Fusion Meals

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Beef with Hot Peppers

From Fusion Meals

Ingredients:

6-7 pods of hot peppers
1/2 lb of beef (your choice - from low end cuts: beef chuck to more expensive cuts: ribeye steak)
Salt to taste
1-2 TB oil for pan

Marinade:

1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 TB of Sriracha or equivalent chili sauce
1-2 TS sugar (to taste)
1 TB chinese black vinegar
1 TB corn starch

Preparation:

Thinly slice beef (against the grain - easiest while partially thawed)
Marinade beef for ~ 1/2 hour prior to cooking
Slice open the chili pods and remove seeds
Thinly slice chili into strips
Heat pan on high heat and add oil - pan should be fairly hot such that oil is almost at smoking point
Add beef (sans marinade) and sear on high heat - don't "play" with the meat for the first 1-2 min. to ensure nice sear
Once meat has been seared on 1 side or after ~ 2-3 min. of cooking, add the chili pods and stir fry until cooked through but still firm (takes ~ 2-3 minutes on high heat)
Season with a bit more salt (to taste)
Remove dish from heat and serve immediately

Tips:

Once the beef is added to the hot pan, don't move the beef around (other than to spread it evenly over the pan surface). This will help the beef take on a nice sear.
It's important to not to over cook the beef - hence adding the chili pods after only searing 1 side of the beef. Additional time spent stir-frying and cooking the chili pods should be sufficient to cook the beef through as well.
Don't forget to season the dish after adding the chili pods.
The corn starch will serve as a binding agent to create a sauce from the marinade and natural juices/jus of the beef.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Home Made Pork and Chives Dumplings

From Fusion Meals

Wrapped and ready for cooking

From Fusion Meals

Wrapped and ready for cooking

From Fusion Meals

Just cooked and ready to serve

From Fusion Meals

Just cooked and ready to serve

Background:

Brought back some Chinese chives from my parents' garden and decided to put them to use in making one of my favorite dishes - pork and chives dumplings. Not only is this dish tasty, but it is also extremely easy to prepare and quite inexpensive to make.

Makes ~40-50 dumplings
Serves 4 adults
Total Cost = ~ $4-5

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup chopped Chinese chives
1 TB minced ginger
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB Chinese vinegar (black)
2 TS salt
1 Package dumpling wrappers

Prep:

Mix the ground pork with ingredients and set aside
Prepare a small bowl of water for the purposes of sealing the dumpling
Bring pot of water to a low boil
Wrap dumpling by spooning a small dollop of the ground pork mixture onto a dumpling wrapper
Wet the rim of the wrapper with water (using your finger is fine)
Press to seal the edges of the dumpling and crimp to make "scallop" shape (optional - see pictures for example)
Repeat until pork mixture/wrappers are gone
Cook in boiling water for ~ 5-10 min or until dumplings float - do not crowd too many dumplings in the pot or they will tend to stick
Enjoy with dipping sauce: soy sauce (2 parts)/vinegar (1 part)/sugar (to taste)/hot sauce mixture (1 part)