rice Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Poor Man's Gourmet Kitchen

Grocery Shopping – Ingredients for Oriental Recipes

Believe it or not, it’s so easy shopping for ingredients for Oriental recipes. I’d dare say, it’s even fun. You get so much culture in such a little place and sometimes its just really nice to get out of my comfort zone only to realize it can be just as comfortable somewhere else.

The folks at this 1st Oriental Market are amazing people. They’re so eager to help with all your needs. And I find that this is common just about anywhere I go when it comes to foreign food. People like to share their experiences and culture. I find that it isn’t any different here and the owner, Earl and his wife, make it a real pleasant experience.

Most Oriental Cooking, these days, is very simplified because almost all of the guess work has already been cut out for you. I don’t have to make every individual sauce that is used to combine with other sauces to make one great recipe. For example: when a recipe calls for Hoisin Sauce, you don’t have to make you’re own Hoisin Sauce from scratch(which would require several other ingredients), you just crack open a bottle. And what about Plum Sauce… could you imagine having to make that beforehand too? Both of these ingredients are in my Chinese Barbecue Sauce recipe, which only has 5 or 6 ingredients: Hoisin, Plum Sauce, Ketchup, Sugar, 5 spice powder etc., and that makes it really simple just buying each one of those premade bottles. But, could you imagine having to make all of those ingredients as well? You’d be making ingredients for your ingredients.

That being said, I would just like you to understand and realize that you don’t have to learn translations of ingredients you’ve probably never heard of in the first place. Because, most of the basic ingredients I show you in this video are very versatile to most of the popular Americanized Oriental recipes that you’re likely familiar with anyway.

So get familiar with the few I show you now and I’ll introduce more as we go and you’ll be a pro before you know it!

Jambalaya with Shrimp and Andouille Sausage

Creole style Jambalaya

You guys are in for a real treat if you like Jambalaya. As always, I post recipes only as good as they come and the way I know they should be. Nothing but the best restaurants in New Orleans serve Jambalaya like this and I’m going to teach you how to do it in the comfort of your own home. I promise you, if you make Jambalaya like this the next you have friends or family over, no one is going to leave until you give them the exact ingredients. Well, here it is, from Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen to yours. Now go tear it up!

Jambalaya Ingredients:

2 Andouille Sausages
1 lbs Shrimp, pealed and deveined
2 cups Rice
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp Anchovy Paste, or one crushed anchovy
1 cup Clam Juice
Chicken Broth (approximately 1 quart, watch video)
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1/2 can Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp Creole Seasoning (add more to taste for spice)
1 tbsp Worcestershire
1 1/2 oz Louisiana Hot Sauce, (or something similar like Tabasco)
Top off with Scallions

Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this amazing Jambalaya.

Spanish Rice

Secrets for Spanish Rice!

Spanish Rice is loved, it’s adored yet often underrated. I remember asking some idiot once how he made his Spanish Rice and his answer was ridiculous. But, first let me tell you why I asked him and how I came to the conclusion he was an idiot. This guy was a coworker and there were a lot of other employees that came in Monday mornings, always raving about his weekend barbecues. Oh, and I should probably mention that he’s Mexican. Anyway, that and the fact that he “Apparently” cooked all the time, this convinced me that he was probably the man to talk to about his recipe for Spanish Rice. His answer was, “Tomatoes and Seasoned Salt”! So long story short, that’s when I decided he was an idiot because his answer was just ridiculous.

So all B.S. aside, here’s what you really need to know about Spanish rice. Rice needs to be constituted, and much like pasta, the water going into it should be seasoned. The reason is, most of the flavor found in Spanish Rice is absorbed into the rice itself. So it’s important that all the liquid going into the pot, be exactly how you want your rice to taste in the end. It’s that simple. Yes it needs to be a tomato base but it should have some spice and a little bit of a kick. That’s why I use my salsa recipe. CLICK HERE if you want that. but you don’t want to water down the flavor by topping it off with water. That’s why you should use Chicken Stock, or chicken Bouillon. I use Knorr!

Spanish Rice Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Long Grain Rice
2 cups Chicken Stock (or Bouillon)
1/2 chopped Onion
1 cup Salsa
Oil for cooking

Rinse your rice with water 3 times before cooking. Add 2 tbsp of oil to a hot pan and saute the onion. Next add the rice and stir frequently until you lightly brown the rice. Add your Salsa and Chicken Stock, bring to a boil and cover with a lid and turn the heat down to a simmer for 20 minutes. Then serve. If you like a more flavorful rice, I highly recommend trading out one cup of chicken stock and adding one more cup of salsa instead. Enjoy your Spanish Rice!