Traveling Tuesdays 02: Eating around the World at Home

She's back......... from eating around the world at home to share a few more of her latest meals.   We have been traveling now for about 5 weeks and each day when we think we where do we go today we are amazed at how many  places we have never been to eat   This past week we went to some cool places like Myanmar aka Burma and Japan.  Wow some goof food there.

CHINA

Given that we are on strict stay at home orders  today we decided to go to China for a good ole stir fry using ingredients we already had at home.

Recipe  
The best part of a stir fry is that you can use any protein and vegetables that you want.  Today I went through our fridge and found  some chicken, green and yellow peppers, green onions, and some broccoli so I pulled those out and grabbed some yellow onions because a stir fry without onions is not a stir fry..  I chopped everything up in bite size (no need for a knife) and put aside.  I like to mix gluten free soy sauce with Chinese Five Spice from The Chicago Spice Company and let sit for a while so the spice seasons the soy  sauce.  

Stir fry is traditionally served with rice but you can serve with noodles as well.  I love rice so I start cooking the rice since it takes about 20 minutes then I start the fry.  I heat up the wok and add some coconut oil.  I start adding the peppers let them cook for a couple of minutes then I add the onions and then the chicken.  Cook until chicken is about done.  I then add the broccoli and the soy sauce with the spices.   I cover the wok at this point so the broccoli can steam.  Normally I also like to add mini corns and water chestnut but I did not have any.  I did find some canned mandarin oranges so I added those and the green onions and let steam for a few minutes.  That's it.  So easy.

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MYANMAR aka BURMA

We wanted something a little different  so we headed to Burma for Burmese Spaghetti.  Holy cow this was so good but a very good lesson was learned today.  This recipe needs to simmer for 2 hours and since I didn't fully read the recipe we didn't get to eat until very late.  It was worth the wait but next time I will read all recipes in the entirety.

​This recipe came from WOK EVERY DAY by Barbara Grunes and Virginia Van Vynckt

Recipe  
Ingrediants
​2 medium onions,  coarsely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic coarsely chopped
1-1/2 inc piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
2 cups coconut milk
2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 lb ground lean beef
3/4 cup of water
1 tsp shrimp paste or 1 tbsp fish sauce
salt
1 lb spaghetti

Accompaniments  (choose at least 2)
Chopped green islands
Chopped fresh cilantro
Deep fried onions and garlic  
Lemon wedges
​Ground or red chilies

In a blender or food processor, combine about half of the onions, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper to taste, turmeric and coconut milk.  Process until solid ingredients are finely minced.  Set aside.

In a wok over medium-high heat, heat the sesame and peanut oils.  Add the remaining onions and stir fry for 6-7 minutes, or until brown and tender.  Add the ground beef and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until no longer pink.  Add the coconut milk mixture, the 3/4 cup water and shrimp paste or fish sauce.  Bring it to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 1-1/2 - 2 hours, or until the liquid has turned into a thick, somewhat oily gravy and the spice flavors have blended.  Check occasionally and add more water as needed.  Season with salt and to taste.  Serve immediately over the spaghetti. Top of with the accompaniments.  You can make ahead and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

I used canned coconut milk because it is not watered down.   I accompanied with the deep fried onions but used shallots instead.

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