Cook Chinese at Home

Chinese food has been my favorite as far as I can remember. The problem is after having it at a restaurant, you feel so heavy and so full even if you don't eat that much. Just makes me really think of how much stuff they put in the food. Has anyone looked at the nutrition facts for Chinese food at restaurants? Our beloved orange peel chicken at PF Chang's is 860 calories a serving. A dish contains 3 servings, so do the math! Sigh. A few birthdays ago, my aunt, Eileen, gave me a wok and a stir-fry cookbook. So far I've made the fried rice multiple times along with a couple of chicken dishes and I've definitely discovered my specialty in cooking! Who would've known? An Armenian girl with a specialty in Chinese food. Hah! It's actually not as hard as I thought it would be. So here's a recipe for egg-fried rice with vegetables and sweet & sour chicken.

Egg-Fried Rice with Vegetables (Serves 4)

Ingredients

4 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 fresh red chilies, seeded and chopped
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 oz snow peas, halved
2 oz baby corn, halved
3 tbsp Thai soy sauce
1 tbsp light brown sugar
few Thai basil leaves
3 cups rice, cooked and cooled
2 eggs, beaten
2 onions, sliced


1. Heat half the oil in a wok and saute the garlic and chilies for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the mushrooms, snow peas, and corn, and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes before adding the soy sauce, sugar, and basil. Stir in the rice.


3. Push the mixture to one side of the wok and add the eggs to the bottom. Stir until lightly set before combinging the rice mixture.

4. Heat the remaining oil in another wok and saute the onions until crispy and brown. Serve the rice topped with the onions.

Sweet & Sour Chicken (Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1lb lean chicken meat, cubed
5 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh gingerroot
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, finely sliced
1tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp finely chopped scallion

Marinade

2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
pinch of white pepper
1/2 tsp salt
dash of sesame oil

Sauce

8 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp sugar
2 tsp light soy sauce
6 tbsp ketchup

1. Place all the marinade ingredients in a bowl
and marinate chicken pieces for at least 20 minutes



2. To prepare the sauce, heat the vinegar in a pan and add the sugar, light soy sauce, and tomato ketchup. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then set aside.



3. In a preheated wok, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil and stir-fry the chicken until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove and set aside.

4. In the clean wok, heat the remaining oil and cook the garlic and gingerroot until fragrant. Add the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for 1 minute. Finally add the sauce and sesame oil, then stir in the scallion and serve.

Prepared and Posted by Edit Issagholian