Wiinese

Wii-Nese (Wee/Knees)
Core Meaning: The art of making Chinese food with family and friends followed by an intense competition on the Wii

What?! You have never heard of Wiinese before??? Ok, ok, I’ll cut you some slack since we did actually just make this up! This past weekend my fun, yet very goofy family decided we were going to combine cooking Chinese food AND battling each other for medals on various Wii competitions. Hence--- Wiinese was born!

Years ago my brother developed a delicious talent for making Chinese food and recently we have all been hankering for it. So between the family we devised a menu and split things up. Although it was a LOT of work to make everything…it was one of the tastiest Chinese meals ever! And, as my mom kept proclaiming “There is no MSG!!!” Funny lady!

Our menu consisted of the following:
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Cold Chicken with Spicy Dipping Sauce
Curry-Ginger Beef and Leeks
Beef and Shiitake Satay with Mango Sauce
Fried Rice
Egg Drop Soup
Egg Rolls
Mixed Vegetables

And everything was Mmm, Mmm, Good!

I’ll give you an inside peak into the dishes I made and hopefully I can beg the recipes from my family for the other dishes!

The curry-ginger beef and leek dish, which can be found from Simply Ming, turned out to be more of an adventure as it calls for curry-ginger oil which is literally nowhere to be found! My poor brother searched FOUR grocery stores for me trying to find it, including an Asian market and an international food store! So I did what I do best, I improvised! I ground up some fresh ginger and mixed it with store-bought curry sauce. Voila! Curry-Ginger sauce! And it actually tasted pretty good.

We also didn’t have a wok available so we just cooked it in a skillet. While this dish was good, it definitely needed a little more “pizzazz” in everyone’s opinion so feel free to play with extra spices and sauces.

Wok-Stirred Curry-Ginger Beef And Leeks
Serves 4

Ingredients
2-3 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger
¼ Cup mild sweet curry sauce
1 pound flank steak, cut across the grain into 1-inch slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 large leeks, white and light green parts only, cut into 1/4-inch rings, washed and well dried
1 medium red bell pepper, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice

Directions
1. Heat a wok or large, heavy sauté pan over high heat. Combine the curry and ginger to make a sauce and then add to beef, leeks and peppers.

2. Add the beef, leeks and peppers to the skillet and cook until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Season with salt and pepper.


Next up, the beef and shiitake satay with mango sauce……oh how can I sing the praises of this delightful dish?! While there is a little extra leg work involved in this dish, it is totally worth it. Marinating the beef, scallions and shiitake mushrooms gives them a wonderful, rich flavor. The recipe calls for them to marinate around 30 minutes but I would shoot for closer to an hour.

The mango salsa recipe actually came from a different source but it is absolutely spot on! I would recommend it anytime! And it is WAY better than the store-bought variety.

Helpful Mango Tip: Living in Indiana where it is fairly difficult to find ripe mangos at a moment’s notice, I experimented and tried something new. Just stick your UN-ripe mangos in the microwave and nuke ‘em! I put two mangos in for 1 minute and they came out perfectly ripe, juicy, and delicious!

If I had to pick a favorite I would definitely pick the beef and shiitake satays with mango sauce…..you will love it, I promise!

Beef and Shiitake Satay with Mango Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut diagonally against the grain into strips 4 inches long and 1/4 inch thick
1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and caps halved
1 bunch of scallions, white and green parts, cut into 2-inch lengths
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, plus additional to taste
2 cups Spicy Mango Salsa
Kosher salt to taste

Mango Salsa
2 Ripe mangos diced
¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
2 jalapenos diced with seeds (if you are brave enough!)
1 small red onion diced
1-2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the flank steak, shiitakes, scallions, soy sauce, red wine, sugar, 1/4 cup of the oil, and the teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper. Set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, in a blender, blend the salsa at high speed. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. 3. To make the satays, thread each skewer with a length of scallion, either white or green part, a shiitake half, a strip of flank steak secured in an "S" shape, a second piece of shiitake, and a second scallion length. They should touch fairly tightly.
4. Prepare an outdoor grill and heat to hot, or preheat a grill pan or heavy sauté pan over high heat. Spray the grill grid with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the satays until the meat is medium-rare, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes per side. (We actually cooked our under the broiler for about 5 minutes per side)
5. Transfer the dipping sauce to an attractive bowl, arrange the satays on a platter, and serve with the sauce


My pretty mango salsa!

And now it is mango sauce!


Shiitake mushrooms

Everything marinating for awhile

Brian hard at work...and chatting on the phone!

Grating up some ginger....and apparently talking at the same time!

Cute picture of Pat...if only I would open my eyes!

Everything put together right before we tossed em under the broiler

Ohhh...the finished product!

My wonderful momma!

A quick peak at some of the food we had at the table...so good!

Once our bellies were full we proceeded to work some of that food off by duking it out in various Wii games including sword fight, cycling, 3-point hoop shoot, and deer hunting to name a few. And yes, my wonderful husband was the one to pick the deer hunting game….are you shocked?! And yes, I totally kicked his butt in it!! Now you really are shocked!

Every event ended with awards ceremonies to congratulate the winners! It was a night of laughs, surprising upsets, and total fun!

In the words of the great Iron Chef Morimoto, “LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!”

Mom and Pat in a Sword Fight!

Aaron totally kicking my butt!

Action shot!

Winners...wearing Brian's special medals!

Like how Pat and I have the same face!!!

Craig...always a winner!

And the final awards ceremony for the night! Gold medal in the middle!! Woo hoo!

Last Bite: While the night did go a little longer than any of us had anticipated, it was still a LOT of fun! The food was great and the games were even more fun. You should try it out with your family....but if you want to just order pizza instead of making Chinese food that night, that's ok too!