Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Recipes

Family Recipes from Our Asian American and Pacific Islander Community 

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. To celebrate our Shaklee Family’s different cultural backgrounds, we asked some members of the AAPI community to share some delicious and healthy recipes they love to prepare for their families. Give them a try! 

Korean Vegetable Bibimbap (Vegetable Rice Bowl)

By: Christina Mison Han, Leadership Support at Shaklee HQ

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce, chopped
• Cucumber, chopped
• Spinach, chipped
• Tofu, chopped
• Avocado, chopped
• Red cabbage, finely shredded
• Alfalfa sprout
• Fried Egg (optional)
• White rice or cauliflower rice (your choice)
• For the sauce, a traditional sauce is with Gochujang (Korean Chili pepper paste) mixed with rice wine vinegar, garlic and sugar but you can also use Sriracha.  If you cannot eat hot/spicy you can use Soy Sauce and Sesame oil.

Directions:

1. Cook the white rice or cauliflower rice according to the package instructions.
2. Chop veggies and tofu.
3. In a large bowl, put 1 cup of steamed white rice and top it for your chopped vegetables.
4. Add the sauce (either hot or soy sauce) to your taste and serve.

Filipino Adobong Manok (Marinated Chicken) 

By: Norm, Interactive & Experience Architect @ Shaklee HQ 

Ingredients: 

• 1 tsp olive oil 
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed 
• 2 medium onions, chopped 
• 1 pound (½ kg) chicken breasts, no skin 
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce 
• ¼ cup vinegar 
• 1 tsp paprika 
• 2 tbsp ground black pepper 
• 1 bay leaf, broken in half 
• 1 medium red tomato (optional) 

Directions: 

1. Combine olive oil, garlic, and onion in a frying pan. Add chicken and sauté together until chicken has browned.
2. Add light soy sauce, vinegar, paprika, black pepper, and bay leaf. Stir.
3. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 45–60 minutes or until chicken is done.
4. Remove the chicken and save the liquid in the pot. Arrange the chicken on a broiler pan. Broil until the chicken has nicely browned. Remove from the broiler and place in a serving bowl.
5. Continue to boil the sauce in the uncovered pan until volume is reduced to about half and the sauce is thick.
6. Pour the thickened sauce over broiled adobong (chicken) and garnish with red tomatoes, if desired.
7. Enjoy!

  

Indian Keema Tacos 

By: Sundeep, Senior Manager of Social Media @ Shaklee HQ 

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb ground turkey or beef 
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion 
• 1 tbsp garlic (chopped) 
• 1 tsp ginger (minced) 
• ¼ cup of cilantro (and extra to garnish) 
• 1 tbsp meat masala 
• 1 tbsp turmeric powder 
• 1 tomato 
• 1 cup frozen peas 
• ½ cup tomato sauce 
• 3 tbsp oil (I use avocado oil) 
• Salt and pepper 
• Taco-sized tortillas (whichever tortillas you prefer—I use cassava flour tortillas) 

Toppings (optional): 

• 1 cup of plain yogurt (feel free to use dairy-free) 
• Cilantro 
• Lime 
• ¼ cucumber 
• Salt & pepper 

Directions: 

1. In a large frying pan, heat oil on medium heat, then add diced onion, garlic, and ginger. Stir frequently for 10–12 minutes. Add a teaspoon of water if you need more liquid to keep onions from burning. Onions should be translucent and golden after 10 minutes.
2. Add in diced tomato. Stir for another 2 minutes.
3. Add in Indian spices (masala and turmeric). Stir and leave for 1 minute.
4. Add tomato sauce and chopped cilantro. Stir.
5. Add ground meat, then break up and mix together with tomato/onion mixture.
6. Add frozen peas. Cook ground meat mixture on medium heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
7. For topping: Dice or grate your cucumber and add to yogurt. Add juice from half a lime. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Heat tortillas, then add the spiced, ground meat (keema) mixture to your tacos. Top with yogurt sauce and fresh cilantro.
9. Enjoy!

  

Onigiri, AKA Japanese Rice Balls or Rice Triangles 

By: Tomoko, Art Director @ Shaklee HQ 

“This is the perfect picnic or snack item. My kids eat them in the car when we have a long drive.” 

Ingredients: 

For the rice: 

• 2 cups short-grain Japanese rice (White rice is the best rice to use. Brown rice can be tricky since it is not as sticky as white rice. Glutinous or sticky rice, on the other hand, is too sticky.) 
• 3 cups water 

For the sushi rice seasoning (optional): 

• ⅓ cup rice vinegar 
• 3 tbsp sugar 
• 1 tsp salt 

For the rice balls: 

• 8 sheets roasted seaweed (nori) or onigiri wrappers (optional) 
• One or more fillings (enough to fill 8 balls, which is about ½ to ¾ cup) 

For the filling: 

• Salted and baked or broiled salmon, flaked 
• Salted edamame 
• Furikake (Japanese rice seasoning flakes) 
• Flavored scrambled egg (Tomo adds salt and soy sauce) 
• Leftover teriyaki chicken or fried chicken, chopped 
• Barbecued pork, diced or shredded 
• Spam 

Directions: 

1. Rinse the rice in cold water at least 5 times and drain well in a fine-mesh sieve. If using a rice cooker, simply add the rice and cold water to the rice cooker and cook according to the cooker’s instructions. To cook the rice in a pot on the stovetop, place the rice in a pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer, cover the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.
2. If using the sushi rice seasoning, while the rice is cooking, combine the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring, just until the sugar is dissolved. When the rice is finished cooking, stir the vinegar mixture into it until well combined.
3. Transfer the rice from the rice cooker or cooking pot to a large bowl and let cool enough to handle.
4. Shape your onigiri while the rice is still warm. If using a mold, wet the inside of the mold and, using wet hands, fill it about halfway with rice. Make an indentation in the middle of the rice with your thumb and add your filling, about a tablespoon or so. Add more rice on top to fill the mold. Place the top half of the mold on the rice and press down gently. Remove the top of the mold and invert the bottom half over a plate. Press down on the button in the middle to help the onigiri slide out. Wet the inside of the mold again and repeat the process until you have used up all of your rice and filling or have made the desired number of onigiri.
5. If shaping the onigiri by hand, use wet hands and shape into a ball, make an indentation in the middle, fill with about 1 tablespoon of filling, and close up the hole with a bit more rice. Leave it in a ball shape or use your hands to form it into a triangular shape, if desired.
6. If using the purchased onigiri wrappers with pre-wrapped nori strips, leave the plastic wrappers on them and wrap them around your rice balls. If using regular nori sheets, first cut into strips, then wrap each strip in plastic wrap. Onigiri can be stored at room temperature for several hours. If you wish to store them longer than that, store in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
7. To serve, if you wrapped the nori strips by hand, remove the plastic wrap from the nori strip and wrap the onigiri in the nori. If using the onigiri wrappers, simply remove the plastic wrapper and serve at room temperature.

  

Cantonese Style Braised Beef Stew 

By: Ethan, Content Creator @ Shaklee HQ 

“This is how I like to make my ultimate comfort food, using traditional ingredients and less-than-traditional methods.” 

Ingredients: 

• 2 lbs beef (chuck or flank), cut into 1½-inch cubes 

• 1½ lbs daikon radish, peeled and cut into 1½-inch cubes 
• 3 scallions (separate the white parts from the green parts and cut into 2-inch pieces) 
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms 
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce 
• ½ cup Shaoxing cooking wine 
• 2 tbsp chee hou sauce (sometimes called chu how sauce and can be substituted with hoisin sauce) 
• 1 tbsp sugar 
• 1 tsp white pepper 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 2 tsp five spice powder 
• 4-inch piece of ginger, sliced (or add as much as you like—you can’t go wrong here) 
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed 
• 3 pieces star anise 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 tbsp cornstarch 
• ¼ cup flour 
• 1 cup chicken stock 
• 4–5 cups water 
• 2 tbsp cooking oil 

Extra vegetables (optional but pick at least one!): 

• Napa cabbage 
• Bok choy 
• Gai lan (sometimes called Chinese broccoli) 
• Lettuce 

Instructions: 

1. Marinate the beef with light and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, chee hou sauce, five spice, sugar, salt, and white pepper for 12–24 hours in the refrigerator.
2. Wash and soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 5–10 minutes or until expanded. Slice into strips.
3. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the cooking oil until it ripples. Then add garlic, ginger, star anise, and the white parts of the scallion. Saute for 2–3 minutes.
4. Add in marinated beef and brown for 5 minutes. Do this in batches if needed. After beef is browned, add in flour. Stir to coat every cube of beef.
5. Add in sliced shiitake mushrooms, bay leaves, chicken stock, and enough water to cover the beef (about 4–5 cups). If you want a richer sauce later, add more chicken stock in place of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 60–75 minutes.
6. Add in daikon radish pieces, bring the pot back to a boil, and simmer for another 45 minutes or until the daikon and beef are tender.
7. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water. Slowly stir into the stew to thicken the sauce. Add more slurry if sauce is too watery.
8. Slice and add in your optional vegetables and simmer for no more than 5 minutes. Stir in the green parts of the scallions as garnish.
9. Serve with steamed rice and enjoy!

  

The next time you’re thinking of dinner ideas, try one of these recipes to switch things up. And if you have any of your own family recipes to share, post about it and tag us @ShakleeHQ for a chance to be featured. 

Happy AAPI Heritage Month!