Chinese cashew chicken

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

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

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

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

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

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

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+