Spicy Orange-Ginger Chicken

Here's a sort-of Chinese recipe with a bit of a kick to it, depending on how much hot sauce you add... Feel free to adapt. It was delicious and not very hard to make at all.

1 1/4 cups orange juice
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, shredded
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp hot sauce
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 medium chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water
green onions or chives, sliced
sesame seeds

In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, zest, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, hot sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and black pepper. Place cut up chicken in a large ziploc bag and pour in 1/3 of the marinade. Seal the bag and let marinade for 1 hour.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken (in 2 batches) in frying pan until lightly browned. Discard used marinade. Once chicken is cooked, remove from pan.

In the same frying pan add the reserved marinade and bring to a boil. In a small bowl, mix together the corn starch and water. Whisk into the marinade, making sure it doesn't clump. Let boil for a minute to thicken.

Return chicken to the pan and heat through. Serve over cooked rice. Garnish with green onions or chives and sesame seeds.

*Adapted from http://www.foolproofliving.com/spicy-orange-ginger-chicken/

Ginger Beef

Happy New Year! If you are like my family, Chinese food is a tradition around the holidays and one of our favourites is Ginger Beef. So when I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it. I have adjusted the recipe slightly. Most notably the amount of red pepper flakes. The original recipe said 3 teaspoons! I only used about 1 teaspoon and that was plenty spicy. So if you are feeling adventurous, feel free to up the quantity and your own risk...

1 lb sirloin steak (sliced into thin strips)
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 large carrot, julienned
1 celery stack, sliced
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
Canola oil (for frying)

Sauce:
3 tbsps soy sauce
4 tbsps rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

In a bowl add cornstarch, gradually add water while whisking. Beat eggs into cornstarch/water mixture. Add sliced steak strips and toss to coat. Pour 1 inch of oil into a wok, heat oil to 375 degrees or until oil is hot enough to fry the steak strips. Add a quarter of the steak strips at a time to the wok. Separate with a fork and cook stirring frequently until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the steak is gone (you can also use a deep fryer for this). Set beef aside for now.

Chop up the celery, green onions and carrots, as well as mince the garlic and shred the ginger (or if you're like me, just buy the fresh ginger in a jar, much easier!).

Drain all oil out of the wok except for 1 tablespoon. Add green onions, carrots, celery, ginger and garlic. Stir fry for 30 seconds to a minute (beef gets added back in later).

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and red pepper flakes. Add to the wok and bring the mixture to a boil. Add beef, heat through and serve over rice.

* Adapted from http://blogchef.net/ginger-beef-recipe/