Piquant Lime Chicken in Swallow’s Nest

Part two of Karen Hulene Bartell's Chinese Valentine's Day menu for two:

Serves 2.

2 chicken breasts, boned and skinned
3½ tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons water
2 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup sesame oil
2 green onions, sliced diagonally
1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons raw or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

Pound the chicken breasts with a mallet to flatten and tenderize. Combine 2 tablespoons of the cornstarch, salt, water, and egg yolks in a shallow bowl. Heat the oil in a wok. Dip chicken into the cornstarch mixture, then stir-fry over high heat for 6 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown. Remove, drain on absorbent towels, and arrange each chicken breast in a Swallow’s Nest (see next post). Garnish with the green onions. Combine 1½ tablespoons cornstarch and the remaining ingredients in the wok. Stirring constantly over low heat, cook the sauce for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it thickens. Spoon the sauce over the chicken breasts.

Chinese cut-out image courtesy of Karen Hulene Bartell. This post is a member of the Chinese Valentine's Day menu series.

Oysters with Leeks

Recipe one from Karen Hulene Bartell's Chinese Valentine's Day menu for two:

Serves 2.

½ pound shucked, fresh oysters
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 leeks, rinsed thoroughly and chopped into ½-inch slices
¼ cup sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Combine all ingredients except the cilantro in a hot wok. Stir-fry all for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the oysters are cooked and the leeks are tender. Garnish with the cilantro.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. This post is a member of the Chinese Valentine's Day menu series.

Chinese Valentine's Day dinner for two

This week one of Hippocrene's most prolific authors, Karen Hulene Bartell, has a special treat: a full dinner menu in honor of Chinese Valentine's Day. If you can't attend the 2008 Olympics and cheer for your team, you can at least celebrate being with the one you love with this romantic Taiwanese menu.

Says Karen:

Chinese Valentine’s Day occurs on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, usually in August. It’s a celebration for yearning lovers, dating back to a legend about the Jade Emperor’s seventh daughter, who was a seamstress. She fell in love with and married a cowherd who lived across the Milky Way, but when she neglected her sewing and weaving duties, the emperor ordered her home, allowing her to visit her husband only once a year. According to the myth, on the seventh day of the seventh month, crows fly in such a tight flight formation through the Milky Way that the seamstress can walk across their wings to meet her husband. Like the American version of Valentine’s Day, lovers give each other small gifts and flowers, with cockcrow or gi guang (literally “king’s crown”) and gomphrena being the traditional flowers.

Valentine’s Day Dinner for Two

Oysters with Leeks
Piquant Lime Chicken in Swallow’s Nest
Spicy Szechwan Eggplant
Date-Filled Wontons
Fresh Longans and Cherries

Prepare a love feast just for the two of you. Dim the lights. Create the mood as you set the table with your best china and linen. But don’t use silverware. Use chopsticks — and feed each other. Decorate with fresh flowers and lacy paper lanterns. Prepare exotic recipes that traditionally have given rise to romantic ideas.

Hippocrene Cooks will be featuring each of these recipes from Best of Taiwanese Cuisine as an individual post over the next few days, so stay tuned all week!

Chinese cut-out image courtesy of Karen Hulene Bartell.

Arroz con Leche (Spanish-Style Rice Pudding)

Another great Spanish recipe, from A Spanish Family Cookbook:

Most households have their own special recipe for rice pudding, but in most cases in Spain the pudding is cooked in a saucepan on top of the stove rather than in the oven, and incorporates a beaten egg yolk to give a rich and creamy result. This is one of our favorite recipes for arroz con leche.

Serves 4.

generous ¼ cup short-grain rice
¼ cup sugar (or more, to taste)
rind of 1 lemon--cut into long strips
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons butter
1 egg yolk--beaten
3 cups water
ground cinnamon to decorate

Mix the beaten egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of cold milk and set aside.

Put the rice in a saucepan with the water. When it starts to boil, lower heat and allow to cook for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a sieve and drain off water. Put the remaining milk and lemon rind into the saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and add the drained rice to the milk. Mix well and allow to cook gently until the milk is almost absorbed and the rice is soft. Discard the lemon rind. Then stir in the sugar, butter and beaten egg yolk and mix well. Cook gently stirring occasionally, until the sugar, milk and egg yolk have been absorbed and the pudding is rich and creamy. Transfer to serving dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Champiñones al Jerez (Mushrooms in Sherry Sauce)

This week Hippocrene brings the taste of Spain to the dinner table, with recipes from the A Spanish Family Cookbook: Favorite Family Recipes (Revised Edition), by Juan & Susan Serrano.

We are fortunate enough to have access to good quality fino from the family's old sherry bodega, so this is a dish which appears regularly on our table, both as a starter or a tapa (appetizer).

Serves 4-6 as a tapa

4 cups (about 1 lb) button mushrooms
¼ cup fino (bone dry) sherry
1 clove garlic--chopped
1 small onion--chopped finely
pinch cumin
1 tablespoon chopped sweet basil
¼ cup oil
seasoning to taste

Wash the mushrooms well (or peel, if preferred) and dry on paper towel.

Put the oil in a large frying pan and saute the garlic and onions until soft. Add the mushrooms, basil, cumin and seasoning, stir well and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Pour in the fino (dry sherry), cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes (add a little water, if necessary). Serve immediately.