What's For Dinner: Asian Food

Here are a few Asian dishes that I like to make. Both are fairly simple. The first is super easy and if you have cooking staples and the basics for Asian food in your pantry (soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, rice) it only requires 3 additional ingredients.

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Pineapple

20 oz. can of pineapple chunks packed in 100% pineapple juice

Boneless skinless chicken breast ~2 cups (I use the extra thin ones because they are easier to cook)

3 scallions

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 T vegetable oil

2 green peppers

Prep: Slice the scallions thinly across - white and green sections. Largely dice the green peppers (I cut them into 1-inch square chunks). Drain the pineapple, reserving the pineapple juice. Cut chicken into ~1 inch strips and cook in a skillet over medium-high in a few teaspoons of olive oil. It only takes a few minutes to cook the chicken. To avoid over-cooking, I time how long it takes for the bottom to cook halfway through, then I flip over and set a timer for the same amount of time. You might have another method that works for you.

1. Start cooking white rice (I make 2 cups dry in a rice cooker).

2. Make the sauce: combine pineapple juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir in flour and cook until sauce thickens (continue to stir constantly or sugar will burn). Trick is to make sure the sauce goes from liquid to a more viscous texture. Remove from heat; cover.

3.Heat oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add bell pepper and scallions. Stir fry until veggies are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Lower heat to medium. Stir in pineapple, chicken, and sauce; heat through. Serve immediately with rice.

Pork Lo Mein

This dish tastes fresh and in my opinion, lovely, but if you are used to the stronger flavors of Asian restaurant food then it might be too bland for you. In that case, I recommend adding a stir fry sauce, found in the Asian cooking section of most grocery stores.

3/4 lb lo mein noodles or spaghetti (about half a package)

4 tsp vegetable oil

9 garlic cloves, minced

2 T fresh ginger (buy a 3 inch piece, peel it and mince it)

1/2 lb cremini or button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
6 ounces snow peas, trimmed and sliced thinly lengthwise

2 T soy sauce

1 T sesame oil (another Asian cooking staple)
3/4 lb pork tenderloin

1. Cut pork in one inch strips and cook in oil (flipping halfway) over medium high heat for ~4 minutes (it's easy to overcook pork, so again I recommend using the method mentioned above since cook times can vary depending on utensils).

2. Cook noodles according to package; drain.

3. In  a large skillet or wok, heat 3 tsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant and golden, about 1 minute. Add 1 tsp vegetable oil and mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, until beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add pepper and cook until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Add snow peas and cook until crisp and bright green, 3 minutes. Add noodles, pork, and soy sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until noodles are coated and pork is warm through, 2 minutes. Drizzle with sesame oil before serving.