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 Cabbage with Prosciutto

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

This stir-fry was surprisingly tasty. It's amazing that such a small amount of prosciutto (one ounce) adds so much flavor; and the cabbage is cooked only until it is crisp-tender. This made for a wonderful side dish to our grilled market steak.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Ginger

Bowl 2: Cabbage

Bowl 3: Salt, sugar

Bowl 4: Chicken broth, dry sherry, cornstarch

Bowl 5: Prosciutto

I now have a use for all the left over cabbage I always seem to have in the fridge, that usually sits there until its demise, sad to say. But no longer! Looking forward to making this again - soon!

We have been asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 199, of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.  

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!

Wok Wednesdays | Chinese-American Stir-Fried Cabbage with Bacon

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

This recipe comes from one of Grace's friends, Tane Chan, the owner of The Wok Shop in San Francisco. If and when you are in SF, this is one store you must visit. It is a rather small shop that is packed to the gills with amazing goods. I myself have been there a couple of times. Tane is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to woks. There is a variety to choose from, and she will set you up with the correct wok that fits your lifestyle. It truly is a place not to be missed.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Bacon

Bowl 2: Garlic

Bowl 3: Cabbage

Bowl 4: Chicken broth

Bowl 5: Soy sauce

Bowl 6: Salt, pepper

This was a first. Starting with a cold wok. Normally, the wok is heated till a bead of water evaporates quickly (within a second or two), before any oil or food is added.

This is a dish that Chinese Americans were forced to make, when Napa cabbage and Chinese sausage were unavailable to those living outside of Chinese communities. They had to use regular green cabbage, and American bacon.

The cabbage gets stir-fried along with some cooked bacon and garlic, then some chicken broth is added and the wok covered, this is cooked for a very short time (30 seconds), then seasoned with the soy sauce, salt and pepper. A very quick and easy side dish.

The recipe can be found on SFGate, along with an article on Tane and her wonderful store. 

We are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 229 of  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge (or by clicking on the link above), which you can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.  

Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!

WW: Hakka-Style Stir-Fried Cabbage and Egg

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

First off, I have to say I used purple cabbage in place of the Napa cabbage called for in the recipe. I had half a head of purple cabbage leftover from this delicious salad recipe , and I did not want it to go to waste.

On that note, this was just OK. I'm sure it would be better if I had used the correct cabbage - Napa is more tender and delicate than the purple. The next time I have some Napa cabbage leftover I will give this another try.

It did make for a quick and easy lunch!

Success meter (1-3):  I did not rate this recipe being I subbed the main ingredient.

Preparation certainly was easy!
Cabbage, garlic, salt & pepper and an egg.

The purple cabbage gave the egg a bluish-green hue. That's probably why the recipe recommends green cabbage. Reminds me of my childhood; not that I ate off-colored eggs - the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. I loved his books.. and still do.

The Hakka, known as gypsies of China were driven out of northern China about one-thousand years ago, are noted for their simple stir-fries that are mostly comprised of vegetables.

To read more on the Hakka, click here.

You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage our readers to purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line to support the publishing industry and to help keep books alive and thriving.

  Please visit the Wok Wednesdays blog to see the results of my co-wokkers:

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Book Ninety-One: Graham Kerr's Best

by Graham Kerr




Graham Kerr. Yep. The Galloping Gourmet. I recall my mother watching this show when I was growing up. His TV career began back in 1959 with Eggs with Flight Lieutenant Kerr and he is still active in bringing a healthy lifestyle to people today.

Vegetable Papoose. How can one pass up a recipe with a name like that? Not only the name of the dish, but the ingredients were calling out to me as well: Yukon Gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, chard, nutmeg and horseradish. Yummm!

The vegetable papoose is served alongside a wedge of steamed cabbage and tomato. I have never steamed tomatoes before. I've baked and grilled them, but never steamed one. They hold their shape, yet they are soft, juicy and warm.

The tomatoes I have to say were the best part of this dish unfortunately, that and the warm buttered bread fresh from the oven. The papoose was less than flavorful as was the cabbage. It wasn't bad - just - boring. I did pick this recipe from the 10% Calories from Fat section of the book; not intentionally, it was the name that drew me in.

If you don't have health issues where you need to watch your dietary intake I think this could be tweaked to become what I was hoping it to be - delicious.

Success meter (1-3): Unrated

amazon

I have come to the conclusion that the vegetables we get in the supermarket must be larger than the vegetables available to the professionals, or their perception of large (small or medium) is very different than mine. I purchased the amount listed in the recipe and as you can see I have two half-sheet pans (I chose to roast, rather than steam them) of chopped vegetables. This would easily make eight to ten papooses. The recipe states this will serve four. This could be why it wasn't as tasty as I had hoped. The ratios being way off. Yes I did up the flavorings - apparently not enough though.

After cutting the stalks from the chard you steam the leaves until tender. Just soft enough so that you can roll them up without breaking.

You need to remove the center vein in order to roll the leaf. The veins are minced and added to the filling.

I am not a fan of dill so I substituted thyme.

Can't get much healthier!

Minimax: Nutrition information if made according to the recipe.

(Source: The book)

Book Twenty-Four: The Food You Crave

by Ellie Krieger




      Sage-Rubbed Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw

Pork chops and applesauce. Whenever I hear that, it reminds me of a Brady Bunch episode where Alice was telling, I think, Bobby, what was for dinner, and then Bobby went around saying that in a funny voice all night: Pork chawwwpsss and applesawwwsss.....

This however has no applesauce, but an apple, cabbage, carrot and onion slaw, and was just OK. It was a very simple and quick dish to prepare, and the aroma was wonderful. Though the flavors just did not come through for us. And there is something about pork chops and me that just does not work. These did not turn out as dry as they usually do when I attempt them; but they did not turn out juicy and succulent like they do at the restaurant we visit.

I made the full recipe, but with only two chops instead of four, and felt that the sage/garlic rub was barely enough for the two chops. So if you make the full recipe, I would double the mixture; there was plenty of slaw. And if you use your food processor to grate the apple and carrot as I did - do it separately! You cook them at different times, so I had to dig out the apple and of course had bits of carrot mixed in; which was not a big deal, it all comes together in the end.

Success meter (1-3): 2

amazon.com

oops..did it again. candied ginger does not

belong in this recipe.