Wok Wednesdays | Stir-Fried Eggs with Velvet Shrimp

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

by Grace Young

My original plan was to make this for breakfast; but who am I fooling - there is no time in the am for the whole photo shoot bit. So dinner it was! And just as well, for Andy said he would not want this for breakfast. Me, I would; and I just may make it again for my breakfast the next time he is out of town.

Mise en place.

Bowl 1: Ginger, scallion

Bowl 2: Shrimp, egg white, cornstarch, dry sherry, salt, oil

Bowl 3: Peas

Bowl 4: Egg, dry sherry, salt, white pepper

I love a good stir-fry that uses minimal dishes and cooks in under three minutes! (Take note: there is half an hour of hands-free time for the shrimp to marinate (refrigerated), and to come to room temperature.)

I should have let my shrimp cook a little longer before adding the egg mixture. My eggs were not as creamy as they should have been because I was concerned the shrimp was not cooked all the way through, and cooked them a bit longer than instructed. The eggs were delicious anyhow - loved the flavor the white pepper and dry sherry lent to the eggs - I'm going to have to add these two ingredients to my normal scrambled eggs from now on - so good.

I was a bit concerned this was not going to be enough for the two of us, being there is only a quarter-pound of shrimp being used. In the end it turned out to be the perfect amount served alongside some jasmine rice.

The recipe can be found on page 127 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, and I also found it over on Cookistry's website.

 

We as a group have agreed not to post the recipes on our blogs. 

WW: Stir-Fried Cilantro Chili Noodles with Egg

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






Wow! What fabulous flavor! I can't stop thinking about this stir-fry.

I know there are people out there that will shy away from this dish for their dislike of cilantro. All I can say is, you may be sorry. Grace mentioned on FB (we are very fortunate that Grace herself is an active participant in Wok Wednesdays) that for those of you not wanting to use cilantro, you can sub in basil, parsley, or even dill, though she herself has never tried these herbs in this stir-fry.

Using those alternate herbs will definitely change the dynamics of this dish. I suggest making half the recipe using cilantro to see what you think, or make this for a pot-luck dinner or lunch, then you can have yourself just a taste - but once you do, you may want to grab the whole thing for yourself and run! It's that good - seriously.

For this recipe you start out by making an egg "pancake". It is just two eggs, beaten, then cooked just until the bottom starts to brown and the egg becomes set; flip it over to finish cooking, for about five more seconds. Transfer your pancake to a cutting board to cool. Once cooled it is sliced into thin strips.

While setting up your mise en place, soak your vermicelli rice noodles as instructed in the recipe. After soaking, you are to cut the noodles into 6- to 8-inch lengths using kitchen shears. I was lucky, the noodles that I purchased were already cut to size.

I was going to make only half the recipe to be served along side our salmon. In the end I decided to make the whole recipe and just send the leftovers into work with Andy for lunch.

I enjoyed this so much, I opted for seconds and left most of my salmon on my plate.

Success meter (1-3): 3

 Mise en place

Bowl 1: Beaten egg 

Bowl 2: Ginger, Anaheim pepper - sliced and minced (the picture showed them sliced, though the ingredient list called for them to be minced. I liked the look of the sliced, but wanted to have minced as well - to get a little spicy kick with every bite.)

Bowl 3: Broth - chicken or vegetable (I used vegetable, for I had an opened box in the fridge.)

Bowl 4: Soaked rice noodles

Bowl 5: Chopped cilantro, plus two stems for decoration

Bowl 6: Sugar, salt, and pepper

Bowl 7: Sesame oil

Just discovered my wok will double as a crepe pan!

After the egg has cooled, you slice it in quarter-inch strips. I also cut the longer strips in half - I don't think it was really necessary to do so.

When it comes to noodles, I find it easier to use tongs to mix everything together.

I am one who likes cilantro, and even I hesitated at adding the full amount (1 cup) at first; but I have learned to trust Grace's recipes - and it was perfect.

 Loved it.

My noodles appear thicker than the ones in the photo shown in the book. I used vermicelli rice noodles as called for, though I may have soaked them too long in fear they would not be al dente with the short cooking time (two minutes) in the wok, or maybe the size differs slightly from brand to brand.

The noodles had a slight gummy sticky texture, but my husband thought they were great. I didn't mind it so much, for this stir-fry was delicious. I do want to make this again, and not just because it's wonderful, but soaking the noodles as instructed¹ and not giving into my intuition to soak them longer, and see how they turn out.

One of the rules of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will find it on page 266 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 more information click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to join us!
 
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 ¹Soak noodles in warm water to cover for 20 minutes or until they are soft and pliable.

After the initial 20 minute soak, my noodles were "somewhat" pliable, but not soft. I drained the water and added the hottest tap water and soaked for about another 5 minutes. Still feeling the noodles were on the firm side, I once again drained the water and added boiling water and soaked again for about another 5 minutes. They were closer to al dente, but the soaking water was milky. I am assuming this is starch leached out of the noodle - perhaps lending to the stickiness.

Stracciatella (Spinach & Egg Soup)

Recipe from The New Basics Cookbook
by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins


As you can see I did not use the photo of the finished soup as my main picture because you would have looked at it and passed this post right up!

I chose this recipe because it sounded interesting, not to mention easy, and would be quick to make; and who doesn't need quick during the holidays?!

Not the most enticing looking soup, but it wasn't half bad. Not sure if I will give this another try. Then again I may - it was quick and healthy, and some days I don't feel like making a real complex meal.

Success meter (1-3): 2

Chiffonade the spinach and place in large soup bowls.

Top the spinach with Parmesan-Reggiano and freshly ground pepper.

If I do try this again, I will add the spinach and cheese to the broth. It was a bit messy stirring the broth in the bowl itself. Also would use a little less cheese. The Parmesan was deffinitely the dominant flavor.

Bring the broth to a boil, remove from heat and add egg mixture, stirring constantly.

Looks great! IF I were making a custard - which I wasn't.

I brought the broth back to a boil to make sure the eggs were cooked, stirring constantly in hopes the egg would form ribbons - like they do when you order egg-drop soup from a Chinese restaurant.

No beautiful ribbons - just curds.

I told you it was not pretty - but really, it wasn't bad.

Actually as I sit here and type this, I'm thinking it would be worth a second try; even just for the sake of getting the egg to form ribbons instead of curds. Maybe I poured the egg in too fast, I was trying to take a picture of the egg being poured and forming ribbons (I had swirled the broth beforehand to keep the egg moving in a circular motion). Hmmm..

Dinner for One (or more!)

This is a real quick and short post!

I want to share with you two tasty dishes I made for myself this past weekend while flying solo.

Both of these serve more than one, but I scaled the recipes down and still had enough for lunches as well.

Success meter (1-3): 3

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

I found the delicious squash recipe via Let's Eat!, where Ashley (our daughter) credits the recipe to Emily of The Daily Garnish. I am so proud of our daughter who is becoming quite the cook. She is the one who inspired me to start this blog and where I learned my photography skills from (I still have a long was to go). Thanks Ash! Love you!

The recipe calls for orange champagne vinegar which I do not have, so I added a bit of orange zest to regular champagne vinegar. I had a fair amount of stuffing leftover (I cooked only one squash - but the full amount of filling) and had it for lunch two days later. Still it had wonderful flavor.

The Brussels sprouts salad I found on Liz's blog at That Skinny Chick Can Bake and boy can she! If this recipe does not appeal to you, I'm sure you will find something that will.

The salad is garnished with grated hard-boiled egg (Liz omitted) and Parmesan cheese. The next time I make this I will add about 1/4 cup of cheese and a couple of grated eggs to toss in the salad itself for I thought it added a lot of character to this dish. 

As Julia Child would say - Bon Appetit!

We All Scream For...

COFFEE ICE CREAM!!!

From the book Baked Explorations
by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

                                                                                   Coffee Ice Cream
                                                

This is good. Lick the plate clean good.

This is the third recipe I have made from this book - all outstanding! I love everything about this book from the cover, to the stories and tips inside and even the feel of the book; and of course the recipes. If you buy only one cookbook this year, this should be it.

I stole a wee taste as the mixture was cooling to room temperature and this is great from the get-go. Already it is smooth and creamy with a wonderful coffee flavor, tasting like I imagined the finished product would be, only cold. I think this would be good as is poured over strawberries and pound cake. It is going to be hard to wait for it to finish chilling so I can devour this lovely concoction. This coming from a person that is not real fond of ice cream; I prefer frozen yogurt, till now maybe. Coffee ice cream is my sister's favorite and I told her I would save her some - not sure there will be any to save.

I was tempted to add some grated dark chocolate to the ice cream, but after having that sweet taste I thought to leave well enough alone. Now that it sits in the freezer I'm wishing I had, just to add a bit of visual pop to the ice cream. Next time. There will be a next time.


Success meter (1-3): 3

Stir until dissolved.

Whisk your yolks just till combined.

Stir until the mixture "coats the back of a spoon".

This means you can run your finger through it and

the track remains - it does not close back up.

Cover room temperature mixture with plastic wrap.

Making sure that the wrap touches the mixture itself

to keep a skin from forming.

Chilled and ready to freeze!

 

What made me go to this book again is that I saw this recipe on a fellow bloggers website and for the life of me I cannot recall which one. I thought that I had bookmarked the page. Should you be reading this and have seen my comment on your ice cream post, please let me know so that I may link back to your site.