Mahi Mahi in a Pouch

Ingredients
3 mahi mahi fillets                  Pepper
2 stalks of celery                    Sugar
1 red pepper                          Garlic
Mushrooms                           Olive oil
1/2 yellow onion
6 stalks of green onions
3-4 slices of ginger
Balsamic vinegar
Soy sauce
Salt

This is the best way I found to make mahi mahi, which is a more dense kind of fish.
                                                           
To cook: 
1. Marinate mahi-mahi with salt, sugar, soy sauce, and 3 drops of balsamic vinegar, set aside.
2. Slice celery, red pepper, mushrooms, yellow onions, green onions and ginger. Mince garlic.
3. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Cut a large sheet of parchment paper and place on a cookie sheet.  Put vegetables on parchment paper. Add salt, pepper, and minced garlic to vegetables, mix well.  Splash olive oil on veggies.
5. Put mahi mahi on top of the vegetables. Place ginger on the fish,  and add green onions on top of the ginger and fish. Splash olive oil on top.
6. Put one more piece of parchment paper on top of everything and close it up by folding in sides.
7. Put pouch on cookie sheet and bake in oven for 20 minutes.

Note: The veggies turned out to be more al dente and crunchy.  For softer veggies, I would pre-steam them first next time.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients
Fish paste (can be bought in Chinese grocery store's freezer aisle)
2 big green peppers
Corn starch (1 tablespoon)
Lee Kam Kee garlic and black bean sauce (2 tablespoons)
1 egg white
White pepper (1 teaspoon)

Steps to cook
1. Cut green peppers in halves, then for each half, cut into quarters, then half of the quarter resulting in about 6 pieces from each half.
2. Scoop out fish paste from container, mix in white pepper, egg white, and corn starch.  This mixture helps to bind the fish paste together and stick really well.  Since you'll be using the garlic and black bean sauce, you don't really need to add any more salt or soy sauce at this point.
3. Prepare some additional corn starch in small bowl for next steps.
4. Before stuffing, coat the inside of pepper with a little cornstarch, this will help the fish paste to stick the peppers.  Then, use a small spoon to stuff fish paste into the pepper.  Make sure not to stuff too much or it won't cook through.
5.  After stuffing fish paste, coat a little corn starch onto fish paste side.  This will help the fish paste not to stick to the pan when frying.
6. After stuffing all the peppers, now frying time.
7. In a non-stick pan, heat up wok in medium heat, put peppers in pan fish paste side down.  Pan fry for a few minutes until golden brown, then flip to other side and cook for a few more minutes.  Flip a couple more times until fish paste feels firm when you press with spatula.  This indicates the fish paste is cooked.  After all peppers are done, remove from wok.
8. Add garlic and black bean sauce in wok, then add the peppers back in, stir fry in sauce for a few minutes, remove from wok.  Done!

Steamed Egg Made Easy

This is the perfect dish to make whenever you need to add a "third" dish, or just want something other than meat and veggies.  It only takes 5 mins to prep and it's absolutely great for kids.  It has this smooth custard-like texture that's super yummy.  You can add any other ingredients from ground pork to Chinese mushrooms to dried shrimp to this.  It's great when you mix with rice, my kids would just finish their bowl of rice in 5 mins and ask for seconds!

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 salted duck egg
1 cube of chicken bouillon (optional)
A pinch of sugar
Sesame oil
Green onion





Steps to cook
1. Crack salted duck egg and put into bowl.  Use a spoon to mash egg.
2. Crack 3 eggs and add into bowl.  Add bouillon, sugar, then beat everything together with a fork or chop sticks.
3. Add 1.5 cups (exact measurement) of warm water to eggs.  Continue to stir the egg while pouring water.  The ratio is 1 egg to 0.5 cup of water.  This ratio will ensure great consistency.
4. To remove the bubbles on top, lay a piece of paper towel on surface of egg mixture, lightly dab around the whole surface, especially around the rim where the bubbles reside.  Carefully lift towel off.  This will get rid of all the bubbles!
5. Drizzle a little sesame oil on egg mixture, then add chopped green onions.
6. The trick to perfectly smooth looking steamed egg: wrap bowl tightly with plastic wrap (microwavable kind).  This will prevent residual water of the steam from dropping onto the egg making it look like a crater!
7.  Boil water in wok with steam rack in center.  Once water is boiling, put your bowl in wok, covered and steam for 14 minutes.  Voila!  You will end up with the best looking and tasting steamed eggs!

See!  No air pockets inside either!

Baked Pork Chop Fried Rice

Ingredients: 

4 pork chops (enough for 2 meals)

2 big tomatoes (cut into medium-sized slices)

2 small onions

1 can of tomato basil soup

3 eggs

Shredded cheddar & jack cheese

Soy sauce

Salt 

Sugar

Sesame oil

Worcestershire sauce

Cornstarch

Steps to cook:

1. Marinate pork chops with ingredients in red above.

2. Cook rice in the morning or the night before. 

3. Stir-fry onions with salt and sugar (cut into thing rings) and set aside.

4. Pan-fry pork chops on high heat until golden brown (about 3 mins per side), turn to medium heat to cook for another few minutes per side.  Remove pork chops from wok and set aside.

5. Heat up oil with high heat in wok (make sure to put enough to prevent sticking).  Add "cooled" rice. Stir-fry rice for a few minutes and separate any clumps.  Add 3 eggs directly onto rice and mix-in.  Continue to stir-fry until eggs are cooked.  

6.  Almost done!  Next is to layer everything into a large baking dish (I use Pyrex glass casserole dish)  - see below for steps

This is how you layer the ingredients in baking dish:

1st layer - fried rice

2nd layer - pork chops

3rd layer - onions

4th layer - tomato slices

5th layer - tomato basil soup

7. Cover dish with foil.  Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

8. Take out dish.  Remove foil, put generous amount of cheese on top.  Put back in oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

9. Turn oven to 450 for 5 minutes to brown the cheese.

Done!

Yup, it's a lot of work...but very yummy!

Pork Stir Fry in Garlic Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients
Pork
Celery
Carrots
Lee Kam Kee garlic and black bean sauce - 1 tablespoon
Soy sauce - 1.5 tablespoons
Sugar - 1 teaspoon
Sesame oil - drizzle
Corn starch - 1.5 teaspoon

Marinate
Cut pork in thin slices, marinate with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and corn starch.  Marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Steps to cook
1. Heat wok/frying pan in high heat, add oil, add pork and sear meat.  Add garlic and black bean sauce and stir fry for a couple minutes.  Remove pork from wok and set aside.
2. Add more oil, add celery and carrots.  Stir fry for a few minutes, add half cup of water, cover wok.  Turn down heat to medium.  Let the veggies cook for a few minutes until soft.
3. Add pork back into wok and stir fry with veggies for a minute.

Beef Brisket Stew (recipe of my husband)

The cool thing with stews is that the best ones are made with the cheapest cuts.  An expensive cut of meat will always be ruined by stewing.  The fat melts away and you're left with dry lean tasteless fibers.  What you really want, is gristle, fat, tendon, all the hard working parts that have the connective fibers that will hold up to - no - require the low and slow heat from a stew. 

So...  here's a recipe that you can't fudge.  The cool thing is - just modify the staples as you wish! 

Ingredients
5 pounds of brisket, seasoned 

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can beef stock

1 can of coconut milk

4 medium large potatoes - cubed

Cup of peas

3 large carrots or equiv - sliced

5 stalks of celery - - diced

1 large onion - diced

garlic

1 cup flour

dash of worchestershire

dash of soy

1 tablespoon of curry powder

pat of butter   

For the rest of the seasonings I just used a McCormick pouch.  This is a better option:
1 teaspoon salt

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Steps to Cook
1. Trim away all but a thin layer of fat on top, then seasoned and aged, on a rack, in a pan, tented in foil for 1-3 days.  The morning of the day you wish to serve, place fat side down in the hottest steel pan you have for 4 minutes, then flip for another 4.  Slice in batches if you have to first.  Place in wide casserole dish, cover in foil and bake at 250 for 6-8 hours.  2.5 hours before serving, take it out.  Cube the meat and drain all the drippings.  Place the drippings in the freezer - you'll need it later. 

2. Melt the butter on high flame in a heavy stockpot if you don't have a large cast iron ceramic glazed french oven.  Add your beef and diced garlic and allow to brown.  Pour in the worchestershire and soy and tomato paste.  Just before it starts to burn, deglaze with a can of coconut milk.  Mix.

3.  Add your carrots and potatoes and turn the flame to med-low.  Retrieve the drippings from the freezer.  Save the butter puck, and add two large ladles of beef drippings and your spices.  Mix and simmer.   

4. An hour before serving, add the peas, celery and onions.

5. At this point its all about consistency and saltiness.  Salt to taste, and if there's not enough liquid add the beef broth.  If its too runny, sprinkle a small handful of flour, mix and cover, and repeat to suit.

You will end up with a big pot and have some you can freeze. 

Balsamic Vinegar Pork Chop

Ingredients
Pork Chops (thin cuts are preferred for faster cooking)
Onions
Soy sauce
Balsamic vinegar
Sugar
Corn starch

Marinate: Add soy sauce and balsamic vinegar to pork chop, sprinkle sugar and rub onto each pork chop, add corn starch and rub on each pork chop (both sides).  Let sit for 30 mins or longer.

Steps to cook
1. Saute onions, add salt and sugar, cook until caramelized.  Put aside.
2. Heat up oil in high heat, pan fry pork chop until golden on both sides.  Turn down to medium heat, cook until pork chop is firm.  Don't let it get too firm or it'll be overcooked.  Always check the thickest part of meat.  Drain oil before putting each pork onto plate.
3. Put saute onions on top of pork chops.