Vegetarian General Tso’s Chik’n

For as much as we love traditional ethnic foods, there is something to be said for those crazy Americanized ideas of what food should be in other countries.  Why try a traditional Chinese dish when you can try General Tso’s Chicken? It’s deep fried chicken covered in a sugar sauce! It’s brilliant! It barely resembles Chinese food! And it’s also delicious.

This recipe is no different.  And with two people working on it, one prepping while one watches the oil and frying, it’s also one of the easier setups.

In the end, I don’t know whom this General Tso is, but I salute his most-likely imaginary self for introducing cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar into such a delicious sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 package Trader Joe’s Chickenless Strips
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 cup Cornstarch
• 3 Tablespoons vegetable boullion
• vegetable oil
• 5 sliced green onions
• 2 Tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 4 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 7 Tablespoons sugar
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 2 Tablespoons vinegar

Directions

Cut the chik’n into 1 inch chunks.

Whisk egg with 2 Tbs. water. In a separate bowl mix cornstarch with veggie bouillon.

Heat oil, at least 1/4-1/2 inch deep, in a medium-sized pot.  Dip chik’n chunks into egg mixture then coat with cornstarch mixture. Fry in hot oil until golden brown. This may take several batches depending on your pot size.  Drain on paper towels.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a separate pan fry the onions, ginger and garlic for about 2 minutes at a medium heat. When garlic starts to brown add the broth, soy sauce, sugar, pepper flakes and vinegar.

Whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 4 tablespoons of cold water and add this to the pan, stirring to thicken the sauce. As soon as the sauce begins to thicken remove from heat and add the chik’n to the sauce.

Serve with cooked rice, or in our case Israeli couscous.

Serves 3

Vegetarian “Beef” Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki, although not mine. This one's prettier.

It’s been a Swank diet week here in the Two Bites kitchens. We’re attempting to eat healthier, and for the most part we’re succeeding.  We just need to stop eating out on the weekends, and stick to the menu we keep during the week.  Of course that doesn’t always work when you have a stack of “Buy One Get One” brunch coupons and gift cards for LEYE (Lettuce Entertain You) stacking up on your breakfast bar.  We love eating healthy, but we love a cheap meal out even more.

I spent the morning yesterday making another recipe from the Multiple Sclerosis Diet Cookbook I mentioned yesterday.  Again, you can use real beef as the original recipe calls for, but I swapped out the proteins with some Trader Joe’s Beef-less strips.  For a recipe that doesn’t require any herbs or spices, it’s a pretty tasty dish.

Vegetarian “Beef” Sukiyaki

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 1/2 lbs (3 packages) Trader Joe’s Beef-less strips, cut into slices
• 4 oz sliced Shiitake mushrooms
• 4 oz (1 can) sliced bamboo shoots
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 pound extra firm tofu, pressed of water and cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup green onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups cooked brown rice

Heat the large skillet or wok on high heat.  Add oil.  When oil begins to sizzle drop in the “beef” and brown, cooking 2-3 minutes.  Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and onion.  Stir-fry for 5 minutes, turning vegetables frequently.  When onions begin to soften add the wine and soy sauce.  Add the tofu and green onion cooking for 1 minute.  Serve over the rice.  Serves 6.

Yang Chinese Restaurant – Snapshot Review

There’s only three words hungry vegetarians need to know before rushing down to the CTA train stop on Roosevelt Road: General Tso’s Tofu.

Sticky, sweet, and spicy, Yang Chinese Restaurant‘s General Tso’s Tofu could be the most delicious surprise of the month.

In fact, everything we had at a restaurant we normally walk right by was delicious. The orange tofu was good, but placed a distant second to the Tso’s. The fried rice was cooked just right. And the veggie egg rolls were stuffed with crisp vegetables.

Seriously, seriously, some of the best quick stop Chinese food we’ve ever grabbed on a whim.

Yang Chinese Restaurant
28 E. Roosevelt Rd.
Chicago, IL 60605
312-986-1688

P.S. Bangkok – Snapshot Review

Our original plan was to finally check out Matsuya after several recommendations; but with time short we made an executive decision to hit up P.S. Bangkok instead.

Appetizers were a fried sweet corn cake and tofu satay. The corn cake was perhaps lacking a little too much flavor, relying solely on the dipping sauce to add something to the deep fried crunch. The satay, however, was supremely satisfying. The peanut sauce was not the typical thick, rich paste; but instead a perfectly flavored drizzle on top of the already well marinated tofu.

The Pad Thai was easily some of the best I’ve eaten since moving to the city, perfectly creamy and seasoned. Katie was also pleased with her Chicken Panang Curry, complaining only that she could have used some vegetables to mix up the flavors.

Relativley fast AND affordable, P.S. Bangkok was definitely a nice surprise for two people originally in the mood for some sushi.

P.S. Bangkok
3345 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 871-7777

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Wow Bao – Chicago, IL

Uploaded by christmascarol

Living in Chicago, it’s a lot harder now to eat with a modicum of health.  You’re surrounded by readily available, usually tasty, but always most likely unhealthy food.  Hell, we have a Giordano’s at the end of our block.  We’ve had more Giordano’s in the past three months than what usually filled a year.  So, sure I may be losing weight in my wallet, I’m definitely making up for it with cheese and fried goods.

And that’s why I’m thankful for Wow Bao, and the fact they opened up a new location at State & Lake.  I’ve been a fan of Wow Bao since first discovering them at Water Tower Place; and was even happier to have the one on Jackson open.  Now I could walk myself to some edamame stuffed dough on a lunch break.

What is a bao, you ask?  Well, as fans of Firefly and Serenity could tell you, bao are a steamed bun stuffed with meats or vegetable.  They’re a Chinese meal staple, and provide a quick, cheap meal that isn’t a Quarter-Pounder or Whopper covered in various secret sauces.

Each of the Wow Bao locations have the basics of bao: teriyaki chicken, spicy kung pao chicken, whole wheat edamame, thai curry chicken, spicy mongolian beef, and bbq pork.  But what makes the locations both great and sometimes aggravating is the special bao that may only be available at one location.  Water Tower was offering a Spicy Eggplant bao for a limited time, which was unavailble in the other stores.  And now the State & Lake location is offering up a Green Tea-8 Vegetable Bao.

Bao not your deal?  They also offer potstickers, salads, soups and rice bowls.  And the spicy peanut noodle salad?  That will wake you the fuck up.  It’s also highly recommended.

Some of the locations even have dessert covered.  The Jackson location now offers frozen yogurt.  All locations offer a coconut custard bao.  And the State & Lake location was even offering Green Tea Mochi during the fall months.

Top all the food off with some handmade ginger-ale or a Thai Iced Coffee, and hot damn, you have yourself a meal.

With a 2 bao/salad deal for 6 bucks, it may not be as cheap as the other fast food joints, but you definitely won’t be regretting your purchase like you would a Taco Bell meal.

Wow Bao
1 W Wacker Dr
Chicago, IL‎
(312) 658-0305

Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad

Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad

As anyone who knows me can attest, I love the Wow Bao.  It’s a fast, health(ier) meal than your usual fast food selections.  But the price tag, even on those tiny bao with their side salads, can quickly start hurting the wallet.

So this recipe can about because of the insatiable, one-ring-like obsession I had with the spicy peanut noodle salad over the weekend.  Most of the recipes I found online called for a disturbing amount of ingredients for a dish I knew couldn’t be that hard to make.  I was about to give up on the idea when Ming Tsai came to my rescue with his version of the salad that seemed closest to what I was looking for.

Yes, I may hate the man’s packaged potato chips, but I can still taste quality when I see it.  I left out the peanut garnish simply because I didn’t have any peanuts sitting around the house.  All the other ingredients are things you should have in your pantry, except maybe the sesame oil.

Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad

• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red chile flakes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoon coarse ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons naturally brewed soy sauce
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 pound spaghetti, cooked and drained
• 1 cucumber, halved and cut into 1/8-inch slices
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted (salted) peanuts for garnish (optional)

1. In a bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, sesame oil, vinegar, chile, sugar, Dijon, coriander and soy until smooth.
2. Whisk in the canola oil and check for seasoning.
3. In a large bowl, toss dressing with the pasta, cucumbers, bell pepper and scallions.
4. Adjust seasoning according to taste.

The Rise of the Gastrosexual

PurAsia, creator of "gastrosexual"

Okay.  We all know I hate the word foodie.  It’s been oft discussed.  But, I’ll take (begrudgingly) being labeled that any day of the week compared to what The Daily Telegraph is reporting as the rise of the “gastrosexual.”

A quote from the report, conducted by PurAsia:

Gastrosexuals can be male or female but the common denominator is their love of food. We found that cooking for this new generation isn’t simply a matter of refuelling. For them it’s an enjoyable experience and something to be relished – they cook for pleasure, praise and potential seduction.

‘Male Gastrosexuals in particular are no longer content with what they can find at the back of the kitchen cupboard. They are looking for something much more satisfying in terms of taste, participation and effort.’

Yes.  Every man who learns to cook is doing it purely to seduce women.  Thank you PurAsia.  Wait…who the FUCK is PurAsia?

Why, they’re the new product wing from “Mars Food, the US giant’s non-confectionery arm in the UK” And they have apparently “just undertaken its first new product launch for nine years, with the introduction of the Asian ready meal concept…”

This article was printed yesterday in the UK, and reprinted with a little sexy fun in Radar online.  Yet the domain name gastrosexual.com was registered back on December 07, 2007.

Hmmmm….does this smell of blatant undermining of a sub-culture through viral advertising?  Stephen Colbert coming up with his own word for satire is one thing.  But, this just feels dirty.

You can read their full 29-page “report” on their website. (PDF)

And the big kicker is that the company, PurAsia, promoting a term that defines people who don’t look for the easy way out where food is concerned is the creator of “ready-made Asian meals.” Yes.  There’s no better way to impress the ladies than to drag out your finest China, and woo her with some ramen noodles and Thai Kitchen-like microwavable Pad Thai.

PurAsia, the lounge lizard of gastronomy.

K.T. Thai Cuisine Shutters Its Doors

The only Thai place in the Romeoville area has apparently closed up shop.  When and why it happened, I don’t have any word on, but when driving by it today to pick up some pizza at Rosati’s, the store front was dark, all of the decor already moved out with only a couple neon signs left in the windows.

As I wrote several months back, I used to love this independently owned place, but the quality had definitely gone down in the past couple years.  Many said it had to do with the wife earning her realty license, and no longer focusing on the restaurant as much as she once did.  Whether that’s true or not, I can’t say, but the change was definitely there.

Here’s hoping that two of the friendlier restaurant owners I’ve met find luck in whatever they do next.

Episode 2: Not Responsible For 2nd Degree Cheese Burns

Get the new episode here! Or subscribe on iTunes (Pretty please?)

The Least Researched, Most Opinionated Podcast About Food in Chicago!

Two Bites in Suburbia returns for an action packed second episode as we discuss feedback from the premier episode, our favorite desserts, and Mike rants on about the stupidity of people on the internet.  We also review Veggie Bites, Miss Asia, Just Indulge and Berry Chill.

Notes And Links

• Two Bites In Suburbia
• Listener Feedback
  • Subscribing on iTunes
• Keith Olbermann’s Countdown
• Do chefs hate Vegetarians?  Part Two
  • Gordon Ramsay
• Restaurant Reviews
  • Miss Asia
  • Veggie Bites
  • Berry Chill
  • Just Indulge
• Omelet and Orgy Day
  • Steak & Blowjob Day
  • Cake & Cunnilingus Day
• Desserts
  • Chocolate Pizza Company
  • Tru
  • Blue Water Grill

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