Nov 19
2012

Farina Kingsley’s Stir-Fried Asian Greens + Pantry Kit Giveaway!

in ad-free, Fruits & Vegetables, Fuji Gift List, Giveaway, Indonesia/Malaysia, Side Dish

Farina's Stir-Fried Asian Greens

Dark leafy greens stir-fried in a smoky, sweet and spicy sauce make a wonderful addition to a fall or winter meal, and a fun way to explore the flavors of Southeast Asia.  I wrote recently about different ways to add more fruits and vegetables into your diet.  One idea I talked about was trying something new as a way to keep things interesting and fun.  I think this is applicable not only for feeding our families, but keeping things interesting for those of us spending our time cooking meals in our kitchens as well.  Please tell me I’m not the only one to find myself in a dinner rut, making the same things over and over again and feeling wholly bored and uninspired?  One of the things I’ve learned over the years, is that if I branch out into other cuisines and learn new ways to use familiar items, and also learn to use new ingredients, my time in the kitchen is much more pleasurable, and I’m way less likely to get into my cooking rut.

Farina's Asian Pantry App

One of my twitter friends, and favorite cookbook authors, Farina Kingsley, has a new interactive Asian cookbook app, called Farina’s ASIAN Pantry.  Farina is crazy talented (LOVE her cookbooks), and has a fascinating background.  When she asked if I would be interested in trying out her new app, along with one of her new pantry kits, I couldn’t resist.  I decided to try her Southeast Asian Pantry Kit, because some of the ingredients are ones I am less familiar with, or have never used.

Ingredients for stir-fried Asian greens

The app is easy to use, and a lot of fun.  Farina does a fabulous job of demystifying Asian cuisine in the home.  The app features more than 60 of Farina’s recipes, along with photos of the dishes.  The app covers dishes from China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.  It also includes some great “how-to” videos, an Asian market locator, and a detailed ingredient glossary (with pictures!), so that you’re never alone in the cooking process.  If you’re looking for a fun gift for someone who loves Asian cuisines and loves to cook, the app and a pantry kit would be an amazing gift!

Fuji Gift List 2012

The pantry kit is full of ingredients needed to cook the various recipes featured on the app, and will get you excited to get into the kitchen to start cooking.

Farina's Southeast Asian Pantry Kit

I started out simple, with Farina’s recipe for Stir-Fried Asian Greens, a dish that features Indonesian and Malaysian flavors.

Making stir-fried Asian greens

I had never used shrimp paste before, and was amazed at how its pungent odor and fishy flavor gave the greens a smoky savory flavor that was amazing.  I appreciated that Farina listed the traditional vegetable (Chinese broccoli) and then listed alternative substitutions.  I used Swiss chard, which is much easier to find where we live.  The greens were delicious—I could have eaten the entire pan all by myself.  This recipe has been added to my “go-to” list of side dishes, because it’s easy and delicious.  Farina wants to help one of you stock your pantry with Asian ingredients, and is sponsoring a giveaway of one of her pantry kits!  Details are after the recipe below.  In the meantime, check out Farina’s app and discover some new recipes for yourself!

Stir-Fried Asian Greens

Print This Recipe Print This Recipe

Farina Kingsley’s Stir-Fried Asian Greens

Recipe reprinted with permission from Farina’s ASIAN Pantry app

Makes 4 servings

For the greens:
2 bunches Chinese broccoli, Swiss chard or spinach
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon shrimp paste

For the aromatic paste:
1 red Fresno chili, seeded and chopped
1 (1-inch) slice fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

For the sweet soy sauce mixture:
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon cornstarch

1. Prep the greens: Trim the woody portion of the stems then cut the greens into 3-inch lengths, separating the stalks from the leafy portions. Wash the greens well to remove any dirt or grit, drain and set aside.

2. Make the aromatic paste: Use a mortar and pestle or mini-food processor to grind the ingredients for the aromatic paste until smooth and set aside.

3. Make the sweet soy sauce mixture: In a separate small bowl, combine the water, soy sauce and cornstarch.

3. Heat a wok or large saute pan over high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the oil and fry the aromatic paste for 1 minute. Add the shrimp paste and stir-fry until the mixture is fragrant and the paste turns a shade darker, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add in the stalks and fry until just tender, about 1 minute. Add in the greens and continue to stir-fryuntil the leaves have wilted. Stir in the sweet soy sauce mixture and stir-fry until well combined and the sauce thickens.

5. Drain the vegetables in a colander and transfer the greens to a warm plate and serve immediately.

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Farina’s Asian Pantry Kit Giveaway!

There will be one (1) lucky winner who will receive their choice of one of Farina’s Asian Pantry Kits, courtesy of Farina Kingsley!

  • Rules: The giveaway will close Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 12:01 am EST. The giveaway is open to all readers. The winner will be chosen randomly and notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.  To enter, please follow the steps below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }

Liz @ The Lemon Bowl November 19, 2012 at 11:59 am

We love cooking with Asian flavors in our home but I have never used shrimp paste. Can’t wait to pick it up soon!

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sara November 19, 2012 at 12:25 pm

Awesome giveaway – and those greens look incredibly taste!

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sara November 19, 2012 at 12:25 pm

Awesome giveaway – and those greens look incredibly tasty!

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meatballs & milkshakes November 19, 2012 at 12:54 pm

Looks like some interesting and unusual ingredients!

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Ally November 19, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Mmmm, greens! My favorite.

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Joy November 19, 2012 at 12:55 pm

What a fantastic kit!

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pam November 19, 2012 at 1:06 pm

looks yummy

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Marnely Rodriguez-Murray November 19, 2012 at 1:14 pm

Oh yum, shrimp paste! I’ve never had it, but imagine it like a paste form of fish sauce, which I love love! What a fun gift idea!

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Michelle November 19, 2012 at 2:10 pm

This looks great!

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sippitysup November 19, 2012 at 2:59 pm

Pantry fun stuff. GREG

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vaishali November 19, 2012 at 4:21 pm

Wow….great giveaway!

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Wendy November 19, 2012 at 4:28 pm

Wow! Lots of ingredients I’ve never used before. I’d love to play around with these!

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Rachel November 19, 2012 at 4:29 pm

Yum yum yum! My favorite flavors!

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Alessa November 19, 2012 at 4:59 pm

That looks delicious! I love fish sauce, but my husband can always tell when I’ve opened the bottle. He smells it a mile away. I’m glad he likes the taste though.

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Abigail (Mamatouille) November 19, 2012 at 6:03 pm

I tend to wilt greens with olive oil and lemon juice, or even bacon fat, so it would be fun to try this new way! And the giveaway looks like so much fun – count me in!

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Heather November 19, 2012 at 6:44 pm

Shrimp paste definitely sounds interesting but I use fish sauce all the time so I’m sure I could get over any reservations about using shrimp paste! Great giveaway!! :)

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Sarah H.P. November 19, 2012 at 6:50 pm

I need this pantry kit in my kitchen!

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Urban Wife November 19, 2012 at 7:06 pm

This kit looks amazing!

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Yu Ming November 19, 2012 at 7:35 pm

What an interesting box of goodies!

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Jayne November 19, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Sounds like the kind of dishes I cook everyday! Thumbs up :-)

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Jayne November 19, 2012 at 7:37 pm

Btw, shrimp paste is awesome! Stirfried with rice, vegetables, meat etc just give the right amount of umami and fragrance. I love it so much.

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samantha brooke November 19, 2012 at 8:17 pm

Love greens!

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Kay November 19, 2012 at 8:51 pm

I always love trying new ingredients, this looks great!

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Dorothea November 19, 2012 at 10:05 pm

I just checked out her pantry kits, and they’re all fantastic! Thanks for a great giveaway!

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Rust November 19, 2012 at 10:18 pm

I sure could use them! This looks yummy!

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Christian Rene Friborg November 19, 2012 at 10:24 pm

I have tasted this once from one of my asian friends back in college and totally forgot about it ever since, but has not forgotten about its taste. I absolutely LOVED it, and now here it is. THANK YOU!

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TK November 19, 2012 at 10:32 pm

It looks so good, like something my Grandma used to cook!

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Amy November 20, 2012 at 1:08 am

What a wonderful prize pack to giveaway! :)

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Katie November 20, 2012 at 2:03 am

I am so excited to try this! I recently love to Okinawa, Japan and would love to know how to prepare the local produce !

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DeannaZ November 20, 2012 at 6:09 am

Oh boy, this kit looks fantastic. Love all the flavors of this stir fry too!

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Ilana November 20, 2012 at 7:21 am

This dish looks delicious and really easy to cook. I’m going to visit my local Asian market to see if I can get shrimp paste.

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sharla November 20, 2012 at 8:37 am

i would love to have the kit! it looks like a good mix of everything.

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Rebecca K-W November 20, 2012 at 8:50 am

This looks fantastic!

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Desi November 20, 2012 at 8:56 am

Your Asian greens sound magical. My mother always served us collard greens growing up… her being from the south and all. I love your Asian take on them! Would love to win your kit!

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scrapper al November 20, 2012 at 11:54 am

Oh, I’m not familiar with all of these so I’d love to win this. Thanks for the recipe too.

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lej November 20, 2012 at 1:35 pm

Looks perfect!!!! Love cooking Asian and hate running around to all the different asian supermarkets! This is just great!

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Jan R November 20, 2012 at 3:51 pm

Love this giveaway…PLEASE!

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Lindsay November 20, 2012 at 4:50 pm

This kit looks great. Full of yummy things.

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Carolyn November 20, 2012 at 8:36 pm

What a perfect giveaway, and much needed. :)

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Bets November 20, 2012 at 9:09 pm

Every time my husband travels to Asia he adds to our pantry. We especially love when he has a connection through Tokyo and brings home Mochi.

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Nancy November 20, 2012 at 10:56 pm

This looks delicious!!! I love Asian food, I LOVE Swiss Chard. I will be trying this one! Now to find some shrimp paste LOL

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Maren Zaffke November 21, 2012 at 5:38 am

What an amazing giveaway!

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Kristi November 21, 2012 at 10:05 am

This sounds amazing. And I think I’m going to add this kit thing to a gift list idea for my friend.

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Rebecca@A Dusting of Sugar November 21, 2012 at 11:46 am

One of my favorite things to do is wander around grocery stores picking up new and unknown food items to play with!

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Kindra R. November 21, 2012 at 12:34 pm

Great giveaway. We eat greens at least once a day.

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Kenny November 21, 2012 at 1:30 pm

Pantry kits! What a great idea!!!

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Yvonne A November 21, 2012 at 2:04 pm

Those greens look delicious! What a great giveaway.

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Sara November 21, 2012 at 7:50 pm

Mmmm, greens.

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Kristin November 25, 2012 at 11:56 am

This kit looks amazing! I love Asian food!

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Micha November 26, 2012 at 9:37 am

I have started to venture into a local Asian market for recipes I have found in some of my cooking magazines, but I’m going to have to try out Farina’s app. I’m so excited about this because I too get in a dinner rut.

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