Asian-Brined Smoked Pork Chops

Smoking pork chops is one of my favorite ways to prepare this cut of meat. Brining not only keeps the pork moist, but also adds flavor. While dried red chilies (zi² tin¹ ziu¹, 指天椒) and Sichuan peppercorns (faa¹ ziu¹, 花椒) are used in the brine, the resulting pork chops are not hot, and the five spice powder adds a sweet fragrance. Cherry or apple wood smoke goes well pork, but you can use any available wood.

Enjoy!

Lamb Chive Chow Mein (韭菜羊肉炒麵, Gau2 Coi3 Joeng4 Juk6 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 13 Dec 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Lamb and chives make a great taste combination. Add some noodles and tofu and you have a satisfying dish.

The last noodle recipe I published, Beef Sugar Snap Pea Chow Mein (蜜豆牛肉炒麵, Mat⁶ Dau⁶ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶), I forgot to include the instructions to prepare the noodles (since corrected). The noodles just magically appeared! It’s amazing, since I reviewed the recipe more than once looking for errors and that certainly was a big one. So for this recipe, I didn’t forget!

Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs (甜酸排骨, Tim4 Syun1 Paai4 Gwat1)

This recipe was updated on 13 Aug 2015. Some instructions were changed.

This dish can be found in all Cantonese style restaurants in the USA. It’s probably one of the more popular dishes that is ordered by just about everyone, both locals and tourists, and is almost stereotypical when a dish is associated with Chinese food in the USA. However, the recipe for this dish is not like that found in restaurants. In the typical sweet and sour restaurant dish, the meat and sauce is bright red, being heavily dyed using food coloring. You will notice that there’s not a speck of red in the sauce or pork spareribs in this dish. The lack of the red coloring doesn’t affect the taste in any way. This dish is also healthier than your typical restaurant sweet and sour dish since the spareribs are braised and not deep fried - if one can call a pork sparerib dish healthy!

Enjoy!

Eggs with Bitter Melon (Pancake Style) (苦瓜炒蛋, Fu2 Gwaa1 Caau2 Daan6)

This recipe was updated on 14 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

I had this egg pancake dish at a Chinese restaurant recently and it was prepared differently than the dish I’m used to eating, which scrambles the eggs with the bitter melon. The recipe for the scrambled version can be found at Eggs with Bitter Melon (Scrambled Style) (苦瓜炒蛋, Fu² Gwaa¹ Caau² Daan⁶). The egg pancake dish’s preparation is the same as the scrambled version, but it’s harder to make than it looks. It took me two tries to get this dish to come out looking like the restaurant’s dish.

Unlike making the scrambled egg version of this dish, where you complete the cooking by moving the eggs around in the pan, there are two sides that need to be cooked. This means that the egg pancake needs to be flipped over in order to fry the second side, which means that you need to be good at flipping pancakes (made of eggs or otherwise) in a well-seasoned pan to make this dish. I didn’t flip the pancake high enough to clear the pan the first time I made this dish, used too many eggs, and ended up with a funny looking half circle pancake.

The other important piece of information needed to make this dish is to not use too many eggs and to evenly distribute the eggs in the pan. The egg pancake needs to be thin in order to cook quickly and not burn. Flipping the egg pancake is also easier when it’s thin. I used a well-seasoned 9-inch frying pan, so 3 eggs were enough to coat the bitter melon in a thin layer.

Enjoy!

Beef Sugar Snap Pea Chow Mein (蜜豆牛肉炒麵, Mat6 Dau6 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated 15 Nov 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

Here’s a tasty chow mein recipe using beef and sugar snap peas. Snow peas can be substituted for sugar snap peas if they’re not available. Making Chinese noodle dishes can be deceptive: while the result is one quickly consumed dish, the number of ingredients require a good amount of preparation time. At a restaurant, where the heat source is much greater than that found in your kitchen, the cooking time is very fast since all the ingredients are cooked together at once. In your home kitchen, the best cooking results occur when each ingredient is cooked and browned separately.

 

Enjoy!

Three Mushroom Chicken (三菇雞, Saam1 Gu1 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 29 Jul 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

I have to admit that this dish takes some effort to make, but the effort is needed for the presentation rather than the cooking. Chicken and mushrooms makes a great tasty combination, and using three types of mushrooms and a bed of broccoli florets adds to the visual appeal and luxuriousness of the dish.

Enjoy!

Spicy Black Bean Sauce Beef and Green Beans (青豆角牛肉, Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 01 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Here’s another classic Cantonese dish using beef and green beans in a black bean sauce. The change to the classic recipe is to use a prepared spicy black bean sauce, made by Laoganma, rather than just salted black beans. You can, of course, make the dish with salted black beans if you prefer the dish without being spicy, or use a prepared sauce, such as the Lee Kum Kee brand black bean garlic sauce. The beef is tenderized using baking soda, which results in the very tender beef you experience in restaurant dishes.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Basil Turkey Meatballs

In addition to making turkey burgers (recipes can be found here and here) with the marinated ground turkey, I made meatballs for spaghetti together with Trader Joe’s Puttanesca sauce and mushrooms. You can, of course, use any tomato-based sauce with any vegetable to make spaghetti.

Enjoy!

Salmon with Chili Oil (油辣椒鮭魚, Jau4 Laat6 Ziu1 Gwai1 Jyu4)

 

This recipe was updated on 03 Dec 2015. The Chinese name was added, some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is a simple-to-make and tasty salmon dish, especially if you like spicy dishes. The salmon filet is quickly cooked with the Laoganma’s brand spicy Chili In Oil and then you’re ready to eat.

Enjoy!

Grilled Cumin Oregano Salsa Chicken (燒烤孜然牛至莎莎雞, Siu1 Haau1 Zi1 Jin4 Ngau4 Zi3 Saa1 Saa1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 09 Nov 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, here’s an Asian-Mexican inspired fusion recipe for grilled chicken. Salsa is a main component of the marinade; along with the usual Asian ingredients I usually use to marinate chicken. What really adds to the flavor of the dish is the cumin and oregano. The tequila doesn’t hurt also!

Enjoy!

Chinese Oxtail Stew (燜牛尾, Man1 Ngau4 Mei5)

 

This recipe was updated 23 Sep 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, as well as the photograph.

Here’s another recipe for Chinese Oxtail Stew. The difference between this and the Slow Cooker Chinese Oxtail Stew (燜牛尾, Man¹ Ngau⁴ Mei⁵) recipe is that the oxtails are marinated before cooking. Oxtails are usually browned after adding salt and pepper without any marinade. Marinating the oxtails for 48 hours gave the meat and the dish a richer flavor.

Enjoy!