Chinese Chicken Recipes for Busy People

It has been a busy week.  I managed to finish an exam, some school projects, and my day job.  Sometimes, I felt like I really didn’t even have time for lunch.  But as a fatty, I can’t skip lunch.  I need food.  LOL.  Going to the cafeteria would waste me 10 minutes going back and forth, and I may end up with burgers or fries which is not something I would like to have now since I’m trying to eat healthier.  I used to pack leftover for lunch if I was really busy and eat it at my desk. But I do have concerns because I don’t want my office to smell like food.  I like to keep the work environment neutral in smell.  So I started to make tuna fish sandwich instead.  I learned a trick from my friend for making tuna fish sandwich.  To prevent it from getting soggy, I toasted the bread lightly. This made the bread less absorbent.  I also learned to add some celery and onion with the tuna.  I used the 15-grain bread that gave some extra fiber to my meal.  I used light mayonnaise. It was yummy.  It was almost as good as Oliver’s super sandwich. LOL. Their tuna sandwich was so good.  It was soooooo thick stuffed with tons of tuna.  Mm… I missed that. I wish they have a store nearby.

Cut celery and onion

Add tuna

Toast and let bread to cool down

Spread tuna mixture on the bread

Home made tuna fish sandwich

Ingredients:

• Bread, two pieces (whole wheat, or multi-grain would be healthier)
• Light mayonnaise, 1.5 Tbsp
• Canned tuna fish, 1 can (I used the solid tuna fish in water. I recommend that)
• Celery, 1 stalk
• Onion, chopped, about 1-2 Tbsp
• Pepper, a dash

Steps:

1. Set the toaster to the lightest setting.  Lightly toast the bread.  Set it aside to let it cool down.
2. Cut celery into dices.  Put it in a bowl.
3. Finely chopped onion.  Add this to the celery.
4. Open a can of tuna.  Use the lid of the can to press down the tuna and squeeze out the water from the can.  The more water you get rid of, the better the sandwich would be because a soggy fish sandwich would be yucky.  Or you can use a colander to get rid of the water or whatever works for you.
5. Add the tuna to the bowl.
6. Add a dash of pepper and 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise first to see if there is enough sauce to mix everything.  If you need more sauce, add the rest of ½ tablespoon.  Don’t add too much sauce because it will make the sandwich soggy, and it adds more calories. LOL.
7. Mix all the ingredients well.
8. Make sure the bread cools down before you add the tuna on it.
9. Now you can wrap it up on a piece of aluminum foil or sandwich bag. And it is ready to go.

It’s a lazy Sunday, and I’m not playing golf today.  I played yesterday, I totally sucked.  It’s alright, I’ll keep doing it cos I need some regular exercise anyway.  I weighed myself the other day, and I wasn’t happy about it.  I have to do something.  I am going to eat more fish or seafood and cut back on the meat.  I was so tempted to get a piece of steak at the grocery store yesterday but I talked myself out of it.  I haven’t made salmon for a long time.  So I got a piece of salmon, and some veggie.  I usually cook the salmon on a grill or pan fried it.  That was very yummy and juicy.  One time my coworker went to a grocery store near work.  He told me that we can get cooked fish from the fish counter. I was shocked.  We went there, we each picked a piece of fish (uncooked, of course), then the guy at the fish counter would cook it for us with no extra cost, either deep fried, or steamed.  I bought a piece of salmon there, and I had it deep fried.  I was worried that they steamed it too long and make it dry.  I have never had steamed salmon before. I wasn’t sure if it would be good or not.  My coworker had his salmon steamed with some spices.  He cut a small piece for me to try.  It was not bad, a little bit dry as I predicted. LOL.  Yesterday I thought I may try to steam the fish myself, and add some Chinese flavor in it.  I added some black bean sauce, and steamed it for just under 10 mins.  The fish was very moist.  I liked it.  This morning, I put some leftover in the congee.  It was really delicious and healthy.  Besides, I did kick my own ass and did an hour p90x. I felt GREAT!!

Add black bean sauce mixture

Add scallion after the fish is cooked

Steamed Salmon with Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• Salmon, about 1 pound
• Black bean sauce, 1 tsp
• Oyster sauce, 1 Tbsp
• Soy Sauce, 1 tsp
• Water, 1 tsp
• Black pepper, a dash
• Cornstarch, 1 tsp
• Scallion, 2 stalks

Steps:

1. Prepare the sauce first.  Finely chop the garlic. Put it on a bowl.  Add black bean sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, water and cornstarch to the bowl.  Mix them well.
2. Prepare a steamer:  Add enough water to a pot.  Bring it to a boil.
3. If the fish filet is very thick (say an inch thick) like the one I got, you can use a knife to cut a few slit on the fish so that it will get cooked faster.  Put salmon on a plate that will fit into the steamer/pot.  I just fold a piece of aluminum foil as a container.  It works too.
4. Pour the sauce onto the fish.
5. When the water boils in the steamer, put the fish in the steamer and let it steam with a lid on for 9 mins.
6. While the fish is steaming, cut the scallion into thin strips or dices.  Put it aside.
7. After 9 minutes, add scallion to the fish.  Put the lid back on.  Count 30 seconds. Turn off the heat immediately and serve.

Rush rush rush… I rushed home after a long day, and got about 45 mins to cook and eat dinner before my conference call with my school mates at 8pm.  I could have been lazy and got pizza or take-out on the way home, but I talked myself out of it.  I really want to eat something healthy.  Actually, I was pretty of proud of myself today because I also talked myself out of having burgers and fries for lunch.  Instead, I got sushi at the cafeteria.  Despite that it was yucky (ya, what do you expect from a cafeteria??!!), it was still much healthier than greasy fries.   Tonight, I made Steamed Chilean Sea Bass.  It was sooooo good.  I’m not a big fish fan.  My mom made steamed fish for every meal when I was a kid, and I was sick of it.  She couldn’t go without fish.  Now that I realized how healthy it is and how easy to make it, I started to like it.  It took me about 20 mins to make the dish tonight!  I remember I asked one of my coworkers once how he keeps himself so lean.  He said he runs 6 miles per day, he eats fish and veggies , and no meat.  I can’t do the no-meat thing nor run 6 miles a day, but I could try eating more steamed fish.

Put ginger strips on the fish first

Add scallion after the fish is cooked for 10 mins

Steamed Chilean Sea Bass

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• Chilean Sea Bass, about 1 pound (or you can use whatever white fish)
• Ginger, 5-6 slices
• Scallion, 3 steams
• Soy sauce, 2 teaspoons
• Dark soy sauce (optional), a few drops

Steps:

1. You need to defrost the fish first if it is frozen.  I usually leave it out at the kitchen sink and let it defrost naturally a few hours before cooking.
2. Prepare a steamer.  Add enough water to the steamer.  Boil the water with high heat.
3. While you are waiting for the water to boil, put the fish on a plate/container that fits into the steamer.  Put it aside.
4. Cut ginger slices into thin strips.  Put the ginger strips on the fish.
5. When the water boils, put the fish in the steamer.  Use high heat.  Cover it and steam it for 10 minutes with the lid on.  Set your timer.
6. Now the fish is in the steamer,  you can cut the scallion into thin strips.  Put it aside.
7. When the time is up (ie, the fish is cooked for 10 minutes), put the scallion on top of the fish (see picture).  Put the lid back on.  Count 30 seconds.  Open the lid. Turn off the heat.  Take the fish out from the steamer. The 30 seconds is good enough for cooking the scallion.
8. There may be a lot of water coming out from the fish in the plate.  Disgard most of it and leave a little bit (like 2 or 3 Tbsp) left.  That could dilute the soy sauce that we are going to add in the next step.
9. Put fish on a serving plate if you prefer a different plate (whatever you like).  Then drizzle 2 teaspoons of soy sauce on the fish.  You can put less soy sauce if you prefer. Or you can mix 1 tsp soy sauce with 1 tsp of dark soy sauce, too.  Dark soy sauce gives a nice darker color.

MUST serve HOT!

I made Pan Fried Fish for tonight. It took me just 20 minutes to make this dinner. I made it right in time before American Idol started   I am trying to be healthier these days. I need to eat more fish instead of meat.  Instead of getting fresh fish that could be expensive, I went to Trader Joe to get frozen fish. They are just as good.  I got a bag of frozen white fish for $7.  It has 3 big filets in a bag. All I needed to do was to leave the frozen fish in the kitchen sink in the morning before I left for work, and let it defrost during the day.  Then when I got home after work, it would be totally defrost, and ready to be cooked.  Fish cooks fast, and it makes it a super fast and yet healthy dinner.  If you are worried about the fishy taste, you would love this dish.

Pan Fried Fish - No fishy taste

Ingredients:

• Frozen fish, 1 bag, about 1 pound per bag
• Scallion, 3 stems
• Corn starch, 2 Tbsp
• Soy sauce, 1 Tbsp
• Chinese cooking wine, 1 Tbsp
• Teriyaki sauce, 1 Tbsp
• Oyster sauce, 1 Tbsp
• Sugar, 1 tsp
• Water, 5 Tbsp

Steps:

1. Cut the scallions into small strips.  Put it aside.
2. Make sure the fish is defrosted. Pat dry the filets with paper towel
3. Add 1 Tbsp of cornstarch to the fish.  Rub it evenly on the surface of all the filets.
4. To prepare for the sauce, add the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Mix it well.  Put it aside.
5. Use a large non-stop frying pan. Spray enough non-stick cooking oil to the pan.
6. Use medium high heat.  Let the pan heat up for a minute.  Add the fish fillets to the pan.  Let it cook for 3 or 4 minutes.  Do not touch!
7. Spray non-stick cooking oil on the uncooked side of the fish.
8. Flip the fish fillets over so that the uncooked side is on the pan.  Let it cook for another 3 or 4 minutes.  Do not touch.
9. Make sure the fish is fully cooked.  The meat should be white in color instead of translucent.  Dish the fish onto a serving plate.

10.  Rinse the frying pan to make sure the surface is cleaned.

11.  Use medium heat.  Add the sauce to the pan.  Let it cook until it thickens.  Stir occasionally to make sure it is nice and smooth.  When the sauce thickens, add the scallions to the sauce.  Mix it well. Cook it for 30 seconds.  Turn off the heat.

12.  Pour the sauce over the fish fillet.

Note: Must serve hot!