Easy Asian recipes?

[Anonymous]

Sadly, I am an Asian American mom who has no idea how to cook Asian food for her DC. I really want to expose DC to more Asian cuisine at home, but don't really want to slave away in the kitchen (the way my mom did--amazing Korean food, but she literally spent HOURS in the kitchen).

So, any recipes out there? I'm totally open to any kind of Asian or South Asian (love Indian), but it has to be relatively fast with ingredients that are available at places like Whole Foods.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Trader Joe's sells pre-seasoned Bulgogi. I just spread it out on a lined cookie sheet and broil for about 5 minutes per side. It is one of my kids favorite foods. Also, Trader Joe's has simmer sauces and Pad Thai.

About once a month I trek down to Annandale to load up on dumplings, seaweed, kimchi, etc.

[Anonymous]

Sushi! The tricky part is not the rolling, but making the perfect rice.

[Anonymous]

Buy some jarred Thai red curry paste (higher end stores like Balducci's and probably whole foods carry). It comes in a little jar.

Mix in a wok or saute pan with coconut milk.

Add chicken and then whatever asian veggies you want, like baby carrots, bamboo shoots, or water chesnuts.

Serve over jasmine rice. Best if you can get the premade frozen rice from trader joe's.

The dish is best if you add kafir lime leaves, which adds that authentic Thai curry flavor. I found the leaves at an asian market in Silver Spring. If you can trek to an asian market and find some of these, they will keep in your freezer. You only need a few leaves for one dish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy some jarred Thai red curry paste (higher end stores like Balducci's and probably whole foods carry). It comes in a little jar.

Mix in a wok or saute pan with coconut milk.

Add chicken and then whatever asian veggies you want, like baby carrots, bamboo shoots, or water chesnuts.

Serve over jasmine rice. Best if you can get the premade frozen rice from trader joe's.

The dish is best if you add kafir lime leaves, which adds that authentic Thai curry flavor. I found the leaves at an asian market in Silver Spring. If you can trek to an asian market and find some of these, they will keep in your freezer. You only need a few leaves for one dish.

I should add that if you have the time, this is much better if you let the chicken (cut up into small pieces) marinate a bit. For the marinade, use a little coconut milk, some of the curry paste or you can insteat use some powdered yellow curry for variety, and a touch of Thai fish sauce (also available at Balducci's or WF, maybe even Giant).

[Anonymous]

Actually, I just posted this under the slow cooker recipe thread but I think it goes here too! We love this in our house. I'm not sure how authentic it is but it's really tasty and has some great asian flavors.

Korean Style Short Rib Soup

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/slow-cooked-korean-style-short-rib-soup-recipe2/index.html

[Anonymous]

Ramen with toasted nori & egg stirred in. Side dish of bread/butter pickles with tobasco and call it a "kim chee". And call it a day.

[Anonymous]

Boil/steam broccoli/green beans/other vegs until cooked but reasonably crisp.
Saute sliced tofu (extra-firm works best) in canola oil.
Stir together 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 4 tbsp soy sauce and add to pan; cook for a minute or two.
Add vegetables to pan; stir; heat briefly.
Serve with rice.

[Anonymous]

This is the best, most authentic asian cookbook you can get! i LOVE it. sometimes you can't find all the ingredients, but whole foods really helps (also international markets, like the one on little river turnpike).

softcover is $10.

http://www.amazon.com/Asia-Beautiful-Cookbook-Jackie-Passmore/dp/0002551152

[Anonymous]

Any type of stir fry-they are easy, quick and adaptable to other's tastes. A lot of grocery stores sell precut stir fry vegetables. Pick a meat, pick a sauce and go for it-kids seem to like these types of meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
About once a month I trek down to Annandale to load up on dumplings, seaweed, kimchi, etc.

This is the key. Nothing you get premade at an American grocery store will be "right."
If you want Korean soups, buy the ones that are made and packaged in plastic containers at a place like Nakwon Catering in Annandale, or even any Korean grocery store. Freeze them to keep for a long time and just reheat when you want to eat it.
You could do the same with marinated meat they sell. Just freeze it and thaw when you want to cook it.

Galbi is actually pretty easy though, and I've been seeing the Korean style short rib cuts at regular grocery stores all over the place now. The key is to marinate the meat in a ratio of 1:1:1 sugar, water, soy sauce. This makes the perfect amount of sweetness to saltiness. Add in a few cloves of minced garlic, chopped scallions, chopped onions, a tablespoon of sesame oil, a few shakes of toasted sesame seeds and you're good to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trader Joe's sells pre-seasoned Bulgogi. I just spread it out on a lined cookie sheet and broil for about 5 minutes per side. It is one of my kids favorite foods. Also, Trader Joe's has simmer sauces and Pad Thai.

About once a month I trek down to Annandale to load up on dumplings, seaweed, kimchi, etc.

Where in Annandale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
About once a month I trek down to Annandale to load up on dumplings, seaweed, kimchi, etc.

This is the key. Nothing you get premade at an American grocery store will be "right."
If you want Korean soups, buy the ones that are made and packaged in plastic containers at a place like Nakwon Catering in Annandale, or even any Korean grocery store. Freeze them to keep for a long time and just reheat when you want to eat it.
You could do the same with marinated meat they sell. Just freeze it and thaw when you want to cook it.

Galbi is actually pretty easy though, and I've been seeing the Korean style short rib cuts at regular grocery stores all over the place now. The key is to marinate the meat in a ratio of 1:1:1 sugar, water, soy sauce. This makes the perfect amount of sweetness to saltiness. Add in a few cloves of minced garlic, chopped scallions, chopped onions, a tablespoon of sesame oil, a few shakes of toasted sesame seeds and you're good to go.

Not OP, but this sounds great. How do you cook the ribs?

[Anonymous]

Chinese American mom here. Chinese food can be really time consuming to cook, so don't feel bad if you don't do it much.
Every few weeks, I make the trek to Rockville to buy Chinese groceries at Kam Sam (noodles, dumpling wrappers, fresh tofu, bulk scallions, ginger, garlic), along with some prepared and frozen foods (dumplings, spring rolls, pork buns, shu mai) My kids and DH love the pork and chive dumplings, so I often buy 4 or 5 bags of those for a quick weeknight dinner option (along with steamed veggies and a fruit salad). I also buy Taiwanese stir fry sauce (lots of brands and variations) which we use as a sauce for steamed veggies and grilled chicken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
About once a month I trek down to Annandale to load up on dumplings, seaweed, kimchi, etc.

This is the key. Nothing you get premade at an American grocery store will be "right."
If you want Korean soups, buy the ones that are made and packaged in plastic containers at a place like Nakwon Catering in Annandale, or even any Korean grocery store. Freeze them to keep for a long time and just reheat when you want to eat it.
You could do the same with marinated meat they sell. Just freeze it and thaw when you want to cook it.

Galbi is actually pretty easy though, and I've been seeing the Korean style short rib cuts at regular grocery stores all over the place now. The key is to marinate the meat in a ratio of 1:1:1 sugar, water, soy sauce. This makes the perfect amount of sweetness to saltiness. Add in a few cloves of minced garlic, chopped scallions, chopped onions, a tablespoon of sesame oil, a few shakes of toasted sesame seeds and you're good to go.

Not OP, but this sounds great. How do you cook the ribs?

Ideally you grill them. but you could pan fry or broil or bake as well. Usually if I don't grill them, I just fry them because broiling makes a mess of my pans with the high sugar content of the marinade.

I should note the sugar doesn't necessarily have to be sugar either. It could be honey, pear juice, sprite, marmalade... but then you have to adjust accordingly because some things are not the same level of sweetness as sugar.