Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxt!mhuxr!ulysses!ucbvax!wildbill From: wildbill@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (William J. Laubenheimer) Newsgroups: net.cooks Subject: Re: Meat Leftovers? Message-ID: <11481@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Date: Tue, 21-Jan-86 02:03:42 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.11481 Posted: Tue Jan 21 02:03:42 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 23-Jan-86 08:25:02 EST References: <31@hplabsc.UUCP> Reply-To: wildbill@ucbvax.UUCP (William J. Laubenheimer) Distribution: net Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 92 A couple of good ideas derived from Chinese cooking are fried rice and chow mein (fried noodles). You don't have to feel bound to the ingredient lists you might find in a Chinese cookbook; feel free to invent your own variations. The essential facts of the recipes are that you are going to stir-fry any new raw ingredients, heat up any previously cooked stuff you are going to add, season the resulting conglomeration, then fry the cooked starch ingredient and put the whole mess together. Just remember, the name of the game is experimentation. Throw together whatever you have that looks like it might work well, jazz it up however you think it might work out, and see if it tastes good. OK, now for as general a set of rules for Leftover Pseudo Chow Mein and Leftover Pseudo Fried Rice as I can come up with. (Note: I call these "Pseudo" because they are not authentic Chinese recipes, but simply derivatives of same created by an American with no discernible Chinese background. But they're still good for getting stuff out of the fridge before it gets all slimy and moldy.) One final note: This recipe is not going to be too easy to follow unless you have a little bit of familiarity with Chinese cooking, or at least have tried a few recipes so you have an idea of the basic principles of stir-frying and what size a particular ingredient should be. If you need a guide, look in your Chinese cookbook and try to find a stir-fry recipe using the ingredient, cut it into the specified-sized pieces, and cook it for the specified time. Everything is going to wind up bite-sized or smaller. Also, there is generally no reason why you can't do much of the cutting on the weekend. If it won't go soft, get moldy, or otherwise make a mess, it can be cut up in advance. Stuff like the meat, anything cooked, carrots, celery, onions, peppers (but not too long unless frozen), are prime candidates for this treatment. And now to work: Divide your chosen ingredients into the following categories: RAW STUFF: Any main ingredient you haven't cooked yet. COOKED STUFF: Any main ingredient you have. CHUNKY SEASONINGS: Fresh garlic or ginger, scallions, etc. Anything not powder. WET STUFF: Soy sauce, any other prepared sauces you might want. Broth if you want more sauce, as in Chow Mein. DRY SEASONINGS: Garlic powder, powdered ginger, any other powdered spice. Mix in with the WET STUFF. STARCH: Cooked noodles for Chow Mein or cooked rice for Fried Rice. In any event, it should be already cooked and cooled to room temperature. Leftover is preferable. Best noodles are vermicelli or Chinese noodles. DO NOT use those pre-fried ones in a can. EGGS: for fried rice, if you like them and have them on hand. GARNISHES: scallion tops, nuts, toasted sesame seeds, etc. The proportions of these things are quite flexible, but in general you want about as much Raw and Cooked Stuff as Starch, about 1 Tbsp. of Wet Stuff per cup of rice, or about 1/4 cup of Wet Stuff per cup of noodles, and 1/2 to 1 egg per person. Seasonings to taste. Have some vegetable oil on hand. For Fried Rice: Start by scrambling the EGGS in about 1 tsp. oil per egg. Take them out and set aside. You want little pieces of egg, so cut them up, either while you are cooking them or afterwards. Put about 1 Tbsp. oil per cup of Raw Stuff in the wok or skillet. Heat to stir-fry temperature, add the CHUNKY SEASONINGS, and stir-fry briefly. Add the RAW STUFF and stir-fry until done. Add the COOKED STUFF and stir-fry until heated through. Take this out and dump with the eggs. Put about 1 Tbsp. oil per cup of rice in the wok or skillet. Heat and stir-fry the RICE for about 5 minutes or so. Mix together and add the WET STUFF and the DRY SEASONINGS; stir-fry for a minute or so. Add the stuff you took out earlier and mix it up until all the ingredients are blended. Just before serving, sprinkle the GARNISHES over the top. Short-cut: if you don't have any RAW STUFF, skip the first cooking part and simply throw all the cold COOKED STUFF in after you've done the rice. For Chow Mein: Blend about 1 tsp. of cornstarch per 1/4 cup of sauce into the WET STUFF and DRY SEASONINGS. Put about 1 Tbsp. oil per cup of noodles in the wok or skillet. Heat and stir-fry the NOODLES for about 6 minutes or so over medium-high heat. (This is the part I don't do very well. I can't get them to brown nicely; they either burn or never get very crispy.) Take them out and set them aside. Put about 1 Tbsp. oil per cup of Raw Stuff in the wok or skillet. Heat to stir-fry temperature, add the CHUNKY SEASONINGS, and stir-fry briefly. Add the RAW STUFF and stir-fry until done. Add the COOKED STUFF and stir-fry until heated through. Add the WET STUFF, etc., and stir until the sauce thickens. Put the cooked NOODLES back in and stir until covered in sauce. Just before serving, sprinkle the GARNISHES over the top. Short-cut: if you don't have any RAW STUFF, just cook the CHUNKY SEASONINGS in 1 tsp. of oil, heat up the COOKED STUFF, and proceed from there. ----- OK. Hope I didn't confuse everybody. Don't worry if it doesn't come out the same way twice, if you think you can make it taste better by doing something else, go ahead. If you can make an analogy between cooking and music, this comes out as sort of a free-form cool jazz piece with everybody doing their own thing. Trying to write down this recipe is much like trying to write down the score for a piece like that. It's up to you to make it swing. Good luck and good eating. Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill