The skinniest way to love your favorite Chinese takeout? Make it yourself. Even the seemingly healthier veggie stir-fries – like ginger broccoli and spicy Szechwan green beans can be loaded with fat, sugar and sodium. So we’re tossing broccoli florets (it’s easy to find them chopped, washed and in-the-bag in the produce aisle) in a good-girl portion of canola oil, low-sodium soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic and a flourish of toasted sesame seeds. Serve as a side or main dish with a scoop of nutty, wholegrain brown rice. Oh, and it’s ready for chopsticks in about 10 minutes.
Wok on.
Wok on Spicy Ginger Broccoli
(Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound fresh broccoli florets
1⁄4 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons ginger paste or freshly minced ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon chili paste, substitute red chili flakes, to taste
Toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat; add the oil. When the oil is shimmering, toss the broccoli in the oil, stirring occasionally for 3 to 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.
In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic and chili paste. Pour over the cooked broccoli and gently toss until the sauce is heated through. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately.
DIVA CONFESSION:
We’ll have to side with your mother on this one – you’ve got to finish your vegetables. Vital to younger-looking skin and a healthy balanced diet, a rainbow of colorful veggies is the best way to get a complete range of vitamins. Steam or stir-fry to best preserve delicate flavors and nutrients. If you don’t own a steamer basket, you can also ‘pan steam’ your veggies in a hot wok or sauté pan by adding a few tablespoons of water, covering with a lid and cooking until crisp-tender. When stir-frying in a small amount of oil, it sometimes helps to also add a bit of water and pan steam until the veggies are perfectly delicious and tender.
COOK UP ‘LONGEVITY’ NOODLES IN A FLASH
By FERNANDA BECCAGLIA
La Palma
It’s a Chinese tradition to feast on "longevity" noodles at life’s great milestones. But it doesn’t have to be your birthday or any other special day to stir-fry a batch of them. These long noodles that represent a long, vibrant life do not require an eternity of kitchen time. In a stroke of culinary yin and yang, you can cook them in a flash – that’s the long and short of it.
Chinese Longevity Noodles
(Serves 6)
1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 cups cabbage, chopped into strips
1 red pepper, sliced
3 green onions (scallions), cut in 2-inch strips, separating the green parts from the white parts
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1⁄2 pound spaghetti (or other long noodles), cooked
Combine soy sauce and sherry in a bowl. Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a wok or skillet, over high heat. Toss in the shrimp and saute until just pink, about 1 minute. Remove shrimp from wok and set them aside.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok and, when hot, toss in the cabbage, red pepper, the white parts of the scallions and the ginger. Saute for 1 minute. Add the green parts of the scallions, sauteeing for another minute.
Toss vegetables with the soy-sherry sauce and the spaghetti. Add the shrimp and toss briefly, until all ingredients are coated in the sauce.
Serve immediately.
Note: For a thicker sauce, whisk 1 teaspoon of corn starch into the soy-sherry sauce.
SUBSTANTIAL IN A FLASH
The Washington Post
This is characteristic of a yin-yang stir-fry, so called because it combines cooling ingredients (such as cucumber) with the heat of others (in this case, garlic and ginger). Garlic mellowed by frying is the main seasoning here; some of the oil used for the garlic is then incorporated in the dish. It’s best to use an instant-read thermometer to gauge the temperature of the oil.
Pork shoulder or butt doesn’t usually come in small amounts. Ask your butcher to cut down a larger roast; freeze what you don’t use for this recipe.
Serve with steamed rice.
Stir-fried Cucumber and Pork with Golden Garlic
(Serves 2 to 3)
1⁄2 cup peanut or vegetable oil
3 to 5 large cloves garlic
12 ounces boneless lean pork shoulder or butt (see headnote)
2-to-3-inch piece ginger root
1 large (seedless) English cucumber
11⁄2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1⁄4 teaspoon sugar
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold water
Line a plate with paper towels. Heat the oil in a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or small saucepan over medium heat, or as needed, so the oil reaches a temperature of 280°. (Make sure the tip of the thermometer does not touch the wok or saucepan.)
Coarsely chop the garlic as needed to yield 3 tablespoons. Trim off and discard any fat from the pork, then cut the meat into 1⁄4-inch or bite-size slices (to yield about 21⁄2 cups). Peel the ginger and cut it crosswise into 8 coin-size slices, then use the broad, flat side of a knife to smash each one. Trim off the ends of the cucumber, then use a vegetable peeler to cut away long strips of peel, creating a striped effect. Cut the cucumber on the diagonal into 1⁄4-inch slices (to yield about 3 cups).
Add the garlic to the hot oil and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the garlic is just golden. Use a metal skimmer to transfer the garlic to the paper-towel-lined plate. Strain the oil into a heatproof container.
Combine the pork, cornstarch, half of the soy sauce (11⁄2 teaspoons), the sugar and 1⁄4 teaspoon of the salt in a medium bowl; toss to coat evenly. Combine remaining soy sauce and the water in a separate small bowl.
If you used the wok to heat the oil, wash and dry it thoroughly before placing it over high heat. Or heat a 12-inch skillet (not nonstick). When the wok or skillet is hot, add a drop of water; the heat is sufficient when the water vaporizes within 2 seconds.
Swirl in 2 tablespoons of the reserved garlic oil, then add the ginger. Stir-fry for 30 seconds or until the ginger becomes fragrant. Push it to the sides of the wok or skillet, then add the pork in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 1 minute so the pork sears, then stir-fry for 1 minute, until the meat is seared but not fully cooked through.
Add the cucumber and stir-fry for 30 seconds, making sure it is well incorporated, then sprinkle the remaining 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt and the soy sauce-water mixture. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until the pork is cooked through and the cucumber has begun to wilt.
Stir in the reserved garlic and remove from heat. Serve immediately.
(Adapted from Grace Young’s book, "Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge")
A DINE-IN DELIGHT
Here’s a terrific trio of culinary items to enhance your ‘take-out-at-home’ evening. They come to us by way of Sur La Table, the cook shop that is home chef heaven.
GREEN PATTERNED PORCELAIN ROUND DIPPING BOWL: Your homemade takeout will look fabulous in these pretty bowls. They’re $29.50 for a set of six. (Sold individually, $4.95 each)
KISHIBORI SHOYU (PURE ARTISAN SOY SAUCE): There is soy sauce, ubiquitous condiment of your corner takeout establishment, and there is Soy Sauce. This is the exalted latter, a sauce slowly fermented in century-old barrels. Sprinkle into a stir-fry or use as a dipping sauce. It’s $15.95 for 12.1 ounces.
TAKEOUT BOX: For the full experience, there’s always the boxed option. Just add chopsticks. A set of six boxes is $6.95.
For more information, check out the Sur La Table store in Palm Beach Gardens, 11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Ave., in the Downtown at the Gardens shopping/dining complex; (561) 799-3761; surlatable.com
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