Mu-Shu Chicken and Shrimp

Mu-shu dish is one of my son's favorite dishes to order in a Chinese restaurant.  The idea of eating a spoonful of stir-fried morsels of meat, egg, and veggies and drizzled with hoisin sauce wrapped in mandarin pancakes, really delights his taste bud.  It's a tasty dish, no doubt about it, and there's some variations on how to include in the dish.

In a more traditional way, the dish is most often comprised of pork, dried daylily flowers or golden needles, and wood ear mushrooms, along with eggs, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine and scallions.  The less authentic way would be to omit the dried daylily flowers and wood ear mushrooms but to add some vegetables, for example, cabbage, bell pepper, celery, or snow peas.  

Rice is the traditional way to serve the dish, but here in America, mandarin pancake is served as the medium to eat the dish.  And let's not forget about hoisin sauce which is used to drizzle the dish as it goes in the pancake.

The way I cook it is by combining the best of the two ways.  I grew up eating daylily flowers and wood ear mushrooms, so those two ingredients would be present in the dish.  My family prefers chicken and/or shrimp instead of pork and I'm happy to substitute that.  As with adding vegetables in it, my philosophy is that there's nothing wrong of eating more vegetables in a dish :)  I use whatever is available, in this case, I used green cabbage.

No matter what your preferred protein/vegetable choice to include in the dish, just remember that if you cook it the right way, it'll come out delicious anyway!

Mu-Shu Chicken and Shrimp

Serves 6

½ ounce wood ear mushrooms, reconstituted

1 ounce dried daylily flowers or golden needles, reconstituted

10 to 12 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breast

6 ounces raw peeled, deveined, medium-sized shrimp

4 eggs

8 tablespoons canola oil

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon soy sauce

¼ teaspoon sugar

3 to 4 large scallions, sliced diagonally, white and green parts separated

1 tablespoon Shaohsing wine

2 teaspoons sesame oil

For the marinade:

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon soy sauce

Pinch of white pepper

1 teaspoon Shaohsing wine

1 teaspoon potato flour--can substitute with cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon canola oil

Mandarin pancakes 

Hoisin sauce

To reconstitute wood ear and daylily flowers, soak each thing in a separate bowl with boiling water, enough to cover it, for 20 to 30 minutes.  Drain and squeeze excess water but leave damp.  Split daylily flowers one lengthwise and if it's quite long, cut in half.

Slice the chicken into thin, even-sized rectangular pieces.  Put it into a bowl with the shrimp.

Add the salt, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, wine, potato flour or cornstarch, and water to chicken and shrimp.  Let marinate for 20 minutes.  Stir in the oil.

Beat the eggs lightly with 1 tablespoon of the oil and ¼ teaspoon of the salt.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and swirl it around.  Add wood ear mushrooms and stir for about 30 seconds, lowering the heat if necessary.  Add daylily flowers and continue to stir and turn until very hot.  Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt, the soy sauce and the sugar.  Transfer to a warm dish and set aside.

Wipe the wok and reheat until hot.  Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and swirl it around.  Pour in the egg, and sliding the wok spatula to the bottom of the wok, fold and turn until the egg forms into lumps.  Transfer to a warm plate and set aside.  Wash and dry the wok.

Reheat the wok over high heat.  Add the remaining oil and swirl it around.  Add the white parts of scallions, stir and let them sizzle for a few seconds.  Add the chicken and shrimp and turn and toss quickly for about 1 minute or until partially cooked and turning opaque.  Splash in the wine around the side of the wok, continuing to stir and turn as it sizzles.  Return all the ingredients to the wok.  Stir and mix for another minute, so that the chicken it thoroughly cooked, the egg firmer and all the ingredients piping hot.  Add the green parts of scallions.  Transfer to a serving dish.  Sprinkle with sesame oil and serve with the pancakes and hoisin sauce.

Source:  adapted from Yan-Kit's Classic Chinese Cookbook

Chicken Pot Pies

My son has been begging for me to make chicken pot pies for dinner this weekend. His list of dishes to be served for the dinner was quite long; from the main dish, side dishes, to dessert and drink but I wasn't too keen to make all of them since I had a full and busy week.  In the end I managed to make chicken pot pies from scratch for him. Oh, and he helped too. A bit of honest fact about me:  I'm not a mom who loves to have my kid in the kitchen since I prefer to make things in a methodical and accurate manners (read: neat freak and controlling person) :) Also, I'm no fun to be around in the kitchen since I tend to bark orders around so people in my household tend to leave me alone. But honestly, I love having people in my kitchen, it's just they would need to be in different roles that what they'd like to do otherwise like helping cleaning the countertops, washing the dishes, and vacuuming and moping the floor.  See, no wonder nobody wants to be with me in the kitchen :)

But lately I've come to realize that maybe I shouldn't be so strict in the kitchen. Any instructions on how to cook and bake would be helpful for him when he's older. So I let him help me quite a bit in making the dish. His job was to chop vegetables and to stir things in the pot, starting with mushrooms, carrots, and then pearl onions. Drops of hot oil jumped from the pot and he would in turn jump away from the stove :) He also helped dry up dishes (I love it, I really should ask him to help more). I knew he's quite proud of what he's accomplished because he mentioned to my mom that he helped me making it. And my mom said wholeheartedly that it tasted delicious. I've read that when kids help prepare the food, they'd likely to eat everything on the plate. I saw that this is true since my son ate mushrooms and pearl onions, two ingredients that he usually won't touch.

The chicken pot pie was truly delicious, the crust is crumbly and buttery; the one thing that I love to nibble on. I didn't get to make every dishes that my son asked but he didn't mind it and you know what, he's already planning the next set of meal!

Chicken Pot Pie

Serves 6

For the crust:
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 oz. (12 Tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces

For the filling:
5 Tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lb. medium cremini mushrooms, quartered (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions, thawed and patted dry
4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick (1 1/2 cups)
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 oz. (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
2 1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups lower-salt chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1 3/4 lbs. red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice (5 cups)
1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

Make the crust:
Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are the size of peas, 10 to 12 pulses. Drizzle 3 Tablespoons cold water over the mixture. Pulse until the dough forms moist crumbs that are just beginning to clump together, 8 or 9 pulses more.

Turn the crumbs onto a large piece of plastic wrap and gather into a pile. With the heel of your hand, gently smear the dough away from you until the crumbs come together (two or three smears should do it). Shape the dough into a 4-inch square, wrap tightly in the plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.

Make the filling:
Heat 2 Tablespoons of the oil in a 7- to 8-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot. Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper. Working in two batches, brown the chicken well on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side, adding 1 Tablespoon oil with the second batch. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cut into 3/4- to 1-inch pieces (it's fine if the chicken isn't fully cooked; it will finish cooking later). Put the chicken in a large bowl.

Add 1 Tablespoon oil to the pot and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add the mushrooms. Cook without stirring for 1 minute. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to the bowl of chicken.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 Tablespoon oil and then add the onions and carrot to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the edges are browned, 8 to 9 minutes. Add the garlic and stir constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds more. Scrape the vegetables into the bowl of chicken and mushrooms.

Melt the butter in the same pot over low heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until the texture, which will be clumpy at first, loosens and smooths out, about 4 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and half-and-half. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom the pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the potatoes, chicken, and vegetables (and any accumulated juice), and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently (adjusting the heat as necessary), stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and carrots are just tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir in the peas, sherry, parsley, thyme, and mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Assemble the pot pies:
Distribute the filling evenly among six ovenproof bowls and ramekins that are 2 to 3 inches deep and hold at least 2 cups.

Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature, about 20 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle. With a round cookie cutter (or using a plate as a guide), cut 6 dough circles that are slightly wider than the inner diameter of the bowls (re-roll the scraps if necessary). Cut one small X in the center of each circle.

Top each bowl of stew with a dough round. With your fingertips, gently press the dough down into the edge of the stew, so that it flares up the sides of the bowl.

Bake the pies:
Position a rack in the center the oven and heat the oven to 425ºF. Put the pot pies on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the crust is deep golden-brown, about 45 minutes. Cool on a rack for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

Source: Fine Cooking, March 3, 2011.

Three satays

So I was presented with a question:  what type of satay do you want to eat?  My answer was:  all of the three.  I will have the basic chicken satay, the most flavorful one that is sweet pork satay, and let's not forget tempe satay, a tried-and-true recipe that is simple to make with typical Indonesian spices--shallots, garlic, chili, candlenuts, and turmeric.

How do you make chicken satay?  I go to the basic, it's simply chicken pieces, preferably a mix between breast and thigh meats, cut into bite-sized portion.  Thread them into skewers and grill them just before eating.  The sauce will have to be peanut sauce, that is made of dry roasted peanuts, candlenuts, and some red chili; have them chopped very finely in a food processor.  Heat some cooking oil in a wok over medium heat and start sauteing the peanut mixture.  Add a little water at a time until the consistency of the mixture looks like tahini.  Add salt to taste.  Have ready Indonesian sweet soy sauce, sliced shallots or red onions, and sliced chili padi.  When the satays are done, mixed the peanut sauce with sweet soy sauce, some sliced onions, chili, and fried shallots on a plate.  Dip the satays in the sauce, and pull the juicy meat away from skewer slowly...you get the picture.

How about the sweet pork satay?  This need some preparation a day ahead.  The recipe is simple, really.  What needs to be achieved in the marinade is flavorful with herbal note and sweet enough.  Main ingredients will be shallots, garlic, coriander, cumin, galangal, lemongrass (white part only, not the fibrous part), palm sugar, a bit tamarind paste, sweet soy sauce, and some vegetable oil.  Mix all these ingredients in a food processor.  Add more brown or granulated sugar and salt because the taste should be sweet enough.  Thinly sliced Kaffir lime leaves are also added.  Rub the marinade over pork loin--boneless--that has been cut into bite-sized pieces, and leave them in refrigerate at least overnight.  This marinade is also excellent to use for beef satay.

Lastly, the tempe satay which I will write the recipe with exact ingredients and directions!  Don't know why I'm so excited with writing a recipe, I guess since I've been pretty vague about recipes in the last two paragraphs :)  It is again a super easy recipe, just make sure you get the regular tempe--just plain soybeans--not the ones with other grains added to it.


Spicy Tempe Satay

Makes about 8-10 skewers (4-5 tempe each skewer)

500 gr tempe, cut into 1-inch cube

250 ml + 4 tablespoons coconut milk

200 ml water

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Spice paste:

6 red chili

4 candlenuts

1 teaspoon roughly chopped turmeric

3 cloves of garlic

6 shallots

2 teaspoons roughly chopped lemongrass

1/2 teaspoon tamarind paste

1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste--terasi, in Bahasa Indonesia

2 teaspoons palm sugar or brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

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Combine tempe, coconut milk and the spice paste in a big pot or wok over medium heat.  Cook until the sauce thickens, stir occasionally.

Drain tempe from the sauce, thread into skewers.  Grill over medium heat in the gas or charcoal griller.  Brush with sauce while grilling.  The satay is done when the surface of tempe is slightly blackened.

Source:  Tahu & Tempe book by Primarasa

Ang Chow Chicken Soup with Preserved Mustard Greens

Do you have a hand-me down recipe that you frequently make now?  Several years ago I asked my mom if she would write down her recipes for me.  I wanted her to write down recipes that she is used to cook while I was growing up, and recipes that she also continues to make at present time.  She obliged, and in about 6 months presented me with a notebook containing her hand-written recipes.  I have also written down her recipes once I started cooking, so her notebook supplements what I have.

One of the recipes in her notebook is this Ang Chow Chicken.  Ang chow is red rice wine from Foochow (or Fuzhou), the capital city of Fujian province in China.  To make ang chow, ang kak, or red yeast rice, is used along with jui piah, or wine cake, glutinous rice, and water.  Glutinous rice is cooked first, which then will be put together in a container with the rest of the ingredients.  Jui piah, or wine cake, is rubbed loose to get the content blended with rice and ang kak.  The process of fermentation will take about 30 days.

I did not know how one would make ang chow before until I searched the Internet and came upon this wonderful article regarding the making of ang chow.  It is fascinating!  I hardly see or know where ang chow is sold here in the Oregon, and whenever I get to go back to Indonesia, I make sure I bring a bottle of ang chow with me.  I cherish that bottle and would only use a little bit at a time even though I love the taste of ang chow in a cooked dish.  I don't know how my family came to cook this particular dish; I'm not sure if one of my ancestors came from Fujian province either.  I'd better asked my father the next time I talk to him.

There are two version of cooking with ang chow in soup in my family, one is with chicken and preserved mustard greens/pickled mustard greens, the other one is with beef and daikon radish.  Ang chow is believed to have health benefits in cooking, for lowering cholesterol, and for mothers who just have given births.  I may not care too much about the health benefits because this dish is certainly a comfort food for me, especially during the cold season.

Ang Chow Chicken Soup with Preserved Mustard Greens

2-3 lbs bone-in chicken thighs (or breasts)

1 10.5 oz preserved mustard greens/pickled mustard greens

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3-4 thick slices of ginger

1-2 tablespoons ang chow

Salt and white pepper to taste

Rinse chicken, chop into smaller size.  Parboil the chicken for a few minutes and drain.  Drain the mustard, and immerse it in a bowl of cool water for 10 minutes.  Drain again, and chop leaves to about 1-inch long.

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute garlic and ginger slices for 30 seconds.  Add the ang chow and stir for another 30 seconds.  Add chicken parts, mustard leaves, and water (about 5-6 cups).  Let it boil, then simmer the soup for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.  Taste with salt and pepper.

Honey Citrus Chicken

Okay, even though it's still raining, cloudy, and cold in Oregon, I wouldn't let them stop me from grilling food outside.  The weather was much better weeks before; this week is definitely wetter.  I made this Honey Citrus Chicken at the end of February and was pleased with the recipes.  The chicken was marinated with pineapple, orange, and lime a day before.  The marinade was then mix with honey to be used for brushing the chicken while they're grilled.  The remainder of it was reduced to make a sauce.  I didn't put the jalapeno in the marinade because my son wouldn't be able to eat it; instead, I sliced it thinly for my husband and I.

This was paired with Orzo Salad with Vegetables and Herbs; an unapologetically refreshing combination and a sign that I couldn't wait for the spring to come.

Honey Citrus Chicken

Serves 8



3 large oranges

2 limes

2 cups diced pineapple

1 3-inch jalapeno pepper, seeds and membranes removed

1 teaspoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons honey

8 6- to 7-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, trimmed of excess fat

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Kosher salt

Vegetable oil for oiling grill rack and for brushing chicken



Grate enough orange peel from oranges to yield 1 teaspoon and then juice them to yield 1 cup.  Grate enough lime peel from the limes yield 1 teaspoon and then juice them to yield 1/2 cup.  Set aside both zests and juices.

Combine diced pineapple, jalapeno, and garlic in a food processor in a food processor or blender and process until mixture is almost smooth.  Pour marinade into a large, nonreactive shallow dish, and add orange and lime zests and juices, soy sauce, chopped cilantro, chopped basil, and 1 tablespoon black pepper.  Stir to blend.  Remove 1/3 cup of the marinade to a small nonreactive bowl and whisk in honey.  (Cover and refrigerate the honey mixture until ready to grill chicken.)  Add chicken to dish and turn to coat in marinade.  Cover and refrigerate 4 to 5 hours, turning several times.

Remove chicken from marinade and using a rubber spatula, scrape excess marinade from breasts.  Strain marinade into a heavy, medium saucepan.  To make sauce, boil marinade in saucepan until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 15 minutes.  Whisk in butter and season with additional pepper and salt if desired.

Oil a grill rack and arrange 4 to 5 inches from heat source.  Prepare grill for a hot fire (high temperature).  Brush chicken with oil and grill, turning several times and basting with reserved honey mixture, until chicken springs back when touched with your fingers and juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a sharp knife, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Arrange breasts on a serving platter with sauce.



Source:  adapted from The Big Book of Backyard Cooking by Betty Rosbottom

Steamed Chicken Soy-Ginger Sauce

My family loves to have chicken dishes so I have to constantly find recipes that are new and tasty.  One of things I look when preparing a chicken dish is that it also needs to be unfussy, imagine going home from work and I still have to slave for a long hours in the kitchen on weekdays for dinner.  This is one recipe that I found meets both criterias, easy and tasty.  The sauce is really gingery, which I like, but if you feel like it's a bit too much, feel free to lessen the quantity of the ginger.  The chicken is succulent because it is steamed and I love dark meat parts compare to white meat parts, that will be my husband's portion :)

Steamed Chicken with Soy-Ginger Sauce

Serves 4



One 3- to 4-pound chicken, cut in half

1 tablespoon soy sauce



For the sauce:

1/4 cup grated ginger

3 green onions, trimmed and minced

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

12 iceberg lettuce cups



Arrange the chicken halves skin side up and side by side in a glass pie plate.  Rub the skin with the soy sauce.  Let stand for 15 minutes.

Prepare a steamer and heat over high heat.  Place the pie plate in the steaming basket, cover, and steam over high heat until the chicken is no longer pink near the bone, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce:  stir the grated ginger, green onions, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, ground ginger, salt, and pepper in a small heatproof bowl.  Heat the vegetable oil in a small skillet just until it begins to smoke.  Carefully pour the hot oil into the ginger-soy mixture (the mixture may sizzle).  Stir well and let stand until cool.

Remove the plate of chicken from the steamer and let cool slightly.

Strip the meat from the bones and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.  Place on a serving platter with the lettuce cups alongside.



Source:  adapted from Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking