Lemongrass Jalapeno Chicken Stir Fry

Here is another one of my favorite recipes!  I've often joked about opening a restaurant completely devoted to LEMONGRASS!  I think there is already a Lemongrass restaurant in Southwest Houston, but it is not even close to what MY Lemongrass would be like! 

Lemongrass, also known as Cymbopogon, or XA (sah) in Vietnamese, is a widely used herb in Southeast Asian cuisine.  It has a subtle citrus flavor and can be dried and powdered, or used fresh.  I wouldn't recommend ingesting lemongrass in bigger bitesize pieces.  It becomes strawlike and stringy.  I always use the minced form unless I am adding lemongrass stalks to my soups or broths.

I grew up eating Ga Xao Xa Ot (Lemongrass chicken) as a bone-in dish with big chunks of chicken and a more caramel-ly flavor.  Over the years, I have altered my mom's recipe a bit.  It isn't so much caramelized as it is savory and spicy!  Give it a try, you're going to love this dish!

BUY:

• minced garlic
• olive oil
• one whole sliced onion
• green onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 fresh jalapenos, sliced
• onion powder (few dashes)
• garlic powder (few dashes)
• white pepper (black is fine)- (few dashes)
• 3 chicken breasts (sliced into bite-size pieces)
• finely chopped lemongrass (1-2 tsp)
• red pepper flakes (for heat, 1-2 tsp)
• fish sauce (muoc mam)
• oyster flavor sauce
• corn starch - 2 tsp

PREP:

Marinade for chicken:

• sesame oil, 2 tsp minced garlic, 2-3 tbsp of fish sauce, 1-2 tbsp of oyster flavor sauce, few dashes of cayenne (Remember marinades are very forgiving, exact measurements are not super important)

Add sliced chicken breast and marinade in separate bowl for 30 mins prior to cooking

optional (for color): 

• Slice onions, green onions, jalapenos
• Julienne bell pepper, optional
• Julienne red pepper, optional

CUC:

1. add oil and garlic to heated pan
2. add chicken, set aside marinade bowl (do not wash yet)
3. saute until almost cooked through
4. add lemongrass and stir
5. Add bell peppers, red peppers, and onions, saute for a few minutes until veggies are cooked to your liking
6. Add jalapenos (they cook very fast)
7. Add the remaining ingredients to the marinade bowl (onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, fish sauce, oyster flavor sauce, corn starch, and about 1/4 cup of warm water).  Mix until the corn starch has dissolved. 
8. Add mixture to pan and stir.  The mixture will create a thicker and more consistent sauce for the stir fry.  Serve with jasmine rice :)

Grilled Lemongrass Pork Chops

Every chef has a signature dish or something she is known for knockin’ out of the park . . . this, my friends, is mine J  I’ve been accused of lacing these bad boys with crack!  Harharhar!  This is a really easy recipe that involves a few of those Asian essential ingredients that I love to cook with:  nuoc mam, oyster flavor sauce, garlic powder, white pepper and onion powder!

BUY:

• 8-10 thin pork chops with bone-in
• Minced garlic – 1-2 tsp
• Oyster flavor sauce  - 1-2 tbsp
• White pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder (1/2 tsp each)
• Cayenne pepper – a few sprinkles
• Sesame Oil – 2-3 drops
• Fish sauce (nuoc mam) – 3 tbsp
• Red pepper flakes – 1 tbsp

PREP:

In a large ziploc bag, place all of the ingredients.  Add the pork chops to the marinade.  Leave in fridge for at least an hour before cooking.

I like to serve these chops with jasmine rice and a cucumber, tomato, onion salad.  You can make this and leave in fridge to cool until you’re ready to serve supper!

Cucumber Tomato Onion Salad:  Dice one red onion, a few roma tomatoes, and one large cucumber into ¼ inch size cubes, set aside.

Dressing for the salad:  In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp of sugar, ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar, ½ tbsp. of crushed black pepper, and 2-3 splashes of olive oil.  Stir until sugar has dissolved.

**Don’t pour the dressing over the salad until ready to serve, it will make everything soggy.  When ready, toss the salad in the dressing and add fried onions and a couple of tears of a cilantro bunch to finish.

CUC:

I use a gas grill . . . don’t be disappointed, I hope my next grill can be both a gas and charcoal master!  Gas is good because it heats up quickly and can be controlled with more precision.

I normally start the grill on high, use a half of an onion on end of a barbecue fork to clean the grill and then reduce heat to 375-400 degrees.  Place chops on the grill and close the top.  **The thickness of your chops will determine the cooking time.  I usually use thin chops, so cooking will be rather quick, about 10 mins (5 mins on each side).

Remove chops from the grill when finished, remember to turn off the gas valve.

Plate with a serving of jasmine rice and cucumber tomato salad.

My mouth is watering already!!!  Hope you enjoy it!

Egg Rollin'

Vietnamese Shrimp Egg Rolls

 I can’t tell you how often we crave these in my house, it is so easy to make if you have all of the ingredients around . . . most of the ingredients are dry so you can keep them handy in your pantry J 

There have been many occasions when I don’t have this or that so any variation of these will work just fine, be creative, be brave . . . they will taste great if you season them right! 

Remember, these are CUC recipes, these will not taste like traditional Vietnamese or Chinese egg rolls you may be expecting, but I promise you’ll never settle for one of those again after you have one of these! ;)

*Let me apologize now for my incorrect use of measurement . . . I’m a CUC.  In my kitchen, there are dashes, splashes, a little bit of this and a lot of that.  I’ve tried to guesstimate the equivalent portions as best as I can.   Cooking is so much more forgiving than baking!  It’s ok if you don’t have exact measurements, most of the time, the measurements are for marinades, and you really can’t do much damage that way! 

CUC ON!

This recipe will make about 24-30 egg rolls, takes less than an hour to prepare and cook.

BUY:

• 1 lb Shrimp – probably the best place to buy shrimp is at the Asian market, it is always so much less expensive- anywhere between $3.99 - $5.99 a lb, depending on the size.   This is what I use out of convenience and because they will be mashed up anyway. The size really doesn’t matter.   I usually go for the medium sized, already peeled ones (you have to devein yourself).  HEB has the med large ones already deveined and halved, so peeling is super easy – so this will be your best bet!  Use a large knife to chop up the raw shrimp into a paste.
• 1 yellow onion - medium sized, diced into tiny pieces
• Garlic (1 heaping tbsp) – use the already minced in a jar version (I always keep a large jar of this in my fridge, makes things that much simpler)
• ½ cup chopped Mushrooms – I’ve used all kinds, from portabellas to Chinese dried fungus (the black ones); my favorite is the black fungus.  Whichever you use, dice into small pieces.
• 2 bundles of Glass Noodles (bean thread) – one of my pantry essentials, so easy to use! Soak the noodles in hot water til soft (5 mins), then chop into small sections to be added to the mixture.  
• Sesame or olive oil (1 tsp)
• Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) – 2 tsp

Any of these brands will work

• Maggi (special soy sauce) – 2 tsp 

• Ground Black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
• 1 pack Rice Paper – I use the small ones, (6 inch diameter)

• warm water to dip rice paper in

 CUC:

Get yourself a helper like mine :)  He is awesome at rollin!!!  back to work, no smiling!

• Mix all of the ingredients into a large bowl. 
• One of my tricks is to set 2-3 plates out for rolling the egg rolls.  By the time I am finished rolling the first one, the next paper will be ready for rolling.  You should start with 2, not 3, leave that to the pros ;)
• Dip and rotate the rice paper quickly in the hot water bowl.  DO NOT let it sit (will become gummy and un-usable)

• *When deep frying rice paper, you have to be very careful, there is water in the rolls that you just made, drop slowly and watch out for popping.
• Shrimp cooks very quickly, kepp turning the rolls in the oil and when you notice the mixture turning orangey, it is done cooking.  Rice Paper egg rolls will not turn the golden brown that you are used to seeing on egg rolls, they tend to be very light in color when they are cooked.

So my mom finally decided to share one of her egg roll cookin secrets with me after 20 yrs!!!  She adds a little bit of brown sugar to the warm water to give the egg rolls some color and the brown sugar is not overpowering and only adds a tiny bit of sweetness to the already delicious flavor!

NOM:

I usually have these yummy egg rolls with rice vermicelli, lettuce, mints, cilantro and cucumber and really tasty Nuoc Mam sauce (this is not the same as the store bought fish sauce in the bottle, this is a special Lam family recipe).  I will post soon!!!  Enjoy!

Other variations:

If you are making a ton of these, add 1/2 lb of ground pork to the recipe!  I have also used lump crab meat with my shrimp mixture.   One time I added cilantro, green onions and jalapenos to the mixture and I must say, it was pretty fantabulous!  You really can't go wrong as long as your have shrimp, glass noodles and onions!

If you are not a fan of the rice paper egg rolls, you can always use the traditional egg roll wrapper, it is rice flour based and will fry up much easier, but you will have to cook them a bit longer.   You will need to use an actual egg to seal the egg roll wrapper versus jsut warm water.  

They will be equally delicious!!