Chicken Lo Mein

by Deerga // June 24, 2015 // No Comments

Chicken Lo Mein is a Chinese noodles dish made with wheat flour noodles and chicken. Lo Mein is the Cantonese name for stirred noodles. Traditionally Lo Mein is a variation of another dish called the Wonton noodle soup. Lo Mein is a popular take-out in American Chinese restaurants. It is also sometimes called as Chow Mein but the preparation of this dish very different from that of Lo Mein since with Chow Mein, the noodles are made crispy by frying.

I love Chinese food but normally prefer fried rice and what not. I got hooked to noodles variety only recently. Like said in my earlier posts, I am always on the lookout for dishes from different cuisines which I can try in my kitchen. And now I had the opportunity to cook an authentic dish from Chinese cuisine. The Chicken Low Mein recipe I had given below is a very easy to make and the end result is totally worth the effort.

Chicken Lo Mein has a slight sweetness to it because of the brown sugar but also has spiciness as well at the same time. It is an apt dish to be served for both lunch and dinner. Try this popular Chinese dish in your home and let me know your experience 🙂

Chicken Lo Mein

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the sauce:

Sesame oil – 1 tbsp
Sriracha hot sauce – 1 tbsp
Garlic cloves, minced – 3 nos
Soy sauce – ¼ cup
Water – 2 tbsp
Brown sugar – 1 ½ tbsp
Cornstarch – 2 tbsp

For Chicken:

Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Broccoli, small – 1 no ( or 2 cups of florets)
Chicken thighs, cut to bite size pieces – 500 grams
For the Lo-Mein:
Lo Mein noodles – 4 oz
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp
Eggs, large, lightly beaten - 2 nos
Ginger, minced - 1 tsp
Red chilli flakes, crushed - ½ tsp
Carrots, shredded - ½ cup
Snow peas - ½ cup
Garlic, minced - 3 cloves
Green onions, sliced thinly – 2 nos
Salt to taste

Instructions

Step 1:
In a small bowl combine and whisk together sesame oil, hot sauce, garlic, soy sauce, water, sugar, and cornstarch; set the sauce aside.
In a large bowl, add many ice cubes and prepare ice bath for broccoli. So that the broccoli retain its color after blanching.
Step 2:
Bring water in a sauce pan along with little salt to boil. Add the broccoli and blanch them for 4 minutes. Immediately transfer them to the ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Heat a large skillet with olive oil in medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until changes to white/brown color. Add the blanched broccoli, reduce the flame to medium and add the sauce. Stir to coat ingredients and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Transfer it to a bowl.
Step 3:
Meanwhile bring water in the sauce pan along with little salt to boil. Add the noodles and boil for 10 minutes. Simmer it and cook for another 15 minutes or until the noodles are well cooked. Make sure the noodles don’t stick before adding to the water. Drain the noodles and set aside.
Step 4:
Heat the large skillet and add butter in medium low flame. Add the minced ginger and sauté for few seconds or until raw smell disappears. Add the crushed pepper and cook for couple of seconds. Add in the eggs, stir gently and cook for about 3 minutes or until well done.
Sauté carrot and snow peas with very little olive oil in a small flat skillet. And add it to the eggs.
Add the chicken and broccoli to the eggs as well.
Finally add the drained noodles to the skillet, stir until everything is coated well with the sauce. Sprinkle with green onions and serve hot.

Notes

Soy sauce has a lot of sodium, so taste before you add any to the finished product.

Prawn rice with Dragon Chicken

by Deerga // January 4, 2015 // No Comments

I wanted to post something special for the first post of this new year. So for the past few days, I have been contemplating about trying a different cuisine than the usual south Indian or the occasional north Indian varieties. So me and my HB, after much deliberation, decided on chinese cuisine. As for the actual dishes, we decided on Prawn rice and Dragon chicken.

Prawn rice is similar to fried rice except that in fried rice we add soy sauce. Also in fried rice, we cook the rice separately, then add other ingredients along with the cooked rice in a wok and cook them further. In Prawn rice we cook everything separately, i.e.., rice and prawn and then mix them together. Dragon chicken is an indo-chinese dish which is very easy to make. Guess the ‘Dragon’ came from the fiery red color of the dish. It is a dry and spicy dish that goes well with rice, chappati, fried rice or rotis.
Do try these dishes in your home and let me know your experience 🙂
BTW, a very happy & prosperous 2015!!! 🙂

Prawn rice with Dragon Chicken

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For Prawn Rice

To marinate:

Prawn – 1 lb, 50 count
Chicken 65 masala powder – 1 ½ tbsp (I used shakthi brand)
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – as required
Ajinamotto – ½ tsp (optional)
Corn flour – 1 tbsp
Water – 1 tbsp

For the rice:

Basmati rice – 1 cup
Ajinamotto – a pinch (optional)
Salt as required.

Other ingredients:

Oil – 2 tbsp
Scallions or spring onions – 3 tbsp, divided
Onion, slits, medium – 1 no
Green bell pepper, finely chopped – 3 tbsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Scrambled eggs – 1 cup
Salt if needed
Green chilli sauce – ½ tsp
Cilantro leaves – 2 tbsp
Garlic, minced – ½ tbsp

For Dragon Chicken

To marinate :

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Crushed pepper - ½ tbsp
Egg whites - from 1 egg
Corn starch - ¼ cup
Soy sauce - ½ tbsp
Boneless Chicken thighs (cubed) - 500g

other ingredients:

Ginger - ½ tbsp, finely chopped
Garlic - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Red chilli flakes - 1½ tbsp
Tomato sauce - 1½ cups
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Cilantro - 1 handlful, chopped
Spring onions - 1 stalk, chopped
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Instructions

Clean and marinate the prawns. Leave it for at least an hour and shallow fry them.
Cook rice separately. I cooked the rice using boiling method to get fluffy separate grains.
Soak the rice for 20 minutes in water. Boil enough water in a medium sized sauce pan and add the rice. Cook until the rice grains starts to sputter. Always stay close while cooking the rice by boiling method. Because rice cooks really quick in this method.
Heat oil in a skillet and add scallions and onions. Sauté till they turn translucent. Add bell peppers and sauté for a minute. Add them to the rice.
Sauté garlic separately.
Transfer the rice to a wide open mixing bowl or a wok and add the sauce, scrambled eggs, sautéed garlic and fried prawns. Mix them very carefully without breaking the rice. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

For Dragon Chicken:

Marinate the cut chicken cubes with the marination ingredients mentioned above and set aside for like 15 minutes.
Deep fry the marinated chicken until the cubes turn golden brown.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and pour a tbsp of oil (you can reuse the oil used for deep frying)
Once the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic, garlic and saute until the raw smell goes away
Add in the chill flakes and saute for a little while.
Add in the tomato sauce and stir well.
Then add soy sauce and leave it until the broth comes to a boil
Add the fried chicken cubes to the broth and cook until everything is combined well (by now the mixture should have dried down i.e., not like a gravy anymore)
Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped spring onion
Server hot with Prawn rice.

Notes

If you don’t have green chilli sauce at home, chop few green chillies finely and add them to a half cup of water. Allow them to soak for an hour and just use the water (2 tbsp) to the rice.

INDO-CHINESE FRIED RICE

by Deerga // March 5, 2014 // 2 Comments

Though fried rice is a Chinese delicacy, it is very popular in India as well. It is a popular street food there. Fried rice in India is a fusion of Indian spices and Chinese method of preparation, aptly named as Indo-Chinese fried rice. Indo-Chinese fried rice has become so popular that I have seen them as a menu item in some Chinese restaurants here!My inspiration for indo-chinese egg fried rice is my uncle. He is a very good cook and one of his specialties is egg fried rice. Whenever we visit them (Toronto, Canada), we can see it in the menu on one of the days.
The recipe that I have given below is a tried and tested Indo-Chinese version.
Note:- Fried rice prepared in restaurants has ajinomoto as one of the ingredients but I personally don’t prefer using it and it is not healthy as well (read somewhere that it has carcinogenic properties). Also, the one time I used it, I did not notice any difference in the taste.Delicious, right?

5.0 from 1 reviews

Egg Fried Rice (Indo – Chinese)

Recipe type: Lunch/Dinner

Cuisine: Chinese

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2

Indo-Chinese fried rice is a variation of regular chinese fried rice with indian spices. Check out the easy to prepare instructions and enjoy hot fried rice, Indian style!

Ingredients

Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
Green Onion (thinly sliced, green & white separated) - ¼ cup
Garlic, minced - 1 tbsp
Ginger, minced - 1 tbsp
Red Bell Pepper - ¼ cup
Green peas - ½ cup
Carrots -1/4 cup
Cabbage - ¼ cup (optional)
Egg - 1
Cooked basmati rice (or any long grained variety) - 1 cup
Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp or to taste
White pepper – 1 tsp
Chilli garlic sauce – 1 tsp (I used sriracha)

Instructions

Cook the rice and set aside to cool naturally or refrigerate it for at least 3 hours – Drizzle in few drops of gingely oil and mix the rice carefully until grains are easily separated. Do this once before it goes into the refrigerator.
Make sure to keep all the ingredients ready before proceeding.
Heat a wok or any deep frying pan (I would prefer non-stick) in high heat with gingely oil. Add in green onions(only white), ginger and garlic. Stir for 5-6 seconds or until the aroma aroma spreads.
Add rest of the vegetables. Make sure nothing burns given that you are cooking in high flame. And you want the vegetables to be cooked but still crunchy (that’s the reason we chopped them into smaller and uniform pieces). Keep stirring for 40 - 50 seconds.
Now it is time to add the eggs to the sides of the vegetables. Sauté the eggs until well cooked and scrambled (In restaurants they used to add the eggs once after the rice is added. But I prefer this way).
Next add the cooked (refrigerated) rice. Stir until all the vegetables and eggs are combined.
Next add the soy sauce, chilli sauce and white pepper. Stir for the flavors to combine. Make sure you don't stir it too much because that might make the rice mushy.
Garnish with scallion greens. Serve hot with chilli chicken or butter chicken or any sides of your choice.

Notes

1. soak basmati rice in water for 20 minutes before boiling. For 1 cup of rice add 11/2 cups of water.
2. Refrigerate the cooked rice so that you can retain its texture while making fried rice.
3. Chinese foods are mostly (or as far as i know) cooked in high flame. so make sure you keep all the ingredients ready well before starting.
4. Non Vegetarian lovers could also add cooked minced meat right after the eggs are scrambled and before the rice is added. Vegetarians can skip this entire sequence.