Category Archives: Asian Recipes

A to Z Challenge 2015, Asian Recipes, Vegetables & Salads

Simply Yummy Snow Peas

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They have a nice snap and a sweet taste and make a wonderful addition to Chinese food, curries, and other vegetable combinations. Best of all, as far as peas go, they are reasonably low in carbohydrates. I most associate snow peas with Chinese food, but they can be used in any way you would use other peas. Experiment with them.

Although the snow pea originated in the Mediterranean region and were a popular variety of pea in the 19th century, they migrated to China where they quickly became the preferred pea and a key ingredient in Oriental cuisine. They thrive in a cool climate and should be picked five to seven days after flowering when they are at their peak flavor.

The French call the snow pea the mange-tout, meaning “eat it all” as it is one of only two pea varieties that you can eat the pod. The other pea with an edible pod is the sugar snap pea, although the snow pea has the more delicate pod. Easily recognized, snow peas have pale green pods that hold the small, flattened peas and are about two to three inches in length.

You can buy snow peas either fresh or frozen year round. Add them to stews in the winter or to salads in the summer. Delicious either way.

Nutrition information for 1 cup (98 g)
Calories: 41 Fat: 0 Net Carbs: 4 Protein: 3

Recipes:

Here’s a couple of recipes from Skinny Girl Bistro that feature snowpeas.

Cauliflower and Snow Peas Curry
Summer Harvest Cauli-risotto

Information for this article was taken from Specialty Produce, Self Nutrition Data,  and Wikipedia.

Top photo is from Wikimedia, used with permission – By Rob Duval (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0

Asian Recipes, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Hot and Sour Soup at Home

A soup that can warm you up from the inside out on these cold nights is the Chinese Hot and Sour Soup.  You don’t need to go out for it because it’s easy to make at home.  If you have rice wine vinegar and soy sauce at home, then you have a good start toward the soup.  I made it with what I had in the house — chicken bullion instead of broth, turnips instead of mushrooms, and celery added for a bit of crunch.  Instead of scallions, I added dried minced onions and chives and I also added some mixed, chopped greens.   The original recipe called for shitake mushrooms, but I’ve substituted regular mushrooms for a lower carb dish.  This is a delicious soup with or without other Chinese food on the menu.

Hot and Sour Soup

4 cups Chicken Broth
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper
1 cup fresh Mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 large Egg, lightly beaten
1 deli Smoked Pork Chop, diced
1 stalk Celery, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
3 Scallions, thinly sliced
1 cup mixed greens, torn or chopped

Prep all vegetables before starting as this will cook quickly.

In a large pot, combine broth, soy sauce, crushed red pepper, ginger and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium hea, then add celery, pork and mushrooms.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Whisk together 3 tablespoons vinegar and cornstarch. Add to pot; simmer, stirring, until soup is thickened, about 1 minute.

Drizzle egg into the soup and stir to form ribbons. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, 1 minute. Taste; add additional vinegar, if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Info: per serving
Calories: 57 Fat: 1.9 g Net Carbs: 4.3 g Protein: 5.6 g

Asian Recipes, Recipes, Vegetables & Salads, Vegetarian

Cauliflower and Snow Peas Curry

Cauliflower Curry with Snow Peas

One of my favorite vegetable dishes at Indian or Thai restaurants is a cauliflower curry.   The flavors just blend so well and it is a spicy sauce without overwhelming the other vegetables.   This version is
my own adaptation using S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix, the one that comes with 5 little cubes in the package.  If you prefer to mix your own curry or work with curry powder, then feel free to substitute.  I like the mix because it seems to get the right balance for me.

Cauliflower and Snow Peas Curry

1 1/2 cup Cauliflower, cut into pieces
1/2 cup Snow Peas, fresh, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup Onions, chopped (remove)
1/4 cup Sweet Peppers (Bell or small peppers)
1/5 pkg Curry-S&B Golden Curry Sauce, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons Water
3/4 cup Coconut Milk unsweetened
1 teaspoon minced Garlic
2 tablespoons Thai Basil, fresh
1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Heat a small pot of water to a boil and cook cauliflower for about three minutes, until just fork tender. Drain. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat, add the onions and sit until softened. Add the garlic and peppers, then cook about a minute longer. Next, add the curry pieces and stir until it melts and coats the onions. Add the coconut milk, and 2 tablespoons water and bring to a simmer. Add the cauliflower and snow peas and stir. Reduce heat to medium low and cover pan or skillet and simmer, stirring a couple of times, for about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil leaves. Makes 4 servings. Nutrition Info per serving: Calories: 44 Fat: 1.7 g Net Carbs: 3.3 g Protein: 1.9 g

Asian Recipes, Main Dish, Recipes, Seafood

Peanut Curried White Fish with Squash

This last week I’ve been doing variations on recipes that I’ve used and this is a recent one. I tried the White Fish with Creamy Curry Sauce last week and wanted to try a couple of ideas I had on making this fish. The result was a wonderful dish that is going into my favorites. Like the other recipe, it is easy to make and elegant enough for company.

Peanut Curried White Fish with Squash

2 fish filets (cod or other white fish,) about 1 inch thick
Curry-S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix (1/5 pkg), 20 gram(s)
Chili pepper, red, dried, 6 grams = 2 tsp., .25 tsp
1/2 cup Butternut or Acorn Squash
1 teaspoon Peanut Butter
1/3 cup Coconut Milk
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.)

Cut squash into cubes, place into a small microwavable bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, stir and microwave another 2 minutes. Check to see if they are fork-tender, easily pierced with a fork. You want them firm, but not hard.

In a pan, put 1/5 of the Golden Curry paste and turn on low heat to melt it. Add peanut butter and coconut milk. Stir and cook until blended. It will be thick. Add a little water to make it an easily spreadable consistency.

Oil or spray a baking pan and put about a tablespoon of the curry in it. Place the fish filets on top, add salt and pepper. Reserve another tablespoon of the curry, then spread the rest of the curry over the top of the fish, then pile the squash on top of that and spread the rest of the curry over the squash.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 5 minutes. Remove to serving plates and use the spatula or a spoon to scoop up the curry sauce and drizzle over the fish on the plate.

Makes 2 servings

Calories: 298.8 Fat: 7.4 g Net carbs: 10 g Protein: 42.1 g

Posted on 8/5/2013

Asian Recipes, Main Dish, Recipes, Seafood

Fish and Veggies – Tempura Style

I love deep fried fish, especially cod, but I haven’t had it in over three years. After a week or so on the East Coast and passing up several opportunities for fish and chips, I finally decided I needed to do something about it. So, I adapted a tempura recipe to low carb flours and gave it a whirl. The oil needs to be hot enough to fry quickly but not so fast that the food doesn’t get cooked. If it’s too cool, the tempura batter won’t stay on the vegetables while they’re cooking. But it’s easy enough to make the batter and it’s worth the effort for the wonderful meal. If you don’t like my vegetable selection, then substitute in your favorites, like cauliflower, broccoli, or asparagus. Just try to stick to the lower carb options.

For gluten free, I would try replacing the CarbQuick with rice flour. You don’t need to use the coconut flour if you would prefer all rice flour. But rice flour is extremely high in carbohydrates, 123 net carbs in 1 serving. You could try all coconut flour or a combination of coconut flour and almond flour. If you use more coconut flour, use about 6 tablespoons and two eggs. It absorbs liquid, so you will probably have to add additional ice water.

Tempura Cod and Vegetables

Tempura
1/4 cup CarbQuick Baking Mix
2 tablespoons oconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup ice water
Oil for deep frying

Fish and Vegetables
3 1/4 lb pieces of cod cut into three chunks each
1/2 cup zuchinni, cut into large cubes
1/2 cup kohlrabi, sliced into 1/4″ slices
1/2 cup Acorn squash, cut into 1″ pieces
12 cleaned fresh green beans

Wash fish off and cut into chunks. Cut all the vegetables into 1″ to 1 1/2″ chunks. Mix the tempura batter. Add ice water until it has a thick, but not too thick consistency. It needs to stick to the food, but not make too thick a coating. When using coconut flour, it will absorb liquid, so it will use at least double and possibly three times as much water as the recipe calls for.

Pour oil to about 1 1/2 inch deep in a deep skillet (I use cast iron) and heat to 375 degrees, or until a bit of batter sizzles and browns quickly. Lower the heat slightly. Try to keep an even heat.

Dip about six vegetables in the tempura batter, then place gently in the oil to fry. It will take just a few minutes for them to brown on one side. Turn with a slotted spatula and brown on the other side. Remove to a paper towel covered plate to cool. Continue to cook vegetables, about six to a batch. You can keep the drained vegetables warm in a 225 degree oven on a baking tin. Fry the chunks of fish last. They will take about 3 to 5 minutes a side, depending on thickness. Check to be sure the fish is cooked all the way through.

Serve as soon as possible. You can sprinkle with rice vinegar or any favorite flavor of sauce you like. Left over vegetables and fish don’t reheat very well, but you can put them on a baking sheet and warm them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 300 degrees.

Nutrition Info per serving:
Calories: 568.5 Fat: 46.7 g Net Carbs: 8.8 g Protein: 46.2 g

Posted on 6/3/2013