Cooking Experiment: Ginger Beef with Trader Joe's Orange Chicken

[tuftears]

I've noticed that when I cook one Chinese food entree and serve it with rice, it just doesn't seem like a fully finished dinner. That, it turns out, is because eating at Chinese restaurants has trained me to expect several entrees! So for this dinner, I simplified my cooking by using Trader Joe's Orange Chicken, and made ginger beef with asparagus.



I'd been meaning to actually use the fresh ginger I bought the other month, and the ginger grater. Here, you can see it doing its job.

How do you peel ginger? Turns out the easiest solution is to use the edge of a spoon. Works for me!



This worked out really well. It turns out that Trader Joe's orange chicken brings you breaded chicken with the orange sauce in separate packs, so if I desired, I could drop their orange sauce and make my own, or use a different sauce like General Tso's. While I was at it, I cooked up some carrot pieces to mix in with the chicken.

You can definitely taste the ginger in the beef! Much better than powdered ginger.

Comments

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

Heh. When we order Chinese, they always give us enough fortune cookies for 4 or 5 people (there's two of us), presumably based on the # of entrees we're buying, so I know that feeling. Ditto Indian take-out, although without the fortune cookies.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Mm, fortune cookies. Perfect after a meal with spicy entrees.

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

Mmmm yes.

Foo, now I want Chinese.

[rowyn]

Several different dishes always seems more like a "real meal" to me, too. Even though at my size, I can hardly justify having more than two bites of anything if there's several dishes! n.n

I am glad the fresh ginger worked out! That sounds fantastic.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

It really seems to make a difference in cooking, and so far I haven't had any problems storing the ginger. I keep it in the fridge, with a bit of plastic wrap around the recently-cut tip. I skin the ginger as I need it, rather than doing the whole thing.