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A Fast Stir-Fry for Chinese New Year

If you want a really fast dish, try this Chinese noodle and vegetable stir-fry. Once the cooking starts, you're done in five minutes. And you have the perfect dish to celebrate Chinese New Year, which begins February 19.   

What makes it so fast is fresh Chinese noodles. They cook in only two minutes. Gai lan, also known as Chinese broccoli, cooks very quickly too, remaining bright green and slightly crisp. The mushrooms are soaked and sliced well in advance.  And you can make the stir-fry sauce ahead of time, so there's no last-minute work. 

A tip: use light-colored Chinese soy sauce, which adds saltiness without darkening the ingredients. Look for the words "thin soy" on the label. Low-sodium soy sauce may sound "light," but it's not the same. 

STIR-FRIED GAI LAN WITH FRESH NOODLES

2 small dried shiitake mushrooms
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup mushroom soaking liquid
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons thin soy sauce 
1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
3 to 4 stalks gai lan, about 3 ounces
1 cup fresh Chinese noodles, about 4 ounces
1 tablespoon oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger root

Soak the shiitake mushrooms in water to cover generously until softened.  Drain, reserving 1/4 cup water.  Cut the mushrooms into thin slices and set aside.

Place the cornstarch in a small bowl.  Stir in a little of the mushroom liquid until smooth, then add the remainder of the mushroom liquid, the chicken broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil.  Set aside.

Cut the gai lan crosswise into 1-inch slices and set aside.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the noodles and stir. Boil 2 minutes, then drain and rinse with cold water. You can prepare them slightly in advance. 

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry 1 minute.  Add the gai lan and mushrooms and stir-fry 1 minute. Add the sauce mixture and cook until boiling and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

Add the noodles and toss until heated through and mixed with the vegetables, about 1 minute. Turn out onto a heated plate and serve at once.

Makes 1 main dish serving or 2 servings if accompanied by other dishes. 

Give Thanks for Peking Duck

It's turkey month, but when the Plum Tree Inn staged a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, there wasn't a turkey in sight.

The main course was just what you would expect from a Chinatown restaurant--Beijing (Peking) duck (above), followed by soup made from the duck bones.

Then came two-flavored shrimp, one version orange and spicy and the other translucent and delicate, then giant lion's head meatballs; sweet crispy beef, kon pao that combined shrimp, fish and scallops and asparagus covered with fat black mushrooms.

Oh yes, and minced chicken in lettuce cups (below) for a first course, nice if you're not a turkey fan.

Dessert was quintessentially Chinese, a hot clear soup with tiny dumplings lightly flavored with sesame and barely sweet--a much better dessert after a gluttonous feast than the usual pumpkin pie.

Plum Tree Inn, 913 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Tel: (213) 613-1819.

MINCED CHICKEN IN LETTUCE CUPS
From Elaine Ting, owner of Plum Tree Inn 

Plum Sauce:

3/4 (16-ounce) jar plum jam
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Chicken and Lettuce:

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves 
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 cup minced water chestnuts
2/3 cup minced green and red bell peppers
3 tablespoons minced onion
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
4 to 5 leaves of iceberg lettuce

To make the plum sauce, combine the jam, vinegar, brown sugar, dried onion, red pepper flakes, garlic and ginger in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To prepare the chicken, coat the chicken breasts evenly with the cornstarch and salt.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool, then mince. 

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok over high heat. Add the water chestnuts, peppers and minced onion and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add the chicken to the wok, then stir in the sugar, soy sauce and white pepper and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. 

Spoon the chicken mixture into the lettuce cups, adding some of the plum sauce.

Makes 4 to 5 servings.

 

A Stir-Fry with Tofu Noodles

There's nothing new about tofu shirataki. It's sold online and even in my neighborhood supermarket. But I never noticed it, or thought about using it, until my friend, Theresa Lin, started talking up its merits.

Theresa is a chef, cooking teacher and radio and TV show host. And I think she knows everything there is to know about Chinese cooking.

To find out more, I went to a dinner for which she had devised all sorts of tofu dishes and tried the noodles there.  And I was impressed.

Working with them myself, I was even more impressed. Unlike Italian pasta, tofu shirataki isn't delicate. You can cook it in advance, boil it vigorously, reheat it in the microwave and it never becomes soft and gummy. It's a blend of tofu and Japanese yam starch--konnyaku is the Japanese name--and this gives it stability. Traditional shirataki is just made from yam starch.

My market stocks the House Foods brand in both the fine noodles that I used and fettuccine.

Its tofu is made with American-grown soybeans and processed in Gardena, which makes it a local product, for me at least.

For my test, I reworked a recipe for Singapore kway teow that I developed years ago, changing the beef to chicken, altering the seasonings and substituting tofu shirataki for rice noodles.

The dish turned out very well. Light and fresh, it is easy to make and allows for advance preparation. That makes it perfect for warm summer days.

STIR-FRIED CHICKEN WITH  TOFU SHIRATAKI

3/4 pound boneless chicken thighs
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger root
1/2 teaspoon sugar
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/4 cup mushroom soaking liquid 
2 (8-ounce) packages tofu shirataki noodles
3 tablespoons oil
2 cups bean sprouts (about 4 ounces)
Salt
2 green onions, including tops, chopped

Cut the chicken into bite-size strips 1/3- to 1/2-inch thick.

Place the chicken in a bowl and add the soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sugar. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or longer.

Soak the shiitake in a bowl of water until soft, then drain, reserving the water, and cut into strips.

Combine the cornstarch, oyster sauce and mushroom soaking liquid in a small bowl and set aside. The recipe can be prepared in advance to this point.

When ready to cook, place the shirataki noodles in a colander, rinse with cold water and drain. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the noodles, return to a boil and boil 2 minutes. Drain well.

Heat a wok over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil and heat until very hot. Add the bean sprouts and stir-fry 2 minutes. Then add the shirataki noodles and cook 2 minutes, separating with a fork so as to mix in the bean sprouts. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Turn out onto a heated platter and keep hot.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the wok. Add the chicken and stir-fry until cooked, 4 to 5 minutes, depending on the heat. Add the mushroom strips and stir-fry 1 minute. Stir the reserved cornstarch mixture and add to the wok. Cook and stir until thickened, about 30 seconds. Turn the chicken out onto the noodles.  Sprinkle with the green onions.

Season to taste at the table with additional soy sauce or salt.

Makes 4 servings.