Asian Cuisine
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How to Pep Up Your Dishes with Tofu
Fried tofu Fried tofu recipes are perhaps the most popular dishes involving tofu. When fried, tofu packs in a lot of flavor. What could otherwise be a very bland dish is made better by the sauce that the tofu creates for itself when fried. Fried tofu recipes have always been popular in Asian countries, where tofu first originated. Like other fried tofu recipes, this recipe is fairly simple but it features an exotic sauce. For this recipe, you will need: 1 pound tofu, 3 cups olive oil for frying, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 sliced scallion, 2 tablespoons minced cilantro, 1 clove minced garlic, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and ½ teaspoon sugar. First place the tofu on a plate. And then cover with a second plate and a weight on top so that the tofu can drain. The tofu… Read more -
Chinese Chicken Wings
Ingredients: 30 wings (flappers only) 2 tablespoons cooking oil 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic 1/4 cup minced green onions 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes 2/3 cup rice wine 1 cup soy sauce 3 tablespoons brown sugar (mix with soy sauce) Directions: Heat wok and add oil. When oil is hot, add garlic, ginger, green onions and red pepper flakes. Fry for about 15-20 seconds, stirring and being careful to not burn garlic. Next, add wings and cook for few minutes until light brown. Also it is important during this part of cooking cycle to make sure wings get coated with garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and green onion. Next, pour rice wine over wings and stir them for 1-2 minutes before adding the brown sugar/soy sauce mixture. Stir for about 1 minute to… Read more -
Essential Ingredients of Thai Cooking
Bamboo Shoots: Bamboo shoots are called for in many Thai recipes. In order to prepare a bamboo shoot for cooking you need to peel them and boil the white inner stalks for 30 minutes in water. If you are using canned bamboo shoots you will only need to boil them for 10 minutes, or if they are going into curries or soups, boiling might not be required. Basil (fresh): There are three types of basil used in Thai cooking; sweet, holy and lemon. Sweet basil is much easier to find because it is commonly used in western cooking. Holy basil has a spicier taste and can be recognized by it’s slightly purple leaves. Lemon basil has a lemony flavor and can be detected by its distinct lemony scent. If you can only find sweet basil you can compensate for holy or lemon basil by adding finely chopped… Read more