Chinese New Year

Japanese Karaage

Karaage is Japan's version of fried chicken nuggets.  Cubes of chicken are marinated in a mixture of ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, sesame oil and sugar for about two hours.  When ready to fry, the chicken is removed from the marinade and lightly dusted with corn starch.  It only takes about 3-4 minutes to fry them to golden perfection in a cast iron skillet.  I served the karaage with a garlic, ginger and cilantro Jasmine rice.

Szechuan Spicy Green Beans

I bought a package of haricot verts to make with caramelized shallots and sliced almonds, but also used them to make a wonderful Szechuan stir-fry.  Bring water to a rapid boil then add green beans and cook for 5-6 minutes.  Set aside.  Heat oil in a wok and saute finely chopped garlic and ginger, and diced onions.  Add green beans and stir-fry for several minutes.  Add Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, finely chopped Thai chilis, a dash of Siracha, sugar and a few drops of sesame oil and continue to stir-fry.  Toss all ingredients in the wok until they're well coated, then add a slurry mixture of corn starch and water.  I used two teensy Thai chilis and a dash of Siracha and they were very spicy.  Adjust this to your taste.  A red chili oil can be substituted.

Korean Pan-Fried Shrimp (Saeujeon)

This is one of my favorite ways to eat shrimp.  I found the recipe in my Craig Claiborne International cookbook, copyright 1971, and Maangchi, one of my favorite YouTube foodies has a wonderful step-by-step video.  Preparing the shrimp is a little labor intensive but if you do that early in the day, you will have a 10 minute meal for dinner.  Remove shells from the shrimp and butterfly them, then dust in flour and dredge in beaten eggs.  Pan-fry in oil and serve with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil.  I also dipped red bell pepper rings in the flour and eggs and pan-fried them as a healthy accompaniment to the shrimp. 

Chinese Ginger Beef and Broccoli

I found this recipe on one of my favorite websites for Asian recipes, rasamalaysia.com.  It's filled with hundreds of easy and delicious recipes.  I love beef and broccoli for take-out so I decided to make a healthier at-home version.  I bought stir-fry beef strips at my local Sprouts market which makes the dish even quicker and easier.  The beef is marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or sherry (I used Shaoxing wine), corn starch and pepper.  Heat oil in a wok and stir-fry ginger for a few minutes, then add the beef.  Cook until almost done then add the broccoli.  Add the brown sauce and continue to stir-fry until done. The brown sauce consists of a mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar and corn starch.  Before serving, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
http://rasamalaysia.com/beef-and-broccoli-recipe/2/

Japanese Teriyaki Salmon

I love salmon and this is quite possibly my favorite new way of enjoying it.  I found the recipe on Just one Cookbook where I've found quite a few wonderful Asian recipes.  The teriyaki sauce is simply a mixture of equal parts soy sauce, sake and mirin, with a dash of sugar or honey.  The salmon is very lightly dredged in flour then cooked on all sides for about 3-4 minutes in butter and canola oil.  A tablespoon of sake is added then the fish is steamed for approximately 8-10 minutes depending on its thickness.  Remove the fish then add the teriyaki mixture to the pan and cook until it is reduced down.  Pour over the salmon and serve.

https://www.justonecookbook.com/teriyaki-salmon-recipe/

Japanese Soba Noodles

In Japan, soba noodles are eaten at midnight on New Year's Eve.  The long thin noodles symbolize long life, and they cut easily while eaten which symbolizes letting go of hardship for the year.  Traditionally a dashi broth is made of kelp and bonito flakes then seasoned with mirin, sake and soy sauce.   A variety of toppings can be added.  I simmered shrimp, snow peas, carrots and Chinese broccoli in the broth then sprinkled it with a dash of  shichimi togarashi to spice it up a little.  This simple bowl of noodles was a very healthy way to end one year and begin another.