Ming's Kitchen

Home cooked Chinese food, loaded with vegetables, can be delicious--provided you know how to prepare it.  Often times, perception makes it seem too complicated to prepare Chinese food easily.  In reality, it is generally quite easy.  When you have children, life moves fast and you seem to always be on the run.  Time is limited, but you still have to put food on the table.  Without adequate time and knowledge, we often make compromises and sacrifice healthy food for less healthy items. 

As a native Chinese, I love to prepare simple, healthy Chinese food, and all of the meals I prepare include vegetables.  I have a full time job and my family of five includes two growing children.  To avoid compromising quality in the dishes I prepare, I've created a number of recipes for Chinese dishes that require minimum preparation.  I'm happy to share some of them with you here.

A wok is not required for the recipes here since stoves in most of U. S. homes don't provide strong enough flames to use a wok effectively.  You can just use  a deep frying pan instead. Also: don't worry if you don't happen to have every ingredient listed at the time of cooking.  Please be flexible and creative.  Finally, you might notice that the recipe says "salt and pepper to taste."  The amount of each will depend on your taste and the amount of the other ingredients you're using.  One suggestion, though: don't salt until the vegetables are cooked to avoid adding too much.

Here are a few sample recipes:

1. Stir-fried Garlic Vegetables [preparation time: 20 minutes]

Ingredients:

• any vegetables of your choice, rinsed and cut into slices or pieces
  
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed or sliced
  
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil or other vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan on high fire, and add the garlic.
2. When hot, start adding the vegetables.
3. Cover the pan, and cook the vegetables until they're tender, take the lid off as soon as the vegetables are cooked to avoid losing the bright color of the vegetables.
4. Add a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve them warm or cold.

Note: For hard vegetables that don't contain enough water to create steam, such as carrots and green beans, you may need to add a bit of water form time to time as they're cooking.

2. Steamed Tofu [preparation time: 20 minutes]

Ingredients:

• 1-2 pieces of tofu, cubed
• 2 stalks of green onions, chopped
• 1 cup of greens peas, frozen or fresh
• 1 carrot, sliced to thin, bite size
• 3 ounces of mushrooms of your choice (optional)
• 1 cup of chicken both (optional)
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil

Procedure:   

1. Heat olive oil in a frying pan on high fire, and add carrots, cover for about 30 seconds.
2. Add green peas and green onions, cover for about 1 minute.
3. Add tofu and mushrooms.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add chicken broth (optional).
6. Cover and steam about 2-3 minutes until the cubed tofu puffed up.
7. Serve warm.

Note: No need to follow the time mentioned above strictly.

3. Tea Eggs [preparation time: 30 minutes]

Ingredients:

• 8 Eggs
• 1 tea bag, green or black
• 1/4th cup of soy sauce
• 2 tsp of salt

Procedure:

1. Hard boil eggs first, rinse off with cold water.
2. Crack the shells of the hard boiled eggs without peeling off the shells.
3. Merge the eggs with water, add tea bag and soy sauce.
4. Add salt.
5. Boil and the simmer about 20-30 minutes.
6. Serve warm or cold.
   

If you are interested in receiving more recipes listed below from Ming's Kitchen, please e-mail me at www.mingscenter.com.

1. Black/Brown Rice Salad
2. Blenched Greens with Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil
3. Chinese Fried Rice
4. Chinese Egg Custards with Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil
5. Dumplings with Vegetables
6. Dumplings with Meat
7. Dumplings with Chinese Leek and Pork
8. Dumplings with Chinese Leek and Omelet
9. Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls with Vegetalbes
10. Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls with Chicken
11. Left Over Soup of Stir Fried Meats with Noodles/Rice/Rice Cakes
12. Lo Mein with Vegetables
13. Lo Mein with Meat
14. Omelet with Chinese Leek/Onion
15. Pan-fried Tofu Cakes
16. Pan-fried Tofu Cakes with Chicken
17. Rice Rolls with Vegetables
18. Rice Rolls with Meat and Vegetables
19. Rice Noodles with Vegetables
20. Rice Noodles/Cakes with Chicken/Pork/Beef & Vegetables
21. Salmon in Garlic Soy Sauce
22. Soybeans, Tofu, Carrots and Cranberries with Balsamic Vinegar
23. Summer Greens and Mung Bean Noodles in Balsamic Vinegar
24. Sticky/Sweet Rice Cake with Seaweed
25. Stir Fried Chicken/Pork/Beef with Shitaki Mushrooms
26. Tofu with Chicken Broth and Soybeans
27. Tofu with Mushroom and Soybeans
28. Blanched Vegetable Salad