Vegetable Fried Rice - quick and easy homemade chinese

The fried rice is the most ubiquitous thing on any chinese menu, whether it be a chinese takeout in the USA, or any Indo chinese menu in the smallest desi town. Whatever we order, the fried rice is generally a part of it. A special note, as most vegetarians and vegans know - the fried rice is offered as part of the entree in almost any chinese takeout place, but this has pork, so we almost always (have to) go with steamed rice, and then the 'vegetable fried rice - NO EGG' is a seperate order.

I think this may have been the first 'chinese' recipe I may have tried out, several years ago. There have been some changes in the way I make this, over the years. The Indian style 'chilli' sauce has given way to Sriracha or red pepper flakes, the soy sauce has become low sodium or Liquid Aminos(not low sodium), and the MSG or ajinomoto has been abandoned. I also tend to add more vegetables, and more variety of vegetables. I now have access to the exotic genre of vegetables - mushrooms, coloured peppers, coloured cabbage, baby corn etc. etc. Also, my favoured method for making any pulao, pilaf, fried rice etc. is to start out with loads of raw vegetables so that the finished product has at least 50% vegetables even after the veggies cook down, and you get several veggies in each bite, without having to 'search' for them. Each restaurant or takeout joint has their own thing, of course, and my latest favourite as far as fried rice goes has been the newly opened or relatively newly opened Rainbow buffet in the Short Pump Walmart complex. For less than 6 bucks, you get a relatively bottomless paper carton that is stashed with the ultimate fried rice. Slight snag - the oil and salt are on the high side, of course.

So back to our recipe, you start out with several vegetables, anything you have on hand and chop away merrily while your rice cooks. I have used white rice, and always just wanted to try brown rice. But you can use it by all means. There are also other vegetables I did not have such as baby corn, green beans, mushrooms, tofu etc. etc. that can be added to the pot. The detailed description follows -

Ingredients -

1.5 cups dry white long grain rice/jasmine rice

1 cup thinly cut cabbage

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped green peppers

1 cup chopped red peppers

2 cups thick sliced onions

1 cup chopped scallions or green onions

1 cup defrosted green peas or sweet peas

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp sriracha sauce/sambal olek

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar or white vinegar

1 tsp honey

1 Tbsp white or black pepper

salt optional

1-2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Optional vegetables

1 cup each of

baby corn

green beans

mushrooms

chopped tofu

Method -

1) Chop all the vegetables in a similar size. You can either make long thin slivers/juliennes as is common in Indo-chinese food, or fine dice everything. The onion should be thick, so that it retains a slight crunch.

2) Boil or cook rice according to package instructions. As I mentioned before, the water to be added to rice depends on what kind it is. Generally, you can go with 1.5 to 2 cups for Indian Basmati rice, or upto 3 cups for Sona Massorie, Kolamb etc. The older the rice, the more water it absorbs. If you cook rice everyday, you will have guaged how much water your current batch needs to give a dry grainy cooked product. We do not want moist and mushy rice for this fried rice.

3) Empty the rice on a flat colander or a platter and spread out and let it cool some. This seperates the grains and keeps the rice dry, as you are getting rid of any residual steam.

4) Heat a skillet, preferably with a thick bottom and a wide base and add oil. I am using my Calphalon tri ply saute pan, which I have found to be perfect for these kind of dishes such as noodles, pasta, fried rice etc., where I want a wider surface area.

5) Add the vegetables such that the longest to cook goes in first. Saute each vegetable for a minute and add the next. I have come up with my own order depending on how much bite I like in a particular vegetable. Add carrots, peppers, cabbage, scallions and onions.

6) Add the soy sauce, hot sauce, pepper, vinegar and honey. Add salt at the end only if needed. I used Kikkoman soy sauce this time, and it is salty enough that you do not need excess salt. The same thing applies to Braggs Aminos.

7) Stir the veggie mixture around. We want this bite tender since it will cook a bit again with the rice.

8) Add all the cooked rice and mix well. All the rice should be coated with the sauce. You may need to sprinkle some water at this point, or add some more diluted soy sauce if the rice looks too dry.

9) Add the peas at this time. We are adding the peas last so that they retain their fresh green colour.

10) Cover and simmer for some time. This will allow everything to steam together and the flavours to mingle.

11) Serve hot along with any chinese style stir fry, or just on its own.

This is a healthier alternative to the restaurant bought chinese fried rice, and is ready in a jiffy. What is your favourite kind of fried rice? Do you have any particular takeout style recipe? I am all eager to hear your own experiences and comments.

General Tso's Tofu - chinese takeout treat

General Tso's is a pretty popular item on the chinese takeout menu. Called by different names such as General Tao etc., it is doubtful if there was ever any such general in the chinese army. But this General is pretty favoured by one and all when they order their favourite takeout. We had a weekly lunch thing at one of the places I worked where we always ordered chinese food, and general tso's chicken was always my favourite. I later found a few places that had General Tso's tofu on the menu. Some joints were obliging enough to substitute tofu for meat in the sauce by special request.
I had no idea of the nostalgia the thought of this would evoke, while I was down with a cold for a week, unable to taste anything, in a land far away without access to my usual speed dial for Chinese Express or City Lights. A little bit of standard browsing via google revealed a few recipes for the sauce. Interestingly enough, I found hardly any food blogs that had posted this recipe. At least, none of my usual 'favourites' of vegan/vegetarian blogs seemed to feature this. I particularly liked the recipe for the general Tso sauce by Tyler Florence given on the Food Network website. Not that I used it verbatim, but I took it as a broad guideline.

I wanted this to taste like American Takeout Chinese, and not like 'Indian Chinese'. Surprisingly enough, to my delight, I found that I did get the taste and flavour I wanted. I have often wondered what makes these two adaptations of Chinese cuisine so different, since most of the sauce ingredients are the same. I think its the particular soy sauce and also the dash of sesame oil that makes all the difference. I spent the big bucks on a small bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce, but it was worth it. I would really have preferred to use Braggs Liquid Aminos, because I have come to love its flavour much more than any ordinary soy sauce. But finding a bottle of Braggs here is as impossible as seeing orange groves on the South Pole. The recipe follows without further ado.

Ingredients:
1 Package Extra Firm Tofu
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup finely chopped scallions
2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 Tbsp fresh chopped garlic
1 cup soy sauce for sauce
3-4 Tbsp soy sauce
Sambal olek to taste
2 Tbsp + 1/2 cup Rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup honey
Cornstarch as needed for coating
2 Tbsp cornstarch for slurry
Oil for frying
Black/white pepper to taste

Method:
1) Wash, drain and cube the tofu in pieces of desired size, and arrange in a large zip lock bag or a shallow dish
2) Sprinkle soy sauce, sambal olek/chilli paste or sriracha sauce, grated ginger and white pepper
3) Toss lightly so that all the tofu is coated with the marinade and refrigerate for an hour or more
4) Add some corn starch to the marinated tofu a little at a time, and keep tossing lightly until all the tofu is lightly coated. This will act as a binder and also give a crispy cover to the tofu when we fry it. Alternately, the marinated tofu can be spread around on a sheet pan and baked in an oven for 15-20 mins at 400F, turning once. Since I was going for the 'takeout' effect, I decided to go all out and fry mine.
5) Heat some vegetable oil, roughly a cup, in a wok and fry the tofu in small batches. Drain on some paper towels. You should not need a lot of oil, and the remaining oil can be used while making the sauce. ( This is a step where you need to guard your tofu. Half of it will disappear as samples. The best thing is to get some more tofu than the recipe demands).
6)Wash and clean broccoli and tear into florets, or you can use frozen florets. Heat water in a saucepan and steam the broccoli for 3-4 minutes until just tender and shock it in cold water. This will help in preserving the colour. Set this aside.

For the sauce -
7) In a bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients such as soy sauce, vinegar, honey ( or sugar), 1 tsp sesame oil, sambal olek, white pepper and grated ginger.
8) Now we can utilize the remaining oil in the wok. Add half the scallions and the garlic to the hot oil and fry for a minute without letting it burn. Add the sauce mixture.
9)Add three cups water. I made a Lot of sauce, but if you want less, you can adjust the soy/vinegar accordingly. I found that this vinegar was a bit much so I will reduce it next time. The soy sauce also had enough salt so that I did not need to add Any salt seperately.
10) Bring the sauce to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare a slurry with 2 spoons of cornstarch and some water. Add this gradually to the sauce and let it thicken. The sauce is done when it develops a glaze. Taste and adjust any seasonings per taste.
11) Add the fried tofu and broccoli to the sauce just before serving or vice versa. Garnish with the remaining scallions. Serve this with hot steamed white rice or any other rice of choice.
This is by no means a 'healthy' recipe, since it is high in sodium and oil. The only solace is that it has a lower calorie count than what you would get in a restaurant, and I know what ingredients, esp what kind of oil went into it. And hey, vegetable/sunflower oil is better than cheesy or creamy sauces anytime, right? ;). As mentioned above, this can be modified to be slightly more figure friendly by baking the tofu and using a low sodium soy sauce.
It certainly hit the spot for me, and more chinese takeout style recipes are coming up soon.

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

Hello Readers and wish you a very Happy New Year! This must be the only blog that slumped down before it ever took off.. And I have yours truly to blame for that. I was travelling extensively the past two months and blogging took a backseat. But I am back with good intentions and greater resolutions to not go on a hiatus anytime soon.

Lettuce wraps have always seemed magical to me. I first came across them at PF Changs where they seemed something exotic at first glance. They are a dieters' delight, promising to satisfy almost any criteria like low carb, meat only, vegetarian, salad centric etc etc. The restaurant rarely served a veggie version, although lately both Changs and the local Peking deigned to provide us a meat free one. So maybe its based on their mood, or they are thinking 'healthy', or they just pull straws to decide what to do. Either ways, I decided the time had finally come to take the mystery out of it and finally try this seemingly simple but scrumptious dish at home.

When you think Chinese ( at least Indo chinese), you automatically think of certain vegetables like cabbage, carrots, french beans, capsicum etc. But this was a day when I was running short on fresh veggies, and there was also a big half-used bag of Asian stir fry in the freezer that I had to use soon. That gave rise to an idea and also the base of my vegetarian filling. The sauce, we decided should be inspired by Chang's. If you have ever been to this place, they have a trademark method where the server comes and creates the signature sauce for you. Basically, they just have mustard, vinegar and chilli oil on the table and explain how mixing these in varying proportions will either burn your tongue or clear your sinuses ;). The filling in the restaurant is very dry and smoky and you have to add the sauce on top. I wanted to shorten the journey from plate to mouth and reduce the steps in between, so I decided to make a jumbo superset of a filling.
I slightly thawed the stir fry veggies and put them in the food processor. A few pulses and it yielded 3-4 cups of very finely chopped veggies. I used TVP or Nutrela to add some protein component. I actually used Nutrela granules but you can also use any TVP you get in the bulk bins, I suppose. Crumbled tofu would also be a good option here. I just used what I had on hand.

So we start with a tbsp of optional oil - optional as you will not taste this at all, and not using it will make no difference. Add about 2 tbsp of chopped garlic and crushed red pepper flakes to this oil. Once that changes colour a bit, add the chopped veggie mixture and the soy granules ( soaked in hot water for a few minutes till they soften) and fry for a few minutes. Keep frying till the veggies are half cooked. Now this is a point where you can decide how far you want to go according to your personal taste. Since I was using frozen veggies, they were soft anyway, but if you are using fresh crunchy ones, you can just saute them for a few minutes on high heat and keep them crunchy. I also added a few chopped scallions to the veggies.

The sauce - I think the sauce is important in this dish and makes this dish very versatile. You can vary the taste every time by changing the sauce. I mixed some dijon mustard, some sriracha hot sauce, some ketchup and some soy sauce, and as weird as it may sound, this gave a really lip smacking taste to the whole thing. The ketchup added a hint of tomato and some sweetness. I also added some fresh lime juice. The crunch came from toasted peanuts, toasted sesame seeds and chooped scallions that I liberally garnsihed the dish with.

Now lets talk about the wrap aspect of this dish. I think iceberg lettuce is the best for this, but you may try other kinds if you want. They key is to freeze the lettuce leaves a bit so that they are cold and crispy. Also, the veggie mixture should be really hot and steaming. I am sure we all know how to proceed next, but in case of doubts, let me explain. You peel away one or two layers from the iceberg and make a sort of shallow dish of it on your palm. Then you spoon the steaming mixture in it and add any hot sauce etc. you want. Then close the two ends like a soft taco or wrap and Dig In !!

You can now proceed to gorge on this spicy treat w/o any guilt whatsoever ! I hope you try this simple dish and enjoy it at home. It's a crowd pleaser too, and needs about the same effort whether you make it for 4 people or 8. The recipe is as follows. Photos are coming soon, as soon as I get rid of some upload error I am getting.


Ingredients:

• 4 cups finely chopped vegetables


• 1/2 cup chopped scallions or green onions ( both white and green part)


• 2 tblsp chopped garlic fresh


• Iceberg lettuce - 1 head or as needed


• 1 cup soaked TVP or Nutrela granules


• Crushed red pepper

Sauce:

• Dijon or chinese mustard - 1 tbsp or to taste


• Soy sauce - 1 tbsp


• Hot sauce - 1 tsp acc to taste


• Vinegar - 1 tsp

Garnish:

• Toasted peanuts - 2-3 tbsp


• Toasted sesame seeds - 2-3 tbsp


• Scallions


• Chopped cilantro


• Lime or lemon wedges

Method

1. Pulse Veggies in the food processor. You may also chop them finely by hand if desired.


2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok and add chopped garlic and crushed red pepper. Saute for half a minute and add all the vegetables. Saute till vegetables soften slightly.


3. Add the TVP/soya granules. Saute some more and add all the sauce ingredients. Mix it well till it is heated through.


4. Garnish with peanuts, sesame, scallions etc.

Serve piping hot with chilled lettuce leaves.