Cooking with April Woo

April and Mike’s Fourth of July Feast

- by Leslie Glass

Crime may be down, but this May and June in New York brought some very big cases including the infamous Wendy's shooting in the Bronx that left five people dead and two seriously injured and the hate crime destruction of church statues in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Both cases were solved, by the way.

It's been a pressure cooker as usual. It's been hot. It's been cold and rainy. But mostly it's been busy. Here is the special treat April and Mike have planned for their Fourth of July celebration and the versions you can try at home.

Chinese Spare Ribs are a traditional favorite appetizer with diners at Chinese restaurants all over the world. In Chinatown, restaurants hang slabs of succulent spare ribs in their windows to entice hungry pedestrians to come in and eat. Home cooks can be daunted by the instruction to hang the ribs on hooks in the oven so the fat can drain off in a pan. Who has such a hook at home? Never fear. There are two other easy methods to make. Chinese Chicken wings are often found on the dim sum wagon at teahouses, braised in brown "gravy." Here is the Woo’s barbecue method.

Shrimp noodles are one of the most elegant dishes ever invented. As soon as April could talk, she begged for them, calling them Emperor's Feast Noodles. As everything in the Woo house, they have their traditional ways of preparing each dish, but serve them in many different ways. Building a menu using the recipes, we blend the tastes and textures of the dishes depending entirely on availability of ingredients, on the season and most importantly, on the mood of the day. As we say in Chinese, enjoy.

Chinese Spare Ribs

• 1 or 2 racks of pork ribs (baby back ribs are less fatty)

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup dark or mushroom soy sauce
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 thumbnail fresh ginger, sliced thin or grated
• 1 clove garlic smashed with a cleaver to release juices, then chopped fine (optional)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp. five spice powder

Method 1. Marinate the whole slabs for several hours or overnight, then roast them in the oven on a metal rack over a pan of water at 325 degrees for an hour and a half. Separate the ribs with a sharp knife before serving.

Method 2. Ask the butcher to cut the slabs into 1-inch sections then separate the ribs with a sharp knife. You now have individual riblets. Stir-fry the riblets in a non-stick pan with the ginger and garlic for five minutes until brown. Drain off the fat, mix in the rest of the marinade ingredients above, and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil until ribs are cooked through and are both tender and crispy.

Serve with duck or extra hoisin sauce.

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Twice Cook Chinese Chicken Wings

• 1 or 2 packages of chicken wings.

• 1/3 cup dark or mushroom soy sauce

• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 thumbnail fresh ginger, sliced thin or grated
• 1 clove garlic smashed with a cleaver
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 1/2 TBL peanut or corn oil

Remove the tip of each chicken wing and separate the two sections. Stir-fry the chicken wings for five minutes with the garlic and ginger in a non-stick pan brushed with the oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir-fry a minute more.

To braise, add a cup of chicken broth and simmer about 45 minutes until very tender and the liquid is gone. They should melt in your mouth.

To bake, put half-cooked chicken wings in a baking pan and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. They should be slightly crispy.

Chicken wings can be served hot, cold, or at room temperature and are great for cocktail party, a buffet, or a picnic.

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Emperor Shrimp Noodles

• 3/4 pound shrimp

• 2 scallions with white part minced fine

• 1 thumbnail fresh ginger, grated so that the juice is released. Discard the stringy part.
• 1 egg white beaten with a fork
• 2 TBLS milk

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• 3 TBLS cornstarch
• 1 TBLS saki or vodka
• 1 tsp. sea salt

Remove shells and clean shrimp. Cut the shrimp in thirds and add the rest of the ingredients. Process in a food processor until the shrimp mixture is a smooth paste. Spoon the mixture into a plastic zip sandwich bag and refrigerate for an hour or so.

In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Remove shrimp paste from refrigerator. Use the bag like a pastry bag by cutting off one tip to make a hole about 1/4 inch in diameter at the bottom. Carefully squeeze the paste in large circles into the boiling water. The noodles should be like a thick spaghetti. You may need to practice with the size of the hole and squeezing the bag. The mixture tries to escape out the top of the bag. The miracle occurs when the shrimp paste hits the water. It actually becomes a noodle. Boil only for a minute or two, then drain the noodles and rinse with cold water.

Shrimp Noodle Soup

Add shrimp noodles to a rich chicken broth and garnish with minced scallion, and add watercress or bean sprouts or a dried black mushroom that's been soaked until soft and shredded. A beautiful first course.

Shrimp Noodles with Braised Lettuce and Oyster Sauce

(Check my previous recipe for the braised lettuce recipe and use the shrimp noodles as a topping.)

Shrimp Noodles with Asparagus and Mushrooms

• 1 bunch asparagus
• 6 large dried black Shitake mushrooms (soaked, with the stem removed) or 6 fresh ones
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger peeled and chopped fine
• 1 TBLS saki or vodka
• 3 TBLS soy sauce Touch of Chinese chili sauce (if available) or a few drops of hot sesame oil
• 2-tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1/4-cup chicken broth
• 2 TBLS corn or peanut oil

Cut the woody ends off the asparagus, then wash, peel and cut it into one-inch lengths. Blanch asparagus in boiling water for two minutes or less, then rinse with cold water. Slice shitake mushrooms into thin strips. Mix "gravy" ingredients in a small bowl. Swirl a frying pan or wok with the oil, then add the asparagus and mushrooms and stir-fry a minute or two. Then carefully add the shrimp noodles. Quickly stir the gravy ingredients to dissolve cornstarch, then add to the pan. Cook only long enough for noodles to heat up and the sauce to thicken. Serve immediately, either alone, with rice, on a bed of rice stick noodles, or even with fresh pasta.

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