Shrimp and Tofu Stir Fry

Tim was working late last night and I wanted to make him something for dinner.  He tries to avoid carbs at night and also watches his sodium and fat intake. These are things that aren’t important in my own diet so I had to put extra thought into what I would make.  If I was the only one eating, I would just salt, lightly batter and deep fry the shrimp to have with jasmine rice.  That wasn’t an option in this case.

I rummaged through my fridge and saw that we had a lot of raw shrimp and tofu left.  Tim always stocks up on tofu and I decided to do something with a block.  I put together this simple dish after skimming through some recipes online. I had looked on Google for shrimp tofu stir fry and wasn’t happy with any of the results. Most required a lot of ingredients I didn’t have (carrots, snowpeas, bean sprouts) and called for an hour of marinating. I didn’t have enough time to let things marinate.

I found a rather simple recipe called Japanese Mom’s Tofu Stir-Fry which is very different from what I ended up making. However, I used the basic idea of soy sauce, sugar and mirin for my dish.  If I had other vegetables lying around, I would have thrown them in too but I only had broccoli.  Also, I love garlic and used a lot but you may want to use less depending on your tastes.  The amount of ginger I used also added a nice bite.

Shrimp and Tofu Stir-Fry with Garlic, Ginger, Thai Chilies in Mirin and Soy Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil - I use canola
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 inches ginger, peeled and julienned
• 14 - 18 large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails attached (some shrimp have a sodium solution added; soak for about 5 - 10 minutes in cold water to lower sodium content)
• 1 package (15 oz) extra firm tofu, cubed
• chopped vegetables (optional)
• 1 tablespoon mirin (I didn’t have mirin so I mixed 2 tablespoon hot sake with 1 tablespoon sugar per instructions I had found online)
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (or more to taste)
• 2 Thai chilies, minced (optional)
• black pepper

In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil with a tablespoon sugar. Once the sugar begins to just caramelize, add in the minced garlic and stir fry. Once the garlic starts cooking, it will smell very fragrant and delicious. This is your cue to throw in the the ginger.  The rest is pretty easy: just stir in the other ingredients beginning with the shrimp, tofu, and veggies. Stir in the soy sauce and mirin mix.  Mix together until shrimp is cooked through. Add black pepper and Thai chilies to taste.

I made 2 packets of instant ramen noodles without the seasoning, drained.  Normally, I would have mixed the noodles in with the stir fry but with Tim avoiding carbs, I just put it off to the side and mixed it into my own plate.

If I do say so myself, the dish was easy and quite delicious. I experimented with what I had on hand and I think this recipe is pretty open to adaptation.  I think it would work great with eggs and onions also.  Eating healthy isn’t so hard at all.

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White rice with water spinach and chilies in oyster sauce.

I’m a big carnivore.  I don’t find a meal to be very satisfying unless it has meat in it, so it’s quite rare for me to enjoy the dish pictured above.

I was in the Asian market the other day and noticed that they had water spinach for sale.  It’s not something that’s always available so I grabbed a bunch.  In Khmer, it’s called tha guon.  It has various other names but you’ll most commonly see it referred to as water spinach or morning glory because it’s part of the same family.  It’s quite popular in Cambodian dishes as part of a sour soup and is often paired with pork or fish.

A lovely bunch of raw water spinach.

It was sitting in my fridge for 2 days before I finally decided to do something with it. I didn’t have the patience or ingredients for a soup, so I wanted to find something simple.  After browsing a few of my favorite Asian food blogs, I decided to just simply stir fry it in oyster sauce.  A popular Thai restaurant near me has that on the menu as a side dish though I have never ordered it.

So after washing, trimming and snapping the longer stems in half, I stir fried the tha guon in a bit of oil and minced garlic before adding some oyster sauce and chopped Thai chilies.  It was quick and easy, with the end result being so yummy that I didn’t miss the meat at all.  Water spinach is very “meaty” in itself, with hollow stems that retain their crunchiness when cooked and chewy leaves that soak up the sauce.  Maybe one day I’ll cook it up proper and make a Cambodian soup with it.

Speaking of meat, though I don’t know if I would call it that, today I bought a big, thick slice of beef liver that was on special at Ralphs since it was going to be past the sell-by date tomorrow.  The piece was huge and looked almost like a juicy steak, but it was nothing of the sort.  I took it out of the packaging and it was slippery and floppy.  It makes me shudder just thinking about the texture.

I pan fried it whole and then sliced it up.  My entire apartment ended up smelling like liver which is not a good thing!  I do not like the smell, texture or taste of liver at all.  So why did I buy it in the first place?

Freshly sliced liver ready to be wolfed down in less than a minute.

My dogs will eat almost anything, not that I think they even taste it to begin with.  Penny inhales her food like a Dirt Devil vacuum.  In fact, I only sliced up the liver because if I gave her one big piece, she’ll just try and swallow it whole.  It’s unbelievable how they will whine and drool for things that aren’t normal dog food, and yet once they get it, it’s just GULP GONE.  Jesse actually took her time and chewed, but once she noticed that Penny had finished, she started eating faster and gulping down 3 or 4 pieces at once.  I guess my dogs love their meat almost as much as I do.

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Tomorrow (well, later on today technically) I’ll be having a backyard BBQ without the backyard.

As one of millions of others in Los Angeles, I am an apartment dweller.  No yard, but I do have a small balcony so I guess you can say I’ll be having a balcony BBQ.

During December’s Woot-Off, I bought a little portable charcoal grill.  Actually, I bought 3 since they were only $2.99 each, and the Woot-Off tends to make me do crazy things.

My $2.99 portable grill

It’s a charcoal grill that came with a special charcoal brick that’s meant to last a long time and provide clean, easy cooking:

Directions say just light the center with a match or lighter

Well, I have finally decided to put one of them to use.  I’ve been wanting to use it at various points during this past week, but I decided to wait for a time when Tim will be around in case disaster ensues. Vuthy + small space + fire is not a combination one leaves unattended.

At first, I wanted to grill up some hamburgers and hot dogs; it’s pretty safe and always a sure bet.  However, when I was in Ralphs intent on picking those up, something else caught my eyes:

A rack of pork spareribs - yum!

On special were the pork spareribs and that is something I never pass up.  Now, I usually like to deep fry my pork ribs, but with the grill at home I was reminded of an entry at Wandering Chopstick’s blog about hot and spicy Korean BBQ pork ribs. (Check out the pics at the bottom of the entry!)  Even though Ralphs didn’t have the exact same marinade, they did have a bottle of another brand of spicy Korean BBQ sauce which I bought along with the ribs.

I got home and laid out the rack of ribs:

I can probably eat this entire rack by myself - oink!

I realized it was too long to fit on the small grill so cut it into 3 BBQ-friendly sizes:

A much better fit

Next, it was time to whip out the marinade!

I tasted a bit and it was so good!

I rubbed each piece thoroughly with the sauce as if I was giving the meat a deep tissue massage.  The marinade gave such a rich, deep color to the ribs.

Check out the color difference!

By the time I throw them on the grill tomorrow, the ribs will have been marinating for over 2 days!  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water and I can’t wait to get up tomorrow and get cooking!

asparagus tips

Last week, Ralphs had a sale on asaparagus where they were only 99 cents a bunch—99 cents a bunch!  Asaparagus are usually pretty pricey at about $4 - $5 a bunch so I had to take advantage and grab a couple.

I absolutely love asaparagus.  In fact, I love most vegetables despite not liking them as a child.  Now that I’m older and a tad bit wiser, I’ve come to truly appreciate the taste and texture of many vegetables and find them a perfect complement to meats.  However, I’m very finicky with the way my vegetables are prepared and if not done right, I find them just inedible.  They must be tender yet crisp, cooked through yet firm.  It’s just awful getting an order of soft, mushy vegetables.

Asparagus are easy enough to prepare.  I usually just steam them, but this time I wanted to try something different.  I Googled “how to cook asparagus” just to see what would come up and was surprised that I have not been steaming my asparagus the “right” way.  Technically, after rinsing the asparagus and cutting off the bottom inch or so, you’re supposed to tie the bunch together and then stand them up in about an inch of boiling water.  When you cover the pot, you end up boiling the tougher, bottom ends and then steaming the more delicate stems and tips.  They even make special containers called asparagus steamers designed for this!  Though interesting, I’ve never had a problem with steaming my asparagus in a regular steamer and didn’t feel like trying it out simply to get steamed asparagus.  I then found an easy recipe for roasted asparagus (about half-way down on that page) which involved just a little olive oil, minced garlic, a baking sheet and 15 minutes in the oven.

It was so easy and they came out delicious!

Garlic, asparagus, and olive oil ready to be roasted.

I had the asparagus with some jasmine rice and pan-fried steak. It was soooooooooo good!

A quick, simple and delicious dinner!

I’m a domesticated diva!

Okay, maybe not quite. I don’t cook without looking up recipes and am working on the whole cleaning thing, but being home has made me a tad more domesticated. I am cooking a lot more often, gardening, and trying new “crafty” things. I even plan to do a little wall painting once the weather is drier!

The day I had my wisdom tooth out, I was told that I could not eat any solid foods nor hot foods. A friend suggested I make Cambodian rice porridge. This is something I haven’t had since I was a child; “borbo” is very common in Khmer households. It’s made quite often, especially when someone is sick, and for special occasions like going to Temple. I didn’t remember how to make it since I only made it once or twice with my mother. I did some Googling and found recipes were it was mixed with meats or fish and had to fudge around a bit to make a recipe for plain borbo. It’s rather bland, which is the point, since once it’s done you add whatever you want to it such as cooked chicken, pork, shrimp, green onions, soy sauce, fish sauce, etc. Many Cambodians like eating it with a dash of soy sauce, but since I’ve never been a big fan of soy sauce, I ate it with fish sauce and at times, fried eggs and clams. You really can add anything you want to it!

Khmer Rice Porridge aka Borbo

Khmer Rice Porridge (borbo)

• 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/2 inch grated ginger
• 10 cups water

A word of warning: This makes a large amount! It lasted me 3 days.

In a large stockpot, brown the raw rice in the oil.  You can tell it’s ready when the rice is a light golden brown.  While I was doing this, I flashbacked to my childhood and remembered vividly doing this for my mother and how much I hated it because it’s tedious and takes a long time to roast the rice.  I would run and hide whenever my mother wanted me to help make borbo, which is why I didn’t remember how to make it.

When the rice is ready, mix in the garlic, onion, and ginger.  Cook for about a minute until the garlic gets fragrant.  It should smell really good right about now.  Add the water and cook on medium heat.  Once it boils, cover and lower to simmer. Continue cooking to your degree of thickness.  The longer you cook it, the thicker the porridge will get.  Some people prefer their borbor watery while others like it thick.  When it’s at your liking, remove, let cook a bit, and eat with your choice of seasonings and add-ons.

At one point, I added in some clams I had bought from Trader Joe’s.  They were frozen, fully cooked, and ready to steam in the microwave.  It was really easy and really good for just $4!

Yummy, inexpensive clams from TJ

Other recent purchases that I’ve been really happy about are my new coffee grinder and French press.  It really does make a huge difference in the quality of coffee when you grind your own beans fresh and then brew the grounds in a French press (as opposed to a drip coffee machine).

The coffee grinder is from Amazon, French press if from Ross

To make a great, fresh cup of coffee:

1. Grind 2 rounded tablespoons of coffee beans coarsely, about 5 - 6 seconds.
2. Put the grounds plus 8 ounces of hot water into the coffee press.  Give it a stir with a plastic utensil (natural oils will stick to metal and get lost).
3. Put the lid on the press but do not plunge down. Wait 4 minutes.
4. After 4 minutes, push the plunger down.  The coffee grounds will be separated from the coffee and pushed to the bottom.
5. Pour into a cup and enjoy!

I know it’s called a French press because you’re pressing down, but for some reason the word plunge seems better to me.

Waiting to be plunged - okay - pressed!

The grinder was $20 on Amazon and the press was $4 at Ross.  It’s really a great deal for a great cup of coffee.

Okay, there’s a lot more I wanted to share, like my recent roasted asparagus dish (I followed someone’s recipe and it came out divine!) and pictures of my ranunculus plant, but this entry is already pretty long so I’ll save that for a separate one.

Time for bed!

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We had the Spicy Curry Beef Stew last night.  While it was good (I had it on top of jasmine rice), I didn’t find it spicy at all plus it wasn’t thick like a curry.  I even doubled the curry powder and added extra jalapenos and added 3 dried chili pods.  Still not spicy despite the author of the recipe writing “This hearty, spicy beef stew is only for those that can handle the heat.”  I often snack on Thai chilis dipped in salt, so I guess my definition of spicy might be a bit different.  It still made for a pretty good, simple beef stew despite my complaining.

Tonight, I’ll be buying the ingredients to make “Easy Slow Cooker French Dip” for dinner tomorrow night. It’s very simple, will cook all day while I’m work, and me likey French dip sandwiches a lot!  The over 1,200 reviews have a few suggestions for minor modifications that I may make, but here is the basic recipe:

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip
From Allrecipes

Photo by DawnF of Allrecipes

4 pounds rump roast
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
6 French rolls
2 tablespoons butter

1. Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
4. Slice the meat on the diagonal, and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping.

Allrecipes has a lot of great recipes, especially ones for the slow cooker.  The website has a lot of great features including being able to change the serving size for a recipe and having it adjust accordingly, different print options (including 3 X 5 recipe cards!), recipe photos, and tons and tons of useful reviews and suggestions by people who actually made the recipe you’re looking at.  I especially like that most recipes have nutritional facts with calories, fat, and carb information.

Now that I’m trying to get in better shape, I am paying attention to nutrition a bit more.  I make sure to take my daily multivitamin, of course, but it’s no substitute for eating right.  I usually let loose a little with dinner, but I try not to keep my meals around 500 calories (if I eat breakfast).  With 3 meals a day, plus snacks, that puts me in the normal range of about 2,000 calories a day.  I definitely do not want to be eating more calories than I expend.

Unfortunately, I only have breakfast about once a week despite it being promoted as the most important meal of the deal.  I try to grab a snack though like a piece of fruit or some sort of cereal bar, but most of the time I don’t have a real meal until lunch.  Now that I’m eating vegetarian before 6 PM, I eat basically about 600 - 700 calories before going home.  So far today, I’ve had 665 calories (a bowl of cereal + soymilk, a banana, lunch of fish/rice/broccoli, and a cup of light yogurt).  I’ll probably have another piece of fruit before I leave today.  Dinner tonight will be leftover “curry” beef stew and rice, which is about 800 - 900 calories, probably a glass of wine, and maybe a popsicle. If I still feel hungry (I often am ravenous after a workout), I’ll end up having a bowl of cereal with fat free milk before going to bed.  I definitely cannot go to bed hungry, and I know people say you shouldn’t eat after a certain time or before going to bed, but I know what works for me so I’m not about to change it.  That will put me at around 2,000 calories for the day.

My average BMR (basal metabolic rate, or calories my body naturally burns) is about 1,250.  I would burn this amount of calories even if I were to stay in bed all day because it’s the energy my body needs to just stay alive (breathing, cell functions, blood circulation, etc.)  However, I don’t stay in bed all day and everything from brushing my teeth to walking to work burns calories in excess of this.  If I eat 2,000 calories a day, I need to burn an additional 750 in order for those calories to be expended and not stored as fat.  Well, based on the activity calculator on this site, my daily activity of “office work - general” along with 100+ minutes of walking (to and from subway, gym, lunch walk, walking dogs) are sufficient to make sure I burn at least those 750 additional calories.  I didn’t even take into account other calorie-burning activities such as the gym, cooking, grocery shopping, taking a shower, etc.

I was definitely eating more calories than I was burning before.  I would eat a large, unhealthy lunch here at work and then go home and have my usual large dinner.  Though I’m still eating pretty sizable dinners, bringing my own lunch to work has totally changed things.  There seems to be a good balance now between the calories I take in and the calories I burn.  In fact, I am finally starting to see definition again in my upper abs - yay!  I am not losing weight; I am building more muslces and I am trimming down on my overall body fat.  This is exactly what I wanted and I’m getting closer to where I want to be.  I just need to make sure I make this a lifelong lifestyle change instead of just a temporary novelty.