Tag: soy sauce

Categories
Air Fryer Appetizer Main Dish Side Dish

Wrap up your dinner plans with crispy lumpia

Lumpia is a Filipino dish that can be made by either deep frying or air frying. They’re full of ground pork, cabbage and spices.
Lumpia is a Filipino dish that can be made by either deep frying or air frying. They’re full of ground pork, cabbage and spices.

There are many times when I silently curse my past self for inconveniencing me in the present.

I’ll fail to put something away correctly or decide I’ll totally remember we’re out of something rather than putting it on the shopping list, etc.

But the past couple of weeks, I have been pretty proud of past me for making my life slightly easier.

About a month ago, I found myself with several inches of leftover fresh ginger, and rather than letting them go to waste in the refrigerator, I peeled them (something I really don’t like doing) and put them in the freezer.

Now, when I just need an inch, I have pre-peeled ginger at the ready. I’ll be sad when I use it all up, but in the meantime, it definitely came in handy with this week’s recipe, which turned out really well.

This comes from cookbook author Rasa Malaysia on her website. You can see her original post at https://rasamalaysia.com/lumpia-filipino-spring-rolls-recipe/. I added extra garlic and cabbage in my version.

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Lumpia

Lumpia is a Filipino dish that can be made by either deep frying or air frying. They’re full of ground pork, cabbage and spices.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Filipino
Keyword air fryer, cabbage, chicken bouillon, deep fried, egg roll wrapper, eggs, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, ground pork, lumpia, minced garlic, soy sauce, spring roll wrappers

Ingredients

  • 1 package lumpia egg roll or fry-able spring roll wrappers
  • 2 pounds ground pork I used a pork/beef combo
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 inch ginger minced
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 crushed chicken bouillon cube or 1/2 teaspoon bouillon powder
  • 2 eggs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 to 10 ounces green cabbage shredded
  • cooking oil if deep frying or cooking spray (if air frying)

Instructions

  • If your wrappers are square, cut the stack down the middle so that you have two stacks of rectangular wrappers to use. (It’s a good idea to keep these under a damp paper towel while you work so they don’t dry out.)
  • In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, bouillon, eggs, salt and pepper, and cabbage, and mix well to combine.
  • Fill a small bowl with some water, and lay one of the rectangular wrappers in front of you, with one of the short sides facing you.
  • Using your fingers, dipped in the bowl of water, wet the last half-inch or so of the short end furthest from you. Add a couple tablespoons of the mixture at one end of the wrapper, and then roll it tightly, careful not to let the filling squeeze out the sides, until it’s completely rolled up, pressing lightly to seal the wrapper. Set it aside.
  • Repeat until all the filling and/or wrappers are used.
  • If you’re deep frying the lumpia, heat about one-half inch of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry them, a few at a time, turning them to get them golden brown on all sides, and then transfer them with a slotted spoon to a paper-towel lined plate. (You may want to temp them to make sure they are at a safe internal temperature, too.)
  • If you’re air frying them, preheat your air fryer to 400 degrees, lightly spray your lumpia with cooking spray and air fry for about nine to 12 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat is 160 degrees.
  • Serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce.

Joey mixed up a spicy, mustard-based sauce for us to eat these with. Honestly, these would be a great side dish for an Asian meal, but we just ate them as our main dish.

They were lightly flavored, which made them an especially good vessel for a nice sauce, but they were also crispy and very tasty.

And I didn’t even have to peel any ginger to make this particular dinner work. If only past me hadn’t decided to put off doing the dishes until the next day, too, her planning would have been perfect.

This piece first appeared in print June 19, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish Side Dish

Want a veggie stir fry this week? I say go ‘floret’

Chinese vegetable stir fry is heavy on the broccoli but really packs some great flavor with seasonings and the addition of earthy mushrooms and fresh garlic and ginger.
Chinese vegetable stir fry is heavy on the broccoli but really packs some great flavor with seasonings and the addition of earthy mushrooms and fresh garlic and ginger.

People often comment that they don’t understand how Joey and I can work together as a married couple and not want to kill each other.

Honestly, 99 percent of the time, we get along really well, both at home and at work.

If there is something that could spell trouble in paradise, though, I’d say it would have to be the one thing we have never been able to agree on: broccoli.

I love it. Joey thinks it makes the house smell like flatulence every time I cook it.

We’ve had to agree to disagree.

But since he was out of the house for a couple days last week, I took full advantage and made this week’s recipe, which features a ton of delicious broccoli, and I have zero regrets about filling our house with the delicious aroma of my favorite veggie.

This comes from the blog “Once Upon a Chef” by Chef Jenn Segal. You can find the original post at https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chinese-vegetable-stir-fry.html. I added extra garlic and other spices in my version.

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Chinese Vegetable Stir Fry

Chinese vegetable stir fry is heavy on the broccoli but really packs some great flavor with seasonings and the addition of earthy mushrooms and fresh garlic and ginger.
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword baby bellas, broccoli, dry mustard, fresh broccoli, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, green onion, minced garlic, mustard powder, red bell pepper, red pepper flakes, rice win vinegar, sesame oil, shiitake, soy sauce, vegan, vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
  • 1 pound broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 8 ounces baby bella or shiitake mushrooms sliced thin and stems removed
  • 1 red bell pepper sliced thin
  • 4 to 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 green onions thinly sliced (separate the light and dark parts into two piles)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated

Instructions

  • Start by preparing all of the vegetables. Cooking will go quickly, so having everything prepped will make things easier.
  • Add the soy sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch, red pepper flakes and mustard powder to a bowl, and stir to combine well. Set it aside.
  • Add about one inch of water to a deep non-stick skillet, and bring it to a boil. Add the broccoli and cook for about three minutes or until it’s just shy of how tender you like it. Drain it, and run cold water over the broccoli so it stops cooking. Set it aside to finish draining.
  • If there is any liquid left in the skillet, dry it, and then add the vegetable oil, heating it over medium-high heat.
  • Add the mushrooms and red peppers, stirring regularly, and letting them cook for about five minutes or until the peppers are softened.
  • Add in the light-colored parts of the onion, the ginger and garlic, and saute for another minute or so, until you can really smell the ginger and garlic.
  • Dump in the broccoli and stir to combine the ingredients. Once the broccoli is heated back through, pour in the sauce you prepared earlier, and continue stirring constantly, being sure to coat the vegetables in the sauce.
  • Once the sauce thickens to your liking and the vegetables are hot, remove the skillet from the heat and serve immediately, topped with the dark green onions.
  • I served mine with lo mein noodles. You could also eat this with rice or just by itself.

This was really yummy. I should have cooked the broccoli just a bit less for the sake of my leftovers, since it was a bit mushy by the time I reheated it, but it was still flavorful and just what I wanted.

Who can complain about a big dish of well-seasoned veggies?

Well, OK, I know one guy, but that’s what he gets for leaving me home alone. You never know what kind of culinary mischief I might get into.

This piece first appeared in print June 12, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish Soup

Easy potsticker soup will have you shouting for ‘choy’

Potsticker soup is a hearty meal, full of delicious Asian flavors, such as bok choy, soy sauce and sesame oil. Combo that with the ease of using frozen potstickers, and you have a fulfilling meal that is quick to prepare.
Potsticker soup is a hearty meal, full of delicious Asian flavors, such as bok choy, soy sauce and sesame oil. Combo that with the ease of using frozen potstickers, and you have a fulfilling meal that is quick to prepare.

Just when I think I have explored every part of the produce section, I find something new to try. This time, it was bok choy.

Bok choy, according to the Food Literacy Center website, is considered the oldest green in China, harkening back to the fifth century.

It is sometimes referred to as “Chinese cabbage,” and if you’re unfamiliar with it, that’s probably the best description I could give. Flavor wise, it’s kind of like a less intense green cabbage.

I absolutely loved it, and it added some brightness to the fabulous soup I’m sharing with you this week.

This comes from the awesome food blog “Gimme Some Oven.” You can find the original post at https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/potsticker-soup-recipe/. I put extra garlic in my version and used regular bok choy instead of baby bok choy, since that’s what I could find locally.

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Potsticker Soup

Potsticker soup is a hearty meal, full of delicious Asian flavors, such as bok choy, soy sauce and sesame oil. Combo that with the ease of using frozen potstickers, and you have a fulfilling meal that is quick to prepare.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Asian, Chinese
Keyword 30-minute meal, baby bellas, bok choy, chili crisp, easy soup, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, fresh mushrooms, frozen potstickers, green onions, potstickers, quick dinner, sesame oil, sesame seeds, shiitake, soy sauce, vegetable broth

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 ounces baby bella or shiitake mushrooms sliced
  • 5 green onions thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 6 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • about 20 ounces frozen potstickers
  • 1 bunch bok choy roughly chopped to spoon-sized pieces
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot or Dutch oven.
  • Saute the mushrooms and green onions until they are softened, and then add the ginger and garlic. Saute for another couple of minutes until the garlic is lightly browned and fragrant, and pour in the vegetable broth and soy sauce scraping the bottom of the pot to incorporate any stuck-on bits.
  • Bring the mixture to a boil.
  • Add the potstickers and bok choy, and stir to combine. Let everything boil, stirring occasionally, for about four or five minutes until the potstickers are heated through and the bok choy is cooked to your liking.
  • Turn the heat to low and add sesame oil and pepper. Be sure to taste the broth before adding salt.
  • To serve, this soup can be garnished with a variety of goodies. We used sesame seeds, soft-boiled eggs and chili crisp in ours.

This was so, so good. We really enjoyed this and decided that this must go into our regular rotation for quick, cold-weather meals. Despite using frozen potstickers, this felt completely homemade, with lots of delicious Asian flavors. It was a really hearty soup, too, with plenty of veggies to fill us up.

I made soft-boiled eggs to go in our bowls, and that added a creamy component that we really enjoyed.

Plus, I can mark a new vegetable off my list. I’m guessing those fifth century farmers never imagined the new veggie in their gardens would be enjoyed over 1,000 years later and 7,000 miles away, but whoever they were, I’m a big fan of their work.

This piece first appeared in print Feb. 20, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Appetizer Main Dish

It’s a wrap on these tasty dumpling pockets

Rice paper dumpling pockets take a lot of the work out of traditional Asian-style dumplings, but they pack all of the flavor. With a great combination of ground pork and shrimp, along with lots of great spices, these are a good, quick meal.
Rice paper dumpling pockets take a lot of the work out of traditional Asian-style dumplings, but they pack all of the flavor. With a great combination of ground pork and shrimp, along with lots of great spices, these are a good, quick meal.

I know it’s January and I should have tons of goals in my mind for 2025, but honestly, I haven’t considered very many resolutions for myself.

Well, I do have a couple, but of course, they’re all cooking related.

The first is to master my new pasta roller, which already had its maiden voyage with some pretty stellar results.

The second is to get really good at making dumplings. My first few attempts have been good but not as much of a success as I hoped, and in 2025, I’m really shooting for the grand daddy of them all: soup dumplings.

With those lofty goals in mind, I started out easy with a dumpling recipe that didn’t require any dough making—just some assembly and an oven—and I was very pleased with the results overall.

This comes from the Instagram account @saltNpiipa, which is created by father and son duo Michael and Nathan Le. They have a fun dynamic. I recommend giving their channel a watch. I added a little extra garlic, changed the sesame oil amount, and decided not to make the very spicy sauce they recommended.

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Rice Paper Dumpling Pockets

Rice paper dumpling pockets take a lot of the work out of traditional Asian-style dumplings, but they pack all of the flavor. With a great combination of ground pork and shrimp, along with lots of great spices, these are a good, quick meal.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword chili crisp, dumplings, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, green onion, ground pork, minced garlic, rice paper, sesame oil, sesame seeds, shrimp, soy sauce, spring roll wrappers

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 10 ounces raw shrimp minced
  • 3/4 cup green onion chopped
  • 8 to 10 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh ginger minced
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • about 16 sheets rice paper spring roll wrappers
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, and set it aside.
  • In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients (except the rice paper and olive oil), and stir to combine.
  • Set up a wrapping station. You will need a deep dinner plate with the bottom just covered in warm water, a clean spot on the countertop, your bowl of filling and your prepared baking sheet.
  • To make the dumplings, carefully dip a sheet of rice paper into the warm water. Let it set for a few seconds until it is pliable.
  • Carefully place it on your countertop and place a large scoop of the filling in the middle (maybe just shy of 1/4 cup’s worth). Fold the sides in over the filling and then one of the ends. Then, as you fold the last end up, roll the dumpling a bit to get as much air out as you can. Basically, you’re making a packet with all four sides of the rice paper being folded over toward the center.
  • Place the packet onto your prepared baking sheet and repeat until all of the filling is used or you run out of rice paper. (You can always saute any remaining filling and eat it over rice later on.)
  • Brush the dumplings all over (top, bottom and sides) with olive oil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
  • When the filling is cooked through (at least 160 degrees internal), turn your broiler on high and let the dumplings brown for just a couple of minutes. Watch them closely, and as soon as they are as brown as you want them, take them out of the oven.
  • Serve with your favorite Asian-style dipping sauce.

These were really tasty. I tried to be fancy and eat mine with chopsticks, but I had trouble with them falling apart a bit. I think I needed to wrap them a little more tightly to keep the structural integrity.

Regardless, we really enjoyed these. Joey opted to dip his in a spicy sauce with chili crisp. I was more in the mood for soy sauce with some sesame seeds. Both were great.

And now that I have my feet wet in the world of dumplings, the next project will be conquering the wrappers. Or maybe I’ll just buy rice paper a few more times—you know, just to get the hang of things.

This piece first appeared in print Jan. 2, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

‘Hoi’ can’t recommend these Mongolian noodles enough

Mongolian beef noodles are easy to prepare and take fewer than 30 minutes from start to finish to get on the table. The addition of hoisin sauce gives it a sweet and savory flavor that makes seconds a must.
Mongolian beef noodles are easy to prepare and take fewer than 30 minutes from start to finish to get on the table. The addition of hoisin sauce gives it a sweet and savory flavor that makes seconds a must.

In an interview with the Food Network, Chinese food expert Nadia Liu Spellman explained hoisin sauce, a condiment that is new to my refrigerator as of this week.

“I would call it the ketchup of Chinese cuisine, because it’s used as an ingredient but also as a finishing sauce and condiment,” Liu Spellman said in the interview. “Hoisin sauce looks like dark brown ketchup but not as viscous; it’s thicker and pastier. It’s sweet at the start and savory at the end.”

I purchased my first bottle of hoisin for this week’s recipe, and since I had not knowingly ever tasted it before, I was going in blind on what the flavor profile would be.

Of course, knowing that I like soy sauce, garlic and ginger didn’t hurt anything.

The good news is I really liked hoisin, and now I’m excited to see what other applications it has—although I’ll likely be using it to make this week’s recipe again, because it was great.

This recipe was posted on Instagram by Kirk Muenzenberger. His page is @kirkscookingandcocktails, if you want to see the original. I added extra garlic and pasta in my version.

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Mongolian Beef Noodles

Mongolian beef noodles are easy to prepare and take fewer than 30 minutes from start to finish to get on the table. The addition of hoisin sauce gives it a sweet and savory flavor that makes seconds a must.
Course Main Course
Keyword 30-minute meal, fresh ginger, ginger paste, ground beef, hoisin sauce, minced garlic, pasta, quick meals, spaghetti

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces long pasta I used whole wheat spaghetti
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons ginger paste
  • 8 to 10 cloves garlic minced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sesame seeds and green onion for garnish

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup beef broth/stock
  • 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  • Boil the pasta according to package directions and drain.
  • While the pasta cooks, brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat until it is cooked through. Strain off as much fat as possible, and add in the ginger paste and garlic. Saute for a couple of minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Add the sauce to the skillet, stirring to combine. (The sauce will look very loose at this moment. Don’t worry. It will thicken up.) Continue to stir until the sauce bubbles gently and begins to thicken.
  • Stir in the cooked pasta until it is well coated, and continue stirring until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Add additional salt and pepper, if necessary.
  • Serve with sesame seeds and fresh sliced green onion, if desired.

I will absolutely be making this again. It came together in well under 30 minutes, all told, and it was just slightly sweet, a bit spicy and very good. The next time, though, I will dice up a red bell pepper and cook that down with the ground beef. I think it would be a great addition for flavor, color and vitamins.

And now that I have “the ketchup of Chinese cuisine” in my refrigerator, the world is my oyster.

Actually, I’m not sure it’s good on oysters. I might have to do some more research.

This piece first appeared in print on May 16, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Prepare a honey of a meal for dinner this week

Honey garlic chicken is a great combination of just a little sweetness with plenty of savory flavor from chicken thighs, garlic and bell pepper.
Honey garlic chicken is a great combination of just a little sweetness with plenty of savory flavor from chicken thighs, garlic and bell pepper.

One of the most popular questions I get from people when they find out I write a recipe column is whether I have had any food fails when trying new dishes.

The answer is a resounding yes.

And if you were to ask me what the biggest fail of all time was, I would, without hesitation, tell you about a honey lime crockpot chicken I made nearly a decade ago. It still haunts me.

It was so disgusting that Joey and I begrudgingly threw it out. There was no saving it. It tasted like somebody tried to combine candy and chicken into one dish. It was positively awful.

Since that experience, any time I see a recipe that has “honey” and “chicken” in the title, I get a little flashback and wonder if I will be making another huge mistake if I give it a try.

This week, I decided to take the plunge anyway. Thankfully, no chicken ended up in the garbage, and we ended up with a tasty dinner and some leftovers, to boot.

This comes from the blog “Kitchen Sanctuary” by Nicky Corbishley. You can find her original post at https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/honey-garlic-chicken/. I added vegetables and a ton of extra garlic to my version.

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Honey Garlic Chicken

Honey garlic chicken is a great combination of just a little sweetness with plenty of savory flavor from chicken thighs, garlic and bell pepper.
Course Main Course
Keyword bell pepper, chicken thighs, garlic, honey, minced garlic, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, yellow onion

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil divided
  • 1 large bell pepper diced (any color)
  • 1/2 small yellow onion diced
  • 6 to 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced into one-inch strips
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 8 to 10 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • Cooked rice for serving
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon red chili flakes optional

Instructions

  • Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and onions, and saute until they are cooked through.
  • Remove the peppers and onions from the skillet and place them in a bowl to the side.
  • While the vegetables cook, prepare the chicken thighs. Mix the cornstarch, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl, and then add the chicken thighs, tossing until the cornstarch mixture is well distributed.
  • When the veggies are done, add the other two tablespoons of oil to the pan and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the chicken to the skillet, and saute until it is browned on all sides and fully cooked through (165 degrees internal temperature).
  • Turn the heat back to medium and prepare the sauce.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, chicken stock, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce.
  • Next, toss the butter and garlic into the skillet, stirring to melt the butter and saute the garlic. Once the garlic is lightly browned and fragrant, stir in the sauce and the peppers and onions. Let the sauce come to a low boil and then simmer for several minutes until the sauce reduces.
  • Serve over rice and sprinkled with sesame seeds and chili flakes.

This had a good savory sweetness that we really enjoyed. If you leave out the chili flakes, it has no spice whatsoever and should be a good crowd pleaser.

I made my white rice with chicken stock instead of water to add a little more flavor, and I even threw in both regular and black sesame seeds and sliced green onions to try to make it look fancy.

I was so glad this wasn’t a horrible sequel to my honey lime chicken experiment. I’m sure I’ll have a major kitchen fail again sometime in the future, but luckily, this wasn’t the time.

This piece first appeared in print April 25, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

‘Lei’ the foundation for a delicious grilled chicken

Spatchcock Polynesian chicken can be made on the grill, in the smoker or in the oven and features a slightly sweet sauce that turns into a fabulous glaze.
Spatchcock Polynesian chicken can be made on the grill, in the smoker or in the oven and features a slightly sweet sauce that turns into a fabulous glaze.

As soon as the weather starts to warm up, it’s time for Joey and me to start going through all the grilling recipes he sent me over the winter.

The first one up is this week’s recipe, which features a Polynesian-inspired sauce over a spatchcock chicken.

If you’re not familiar with spatchcocking, it’s a technique for cooking whole chicken that lets you flatten the bird out, and it cooks more evenly and quicker. It feels a little weird to do the first time—like you’re performing some sort of surgery—but after you cook a chicken that way the first time, you’ll be sold.

The recipe we tried comes from the Sanderson Farms company page and was created as a collaboration with a couple influencers, “The Grill Dads.” You can find the original recipe and their video at https://sandersonfarms.com/recipes/spatchcock-polynesian-chicken/. I added extra garlic in my version.

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Spatchcock Polynesian Chicken

Spatchcock Polynesian chicken can be made on the grill, in the smoker or in the oven and features a slightly sweet sauce that turns into a fabulous glaze.
Course Main Course
Keyword barrel smoker, brown sugar, ceramic grill, chicken, fresh garlic, fresh ginger, garlic powder, grill, ground ginger, honey, lemon juice, lime juice, pellet smoker, Polynesian, smoked meat, smoker, soy sauce, spatchcock, whole chicken

Ingredients

Chicken Ingredients

  • 1 whole frying chicken
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated (or ginger paste)
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 green onions thinly sliced
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Instructions

  • To prepare the chicken, pat it dry with paper towels and then flip it to breast side down on a large cutting board. Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, starting from the tail side of the chicken, carefully cut out the backbone by cutting closely on both sides of it. Set the backbone aside for another use or discard it.
  • Flip the chicken back over, and using the heels of your hands, press down in the middle of the chicken, right on the breast bone, to make it flatten out. (You should hear a little pop.)
  • Place the chicken onto a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. In a small bowl, mix the salt, sugar, garlic powder and ground ginger.
  • Rub the spice mixture over the whole bird, making sure to get in crevices and even getting some under the skin, if you can. Place the chicken, uncovered, in the refrigerator over night or for at least eight hours. (We want the skin to dry out a bit so it will crisp up.)
  • The sauce can be made now or while you wait for the chicken to cook the next day.
  • Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring the mixture to a low boil. Let it continue to boil for about 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Once the sauce is reduced, remove it from the heat and set it aside.
  • To cook the chicken, preheat your grill, smoker or oven to about 350 degrees. Rub the chicken all over with the olive oil, and then place it, breast side up, directly on the grate of your grill or smoker or on the rimmed baking sheet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 140 degrees.
  • Using a basting brush, coat the exterior of the chicken in the sauce, and continue to cook the chicken for about 15 more minutes, basting every 5 minutes, until the meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees.
  • Pull the chicken from the oven, and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. If you have leftover sauce, use that for serving, and serve the chicken along with the sides of your choice.

This was slightly sweet and had a nice, crispy skin on it from our smoker. Joey and I agreed that it would have been delicious out of the oven, too, though, so if you’re not much for outdoor cooking, definitely try it inside.

We ate our chicken with some brown rice, and it was really good. We also had plenty of leftovers, which was nice.

And now that it’s officially grilling season, I’ll have to go digging back through my summer recipes to see what other experiments I can sweet talk Joey into.

This piece first appeared in print on April 18, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

You have to try this delicious ‘mein’ dish tonight

Chicken lo mein is a delicious dinner with tons of flavor and plenty of fresh, sauteed vegetables over yummy Asian noodles.
Chicken lo mein is a delicious dinner with tons of flavor and plenty of fresh, sauteed vegetables over yummy Asian noodles.

An article from “Eat This, Not That” by Cheyenne Buckingham breaks down all the differences between Italian and Asian noodles.

I started wondering a bit this week, after I bought a package of lo mein noodles and the finished product really didn’t look a whole lot different from spaghetti, so of course, I had to do a deep dive on the subject.

There is a difference, it turns out. Buckingham interviewed Chef Chris Barch, who said ingredients are the main variation.

“For example, soba uses buckwheat, lo mein uses eggs, rice noodles use rice,” he said. “Italian pasta essentially has two main pasta doughs: egg dough and non-egg dough.”

So, yeah, you totally could use spaghetti instead of lo mein noodles, but you’re probably not going to get the full flavor and texture you’re looking for. So even if they’re a little tougher to find, when you try this week’s recipe, I highly recommend traditional Asian noodles.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Dinner then Dessert” by Sabrina Snyder. You can find the original post at https://dinnerthendessert.com/chicken-lo-mein/. I added extra garlic in my version and left out the bean sprouts.

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Chicken Lo Mein

Chicken lo mein is a delicious dinner with tons of flavor and plenty of fresh, sauteed vegetables over yummy Asian noodles.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword cabbage, carrots, chicken, Chinese takeout, fresh ginger, garlic, green onions, lo mein, red bell pepper, sesame oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces lo mein noodles
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil divided
  • 2 large chicken breasts cut into thin strips
  • 1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
  • 1 large carrot cut into thin strips
  • 1/2 cup green onions thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or fish sauce
  • 1/2 cup cabbage shredded
  • sesame seeds and/or green onions for garnish

Instructions

  • Cook the noodles according to the package instructions; drain them and toss them with the sesame oil. Set aside.
  • In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat.
  • Saute the chicken in batches, cooking four or five minutes on each side until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan to a plate for now.
  • Add the pepper, carrot and green onion to the skillet and saute until they are cooked through to your liking.
  • Add the ginger and garlic to the vegetables. Saute for one to two minutes or until the garlic is very lightly browned.
  • In a small bowl, mix 3/4 cup water, soy sauce, cornstarch, one tablespoon vegetable oil and oyster sauce, and then pour it into the skillet. Also add the cabbage. Let it cook for just a couple minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens and the cabbage wilts.
  • Add the chicken and noodles back to the pan, and stir to coat everything in the sauce. Turn the heat to medium-low. Once everything is heated back through, serve, topped with sesame seeds and freshly sliced green onions, if you like.

On her blog, Snyder notes that this is a lot like takeout Chinese food, and I have to agree. It was a fabulous dinner, and then it heated up for leftovers about as well as normal Chinese restaurant leftovers do. We served ours with some fried rice (Joey accused me of stacking carbs), and it made for a great dinner.

When you do this, make sure to thinly cut your vegetables and really try to get a consistent thickness on your slices. That will help everything cook quickly and evenly.

And don’t forget to get the right noodles for the job. Spaghetti is great in a lot of applications, but in this case, lo mein is a must.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 18, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

‘Soy’ vey: These cookies were quite the weird experiment

These soy sauce chocolate chip cookies don’t look pretty, but they are tasty, sweet and chewy and don’t taste like soy sauce one bit.
These soy sauce chocolate chip cookies don’t look pretty, but they are tasty, sweet and chewy and don’t taste like soy sauce one bit.

“Well, these are a disaster,” I told Joey, pulling my baking sheet out of the oven. “I guess they won’t be going in the column.”

Earlier in the week, I was excited to try a recipe I ran across that used soy sauce in chocolate chip cookies. It sounded just weird enough that I had to see what they tasted like.

But then, catastrophe struck. I’m assuming I softened my butter a bit too much, because these cookies spread out like crazy, and I was bummed that the recipe was a total fail.

But then I tried one. And another one. And, dear reader, I must admit, several more, and they were, well…good.

They were thin, yes, and the chocolate chips kind of just hung out in the middles instead of spreading throughout the cookies, but they were tasty, and the texture was soft and chewy.

I was also delighted to find that they didn’t taste like soy sauce at all.

This recipe, aptly enough, comes from the Kikkoman website. You can find the original at https://kikkomanusa.com/homecooks/recipes/soy-sauce-chocolate-chip-cookies/. I doubled the vanilla in my version and increased the chocolate chips a bit.

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Soy Sauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

These soy sauce chocolate chip cookies don’t look pretty, but they are tasty, sweet and chewy and don’t taste like soy sauce one bit.
Course Dessert, Main Course
Keyword chocolate chips, sea salt, semisweet chocolate chips, soy sauce, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce I used low-sodium
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon coarse or flaky salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper, and set them aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the soy sauce, vanilla and eggs. Finally, beat in the flour and baking soda.
  • When everything is well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.
  • Place the bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  • Spoon out the dough onto the prepared baking sheets in rounded tablespoon scoops, leaving about two inches between them.
  • Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are browned. While they are still hot, sprinkle the cookies lightly with salt. Let them cool before transferring them to an airtight container.

Like I said, despite the weird secret ingredient, these were just darn good chocolate cookies. Honestly, I’m not sure why they spread out so badly for me—especially since I chilled my dough as directed.

But it ended up being a happy accident. Honestly, the fact that the cookies were thinner probably helped with the chewy texture.

“These are going into the column after all,” I told Joey through a large bite of cookie.

He just nodded.

He’s used to my strange kitchen shenanigans. Besides, he’s too polite to talk with his mouth full.

This piece first appeared in print on Aug. 31, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish

Make a great Asian dish like you’ve never had ‘beef’ore

Mongolian beef features delicious seared steak with a sticky, yummy Asian-inspired sauce that goes great over a bed of rice.
Mongolian beef features delicious seared steak with a sticky, yummy Asian-inspired sauce that goes great over a bed of rice.

I was so glad this week that the smoke detector in my kitchen isn’t particularly sensitive.

As I sauteed thin slices of steak on my stovetop, the room filled with a fine smoke that my exhaust fan just couldn’t keep up with.

I am normally really nervous about cooking anything on high heat. I think it goes back to the first place I moved into when I left home. The cooktop in my rental got extra, extra hot and led to my first experience with a grease fire, despite having the temperature set to what should have been a normal one for frying. (Always remember to smother a grease fire with a lid, and do not to try to put it out with water!)

My current oven is newer and behaves itself, though, so despite putting off a little smoke, my dish turned out absolutely delicious.

The recipe I tried comes from the blog “Dinner at the Zoo” by Sara Welch. You can find it at https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/mongolian-beef/. I added veggies and extra seasoning in my version.

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Mongolian Beef

Mongolian beef features delicious seared steak with a sticky, yummy Asian-inspired sauce that goes great over a bed of rice.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword bell pepper, brown sugar, flank steak, fresh ginger, green onion, minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, top round steak

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 pounds flank or top round steak sliced thinly
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil I ended up needing more than this
  • 2 bell peppers any color, cut into strips
  • 1/2 cup green onions cut into 1/4-inch pieces
  • 6 to 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced (I used ginger paste)
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • rice or rice noodles and sesame seeds for serving

Instructions

  • Cut the steak into one-inch-wide strips and add it to a plastic bag with 1/4 cup of cornstarch. Seal the bag and shake to evenly coat the strips.
  • Prepare a plate by lining it with a paper towel and set it aside.
  • In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil on high heat.
  • Once the oil is hot, add the strips of steak in a single layer. Saute for a few minutes on each side until the meat is browned. Remove the strips from the skillet and place them on the paper-towel-lined plate.
  • Continue in batches (adding more oil if it’s sticking) until all the meat is browned.
  • Turn the heat down to medium-high heat, add a bit more oil if necessary and add in the bell peppers and green onions. Saute until they reach your desired level of doneness. Toss in the garlic and ginger and saute for about 30 seconds to a minute.
  • Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, water and brown sugar to the pan, making sure to scrape the bottom for any good, browned bits from the steak and the veggies. Let the mixture come to a simmer, stirring regularly.
  • In a small bowl, combine the other two teaspoons of cornstarch with one tablespoon of cold water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the skillet and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the mixture is starting to thicken, reduce the heat to low, and stir in the steak. Make sure to mix well to evenly coat everything.
  • Add salt and pepper as desired (I didn’t have to add any salt at all, thanks to the other seasonings. It’s better to taste the sauce first.)
  • Serve over prepared rice or rice noodles and top with sesame seeds.

This was amazing. In fact, I have already made a second batch of this one in the time since I first tried it. The sauce is sticky and has tons of great flavor without being cloyingly sweet. This also reheats super well as leftovers, so be sure to make some extra rice or noodles so you have pre-made meals for later in the week.

And pay attention to your own stovetop’s “high” setting when you try this. Some are more sensitive than others—as are some smoke detectors. But as long as you get a good sear on your meat, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

This piece first appeared in print on July 6, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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