I whipped this up for myself on the same night I made the beef in plum sauce for my wife. It was a perfect pairing with fried rice, and more than spicy enough to make my mouth sing. All three dishes were wonderful and could be served together without issues.

For a little less fire, skip adding the additional curry powder at the end, or marinade in a sweet curry, it’s up to you. I was feeling the need for a few alarms, so I went with a yellow curry sauce and a mix of red and yellow curry powder.

This is a simple dish, and would work well on the grill if you simply kabob the ingredients then serve with a dish of curry dipping sauce on the side. Not a bad job considering that I took about five minutes to decide what i was going to do with a leftover pork loin. (Hey, they come two in a package, and if we cook them both, we eat them both, so there’s always one left over.)

Any suggestions on what would have made this a better dish? I’m itching to make it again, but I’d like to see if I could boost the flavors in it a bit.

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Making Asian inspired dishes should not be daunting. While it’s true that there are a lot of very complicated recipes for Oriental cuisine, there are likewise a ton of simple recipes you can experiment with while you master the techniques. The trick is to play with the flavors available in your local ethnic aisle and find what you like. Before you know it, your friends will be calling you for take-out orders!

I created this dish for my wife, who has issues with spicy foods (and therefore most off the shelf Asian sauces and glazes.) Plum sauce is very mildly spiced and lends not only a wonderful flavor, but a rather intense glaze to this simple stir fried beef. The ingredient list can be found at any Mega-Mart, prep time is only a few minutes and cook time is nearly instant. This one will Wow you, I promise!

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First of all, let me apologize for the lack of photos of preparation. Unfortunately I was alone at home when I made this, so there was no one to hold the camera, and anyone who’s ever cooked any variety of stir-fry knows well that once you’ve started, there is no “pause” or “stop”, both of which immediately equal “burned”.

Fried rice is one of those foods that most people get when they eat out, but I don’t know too many people who make this dish at home. That’s a crying shame, in my opinion, since true fried rice is something that can be prepared by any home cook and tailored to his or her family’s tastes in seconds. Why go out and pay $4.00 for a side of fried rice when you can make it for less than $2.00 at home with perfect results each and every time?

Simply put, if you can make rice (and with the availability of rice cookers nowadays, there is no reason anyone can’t make perfect rice), you can make fried rice. Turning plain white rice into amazing fried rice takes only a few minutes and I guarantee that anyone in your family that enjoys takeout will adore this recipe.

A note. I’m going to give the basic recipe for fried rice, then I’ll give my take. It really is best to start making this the traditional Asian/American/Canadian way first, then put your own twist on the subject.

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What’s not to love about food on a stick?  Anything that breaks the stereotype of a fork and knife at dinner time is something I look forward to, and if you’re planning an outdoor party, skewers are the way to go.  Your guests don’t have to bother with place settings or even tables, they can simply wander and mingle.  Which is what makes a great party, after all.

I didn’t make this dish for a party, though I probably will before the summer is over, along with kabobs and anything else i can think of that can comfortably be skewered and cooked over coals.  This was made at the request of my lovely wife, and i was more than happy to oblige her.

I’ve seen a lot of recipes that call for using whole breasts or chicken thighs, but i find that for satay, chicken breast tenderloins fit the bill perfectly.  Prep is simple, as you only have to cut larger tenderloins in two before marinating and it’s almost impossible to end up with a dry piece of chicken.  The flavor of the marinade works magic.  this may just be the prefect satay recipe.

As for sauce, I tend to simply heat my left over marinade thoroughly in a saucepan and use that.  If the idea doesn’t sit well with you, feel free to either make more or to use a thai peanut sauce from your local market.  You won’t hurt my feelings either way.

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This dish is something I’ve been planning for some time, but just couldn’t figure out how to execute until yesterday. I love scallops, but the lovely Mrs. Seat of her Pants had only ever experienced them at the local Chinese Buffet. I tried their version a few weeks ago and realized why she thought less than fondly of these wonderful little bivalves. The buffet version was rubbery, flavorless and coated in a completely generic and entirely greasy breading mixture. They were, in a word, nasty.

I immediately decided that I had to show her what a well prepared scallop tasted like. I ran out to the store the next day and purchased a bag of tiny frozen scallops (Fresh is not an option in this part of the world!). I knew I wanted to show her several different variations of these tiny oceanic gems. The focus would be to highlight the flavor of the scallops in three ways, sweet, savory and tart. But how? I also knew I didn’t want to start with full sized bay scallops, just in case she really wasn’t fond of the flavor after all.

Believe it or not, the inspiration for this appetizer-style dish came from a completely unrelated side dish. I was zoning out watching Food Network one day and Paula Deen was making asparagus bundles tied with green onions. Out of nowhere my mind started racing and a resounding “That’s It!” rolled through the house, waking up my napping son and terrifying my dog in the process. (Inspiration can be embarrassing!)

The next day found me in the kitchen whipping these little guys out. Preparation is a bit intensive and if you want to make these for a party, I suggest going with a slightly larger scallop, as wrapping these tiny ones was no mean feat, and requires not only a razor sharp boning knife, but some pretty mean knife skills.

The flavor however, was more than worth the effort! As a matter of fact just thinking about it is making me hungry!

What did the Mrs. Think? Well, we’re having scallops for dinner next week, so I suppose I did pretty good!

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It’s just about game time, and you’ve just got to have a few snacks hanging around, right? O.K. I have to admit that I won’t be watching the big game this year. I only know who’s playing because everyone is talking about it. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good hot wing every once-in-a-while though, and these wings are most definitely good.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting these to be as hot as they were. I had originally made these for my wife and I, but she’s sensitive to capsicum, and these little bitty wings pack one heck of a punch in the spice department. I ended up eating all of them myself. Next time I’ll skip the garlic chili sauce so that she can enjoy them with me.

In any event, these really couldn’t be easier to put together, and the recipe can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled depending on the number of people you are serving and their appetites. I would suggest however, that you serve a milder version along side them for those guests who don’t have a love of blast-furnace heat.

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My love affair with shrimp is legendary. It began when I was just a kid and ordered something called “prawns” at the local A&W. (these were not, in fact, prawns; just jumbo shrimp. We Americans seem to have an issue with the distinction.) At that time in my life, it was something new, exotic, and completely different from anything I’d previously experienced. It was before I’d had crayfish, or salmon, or lobster. I was a seafood virgin then, but one taste of those little breaded and fried crustaceans was enough. I was hooked, and there was no turning back.

I have since learned that shrimp is far more versatile than I ever could have imagined at the time. It’s flavor can go from savory to sweet, it plays well with others, and it’s a breeze to prepare, especially if bought frozen and peeled. Simply take the number of shrimp you want, placein a bowl and run under cold water for three to five minutes and they’re ready to go. No fuss, no muss, just pat dry and get to cooking!

This dish was created in true Seat of my Pants style. All I knew for certain when I started was the I wanted to use cellophane noodles, and that I wanted a stir fry. The rest I just came up with as I went along. The result… Spicy, sweet and satisfying. The shrimp could be used as an appetizer by themselves if you wish, I just really wanned those noodles!

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I love Japanese and Chinese noodle soups almost as much as I like stir fry. The flavors are simple, pleasing and sustaining while still managing to be very light, something most American soups and stews cannot accomplish. This is an Asian inspired soup. This dish was not made from any traditional recipe, I just added flavors that remind me of other soups I’ve had in the past and with a pretty good result if I do-say-so-myself.

If you’re looking at the title and wondering where to get yourself some nyumen noodles or why you’ve never heard of them, they are simply somen noodles served warm. The Japanese are famous for giving a whole new term to something if it’s prepared differently, and this is one of those cases.

This meal actually started its life as a stir fry, but just as I was getting ready to go to it, my wife mentioned that she’d like a soup. In my mind there really wasn’t an issue there, and I grabbed the last of my somen from the pantry and put it on to boil, using a method I learned several years ago for cooking udon noodles, which I will detail below.

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The morning started with a simple email. It’s one I try to send my wife at least once a week, and goes something like this:

Me: …blah blah blah… Would you like anything in particular for lunch?

Mrs. CbsoP: … Yadda, Yadda, Yadda… Yes, I would absolutely love to have a little stir fry over white rice.

Me: I think I can handle that request. Any particular kind of stir fry come to mind?

Mrs Cbsop: Stir fry: how about something with snow peas no sesame oil, but definitely soy.

Snow peas, eh? No problem! … except that I didn’t have any. A quick run to the store would fix that since we’re on base now, that’s a 5 minute trip, including getting Mr. Seat of his Diaper ready to go.

No sesame oil?!? O.K. I’ll admit that I’ve been on a sesame oil kick. You may remember that the last time I made snow peas I used sesame oil as well. I suppose too much of a good thing is just too much, so we’ll skip it this time. A quick check of the freezer to see what veggies are hanging out and…

Yuck. Some frozen medleys, great for a side dish, but lacking at the flavor and perkiness required for a stir fry. It looked like I’d have to handle everything on one store run. The only problem with that was I had no idea what I’d be using, other than snow peas.

Luckily the produce department was there to help me out. We were lucky enough to have fresh snow peas on the shelf, so I figured I’d turn to the other bins in the area for inspiration. The boc choy looked good, so a small head of that went in the cart. Bean sprouts, fresh from California. Couldn’t pass that up. (It’s a joke between my wife and I. She though all Californians lived on bean sprouts, and was a little amazed to find that I didn’t.) some carrots and scallions to round out the day, and we’re all good to go. Less than 20 minutes later I was on my way back to our little kitchen, having spent a total of $6.50. Not too bad.

Stir Fry is less about measurements than about combinations, so the amounts given below may be either a) a guestimate, or b) just a vague idea, but that’s the joy of the thing, you don’t have to be precise and you can use whatever you can find, as long as it plays well with the other ingredients.

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I have a few go-to recipes in my arsenal and this is most definitely one of them. A perfect combination of heat, sweet and sour, it compliments vegetables, fish or chicken well, without overpowering the flavor of the main component.

And it will leave a little tingle on your tongue in the process.

Garlic Chili Stir Fry Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic chili paste
• 1 tsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. roasted garlic rice wine vinegar

Method:

Mix all ingredients in small bowl or shaker bottle. Mix well. Allow to sit 5 minutes and mix a second time to ensure honey is dissolved completely.

Usage:

Add to stir fried foods at end of cooking, or use as dipping sauce for chicken, vegetables, shrimp or fish.

Enjoy!

What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:

For more heat, add a bit more of the garlic chili paste. More sour, more vinegar. If using for fish a bit of citrus may be nice, and apple cider vinegar if using for pork with pork. The recipe is very adaptable and you should feel free to have fun with it.

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