I am obsessed with chicken wings!    I love the naked, salty wings and usually dip them in an assortment of sauces.  The one wing we’ve been experimenting with at home uses the Vietnamese Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce) as it’s main ingredient.  Tonight we made 4 different styles :

• 3 crab Vietnamese Nuoc Mam
• 3 crab Vietnamese Nuoc Mam with a flour batter
• Nuoc Mam Ot  (click for recipe) – this gives a sweeter flavor and if you use this, pre-marinate beforehand.
• Nuoc Mam Ot with a flour batter

What’s great is that there’s not much prep but frying these at home makes for a nice evening out on the patio with some friends and some beer to complement it!  We’ve tried frying these two different ways and it’s really up to what you have at home.  The fryers that plug in are more convenient but it’s not necessary to have one. Also, if you are going to try both styles below, I would recommend starting with “Cindy’s Favorite” then move to “Toan’s Favorite” as it’s easier to go from Salty to Sweet and not the other way around else you won’t give the “all salty” wings the justice it deserves
 

Cindy’s Favorite (all salty, not sweet):
INGREDIENTS

• 24 Wingettes
• 2 Cups 3 Crabs Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce)
• 3 Cups Flour
• Frying Oil – enough to fill up the deep fryer to it’s fullest
• Cajun Spices – also try sprinkling some crawfish cajun spices on if you have it handy for another twist!  The Crawfish place we love has amazing wings and i’m assuming they use that spice.

READY TO COOK!

1. Wash the wingettes & make sure they are not frozen.  If they are frozen, defrost in cold water.
2. When you are ready to fry there are 3 easy steps.
3. Dip the wingette in the Nuoc Mam
4. Dip in flour (optional); I actually prefer eating the ones without the flour batter first and then try frying one with the flour batter.
5. Fry for about 5-7 minutes per batch.  The batch wil depend on the size of your fryer.
6. Pour the wings onto a container lined with a few layers of paper towels to catch any extra oil.

We LOVE egg noodles (mi) !  There’s something comforting and reminds me of my family when I eat noodle stir-fry dishes.  It’s one of those meals that you can cook in huge batches, sneak in all the healthy vegetables the kiddos tend to eat around and makes a small amount of meat go a LONG way.  This will definitely not be the last “mi” dish we post, but just in 2 weeks, we’ve cooked this twice.  It’s similar to italian pasta in that you can substitute the meat and veggies out to your liking and it always tastes great!

The secret is finding the fresh egg noodles.  They are in the refrigerated section of the Asian Grocery (usually close to the eggs).  We have been using this recently below.  Sometimes it’s branded as “thick wonton noodles” but look for the word “MI” and the flour sprinkled kind, which shows that it’s fresh and not pre-boiled.  That’s usually the best one.  In Wichita, KS we always bought the “Mi Canada” brand.

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

• 1.5 lbs Chicken (tenders, thighs or breast)
• 2 containers of  Mushrooms (pre-sliced)
• 10 Small Baby Bok Choy Bunches or 1 Large Bunches of Chinese Mustard Greens-Gay Choi (this has a bitter taste, so use bok choy if you do not have a taste for it)
• 2 cans of Baby Corn (pre-cut)
• 10-15 Garlic Cloves (minced)
• 1 Tablespoon of Chicken Bouillon Paste (I found “Better Than Bouillon” as a healthy alternative to Chicken Bouillon cubes, which usually has msg)
• 1 – 2 tablespoon Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce) - we like the 3 Crabs Brand
• Olive Oil
• 2 packets of Egg Noodles (usually about 6-8 “noodle nests” in each)
• Black Pepper
• 1 large wok or large skillet/pan (~10 inches) – You will also need a LID for whichever one you choose.
• 6 quart pot
• 2 large mixing bowls to store the final product  (1 for stir-fry & 1 for noodles)
• Condiments:  Soy Sauce + Sriracha Chili Sauce + 1 lime wedge per serving

READY TO PREP!

• Rinse chicken, cut into bite size pieces.  Marinate with 1 Tablespoon of the Nuoc Mam.  Mix it up really well, store back in fridge while you prep the other veggies.
• Open cans of Baby Corn and dump out the brine.  Rinse the baby corn and set aside.
• Rinse the Bok Choy or Chinese Mustard Greens and cut into 3-4 sections.  Each piece should be about 1.5-2 inches long.  Separate the stalks from the leaves as the stalks will take longer to cook.
• Take a medium size bowl and “untangle” the egg noodle nests.  If you are not use to doing this, I recommend “untangling” before you boil the water or else you will have clumps when you cook the noodles.  When you have some practice, you’ll be able to do it quickly over boiling water and you won’t have to worry about the “nests” being unevenly cooked.
• Separate the minced garlic into 5 parts.  You can do this while you cook/on the fly.  Just don’t forget b/c you will need to use a little bit to stir-fry each section.

The best thing about cooking at home is being able to cook with the ingredients you love.  I love mushrooms and I would put it in every dish if I could …and I usually try.  Toan and I went to Costco and they sold a huge packet of baby bok choy and mushrooms, so we decided to make a stir-fry with chicken.  We love simple stir-frys because you can combine a lot of veggies into one meal and it makes for great leftovers.

The great thing about getting the chicken in bulk at Costco or Sam’s is that they are usually vacuumed sealed into smaller portions, which makes it easier to defrost.  Even when meat does not come separately sealed, we will separate them into smaller freezer zip lock bags so it’s more manageable, but this takes some meal planning  and you’ll have to remember to defrost ahead of time.  It DOES save money, but you have to put in the time.  Which we can’t say we always do…but we try when we can.

INGREDIENTS

• 2lbs of Baby Bok Choy
• 24 oz of Mushrooms (Champinones, Portabello, Shitake, Trumpet…whichever you like)  we chose the Champinones this time.  Cut into small slices, or buy the pre-sliced mushrooms
• Olive Oil
• 2 Teaspoons Chicken Bullion
• 1 Teaspoon Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce)
• 15 minced cloves Garlic – Separate into 3 parts
• 5 Chicken Thighs or replace with the equivalent chicken tenders/chicken breasts
• Olive Oil
• Large 10-12 inch pan or wok

PREPARE TO COOK

• Take the chicken out of the package, rinse and slice into small pieces.
• Marinate the chicken in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon of the Chicken Bullion.  Cover and set in the fridge while you prepare the remaining vegetables.
• Mince the garlic, separate into 3 parts as we will stir-fry mushrooms, bok choy and chicken separately
• Slice the mushrooms or buy the pre-sliced packages
  
• Wash and cut the baby bok choy into 3 parts
• Cut the leaf, stem and end off
• Add the leaves and stems into separate bowls and throw away the end.   We stir-fry the stems separately from the leaves as the stems take much longer to cook.

READY TO COOK

1. MUSHROOMS:  Drizzle the pan using an oil dispenser and turn the heat to high.
2.  Add 1/3 of the minced garlic to the pan (you will use the other two parts later)
3. Add in the mushrooms, cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Once the mushrooms are cooked, set aside in a large bowl.
5. BOK CHOY: Using the same pan, spray in olive oil using a mister (will not require as much oil as the mushrooms)
6. Add the 2nd part of minced garlic and bok choy stems.
7. Add 1 teaspoon of chicken bullion seasoning.
8. Stir-fry the stems for about 3 minutes and then add in the leaves.
9. Stir-fry the leaves and stems for an additional 2 minutes.
10. Add the cooked bok choy to the large bowl with the mushrooms.
11. CHICKEN:  Using the same pan, spray in olive oil using a mister.
12. Add the 3rd and last part of the minced garlic and the pre-marinated chicken.
13. Add 1 teaspoon of Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce) to the chicken and stir-fry for about 8 minutes.
14. Keep the chicken in the pan and add the bok choy and mushrooms back into the pan to reheat.
15. Serve with rice & enjoy!