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.

The post PORK STIR-FRY WITH BABY BOK CHOY & SHIITAKI MUSHROOMS first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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 liquid in the recipe other than lemon juice, sesame oil and grape seed oil. The crispy chicken skin has a wonderful delicious, caramelized color and texture. By adding the marinade spice mixture under the chicken skin, juices form adding more flavor to the meat during roasting. The white breast meat is very tender and succulent.  

A quick to prepare chicken recipe only takes 15 minutes and produces a wonderful aroma in the kitchen… a sweet – savory flavor to add to your recipe collection and on a ketogenic diet.

Curry powder works best when it is mixed with other flavorful spices and foods so that it is not the main flavor. Use curry powder with onions, garlic for a great flavor. Other spices often used with curry powder include ginger, coriander, cumin and crushed red pepper flakes.

Rub the mixture to cover whole chicken parts - marinate under the skin

split chicken in half, cut down middle back bone of whole chicken

add potatoes - if not on a keto diet - marinate

saute garlic cloves with 1 Tablespoon grape seed oil

browning chicken (bone side down)

add 1 cup of organic vegetable stock or chicken broth to pan and deglaze

Roast chicken in preheated 375 degree oven (convection cooked is best)

The crispy chicken skin has a wonderful delicious, caramelized color and texture

The post ROASTED CURRY GINGER CHICKEN first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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 Asian cuisine.  The crisp, tender pods are eaten both fresh and cooked.  They are at their best when young and slender.  They are sometimes cut into short sections for cooking uses.  As a West Indian dish, they are often stir-fried with potatoes and shrimp.  In Odisha, India, they are used to make a variety of dishes, especially a sour dish (judunga besara) cooking along with mustard sauce and lime.  They are also used in Chinese cuisine and Kerala cuisine. 

In Malaysian cuisine, they are often stir-fried with chilli and shrimp paste or used in cooked salads (kerabu).  Another popular option is to chop them into short sections and fry them in an omelette.  In the Philippines, they are widely eaten stir-fried with soy sauce, garlic, and hot pepper and in an all-vegetable dish called utan or are stewed in bagoong-based dishes such as pinakbet and dinengdeng.

Chinese Long Beans are crunchy, chewy and hearty. The simplicity of this recipe – combining stir frying and steaming in just a couple of steps. These Chinese beans can withstand intense spices and chilies. Quickly stir – fry these beans as a “veggie” dish or add shrimp, pork, beef or chicken in a chili and black bean sauce.  Cook these beans up quickly at home for a perfect healthy side or a one dish weeknight meal in only 10 minutes!  I enjoy cooking this flavorful stir-fry in a spicy sauce that can be poured over quinoa (healthy alternative to steam white rice).

WHAT ARE CHINESE LONG BEANS?

The asparagus bean is a legume cultivated for its edible green pods containing immature seeds, like the green bean.

Chinese Long Beans come in long bundles – typically they are 12” – 30” long, hence the nickname, “Yard Long Beans.” The best tasting Chinese Long Beans are young, 12” – 16” long.  Purchase beans that have no black spots, flexible but not limp and do not look dry and thick.

Chinese Long Beans taste like the European-American style of green beans with a sharper flavor and a crunchier texture than American snap beans.  These beans are incredibly healthy and available in most supermarkets, farmers’ markets and Asian markets.  You can add heat with spicy chilies or keep it mild with a plain stir-fry marinade sauce or black bean sauce – both ways stir fried are delicious.

Have all your ingredients ready to go before you start stir – frying as cooking moves fast!

CHINESE LONG BEANS, SWEET RED ONION, SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS

CUT LONG BEANS INTO 3″ SEGMENTS

WASH LONG BEANS

MARINATE SHRIMP

STIR – FRY SHRIMP

CLEAN WOK, ADD 2 TBSP. GRAPESEED OIL AND HEAT HIGH UNTIL OIL SMOKES, ADD SLICED RED ONION.

CARAMELIZE ONIONS

ADD CHINESE LONG BEANS TO CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND STIR-FRY

ADD SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS AND STIR-FRY WITH BEANS

RETURN SHRIMP AND JUICES TO WOK AND COOK WITH BEANS

STIR-FRY UNTIL SAUCE IS SLIGHTLY THICKENED, ADD CHICKEN STOCK OR WATER IF NEEDED FOR ADDITIONAL SAUCE

SERVE OVER KETO RICED CAULIFLOWER OR QUINOA

The post STIR-FRIED CHINESE LONG BEANS & SHRIMP first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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.

 

The post CHINESE RIBLETS APPETIZER IN A SPICY GARLIC BLACK BEAN SAUCE first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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.

 

The post ASIAN STYLE BEEF SHORT RIBS first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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 home that is low fat, high protein, low carb dinner option –cooked in 30 minutes.  Use your imagination and load your stuffed omelettes with  extra vegetables on a KETO DIET! 

Egg foo young is derived from fu yung egg slices, a mainland Chinese recipe from Guangdong, literally meaning “Hibiscus egg”.  This dish is prepared with beaten eggs and most often minced ham.  Most traditional Asian restaurants use up leftovers a combination of minced vegetables, eggs and small pieces of meat, seafood or poultry cooked into an omelet-style pancake. 

The Chinese omelette egg mixture usually has some type of protein (prawns, shrimp, lobster or pork) with traditional Asian vegetables: bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, cabbage, water chestnuts.

Most Chinese “Take Out” restaurants prepare a well-folded omelette with non-egg ingredients embedded in the egg mixture.  It is covered with a sauce or gravy.  American-Chinese restaurants in the Midwest serve a sandwich which is an egg foo young patty served with mayonnaise, dill pickles with lettuce, tomato between two slices of white bread

EGG MIXTURE

COOKING EGG MIXTURE

GRAVY PREPARATION

The post VEGETABLE EGG FOO YOUNG -“CHINESE OMELETTE” first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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 CHOPS:

-Don’t cook chops straight from the refrigerator…Thirty minutes before you plan to cook chops, take the meat out of the fridge.  The time out of the refrigerator lets you bring the meat up to room temperature, which helps the pork cook evenly throughout.  

-Season the chops with salt and pepper half-an-hour before cooking…salt has a chance to improve the flavor and texture of the meat.  

-Rub chops with spices.  Prepare your favorite spice blend on chops to seal in moisture.

-Sear one side of the pork chop until browned (seared) then flip them, turn down the heat to low heat and cover the skillet with a lid.  Flip the chop to the second side and turn down the heat, slowly cooking to a golden brown…with the lid on the chop is cooked thoroughly in the middle.  The chops remain juicy and become tender.   

-Let the cooked chops rest.  After cooking immediately, transfer them to a plate and allow 5 minutes. Keep warm in the oven before serving.  

-While the chops rest, add chicken stock to the pan drippings.  Simmer and reduce by half, swirl with butter.

The post SPICY LEMON SKILLET PORK CHOPS first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

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 soup!  This can also be prepared as a vegetarian gluten-free meal with assorted vegetables without the meat and seafood.

Many Chinese soups are based on chicken broth.  In China, a traditional Chinese chicken soup is made from old hens and is seasoned with ginger, scallions, black pepper, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil.  By 2000 BCE, wheat had arrived in China from western Asia.  These grains were typically served as warm noodle soups instead of baked into bread as in Europe. 

Chinese herbal soups – homemade remedies with herbs or adaptogens (ginseng) to help heal specific health concerns.  

The post CHINESE THREE INGREDIENT SOUP WITH BROCCOLI SLAW “NOODLES” – KETO COOKED first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

What is your favorite way to eat rice?  Plain white or fried with soy sauce? Chinese cooking and a side of rice!  Rice is incredibly high in carbs and isn’t nutritious at all…other than to sop up all the wonderful gravy and sauces to any Asian dish. How many times have you eaten at an Asian restaurant and ordered additional sides of rice…overeaten more than one cup of measured rice (equivalent to consuming a few days worth of CARBS in one sitting).  You leave feeling bloated and stodgy for hours!

The previous food blogs I’ve posted need a side dish of “RICED CAULIFLOWER” to sop up all the wonderful natural juices and flavors.

KETOGENIC RICED CAULIFLOWER is “faux rice”, or low carbohydrate cauliflower rice.  One large head of cauliflower will yield 6-8 cups of cauliflower rice.  When making the rice for your family, allow one cup per person as a small side dish.  it is a quick and easy way to add an Asian staple on a low carbohydrate diet.  Cauliflower is low in carbs, high in fiber, full of Vitamin A, B6 and C.  I’ve added several fresh vegetables that add a “crispness” & “color” to the dish.  For a hearty one dish meal, add additional vegetables…use your imagination!

The easiest way to chop the cauliflower is to use a food processor (pulse button) or hand grate with a food grater.  For a quick alternative, buy a bag of pre-riced cauliflower in the frozen produce section.

Cauliflower has 25 calories per cup vs. 218 calories for a cup of cooked brown rice (carbs: 5 g per cup for cauliflower and 46g for a cup of brown rice). 

Cauliflower 1 cup serving: 5.3g carbs, 2.5g fibre, 2.4g sugar, Vit A 0.3%, Vit B6 10%, Vit c 77%, calcium 2.2%, iron 2.4%, magnesium 4%
White rice  1 cup cooked : 53.2g carbs, 0.6g fibre, 0.7g sugar, Vit A 0%, Vit B6 15%, Vit C 0%, calcium 0.6%, iron 15%, magnesium 21%
Brown rice 1 cup cooked : 44.8g carbs, 3.5g fibre, 0.7g sugar, Vit A 0%, Vit B6 15%, Vit C 0%, calcium 2%, iron 4.5%, magnesium 21% (% of your daily requirement)

The post KETO RICED CAULIFLOWER & PORK FRIED CAULIFLOWER RICE first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.

I transformed a classic stir fry dish that can be quickly prepared and cooked while on a healthy “KETO” diet.  Cantonese beef tomato stir-fry is one of my favorite “comfort food recipes”.  This dish is often served at Chinese restaurants as a “rice plate” (saucy, gravy entrée poured over rice) for a quick meal.  The typical flank steak sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces has a sauce base of ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, ground pepper, fresh ginger, garlic and large ripe tomatoes cut into wedges.  Most Asian tomato-soy sauce bases are full of ketchup and sugar, omit them from your diet. 

My version of the spicy sausage tomato stir-fry is a healthy alternative to the beef tomato stir-fry recipe.  I added more vegetables; colorful bell peppers and celery to the stir-fry.  The original recipe already had sliced onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes.  Use your imagination and add additional vegetables to the stir-fry mixture. 

My maternal grandfather (lovingly called “gramps”) often cooked this stir fry tomato dish with a “spicy twist”.  Gramps was raised in Mississippi and often cooked with a Southern “spicyness” to his Asian cooking.  He substituted a “spicy sausage” alternative to the sliced flank steak.  My grandparents owned a grocery store with a full deli & fine meats butcher shop.  Gramps always ground his own sausage and ground beef.  I have fond memories of spending time with him at the butcher shop.  Unfortunately,  the original sausage recipe was never written down to add to our family heirloom recipe collection.

The post SPICY TOMATO SAUSAGE STIR-FRY first appeared on Spicy Asian Guy Cooks Keto.