Kikkoman | I Can Cook That

Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken #ChineseNYeats

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ChineseNYeats #CollectiveBias

Next Monday begins the Year of the Monkey, according to the Chinese Lunar New Year calendar. Celebrations are held around the world, particularly in places with large Chinese populations, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Locally, Philadelphia’s Chinatown holds a bunch of different events to celebrate, including a parade and a midnight dance performance on the 8th.

My favorite place in the city, Reading Terminal Market, along with the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, is featuring demonstrations of the cuisine and cultures of Asia next weekend. To get in the spirit, I decided to make one of my favorite Thai dishes: Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken.

This recipe comes together really quickly with the help of Minute Rice, Dole and Kikkoman.

For this recipe, I used White Minute Rice, Dole Pineapple Chunks, and Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce and Sriracha Sauce, which I picked up at my local Wegmans, which were found in the rice aisle, canned fruit aisle, and Asian foods aisle, respectively.

Continue reading Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken #ChineseNYeats

Kara Age Scallop Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

A while back, I received a box of Kikkoman Kara-Age Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix and make these wonderful Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp. The box came with two bags of Kara-Age seasoning and I’ve been holding on to it waiting for the perfect recipe to use it. I found a recipe for a Seared Scallop Salad that sounded wonderful by itself, but I thought the Kara-Age would be an awesome addition, so here is my recipe for Kara Age Scallop Salad with Honey Lime Dressing!

Ingredients for the Honey-Lime Dressing:

The juice of 3 limes
5 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Salt, to taste

Ingredients for the Scallop Salad:

2 tablespoons peanut oil

2 lbs dry sea scallops

1 packet of Kikkoman Kara-Age Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix

1 bag of mixed greens (I used a baby spring mix)

2 cups chopped vegetables of your choice

So, I’m having a busy week, which means I wanted the quickest recipe possible. Pre-washed bag of mixed greens? Check. Seafood so it cooks quickly? You bet. Pre-chopped assorted vegetables? Oh my.

Trader Joe’s has containers of a “healthy 8 chopped veggie mix” that includes broccoli, carrots, green cabbage, red cabbage, jicama, green bell pepper, radishes and celery. Sounds good for a salad to me! (If you want, chop up whatever makes you happy and put it in this salad. I was just being super lazy).

First make your dressing. Whisk together the lime juice, honey, vinegar and salt until the honey is incorporated (I find this to be easier if the honey has been microwaved for a few seconds). Set aside.

Add the salad greens and vegetables to a large bowl. Toss to combine.

Add the kara-age mix to a large ziplock bag. Add the scallops, close the bag, and shake until the scallops are fully coated.

Heat the peanut oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add some of the scallops to the skillet (no more than 5-6, you don’t want them to crowd). Cook the scallops for 4 minutes until golden brown.

Flip and cook for another 4 minutes. The scallops should be opaque throughout. (Cut one open to check).

Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining scallops.

To serve, add the greens and vegetables to individual plates and place the scallops on top. Mix to dressing and drizzle on top.

This recipe should make 4 salads.

Easy, right?

For so little effort, a dish should not taste this good!

The honey lime dressing was perfect with the slightly bitter salad and the kara-age.

The kara-age added hints of ginger, soy, and garlic which really complemented the dish. It also added a nice sear to the scallops.

Depending on how few/many scallops you add to the plate, this could be an appetizer or the full meal. After taking the photos I added 1-2 more to make it my dinner for the night.

Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp

One of the best parts of starting this blog is that I get to make food outside my comfort zone. I try to make new and different recipes to expand cooking repertoire. As a member of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a box of Kikkoman Kara-Age Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix. Kara-Age (pronounced KAH-rah AH-geh) is a method used in Japan in which meat is coated in a soy sauce, garlic and ginger, dipped in flour, and fried. Although Kara-Age is typically used for chicken, I decided to try to make a “Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp”.

Ingredients:
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp (medium or small)
1 package Kikkoman Kara-Age Mix
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon chopped mint
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Depending on the size of your saute pan, you may need more or less oil- you want about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in the pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.

Pour the package of Kikkoman Kara-Age Mix into a plastic bag. Add the shrimp to the bag, seal the bag, and shake well to coat each piece of shrimp evenly.

Remove shrimp from the bag and discard the remaining mix.

Pan-fry 6-8 shrimp at a time in the hot oil for about 2 minutes per side, or until shrimp is cooked.

Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.

Repeat with remaining shrimp. Squeeze lemon juice over the cooked shrimp and sprinkle with chopped cilantro and mint. Serve hot.

I tend to think all fried things taste the same. Well, Kikkoman just proved me wrong. The soy-ginger flavor still shines through the crispy fried coating and delivers awesome flavor. The cilantro-mint-lemon topping adds even more flavor to the dish without competing with the seasoning.

This can be served as an appetizer, or as a meal. I love how quick this was, probably 10 minutes in total to prepare and make. Very little effort for a whole lot of flavor!

To make this recipe healthier, instead of frying the shrimp, broil them on a sheet coated in olive oil. Spray the shrimp with cooking spray before broiling.