Chinese Food – Bead Yarn & Spatula

There’s nothing like making homemade takeout… you know those staples like pizza, burgers, Mexican and probably one of the most popular Chinese. I don’t know about you but one of the things I like the most from my Chinese take-out are the egg rolls. And today I am bringing you a super simple and absolutely delicious recipe to making egg rolls at home!

First, in a medium bowl, I combined shredded chicken (I bought a cooked rotisserie chicken from the supermarket), broccoli slaw (which you can find in your local supermarket in the bagged salad area), cilantro, scallions, and freshly grated ginger along with teriyaki sauce, duck sauce and vegetable oil.

Next, with the egg roll wrapper positioned in a diamond shape in front of me I placed about two tablespoons of the mixture in the lower corner.

To roll, I folded up the bottom corner, then each of the sides (it’ll look like an envelope) and then dabbed the top edges with water and then rolled to enclose it.

Once I had finished rolling all of the egg rolls I heated vegetable oil in my cast iron skillet. I’ll say it was about 1/4 of the way up the sides of my skillet. Now, I’m not one to take the temperature of the oil when frying food. My trick, place a wooden spoon in the center of the oil and if bubbles form around it you know the oil is ready. This is definitely a lot safer than my other “trick,” flicking water into the oil. Not a lot of course, just enough to get a reaction. So, once my oil was ready I fried the egg rolls in batches, turning, about 3-4 minutes until they were golden brown. I then transferred them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

I served the egg rolls with a broccoli slaw salad made by combining the remaining broccoli slaw, cilantro and scallions in a large bowl and tossing it with teriyaki sauce, duck sauce, vegetable oil and rice vinegar. And of course with a side of duck sauce for dipping! YUM! The fresh grated ginger is really the standout ingredient in these egg rolls… You taste it, but, not as an overpowering ingredient but as one that really brings all the flavors together.

And it wasn’t long before I made these again (less than a week later) but without the chicken, yet, they were just as delicious. I am thinking of trying shrimp next.

Chicken Egg Rolls with Broccoli Slaw

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken, skin removed

4 cups broccoli slaw (about 8 ounces)

1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

4 scallions, sliced

2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger

3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

3 tablespoons duck sauce, plus more for serving

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for serving

8 egg rolls wrappers

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Directions:

Mix the chicken, 2 cups broccoli slaw, 1/4 cup cilantro, 2 scallions, the ginger, 2 tablespoons each of teriyaki sauce and duck sauce and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium bowl.

Heat about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is hot but not smoking. While the oil is heating, arrange the chicken mixture in the center of each egg roll wrapper.

Tuck in the ends and roll to enclose, dab the edges with water and continue to roll to enclose.

Once the oil is hot, fry the egg rolls in batches, turning, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

To make the slaw, combine the remaining broccoli slaw, cilantro and scallions in a large bowl. Add the remaining tablespoon each of teriyaki sauce, duck sauce and vegetable oil along with the rice vinegar, toss. Serve with the egg rolls.

**The original broccoli slaw recipe included a 14-ounce can of baby corn which I opted to leave out.

Recipe from Food Network

The past few days I have been on a roll with cooking dinner. It probably helped that I went through my recipe binder and planned out a few meals for the week. Today I am going to share with you a quick and simple recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken that I got from an issue of Rachael Ray Magazine a while back.

I usually try to do all of my prep-work for whatever I am cooking or baking before getting started, this way I don’t miss anything and I can work smoothly through the recipe. For this Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe I prepped my ingredients by doing the following: cut a pound of boneless skinless chicken thighs into 3/4 inch pieces which I then coated with cornstarch and soy sauce, chopped up a green bell pepper into 3/4 inch pieces, minced up a tablespoon worth of fresh ginger, and finally, drained the pineapple juice of an 8-ounce can of pineapple chunks and set the chunks aside while whisking the juice along with cornstarch, soy sauce, ketchup, sugar, cider vinegar and sugar.

It was then time to start cooking. I began by cooking the chicken in a large skillet over medium-high heat that I coated with canola oil. Once the chicken was browned I added in the minced ginger.

Next up I added in the pineapple chunks and the bell pepper and continued cooking the mixture until the peppers were just beginning to get tender.

And lastly I added in the ketchup mixture and brought it to a boil and cooked it until the sauce thickened. I then lowered the heat to low and continued cooking it for about another 15 minutes to be sure that the chicken was cooked through.

Then it was time to enjoy my homemade take-out cuisine. I served the chicken with basmati rice and it was the perfect complement. While you do get some hints of the sour components – the soy sauce and cider vinegar – of the chicken the sweet part is definitely the stronger flavor of the two. I am definitely not complaining though… This is one dish I can see myself making quite a few more times.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed, then cut into 3/4-inch pieces

6 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 can (8-oz.) pineapple chinks in juice, drained, juice reserved

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 green bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, 4 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining cornstarch and soy sauce, with the ketchup, sugar, cider vinegar, and pineapple juice.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the ginger and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add the pineapple chunks and bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the pepper is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in the ketchup mixture, bring to a boil and cook until sauce thickens, about 1 minute.