Kung Pao Chicken, Cold Tofu, and Kat Chai Shin Mui (Asam Limau)

Hello! Today I bring you last night's meal. I did take pictures this time and they will come online after work. Sadly they are in my computer at home which cannot be accessed remotely from work :(. Yesterday was an experiment on two fronts, the Kung Pao and the Kat Chai Shin Mui (fresh lime juice with salted plums). We're pleased to announce that both came out great. The chicken was a definite success and the drink recipe will have some adjustments. Now, without further ado. Let's talk cookin' goodness!

From Kung Pao

** This was Aaron's (who I now call Chef Wok hehe) front so this is the first revision, he shall correct any mistakes made. Keep in mind, we also adjust veggies/flavors to our taste, feel free to play around and add those that you enjoy :D. **

Shopping List:
2 large chicken breasts (cut them into bite size pieces)
4 cloves of garlic (mince it)
1/2 cucumber (cut in small pieces)
2-3 stalks of celery (cut small as well)
1 green bell pepper (small cuts here too!)
1 yellow onion (I prefer larger pieces of onion)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
dried chilies (to spicy tolerance limits)
sesame oil (as much as you need to lightly coat the bottom of your wok/pan)
Chinese Rice Wine (to taste)
Rice Wine Vinegar (to taste)
sugar (a pinch)
1tspn cornstarch

Preparation:
If you have a wok super easy and extra yummy! Thaw your chicken breasts, use the microwave if needed, a properly used defrost function delivers acceptable results. Just be sure to know or have a good estimate of the amount/weight of the chicken you are defrosting. Also, make sure you flip the chicken when the microwave beeps. It is not beeping half through just to let you know it is still going, this is a signal that you should flip! This way you'll avoid the nasty effect of the meat starting to cook that drives everyone away from defrosting in the micro.

First prepare the wok for the cooking session by warming it up and giving it a coating of sesame oil. Don't need to go crazy on the oil, just use as little as you can to get away with coating all of the cooking surface by swirling it in the wok.

On medium heat add the onions and cook until translucent.

Then go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients and keep showing off your wok flare, mixing and moving everything around to the best of your ability. While this finishes off....

Cold Tofu

From Kung Pao

1 pack of soft/silken tofu
4 garlics
2 shallots
soy sauce (to taste)
~1tblsp sesame oil

Preparation:

Add sesame oil to wok/pan on medium heat.
While this heats up, drain your tofu and place it whole on a small serving plate.
Cut some slits into your tofu for the soy sauce to seep into. A grid pattern is just fine.
Once oil is hot add shallots, grab those chopsticks, keep them moving!
When the shallots start looking cooked add the garlic.
Keep them all in motion until lightly brown. At this point they are crispy but not burnt!
Top the tofu with the garlic and shallots. Pour soy sauce over it and done!



Notes:
Last night we discovered that if the tofu you happen to use it not very wet itself you should hold back on the soy sauce or it'll taste too salty. We tried a different brand and expected the same consistency/wetness and got surprised with a block of tofu which was a little stiffer than our usual and a lot drier.

Kat Chai Shin Mui

From Kung Pao

(This made about 2 large glasses, 16oz each I think? Yeah some of our glasses are huge!)
2 cups of water
4 limes
2 tblsp of sugar (I like using organic cane sugar)
4 dried salted plums

Preparation:
The original recipe I followed says to prepare and serve. It seems that this would benefit from an overnight soak instead.

Start by making a simple syrup.
Heat up the water (placing a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave for 2 mins works fine).
Add the sugar and mix until dissolved.

Add the dried salted plums to the syrup and let sit overnight (move this mix to the fridge once the water is at room temperature).

If you have a large container (or if your measuring cup was more than 2 cups!) squeeze the limes into it and mix it thoroughly. Otherwise split the syrup between 2-4 glasses depending on the amount you would like to serve and squeeze the limes evenly. Then mix every glass thoroughly and you're done!

Great refreshing and fun summer drink. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!