Asian Sesame Chicken (or tofu) Salad

This Asian Sesame Dressing is super versatile and makes a delicious cold appetizer dish with either shredded chicken or tofu.

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks green onion, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine) or Sherry wine
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon brown rice vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together. 

For Asian Sesame Chicken Salad, layer cucumbers at the bottom, add Instant Pot shredded chicken, drizzle Asian Sesame Dressing and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Mix well and serve.

For Asian Sesame Tofu Avocado Salad, layer cucumbers at the bottom, add tofu and avocado on top, pour in Asian Sesame Dressing, garnish with sesame seeds, cilantro and serve.

Vietnamese noodle salad

Seems like this is all I have energy to make for dinner on these hot, lazy summer days - something Asian, something cold, something mostly raw and doesn't require standing and stirring next to a hot stove - Vietnamese noodle salad.

For the tofu: Wrap a 16 oz cube extra-firm tofu in kitchen towels to soak up excess water. Cut it in 12 slices. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F. Marinade tofu slices in 1 tablespoon of tamari, 2 1/2 tablespoons of mirin, 1 teaspoon of minced ginger. Line baking tray with parchment paper and grease it with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Coat each side of tofu with nutritional yeast and lay them on the baking tray. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Flip and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes until golden brown. (If you prefer other sources of protein, chicken breasts, shrimp, ground pork or beef all work really well.)

For the noodles: Boil the rice noodles of your choice according to instructions. Once they are cooked and still al dente, drain them in a colander and throw in a bunch of ice cubes to cool them off instantly. I used a Pad Thai noodle here. Okay, it is a white flour product, not what I would do everyday but it also just occupies a 1/4 of the bowl. Check out these purple rice noodles here and here.

For the veggies: I used bean sprouts, cucumbers, shredded carrots and red peppers. Finely shredded lettuce also goes really well with this dish. Throw in leftover veggies, sauted greens or anything you have on hand!

For the dressing: Combine 1/4 cup of lime juice, 2 Tablespoons of water, 1 Tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 Tablespoon of maple syrup, 1 small red chili pepper (optional) in a big bowl, stir well.

For the garnish: This is what makes this noodle dish so magical! I used fresh basil and mint leaves, but cilantro and scallions also work. Feel free to mix and match. Add crushed peanuts for the extra crunch!

Assembly: Add noodles, veggies, tofu, garnish in a large salad bowl. Toss in dressing and serve.

A Summer Dinner

What are you eating in this heat?

Here is my simple summer dinner - boiled corn, sauted broccoli rabe, cold soba noodles (100% gluten free buckwheat noodles) and no-cook tofu avocado salad.

The beauty of this dinner is I used the same dressing for the soba noodles and tofu salad. I sprinkled sesame seeds and furikake after I tossed in the dressing. Super coolicious!

Here is the recipe for the dressing:

• 3 Tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 Tablespoons tamari
• 1 Tablespoon mirin
• 1 Tablespoon brown rice vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon maple syrup

Easiest way to eat a rainbow- master the basic stir fry

My default meal is stir fries. Not only can I finish all the wilting leftover veggies in the fridge, it is also the easiest way to eat the biggest variety of veggies in one sitting, what elementary school children are taught to do - eat a rainbow a day!

Because almost everything goes when it comes to stir fries, I will not give you an exact recipe, but a formula of success:

Protein (meat or plant-based) + crunchy veggies + mushrooms + greens + basic seasonings

In this stir fry, tofu is my protein of choice. When you empty a tofu cube from the box, make sure you dry it off. I like to brown my tofu in a non-stick or cast iron pan on all sides for a few minutes.

Then I throw in a few drops of tamari, toss to coat the tofu cubes and set them aside.

My crunchy veggies are red bell peppers, sugar snap peas and carrots. The mushrooms I am using are shitake and buna-shimeji, which is also called the beech mushroom and the brown clam shell mushroom.

The greens I am using are a few leftover broccoli rabe stems and baby spinach straight out of the bag.

My go to seasonings are tamari, garlic, ginger, salt, garlic flakes, mushroom powder. Sometimes I use all of them, sometimes just a few.

To make the stir fry, warm olive oil in a pan, add ginger and garlic mix.

Toss in crunchy veggies mix.

Add mushroom mix. Add salt, mushroom powder.

Throw in greens. Sprinkle a little more garlic flakes or seasoning of choice.

Toss in browned tofu.

Season with tamari to taste. Sometimes I drizzle a few drops of maple syrup to give it a touch of sweetness.

All ready to go! The simplest dish you can throw together with any random ingredients on a whim!

What is your stir fry formula? What works for you?

Vegan Ma Po Tofu

To make this classic spicy tofu dish you can find all the ingredients in any grocery stores except 2 - Chinese fermented black beans and hoisin sauce.

First let's talk about the dried fermented black beans. They are a staple in a Chinese kitchen. I remember growing up my mom would steam fish or clams, cook green beans, make chicken rice or practically anything with them. The salty, umami flavor they lend to any dish makes them one of the most versatile ingredients in Chinese cooking. Good news is you can get them from any Chinese grocery stores or even order them from Amazon. 

To make a black bean sauce, I usually put about a tablespoon of fermented black beans in a mortor, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water and use a pestle to crush the mixture into a lumpy paste.

Now let's talk about hoisin sauce. You can pick up store bought hoisin sauce but I have yet to find a clean product that doesn't contain refined sugars and artificial ingredients. Good news is you can make your own. It really is simple and delicious! Once you've made a batch, you can throw it in stir fries or use it as a marinade or dipping sauce for anything. Check out my recipe here.

Now you're ready to make this delicious dish! A lot of the sauces and spices can be adjusted to your taste, so don't freak out over the exact amount!

Ingredients:

• 1 cube of (14oz) tofu, dried and cut into cubes
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 1 or 2 red chili peppers, crushed
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp of ginger
• black bean paste - 1 Tbsp of fermented black beans + 1 or 2 Tbsp of hot water
• 2 Tbsp of home made hoisin sauce
• 1 1 /2 cups of mushrooms
• 1-2 Tbsp vegetable broth
• tamari to taste
• sesame oil to taste
• ground sichuan pepper to taste
• maple syrup to taste
• 1 tsp of arrowroot powder
• cilantro to garnish

Method:

1. In a large skillet, heat up oil. Add chili peppers, garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Add black bean paste, hoisin sauce. Cook for another 3 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Mix in tofu and stir.
5. Add vegetable broth.
6. Season with tamari, sesame oil, sichuan pepper. Add a little maple syrup for more sweetness if desired.
7. Stir arrowroot powder to 2 Tbsp of warm water to create a paste. Add to tofu mix to thicken the sauce. Coat all ingredients evenly with sauce.
8. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Home Made Hoisin Sauce

Eating clean sometimes means giving up things you are familiar with or once attached to. To me, it's Chinese food, the kind that is laden with greases and artificial ingredients. I still remember the day when I purged my kitchen pantry, I finally said goodbye to my last jars of Chinese condiments like hoisin sauce, oyster sauce and sesame paste that I was holding onto for the longest time.

Lately I was looking for a dan dan mein recipe to surprise my husband on his birthday (his childhood comfort food). I found one that looked amazing but required hoisin sauce, the hoisin sauce I threw away years ago. So I googled home made hoisin sauce and landed on a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good. It turned out to be so DELICIOUS and the easiest thing to make! It has become a condiment I often use now to make simple stir fries and Ma Po Tofu. Click here for Ma Po Tofu recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• one large garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 1/2 cup red miso paste
• 2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (add more to taste)

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and five-spice powder and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
2. Whisk in the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, and cook, whisking or stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Add more maple syrup to taste.
3. Let the sauce cool before using. It keeps well in the refrigerator for a week or so.