Michael Dean Cooking & Event Planning

What's the secret to authentic Chinese restaurant style cooking? Baking Soda! Yes, you heard me correctly! A few days ago, Justin and I, independent of each other both discovered a recipe hack for making stir-fry taste better.

Baking soda is a common ingredient in Chinese cooking that's used to tenderize meat, especially in stir-fries. The technique involves applying baking soda to raw meat before cooking to raise its pH level, which alters the charge on the muscle filaments. You can make chicken melt-in-your-mouth tender by quickly tossing chunks in about ¾ tsp of baking soda for about 15 minutes before your next stir fry, then rinse and pat the meat dry before putting in the pan.

Then boil spaghetti in water with baking soda to create noodles that are similar to ramen. The baking soda's alkaline minerals give the noodles their springy texture and yellow color. Use one tablespoon of baking soda per quart of water. Then after boiling, rinse the noodles in cold water, let them cool, and toss them with sesame oil.

Put these hacks together and you've got some of the best homecooked chow mien ever!

Dill Pickle Dip

8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 T ranch seasoning
1 cup dill pickles, chopped
¼ cup pickle juice, from the jar of pickles
1 T worcestershire sauce
1 T fresh dill

1. Add the sour cream, cream cheese, and ranch seasoning to a large mixing bowl.
2. Use an electric hand mixer to combine the ingredients.
3. Add the chopped dill pickles, pickle juice, worcestershire sauce and fresh dill to the mixing bowl. Use a spatula and stir to combine everything.
4. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Winter Margaritas are being served tonight…