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2006-09-30 -Short Attention Span Theater-

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Posted by Zenster 2006-09-30 03:12|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Char Siu Marinade
Classic Chinese Barbecue Sauce

Preparation Time: 15 Minutes

Makes: ~1 Cup enough for 2-5 pounds of meat

Ingredients:

¼ Cup Shaoxing Chinese Rice Wine
¼ Cup Black Bean Garlic Sauce
¼ Cup Yu Hsiang Spicy Garlic Sauce
¼ Cup Hoisin Sauce
¼ Cup Oyster Sauce (Lee Kum Kee Premium label is recommended)
¼ Cup Malt Sugar, (plum sauce, honey or cane sugar may be substituted)
¼ Cup Soy Sauce (Kikkoman or another good quality brand)
3 TSP Crushed Garlic (or more if desired)
3 TSP Grated Fresh Ginger Root
3 TSP Peanut Oil
1 TSP House Ra Yu Sesame Chile Oil (substitute Dynasty Goma Chili Oil if needed.)

Ingredient Notes:

Shaoxing Chinese rice wine is one of the great secrets to Asian cooking. At around one or two dollars a bottle, it is inexpensive and indispensible for obtaining authentic flavor in your recipes. Look for it at any large Asian supermarket. If it is not available in your area, I urge you to order it by mail. Once you begin using it, suddenly all of your efforts will bear fruit like you have always wanted them to. Wherever Asian recipes mention using "dry sherry", this is what you really should be using.

Barley malt sugar is also know as maltose and may be replaced with malt syrup

Whenever an Asian recipe mentions sesame oil, it is almost always roasted sesame oil. It has a deep and rich taste that no raw sesame oil will have. Often, it is seasoned with hot chiles to give it a spicy flavor. Always look for chili oils that have only two ingredients. There should no cottonseed, soya or corn oil, only sesame oil and chili. You will pay a premium price but the quality is worth it. Buy it in 1.1 oz. or the 3.5 oz. bottles.

Along with chopped scallions, a few drops of sesame chili oil are the secret to a fine bowl of saimen or ramen noodles. Likewise, a few drops of sesame chili oil in several tablespoons of soy sauce makes an ideal won ton or dim sum dipping sauce. Add grated ginger, scallions, garlic or white vinegar to liven things up. If sesame chili oil is not available, regular unseasoned roasted sesame oil will provide a nice nutty flavor without the heat.

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients and stir well. Apply to meat cuts and allow to marinate for two hours or overnight. Avoid using tenderloin or loin cuts as those will tend to dry out on the grill. Boston butt, shoulder or unsmoked picnic are most appropriate. Heel cut Chinese style riblets or boneless country style pork ribs seem to work particularly well and even thin cut chops may be used. Baste every so often while grilling over open coals to medium doneness, then remove from heat immediately.

This recipe contains quite a bit of salt so avoid serving other piquant dishes with anything using this sauce. All of the ingredients will cost about $25.⁰⁰ and make several batches of this sauce. Although most of the containers recommend that they be refrigerated after opening, only the oyster sauce really requires it. My black bean garlic sauce was stored in my cupboard for over two years and it was good to the last drop.

Place a small amount of the sauce in a resealable plastic bag, drop in your cuts of meat, shake them around so they get coated and refrigerate until ready. Any remaining marinade can be thinned with some chicken stock, thickened with cornstarch and used as a tasty sauce over rice or vegetables. Use on the barbecue for best results, but this will also work fine in the oven or broiler. Most of all, try this sauce, it is one of the most classic Chinese marinades and the flavor is positively addicting.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2006-09-30 05:39|| 2006-09-30 05:39|| Front Page Top

#2 Thanks muchly for the Sauerkraut Balls recipe note, Zenster. I've copied it into the cookbook for future reference. :-)

Posted by trailing wife 2006-09-30 19:59|| 2006-09-30 19:59|| Front Page Top

#3 Can we wait until sundown Monday before putting any more recipes here? Thank you.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2006-09-30 22:14|| 2006-09-30 22:14|| Front Page Top

#4 Sorry—it seems like I offended some people. I was referring to the fact that Yom Kippur starts tomorrow night and ends Monday at sundown. That shouldn't matter to most of you. Please resume your regularly-scheduled ranting.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2006-09-30 23:21|| 2006-09-30 23:21|| Front Page Top

#5 No can do, Eric, unless you're just cracking a Ramadan joke or something. Please check the index at page top to see any recipes you might have missed.

Glad to be of service, trailing wife, that's my function in this series of threads. I do hope you will consider trying the Philippine sour soup recipe. I don't know if your dietary restrictions permit shellfish or not but the dish will work even with just fish alone, like cod, halibut or tilapia. Anything cut you would use for fish and chips will work in this recipe.

In case anyone missed its being buried in the above char siu marinade instructions, here's the dipping sauce recipe again. At the Chinese restaurants in my area, I'm known for always having my own small bottle of the House Ra Yu sesame chile oil with me. The mixture you get at table in Chinese and Asian restaurants is merely crushed red chiles in soy or cottonseed oil. Few of them could afford to put out roasted sesame oil all of the time. This is why you want to carry your own. I always have a bottle riding around in my car's glove compartment, just to be sure.

Asian Dipping Sauce
Dim Sum & Noodle Bowl Condiment

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes

Makes: ~¼ Cup

Ingredients:

4 TBS Soy Sauce (Kikkoman or another good quality brand)
¼ TSP House Ra Yu Sesame Chile Oil (substitute Dynasty Goma Chili Oil if needed.)

Optional:

1 TSP Chopped Scallions (white part only)
1 TSP White Vinegar (or Chinese red vinegar not red wine vinegar)
½ TSP Chopped or Minced Garlic
½ TSP Grated Ginger (a Microplane grater works well for this)

Note: If using all optional ingredients, increase the amount of soy sauce. Try using ponzu sweet soy sauce for an interesting change-up when serving Japanese food.

This makes a delicious dipping sauce for all types of dim sum (those fabulous Chinese dumplings), including egg rolls, pot stickers, gyoza and fried won ton. It also makes a quick condiment to perk up a bowl of soba, saimen or ramen noodles and even just plain old steamed rice.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2006-09-30 23:29|| 2006-09-30 23:29|| Front Page Top

#6 I call this Eastern fusion style, as in; The Far East meets the East Coast. This is a super simple condiment for steamed cabbage, cauliflower or broccoli. I invented it on the spot the other night while making my char siu pork chops and it gave a marvelous Chinese note to my steamed cabbage. It makes an interesting accent when these vegetables are served with Asian style foods and will not be too strange for even the most unadventurous American palate. It only takes a minute to make and perks up the flavor of these familiar vegetables.

Fusion Mustard Sauce
Asian Style Vegetable Dressing

Preparation Time: 1 Minute

Makes: ~ ½ Cup

Ingredients:

½ Cup Hellmans Mayonnaise (used to be known as Best Foods do not substitute)
1-2 TSP Beaver Brand Hot Chinese Mustard (or other very hot Chinese mustard)

Preparation:

Add hot mustard to Mayonnaise one teaspoon at a time to taste. Thoroughly blend ingredients and serve over steamed vegetables.

Note: For regular American food like corned beef and cabbage, this same recipe, using regular yellow prepared mustard or any other type of your choice, makes a wonderful condiment. For extra richness, carefully blend the Mayonnaise one teaspoon at a time with equal parts sour cream before adding the mustard.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2006-09-30 23:49|| 2006-09-30 23:49|| Front Page Top

23:59 Secret Master
23:58 Zenster
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23:48 wxjames
23:43 Victoria
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23:29 Zenster
23:26 Cheaderhead
23:21 Eric Jablow
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22:54 gorb
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