Asian Chicken Wraps

This dish was no appetizer - make these for your family along with a side of rice or lo mein, and you've got a impressive full meal.

I was scared to try making these - chicken wraps always seem rather fancy and complex in restaurants.

Turns out, the hardest part of this recipe was mincing the water chestnut and carrots.  Everything else was pretty enjoyable, to be honest.

I started off by stir frying the carrot (6 or 7 babies) and water chestnut (a small can of Sun Luck brand) together, with a couple of splashes of soy sauce, some black pepper, and barely a pinch of crushed red pepper, to make things interesting.

Next, I diced and tossed in the meat of four fully cooked chicken thighs (much tastier and better texture than breast) which were already boiled in water with a bit of chicken stock to preserve the flavor.  After mixing, I added in about 4 teaspoons of hoisin sauce - the signature flavor in most wraps I've sampled- and a tablespoon of oyster sauce to complement the hoisin with some meatiness.

I stir fried it all together at medium high heat for about 4 or 5 minutes, just barely allowing it to reach smoking point.  Garnished with some green onion, and served with some bib lettuce that was on sale.

They tasted great - I recommend a little extra kick with a few drops of my old friend Sriracha (Cock-a-doodle-doo!)

Chicken thighs    -    $1.50

Water chestnut   -    $0.70

Baby carrot       -     $0.20 (I'm guessing)

Hoisin               -     $0.25 (estimate)

Oyster sauce     -     $0.10 (estimate)

Bib lettuce        -      $3.00

Total                       $5.75

And we ate at least twice as much as you get at a restaurant!

Inari Sushi

If you've been wanting to try making or serving sushi to someone, this is one recipe to try.  For most people, there are at least two stereotypes holding you/them back:

• Sushi has raw fish: False!  Sushi is just vinegared rice.  The fish is optional.
• Sushi is expensive and difficult to make: Sometimes.  It depends on the ingredients you choose.  This recipe was ultra cheap, and uses a minimum of ingredients.

I thought about writing out my recipe, but there are so many that you can google on your own, and half the fun is experimenting with what works for you.  Me, I chose to leave out the Mirin sauce (we don't have any in the house).  I bought he aburaage tofu pouches in the frozen section of Super China market in Sandy (fast becoming a favorite spot on my map) for less than two dollars. 
Making Inari is a little labor intensive, but a lot of fun.  It took no coaxing whatsoever to get our girls to try them.  They are very filling.  We ate just these and some veggies on the side.  
Itadakimas!

Honey-Miso Glazed Tilapia w/ Soba Noodles

Maybe I can think of a better name for this dish - one that makes it sound cheaper.  But to be honest, I can think of any way to improve it.  I took the idea for the glaze from Alton Brown (thanks!) and tried to build a meal around it with the ingredients I found in the kitchen.
Miso costs about $4 a bag, but a little goes a long ways.  I mixed one tablespoon of red miso with one tablespoon of honey, then brushed it over the two tilapia fillets and baked in the oven at 325 for about 25 minutes.
Soba noodles run about $2 for a pack of 8 generous servings, if you get them a good Asian grocer (thank you, Super China in Sandy!).  I boiled the noodles, rinsed them out with cool water (they are usually served chilled), then tossed in some toasted sesame seeds, a few halved grape tomatoes for acidity, and a few splashes of chili-garlic oil.
On the whole, this dish was pretty great.  The flavors and textures balanced each other out very nicely. 

• Tilapia - $3.00
• Soba noodle - $.25
• All other ingredients - <$1.00

Not bad, eh?