Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

Wow, I am so sorry for a long hiatus! I promised more updates sooner, but I got sick and I was out for a good 3 days with the flu! But I am back! I still have a good couple weeks left before I start my job, so there is still plenty of time left for me to do some good posts! Oh, in my defense, last Sunday I cooked up a feast, but wasn't able to blog about any of it because of being in a hurry and not being able to take pictures! But I did do a lot of cooking, just not for my blog!

I had some company over today and wanted to make a couple things for them. I made Pineapple Fried Rice and also Lemon Bars, which I will be posting about tomorrow! Both turned out delicious, which I do admit were said to me by my company and my family since my tastes buds have yet to recover after my flu! But I will go ahead and trust their judgement since they usually don't lie, especially my dad! Alright, enjoy everyone!

Ingredients for Fried Rice

Ingredients (3-4 servings):

1 cup pineapple pieces

4 cups cooked (Basmati or Jasmine) rice

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 scallions

1/3 cup onions

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp ginger

2 green chilies
1/4 cup basil leaves

1 egg
1 cup broccoli

-----Stir-Fry Sauce-----

3 tbsp chicken (or vegetable) stock or broth

3 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp sugar

-----garnish items (optional)-----

1/8 cup fresh coriander powder

1 scallion

1/4 cup cilantro

Instructions:

1. Chop up the scallions, onions, mince the garlic and ginger, cup up the chilies, basil, and broccoli..

2. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the rice to break up the rice into individual pieces that stand alone.

3. Heat a wok or large frying pan with 3 tbsp of oil on medium-high heat.

4. Add scallions, onions, garlic, ginger, chilies, basil, and broccoli to wok. Stir fry for about 1-2 minutes or until onions become a little transparent. 

5. Move everything in the wok aside and add the eggs.  Cook the eggs like you would when you scramble eggs.

6. In a small bowl, mix together the chicken broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, curry powder, and sugar until they are will combined.

7. Add the stir-fry sauce to the wok.

8. Add the white rice to the wok and make sure the sauce covers all of the rice. This should only take a couple minutes.  Make sure not to over stir and mix by lifting rice from the bottom and bringing it to the top. Over mixing can cause the rice to become mushy.

9. Add the pineapple pieces to the wok and make sure to mix everything.

10. Do a final taste test.  If rice is not salty enough add more soy sauce, if not spicy enough add more chilies or sriracha sauce, and if too salty add lemon juice. 

11. Garnish the fried rice with coriander powder, scallion, and cilantro.

12. ENJOY!

Tofu and Rice Noodle Stir-fry

Tofu and Rice Noodle Stir-fry

Hi everyone, I am back!  I am done with finals, done with classes, done with my whole entire undergrad, but more importantly, I have myself a job! Yes, everything fell into place quite nicely and believe me this is very good news for my blog.  This means for the next few weeks (while I relax a bit and wait to start my job) I will be cooking A LOT and trying lots of different things!

So first item that I made for my family was a very nice Asian inspired dish.  I have been making a lot of desserts so I thought I should make some main dishes.  This turned out really good and even the kiddies liked it.  And I don't know about you, but I love me my TOFU! Oh and the best part is this dish is very healthy, low-fat and takes about 30 minutes total to make! :D

Ingredients for Stir-fry

Ingredients (5-7 servings):

8 oz. rice stick noodles

1.5 cup cubed tofu (firm, extra firm, or stir fried tofu works)

2 tsp cornstarch

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp garlic

1/2 cup red onion

2 red bell pepper

2 1/2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

1/2 cup chicken stock (or vegetarian stock)

3 cups bean sprouts

-----for stir-fry sauce-----

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp lime juice

1/4 cup chicken stock (or vegetarian stock)

-----for garnishing items (optional)-----

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup scallions

1/2 cilantro

sriracha sauce to taste

Instructions:
1. Place a pot on the stove top with 3 cups of water on high heat.  Once water is hot, lower heat to medium-low and let rice sticks soak for about 10 minutes or until they are soft, but still a bit firm.  Once they are done, drain the water and wash noodles with cold water.
2. Mix together all the stir-fry sauce ingredients: soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and chicken stock.

3. Cut the tofu into cubes.  If using fried tofu, you will not have to do this.  (I think fried tofu would have been a better option for this dish just because the tofu is very delicate. Still delicious though!)

4. Stir together the cornstarch and soy sauce and pour over the tofu.  Let marinade for about 5 minutes.

5. Mince the ginger and garlic.  Cut the red peppers and onions into strips.

6. Heat a wok or a large frying pan with oil.
7. Once oil is hot, add the tofu with all the marinade along with the garlic and ginger.
8. Once marinade has reduced or tofu mixture has become dry, add a few tablespoons of chicken stock every time wok starts to get dry.  Stir until the stock has reduced and then more tablespoons of stock.  Keep adding tablespoons of stock at a time until all chicken stock is done.
9. Add the red peppers and onions to the wok and stir for about 2-3 minutes.

10. Add the rice noodles and stir-fry sauce to the wok.
11. Toss everything together in the wok like you would a salad, making sure to evenly coat the rice noodles.
12. Add the bean sprouts and toss again.
13. Remove from heat, and taste. Add 1 tbsp of fish sauce or soy sauce if not salty enough. If too salty, add another squeeze of lime juice.
14. Place on serving plate and sprinkle coriander power on top.
15. Garnish with bean sprouts, scallions, and cilantro.  Add a lime slice and sriracha on the side.
16. ENJOY!