Wok Wednesdays: Spicy Orange Chicken

Citrus and chicken. I mean how can you go wrong? I can't resist Duck a l'Orange or roasted chicken with oranges, so stir-fried Spicy Orange Chicken seemed like a logical choice for a stir-fry.  The recipe is from the wonderful  Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young.

"Smells delicious, sounds dangerous."  That was my husband's first comment. This time I had the wok hot enough for a loud sizzle. The recipe was delicious and once again, I got to shop at my favorite local Asian food market to find the white peppercorns and chili bean sauce.  I also used some homemade chicken broth that I had in my freezer.  That in itself is a rare occurrence. I usually don't freeze left-over soup; I just make my family eat again later in the week.

I didn't use the Szechuan peppercorns. Somewhere in my house is a rather large bag, but I couldn't find it. Oy. Instead I used just about double the amount of the white peppercorn. We missed that light tingle, but the dish did have a kick to it. Next time, I would be tempted to add more orange zest. Maybe the orange was too small or not quite in season?  I really like a pronounced citrus flavor.

I still have a ways to go in the technique department. I still feel like I'm running a race once the stir-frying begins. In this particular case, I think I had too much liquid and the dish was soupy, although the chicken was still tender and tasty.  

  A group of us are stir-frying together and we're open to any and all who want to join. You can check out Wok Wednesdays or the Facebook page.

Wok Wednesdays: Yin Yang Beans

The temperatures have been in the high 90's, but feel like 110 and the humidity is near 90%. We're all too listless to do much and we're certainly not going to turn on the oven in this weather. It's great weather to stir-fry and grill.

Our Wok Wednesdays challenge this time: Yin Yang Beans.  This tasty dish features green beans, scallions and pork with the piquant flavors of fresh ginger, pickled ginger and garlic.  This is a perfect summer dish as fresh beans are plentiful.  I ususally like to follow the recipe as close as possible, but since we don't eat pork (we have a Kosher kitchen), I decided to make a vegetarian version.
My first thought was to go with some tofu approximation of meat.  I decided that as much as I like Morningstar Farms products, I wasn't sure how they would work in a stir-fry.  I thought black beans might work as a contrast to the green beans.   And then it occured to me; slivered almonds would work great. They're crunchy and they would make the Yin Yang Beans a stir-fry variation of green beans almondine. Perfect.

The almonds add a nice crunch and soak up the flavors of the sauce and aromatics. I also used red onions instead of scallions. This was not so much a culinary choice as a moment of forgetfulness at the grocery store.  Overall, the beans were a success. The only change I would make is that I would use one ounce of almonds. I had used two ounces of almonds to replace the pork and that was too much.  You can read other Wok Wednesday blogs here.  And to get this wonderful recipe, get the book, Stir- Frying to the Sky's Edge by Grace Young.