Love Love LOVE Asian Food!

Yes, I do love Asian food, to eat and to cook. The flavors are unique and can be spicy, pungent, garlicky, salty, soy-saucy, sweet, gingery, and fiery hot. The food can also be simple or complicated to cook--and can be very satisfying in your tummy and healthy, too. I've experimented over the years with different dishes, sometimes trying to duplicate a restaurant recipe, or just learn how to cook it all right! So not long ago, I took an Asian cooking class on how to stir fry. It was lots of fun and I learned a thing or two!

This is Peng Jones of Asian Cookery teaching us how to cook delicious Asian food. I learned about "velveting" (a technique using cornstarch to make meat tender and succulent), the correct way to cut vegetables and the importance of uniformity in their sizes, and proper heating of the wok and timing of adding ingredients to insure that the quality of the food is perfect.

Okay, so I tried cooking Cashew Chicken at home after my cooking class. The meat was juicy, soft, succulent (am I being redundant?) and just plain good! Thank you Peng for showing me how to do it the right way. I first got the wok screaming hot; then added a little oil, then added minced garlic and fresh ginger. I added the carrots next, then the broccoli and celery. I took the vegetables out of the wok and kept them warm on a plate; then I stir fried the chicken and added the veggies back to the wok. The sauce was last. Oh, did I miss telling you about velveting? This is really important so don't skip it! It's what makes the meat deliciously... well... velvety.