Egg Chow Mein

[zhemao]

This is an easy fried noodle dish that you might see in Chinese restaurants. It's a great way to use up leftover stir-fried vegetables or meat, but I'll give instructions on how to make a vegetarian version from scratch.

Ingredients:

• Eggs


• Noodles


• Cabbage


• Carrots


• Vegetable oil


• Sesame oil


• Soy sauce


• Garlic


• Green onions


• Salt


• Sugar

Directions:

Vegetables

Depending on how many servings you are making, you won't use all of the vegetables you cook in the final dish. You can make this in advance and eat it as a side with other dishes beforehand.

1. Quarter a head of cabbage. Set aside three quarters of it.


2. With the remaining quarter, chop off and discard the inner stalk.


3. Chop the cabbage into thin slices


4. Rinse the chopped cabbage in water, soak in cold water for 15-30 min, then drain and rinse again.


5. Peel a carrot and cut diagonally into thin slices.


6. Bring up a wok on high heat.


7. Add a spoonful of oil, then add the drained cabbage and carrot slices.


8. Stir-fry until the sizzling dies down and the cabbage has wilted.


9. Add a bit of water, salt, and sugar, then turn the heat to medium.


10. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes until the vegetables are nearly cooked.


11. Turn the heat back up to high and fully reduce the liquid.


12. Turn off the heat and move the vegetables to a container.

Eggs and Noodles

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the noodles. You don't have to cook the noodles all the way, just until they're soft and pliable.


2. Drain the noodles and then rinse under cold water. Set aside for now.


3. Beat two eggs


4. Put a non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Add a spoonful of oil and the egg.


5. Lightly scramble the egg. You don't have to get it into small chunks now, since you'll stir them some more into the noodles.


6. Lift out the egg, but leave the excess oil in the pan.


7. Finely chop a clove of garlic and some green onions.


8. Turn the heat back on and add a bit of sesame oil to the pan.


9. Stir fry the garlic and green onions in the sesame oil until they become fragrant.


10. Add the noodles into the pan and stir with chopsticks, lifting the noodles up and spinning them around so that the oil evenly coats the noodles.


11. Add a dash of soy sauce and stir until evenly coated.


12. Add the egg and some veggies. Stir until evenly distributed and all liquid has evaporated.


13. Turn off the heat and serve.

Assuming you made the vegetables beforehand, this dish doesn't take much time to prepare. It's perfect for breakfast or a quick lunch. The sesame oil, garlic, and scallions add a lot of extra savoriness and fragrance to the dish.

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Chicken and Mushroom Rice

[zhemao]

This is an adaptation of a traditional Cantonese recipe I made at the beginning of this week. It's a relatively easy but delicious one-pot rice cooker dish for when you're feeling lazy.

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs


• 2 cups white rice


• 1 carrot


• Dried shiitake mushrooms


• Soy sauce


• Rice wine


• Oyster sauce


• Five spice powder (optional)


• Black pepper


• Salt


• 2 scallion stems


• 1 clove garlic


• 2 slices of ginger


• Vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Rinse the chicken in warm water, then cut into bite-sized chunks


2. Place the chicken in a container and add soy sauce, rice wine, and a bit of oyster sauce


3. Sprinkle on some black pepper and (optionally) a bit of five-spice powder


4. Mix well, then let marinate in the fridge for 15-30 min as the rest of the ingredients are prepped


5. Thoroughly wash the rice, then let it soak in cold water for 30 min.


6. Wash a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms and then soak them in warm water for 30 min. to reconstitute them


7. Peel the carrot and chop into small cubes


8. Chop the scallion stems


9. Peel and finely chop the garlic.


10. Slice off two pieces of ginger and then mince them


11. After the mushrooms have finished soaking, take them out of the water and squeeze out the excess liquid. Reserve all of the liquid for later.


12. Remove and reserve the stems. Slice the caps into thin strips.


13. Thoroughly drain the soaked rice. You may want to use a mesh strainer.


14. Add a spoonful of oil to a non-stick pan and then turn the heat to medium high.


15. Add the scallions, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant


16. Add the carrots and stir for a bit


17. Push the carrots aside to expose part of the pan and then add the chicken


18. Stir until the chicken turns color


19. Add the mushrooms and stir some more


20. Add the rice and stir until everything is well mixed and the rice gets a bit toasted


21. Turn off the heat and transfer everything to the rice cooker


22. Measure out an equal amount of mushroom water to the volume of uncooked rice plus about half a cup extra. If there isn't enough, supplement with regular water. In the end, the water level should be just above the level of the rice. You want to use a bit less than you would for normal white rice, since you already soaked and partially cooked the rice. Plus, the chicken, carrots, and mushroom will release a bunch of water during cooking.


23. Add a tablespoon of salt and stir, then turn on the rice cooker.


24. You might want to open up the pot and give things a stir halfway through. Otherwise you might get a burnt bottom while the top remains mushy. Be careful not to burn yourself though, there will be a lot of steam.


25. Once the rice cooker is finished cooking, unplug it, stir the pot again, and then let it cool for about five minutes. This allows more of the moisture to evaporate and for the oil to solidify a bit. Otherwise, the rice will seem really wet or greasy.

And there you have it. The mushroom, chicken, and various sauces give the rice a very savory flavor. The good thing about this dish is that it can last for a few days. In fact, it probably tastes better the second day after it's been in the fridge overnight.

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