Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients: 6 large cabbage leaves 2 dried mushrooms 30 grams straw mushrooms 30 grams silver sprouts* 3 water chestnuts** 1/4 carrot a little dried fungus a little black moss Seasoning: 1/2 teaspoon rice wine 1/4 teaspoon salt Cornstarch Mixture: 40 ml water or liquid from the reconstituted mushrooms 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch Sauce: 40 ml water (or stock if desired) 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/2 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce (available in Asian markets; it uses mushrooms instead of oysters) pepper to taste a few drops sesame oil 1 - 2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying Directions:  Parboil cabbage leaves in the wok in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes. This will help the filling stick to the cabbage. Move the leaves around with chopsticks so they will soften.  Drain well.  Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for between 20 - 30 minutes.  Save the soaking liquid to use if desired. Cut off the stems.   Soak the black fungus in warm water for at least 15 minutes.  Rinse and trim the stems and cut off any stiff parts.  Soak the hair moss in warm water for 20 minutes and drain well. Wash the water chestnuts and peel.  Wash and scrape the carrot. Rinse the silver sprouts and the straw mushrooms. Shred all the ingredients. Mix together the seasoning ingredients, adding 2 tablespoons of the reconstituted mushroom liquid if desired. Prepare the cornstarch/water mixture and the sauce. Heat oil in wok.  When oil is ready, add the mushrooms, fungus, hair moss and silver sprouts, carrots and water chestnut and stir-fry on high heat. Add the seasonings with the mushroom stock. Add the cornstarch/water mixture, and 1/2 of the sauce and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes. Divide the cooked filling into 6 portions.  Lay out a cabbage leaf and place a portion of the filling on the end.  (If necessary, cut off the stiff rib of the leaf and place a small piece of cabbage over to cover.)  Roll up the cabbage tightly and trim off the ends if necessary. Continue with the remaining rolls.   Steam the cabbage rolls on high heat for 5 minutes.   Heat oil in wok and when ready, add the rest of the sauce.  Heat and pour on top of the cabbage rolls. Serve hot. *Silver sprouts are merely bean sprouts that have been "topped and tailed" - they have had both ends cut off.  The purpose is to make a more attractive dish.  If desired, you can skip this step and not trim the bean sprouts. **If unavailable, substitute bamboo shoots  Click here for more Vegetable Recipes

Low Fat Recipes/Asparagus and Mushroom with Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients: 1 lb asparagus, stiff ends peeled 1/4 lb brown button mushrooms (or mixed mushrooms) 2 garlic cloves 1 T fermented black soybeans 1.5 T rice vinegar 1 T soy sauce 1 t potato starch (or cornstarch) 1 t brown sugar 1 T sake or other rice wine Directions Cut asparagus on the diagonal into 1-2 inch pieces. Blanch for 5 minutes in boiling water. Drain and set aside. Wash and slice mushrooms. Set aside. Mince the garlic. Rinse the black beans well. Mix garlic and beans together. Set aside. Mix together the rice vinegar, tamari, starch, sugar, and sake. Set aside. Fill a glass with water and set handy next to the stove. Put a skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, dump the garlic mixture into the pan. Stir fry for one minute, adding water as the mixture begins to stick -- add just a little at time. Add the asparagus and stir fry for 10 minutes (or until asparagus is just shy of being crisp-done), again adding water just as needed. Add mushrooms and stir fry for 2-5 more minutes. Add the vinegar mixture (giving it a last stir to make sure starch is well mixed), stir until evenly coated and sauce thickens. Serve immediately. Click here for more low Fat Recipes

Beef and Snap Pea Pods

Services 4

5g fat per serving

Ingredients:

1/2 lb boneless beef sirloin
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 pkg (16 oz) frozen stir fry vegetables with snap pea pods
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup stir fry sauce with garlic and ginger
Directions
Trim fat from pork. Cut pork into 1/2-inch cubes.

Heat wok or large skillet over high heat. Add oil and turn pan to coat bottom and sides. Add beef cubes. Stir fry for 2 minutes or until brown. Add vegetables and water. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add sauce and stir until well-blended.

Reduce heat to medium. Cover pan and cook for 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Serve while hot.

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Pepper Steak

Marinade: 
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch (corn flour)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
4 cloves garlic -- chopped
2 teaspoons ginger root -- peeled, grated
2 scallions -- chopped
2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion
2 green peppers -- sliced

Directions:

1. Marinate steak for 15 minutes or more. Add oil to hot wok.

2. Swirl and stir fry garlic, ginger and scallions for 30 seconds.

3. With slotted spoon, reserving the marinade, add half the steak and stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Repeat with remaining steak.

4. Add oil and stir fry onion and green peppers for 2 minutes.

5. Push vegetables to sides of wok. Add marinade to center of wok and stir until thickened and bubbly.

6. Blend in vegetables, add steak and heat thoroughly.

More delicious Chinese  beef recipes are available in here

Mongolian Beef

Ingredients:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch (corn flour)
1 1/4 pounds flank steak, sliced thin across grain
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger root, shredded
1 1/4 pounds scallion, cut diagonally 1/8" slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sherry
2 tablespoons sesame oil 

Directions

In a bowl combine the egg, 1 T of the soy sauce, cornstarch and salt, stirring until the mixture is well blended, add the flank steak, tossing it to coat it with the marinade, and let it marinate, covered at room temp for 2 hours. 

In a wok heat enough of the oil to measure 1 1/2" to 375 degrees and in it fry the beef in 4 batches, stirring to separate the slices, for 10 seconds, transferring it with a slotted spoon to a bowl as it is fried and making sure the oil has returned to 375 before adding the next batch. 

Pour off carefully all but 3 T of the oil and heat the oil remaining in the wok over high heat until it is very hot. Add the gingerroot and stir fry it for 5 seconds, or until it is golden. Add the scallions and the salt and stir fry the mixture for 1 minutes, or until the scallions are limp. 

Return the beef to the wok, add the remaining 1 T soy sauce and sherry and stir fry the mixture for 30 seconds, or until the beef is heated through. 

Remove the wok from the heat, add the sesame oil, and stir the mixture to distribute the oil.

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Ginger Beef

The staple dish of Chinese take-out restaurants.

Ingredients:
1 pound beef (rouladen)
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
3 hot chili peppers
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sesame oil

Marinade:
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp ginger juice

1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp hot chili oil (optional)

Sauce:
1 Tbsp wine
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp vinegar
4 Tbsp sugar (can substitute brown sugar or honey, if desired)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp water
chili oil or chili powder to taste

4 to 5 cups oil for deep-frying
1 Tbsp oil for stir-frying
Directions:
Cut beef into matchstick strips, cutting along the grain. (The meat is easier to cut if it is partially frozen).

To make ginger juice for marinade, peel and grate ginger. Squeeze out juice.

Mix four marinade ingredients. Add to beef and marinate for 30 minutes.

Begin preparing vegetables. Cut carrots, celery, and pepper into thin strips. Mince garlic. For ginger, use the leftover minced ginger from the preparation of ginger juice.

Mix the sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Beat the egg white and add water. Add flour and cornstarch. Mix the batter thoroughly. Drop the batter into the marinated meat.

Heat wok. When heated, add 4 - 5 cups of oil. When the oil is ready, add about 1/4 of the meat/batter mixture. Deep-fry the beef until golden brown. Remove and set aside. Let oil come back to original temperature and add more meat.

When meat is cooked, clean the wok. Heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. When oil is ready, add the vegetables and begin stir-frying. Pour in the sauce and let come to a boil. Add the deep-fried beef. Toss quickly, and remove.

Sprinkle with sesame oil and serve hot.

Click here for more Beef Recipes

Chinese Cooking

If you've been searching for information about how to improve your health and eat healthy and balanced food on a daily basis, then you've probably come across Nicholas Zhou's name at least a few times. And, if you're like me, you've probably wondered what the story is behind his best-selling cookbook on healthy eating on the Internet.

Well, here's the truth: This cookbook is the real deal.

Listen, I'll be the first to admit that I was hesitant when I first decided to buy "Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking." But when I got in on my computer (only 3 minutes later!), I was literally blown away by what I had received.

The first thing I noticed about the cookbook was all the beautiful pictures taken by Nicholas. He spent 2 whole years to prepare and cook all the dishes in his book and take pictures for those dishes that deserve one for clarity or beauty. This really helps a lot since the pictures give you a clear idea how the dishes will look like, what ingredients you need, and even how long they should be cooked.

For example, I have been looking for the right recipe for "Stewed Beef Strips" for years but I could never get it right. In Nicholas Zhou's book, I saw the picture and figured out (he also pointed out in the cooking directions) that the sauce should be poured over the beef on the plate instead of being stirred with the beef in the hot wok. So that's the secret why the Stewed Beef Strips always tastes so good at Hunan House (my favorite Chinese restaurant in town).

You will also be delighted to see that Nicholas Zhou's cookbook is not packed with thousands of free recipes that you can find anywhere on the Internet, which is the case for most cookbooks you can find out there. Instead, his book only contains low carb, low fat recipes that have been personally cooked and tested by him. He only included recipes that he considered authentic and healthy according to his 4 years of continuous reading, writing, cooking and research. But don't worry! The cookbook stills contains over 500+ recipes, which will be far more than enough for you and your family for a lifetime.

And the best part is that you'll get lifetime update for the cookbook. Nicholas promised that he will keep adding new recipes and cooking tips to his book on a daily basis and he will offer free download for the updated version whenever it's available.

The cookbook contains the most famous Chinese recipes as well as all the secret recipes that couldn't be found anywhere else. Most recipes are quick-and-easy style and perfect for people who have a fast-pace lifestyle -- which have saved me TONS of time and money already.

But what impresses me most about the cookbook is just how authentic it is. I've a huge collection of over 30 Chinese cookbooks, and they all seem to focus on just ONE thing - Americanized Chinese recipes. For example, they usually ask you to add sugar to a spicy dish, or cheese to an appetizer dish, which is rarely the case for real Chinese cooking. 

The "Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking" cookbook is almost like a bible of authentic and healthy Chinese cooking like its name indicates. I give this product my absolute highest recommendation.

Click here to find out more.