Korean Chicken Stir Fry and Zucchini Pancakes

Apologies for not posting sooner, but Internet was down here. Back in action with 2 great Korean recipes! First tried these pancakes at Korean Grill and Ice Cream and they were an awesome appetizer. To upgrade the pancakes to a dinner, I have prepared the Korean Chicken Stir Fry.

Hobak Buchim (Zucchini Pancakes)

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini about 8 ounces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 medium sweet onion thinly sliced
2 green hot chili peppers thinly sliced
1/2 cup buchim garu (Korean savory pancake mix) or flour (see note)
1 large egg (omit for a vegan version and add some water)
vegetable or canola oil for frying

Dipping Sauce:

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch of black pepper
pinch gochutgaru (red chili pepper flakes)
OPTIONAL baby shrimp and chopped green onions

Instructions

Cut the zucchini into matchsticks. Place them in a bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes until wilted and released some liquid. Squeeze the liquid out from the zucchini as much as possible, reserving the liquid in the bowl. Set the zucchini aside.

Add the egg and pancake mix (or flour) to the bowl with the zucchini squeezed mix. Mix everything well with a spoon, and then combine with the zucchini, onion and chili peppers. The zucchini mix may look stiff when mixing, but it will become more liquidy after a few minutes. If it’s still too stiff, mix in some water (2 to 3 tablespoons to start with).

Heat a skillet with two tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Add about 2 heaping tablespoons of the batter and spread it evenly into a thin round shape. Depending on the size of your pan, you can cook 3 to 4 pancakes at once. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the bottom is light golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Repeat the process with the remaining batter. Serve hot with a dipping sauce.

Notes

Use 5 tablespoons all purpose flour with 3 tablespoons cornstarch if available.

This recipe makes 6 to 8 3-inch round pancakes, or two large pancakes.

Korean Chicken Stir Fry

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs chicken breasts boneless and skinless, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large egg beaten
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp pepper or to taste

Korean Sauce

3 tbsp butter unsalted
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger minced
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp soy sauce low sodium
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp. Red curry paste or sambal oelek

Garnish

green onions toasted sesame seeds red chilis sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

Toss the chicken pieces through the egg first, then dredge through cornstarch.

In a large bowl whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Add about 3 inches of oil to a heavy bottom pan and heat to 375 °F.

Add chicken to the pan and fry in batches about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the chicken to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining chicken.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Stir in the brown sugar and honey and cook for about 1 minute until the brown butter dissolves. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and gochujang sauce to the skillet and stir. Cook for 30 seconds then add the chicken to the skillet and toss well with the sauce.

Serve garnished with green onions, toasted sesame seeds and red chilis.

Thai Basil Beef Bowls

Thought I could Thai one on since it is now summer…LOL. Sorry that there is no photo, but we were travelling and no camera available.

Thai Basil Beef Bowls

Yield: about 4 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups jasmine rice or long-grain white rice for serving
1 lb. flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded, diced into 2-inch strips
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 cup matchstick carrots
1 cup fresh basil leaves (roughly chop larger leaves), plus more for garnish
Sesame seeds (optional)

Sauce

3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp Sambal Oleek, or more to taste (optional)

Directions

Cook rice according to directions listed on package.
For the sauce:
In a small mixing bowl whisk together soy sauce and cornstarch until smooth. Stir in water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and Sambal Oleek if using, set aside.
For the beef and veggies:
Toss beef with 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp cornstarch. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet or wok over moderately high heat. Add beef and cook until browned on both sides but still slightly under-cooked in the center. Transfer beef to a plate while leaving oil in skillet. Reduce heat slightly, add bell pepper, onions and garlic and sauté until crisp tender, about 2 – 3 minutes (if needed you can add another 1 tsp of oil to the skillet). Add carrots, whisk sauce mixture once more then pour into skillet and allow to simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 1 minute. Return beef to skillet along with basil leaves, toss until basil has just wilted. Serve immediately over cooked rice garnished with small basil leaves and sesame seeds if desired.
Recipe source: Cooking Classy

Orange Chicken

I came across this recipe from my friend in Toronto who has a blog, Closet Cooking. Indeed, it was great! Check out Kevin’s blog at www.closetcooking.com

Orange Chicken
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 20 minutes Servings: 4
A quick, easy, light and tasty Chinese orange chicken dish that is way better than takeout!
Ingredients
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chill sauce such as sambal oelek or sriracha
• 1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup green onion, sliced (optional)

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat, add the chicken and cook until cooked through, about 2-4 minutes per side.
2. Add the mixture of the orange juice, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chill sauce, garlic, ginger and the mixture of the water and the corn starch, toss to coat and cook until the sauce thickens, about a minute.
3. Remove from heat and serve garnished with sliced green onions.

Option: Replace some or all of the honey with orange marmalade.
Option: Add some vegetables to the mix such as broccoli, peas, peppers, etc.

Salmon with Crunchy Peanut Ginger Sauce

This recipe is from my blog friend Karen at Back Road Journal (see the link). Right now I think she is still off travelling in Europe, posting some really interesting stuff about her travels. Anyways…we tried this recipe last week and it was awesome. Who would have thought of peanut butter and salmon? I served it with some great wild rice mix and a small salad.

Salmon With Crunchy Peanut Ginger Sauce BRJ

Peanut Ginger Sauce*

2 tsp. peanut oil (Didn’t have any so I used a little extra virgin olive oil)
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (approx. 2-3 tsp.)
1/4 c. natural peanut butter (I used crunchy peanut butter since I hate creamy)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. sweet Thai chili sauce (I skipped this since I had none)
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 c. or more water for thinning the sauce
1 tsp. sriracha (optional) I used Sambal

Heat the oils in a small saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add all the other ingredients except the water and cook until the peanut butter is melted and smooth. Slowly add the water a little at a time until the desired consistency. Makes about 3/4 c. Can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks. Thin with water, if necessary, after being refrigerated.

*This sauce is delicious on chicken, pork and seafood. It is also great as a dip, tossed with noodles or used in salads as a dressing.

Salmon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 center cut piece of salmon, skinned and seasoned with salt, pepper and a little sugar
Peanut ginger sauce (several tablespoons, depending on the size of the salmon) from recipe above
1/4 c. chopped peanuts
2 scallions, chopped for garnish
peanut oil for sauteing

Pour enough oil in a ovenproof sauté pan to just coat the bottom. Heat oil until shimmering. Add the salmon (presentation side down) and cook for about one minute until brown, turn and cook an additional minute. Remove the pan from the heat, place salmon on a plate and pour the oil out of the pan. Return the salmon to the pan, spread the sauce over the fish and top with chopped peanuts. Place in the oven and cook for approximately six minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for five minutes. The salmon will still be a little pink and moist in the center. If you like you salmon more done, let stay in the oven a few minutes more but remember to not over cook the fish. Garnish with scallions just before serving.

Oriental Pork OR Chicken Stroganoff

This recipe was another I picked up from my daughter. It has always been a favourite because of its simplicity.

Oriental Stroganoff

what you need

2 pork tenderloins cut into 1/2 inch rounds or chicken strips
2 tsp sambal oleek (found in the imported foods section of most grocery stores)
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 small onion cut in half horizontally and in strips
1 green pepper cut into strips
3 tsp olive oil
1/2 c white wine
3 green onions thinly sliced
1/3 c sour cream

make it

Stir sambal, ginger, soy, sesame into large bowl. Add pork or chicken. Heat 2 tsp oil. Add half ‘meat’ Cook 2-3 minutes and remove. Cook second half. Heat 1 tsp oil. Add peppers and white onion. Stir 1 – 2 minutes. Add white wine. Return ‘meat’ to pan. Boil, then simmer 3 minutes. Stir in sour cream and some green onions. Serve over rice or noodles.