"Peking Duck" copycat

As much as I love the authentic Peking Duck, it just won't work as a weekday home-made dinner.
This 30-minute meal copycat version gives me 90% of its taste and texture, and it is much cheaper and easier. All the ingredients are easy to be found in any grocery stores.

It is a perfect summer BBQ recipe: juicy grilled chicken thighs (boneless skinless) coated with honey soy sauce, refreshing cucumber sticks, sweet carrot, and thinly sliced green onion that gives a little bit kick to the taste; all wrapped up in a tortilla with hoisin sauce.

The non-Mexican ways to use tortillas in cooking II: Chinese crepe (煎饼)

So this is one of the most popular street-vendor breakfast in many places in China,
I have craved for it for years since I came to the U.S.
Now there is an easy make to make it.

Ingrediants:

• Tortillas
• Eggs
• chopped cilantro
• chopped green onion
• hoisin sauce
• Chinese fried dough

Procedure:

• heat up a cooking pan over medium heat, with one table spoon of oil;
• heat up one side of tortillas for 20 seconds, then flip over;
• crack an egg on the tortillas, use a spatula to break the egg and spread it on the tortillas, doesn't have to be perfect;
• when the egg is half cooked, sprinkle some chopped cilantro and green onion;
• flip the tortillas carefully, so the egg side is now facing down;
• brush hoisin sauce on the top side, and wait till the egg is fully cooked;
• put a piece of fried dough on the top (the hoisin sauce side), then roll and fold the tortillas around the fried dough. 

It is ready to eat in 3 minutes.

The non-Mexican ways to use tortillas in cooking I: Chinese empanadas (盒子)

After tasting many ethnic food and seeing my friends cooking their home food,
I realize that there is so much overlapping of cooking styles and ingredients across different styles of food.
Being a busy mom, tortillas become a shortcut to making many Chinese food.
#1 Chinese empanadas 

Ingrediants:

• uncooked tortillas
• fillings (almost any mix of finely chopped vegetables and proteins: meat/eggs)
• one egg

Procedures:
 I got my uncooked tortillas from Costco.

For filling, I used one pound of ground pork, 1/4 pound of ground shrimp, 1 egg, 1 table spoon of minced ginger, 1 table spoon of finely chopped green onion, 1 pound of finely chopped Chinese green leafy vegetables, finely chopped of one pack of 8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms. Mixed well and seasoned with Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, and salt.

Put a generous scoop of the filling on the tortillas so it covers half of the tortillas surface, fold the other half other and press the edge tight (a little bit of egg wash along the edge make help the fold to stay together during cooking)

Heat up a pan with a table spoon of oil over medium heat, cook the empanada until each side turns golden brown, and transfer the empanada to a pan over  low heat, finish cooking the empanada over low heat, in the covered pan, for about 8 minutes.

Baked Pork Chop over Fried Rice (焗豬扒飯)

A little bit tired of regular grilled pork chop and panko crusted pork chop.
Also tired of plain fried rice.
Then I remember this classic Hong Kong style meal.

Ingredients:
Panko crusted pork chop:

• 3 pieces of thick cut boneless pork chop;
• Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce;
• one egg;
• one cup of flour;
• one cup of panko breadcrumb (or original flavor bread crumb)

1 1/2 cups of fried rice (with eggs, chopped tomatoes, diced onion, diced pepper, diced onion);

1 8oz can of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup of chicken broth/water, soy sauce,

1 cup of Mozzarella cheese

Procedures:
Panko crusted pork chop:

• pound the pork chops to medium thickness;
• marinade the pork chops with cooking wine and soy sauce, for about 20 minutes;
• beat the egg in a shallow bowl;
• heat up a pan with a tablespoon of oil over medium heat;
• coat the pork chops in flour, then egg, and then panko bread crumb.
• cook the pork chops in the pan, about 3 mins each side. Then set aside.
• pour the tomato sauce, soy sauce, and the chicken broth/water in the pan, mix well, and put the pork chops into the sauce, coat the pork chops evenly with the sauce.

put the fried rice in an baking pan,  then lay the pork chops on top of the rice, pour any remaining tomato sauce on the top, and cover the top with Mozzarella cheese.

Baked the pork chop with rice in the oven at 350F, for about 20 mins, or until the cheese totally melts and starts to brown a little bit.

Ready, set, eat.