Squid In Salty Shrimp Sauce (蝦醬鮮魷, Haa1 Zoeng3 Sin1 Jau4)

 

This recipe was updated on 11 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Calamari is usually used when naming or titling a dish with squid in it. It seems rather odd that people are more likely to eat a dish with calamari in the title than squid, given that they’re the same ingredient. So why does this dish title have squid in the name? The main reasons are that the name of this classic dish is the literal translation from Chinese and that’s the name this dish is known by.

This is not the traditional preparation for this dish, which usually consists just of squid stir fried in shrimp sauce, since I’ve added some vegetables to the recipe. Carved squid pieces and squid tentacles are available in the frozen section of your local Asian supermarket. You can of course use fresh squid if it’s available. I happen to like eating squid tentacles, so I include them in dishes when I can, but some are not fans, so feel free to not use them in the dish.

My local farmer’s market had purple long beans, which are usually green in color. I’ve never eaten before this type of long beans before, so I couldn’t resist buying and using the purple long beans in this dish. If you can’t get long beans (whatever the color), substitute regular green beans.

The most important ingredient in this dish is the shrimp sauce, which is an odd purple color. Shrimp sauce is, to say the least, a pungent mixture of ground fermented shrimp and salt, and for some, pungent is just a nice way to say it smells. No matter what someone thinks about the smell of this sauce, you can’t make this dish without it. Shrimp sauce and squid just naturally taste good together.

Enjoy!

Spicy Tomato Beef Curry (咖哩粉番茄牛肉, Gaa3 Lei1 Fan2 Faan1 Ke4 Ngau4 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 31 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Tomato Beef Curry is a classic Chinese-American dish that you can get at any Cantonese restaurant. The dish is a mixture of beef, tomatoes, and other vegetables in a sweet and sour curry sauce (not that thick red gloppy stuff). Depending upon on your preference, the dish can be sourer than sweet or sweeter than sour. Madras curry or garam masala powder is the typical ingredient for the curry part of the dish (and turmeric if you want the dish to be yellow colored). I also used tomatoes and Jalapeño peppers from my garden. The peppers make this dish spicy and can be omitted if desired. You can think of this dish as a version of the Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶) recipe without the noodles.

Enjoy!

Greek Yogurt Cantaloupe Pasta Salad

This is a nice dish for those hot days when you want something cool to eat. You get the sweetness from the cantaloupe and a nice sour tang from the dressing. This recipe is very similar to the Greek Yogurt Soy Sauce Chicken Pasta Salad dish (whose recipe can be found here). The main difference in this recipe is the use of cantaloupe instead or chicken, making this dish vegetarian.

Enjoy!

Pork Baby Back Ribs with Black Bean and Garlic (蒜蓉豆豉排骨, Syun3 Jung4 Dau6 Si6 Paai4 Gwat1)

 

This recipe was updated on 08 Nov 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This recipe is a classic Cantonese-style steamed pork dish using pork ribs and black beans, with a notable twist to the recipe – using the whole pork baby back rib instead of using cut 1- (2.5 cm.) to 2-inch (5 cm.) rib pieces. Marinating the ribs is also not usually done in the classic recipe, so feel free to omit this step if you’re in a hurry to make and eat this dish!

The number of pork ribs used in this recipe is governed by the size of the plate than can be placed into the steamer. You want to have one layer of individual ribs in the plate with the topping. The baby back rib is the right size to fit into the steamer plate for cooking and for eating. You can of course use cut ribs (just pile them in the plate!) in this recipe instead of whole baby back ribs, but normal pork ribs are not recommended since they would be too big to fit into the steaming plate and to eat.

For this recipe, ½ of the baby back pork rib rack was used, about 7 ribs. The whole rack was cut into individual ribs, marinated, and then used in two recipes. The first being this recipe and the other is Pork Baby Back Ribs with Fermented Bean Curd (腐乳排骨, Fu⁶ Jyu⁵ Paai⁴ Gwat¹). Both recipes are classic Cantonese steamed dishes except for the use of the whole baby back rib.

Enjoy!

Pork Baby Back Ribs with Fermented Bean Curd (Fu6 Jyu5 Paai4 Gwat1, 腐乳排骨)

This recipe is a classic Cantonese-style steamed pork dish using pork ribs and fermented bean curd, with a notable twist to the recipe – using the whole pork baby back rib instead of using cut 1- to 2-inch rib pieces. Marinating the ribs is also not usually done in the classic recipe, so feel free to omit this step if you’re in a hurry to make and eat this dish!

The number of pork ribs used in this recipe is governed by the size of the plate than can be placed into the steamer. You want to have one layer of individual ribs in the plate with the topping. The baby back rib is the right size to fit into the steamer plate for cooking and for eating. You can of course use cut ribs (just pile them in the plate!) in this recipe instead of whole baby back ribs, but normal pork ribs are not recommended since they would be too big to fit into the steaming plate and to eat.

For this recipe, ½ of the baby back pork rib rack was used, about 7 ribs. The whole rack was cut into individual ribs, marinated, and then used in two recipes. The first being, Pork Baby Back Ribs with Black Bean and Garlic, whose recipe can be found here, and this recipe. Both recipes are classic Cantonese steamed dishes except for the use of the whole baby back rib.

Enjoy!

Cloud Ear Salmon (雲耳鮭魚, Wan4 Ji5 Gwai1 Jyu4)

 

This recipe was updated on 06 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

I originally called this dish, Black Fungus Salmon, but then I thought about the name and decided that it didn’t make the dish sound too appealing or appetizing. So now it’s called Cloud Ear Salmon and that seems a little more mysterious sounding and won’t immediately put off anyone. If you’ve ever eaten black or cloud ear fungus, you’ll know that it’s pretty tasteless and is eaten more for the texture than anything else. I’m sure there’s some traditional Chinese medicinal value, but I don’t know what that would be.

There is also a noodle dish based on this recipe: Cloud Ear Salmon Chow Mein (雲耳鮭魚炒麵, Wan⁴ Ji⁵ Gwai¹ Jyu⁴ Caau² Min⁶).

Enjoy!

Chinese-Style Barbecue Sauce Chicken (燒烤醬鷄, Siu1 Haau1 Zoeng3 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 15 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

The title uses Chinese-style because the preparation uses Chinese ingredients, but the grilling and smoking of the chicken is typically American. I used mesquite wood to smoke the chicken, which is very American.

I found a bottle of Koon Chun brand Barbecue Sauce in my refrigerator that was almost empty, but there was just enough sauce left to marinate the chicken. The Koon Chun brand of Chinese barbecue sauce taste similar to hoisin sauce, which can be substituted if you can’t find this brand (there are many brands of Chinese barbecue sauce) at your local Asian market. Feel free to substitute your favorite sauce in the recipe.

Enjoy!

Basil Tomato Beef Chow Mein (紫蘇番茄牛肉炒麵, Zi2 Sou1 Faan1 Ke4 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 17 June 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Well it’s that time of year again, when the tomatoes from my garden are abundant and ready to eat. This year I have both red and yellow tomatoes. Time again to make Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶), but unlike the last recipe there’s no curry and I’ve added basil leaves (also from my garden). I also tweaked the sauce ingredients a bit, adding ketchup and the liquid used to cook the noodles. Making the noodles burned and crispy is another variant to this dish, which was done for this recipe.

Enjoy!

Japanese Curry Chicken (咖哩鷄, Gaa3 Lei1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 20 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

Cauliflower is in season now, so here’s an easy to make curry dish using cauliflower and prepared Japanese curry cubes. There are several brands of prepared Japanese curry, I happen to use S&B, and they range from mild to extra hot. There really is no heat in these prepared curry cubes, but the “hotter” the curry, the darker the sauce. In this case, the “medium” version was used. I always marinate my chicken (out of habit and being able to use the chicken in other stir-fry dishes), but you can simplify this recipe and not marinate the chicken at all.

Enjoy!