"Full Color Chinese Cooking - 30 Recipes" & "Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is" - a chicken soup and a chicken casserole for the Chinese Year of the Rooster!

Date I made these recipes:  February 19, 2017 – Belated Chinese New Year—the year of the Rooster!

Full Color Chinese Cooking – 30 Recipes by Constance D. Chang

Published by Shufunomoto Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan

© 1969; fourth printing August 1970

Purchased at Goodwill

Recipe:  Chicken Noodle Soup – p. 25

Fowl Cooking – Chicken, That Is by Virgo Paynter Miyamoto

Published by Mutual Publishing Company

© 1989

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe: Cock-a-Doodle-do-da Casserole – p. 144 (Chicken with a veggie mix of artichokes, olives, pimento, green pepper and onion, topped with soup, sour cream and cheese – yum!)

Thank goodness the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Rooster – lasts the entire year because if not for that, I might not be able to do what I am doing which is to finally get around to telling you in the month of March what I made (late) in February. 

As always, life gets in the way of me making other plans!

So the Year of the Rooster – woo hoo!  Unlike the zodiac calendar we're all familiar with - Aquarius, Pisces, Libra, etc., a Chinese zodiac calendar is broken into years and each year is assigned an animal.  The animal signs are: rat; ox; rabbit; tiger; dragon; snake; horse; goat; monkey; rooster; dog, and pig, and these animal signs repeat every 12 years.

So, for example, if you were born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972 and so on, you are a rat – ha!  If you were born in 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, and (coming up), 2029, you are a rooster! And just like the zodiac signs we are familiar with, rats and roosters and the other animals have lucky numbers, unlucky numbers, lucky colors, personality traits, other "animals" to avoid and so on.

Here's an example: People born in a year of the Rooster are "very observant, hardworking, resourceful, courageous, and talented.  Roosters are very confident in themselves."  Rooster lucky numbers are 5, 7, and 8 and red is an unlucky color.

I have to say, much of this amuses and so every now and then, I do a deeper study into these signs although I often disagree with what I read.  One thing I read while "researching" these "year of" signs almost made me spit my coffee onto my keyboard and it was a chart titled "Famous Dogs." Ha!  Hahahahahahaha.  Let me assure you that this list did not include Lassie or Rin Tin Tin (but did include Winston Churchill so that's cool).

It should go without saying that celebrating the Chinese New Year means making Chinese food and I did that by cooking from one of my Chinese cookbooks, but I also had to – just had to - make something from this hilarious cookbook I purchased in Hawaii last year:  Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is.  There's a reason why this book was so fitting and so let's get to it.

You may not know this, but the island of Kauai has a poultry problem.  Many islanders raise chickens (and roosters) but when Hurricane Iniki roared through the islands years ago, those chicken coops were destroyed and the chickens went rogue and then multiplied, such that you cannot go anywhere, and I mean anywhere, on the island without tripping on a chicken. 

So we should not have been surprised, and yet were, when at 5:00 a.m. on the first morning of our most recent stay, we were rudely awakened by a rousing "Cock-a-doodle-doo" by a you know who! I wish I was able to capture that Kodak moment i.e. the look on our faces when we heard it.  I remember commenting that I felt like we were in an episode of the TV show, Green Acres!  Later that day, while relaxing by the pool, I heard a "cheep, cheep, cheep" and looked down in time to see a mama chicken and her little chicklets strolling by my beach chair on their way to the...pool?

Fast forward then to last year when we were on the Big Island and once again, on our first morning there were awakened by a rousing "Gobble, gobble, gobble" of a wild turkey, not to be confused with the alcoholic beverage, Wild Turkey which we drank after this happened.  After folks.  Once again, the look we gave each other was priceless more so because good lord, are fowls on the move?  Have they grown tired of the overcrowded Kauai and are now looking for more space in which to grow and raise their families on the Big I? (Think House Hunters Chicken [version]:  "Well, Kauai's chicken coops are 'a little small' so we're looking for more space.  We'd like to stay in the same neighborhood but would move to the bigger island if need be...")  At any rate, we shall just have to go back soon to monitor the situation.

Okay, so, with all that in mind, it was time to pull some recipes and I had no trouble finding recipes containing chicken.  These recipes don't go together at all but they contain our "secret" ingredient and that's all that matters.  By the way, unless you own a chicken farm (my paternal grandparents did), you will not find rooster (as in the Year of the "Rooster") in a grocery store, likely because it's a pretty tough bird and I don't mean "street" tough, I mean tough to eat.  So roosters are out and really, we should redub this year "The Year of the 'Hen.'"  I may need to send a letter to the Chinese government.

And so folks, let's review my two dinner selections – Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Dah Casserole from Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is, and Chicken Noodle Soup from the Full Color Chinese Cooking cookbook.  Think of these as a Tale of Two Chickens and by all means, feel free to make and serve these separately lest your palate and your family members get confused.

Now I could have made something Chinese-related from the Fowl Cooking cookbook, but given our experiences in Hawaii, I just could not pass up the opportunity to make the hilariously and appropriately named Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Dah Casserole.  This dish is what my mother would call a "company" casserole, not that my mother ever served any guest in our home a casserole as she favored company classics like a beef roast or Swiss steak or baked chicken. This was a yummy casserole though because in addition to the requisite chicken, it contained ingredients we casserole lovers cherish:  cream of chicken soup, sour cream and parmesan cheese.  It also includes artichoke hearts, noodles, and a few other ingredients.  We quite liked it.

As to the [Chinese] Chicken Noodle Soup, it was easy to make, the vermicelli noodles were a fun addition, but it fell flat on flavor. (Well, did I find my "f" key on the keyboard, or what?).  The recipe called for three "spices" – salt, pepper and MSG.  Now most of us know that MSG has been dubbed the evil empire of seasoning since it can trigger migraine headaches and I sure didn't want that, but I think of an appropriate substitute and I wish I had because it needed a little extra "something" to liven it up a bit.  I suppose one could use soy sauce but maybe something like star anise?  Or maybe fish sauce?  Well, play with it.

This then, concludes my post on the Chinese New Year – The Year of the Rooster.  I hope it's a good year for you all but just know it will be a while before I get around to making another dish in honor of the occasion as next year is the year of the dog and....no.  Nope.  Enjoy your chicken!

Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Da Casserole – serves 8 to 10

4 cups cubed cooked chicken

¾ cup dry white wine

2 cans (10 oz. each) cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 pkg. noodles, cooked and drained

2 cans (14 oz. each) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 can (14 oz.) pitted ripe olives, halved

½ cup chopped pimento

½ cup slivered green pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Mix wine, soup, and sour cream and set aside.  Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. 

Starting with the noodles, layer the noodles, chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, pimento, green pepper and onion.  Add the wine, soup, and sour cream mixture.  Top with the Parmesan cheese.  Refrigerate overnight if desired.  (Ann's Note:  Nope, not desired!)

Bake in a 350F oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Turkey cubes may be substituted for the chicken.  The casserole can be made ahead of time and frozen.

Chicken Noodle Soup – 2-6 servings

2 oz. vermicelli or noodle

2 ½ oz. chicken breasts (Ann's Note:  I wasn't sure whether to use raw chicken breasts or not so I erred on cooking the chicken separately and then adding it to the dish at the very end to warm it up.)

12 snow peas

¼ cup dried mushroom, soaked and shredded (Ann's Note:  dried mushrooms are expensive so I used fresh.)

1/3 cup caned bamboo shoots, cut into strips

¼ cup carrot, cut into strips

7 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup ham, cut into strips

1 tablespoon salt

Pepper

MSG (monosodium glutamate)  (Ann's Note:  see discussion of MSG above)

Cut chicken, snow peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots and ham into thin strips.

Drop vermicelli into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.  (Ann's Note:  this is less time than normal for fully-cooked vermicelli.) Drain, rinse and drain again.  Set aside.

Bring chicken stock to boiling point.  Add chicken meat, ham, snow peas, mushroom, bamboo shoots and carrot.  Cook for 2 minutes. Add seasonings and cooked vermicelli and boil for 1 minute over medium heat.

"Madame Wu's Art of Chinese Cooking" & "Dim Sum" - for the Chinese New Year

Date I made these recipes:  February 13, 2014 (for the Chinese New Year)

Madame Wu's Art of Chinese Cooking by Sylvia Wu

Published by:  Bantam Books Inc.

© 1973, 1975; 9^th printing October 1981 (paperback)

Recipe:  Barbecued Pork - p. 29, used in Barbecued Pork with Vegetables – p. 146

Purchased at Falling Rock Cafe, Munising, MI

Dim Sum - The Essential Kitchen by Vicki Liley

Published by:  Periplus

ISBN:  13: 978-962-593-528-7

Recipe:  Snow pea Shoot Dumplings – p. 52

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores, Richfield, MN

Good thing for me (and you) that the Chinese New Year lasts 15 days because I came in just under the gun. What can I say?  Sometimes, the schedule just goes off-road for a little bit but with 15 days at my disposal, I figured "I got this."

What I've also "got" is a rather warped sense of humor when it comes to book titles.  When my husband and I are feeling down, we often say to each other that we're kind of "woo."  So the minute I saw this book title, Madam "Wu's" Art of Chinese Cooking, I had to have this book.  Had to.  It did not disappoint.

If you Google Madame Sylvia Wu, you'll find that her website refers to her at the "Legendary" Madame Wu; that she opened her first restaurant on Wiltshire Boulevard in Santa Monica in 1959; that she entertained Hollywood's top dignitaries (she's pictured with the legendary Cary Grant on her book's back cover) and that she authored four cookbooks.  That is not a shabby resume. 

I liked Madame Wu's book a lot because it was pretty comprehensive.  There are several recipes in each category – Appetizers; Soups; Seafood; Chicken; Duck; Beef; Pork and so on, plus instructions on tea, where to shop, what to buy and even Chinese wines.  I decided on the barbecued pork simply because I like Chinese barbecued pork but had never made it.  But you should know that in order to make the Barbecued Pork with Vegetables, you will need to make the barbecued pork ahead of time and you will also need to reserve at least four hours for it to marinade.

To accompany the pork and vegetables, I pulled out a book titled – quite simply – Dim Sum.  Here, you can have your pick of recipes for steamed dumplings, fried dumplings, egg rolls, steamed pork buns (tempting, except I already decided on the barbecued pork) and other delectable goodies suitable for snacking.  I let my husband, Andy, make the final selection and he decided on the snow pea (and shrimp) dumplings and dang, they were yummy.  The sweetness of the snow peas and shrimp was perfect and was a great contrast to the tangy barbecued pork.

Now, as I mentioned the pork recipe calls for marinating at least four hours and then cooking the tenderloin in the oven and then adding it to the wok along with the other vegetables for the complete dish.  Well.  I thought I could pull off the marinade, tenderloin cooking and wok all in one night but I was running behind schedule and was feeling the stress.  And so when my poor husband came in and said "What time do you think we'll eat?"  I about bit his head off and served it back to him on a platter.  I know he was only asking because if dinner would be late, he'd have a snack.  I suggested – quite strongly – that he have a snack.  Quite strongly.  In the end, I made the pork tenderloin, wrapped it in foil and put it in the refrigerator for dinner the next day.

When the "next day" rolled around, I enlisted my man's help with the dumplings.  He has a nice touch with those kind of things and so he made the prettiest dumplings (after I combined all the ingredients) and I got to work on the main course.  And so together we made our meal, a rarity in our house, and the tension of the day before went away...and we were "woo" (or "wu") no more.

Barbecued Pork  - serves 4 (Note:  requires 4 hours or more of marinade time)

1 1-pound pork tenderloin, cut in two strips

¼ cup dark Chinese soy sauce

1 teaspoon light Chinese soy sauce

3 tablespoons catsup

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon red wine

Make a marinade of soy sauces, catsup, sugar, Hoisin sauce, garlic and red wine and marinate the pork overnight, or for a minimum of 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Place marinated pork strips on oven rack, with pan underneath to catch the drippings.  (Ann's Note:  Unless you want a messy oven, I suggest you skip this part and use a broiler pan instead.  Much easier to clean!)  After 20 minutes, lower the heat to 300F and brush both sides with the marinade and barbecue 20 minutes.  Brush both sides again, turn over and barbecue 15 more minutes.  Brush, turn over, and complete barbecuing after 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven.  (Ann's Note:  Proceed to the recipe below for Barbecued Pork with Vegetables.)  If pork is to be served as an appetizer, cut into thin strips.  If main course, cut into larger pieces.

Barbecued Pork with Vegetables – serves 4

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 ¼" slice ginger root

1 cup Chinese cabbage (use the tender center, wash thoroughly and cut into 2" lengths).  (Ann's Note:  Chinese cabbage is also known as Napa cabbage.)

½ cup chicken broth (or water) (Ann's note:  divide the broth; you will use ¼ now, ¼ later.)

½ pound snow peas (pull strings)

½ cup canned whole button mushrooms

½ cup canned thin-sliced bamboo shoots

½ cup canned thin-sliced water chestnuts

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)

1 tablespoon thin-sliced green onions with stems

1 pound barbecued pork, thin-sliced

1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch

Add 2 (out of 3) tablespoons of oil to a preheated wok over high heat.  Swirl ginger root around bottom and sides, then discard the ginger.  Add Chinese cabbage and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add ¼ cup broth.  Cover and cook for 1 minute.  Uncover and add the pea pods, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, salt and MSG (if desired).  Stir thoroughly for 1 minute.  Spoon into a bowl and set aside.

Clean the wok, preheat and add 1 tablespoon oil.  Add the thin-sliced onion and the barbecue pork; stir-fry a few seconds.  Add the vegetables and mix well.  Blend the cornstarch with the remaining ¼ cup of broth and stir evenly into the mixture.  Using a slotted spoon so that the liquid remains in the wok, remove the pork and vegetables to a platter and serve immediately.  (Ann's Note:  I served this over rice.)

Snow Pea Shoot Dumplings – makes 15

4 oz fresh snowpea shoots, roughly chopped  (Ann's Important Note:  I could not find snowpea shoots so I used snowpeas instead and just made sure I chopped them so that they would fit inside a wonton wrapper.  We still loved this recipe.)

4 oz (raw) jumbo shrimp, peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger

3 teaspoons oyster sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon rice wine

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon Asian sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon cornstarch

15 wonton wrappers (round or square)

Blanch snowpea shoots (or snow peas) in a pan of boiling water for 1 minute.  Drain and refresh immediately in cold water.

In a bowl, combine snowpea shoots, shrimp, ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, salt, sugar, sesame oil and cornstarch.  Using wet hands, mix until well combined.  (Ann's Note:  I used a spoon to mix and it worked just fine.)

Place wonton wrappers on work surface and cover with a damp kitchen towel.  Working with one wrapper at a time, place 3 teaspoons of filling in the center and brush edges of wrapper with water.  Fold three sides of wrapper into the center, forming a triangular shape.  Using your fingertips, press edges of wrapper together.  Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside.  Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers.

Line a medium bamboo steamer with parchment (baking paper).  Ann's Note:  we don't have a bamboo steamer but we do have a large fry pan that has a steamer tray so we used that (it sort of makes for a large double-boiler).  You can also use a metal steamer that you insert into a pan; just be sure to avoid getting the dumplings wet.

Once you line your steamer with parchment, half fill a medium wok (steamer pan) with water and bring to a boil.  Arrange dumplings in steamer, cover and place steamer over boiling water.  (Again, do not get the dumplings wet).  Steam for 10 minutes, adding more boiling water to pan when necessary.  Lift steamer off pan and carefully remove dumplings.  Serve warm with soy sauce.