will be a beautiful and shiny colour when it's well combined.

2. Roll dough into 1" balls and set on a plate or board

3. Before placing onto a cookie sheet, roll each ball into white sugar to well-coat

4. Place on a cookie sheet, and using a fork, press down very slightly

5. Bake for about 8-10 minutes (I baked for 10 minutes and they were perfect)

6. Once cooked, let sit for about 1 minute then transfer to a cooling rack

This recipe will make approx 3 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Chinese Fried Chicken

This is my sister, Hetty's recipe and dish. While others in Hong Kong may make something similar, I will almost guarantee you that none are as good as hers. Yep, I'm pretty darn proud of my sister, who really taught me how to cook... starting with a scrambled egg all those many years ago in our tiny kitchen in our flat (apartment) in Hong Kong.

We never had a name for this dish, we just called it "Hetty's Chicken", but over the past couple of years since first making it, my husband says we should call it "Eurasian Fried Chicken". I kinda like that... What do you think?

This dish is really SO super simple to make. My best hint is to allow it to marinade for a fair few hours, even overnight so the flavours really penetrate the chicken and becomes a flavour explosion in your mouth. The flavour really is very unique and when you eat with a keen mind, you will be able to detect all the flavours.

So fast and easy is this dish that I'll usually make the marinade in the evening in a ziplock baggie, shake all the ingredients together so well combined, then add the chicken. Every few hours, I'll go and "massage" the chicken in the baggie and then let it sit longer. The next day, I just pop the chicken out; and cover then piece by piece in corn starch, then into the hot oil they go.

Once cooked, I let them drain for a few minutes on a cooling rack over a plate to let the excess oil drop out, then I cut them into strips. Oh-soh-good!!!




6 Chicken legs - de-boned but with skin on (or you can use without the skin on)
1 tsp Chicken powder (chicken buillion cubes crumbled)
¼ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Pepper
½ cup Soy Sauce (light or dark)
8 Cloves Garlic*
3-inch peeled Ginger*
2 TBSP Chinese Rice Cooking wine (optional)
Dash of oil
1 Pkt Cornflour (Corn Starch)
2 tsp sesame seed oil

1. Wash and dry chicken legs
2. In a gallon zip lock bag, add all seasonings except the corn flour. Mix well.
3. Add the chicken and marinate for an hour, or even better to keep it in the fridge over night. Turn the chicken legs from time to time.
4. Coat the chicken legs with corn starch before deep frying.
5. Heat oil - if you have bamboo chopsticks, dip the chopstick into the hot oil, if it has small bubbles sizzling around the tip of the chopstick, you know the oil is hot enough.
6. Add chicken - cook about 10 mins turn to other side and cook another 10 mins.

When cooked, sliced the chicken at a slight angle about 1-inch thick strips.

*I use a Magic Bullet blender and blend the garlic and ginger with about 2 TBSP of regular oil. It made a lovely runny sauce which, when added to the marinade, gives the chicken an awesome flavour!!!

If you've not got a Magic Bullet blender, you can try doing it in a food processor, regular blender, or even using a barmix wand.