Korean Beef Noodles

This was a yummy dinner we enjoyed (with chopsticks, of course!), courtesy of the latest Food Network Magazine. I really liked using the cellophane noodles, a little something different from the usual. I had to adapt the ingredients slightly due to what I had on hand, but in the end this was a great Asian-style meal that I'd like to have again.

Korean Beef Noodles


Ingredients 

1 5-to-6-ounce package cellophane noodles (I only used about 3/4 package)
1/3 cup soy sauce
5 Tbsp. sesame oil (That is a LOT of sesame oil! I only had about 2 Tbsp. left in my bottle. I added a little oyster sauce and some extra soy sauce to make up for it)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
12 oz. skirt steak, sliced 1/4 inch thick against the grain (I used a thin-cut sirloin)
1 yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch wedges 
Kosher salt 
10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed (I used cremini)
1 cup shredded carrots (from about 3 carrots) 
6 cups baby spinach (about 10 ounces) 


Directions 


Soak the noodles in warm water to soften, 5 to 10 minutes, then drain and snip into pieces with kitchen shears. 


Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, 3 tablespoons sesame oil, the garlic, brown sugar and vinegar in a bowl. Put the beef in another bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture. 


Heat 2 teaspoons sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon salt and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the beef and stir-fry until just cooked through. Transfer to a bowl. 


Rinse and wipe out the skillet, return to the heat and add 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Add the mushrooms and carrots; stir-fry 3 minutes. Add the noodles and 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce mixture and stir-fry 1 minute; add 1/3 cup water and cook until the noodles are just tender, 3 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the beef. 


Wipe out the skillet, return to the heat and add the remaining 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Add the spinach and the remaining soy sauce mixture and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add to the beef and toss.

Pork and Noodle Stir Fry

This recipe from Food & Wine was a great way to use up some cheap pork tenderloin I picked up a while back. Simple ingredients and flavors, but it was pretty good and actually tasted great re-heated the next day too. The only change I would make is in the type of noodles I used, which were dry udon noodles. I think ramen or fresh udon would work better, so I'll be changing it up next time.

Ingredients

8 ounces Japanese curly noodles or instant ramen
3/4 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 large eggs, beaten
1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1/2-inch dice
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
10 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced (I used cremini)
2 heads baby bok choy, sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick

Directions

1. Cook the noodles according to the package directions, then drain and rinse under cold water. In a measuring cup, mix the stock with the soy sauce, Shaoxing, sesame oil and crushed red pepper. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with the water.

2. In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a plate. Add the eggs to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until set, about 1 minute. Transfer the eggs to the plate. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Add the pork to the skillet and stir-fry over moderately high heat until browned and just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer the pork to the plate with the garlic and egg.

3. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the bok choy and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the noodles and soy sauce and cornstarch mixtures and cook over moderate heat, tossing, until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, egg, pork and any accumulated juices and cook, tossing until the pork is heated through, 1 minute. Transfer to bowls and serve.

Asian Salmon

I really liked the marinade/sauce on this one, it was a nice way to prepare salmon. You can click the link below to see the original recipe; I'm posting here with my changes. If I were to make this again I would definitely make more marinade (and I even doubled it from the original recipe already) to have even more to pour over the rice.

Asian Salmon
adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

3/4 lb. salmon filets, with skin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. rice vinegar
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. minced onion
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 tsp. dried dill weed
2 cups water

Directions

1. Make several shallow slashes in the skinless side of the salmon filets. Place filets skin-side down in a glass baking dish. In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, pepper, onion and ginger. Pour the liquid over the salmon, cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium saucepan combine the rice, water and dill weed. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium low heat until rice is tender and water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.

3. Remove cover from salmon, and bake in the marinating dish for 15 minutes. Change oven heat setting to low broil, and cook 5 minutes more to allow for some caramelization. Serve salmon over the rice, and pour sauce over.

Sweet Thai Stir Fry

This was the last of my Newbie Week recipes (yeah, just a little late in posting it), and its actually something I just put together with some fresh vegetable and a few ingredients we had on hand.


I was initally just going to use the vegetables in my freezer (from Costco), but then I found all kinds of great veggies on sale last week so I changed plans and went with all fresh ones. I'm only a stir-fry fan when I can pick and choose what veggies to put in it :)
With the addition of some udon noodles we picked up at the Japanese market, this was a great, easy meal (and pretty too!)


Sweet Thai Stir Fry

Ingredients

Sweet Thai Sauce:
1 cup chicken broth
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce
2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

*Note: This makes a lot of sauce - too much for the amount of vegetables I used. I maybe only used about half for this stir-fry, we used some as a dipping sauce for wontons, and the rest a few days later on coating some chicken wings that we baked.

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. chopped green onions
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
6-8 cups fresh vegetables, sliced or chopped (I used 2 small broccoli crowns, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1/2 lb. of white mushrooms, 1/4 lb. snow peas, and 1/2 small yellow onion)
6 oz. udon (or other) noodles, cooked and drained

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine all sauce ingredients. Mix well to combine. Set aside.

2. In a wok or large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, green onion, and red pepper; cook and stir 1 minute. Add all vegetables and stir-fry until crisp-tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add desired amount of sauce to the vegetables and stir to coat. Mix in a little cornstarch slurry (1 tsp. cornstarch plus 1 Tbsp. water) if desired, to thicken sauce. Toss in noodles and serve immediately.