Sweet and Sour Acceptance.

During the 1860s to 1890s, thousands of Chinese immigrants entered into the United States.  Landing in San Francisco, they made their way throughout the western states in search of work; focusing on mining and railroad construction.  Approximately 12, 000 Chinese workers traveled from Sacramento, California, to Promontory, Utah, in the late 1860s; working for the Central Pacific Railroad.  The joining of the transcontinental rail lines became known as “The Golden Spike” where East meets West.  Over 1,000 workers died during construction, their bones shipped back to China, and no credit was given for their labor at the completion or grand celebration.  Not until May, 2019, at the 150^th Year Celebration of Golden Spike were the Chinese immigrants recognized for their hard work, dedication, and for some, deaths.

As the immigrants traveled further south within Utah, many found themselves in Carbon County working at the coal mines, and the railway system.  While the majority were driven out by anti-Chinese sentiment, many managed to stay on, establish businesses and made a good life for themselves.  Oh my, I am beginning to see a similarity here of the pioneers who traveled from England to North America; their descendants traveling westward.  Whether due to cultural or religious differences, many a group were met with discrimination, driven away, sometimes killed for simply being different than the established norm.

As with immigrants from many other countries, the Chinese brought their recipes with them.  From the simplest sustenance of stir-fried vegetables in oil plus red chile flakes over jasmine rice; to the more complex sweet and sour made with rice wine vinegar.  Unfortunately, the Chinese cooks were not able to find all the seasonings, spices, what we see as “unusual” foods, here in the USA.  They had to adapt to what was available, and with restaurants, to the tastes of the American residents....and Americans love ketchup!

...and deep frying.  Whether chicken, pork or shrimp, the tender morsels were thickly coated in a batter, deep fried and saturated with the ketchup-based, sweet and sour sauce.  It was tangy, tart, lip smacking, face puckering delicious; the addition of sweet sugar keeping the eyeballs from popping out of their sockets.

Here is a hint for next time a vacation takes place in New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, or any other city with an old, well established Chinatown; do not go to the typical tourist geared restaurant where the food is made for American tastes.  Go into a restaurant that you see the Chinese residents going into; tell them you want to experience authentic food that they would eat in their homeland.  Expect to have your mind, senses, and especially taste buds, blown sky high!  You will be thanking me for this advice, and craving that type of Chinese cuisine; trust me, would I lie to you?

Sweet and Sour Pork

(No deep frying of the meat and the sauce is toned down with pineapple juice)

Ingredients:

4 cups cubed pork (boneless loin pork chops)

½ cup flour

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tsp. salt

2 cups onion; julienned & cut into thirds

1 cups each of red & green bell peppers; julienned & cut into thirds

1 (15.25 oz.) can pineapple chunks; drain, but reserve liquid

1 cup Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

Preparation:

Spray interior of 4-quart crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix together flour with spices and thoroughly coat pork cubes; place in bottom of crock pot. 

Begin layering onions, bell peppers and pineapple.  

Whisk together reserved pineapple liquid with sweet and sour sauce; pour over all in crock pot.

Cover, set on low for 6 hours; half hour before, prepare white rice (4 cups fully cooked).

Makes 8 servings.

Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

¼ cup white wine vinegar

½ cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

6 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Preparation:

Stir together all ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat and serve.

Makes 1 cup.

Note:  Want some heat?  Add 2 tsp. of Sriracha to the mixture.

Mary Cokenour

How Hawaiian is Hawaiian Chicken?

I keep seeing recipes being posted on food sites or Facebook for "Hawaiian Chicken", but the Asian influences are so obviously strong...teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, Thai chiles. Then there are those strictly American add-ins such as bottled barbecue sauce or ketchup...ketchup! How Hawaiian is ketchup!?!

The closest recipe I could find for an authentic Hawaiian recipe was for "Huli Huli Chicken" ("huli" means "turn" in Hawaiian) and the chicken is cooked on a grill.  The recipe for "Huli Huli Chicken" was invented by Ernest Morgado; he cooked this version of teriyaki chicken for a group of farmers in 1955. This became a Hawaiian staple, served with sticky rice, ever since.   Even then, the ingredients for the sauce are ginger, garlic, teriyaki or soy sauce, ketchup and brown sugar.

So, to make my version of "Hawaiian Chicken", I decided to go with tastes more associated with that state: coconut and pineapple, and a mixture of Asian influenced ingredients to complete the recipe.  The first time I made it, well it tasted good, but something was obviously missing.  A friend of mine agreed and suggested some heat, so the Thai chiles were added in.  Whenever I can get fresh Thai chiles, I either freeze them or dry them; then I have them available whenever they're needed.  If you cannot find them, use fresh whole cayenne peppers, dried and crushed, or ground.  The other change I made from most recipes is cooking the chicken in a crock pot, instead of on a grill or in the oven.

 Hawaiian Chicken with Rice

Ingredients:

3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, excess fat removed

4 large red bell peppers
2 whole Thai Chiles, stems removed (whole cayenne chiles can be substituted or 1/8 tsp ground per chile needed)
2 large onions
1 jar (10 oz) La Choy Sweet and Sour Duck Sauce
1 fresh pineapple
1 container (11.1 oz) Vita CoCo Pure Coconut Water
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 cups white rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparation:
 

 

Spray the interior of a 6 quart crock pot with nonstick cooking spray; layer chicken inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove stem, seeds and white pith from the bell peppers; cut into one inch strips, then into one inch chucks; layer on top of chicken with the chiles.  Remove skin and roots from onions, cut into one inch chunks; layer on top of peppers.  Pour the Duck sauce over all.

  

 

 

 

Clean the pineapple, cut into one inch spears, then into one inch chunks and spread out over ingredients in crock pot.  Pour the coconut water and soy sauce over all; put on cooking lid, set on low and cook for 6 hours.  If whole chiles used, remove and discard.

  
 

Ladle 4 cups of liquid from crock pot to medium saucepan, bring to a boil on high heat.  Stir in rice, turn heat to low, cover and let cook for 20 - 25 minutes.  Turn off heat, uncover, fluff with a fork and let sit for 5 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Asian Combination.

Like anyone who enjoys cooking, I get bored doing up the same old recipes, the same old way.  I wonder how things would taste if I change an ingredient here or there; what would happen if I mixed two recipes together.  Sometimes it works out fantastic and delicious; sometimes it comes out to "What was I thinking!?!".  This time I decided to combine two Asian recipes, Sweet and Sour with Fireworks; that would be with chicken, pork or shrimp of course.  Basically all that I did was give sweet and sour sauce a kick to it, yet it surprisingly changed the flavor enough to give it a new dimension; nothing very complicated.  I'm going to give the name of this recipe something non-complicated also, "Spiced Up Sweet and Sour".

Spiced Up Sweet and Sour

Ingredients:

¼ cup canola or peanut oil
1 cup each julienned carrots, shelled edamame and drained pineapple chucks
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground white pepper
1 egg
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups of water
2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes; or medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined; or a combination equally up to 2 lbs.
1 qt of canola or peanut oil for frying

Sauce:

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp soy sauce
8 Tbsp sugar
1 and 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp Sriracha

Preparation:

In a large skillet or Wok, heat oil on medium-high heat; sauté carrots, edamame and pineapple until the edges just begin to caramelize. Remove from oil and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 Tbsp oil, cornstarch, salt, white pepper and egg; gradually add water until a thick batter forms. Add chicken, pork, shrimp or combination into batter making sure to thoroughly coat each piece. Heat the 1 qt of oil in the skillet or Wok over medium-high heat; when temperature reaches 360F, drop several pieces of battered pieces into the oil, but do not overcrowd. Pieces will be done when they are golden brown and float to top of oil; remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat until all battered pieces are done.

While frying up the protein pieces, the sauce can be made. Stir together all ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat, use immediately or keep warm for later use. 

Combine sautéed vegetables and pineapple with battered pieces and warm sauce; serve over white, brown or fried rice; or a noodle such as lo mein, udon or soba.

Makes 8 servings.

Note: you can add more Sriracha if you prefer the dish with more heat, but always taste first to make sure; you can always add, but not take away.

Mary Cokenour

Give Thanks to Those Cooking your Thanksgiving Meal.

I love Chinese food; I could go to a Chinese restaurant for days and never order the same thing twice.  One dish I enjoy is Sweet and Sour, but I always have trouble deciding between chicken, pork or shrimp; so I end up ordering the combination.  It's like getting a little surprise in every bite; ok, after a while you can tell what is what, but it's still fun to pretend.

Preparing for Thanksgiving entails a lot of work; cleaning the house from top to bottom, doing the shopping for groceries, baking the pies, and a few odds and ends.  Roy's mom and brother come up from Moab to eat with us, so I want everything as perfect as humanly possible.

So what in the world does Chinese food have to do with Thanksgiving Day?  I get worn out, so to spoil me, Roy decided to make dinner and he made me Sweet and Sour Chicken with Fried Rice.  All I had to do was sit on the kitchen stool and supervise, but he did all the work; and he did a damned great job!!! So for those of you busting a gut trying to get heaven and earth organized for Thanksgiving; step back and let a loved one cook a meal for you as their way of giving you thanks for being so wonderful.

Sweet and Sour – Chicken, Pork or Shrimp

Ingredients:
¼ cup canola or peanut oil
1 cup each chopped red and green bell peppers, onions and drained pineapple chucks
2 cups flour
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground white pepper
1 egg
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups of water
2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes; or medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined; or a combination equally up to 2 lbs.
1 qt of canola or peanut oil for frying
2 cups homemade sweet and sour sauce; kept warm.

Preparation:
In a large skillet or Wok, heat oil on medium-high heat; sauté peppers, onion and pineapple until the edges just begin to caramelize. Remove from oil and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 Tbsp oil, cornstarch, salt, white pepper and egg; gradually add water until a thick batter forms. Add chicken, pork, shrimp or combination into batter making sure to thoroughly coat each piece. Heat the 1 qt of oil in the skillet or Wok over medium-high heat; when temperature reaches 360F, drop several pieces of battered pieces into the oil, but do not overcrowd. Pieces will be done when they are golden brown and float to top of oil; remove to paper towels to drain. Repeat until all battered pieces are done.

Combine sautéed vegetables and pineapple with battered pieces and warm sauce; serve over white, brown or fried rice.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour

Move over winter, I'm ready for smokin' and grillin'.

That's right guys, when it comes to smokin' and grillin', that's my job. My hubby's job is to sit down, eat and enjoy. Jealous? Well, you should be; and here's a little more to make you drool. We own 2 grills: one kettle style for charcoal, one gas; and 2 smokers: one upright manual and the Masterbuilt Electric. Nope, we don't fool around when it comes to barbeque.

However, the crazy winters here are kicking my butt when it comes to outdoor cooking; too much snow, and too freaking cold!!! So, I am forced to use the indoor standbys; the crock pot or the oven. (Forgive me Bobby Flay) Not the same in any way, shape or form, and especially in taste, but it'll have to do until the weather gets warmer.


So, what's for dinner tonight? Ribs:

Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs

Ingredients:

4 lbs boneless pork ribs, separated
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper (red, yellow or orange), chopped
1 Tbsp diced garlic
4 cups homemade sweet and sour sauce**, or Yoshida’s Hawaiian Sweet and Sour Sauce (best brand of premade)
1 cup pineapple chunks with juice

Preparation:

Place ribs, onion, bell pepper, garlic and sauce into 6 qt crock pot, set on low heat, and mix together. Spread pineapple over top. Cook for 6 hours.

Makes 6-8 servings.

**Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

Ingredients:

¼ cup white wine vinegar
½ cup ketchup
1 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch

Preparation:

Stir together all ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat and serve.

Makes 1 cup.

Mary Cokenour
February 4, 2011