Tag: Chinese Ketogenic Diet

SZECHUAN TOFU GROUND PORK STIR-FRY

SZECHUAN TOFU GROUND PORK STIR-FRY

Sichuan cuisine (romanized as Szechwan cuisine) is a style of Chinese cooking originating from Sichuan Province.  It has bold flavors, particularly the pungency and spiciness resulting with preparing dishes with garlic and chili peppers, and the unique flavor of cooking with Sichuan peppercorn.  Other well 

KOREAN BARBEQUE FLAVORED POT ROAST

KOREAN BARBEQUE FLAVORED POT ROAST

I have taken the traditional Korean barbeque Asian flavor marinade and chosen a non-traditional cut of meat, a chuck roast, generally a tougher cut for this recipe.  This flavorful marinade breaks down the tough connective tissues resulting in a flavorful seared tender beef covered with 

PORK STIR-FRY WITH BABY BOK CHOY & SHIITAKI MUSHROOMS

PORK STIR-FRY WITH BABY BOK CHOY & SHIITAKI MUSHROOMS

This quick to prepare Bok Choy stir-fry recipe only takes 15 minutes and produces a wonderful vegan-friendly side dish.  Add meat and additional aromatics to the dish and turn this one-dish meal into a quick entree in no time.  Add this flavorful stir-fry veggie recipe to your Asian menu on a ketogenic diet.

In this recipe, I cook with “miniature” often called “Baby Bok Choy”.  This miniature Chinese cabbage has tender stalks without the tough fibers of full-size Bok Choy and its bright green leaves have a sweet, clean flavor balanced by a hint of peppery, mustardy bitterness (taste is similar to Swiss Chard or Spinach. This vegetable is fast-cooking, versatile, and available year-round at most grocery stores and Asian markets. 

Bok Choy can also be steamed, boiled, stir-fried or microwaved until just wilted, 2-3 minutes.  In many of my recipes, I also chop this vegetable in place of other greens for salads.  In many of my braised meat dishes, I braise Bok Choy leaves by adding to the flavorful liquid at the end of roasting meat– I sautee the chopped leaves in the simmering pan broth, sauce or gravy produced.  This produces a “silky and tender” texture and adds a wonderful flavor to the leaves without burning them.

To add aromatics like minced garlic, ginger, or chili paste, add grape seed oil to the pan first and cook the aromatics, stirring constantly, until they are fragrant, about one minute (don’t overcook or burn them).  Add the broth and Bok Choy. Drizzle the veggies with sesame oil.  

Bok Choy belongs to the leafy vegetable Pak choi family of Chinese brassicas. Bok Choy is also called Chinese White Cabbage, Chinese Chard, Chinese Mustard Cabbage, Pak Choi. Bok Choy has white or green, thick, crunchy stems with light to dark green wide leaves. Size can vary from 4-12 inches tall. All parts, stems and leaves, are eaten.

Store Bok Choy in a refrigerator crisper bin (32 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit).  Store in a paper or perforated plastic bag. (TIP: for any green leafy veggie, I wrap a slightly moist paper towel around the whole vegetable to keep it crisp) Do not wash until you are ready to use. Use within 3-4 days. 

Bok Choy is an excellent source of vitamin C, provides dietary fiber, iron, calcium and folate, a good source of beta carotene (your body turns this into vitamin A).

Add ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine or cooking sherry and brown sugar or alternative sweetener and wisk.  

Pork tenderloin (1/2 pound) trim fat and slice thinly.

Add sliced pork to marinade and refrigerate overnight for best flavor and to tenderize the meat.

Baby Bok Choy

Separate Bok Choy stems and wash, pat dry before stir frying.

If using dried, dehydrated Shiitake mushrooms, soak overnight.  Rinse several times and change water.  If using fresh mushrooms, rinse and pat dry.

Remove mushroom stem and slice thinly for stir-fry.

Preheat wok (very hot), add grapeseed oil to cover entire surface of pan.  Heat oil until you see slight smoking.

Add garlic and ginger and caramelize (2 minutes).  Remove and add after stir-frying meat.

Stir-fry pork with a continuous stirring, scooping, tossing motion to ensure even cooking.  Stir-fry pork until the outside surface is browned and the center is pink and not cooked through. Don’t overcook! Remove from Wok. 

Heat wok and add grapeseed oil.  Stir-fry Bok Choy stems (2 minutes until stems become tender).  Add mushrooms and stir-fry another 2 minutes.  Add previously stir-fried garlic and ginger and continue to stir-fry.

Reduce heat to medium heat. Add saved marinade liquid to pan and cook 3 minutes until sauce thickens.  Return pork and juices to pan and cook for another minute.  Serve immediately over Keto riced cauliflower or quinoa or brown rice.

ROASTED CURRY GINGER CHICKEN

ROASTED CURRY GINGER CHICKEN

This flavor-packed roasted chicken uses a “wet” curry rub. When marinating, some of the liquid will evaporate and the spices will bind to the food. This recipe has curry powder, cumin, garlic powder, fresh ginger root and fresh garlic. There is a small amount of 

STIR-FRIED CHINESE LONG BEANS & SHRIMP

STIR-FRIED CHINESE LONG BEANS & SHRIMP

Chinese Long Beans (also known as “Chinese Green Beans”, “Yard-Long Beans”, “Chopstick Beans” “Snake Bean” or “Pea Bean”) are grown in subtropical/tropical climates and most widely grown in warmer parts of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Southern China.  This bean is a staple vegetable in 

CHINESE RIBLETS APPETIZER IN A SPICY GARLIC BLACK BEAN SAUCE

CHINESE RIBLETS APPETIZER IN A SPICY GARLIC BLACK BEAN SAUCE

My Chinese sparerib “riblets” recipe is a quick appetizer or side dish that is cooked in a wok or braising pan.  This recipe is great on a KETO diet and easy to prepare.  I have created this recipe by adding additional ingredients to the traditional marinade (sliced ginger, star anise pods, dry sherry, beef stock and (optional) crushed red pepper flakes (to taste) for a “kick”). 

You may have ordered these similar Cantonese style ribs in a dim sum restaurant (full of MSG, salt, sugar, and oyster sauce).

Fermented black bean is known as black Dou-chi and is a famous seasoning in many Chinese and Szechuan stir-fry dishes.  I use the prepared black bean with garlic sauce marinade (Lee Kum Kee brand) available at most local grocery stores (Asian or BBQ sauce aisle) or at your local Asian market.

What is a riblet(s)?  Riblets are prepared by butchers cutting a full set of spare ribs in sections.  This produces a set of short, flat ribs where the curved part of the rib is removed and gives them a more uniform look.  Cutting in between the bone will separate them into small bite size pieces.

 

THAI CURRIED CHICKEN BREAST WITH A CREAMY COCONUT SAUCE OVER SPAGHETTI SQUASH

THAI CURRIED CHICKEN BREAST WITH A CREAMY COCONUT SAUCE OVER SPAGHETTI SQUASH

If you love Thai cooking as much as I do… prepare my quick KETO and gluten free recipe cooked in a braising pan.  A flavorful, savory, creamy chicken and vegetable dish in one hour.  Thai curry refers to dishes in the Thai cuisine that are 

ASIAN FLAVORED GROUND CHICKEN STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

ASIAN FLAVORED GROUND CHICKEN STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

A quick one dish meal on a KETO DIET… I enjoy cooking colorful food, don’t you?  I took a tomato based flavor and created an Asian flavored ground chicken stuffed bell pepper recipe – Spice up your life with this recipe.  The spicy savory chili-black 

ASIAN STYLE BEEF SHORT RIBS

ASIAN STYLE BEEF SHORT RIBS

Asian braised short ribs when slow cooked for hours, are tender, juicy and literally fall-off the-bone great!  Make sure you get a meaty short rib with delicious marbled fat.  This creates a lot of flavor in a small bite and is flavorful on a KETO Diet!  There are two popular ways that they are cut, English style and Flanken.  For a Chinese Asian-fusion twist to the above recipe, add ¼ cup fresh orange juice and ¼ cup hoisin sauce and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and 2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind.

Where All Short Ribs Come From

All short ribs are from a rib section that contains three to four ribs.  Depending on where it is cut from, it can be three to five inches thick, and contains meat interspersed with a lot of muscle, fat, and tendon, which give it a lot of strong beefy flavor.  

Flanken

In the flanken style of short ribs, this thin cut, which is about 1/2 inch thick, goes across the bones so that each slice contains a few pieces of bone.  This is a popular way to cut the short ribs if you are going for a Korean barbecue kalbi-style result.  This cut is mainly found at an Asian grocery store, you most likely have to ask your butcher to cut these to order.

English Cut

The English style of short rib cuts between the ribs to separate them, leaving a thick piece of meat sitting on top of one piece of bone.  These ribs can be left as is in one long piece or cut into smaller, approximately 2-inch long pieces.  Boneless short ribs can sometimes be found, which mean that the meat is cut off the bones of an English-cut short rib.

 

VEGETABLE EGG FOO YOUNG -“CHINESE OMELETTE”

VEGETABLE EGG FOO YOUNG -“CHINESE OMELETTE”

Chinese  takeout restaurant favorites have a “westernized” menu of egg foo young, chow mein,  beef and broccoli, egg drop soup and egg rolls…the typical cooked dishes are full of oil and sodium.  I’ve prepared a vegetable egg foo young recipe “take – out” version at 

SPICY LEMON SKILLET PORK CHOPS

SPICY LEMON SKILLET PORK CHOPS

Do you cook pork chops that are dry and flavorless?  This “SPICY LEMON PORK CHOP” recipe makes a juicy and tender pork chop full of flavor with little preparation time. Only 35 minutes and a great meal on a KETO DIET! COOKING TIPS FOR PORK 

SPICY BLACK BEAN-CHILI PORK BACK RIBS (Asian Style BBQ)

SPICY BLACK BEAN-CHILI PORK BACK RIBS (Asian Style BBQ)

Spice up pork back ribs with an “Asian Flavor” – A change from the sweet traditional BBQ sauce. Great inspired flavor on a KETO DIET!  Traditional Cantonese barbecue recipes produce a sticky-sweet-salty meat that has a reddish color (ketchup that seeps into the meat), caramelized crust…full of sugar!  American Chinese “TAKEOUT” restaurants present ribs as an appetizer. This pork rib recipe is a main course served with an Asian vegetable (bok choy) or a specialty green salad with a riced cauliflower or quinoa.

PORK SHOULDER CHINESE STYLE BBQ

PORK SHOULDER CHINESE STYLE BBQ

Explore this quick to prepare recipe with a wonderful Asian- inspired BBQ flavor…slow roasted tender pork with a crusty flavorful fat top. KETO Cooked.  Pork shoulder, also referred to as pork butt, starts out as a mass of tough meat (tough connective tissue) wrapped in 

CHINESE THREE INGREDIENT SOUP WITH BROCCOLI SLAW “NOODLES” – KETO COOKED

CHINESE THREE INGREDIENT SOUP WITH BROCCOLI SLAW “NOODLES” – KETO COOKED

This filling one-pot “Chinese Three Ingredients Soup” dinner is quick and easy, prepared in 20 minutes, KETO cooked with broccoli slaw instead of Chinese mein noodles in a simple aromatic broth that is packed with flavor.  In moments you’ve got a steaming hot bowl of 

CHINESE EGGPLANT WITH A SPICY FLAVOR (KETO SIDE DISH)

CHINESE EGGPLANT WITH A SPICY FLAVOR (KETO SIDE DISH)

 

Eggplant is considered a KETO vegetable. Eggplant is incredibly versatile and can be easily incorporated into your KETO diet.  Eggplant recipes can be baked, roasted, grilled or sautéed.  This vegetable can reduce your carbohydrate and calorie intake and increase the fiber – nutrient content of your meal on a KETO diet.

My flavorful Chinese eggplant recipe can be served as a side-dish with chicken or pork and a great savory tasting vegetable dip with a “spicy bit of flavor” and a smooth texture. 

Chinese eggplant, a slender, porous, thin-skinned light purple color, having a delicate flavor over the Italian (large globe-shaped) eggplant found in a supermarket.  Chinese, Thai (small golf-ball size, green-white skin) or Japanese eggplant (cucumber size) can be found at an Asian supermarket.

I have developed a traditional stir-fry (Szechuan Style) Asian eggplant with ground pork, tofu, ginger, garlic and chili spices (spicy heat).  RECIPE TO COME…

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