SCARLET ORCHID: Chef Ling's Favorite Recipes
Chef Ling's Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 chicken skinless, boneless breast halves
- cooked jasmine rice
Ingredients: Batter
- 2 cups cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- water, as needed
- 4 cups (or more) vegetable oil for deep fat frying
Ingredients: Sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 4 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 4 teaspoons Hoisin sauce
- 4 teaspoons rice wine
- 4 teaspoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 cup vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 teaspoons white pepper
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 tablespoon green onion, chopped
- 1 dried red chili pepper, or crushed red chili, to taste
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
Cut the chicken into nugget size pieces and set aside.
Batter: Combine all ingredients for the batter in a large bowl. Add up to 1 cup of water to thin the batter as needed.
Dredge the chicken nuggets in the batter and place on a baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
To cook the chicken, heat the oil for deep fat frying (as much as needed) over medium-high heat in a wok or Dutch oven. Carefully lower the chilled and battered chicken nuggets into the hot oil (do not crowd) and fry for 4 to 6 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Drain the chicken on paper towels.
Sauce: Combine all ingredients for the sauce (except the cornstarch and water) in a bowl. In a small container, combine the cornstarch and water. Heat a wok or deep skillet over high heat and pour in the sauce mixture. Bring to a boil and stir in as much of the cornstarch and water mixture as need to thicken the sauce. Let the sauce boil for a few minutes, then add the chicken nuggets and stir to coat with the sauce.
Serve the chicken with rice. Serves 4.
Wine recommendation: 2005 Chateau Ste Michelle Indian Wells Riesling
Ginger Steamed Sea Bass
Ingredients
- 4 6 to 8-ounce sea bass fillets
- white pepper, to taste
- 4 teaspoons rice wine, divided
- 4 teaspoons soy sauce, divided
- 12 drops sesame oil, divided
- 3 to 4-inch piece fresh ginger
- 4 to 5 green onions
- 16 asparagus spears, lightly steamed and salted
- cooked jasmine rice
Place each fish fillet each on a large piece of aluminum foil, approximately 18x18-inches. Sprinkle each fillet with white pepper, 1 teaspoon of rice wine, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 3 drops of sesame oil. Peel the ginger and cut into long, thin strips. Trim the green onions, cut in half, then cut each half lengthwise into long thin strips. Place some of the ginger and scallions on top of each fillet. Seal the foil tightly to enclose the fish fillets. Steam the packets, one at a time, in a steamer for about 10 minutes.
Serve each sea bass fillet with 4 stalks of steamed asparagus and rice. Serves 4.
Wine recommendation: 2005 Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio
New York Steak Teriyaki
Ingredients
- 4 8-ounce top sirloin steaks
- vegetable or olive oil for frying
Ingredients: Fruit Sauce
- 2 bananas, peeled
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 3/4 cup sugar
- juice of 2 lemons
- sliced zucchini and sliced mushrooms, stir-fried
- cooked jasmine rice
Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Pan-fry the steaks in a small amount of oil over high heat to medium rare, about 2 minutes each side. Dice the steaks into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
Fruit Sauce: In a food processor, purée the bananas and apples until smooth. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice.
Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the fruit sauce (as much as desired) to the skillet and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add the diced steak and stir to coat with the sauce. Served the steak with stir-fried zucchini and mushrooms and rice. Serves 4.
Wine recommendation: 2005 Red Knot Shiraz McLaren Valley, Australia
Recipes by Chef Ling of Scarlet Orchid.
