To celebrate Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage (AANHPI) month, "Good Morning America" hosted a little friendly food competition between two great chefs for a stir-fry showdown to highlight their heritage, techniques and flavors.
Celebrity chef and restaurateur Judy Joo, chef and partner at Food Crush Hospitality, Dale Talde, and executive chef and partner at Unapologetic Foods, Chintan Pandya, joined on Wednesday to help judge the dishes live on "GMA."
Kiki Aranita, food columnist and co-chef, owner of Poi Dog -- a casual Hawaii-style restaurant and food cart in Philadelphia turned pop-up and retail sauce brand -- has long celebrated underrepresented cuisines of multicultural origins.
She said her recipe for the stir-fry showdown "uses my product, Poi Dog Huli Huli sauce, which I developed because it draws from both my cultures."
"Huli Huli chicken is a signature Hawaiian BBQ chicken that often uses a pineapple base. My version is spiked with Chinese 5-spice, so for me at home, it’s a shortcut to achieving my favorite flavors in stir fry," Aranita said. "My secret stir fry trick that my whole family has always done is to put a big chunk of ginger into the oil as a first step to perfume the oil. You don’t remove it. Sometimes, if you’re unlucky, you’ll end up biting into a mouthful of ginger, but such are the hazards of deliciousness."
Her competitor PriaVanda Chouhan, owner and self-taught executive chef of Desi Galli in Manhattan, created her restaurants to satisfy the Desi -- Indian sub-continent diaspora -- hankering for Indian soul food.
As she slowly mastered a multitude of Indian recipes every day from her mother's inspiration and with efficiency drawn from Rachel Ray's 30-minute meals, Couhan developed her own personal style of lighter, healthier, vegan and gluten-free cooking without sacrificing flavor.
Yield: 4 portions
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, sliced into 3/4-inch slices
1 crown of broccoli, broken down into small pieces – 1 – 1 1/2 inches
2 cups of bean sprouts
2 cups of corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
1 1-inch finger of ginger
Huli Huli Sauce
1 teaspoon Cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water
Neutral oil for cooking
Salt to taste
Sliced green onions for garnish
Steamed rice for serving
Directions
Marinate chicken breast in about 2 cups of Huli Huli for 3 hours or overnight (just enough sauce to coat the chicken.
Let the pan get hot (high-medium heat), and add about 3-4 tablespoons of oil and ginger.
Add the marinated chicken to the pan. Add the broccoli to the pan. Stir and toss the broccoli and chicken for about a minute while they cook.
Add a 1/4 cup of water to the pan to deglaze it. Turn the heat down slightly and add the cornstarch slurry.
Add bean sprouts and toss/stir fry.
Add a couple of pinches of salt and turn off the heat.
Garnish with green onion and serve with steamed rice.
Chef's Tips
Huli Huli chicken is a signature Hawaiian BBQ chicken that often uses a pineapple base.
Remember to marinate that chicken! The longer the better honestly. Try to go overnight.
The chunk of ginger to season the oil is my Chinese family’s trick to give the most flavor — it’s not going to be eaten, so don’t worry about how it ends up looking.
The cornstarch slurry should coat the other ingredients and give a nice gloss… but make sure it’s fully incorporated so you don’t end up with cornstarch nuggets.
Don’t be scared of caramelization! Huli Huli can be a little charred.
Serves: 4 people
Ingredients
2 packages of ching’s hakka noodles
1/2 lb of thinly sliced boneless lamb leg with fat trimmed off
1 cup of thinly sliced cabbage
1 cup of thinly sliced carrots
4 finely grated garlic cloves
1 green bell pepper thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 bunch of scallions, sliced and divided between white and dark green
4 tablespoons of cooking oil of your choice, divided in 2
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons sriracha sauce (optional)
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon of sugar
Directions
In a medium fry pan or wok, heat half oil over medium-high until hot and add half-grated garlic. Sauté for a minute ensuring garlic does not stick to the pan.
Add lamb and sauté for 2-3 minutes for medium done. Transfer to a plate.
Heat the remaining oil and add the remaining garlic. Sauté for a minute ensuring garlic does not stick to the pan.
Add the chopped white part of scallions and sauté for a few minutes. Add sliced red bell pepper and green bell pepper and cook until slightly tender. Add sliced carrots and cook until slightly tender. Add sliced cabbage and cook until slightly tender.
Add lemon juice, sriracha, soy sauce, and tomato ketchup. Omit sriracha if you want a mild flavor. Stir to combine all vegetables and sauce. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce thickens. Taste sauce. If too spicy add sugar to balance the flavors.
In a separate medium pot boil water until bubbling. Add 1/2 package (2 bunch) of noodles and cook for two minutes. Drain noodles.
Add your cooked noodles and lamb in the sauce and toss.
Garnish with sliced green parts of scallions. Et Voila! You are ready to serve.