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Asian Taco

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There are times when you just haven't thought ahead about what to cook and throwing random stuff from the refrigerator into a pan becomes dinner. One of these unplanned experiments led to what I called the Asian Taco.

Looking in the fridge, I found fresh eggs, one pound of ground beef, a couple pieces of unused sliced jalapeno chiles, and 1/2 cup of day old rice. I mixed the ground beef with 1 teaspoon ground white pepper, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons of sherry wine. I set the beef aside for it to absorb the flavors.


I took one large egg and beat it. I sprayed a pan with cooking oil and let it heat until a drop of water throw onto the surface jumped up and around immediately. Then I poured half the egg into the pan and gently (but quickly) swirled it around to form a thin layer.


As soon as the edges of the egg began to curl, I used a wide spatula to flip the egg over. Once the underside began to lightly brown, I removed the egg and repeated with the other half of the beaten egg. I then cut the egg into wide strips.


I then cut the long strips into thin strips.


Then, I heated a tablespoon of vegetable oil with the jalapenos that I found.


Once the oil was hot, I put the beef and any excess liquid into the pan, breaking apart the meat with a wooden spoon.


After allowing the beef to cook for a few minutes while stirring, I dissolved a heaping teaspoon of cornstarch in about a tablespoon of water. Once the beef was browned, I poured the corn starch into the pan to thicken the soy sauce, wine, and juices in the pan.


I fluffed the refrigerated rice with a fork (to separate the cooked grains) and then tossed them into the pan with the meat and sauce.


When the rice was heated, I poured the meat and rice into a medium sized bowl.


Looking into the freezer, I discovered some frozen Chinese green onion pancakes which I slipped into the microwave for thirty seconds and topped with the meat mixture and egg. Not a great looking dish, but quite tasty. It also helped to clean out the fridge a little. Would I document this as a recipe? Probably not, but it was a fun experiment and it fulfilled my goal of having dinner.


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Written by Michael Chu
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17 comments on Asian Taco:(Post a comment)

On December 01, 2005 at 03:17 PM, Steimes (guest) said...
Looks tasty, but maybe a bit too spiced?


On December 01, 2005 at 03:18 PM, Decibel (guest) said...
That's not too spice, but this might be.


On December 01, 2005 at 03:19 PM, Jeff (guest) said...
Well done. That turned out better than my three cheese grilled cheese sandwich experiment. One of the cheeses was Asiago and I covered the entire thing in chili. The dog wouldn't go near it.


On December 01, 2005 at 03:19 PM, an anonymous reader said...
mmm. Sounds delicious, especially how it's all on top of a scallion pancake, which is delicious in and of itself. Maybe you should add some chopped scallions on top (if you ever repeat the recipe). Or, mmm, if you could add sesame oil to it (though I don't know how that'd meld with the soy sauce/jalapeno) since sesame oil is one of my favorite Asian flavors.

~Crystal


On December 01, 2005 at 03:19 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Long time reader, first time poster.

Asian tacos really rock, man. I just made a batch for myself for dinner, and let me tell you, I'm one happy and satisfied computer engineering student. :D


On December 01, 2005 at 03:20 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Sounds good. I dunno if sesame oil would be so good. :\ I'd go with peanut. But you might try using a more asian chile than the jalapeno. A thai or red/green chile would likely lend itself a bit more asian zing. Though a scallion pancake as a tortilla is a freakin awesome idea. Some onion in the beef might be tasty as well. You could also try Mirin instead of sherry if you wanted to stick with the asian theme. Perhaps I'll try a vegetarian variation of this... hmm.......

-Dranore


On December 01, 2005 at 03:20 PM, Alredhead (guest) said...
Where would you find (or how do you make) a "Chinese green onion pancakes"?

Alredhead


On December 01, 2005 at 03:21 PM, an anonymous reader said...
I've made them before. Probably one of my favorite dishes. I've yet to make them as good as in restraunts... I should try them again soon. :) Just search for "scallion pancake" and you should get some recipies. Just curious Michael, what brand of scallion pancake do you have? Most I've seen wouldn't make verygood tortillas.

-Dranore


On December 01, 2005 at 03:21 PM, Michael Chu said...
I don't know what brand of scallion pancakes I used. It was a thin kind, not the thick puffy kind.


On December 01, 2005 at 03:22 PM, Alredhead (guest) said...
Cool! Thanks!

Alredhead


On December 01, 2005 at 03:22 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Had you addeded an ounce of water and a teaspoon of cornstarch to the egg, and made a couple of thin omelettes out of this, you would have made egg roll skins. Fill the skinns burrito style and panfry in hot peanut oil you would have made a quaisi-meat eggroll.
Bon appetit!


On December 01, 2005 at 03:23 PM, an anonymous reader said...
Here is a pretty good recipe for the green onion pancakes. Make sure to get them thin enough!

http://www.sweetbabymedia.com/recipes/allbynumber4/017865.shtml


On March 30, 2006 at 10:11 PM, Ravensbane25 (guest) said...
Subject: mmm...tasty
i like recipes like this. in fact when im hungry i do the same thing! just one thing, i would add some more soy sauce or teriyaki sauce after cooking it all and pour it into the rice-meat mixture. thats what i do every time i eat hamburger and rice together. which is alot actually.


On May 03, 2006 at 11:19 AM, Dancerandsoccer (guest) said...
Instead of making the egg an omelete (sp?) you could probably make it scrambled, adds to the asian. Also instead of the Chinese wraps you could use Tortillas.....
I'm thinking about making this for dinner tonight.

-Rebecca ;)


On September 13, 2006 at 08:10 PM, an anonymous reader said...
First time poster here...I thought I'd chime in and say one could try wrapping it in a leaf of iceburg lettuce rather than a tortilla. The idea is not my own, P.F. Changs has great lettucce wraps and the cold temperature + crunchy texture is excellent with the asian spices. Also, a few chopped water chestnuts could give it a good crunch without adding or taking away any flavor.

Bethany


On February 08, 2007 at 12:16 AM, driveby cooking (guest) said...
Subject: Omurice
You could also try a Japanese version called Omurice (omelet made with fried rice) if you don't happen to have the pancake.

Here is the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omurice

Basically do the fired rice first and then pour them into the egg right at step 2 and folds it.


On January 14, 2009 at 11:30 PM, pbesset2 (guest) said...
Subject: pretty cool
this was a pretty cool experiment especially just taking things out of the fridge. sounds like a very tastey dish that I will be trying. Love the addition of the Jalepenos and the thought of what you did with the eggs was pretty good too. I've never heard of what you used for the taco shell, but will have to check it out next time in the grocery store. Good stuff!

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