During my childbirth confinement, I missed eating seafood so much, especially my favorite shrimp. So, there was no surprise that as soon as the confinement ended, I headed straight to my favorite seafood restaurant and had a feast of seafood meal. I have also resumed cooking, albeit in a small way as I am adjusting to motherhood and my new lifestyle. Needless to say, seafood has been a big part of my diet lately. It’s great to finally return to a normal diet, but time is scarce these days as I dedicate most of my time to my baby, so cooking elaborately and everything-from-scratch will have to take a back seat for the time being…
I think you might remember my Indonesian mie goreng (fried noodles) post not too long ago. After trying out World Foods mie goreng instant paste, I like their products so much that I’ve decided to work with them on a couple of new recipes.
I made this shrimp dish with World Foods Indochina Cambodian Pineapple Lemon Grass Stir-Fry Sauce. As it’s an instant sauce, I dressed things up a bit—some coconut milk, bird’s eye chilies, and basil leaves to complete the taste. The dish took about 30 minutes to make and fit my tight schedules perfectly, and the big plus is that the end result is quite authentic and satisfying.
1 tablespoon oil
12 oz shell-on tiger prawn, headless and deveined
1 bottle World Foods Indochina Cambodian Pineapple Lemon Grass Stir-Fry Sauce (1 cup)
3-4 bird’s eye chilies, pounded
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon water
5-6 Thai basil leaves, coarsely chopped
Method:
Heat up the oil in a stir-fry pan over high heat. Add the prawn and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Pour the stir-fry sauce into the pan and stir well with the prawn. Add the birdâs eye chilies, chili sauce, fish sauce, coconut milk and water. Bring it to boil. Add the basil leaves, dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Hong Kong is 1 of my favorite locations within the globe. Since my primary go to with my family when I was 18-year old, I’ve fallen in love with the exquisite Cantonese cuisine. And when I initial stumbled upon Taste Hong Kong, a website about Cantonese/Chinese recipes, I become an instant fan. Taste Hong Kong can be a great foodwebsite having a clean design and you ought to check out the Recipe index if you really like Chinese/Cantonese foods. These days, Taste Hong Kong is sharing a classic Cantonese fried noodles recipe with us, ç炒麵, or noodles with shredded pork. Just take a look at those toppings and crispy noodles, I am already hungry. Please give your warmest welcome.
Thank you Bee for inviting me to take part in Rasa Malaysia, borrowing what she generally says, “I can’t thank her enough”. So patient and humble is she, I should say I’ve a moment of doubt if this pleasant lady could be the author behind such a well-established website.
Though we have identified every other not extremely long, Bee and I need no warm-up to agree on the subject of this guest post. She suggested to go for a classical Cantonese dish; I reverted to her on this well-liked ‘Fried Noodles with Shredded Pork’ in Hong Kong, that is, the Yuk See Chow Mein (肉絲炒麵) in Cantonese…(get Cantonese fried noodles recipe following the jump)
Restaurants cook these noodles mostly by deep frying, which needs to be the fastest method to get a bed of golden-looking noodles. In our kitchens, nevertheless, we may simply prepare this by shallow frying, a healthier way of cooking yet still retaining the beauty of this dish–crispy noodles with crunchy greens and flavorful meat in hot sauce.
It is been a hectic week and I haven’t had a lot time to cook. Nevertheless, food is foods; you’ve got to satiate your hunger regardless of how busy you’re.
I wanted to prepare anything not overly complicated yet distinct tonight so I cooked up this good serving of IndianMee Goreng.
Sour, spicy, sweet, and tangy arrive as a result of in this dish. I loved the fried bean curd, potato, and squid (a substitute for infant octopus or cuttlefish). Indian Mee Goreng is darn delicious.
August 9th, 2010 | 30-Minute Meals Recipes, Indonesian recipes | 2 Comments
I have been so busy recently I can hardly find any time to have a breather. If you’ve been following my blog and Twitter, you will know that working on my cookbook has pretty much consumed all my time. As a result, I have been eating out more, and cook only when time permits.
In the past, I would always attempt to make my Asian dishes from scratch. If that means tedious work and hours of making my own spice paste, I would do it. But I can no longer afford the time. As a result, instant spice paste and seasonings have become my easy and go-to ingredients nowadays. I absolutely love them, especially the World Foods line of instant paste, condiments, and sauces, which I bought from my neighborhood Whole Foods market. (World Foods products are made in Malaysia and Thailand.) As an Asian food enthusiast, I canât live without my rice, noodles, and I am just so glad that I can still enjoy authentic and scrumptious Asian dishes in practically 15 minutes, with these instant paste products…
For my lunch today, I made Mie Goreng, or Indonesian fried noodles, using World Foods IndonesianFried Rice Paste. It was delicious and so easy to make. Most importantly, it satisfies every ounce of my craving for this noodle dish, and totally reminded me of my holidays in Bali when every lunch, the hotel butler would bring a serving of this flavorful noodles to me!
Here is my mie goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodles) Recipe. Please take note that this is a very simple version of this iconic Indonesian dish. It fits my busy schedules and doesn’t compromise on the taste. You can also use the same paste to make nasi goreng, or fried rice.
2 tablespoons oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz chicken meat, cut into small pieces
6 medium-sized shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 oz cabbage, shredded
6 oz bean sprouts, rinsed with cold water and roots removed (optional)
1 lb yellow egg noodles, rinsed with cold water and drained
3 tablespoon World Foods Nasi Goreng paste
1 1/2 tablespoon kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Tomato wedges, garnishing
Chopped scallion, garnishing
Method:
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the minced garlic and stir-fry until aromatic, then add the chicken and shrimp. Stir continuously until they are half cooked.
Add the cabbage, bean sprouts, and noodles into the wok or skillet and stir fry for about 10 seconds before adding the World Foods Nasi Goreng Paste, kecap manis, and salt.
Using the spatula to toss the noodles and all the ingredients back and forth until well combined, about 1 minute or until the noodles are cooked through.
Dish out, garnish with chopped scallion and a couple of tomato wedges. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Note
World Foods is a Malaysian brand, with its manufacturing facility in Thailand. It offers a range of Asian-flavored sauces and pastes for everyday cooking. The products are available worldwide. In the United States, you can find them at Whole Foods markets and other outlets.
Inside the past, I would constantly attempt to make my Asian dishes from scratch. If that means tedious work and hours of producing my own spice paste, I would do it. But I can no longer afford the time. As a result, immediate spice paste and seasonings have turn out to be my effortless and go-to ingredients nowadays. I absolutely love them, specifically the Globe Foods line of immediate paste, condiments, and sauces, which I bought from my neighborhood Whole Foods market. (World Foods items are made in Malaysia and Thailand.) As an Asian food enthusiast, I can’t live without my rice, noodles, and I am just so glad that I can still appreciate authentic and scrumptious Asian dishes in practically 15 minutes, with these instant paste products…
For my lunch today, I made Mie Goreng, or Indonesian fried noodles, making use of World Foods IndonesianFried Rice Paste. It was delicious and so effortless to produce. Most importantly, it satisfies each ounce of my craving for this noodle dish, and totally reminded me of my holidays in Bali when every single lunch, the hotel butler would bring a serving of this flavorful noodles to me!
Here is my mie goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodles)recipe. Please take note that this is a extremely simple version of this iconic Indonesian dish. It fits my busy schedules and doesn’t compromise on the taste. You’ll be able to also use the same paste to create nasi goreng, or fried rice.
Chinese Recipes – A to B Almond
Boneless Chicken (Wor Su Gai)
Almond Cookies Almond Float Alva’s “Jook” – Chinese-Style Turkey
Soup (Reader Favorite) Ants Climbing a Tree Asian Style Brandy Snap – Orange Almond
Biscuit Asian Pasta Salad Asian-Style Roast Pork Tenderloin Asian Vinaigrette Asparagus Chicken Stir-fry Aunt Florence’s Mochi Chicken Barbecued Spareribs Baked Chicken Chow Mein
Baked
Crab Rangoon Baked Hoisin ChickenWings Baked Pork Chops Bang
Bang (Bon Bon) Chicken Barbecued Pork Barbecued Pork – Savory Basic Beef
Stir-fry
Basic Chinese Yeast Dough Basic Cooked rice Basic
Dough (sweet dough for cocktail buns)Basic
Fried Rice Bean Curd with Black Mushrooms (stir-fried) Bean curd Rolls with Seaweed(vegetarian) Bean Curd with Chinese Broccoli Stir-fry (Reader
Favorite) Beef
and Peppers in Black Bean Sauce Beef and Snow Peas in Oyster Sauce Beef Chow
Fun with Baby Corn Beef Lo Mein Beef
Marinade Beef Satay Beef Stew (Chinese/Hawaiian) Beef Teriyaki Beef with Broccoli
More Recipes Below Beef with Broccoli and Vegetables Beef with Chestnut Stew Beef with Mango
Beef with Red Onions Beef
With Rice Noodles and Fermented Black Beans
Beef
with Sesame Seeds Beef with Spicy Black Bean Sauce Beef with String Beans Beef with Three Vegetables Beef with Tomatoes – a Cantonese
home-cooked dish, with oyster sauce Beef with Tomatoes (Cantonese)
another Recipe using mung bean sprouts with oyster sauce and brown sugar in the
marinade. Beggar’s Chicken
Bernie’s Oriental Ribs Bird’s Nest with Rock Sugar Dessert Soup Blueberry Tofu Smoothie Bok Choy Chicken Soup Bok Choy Chicken Stir-fry in Garlic Bourbon
Chicken Bow Thai Pasta with Shrimp Bow Ties Braised Assorted Fungus (vegetarian) Braised
Beef (an example of
“red-cooking”) Braised
Beef With Vegetables (a more Western-style version) Broccoli
Chicken (with velveted chicken) Broccoli in Oyster Sauce
Brown Sauce Bubble Tea
Bubble
Tea Latte Recipe for One Bubble
Tea Smoothie Buns (Basic Recipe) Butter Prawns
Chinese Recipes – C to E Cabbage with Chinese Sausage Candied Sweet Potatoes Candied Banana Fritters
(Toffee Bananas) Candied
Walnuts Cantonese
Beef and Peppers in Black Bean Sauce Cantonese Roast Duck Cantonese Spring Rolls Cashew Chicken Char Kway Teow Char Siu (barbequed pork) Chengdu Chicken Chicken and Spinach Soup Chicken Chow Mein Chicken
Egg RollChicken
Glazed in Bean Sauce Chicken in Oyster Sauce Chicken
in Rice Casserole (Wat Gai Fan)
Chicken
Lo Mein Chicken Salad with Rice Sticks
Chicken Stock Chicken VelvetChicken Wings, marinated and bakedChicken with Almonds Chicken with Green and Red Peppers Chicken
With Peaches Chicken
With Snow Peas (Mangetout) Chicken with Walnuts Chicken Wontons
Chili Oil
(Hot Chili Oil) Chile Sauce Chilled
Melon Bowl Chilled
Melon Fruit Salad Chinese
Beef Hot Pot – Fondue Chinoise
Chinese
Broccoli (Gai Lan) With Oyster Sauce Chinese
Chicken Salad – with mandarin oranges and chow mein noodles Wok
Cooked Chinese Broccoli With Oyster Sauce Chinese
Cold Chicken (Red Cooked Chicken)Chinese
Coq au Vin Chinese
Crockpot Chicken Chinese
Fruit Salad Chinese
Green Beans (Szechuan Green Beans) Chinese
No Meat Balls (vegetarian) Chinese
Pan-fried Dumplings (potstickers) Chinese
Pizza (vegetarian) Chinese
Potato Salad – from the United States Potato Board Chinese
Steak with Peppers
Chinese Sponge Cake with Coconut Icing Chinese-Style Roast Turkey
Chocolate
Dipped Fortune Cookies Chop
Suey With Pork, Shrimp and Quail EggsClams
in Black Bean Sauce Clam Sycee
Cocktail
Buns (also called Coconut Buns)
Coconut Balls Cold
Cooked Chicken (also called Soy Sauce or Red-Cooked Chicken) Cold Lemon Chicken Cold Szechuan Noodles Crab Rangoon
Crabmeat Ragoon – (reader favorite) Crab Puffs – a Crab Rangoon recipe by Shirley
Fong-Torres Cream Corn Soup
with Crabmeat Crispy
Chicken Legs Curried
Turkey Dinner (Leftover Turkey Recipe) Curry Chicken Curry Chicken in Clay Pot Curried
Chicken – with potatoes, seasoned with yellow curry paste Deep-fried Crullers
Deep-fried Squid With Salt and Pepper Mix Deep fried tofu Dinner Buns with Coconut Milk Dofu fa (Soybean Jelly) Drunken Chicken Dry Garlic Spareribs Dumpling
Dipping Sauce Durian Ice Cream Easy
Asian-Inspired Skillet Dinner (reader favorite) Easy Baked Orange Pork Chops
Easy
Chinese Cucumber Salad Easy
Chinese Green Beans Easy
Peanut Sauce
Egg Custard Tarts Egg Drop (Egg Flower) Soup
– standard recipe, Low Carb Egg
Drop Soup – Low Fat Egg Foo Yung (Egg Foo Young), Stir-fried Egg Fu Yung, Restaurant Style (Deep-fried) Egg Foo Yung – Spicy with Shrimp Eggplant Shu Mai Egg Rolls Egg Roll Wrappers Eight Precious Pudding
5 Minute
Baked Wonton Wrappers 5
Minute Chocolate Dipped Fortune Cookies 5
Minute Cream Corn Soup Five
Spice Peanuts
Flowering
Chives Stir-fry Fortune
Cookies (Basic Recipe)
Flower Rolls (Hua Chuan, Hua Juan) Four Happiness Pork
Fried Fish Fillets and Vegetables Fried Mock Oyster (Vegetarian) Fried Pork with Spring Onions – (reader favorite) Fried Rice – Mama Choo Cha’s Egg Fried Rice Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage Fried Rice With Ham Fried Rice -
Quick and Easy Pineapple Fried Rice Fried
Rice – with Canned Tuna (reader favorite) Fried Rice with Shrimp and Ham Fried Won Tons Fried Wonton Garlic Chicken Garlic Sauce Garlic Scallops Stir Fry
General Tso’s Chicken Ginger Beef Ginger Beef Ginger Beef with Red Ginger (Szechuan dish) Ginger
Garlic Peppered Beef Ginger Ice Cream Ginger Scallion Sauce Glazed
Carrots Governors Chicken Gow Gees
Green Dumplings Green Tea Cakes Grilled Ginger Chicken Gyoza (Japanese Potstickers) Hainanese Chicken Rice Ham Stuffed Turnovers Handpulled Noodles Har Gau Har Gau with Oyster Sauce Hawaiian Luau Barbecued Beef Ribs Hoisin Dip Honey Beef Honey Garlic Barbecue Pork/Spareribs Honey Ham With Asian Pears Honey Walnut Prawns Hot and Sour Shrimp Lo Mein Hot and Sour Soup
Hot Bananas with Cinnamon Coconut Topping
Hot Mustard
Dip Hot Pepper and Black Bean Sauce Hunan Lamb Hunan Smoked Duck Chinese Recipes – I to N
Italian
Style Tofu (fusion) Jiaozi Chinese Dumplings (boiled dumplings) Jook
King Bao Gi Ding Princess Chicken Kung Pao Chicken Kung Pao Chicken (stir-fry) Kung Pao Shrimp Kung Pao Turkey with Roasted Almonds Lamb with Scallions (Mongolian) Leftover
Chicken Stir-fry with Red and Green Peppers Lemon Chicken (Stir-fried) Lemon Chicken (Steamed) Lettuce Wraps Lion’s Head Meatballs Lobster Cantonese Lobster Sauce Longevity Noodles Lotus Wraps Lychee
Granita Maddy’s
Fried Rice with Chicken and Prawns Mah Gu Gai Pin Mandarin Crepes (Chinese Pancakes) Mango Muffins Mango Ice Cream Mango Pudding Mapo Dofu Matchstick Chicken (Hot Chicken Salad) Mini Spring Rolls Mock Crab Claws (vegetarian) Mock Fish Eggplants Mongolian Beef with Vegetables Mongolian Chicken Mongolian Hot Pot Mongolian
Hot Pot with Tofu Mongolian Style Roast Lamb Moo Goo Gai Pan Mooncakes Mu Shu Pork Nian Gao – Chinese New Year Cake Noodleswith Meat Sauce Mixture
Plum Sauce with Allspice Popped Rice with Shrimp Pork
and Plum Stir-fry (Pork tenderloin, stir-fried, with plum sauce)Pork and Shrimp Won Ton Pork Chops with Sweet Red Bean Paste Pork or Beef Chop Suey
Pork Dumplings with Shrimp (Potstickers) Pork Fried Rice Pork Lo Mein With Ramen Noodles
Pork
Marinade Pork, shredded, with Peking Sauce or Hot Bean Paste
(Quick and Easy) Pork Shu Mai Pork-stuffed Mo Qua (fuzzy melon) Pork with Lychees Potsticker Dip Potstickers (with Shrimp and Pork) Potstickers (with Prawns and Chicken or Pork) Prawn
Crackers
Preserved
KumquatsPrincess Chicken Quick
and Easy Chinese Mushroom Soup Quick and Easy Turkey Stir-fry Quick
and Hot Dumpling SauceChinese Recipes – R to S Raspberry Almond Float(a variation on Almond Float
with fresh raspberries)
Red Bean Paste Red Bean Soup Red-cooked Beef Red,
White, and Blue Tofu Roast Turkey Sago Cakes Salmon
RangoonSalt
and Pepper Shrimp Salt and Pepper Spareribs
Salty Soybean Milk Soup Sate Beef
Sauteed Prawns with Hot Sauce Szechuan Prawns with Hot Sauce Prawns With Hot Bean Sauce Scrambled
Eggs With Chives
Scrambled
Eggs With Chives and Sour CreamSesame Chicken Sesame Seed Balls Sesame Seed Fried Custard Shanghai Pan-Fried Noodles Shanghai Stir-fried Noodles Shanghai Vegetable Rice Shrimp Lo Mein With Three Vegetables Shrimp and Scallop Shiu Mai in Spicy Mango Sauce Shrimp Balls
Appetizer Shrimp Toast Shrimp with Green Tea Leaves
Shrimp with Lobster Sauce Shrimp with Lobster Sauce (white sauce
version) (reader favorite) Shu Mai (Siu Mai) Dumplings – (reader favorite) Sichuan Chile Sauce Sichuan
Shrimp with Chili Sauce -
(reader favorite)Singapore Noodles With Shrimp Singapore Noodles With Barbequed Pork Siu Mai – Basic Recipe with Dip
Sizzling Rice Soup Soy and Ginger Sauce
Soy Sauce Chicken Soy
Sauce Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce Spiced Beef Spicy Chicken Wing Spicy Cucumber Spicy Eggplant Spicy
Potato Salad – With a rice vinegar and olive oil dressing Spicy Spareribs Spicy Tofu Stir-fry Spring Beef
on Egg NoodlesSpring
Onion Hotcake (Scallion Pancakes) Spring Rolls Spring
Roll Wrappers
Steamed Chinese Fruitcake (Sticky Cake) Steamed Custard (with pork) Steamed Eggplant
Steamed Sponge Cake
Stir-fried Baby Bok Choy Stir-fried Bean Curd with Mushrooms Stir-fried Bean Sprouts Stir-fried
Beef With Onions Stir- Fried Beef with Oyster Sauce, Quick,Stir-fried Bitter Melon Stir-fried Broccoli, Hong Kong Style Stir-fried
Chicken in Rice WineStir-fried Chicken Chengdu StyleStir-fried Chicken with Mango Stir-fried Clams in Black Bean Sauce Stir-fried Fish Fillets Stir-fried Mock Eel (vegetarian)Stir-fried Pork in Garlic Sauce Stir-fried Pork, Shredded, With Hot Bean Paste Stir-fried
Salt and Pepper Shrimp Stir-fried Shredded Potatoes Stir-Fried Spicy Sweet Potatoes Stir-fried Spinach Strawberry
Chicken Stir-fry Stuffed
Fuzzy Melon (Mo Qua) Stuffed Green Peppers With Shrimp Sui Mai Dumplings (reader
favorite)Sui Mai with Seafood (reader favorite) Sun Ya Fried Rice Sweet Almond Sauce
Sweet and Sour Chicken Sweet and Sour Chicken with Lemon (reader
favorite) Sweet and Sour Fish Sweet and Sour Fish Sauce Sweet
and Sour Pineapple Chicken
Sweet and Sour Pork Sweet and Sour Pork, Cantonese Style Sweet and Sour Sauce
(with brown sugar) Sweet and Sour Sauce (with black rice vinegar) Sweet and Sour Sauce (with Worcestershire sauce) Sweet and
Sour Spareribs Sweet
and Sour Shrimp Sweet and Sour Vegetables
Sweet
Chilli Sauce
Sweet Soybean Milk (Dou Jiang) Sweet Red Bean Paste Pancakes Szechuan
Crispy Beef (Dry-fried Beef) Szechuan Chicken Szechuan
Green Beans (Chinese Green Beans) – made with longbeans Szechuan Guacamole Szechuan Noodles Szechuan Noodles (reader favorite) Szechuan Peppercorn Oil (with Szechuan
peppercorns) Szechuan Hot Pepper Oil (with chili peppers) Szechuan
Peppercorn Salt Szechuan Salt and Pepper Mix (slightly milder
version) Szechuan Pickle Szechuan Style Squid
Chinese Recipes – T to Z Tea Eggs
Tofu and Cashew Chow Mein Tofu Mayonnaise Tomato Egg Drop (Egg Flower) Soup Turkey
Mandarin Salad (Leftover Turkey Recipe) Twice Cooked Pork Ultimate Chicken Stir-fry
(reader favorite) Vegetable Chow Mein
Vegetable Fried Rice
Vegetable Rice Vegetable
Spring Rolls Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls Vegetarian Eight Treasures Vegetarian Country Stew Vegetarian Ham Vegetarian Potstickers Vegetarian Restaurant-style Salad Rolls Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Spareribs Vegetarian Wontons Velveted Scallops With Snow Peas Walnut Cookies Water Chestnut Appetizer West Lake Beef Soup
White Cut Chicken (reader favorite)Winter Melon Soup Wonton Soup Wonton Wrappers
Wor
Tip Cantonese PotstickerXijiang Lamb and Chile Grill (Kao Yang Ruo Chan) XO Sauce Yangchow Fried Rice Yuanxiao
Other:
Fusion Chocolate Fondue – with Chinese spices Romantic
Chocolate Fondue for Two (with Asian fruit dippers)
Chinese
Cuisine Home Page Back to Main
Chinese Recipes Index Chinese
Recipes – Stir-fry Chinese Recipes – Deep-fry
What could symbolize Chinese cooking more than chop suey and chow mein? Even people who steer away from more exotic Asian fare have enjoyed these two dishes at one time or another.
What goes into making these two popular restaurant dishes? Both are stir-fries; while chop suey consists of vegetables and meat with a gravy, chow mein is fried noodle dish. Chow mein noodles are normally made with wheat flour, egg and water â the noodles can be softer or crisper, depending on how long they are fried. Italian pastas such as fettucini or linguine make a good substitute if you don’t have Chinese egg noodles on hand. Both chow mein and chop suey normally contain chicken or meat, although there are also seafood and vegetarian versions.
Does Either Represent Authentic Chinese Cuisine?
Of the two, chow mein is considered to be the more authentic Chinese dish. Food historians generally agree that chop suey as we know it was invented in the United States in the mid-1ᗠ′s, possibly by one of the Cantonese immigrants who flooded California searching for work. Constrained by the lack of Asian vegetables, and trying to produce a Chinese dish palatable to westerners, a Cantonese cook stir-fried whatever vegetables were handy, added some meat or chicken, and served the finished product on a plate of steamed rice. He christened his creation, chop suey, which is the English pronunciation of the Cantonese words “tsap seui” (“tsa-sui” in Mandarin) which means “mixed pieces”.
A variation of the story credits a Japanese chef with inventing chop suey in an effort to appease a visiting general. As it was too late in the evening to prepare a proper meal, the chef simply threw together some leftovers and chop suey was born. In this version the dish was originally called Lee Gone ChopSuey, named after General Lee Hon Chung, the man who inspired its creation.
Entertaining as these stories are, the origins of chop suey may actually lie in the countryside of southern China. According to anthropologist E.N. Anderson, the idea of combining leftover vegetables and noodles into a single, stir-fried dish originated in Toisan, a rural area south of Canton. Since many of the original immigrants to the United States were from this region, they naturally prepared the type of food they were familiar with.
The historical background of chow mein is far less mysterious. Ciao Mein or “fried noodles” originated in Northern China. While the chow mein served at take-outs and many American Chinese restaurants is designed to appeal to western tastes, it is based on an authentic Chinese dish. Until recently, our perceptions of Chinese food were based on early Chinese immigrants, who came primarily from the Canton (Guangzhou) region in southern China. Since they ate rice, we assumed all Chinese eat rice. However, wheat and not rice is the staple crop in the north. So, in a way you can say that chop suey and chow mein represent northern and southern styles of Chinese cooking.
In the Kitchen
Besides being easy to make, both these dishes are very adaptable. Like all Chinese food, what makes chop suey and chow mein memorable is not the specific ingredients so much as the balance between grains and vegetables. I often make them when I want to clean out the refrigerator before the vegetables go stale.
While it’s preferable to have a wok, both these dishes can be made in the frying pan. I’ve included several recipes to give you an idea of how much flexibility you have in deciding precisely what goes into each dish. And don’t be afraid to make substitutions if you don’t have all the ingredients called for in a particular recipe. One final tip: don’t make both dishes on the same night – you’ll be eating leftovers for the next week!
Go to my Previous Features Learn More About Specific Chinese Dishes
You love visiting Chinese restaurants but you’d like to make your personal Chinese food. You love the stir fries, the vegetables as well as the wonton soup. Now it is possible to use Chinese philosophy and techniques to create your own meals. Cook your personal Chinese food by following these hints.
1.Realize the colors, methods and combinations used in Chinese cooking. Chinese food is presented, not just eaten. Plenty of time is spent preparing the meal. You want a well-balanced meal with variety including various textures, colors and tastes.
2.Learn the techniques utilised to develop dishes. Vegetables and meat are cut into equal sized chunks or strips and then combined into attractive and delicious dishes.
3.Prepare all your vegetables and meat prior to you start cooking so that you are able to just throw in what you require without having stopping to cut things up. Cutting as you go can ruin a dish because timing is critical.
5.Create a variety of dishes instead of one large meal. The a lot more dishes, the far better. Use soy sauce and wine to season your dishes. Some meats are marinated prior to getting cooked. Other meat is covered in an egg and flour batter prior to getting deep fried.
6.Use pork and chicken inside your Recipes. Beef is sacred to some although it’s utilized in some Chinese recipes. Wash your meat prior to you use it.
7.Serve Chinese soup with your meal. Serve rice with all your meals. Some meals are served with fried noodles. Soak your rice until it’s soft. Then cook according towards the recipe.
8.Take a Chinese cooking course at a local college. You can find various schools of Chinese cooking. Specialize in a single and find out the techniques well.