Chinese Pepper Steak with Fishcake Instead of Pork or Beef Strips
One of the most popular items on the menu at many Chinese restaurants is pepper steak. It's satisfying, colorful, and you get the nutritional benefit of the vegetables and protein from the pork or beef strips, so you don't feel much guilt until the dish arrives, but once it does, you remember the fat content. It would be nice to be able to make it yourself, but preparing the meat well is not so easy, so it feels daunting to attempt as a weeknight dinner option. This is where you can cheat with fishcake, for a certified bona fide fake version of this dish.
All of the ingredients are cheap.
Cut the fishcake lengthwise to look at least somewhat like meat strips.
Since fishcake absorbs liquid and expands, cut it horizontally as well. Once you've cut it down to size, add the fishcake and bamboo strips to a skillet and start boiling them with sesame oil, five spice, Okinawan spice, annd a dash of cooking wine.
We're using ordinary green bell peppers. Wash them for prep.
Start by halving them lengthwise, then rip out the seeds. I'm pretty violent with this, because it's a neat little stress release.
Once they're halved, it's easier to remove the little black "tail" thing at the bottom. Those drive me crazy for reasons I can't explain. Then you can cut them lengthwise into strips and add them to the skillet.
Doesn't it vaguely look the part?
It's quick and easy, so it does well as one of several pseudo-Chinese vegetable dishes for a family-style meal. The bean sprouts and broccoli & cashew nut dishes shown here have already appeared in this blog.
青椒肉絲のかまぼこ版
中華料理店での定番、青椒肉絲。おいしいし、野菜とタンパク質が採れる、と思ってつい注文してしまいますが、やはり脂分が気になります。自宅で作るとなると、お肉の調理がなかなか難易度が高く、ちゃちゃっと簡単に、というわけにもいきません。そこで、かまぼこを代用してしまいます。まがいなく青椒肉絲のまがいものです。
いくらでも安く抑えられる食材ばかり。
かまぼこをタテに切って、青椒肉絲っぽさを出します。
やっぱりかまぼこは水分を吸って大きくなるので、横にも切ります。切ったら、筍と一緒にフライパンに入れ、ごま油、五香粉、チャンプルーの素、料理酒で煮始めます。
普通のピーマンです。洗って処理をします。
タテに切り、手で種をむしり取ります。私はかなり乱暴ですが、ストレス発散になります。
底についているあの細くて黒い突起物？が取りやすくなります。この状態でタテにどんどん細く切ります。切ったら、フライパンに入れます。
それっぽいでしょ？
Modified Okinawan Shaved Carrot with Canned Tuna
I can't digest eggs. If I eat them I get a rumbling pain in my abdomen that lasts for hours, and bloat something awful, to the point that people assume I'm pregnant and offer me their seats on the train. But I really liked the Okinawan shaved carrot dish "Ninjin-shirishiri" when I went to Miyakojima, Okinawa. I love carrots anyway, but still. This was heavenly.
So, I substitute canned tuna as the protein source. The shaving of the carrots takes some time and elbow grease, but if you use one of those slicer gadgets or even an ordinary peeler, you can save some time and backache. Of course, you can also chop by hand.
If you go for tuna canned in water instead of oil, you can reduce calories further. First, simmer the tuna, black pepper, Okinawan mixed spice, cooking wine, and garlic (powdered is good if you don't want to overpower the other ingredients) in a skillet. You can add a drizzle of sesame oil for flavor as well. I recommend putting water in the empty can, swishing it around in there, and then pouring this water into the skillet, because this cleans out the can for disposal, doesn't waste tuna bits, and deepens the flavor.
While the simmering is happening, shave the carrots like a maniac. Being in a daze is optional. Whether you're using one of those slicer gadgets, going to town with the peeler, or using an ordinary knife to chop the carrots into thin strips, be careful.
Add the carrots and simmer some more with the lid on. Remember that the carrots will cook quickly because you've sliced them thin.
It's not drippy or messy, so it works well in a lunchbox, too. It looks vaguely like the original, doesn't it? Not bad for a bastardization.
缶ツナの応用にんじんしりしり
私は卵がダメだ。食べるとお腹が痛くなり、妊婦さんみたいに腫れ上がってしまう。でも宮古島で食べたにんじんしりしりは美味しかった。もともと人参が大好きだということもあるが。
そこで、卵の代わりに缶ツナを使った応用にんじんしりしりの出番だ。人参の処理に手間暇かかるが、しりしり機を使えば楽だし、普通のピーラーでもかなり時短が可能だ。
水煮タイプにすればさらにカロリーが節約できる。缶ツナ、黒コショウ、チャンプルーの素、料理酒、ニンニク（粉末なら隠し味程度にできる）をまずフライパンで水煮にする。ごま油をほんの少し足すとさらに味が出る。缶に水を流し込み、これをフライパンにジャーと注ぎ込むと缶をきれいな状態で捨てられるでなく、ツナが無駄にならず、さらに味が深まるからオススメだ。
その間にしばらく人参を放心状態でしりしり化する。放心状態でなくてもいいが。ピーラーでもしりしり機でも包丁でも、気をつけよう。
人参も加えて、ふたを落とし、しばらく煮る。人参は薄く切ってあるので火が通るのも早い。
汁っぽくないので、お弁当向きでもある。なんとなくそれらしいでしょ？
Quick and Easy Green Beans and Dried Shrimp a la Chinoise
Maybe you're missing a little green for your table, but there's not much time to cook. Or you've adjusted well enough to working from home to realize that you don't want to spend your free time cooking, but would rather give your children or pets your full attention instead. Whatever your situation, if you have restrictions on going out shopping, you're probably looking for ways to turn the ingredients you have on hand into quick meals. Green beans and dried shrimp are a winning combination that can be seasoned in either Chinese or Japanese style, and if you're using frozen green beans, the whole dish takes less than five minutes to prepare.
Boil the dried shrimp on high heat with cooking wine, a dash of soy sauce, Okinawan mixed spice, garlic (powdered is fine), black pepper, and Chinese five spice for flavor penetration.
While this is going on, defrost the green beans. If you're using fresh ones, here's your chance to wash and chop them.
When the green beans are cooked, it's done. If you like them a bit al dente, that cuts down cooking time even more.
It's hard to beat this dish for the pop of green and pink color and sheer dependable solid ease of preparation as a vegetable side. Make it in bulk and top rice with it, or put it on pasta for a quick and easy "fusion" dish. Green beans and dried shrimp together are a good trick to have up your sleeve if you're busy AND lazy, but still want to eat well, like me.
超時短 インゲン豆とアミエビの中華モドキ
野菜系のもう一品が欲しいけれど、あまり時間がない。在宅勤務になったのはいいけれど、スキマ時間は料理に使うのではなく、子供やペットにかまっていたい。どんなニーズがあるにしても、外出が難しい今、家にある材料だけでサッと作れる料理は重宝するはずだろう。インゲン豆とアミエビなら、和風にも中華モドキにもアレンジでき、冷凍野菜を使えば5分以内でできてしまう名コンビ。
アミエビに、料理酒、醤油、チャンプルーの素、ニンニク（粉末でも可）、黒コショウ、五香粉をしみ込ませるために、先に中火で煮る。
この間に、インゲン豆を解凍。冷凍品でない場合は、このタイミングで洗って切る。
インゲン豆がまあまあ煮えたら出来上がり。固めが好みならより短時間で出来上がる。
季節を問わず食卓に緑とピンクを添える、地味だけど優秀な一品の出来上がり。大量に作ってご飯にかけるのもアリ、パスタの具にすれば手軽に無国籍料理になるので、ズボラだけど忙しい人の強い味方。
Baby Bok Choy and Dried Shiitake Mushroom a la Chinoise
Most authentic Chinese restaurants are geared toward large groups. The idea in most of these places is to order a variety of dishes to share. The sort of dishes that give a true picture of the level of a restaurant, that is, the dishes that aren't famous and popular like mapo tofu and cashew chicken (or, in Japan, shrimp in sweet and hot chili sauce), are usually not geared toward the solo diner. One of my favorites out of these dishes is baby bok choy and dried shiitake mushroom.
This is simple to make.
The first step is to soak the dried mushrooms. This can be done in cold water, but if you're in a hurry, just go ahead and start preboiling right from the start.
Once they're relatively soft, cut off the tip of the stem. Watch out for burns, as they're still hot. Don't toss out the water in the skillet, because mushroom water yields umami.
Once you've chopped up the mushrooms, add garlic, cooking sake, sesame oil, five spice, and mixed Okinawan spice and boil them some more. Notice I say "boil." Be sure to add some more water. While you're boiling the mushrooms, wash and chop the baby bok choy.
Pile the baby bok choy on top, and put on the lid. Once the greens are somewhat wilted, you're done. If you want, you can simulate a glaze by adding arrowroot powder dissolved into cooking sake, but if you're planning on packing this dish into a lunchbox, I wouldn't advise it. This dish is not soggy, so you won't have a sticky, drippy lunchbox.
The brown thing in the middle of the photo is tofu teriyaki, which makes a nice vegan steak.
★Variation★
If you swap out the baby bok choy for komatsuna, you can call this dish "a la japonaise." For a Japanese flavor, season with cooking sake, a little soy sauce, and fish stock (or mushroom stock, for a vegan alternative).
