AVAILABLE FORMATS

Watch Now

Download

America's Test Kitchen - Season 7 Episode 11 : Staying in For Chinese Take-Out

Jan 01, 1970 00:25:14m

11 votes

Documentary

Seasons and episodes

Episode List

Ep 2 Streamlined Chicken Skillet Suppers

2007-01-13

Ep 4 Sunday Roast Chicken and Stuffing

2007-01-27

Ep 10 Meat and Potatoes for Company

2007-03-10

Ep 11 Staying in For Chinese Take-Out

2007-03-17

Ep 12 Not Your Average Stir-Fry

2007-03-24

Ep 14 Even More Italian Classics

2007-04-07

Ep 16 Hearty Eggs for Breakfast

2007-04-21

Ep 18 Barbecued Brisket and Corn Fritters

2007-05-05

Ep 23 Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake

2007-06-09

Ep 25 Favorite Citrus Desserts

2007-06-23

Synopsis

Try serving a saucy stir-fry over an Asian-style noodle cake instead of the usual rice. We love a good stir-fry served with rice, but sometimes a change of pace is welcome. A noodle cake, a savory round of tender noodles sautéed in a skillet until the exterior is crisp, is the perfect base for a saucy stir-fry. We’ve enjoyed noodle cakes in restaurants, but never at home. We set out to find the best way to make one. While we were at it, we also aimed to develop a chicken stir-fry with really juicy chicken in a fresh-flavored sauce. Too often, chicken can turn dry and stringy in a stir-fry and no amount of sauce can rescue dry meat. Another Asian classic, also more familiar at the restaurant table than in the average American home kitchen, is hot and sour soup—a spicy, bracing broth filled with pork, tofu, and wisps of egg. But is visiting your local Chinese restaurant the only way to enjoy this soup? We wanted to enjoy this complex-flavored soup at home. But with a host of hard-to-find ingredients and a long simmering time, we had our work cut out for us. We’d need to strategically choose our ingredients and find reasonable substitutions for those that are just too difficult to find at the supermarket. At the same time, we’d need to take a hard look at streamlining the soup’s lengthy preparation. And, we wouldn’t settle for a pale imitation of this heady soup—it would need to stand up to the authentic versions we often crave. Recipes: Stir-Fried Chicken with Bok Choy and Crispy Noodle Cake Hot and Sour Soup Equipment Center: The Little Nonstick Saucepan That Could Science Desk: Mysterious Powers of Cornstarch