Wok Wednesdays | Stir-Fried Bagels with Cabbage and Bacon

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

Yep, you read that correctly - b a g e l s.  The recipe calls for your standard plain Jewish bagel to be made into a delicious Chinese stir-fry. Crazy as it sounds, it works!

The recipe comes from Lejen Chen, of Mrs. Shanen's in Beijing. The original recipe is normally made with laobing, a type of Chinese flatbread. Lejen, having extra bagels on hand, decided to try it with bagels instead, and I thank her, for I'm sure the laobing would be hard to come by for me, if not downright impossible.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chili pepper

Bowl 2: Bacon

Bowl 3: Garlic

Bowl 4: Cabbage

Bowl 5: Soy sauce, rice vinegar

Bowl 6: Bagels

Bowl 7: Salt

The contents of bowl one are first stir-fried in a little oil to bring out their flavor, then the bacon is added and cooked just until it begins to crisp up a bit, then the garlic is added (the fat from the bacon is not thrown out! This is what helps flavor the dish), then the cabbage (which I would have liked more of), which is cooked just until it starts to wilt, at which time the soy sauce mixture and bagels go in, the wok is covered for a short time to soften the bagels (mine were extremely fresh - pillow soft, and I could have probably skipped this part), then a little salt is sprinkled in and tossed to combine. Voila! You now have an interesting and tasty side dish. 

I was thinking this would be good for breakfast too, served alongside or topped with a poached egg. I don't see why you couldn't prep everything the evening before so it's ready to go when you are. If you feel your bagels are too dry, just sprinkle some water over them before covering the wok.

Think of this as a deconstructed BLT sandwich - minus the T; though you could add some halved cherry tomatoes if you like - I wouldn't tell. :)

We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. You will find the recipe on page 255 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find at your local library.  The recipe just so happens to be available here as well. :)

Wok Wednesdays | Stir-Fried Chicken with Black Bean Sauce

WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young

The black bean sauce in this recipe is not made with your typical black beans (think Latin cuisine), but with fermented black beans (aka douchi or salted black beans) which are actually black soybeans that have been fermented and preserved in salt. You will find these beans at your local Chinese or Asian grocery. 

The beans have a musky scent, and an earthy, oaky, raisiny (without the sweetness) flavor, not to mention salty, which you can rinse the beans to remove some of the saltiness as we did for this recipe.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1:  Red onion, red pepper flakes

Bowl 2:  Chicken, cornstarch, dry sherry, soy sauce, salt

Bowl 3:  Carrots

Bowl 4:  Fermented black beans, garlic, ginger, dark soy sauce

Bowl 5:  Chicken broth, dry sherry

Bowl 6:  Salt

Bowl 7:  Scallion

As I was consuming this wonderful meal (I served this with jasmine rice and steamed zucchini), I thought how comforting this is. It's one you'll want to have in your repertoire, filed under comfort foods.  

Next time I make this, I'm going to toss in a few whole fermented beans as well, and up the red pepper flakes for I do like my food on the spicier side.

The recipe can be found here, but I highly recommend you get the book - the recipes are fabulous.

We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. You will find the recipe on page 137 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library.