An Eastern Weekend

Oh yes, my friends that's what I said. This weekend Ava, Erin and I sampled cuisine from China, Japan and Thailand.

China
First stop on this train: China. Okay, I'll admit this isn't authentic Chinese food, but it's my favorite. Once again, I was feeling lazy and ordered delivery from the Dragon Diner. That wonderfully fabulous restaurant delivered again with egg rolls, fried rice, sweet and sour pork and sesame chicken.

The egg rolls were good, but a little dry. The fried rice was full of flavor with ham, shrimp, carrots and peas with a good helping of teriyaki sauce mixed in. The sweet and sour pork was pretty good, the sauce had a little less sour and more sweet than I anticipated. The big chuncks of pineapple with the deep fried pork bites were a great combination.

My favorite dish is the sesame chicken. It's always excellent from the Dragon. The chicken is tender and full of flavor, deep-fried and coated in sauce .I love this chicken. For $30 it was a great night in with my best friends.

Japan
Next stop: Japan. On Friday night, we went to Sapporo in Downtown. Ava and I love this place, but it was Erin's first visit. We sat at the sushi bar where John was the chef. John actually remembered us from our last visit and once again was friendly and talkative.

I ordered the Montoc roll for $12.95. It was a little much for me. The wasabi tobiko was way more wasabi than I can handle. I like spice, but I can't handle that much heat. Luckily, John had used the tobiko as a garnish across the top of the sushi roll and I was able to scrape it off and enjoy the asparagus and yellowtail.

Ava ordered the Rainbow Roll. This roll had a combination of several fish giving it it's name and color. It must have been delicious because she devoured it in about 20 minutes. And using chopsticks. I am so impressed by her Japanese skills.

Erin ordered the Chef's choice shashimi roll. And for the undecided this is a great option. John created eight rolls using eight different ingredients. There was salmon, shrimp, mackrel and yellowtail along with the other ingredients I couldn't identify or don't remember. It's like a sample tray of sushi.

Thailand
Last stop: Thailand. On Saturday night we were treated to homemade Thai food. Pau made a wonderful meal. It was amazing! I haven't had much Thai before and I have never been impressed, but this meal changed my mind. For the first course we had a chicken coconut soup with big chuncks of carrots and mushrooms. It was very rich and hearty. Pau said it is a traditional winter dish in Thailand.

For the main course we had a very spicy curry with shrimp. Apparently, the shrimp head is a delicacy. It's kind of crunchy and a little bit stringier than I expected. It tests gamier than the rest of the shrimp. Almost like an oyster, it was surprisingly good. It also came from the most giant shrimp I have ever seen in my life.

The curry was very hot. Pau said it was medium high heat. I'm pretty sure I coudn't survive what she would consider hot. It was great flavor, but the heat was nearly overwhelming. I had to have water close at hand.

For dessert we had deep-fried bananas and ice cream. Yum, yum, yummy! Pau used a mixture of flour and water for the breading then rolled the banana in bread crumbs. It tasted like there was honey drizzled on top, as well. It was sweet and delicious.

In three days, we had three great meals three different countries. Each meal was it's own unique experience and I can't wait to eat some more. This weekend, I'm looking forward to another adventure in cuisine. How was your food weekend?

Chicken Stir-Fry

...brought to you courtesy of late night house painting. This is a chicken version of a mushroom, pepper steak stir-fry recipe my sister gave to me. It's yummy and goes great with rice and plum wine!* Maybe next week I'll do something without chicken, hmm.

Hardware:
Chef's knife
Wooden cutting board
One wok or large skillet
Wooden spoon
Spatula
Small mixing bowl
Fork
1/2 Cup measurer
Tablespoon measurer
Teaspoon measurer

Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 Tbs. canola oil**
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. ginger root, minced
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 Tbs. fresh ground black pepper
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 C. yellow onion, sliced
1 C. crimini, sliced
1/2 C. sherry cooking wine
3 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 Tbs. corn starch
6 stalks green onion, chopped
1 tomato, quartered

Instructions:
Using your chef's knife and cutting board, mince the garlic and ginger. Heat your wok or skillet over a medium-flame. Once the pan is hot add the canola oil. Heat the oil for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the garlic and ginger, saute with wooden spoon.

As the garlic and ginger saute, rub the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Place the chicken smooth side down in the skillet. As the chicken is grilling, slice your red pepper, green pepper and onion. After 5-7 minutes flip the chicken, use a spatula.

Let the chicken grill for 5-7 more minutes. While you wait, whisk together the sherry, vinegar and cornstarch. This should create a sauce, about the consistency of soup.

Remove the chicken from the skillet and let rest on cutting board. Add the peppers and onion to the pan. Let the vegetables grill for about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms. Saute the vegetable mixture for about 5 minutes.

Gently pour in the sherry, vinegar and cornstarch mixture. Stir the vegetable, as the sauce thickens. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes letting the sauce thicken. Turn off the heat.

Toss in the green onions and tomato and stir. Slice the chicken breasts across the grain about 1 inch thick slices. Stir into the stir-fry, serve on top of rice and enjoy!

*As a side note, I want to try this recipe with peanuts and water chestnuts. (Sorry Andrew, no bok choy.) This recipe was the creation of a late night, a hungry tummy and whatever food was available in the fridge.

**Measurements are approximate. Please feel free to make any changes you think are necessary. And let me know about them all.