Pork chow mein (4 syns on EE plan)

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 carrots – sliced into matchsticks
Handful of mushrooms – quartered
1 tin beansprouts (or, even better, fresh!)
2 bell peppers sliced
1 large onion
1-2 garlic cloves (I used garlic powder)
2 tsp sesame oil (4 syns)
2 tbsps honey (5 syns)
6 tbsps light soy sauce
3 tbsps oyster sauce (3 syns)
Protein (I used lean, boneless pork chops) sliced in to chunks

Method:

Mix honey, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and oyster sauce in a bowl (feel free to marinate your meat for 30-40 minutes, I didn’t, because I only decided what to cook as I was chopping my veggies!)

Cook protein until no pink remains, add carrots and onions – cook for a few minutes until veggies start to soften.  Add sauce mix and stir through.

Add the rest of veggies, stir and cook for 3-5 minutes while your noodles are cooking and until veggies start to soften.

I served mine with some thick egg-noodles (as I’d no thin/rice noodles in the pantry).  I cooked the noodles and tossed them through the meat/veggies coating them in sauce.  It didn’t taste like the chow mein you get in a Chinese restaurant, but it was a quick, easy and tasty dish that we all inhaled and was packed full of SF veggies.

It was yummy – and only 4 syns!

Serves: 2

Source: Ching-He Huang - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chickenchowmein_89258

Notes: Amoy’s ‘Straight to Wok Noodles’ didn’t work well with this recipe, cutting a corner by using them just isn’t worth the hassle. If you get Chicken Breasts with the skin on, you can fry it in the Seasame Oil first and use it as a crispy garnish when serving. If you don’t have any of the oils listed then just make do with what you have, but the Seasame is worth it. Ching-He Huang has her own show on the Good Food channel which is well worth watching for simple Chinese cooking.

• 150g/5 oz Dried Yellow Shi wheat flour noodles, or Medium Egg noodles
• Dash of toasted Sesame Oil
• 300g/11 oz Skinless Chicken breast fillets, sliced into strips
• Dash of Dark Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Five-Spice powder
• 1 tsp Chilli Sauce (optional – Cholula is good, or Frank’s if you prefer less heat – Scoville Heat Scale)
• 1 tbsp Cornflour
• 1-2 tbsp Groundnut Oil
• 1 Red Pepper, de-seeded and finely sliced
• 150g/5o z Bean Sprouts
• 1 large Spring Onion, sliced lengthways
• 2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1. Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water for 2-3 minutes until al-dente, or according to packet instructions. Drain, then rinse under cold running water and drain again. Drizzle with a dash of sesame oil and toss through to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other.
2. Place the Chicken strips in a bowl and season with a dash of Dark Soy Sauce, the Five-Spice powder and Chilli Sauce, if using. Mix well, then lightly dust the Chicken strips with the Cornflour.
3. Heat a wok until smoking and add the Groundnut Oil, then add the Chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the Chicken is golden-brown and cooked through.
4. Add the Red Pepper and stir fry for one minute, then add the Bean Sprouts and Spring Onion and stir fry for 30 seconds.
5. Stir in the cooked noodles and season with the Light Soy Sauce, a dash of Sesame Oil and freshly Ground Black Pepper.
6. Pile the noodles onto a serving plate and serve immediately.

Thanks to my absolutely fab sister in law Janet, I found a chicken chow mein recipe in Shirley Ross’s handwriting! This is so killer for me because I lost her so long ago that finding something in her handwriting sends me right back into her kitchen. Thanks, J!!

I remember eating this dish when I was in grade school — hey, Mom didn’t put up with food sissies. Her caveat was “Sit at my table; eat what I serve.” Or something like that.

Here’s the first page. Now, this handwritten page is easily 40 years old and was on a piece of paper out of a steno pad. It was written on front and back and so I had to do a little magic — aka putting a piece of copy paper behind it! — to get it to scan clearly:

I know, I know — making this full size is a bit over the top but so was she. And I really wanted you to be able to read it.

Shirl was a southpaw through and through. Now, my brothers may dispute this but they weren’t around and I was. I recall being changed from a lefty to a righty — quiet now all you alleged friends who are whispering behind your hands saying “Ah! That’s what’s wrong with her. Just knew it was something on her permanent record.”

Now, here’s page two:

As she says at the bottom of this recipe, I hope you like it. I’m planning to make it next week and will let you know if I have any tweaks. She loved using fresh ingredients but has given you the option of a quicker way with canned veg.

Which is just as well, because my Other Half and Uncle Robber were both quite poorly all day.  My fault entirely and I am consumed with guilt.  

On Christmas Eve, I always try to cook something  lovely and different, but over the years there have been as many disasters as successes and so this time to avoid  the stress I treated them to a Chinese Take-Away from our usual shop around the corner, what could possibly go wrong?

It all tasted great, each of us chose our hearts desire and they were ill all day yesterday, and I was fine, and I felt so sorry for them, and particularly for poor Robert, he had planned and organised a perfect culinary day and he has to go back to work today and probably won’t appreciate the lovely Scottish Beef that he chose and ordered so carefully.

How unkind the God of Randomness can be sometimes, how come the Chicken Chow Mein was fine but the Lemon Chicken wasn’t, next Christmas Eve we are having Jam Sandwiches!!

Over the bank holiday weekend, I REALLY fancied a Chinese takeaway but decided to drag my arse to the supermarket to buy ingredients to make something at home. I decided to go for something basic – chicken chow mein and chilli tiger prawns as my side. It was surprisingly delicious and better than some takeaways that I’ve had in the past.

Before cooking the chicken chow mein and chilli tiger prawns, I prepared all the ingredients before hand as it keeps me more organised in the kitchen!

Chicken Chow Mein Ingredients

• A packet of medium egg noodles
• Sesame oil & Sunflower oil
• Skinless chicken thighs, cut into strips
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tsp chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 chopped up spring onion
• Mixed stir fry vegetables
• French Beans
• freshly ground black pepper

Chilli Tiger Prawns Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 4 raw tiger prawns, shelled and de-veined
• 1 tbsp of dry sherry
• 1 lime, juice only
• French beans
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

As you can see with the ingredients, I took a short cut with buying pre-packaged veg & ingredients – saves me a bit of time!

Method for Chicken Chow Mein

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions then rinse under cold water and add a dash of sesame oil to stop the noodles sticking together.
2. Put the chicken strips into a bowl and season with the five-spice powder, dark soy sauce and chilli sauce. Mix well, then dust with cornflour to seal in the marinade.
3. Heat a wok and add the sunflower oil, then add the chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken is golden-brown and cooked through.
4. Add the rest of your vegetables, cook for 2 minutes, add in the noodles and season with a dash of sesame oil, ground black pepper and soy sauce.
5. Chicken chow mein is ready to eat!

After cooking the chicken chow mein, I went on to cooking the chilli tiger prawns.

Chilli Tiger Prawns Method

1. Heat a wok and add the sunflower oil, then add the chilli and garlic and stir fry for a few seconds. Add the prawns, lime juice and dry sherry and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the prawns start to turn pink.
2. Add the French beans and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes, or until the prawns are cooked through. Add the salt and chilli flakes to taste.
3. Chilli tiger prawns are ready to be served!

I also had some ready-to-cook-in-the-oven vegetable spring rolls with the meal. Cheating? Yes, but I will make my own one day.

Tip – Don’t rub your eye after chopping up the chilli, it hurts.

My chicken chow mein

I, for many years, always made stir-fries with chicken breast meat thinking it the best to use. But I have discovered that quite frankly this is wrong.

I have long loved chicken thighs for their juicy brown meat, but seldom fry them in small slices. But they are fantastic. You do need to cook the pieces for a few minutes longer, but they stay juicy and flavoursome in the meal – and just as importantly they are half the price of breast meat.

I also only recently started to marinade the meat in a mix of soy sauce, five-spice powder and cornflour. This is now the most crucial part for me and the element that gives this dish such punch and mouth-filling flavour.

Use whatever vegetables you wish, my favourites are sliced red peppers, mushrooms, mini corn, spring onion and beansprouts. But try sliced white cabbage, green beans or spinach as well.

This is a perfect, quick, healthy midweek dinner.

Serves 2

Two chicken thighs, in thin slices

½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1tbsp soy sauce

1tsp cornflour

1tsp grated ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red chilli, finely chopped (optional)

2-3 handfuls of finely sliced vegetables

Egg noodles or rice noodles – two nests (or follow guidelines on packet for portion sizes)

1tbsp oyster sauce

1/4tsp honey

2-3 tbsp hot water

Extra soy for seasoning

Marinade the chicken thigh pieces in the five-spice, soy and cornflour while you prepare all you other ingredients. Cook your noodles to the packet instructions then drain and run under cold water – set aside.

Fry the ginger, garlic and chilli in some sunflower oil in a wok for a few minutes, then add your chicken and fry for 3-4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add your vegetables and continue to fry for a 1-2 minutes.

Mix the oyster sauce, honey and hot water to make a sauce. Add the noodles to the wok then pour in the sauce and stir to coat. Season with more soy if necessary.

Serve in deep bowls.

ASDA Fresh Tastes Chicken Chow Mein with noodles, baby corn, mushrooms, carrots, and pak choi (Per packet): 312 Calories Total Fat: 2.8g Sat Fat: 0.8g Carbs: 36.8g Sugar: 13.2g Protein: 33.2g Fibre: 3.6g

Chicken Breast Fillet (100% Chicken): 130 Calories Total Fat: 1.0g Sat Fat: 0.4g Carbs: 0g Sugar: 0.1g Protein: 27.0g Fibre: 0g / Stir Fry Vegetables – beansprouts, shredded cabbage, mushrooms and carrot (100g): 36 Calories Total Fat: 1.1g Sat Fat: 0.1g Carbs: 4.7g Sugar: 3.0g Protein: 1.8g Fibre: 2.3g / Quick Wok Noodles – Medium Wholewheat (100g): 157 Calories Total Fat: 0.4g Sat Fat: 0.1g Carbs: 28.6g Sugar: 0.6g Protein: 4.6g Fibre: 2.6g / Blue Dragon Chow Mein Sauce (60g): 51 Calories Total Fat: 1.4g Sat Fat: 0.1g Carbs: 8.9g Sugar: 6.4g

Total Calories: 374 / Fat: 2.3g

The reason Chinese Takeaways are usually so unhealthy is because it is fried in grease and high in sodium. Make you own healthy version by cooking in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, use skinless chicken, wholewheat noodles, and plenty of vegetables. Your average takeout Chicken Chow Mein is about 700 calories with 10g or more of saturated fat. Save yourself nearly half the calories and over 8g of sat fat by making your own at home!

It’s  not that there isn’t a mall nearby at which I can find clothes between these trips.  But the closest mall is quite small, and the styles I like so much are harder to find here.  I’ve been trying to find clothes that fit my personal taste, rather than clothes that are just on sale and therefore desirable.  If I really don’t like it, I’m not going to buy it. 

 I know, I know.  Sounds like common sense.  But I used to buy things I really didn’t like, just because they were cheap.  I’d come home with a strange variety of colors, shapes, and styles; and couldn’t care less how everything looked.  I mean, I had saved money.  That’s all that mattered, right?

Now, I’m pickier.  I still bargain shop and look for my favorite clothes at cheaper prices.  But I allow myself to pick up the occasional splurge outfit as well.  The outfit that isn’t on sale; but that is cute, that is a real investment, and that will last some time.  I’m coming to find that quality is better than quantity.

Anyway, today was a bit of a dud as far as clothes go.  I’m not entirely excited about this year’s styles, at least not yet.    But I was very fond of the company.  There’s nothing like spending the day with my mom and sister.  So even if the shopping bags weren’t as exciting to open once I got home, the memories were as priceless.  As always, it was a day filled with good fun, good laughter, and good times.  Who could ask for anything more? 

Afterward, I came home to a hungry husband, and I have to admit that I was quite hungry as well.  There’s nothing like a day of shopping to make feel hungry!  So I put together a chicken chow mein recipe that I found online.  It was a new one, but I have to admit that it was quite good.

Chicken Chow Mein

In a large skillet, sautee 1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 (4 oz) can mushroom stems and pieces in one tablespoon margarine.  Cut two chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and brown in another skillet (coated in one tablespoon olive oil).  Once the onions are tender, add a cup of sliced celery, a cup of brean sprouts, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Blend 2 tablespoons cornstarch in 3 tablespoons water.  Add to the vegetable mixture, stirring constantly until boiling.  Stir in browned chicken.  Serve over rice and enjoy!

I arrived in Beijing on November 1st 2009 in a blizzard. It was freezing cold with about 5 feet of visibility. Hats off to the pilot, whether he be auto or human. The plane then stayed on the tarmac for ages. Why, I wondered? The Western paranoia and butterflies kicked in straight away, stoked by nytol and beer intake on the ten hour flight, which had helped me get exactly zero hour’s sleep and made my brain feel like a duvet. Were papers being shuffled already,  shifty looking leather coat wearing officers gathering in small offices, passenger lists being perused…

Just sudden unexpected snow of course. And a queue of planes taxi-ing along while armies of workers scoop up the snow in front of them.

The snow has been on and off since. Until mid March, it was well under 0 degrees most days. For three months, we lived in Tongzhou, which is a suburb in South East Beijing, about 30 minutes away from town. It’s developing quickly, buildings going up everywhere, trendy western style hairdressers offering the outrageous shoreditch mullets appearing by the minute. I was literally the only foreigner in the area, judging by the stares. More on staring later.

Kids doing outdoor exercises in the local School

We had a nice warm and spacious flat, with a decadent red sofa. There was an infant school by our block with a booming PA system that played “Doe A Deer…” every day at full volume at about 10 am, while the tiny kids did side step routines in lines like penguins, all wearing huge eskimo coats. This was followed by kids singing karaoke, at the same volume. Meanwhile a rooster would join in, wandering about outside, belting it out with no regard for the local jobless sat at home trying to drink coffee…
One of the strangest and nicest things to see here are the old people outside everywhere, looking seriously fit and healthy, exercising on the outdoor gym facilities that line most pavements and estates,  line dancing in the public squares, doing Tai Chi or some kind of slow motion sword fighting, and playing outdoor ping pong . There’s always a doubles game going, gramps v grannies, all in duffle coats. This remains one of the most striking differences between China and the West. It’s not that there aren’t generation gaps, but old people aren’t scared, or hiding away in front of their TVs. They’re out there and in your face, being loud and sociable and enjoying themselves. Whatever the reasons, young people are totally respectful, there is literally no anti-social behavior or even a hint of aggression of any kind.

I joined a badminton group, all Chinese. They were mostly a seriously amazing standard, i kind of just about held my own, but I’ve never hurt so much. I used to think I was a good badminton player. Badminton and ping pong are big in China (obvious fact for you there).

Yunhe Park, Tongzhou

The local hotpot restaurant by our block was fantastic, we became regulars – dinner and beer for £3 each, who can blame us? Hotpot is popular in China. It comes from the North and Mongolia, and somehow doesn’t seem to have made the same leap across Russia and into Britain the way Chicken Chow Mein has. Maybe it’s the western health and safety thing…you get a lit gas flame or electric hotplate  in the middle of your table, and a big pot, sometimes with more than one compartment, with different flavours of stock. Then you order your vegetables, tofu and meat, which is all delivered raw. You bung it in bit by bit, and eat it while it’s cooking, with some dipping sauces. I could eat this literally every day. Unfortunately you need a bit of free time, it takes a while, but it’s very sociable to eat like this.

Tongzhou was a great place. Clean air, blue skies. Cheap and honest. It had everything right at hand. Hardly any need to go into Beijing.

Now you don’t have to order out!  Make your own delicious Chinese Chow Mein today!

Begin by frying  bite size Chicken, Pork, or Beef pieces in Wok with Olive Oil (Virgin is best) until done with light browning crusts.

Once done, add the following vegetables chopped into elongated lengths:

Celery (as fine as possible), cabbage (laid on it’s side and sliced through layers to fall into slim slices), & garlic.

Fry together with chicken until they begin to tender.

Then add these remaining vegetables into wok:

Onions (elongated), mushrooms, green peppers (optional & elongated), fresh bean sprouts, 1tsp freshly grated or spiced ginger.

Add salt & pepper to taste. Cook just until tender.

Meanwhile cook chow mein noodles, OR rice according to package directions. ( I prefer brown rice because it’s healthier than bleached white rice.),

Mix the following ingredients together and stir into wok mixture:

1 TBSP. brown sugar, 2 TBSP  low sodium soya sauce, 4 TBSP water.

Add noodles,  & mix together well.

If you used rice, heap vegetable and soya  mixture on top of rice on individual plates.

Serve hot!   They will definitely be back for seconds!

]]> http://crumbleandsauce.com/2009/11/08/take-in-take-out/ Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:12:07 +0000 Lisa Jayne Harris http://crumbleandsauce.com/2009/11/08/take-in-take-out/ Chicken Chow Mein, fish and chips, Hawaiian pizza – the carnage of a late night take away. Take out tends to only taste good when you’re drunk or desperately hungry – but why order take out when you can ‘take in’ at home.  The greasy spoon favourites don’t need to come with extra helpings of MSG; you can cook all the take away classics in your own home without the disgrace of being surrounded by polystyrene cartons in the morning. More…

Last night we had Chicken Chow Mein for dinner. It wasn’t half bad, but it did lack a touch in flavor.  It wasn’t too compicated to prepare. I used chow mein noodles, if you don’t have those available to you then you can substitute thin spaghetti.  Since I was able to find Chow Mein noodles at my local Wal-Mart, which generally has NOTHING, you shouldn’t have any problem at your local grocery store. If you do have difficulties,  then you can always go to Publix. They have EVERYTHING!  The recipe is as follows:

6 oz chow mein (or thin spaghetti)

2/3 c low-sodium chicken broth

2 tbsp dry sherry

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp canola oil

1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into thin strips

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1. Cook the chow mein noodles or spaghetti according to package directions; drain.

2. Combine the broth, sherry, cornstach, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

3. Heat a nonstick wok or a large, deep skillet over high heat until a drop of water sizzles. Swirl in 2 tsps of the oil., then add the chicken. Stir-fry until just cooked through, 4-5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

4. Swirl the remaining 1 tsp oil into the wok, then add the onon, ginger, and garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the bell pepper and celery; stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and broth mixture. Cook, stirring, constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens, about 2 minutes. Serve over the cooked noodles.

Per serving (1 1/4 cup): 359 Cals, 7g Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 63mg Chol, 379mg Sod, 42g Carb, 4g Fib, 30g Prot, 42 mg alc.

Points: 7

Carne Asada Burrito with no beans & guacamole please.

After I finished half of my burrito at the dorm, I finished up some more homework. Then I tucked and sealed. Took a hike up to the hill and sparked it.

Nice ass view up on the hill. The moon was out and shinin’. Btw, this is taken like at 12 somethin at night with no flash. Beasty.

After that lil adventure we had, haha, we went back to the apt and watched tv and of course we was hungry again. So we went on a mission to sun hong kong. Haha.

Best chicken chow mein ever!

First of all….it rhymes with the racial slur for Asians  (perhaps Ms. Paltrow has some aggression from nam……or maybe she got food poisoning from some spoiled Chicken Chow Mein).

Secondly, it sounds suspiciously like male secretions…..I am shocked that the domain was available, as it was most likely a shitty porn site that gives your computer Hep C upon entry.  She IS Gwyneth Paltrow….she probably had the previous owner killed.

On the home page you see “GOOP: nourish the inner aspect, by Gweneth Paltrow”…..What the fuck is GOOP?  What the fuck does it mean to “nourish the inner aspect”?  Is she retarded? She must have swallowed too much GOOP.

The page is simple and clean: five images with a word beneath each…..make, go, get, do, be and see.

Today I’ll focus on the “MAKE” section:

I click on the quaint image of a knife and fork and enter an abyss of name dropping and shear horrors of unrelateable celebrity. Here are two examples:

Giancarlo Giametti

Below is the preface to her favorite recipes from an Italian gentleman/ dearest friend/ fashion world cocksucker….blah blah blah…”Italian Gentleman” gives me an air of those  homophobes that say…”i don’t mind fags…i just don’t want them hitting on me”…..like she is saying, he is an “Italian”……but i swear he isn’t like the others.  I don’t want to use a recipe that Fashion designers use, as it’s probably garnished with prunes and Metamucil.

“One of my dearest friends in the world is an Italian gentleman by the name of Giancarlo Giametti. He is the longtime friend and partner of fashion legend Valentino Garavani, another dear friend”

She apparently has a lot of Dear Friends…..I wouldn’t want to be friends with a guy that has a leather face and more liver spots than all of the golden girls combined.

Mario Batali

Below is what she says about massive ego-maniac-douchebag Mario Batali.  He looks like he has a diet of bacon grease and Delta Burkes ass fat.  He looks like he kills hookers. It might be his midlife crisis ponytail.  Who knows.  I do however know that he is a fat fuck that apparently has robot-xanax addicted celebrity friends like Gwyneth and Michael Stipe ala R.E.M.  Both of whom look like all they digest is heroin and wheat grass.

“A couple of months ago, I had the great pleasure of being invited to Mario Batali’s house for dinner (Yes, I am a lucky motherf***er!). Emeril Lagasse was also there as a guest, so I was curious to see what the great Batali would serve to dazzle a fellow super chef.”

Jesus….she is such an asshole. Of course she was invited….Mario Batali is a starfucker with a creepy fucking face.  Sitting at a table with those three dipshits sounds like purgatory. Remember when Emeril had that sitcom for two minutes?  They probably couldn’t eat because they were busy sniffing each others assholes.

chow mein

cooked the chow mein.. It was pretty ok for the others but for me i think it lacked a lot more.

Chicken chow mein

I’m gonna go try and cook chicken chow mein for our dnd game tomorrow.

I don’t know how to cook it but i just got this recipe off the internet and i’m gonna go try and follow it.  It looks pretty easy to do, just stir fry a bunch of stuff.  The thing that I really hate is slicing the vegetables up.  I even had the chicken saleslady at waltermart chop up the chicken breasts that i bought.    I have to slice up four things tomorrow.

1. mushrooms

2. squidballs

3. pechay (its a green chinese cabbage and I absolutely have no idea how to cut it up.)

4. a spare chicken breast I had lying about in my freezer.

I hate slicing!  I bought this nice big sharp knife at walter. I hope its pretty sharp because I just want to chop the veggies up and be done with it.

Stuff I have to do tonight:

1. do some washing up

2. chop up some of the shit.

3. marinate chicken

4. try to think up stuff for the campaign. 

As you guys see, I’m a poor harrassed DM.