Ma po tofu with minced chicken

I grew up eating the pork version of this dish at Chinese restaurants, and every once in a while my mother made this at home from a ma po seasoning packet. Back in 2014, I decided to try a scratch recipe from Andrea Nguyen's Asian Tofu cookbook. Over time, I tweaked her ma po tofu… Continue reading Ma po tofu with minced chicken

Chinese-style chicken meatball soup with napa cabbage

We found this soup very frustrating to make, even if it ultimately came out well: https://omnivorescookbook.com/napa-cabbage-soup/ This recipe called for only 3 cups of liquid. We ultimately had to increase to 9 cups of liquid (8 cups unsalted chicken stock plus 1 cup water). We sauteed about 2 Tbsp bacon, then added 4 cups broth.… Continue reading Chinese-style chicken meatball soup with napa cabbage

Quick bolognese with store-bought marinara

We found this recipe that uses store-bought marinara as a base: https://themodernproper.com/easy-bolognese Our modifications: first, for meat we used 1 lb minced beef and 1 lb minced chicken. We also used 24 oz Rao's marinara sauce. Second, instead of heavy cream, we added 2 Tbsp unsalted butter at the end. Finally, we found the sauce… Continue reading Quick bolognese with store-bought marinara

Sesame-ginger chicken meatballs with sticky glaze

We made these meatballs: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/sesame-ginger-chicken-meatballs We baked them at 450 for about 18 mins. While they were baking, we prepared this sticky glaze: https://drivemehungry.com/sweet-and-tangy-sticky-soy-glaze/ Our modifications: first, instead of 2 Tbsp hoisin sauce, we used 1 Tbsp oyster sauce + 1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses. While boiling the sauce, we added 2 Tbsp white sugar to… Continue reading Sesame-ginger chicken meatballs with sticky glaze

Sichuan napa cabbage with cellophane noodles

We tried this recipe: https://omnivorescookbook.com/chinese-napa-cabbage-with-glass-noodles/ Our modifications: first, we first sauteed 1/2 lb minced chicken in 1 Tbsp oil until browned, then we added only 1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns (instead of 2 tsp whole) and kept them in the stirfry. We added the scallions and microplaned ginger, then proceeded with the recipe. After the… Continue reading Sichuan napa cabbage with cellophane noodles

Turkey cottage pie

We tried a lighter approach to cottage pie, replacing the beef and adding more vegetables. Because we had 2 lb minced turkey, we doubled the recipe: https://piglettedc.tumblr.com/post/114585999926/shepherds-pie-heat-oil-in-a-wok-cook-1-chopped Instead of ½ cup peas, we used 1 ½ cups diced vegetables (green beans, carrots, peas, and corn kernels). We also added some additional beef flavor (1 tsp… Continue reading Turkey cottage pie