Cooking With Wendy who is cooking with Kai

Mushroom Beef

2008-11-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

Mushrooms are one of Ian's favorite foods, so when we saw the mushroom beef recipe we had to try it.

This is also the first time that we significantly changed the ingredients and some of the methods in a Kai recipe. The original recipe used bell pepper and mushrooms, but we increased the amount of mushrooms, decreased the amount of bell pepper, and included carrots. Kai marinated the meat in all the sauce ingredients, whereas we marinated the meat in only soy sauce and corn starch, and added the remaining sauce ingredients at the end of cooking. Additionally, Kai stir fried the vegetables and then added the raw meat near the end of cooking. We stir fried the vegetables, removed them, stir fried the beef with the garlic, and then added the cooked vegetables and sauce to finish the dish.

The ingredients were as follows:
1/2 lb beef, sliced thin
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp corn starch
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 red bell pepper
1 pack white mushrooms sliced
1 carrot sliced into thin strips

First the vegetables were stir fried

then the meat was stir fried

the vegetables and beef were combined and the sauce was added

beef and mushrooms was served with jasmine rice

Ian cleans his bowl in approval

With the modifications that we made, this recipe would serve 4 people. The pepper added a slight peppery taste to the entire dish, which was nice but different from the other Kai recipes we've made. The carrots were a first too, and they turned out really tasty. Perhaps Kai has a recipe that calls for carrots we can make.. time to start searching!

Overall, this meal deserves 4 out of 5 carrot bunches

Ingredients used

2008-11-04T15:47:00.001-08:00

I've been receiving alot of reader questions concerning the brands of sauces/ingredients that we use. So I've decided to make a post listing our favorites. Also, know that all the ingredients we use in the Kai recipes are gluten/wheat free.

These are our current favorites:

Sauces:
Soy sauce= Nuoc Tuong Chay Soya Sauce made by Flying Horse (real soybeans, no wheat or MSG)
Hoisin sauce= Dynasty brand (gluten free, MSG free)
Oyster sauce= Panda Brand from Lee Kum Kee, oyster flavored sauce (wheat and MSG free)
Sesame oil= Kadoya pure sesame oil (avoid the sesame oil blends)
Rice vinegar= Kame brand
Rice cooking wine= Kame brand

Meats:
Chicken thighs for all chicken dishes. Thighs are much more tender and can tolerate being over cooked better than breast meat.
For beef, the chef recommends flank steak with the next best cut being chuck. Avoid top round or bottom round cuts.

Pineapple Chicken

2008-11-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

Kai's orange chicken recipe was so good, so we decided to try pineapple chicken. It's one of Kai's favorites, so we figured it must taste good! Pineapple chicken has the same basic chicken preparation step as orange chicken, and has a similar sauce.

The recipe is as follows:

1/2 lb chicken cut into pieces. We used 2 chicken thighs
1 cup pineapple cubed
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp rice cooking wine
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 tsp corn starch
rice flour and 1 beaten egg for battering and dredging chicken

We took the advice of Kai and used canned pineapple.

First the sauce ingredients were combined, and the pineapple measured. We bought pre-sliced canned pineapple, so this step was easy.

Ian cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Even though both orange chicken and pineapple chicken call for deep fried battered chicken, both use different methods to batter the chicken. We decided to use the method described in the orange chicken recipe. Basically, the chicken is dredged in rice flour, dipped in beaten egg, and dredged again in rice flour. We used a mixture of sweet and regular rice flour and a pinch of salt for seasoning.

The chicken was fried for a few minutes in the deep fryer

The pineapple was briefly stir fried in the wok

The sauce ingredients were added and quickly thickened to a nice sauce.

The chicken was added and everything was stir fried for another minute.

The pineapple chicken was served with jasmine rice

This recipe served enough for 2 dinners and 2 small left over lunches. We were very impressed with the overall taste of the sauce and pineapple. We both decided that pineapple chicken tastes slightly better than orange chicken, although orange chicken is still deserving of 8.75/10 flour bags.

Despite having the tip of his nose mutilated by a rat bite earlier in the day, Ian shows his approval for pineapple chicken.

This recipe is deserving of 9 out of 10 pineapples

Stir fry chicken with eggplant

2008-09-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

The purple Chinese eggplants at our new Asian market were too beautiful to pass up, so we decided to try Kai's stir fry chicken with eggplant recipe . I've had this recipe bookmarked for a long time, but eggplant was a scary idea for Ian who was traumatized with bitter tasting eggplant in the past. The recipe is as follows:

1/2 lb chicken sliced thinly
1 mid sized Chinese eggplant
5 Chinese mushrooms
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

We used chicken thighs which are always more tender than breast, and 2 small Chinese eggplants. The mushrooms were shitake and I'm guessing we used 6 of them. Also, Kai suggested we add chicken stock if the sauce was too thick, so we had some ready if we needed it.

First the eggplant and mushrooms were added to the wok

The vegetables were stir fried until done

And then the chicken was stir fried

The vegetables were added back to the wok, and then the sauce was mixed in

Rice was served along side the meal

We knew this was going to be a flavorful dish because of the quantity of hoisin and oyster sauce. The flavor was delicious and it had a slight spicy flavor from the hoisin sauce. The eggplant was surprisingly good and after an initial autistic texture moment, Ian quickly decided he really liked the eggplant and gave the meal a thumbs up.

This meal served with rice would feed 3 hungry Americans or 2 hungry Americans and 2 small left over lunches. We will certainly make this again. Next summer we will grow our own Chinese eggplants alongside the snowpeas and chinese cabbage that has already found its way to our garden.

This recipe deserves 9 out of 10 eggplants

orange chicken

2008-08-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time since we tried a new Kai recipe. For the last few months we've been happily eating one of the following meals weekly: beef with broccoli, beef with snow peas, fried spring rolls or moo goo gai pan. We've learned that well marbled chuck roast is our favorite cut of beef for stir fry and Nuoc Tuong Chay soy sauce is better than LaChoy. We have mastered those 4 Kai recipes, so it was time to try something new. This weekend we made Orange chicken http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gufY6DhylpY

The ingredients are:

sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice cooking wine
1-2 tsp corn starch

3/4 lb chicken
2 eggs beaten
rice flour
orange peel sliced
ginger root sliced

We used fresh squeezed orange juice since we needed the peel anyway. Remember to slice off all the bitter white flesh under the peel before you slice it thinly. The chicken meat was from the thigh and the chicken stock was our usual pinch of chicken bouillon cube mixed with hot water.

First we prepared all of the sauce ingredients:

and then the rest of the ingredients:

Ian started dipping the chicken... egg, then flour, then egg, then flour

That was taking too long so another hand jumped in and suddenly the process got alot messier

In the meantime, the vegetable oil was ready for chicken pieces

The chicken was fried in 2 batches

and it only took about 5 minutes for the chicken to cook

Oil in the wok was heated and the ginger and orange peel was added

The sauce ingredients came next

When the orange sauce started to bubble, the chicken was added

Looking and smelling so yummy

Orange chicken served with jasmine rice. This meal served 3 people so we're going to have a lunch snack tomorrow from the leftovers.

The orange chicken was eaten while watching Dexter, and Ian gives it a thumbs up

We were very happy with how the dish turned out. First, the coating on the chicken had no strange aftertaste or weird texture as we have experienced before when trying to batter and fry foods. The chicken was extremely tender and juicy too. The orange sauce had a great flavor, although our American palates would have liked it slightly sweeter so next time we will add more sugar. Everything else was perfect, so this recipe was awarded 8.75 out of 10 rice flour bags. We will certainly make it again.

Chinese cashew chicken

2008-03-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today we tried Kai's Chinese cashew chicken which can be see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuUQGihyvIs

A few weeks has passed since a new recipe was made We've been eating the other Kai meals quite frequently but decided it was time to try something different. Chicken with cashews was always a favorite choice for Ian when ordering Chinese, so it was an easy decision to try Kai's version.

The ingredients are as follows

1/2 lb chicken, cut into pieces
marinated in 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp rice cooking wine

1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup baby corn (optional)
1/2 cup water chestnuts (optional)
1 tbsp sugar
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp chicken broth

We didn't use celery, but we did add the optional baby corn and water chestnuts. Both were from cans and I found the acid preserved taste a little unappetizing. We rinsed them, but it wasn't enough to completely remove the flavor. Next time we will search for fresh baby corn and water chestnuts because they should taste 100 times better.

First we prepared the ingredients. The chicken marinated as we cooked jasmine rice

The chicken was cooked. This was the first recipe that did not call for garlic

The pan was cleaned and then the veggies were stir fried

Sugar was added along with the other ingredients to make the sauce

One final stir before serving

The meal was served with jasmine rice

Ian shows his approval

We both enjoyed the meal and it tasted like authentic chicken with cashews. Next time we will use fresh baby corn and water chestnuts because that will remove the canned aftertaste. Also, we will be on the lookout for cashews that are unsalted because the best we could find were lightly salted. The celery was omitted due to celery aversions, but I'm sure it would have been delicious. This dish will serve 3 hungry people when rice is included. Overall we give this meal 4.25 water chestnuts out of 5. With the changes I mentioned above, this recipe could reach an almost perfect 5.

Beef noodle stir fry

2008-02-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

Today we made Kai's beef noodle stir fry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN8KsqM-a7o

This recipe is different from the rest featured in this blog because it uses noodles. We used Pad Thai rice sticks soaked in warm water for 20 minutes as per Kai's instructions. The ingredients for this dish are as follows:

2 cups rice sticks soaked in warm water
1/4 lb beef sliced
4 cherry tomatoes
1 clove garlic minced
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp seasoning sauce
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp chicken stock

We still don't know what seasoning sauce is, so we used soy sauce in its place. Also, instead of chicken stock, a pinch of chicken bouillon cube mixed in 2 tablespoons of warm water was used. Adding soy from both soy sauce and dark soy sauce was a little disturbing. Dark soy sauce looks like tar but Kai's looked much thinner, so it felt like we weren't using the proper ingredients.

The ingredients were prepared and the noodles were allowed to soak for 20 minutes

First the beef was stir fried with garlic

Tomatoes were added along with soy sauce

The partially softened noodles were added to the pan

The meal was dished out and topped with bean sprouts and green onion

Ian slurps up his noodles

The meal wasn't perfect for several reasons. First, the noodles took about 5-10 minutes to soften in the wok, which allowed the meat to overcook and become quite tough. We had to add a lot of extra water too because the noodles kept drying out before they softened. The flavor was good but not delicious like the flavors in the beef and broccoli dish. We might make this again but try to soak the noodles longer and use less dark soy sauce or substitute hoisin sauce instead. This recipe deserves 5 out of 10 woks.

Stir fried beef with snow peas

2008-02-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

Today's recipe was Kai's stir fried beef with snow peas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_gz00JGN84

The ingredients are as follows
1 lb beef, sliced thin
1 tsp corn starch
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp chicken stock
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
1 clove garlic
8 oz fresh snow peas
sesame oil

Kai did it again. We were very pleased with the flavor of the sauce and the crispness of the snow peas. Instead of chicken stock, we used a pinch of chicken bouillon cube in 2 tablespoons hot water. Snow peas were hard to find this time of year, but we tracked some down. Overall this recipe is most similar to beef with broccoli, but the end flavor is distinctly different.

First the ingredients were prepared and the beef was marinated for 15 minutes in soy sauce and corn starch

The beef was cooked and set aside, and then the snow peas were stir fried

The rest of the ingredients were added

The meal was served with jasmine rice

Ian approves

We really enjoyed this recipe and now I plan to grow snow peas in the garden this Spring so we can have fresh ones on hand. This recipe deserves 4.75 snow peas out of 5. It will serve 2-3 hungry Americans when accompanied with rice.

Chinese Moo Goo Gai Pan

2008-02-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

Today we made Kai's Chinese Moo Goo Gai Pan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qORxPeuqNPw

As we learned from Kai, Moo Goo is mushrooms, Gai is chicken, and Pan is sliced. We recently became aware that 2 'Cooking With Wendy' blog subscribers lived nearby, so we invited them over to share in the experience of moo goo gai pan. We doubled the recipe and made jasmine rice to accompany the meal.

The ingredients are as follows
1/2 pound boneless chicken sliced
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup brocolli
1 clove garlic
2 tsp corn starch
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce

Instead of chicken stock, we broke a small piece of chicken bouillon cube into warm water. It was about 1/5th of a bouillon cube.

First the chicken thigh meat was sliced thinly. I'm sure chicken breast would also be good.

All of the ingredients were prepped and ready to be assembled

First the vegetables were stir fried

Then the chicken was cooked and the other ingredients were added

Served with jasmine rice and chop sticks

The table is set

Approval!

The meal was delicious and the flavors of the mushroom and brocolli blended well with the sauce. Our special guests also approved this recipe. If you serve with rice, Kai's recipe will serve atleast 2 hungry Americans (4-5 if you double the recipe). We plan to make this recipe again. The recipe deserves 8.5 out of 9 chinese cabbages.

Feedback from subscribers

2008-01-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

Each day I receive fan mail from blog readers but recently one of my subscribers made Kai's beef and brocolli recipe and sent me this picture.

Chicken Fried Rice

2008-01-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today we made chicken fried rice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL5MOLqVtZg

In addition to making Kai's recipe, we also made rice for the first time. We used jasmine rice which is what Kai uses in some of his other recipes. The rice was not cooked to perfection so it negatively affected the final product. It was starchy and gummy, probably a result of not washing the grains before cooking, and stirring the rice while it was cooking. We had enough chicken and rice to make 2 batches, so don't be alarmed at the double ingredients.

The recipe called for:
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 pound cut chicken
1 cup mixed veggies
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 eggs
soy sauce
dark soy sauce

Boneless skinless chicken thighs was the meat of choice

All of the ingredients prepared

First the chicken was cooked and set aside

The egg was scrambled

Dark soy sauce was drizzled in for color

Almost done!

Ian shows his approval

We used "thick soy sauce" instead of "dark soy sauce". I believe they are the same thing. Also, Kai uses frozen mixed veggies in other fried rice recipes, so we used them too. The chicken turned out very good and tender but overall the outcome wasn't perfect. The rice was too starchy and perhaps it needed more soy sauce for saltiness. Next time when we cook the rice properly, the recipe will have a higher rating, but for this attempt, we give 3 out of 5 eggs.

Fried Thai Spring Rolls

2008-01-02T15:48:00.000-08:00

Today we made Kai's Thai Spring rolls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6je_H67kUOo

This was the 4th time to make this recipe, and certainly not the last. Of our Kai recipe collection, fried spring rolls definitely rates in the top two.

1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 pound ground pork
2 buns bean thread noodles
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
Rice paper

All of the ingredients prepared

Sugar is sprinkled into the spring roll filling

Spring rolls fresh from the fryer

Paper plate presentation with plum sauce and sweet and sour dipping sauce

The assistant to the chef approves

I must note that we subbed thin rice noodles for "bean thread" noodles- perhaps they are the same thing. This recipe made enough to feed 3-4 hungry Americans. If you have a deep fryer at home, use the french fry setting to fry your spring rolls. Since there is nothing I plan to change, and overall we are very happy with the quality and taste of the spring rolls, I give a rating of 4.75 garlic cloves out of 5. Nothing is ever A+

Chinese Beef and Brocolli

2008-01-01T13:29:00.000-08:00

Today we made Kai's chinese beef and brocolli http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft5ePAvoPBc

1/2 pound beef sliced perpendicular to the grain
1 1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 pound brocolli chopped

The ingredients were pre-measured

and the beef was

thinly sliced perpendicular to the grain.

The brocolli was chopped into hunks and the garlic was finely minced.

The beef was cooked first and only took 4ish minutes.

Then the brocolli was cooked for about 1 minute.

The final product was dished out, then eaten very fast

The recipe made enough for 1.25 hungry Americans. It tasted exactly like the stuff from a good chinese restaurant. Next time we make this, more of the brocolli stems will be removed since they were still very crunchy and the fat will be trimmed off the steak. We will be making this again.

This recipe was rated 9.5/10 soy sauce bottles