Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Beef Tendon (湖南豆豉辣椒牛筋, Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ngau4 Gan1)

This recipe was updated on 16 Oct 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Beef tendon is usually eaten in a stew with beef outside flank, which can be found in the Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man¹ Ngau⁴ Gan¹ Ngau⁴ Naam⁵) recipe, but beef tendon can be the star of the dish all by itself. Beef tendon is tough and requires long slow cooking, at which time it becomes soft and gelatinous, so making this dish is a two-step process. The first step is to soften the beef tendon through slow cooking, and the second step is to stir fry the beef tendon with vegetables. I use a slow cooker in the first step since I can just cook the beef tendon unattended. The beef tendon itself is nearly tasteless, so the other ingredients give the dish its flavor, with the beef tendon supplying the texture to the dish.

Enjoy!

Hot Bean Sauce Cashew Beef (辣豆辦腰果牛肉, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Jiu1 Gwo2 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 21 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

Everything in this dish, except for the beef, came from a can or bottle. So if you have a can and bottle opener, you can make this quick cooking dish. Bamboo shoots are a staple of Chinese cooking. They can be purchased bottled, canned, preserved, and fresh, and also as strips, as slices, or as whole shoots. For this dish, I used canned bamboo shoot slices, but you can easily buy them fresh at your local Asian market. The cashew nuts give an added crunch and the hot bean sauce gives the dish its spicy flavor.

Enjoy!

Steamed Chili Lemongrass Black Bean Chicken (鮮辣椒檸檬葉豆豉蒸鷄, Sin1 Laat6 Ziu1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Dau6 Si6 Zing1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 24 May 2015. Some instructions were changed.

Steamed lemon chicken with black bean sauce is a recipe my Mom gave me when I first moved out of the house. I still have the 3x5 card (you remember those!) she gave me with that recipe many years ago. This variation of that quick cooking recipe uses lemongrass in place of lemons, with the addition of chili sauce to give the dish some spice. Since lemongrass is used instead of lemon, the dish has a hint of lemon rather than the stronger flavor a lemon supplies. The zucchini pieces are arranged along the edge of the plate to enhance the dish’s presentation.

Enjoy!

Asian-Style Carnitas

This Asian spiced inspired slow cooker recipe has its origins from the Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) recipe, which was adapted from the Mexican Pulled Pork recipe at America’s Test Kitchen. Their original premise was to develop a recipe that did involve lard or deep frying to produce the carnitas’ crispy outside. Their solution, after oven-braising the pork in a Dutch oven (this recipe uses the slow cooker instead), was to use the broiler after coating the pork with a reduction of the remaining liquid and fat. The method works great and I’ve modified their technique to use the barbeque grill instead of the broiler to get a smokier flavor incorporated into the pork. The resulting carnitas are soft on the inside and a crispy brown on the outside, with that distinctive smoked flavor from the grill. The condiments are also Asian inspired with spicy Sriracha sauce adding a distinctive spicy hot kick to the dish.

Enjoy!

Dungeness Crab Hong Kong Noodles (北美大肉蟹雲吞麵, Bak1 Mei5 Daai6 Juk6 Haai5 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 30 Aug 2016. The Cantonese for Dungeness crab was added to the title, and some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Dungeness crab is now in season, which is a treat in my part of the world. My local Asian market had cooked crab leg clusters on sale and I couldn’t resist buying them. Usually only whole cooked and uncooked crabs are available, but in this case the only work I had to do was to remove the meat from the crab leg shells. I searched for a recipe using the crab meat and adapted the recipe from the Dungeness Crab with Cellophane Noodles recipe at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website. This is a quick cooking dish and using Hong Kong noodles, in place of cellophane noodles, which works well with the crab.

Enjoy!

Mom’s Chinese Chicken Salad (手絲鷄沙律, Sau2 Si1 Gai1 Saa1 Leot6)

This recipe was updated on 15 Aug 2015. Some equipment was added and hyperlinks fixed.

My Mom would make her Chinese chicken salad for family gatherings, and since I have a very large family, there is no such thing as making just a little Chinese chicken salad. She would roast two chickens and hand shred the meat. Hand-shredding (手絲, sau² si¹) the chickens was an important step, since the Chinese believe that hand-shredding adds flavor to the dish (just be sure your hands are washed and clean!). All the other ingredients also require time to cut, chop, and crush in order to get to the finished dish. Note that making this recipe is a two day process.

I just recently asked my Mom for the recipe (which is found later in the post). The first time I made the dish, it didn’t turn out right. I used chicken parts and increased the amount of dressing. All wrong; since you need the gelatin from a whole chicken to flavor the dish, and just a small amount of dressing is required since the salad is almost “dry” when compared to the “wet” dressing used in most salads.

My second try was more successful. This version of the recipe is slightly different from my Mom’s original, with minor changes to the salad and dressing ingredients and quantities, and the taste was close to my Mom’s too. However, the quantity of salad hasn’t changed, so there’s still no such thing as just a little Chinese chicken salad.

Enjoy!

Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si6 Jau4 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 16 Aug 2015. Some hyperlinks were fixed.

Poaching chicken is an easy and fast way to cook a chicken. While the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe uses water to poach the chicken, a soy sauce based solution is used to make this version of poached chicken. Usually dark soy sauce is used to give the chicken its color, but I tried using thick soy sauce (which has molasses) instead and I like the results better. The Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe has instructions on how to cut and present the chicken. Just be sure you have a good sharp Chinese cleaver and a wood cutting board, and with a little practice, you’ll be able to cut chickens as if you worked in a Chinese delicatessen.

Enjoy!

Chicken with Dried Shrimp (蝦米鷄, Haa1 Mai5 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 21 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Aside from the dried shrimp, this is a pretty standard chicken stir fry dish. Mushrooms are a common ingredient to include in this dish, but substituting dried shrimp gives the dish a different taste. Like mushrooms, dried shrimp tastes good with chicken and produces a different texture in the dish. Dried shrimp can be purchased at your local Asian market, usually in the refrigerator section.

Enjoy!

Chum Salmon and Snow Peas with Wood Ear Fungus (木耳荷蘭豆鮭魚, Muk6 Ji5 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gwai1 Jyu4)

This recipe was updated on 25 May 2015. Some instructions were changed.

Here’s a quick cooking salmon dish with minimal preparation time. Chum salmon was available at my local Asian market, but you can substitute regular salmon if you can’t find the chum. The seasoning is very simple, in fact my usual cornstarch thickener isn’t used in the sauce so that the salmon is the dominant taste. The crunch in this dish comes from the snow peas and, to a smaller degree, the wood ear fungus.

Enjoy!

Basil Mussel Sausage Aglio e Olio

The basis of this dish is extra virgin olive oil and garlic. Whenever I’ve made this dish in the past, I would thinly slice garlic cloves to get the desired quantity (which is more than most recipes call for since I like garlic). At my local Korean market, minced garlic (mixed with a small amount of water) is available in containers up to 5 lbs. (2.3 kg), which is a lot of minced garlic! So I bought a 1 lb. (454 g.) container and used a small portion of that garlic for this recipe together with frozen mussel meat. Most recipes use fresh mussels in the shell to make this dish and the broth from cooking the mussels become part of the sauce. So to emulate that process, I thawed the mussels in white wine and then used the mussel infused wine in the sauce.

You can save some time by cooking the pasta while the other ingredients are prepared. I never do this since prep time always seems to exceed pasta cooking time for me, but for those of you that are speedier, you can use parallel processing to make this dish. Finally I used a wok to make this dish (which certainly isn’t a traditional Italian method!), but you can certainly use a pan.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mustard Green Chow Mein (芥菜鷄炒麵, Gaai3 Coi3 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 29 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Mustard greens must be in season since they’ve been on sale at my local Asian market. Chicken and mustard greens is a combination that goes well together. Mustard greens not only add a crunchy texture to this dish, but also a distinctive taste to this noodle dish.

Enjoy!

Basil Lemongrass Chili Beef (紫蘇檸檬葉辣椒牛肉, Zi2 Sou1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 04 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I still have a lot of lemongrass left in my refrigerator after my purchase from my local farmer’s market for the Chili Lemongrass Squid (辣椒檸檬葉魷魚, Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Ning⁴ Mung⁴ Jip⁶ Jau⁴ Jyu⁴) dish. Another flavor that goes well with lemongrass is basil, and fresh basil leaves can be purchased at your local supermarket or if you’re fortunate enough, grown in your garden. The heat in this dish comes from dried red chilies, and the amount of dried red chilies to use is a personal preference, so feel free to use more or less. The sauce is based on fish sauce, which adds another flavor to the beef used in this dish. Soy sauce can be substituted, but the dish won’t taste the same.

Enjoy!

Chili Lemongrass Squid (辣椒檸檬葉魷魚, Laat6 Ziu1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Jau4 Jyu4)

This recipe was updated on 29 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I bought lemongrass at my local Farmer’s market, which adds a mild lemon flavor to this dish, with dried red chilies adding heat. You have to remove the tough outer layers of the lemongrass and finely slice the tender white portions before cooking. Carving squid, also called pineapple cut squid due to the cross cuts on one surface, can be purchased already cut into pieces at your local Asian market and curl into cylinders when cooked.

Enjoy!

Roast Pork Shanghai Noodles (燒肉上海麵, Sui1 Juk6 Soeng6 Hoi2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 23 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Roast pork is always a treat to eat. This recipe uses already cooked roast pork that can be bought at your local Chinese delicatessen, and pairs it with thick and chewy Shanghai noodles. The crispy skin is separated from the pork before cooking so it won’t become soggy, and then added at the end. A soy based sauce is all that’s needed to complete this quick cooking dish.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Scallops (黑椒汁帶子, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Daai3 Zi2)

This recipe was updated on 25 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Black pepper sauce goes well with seafood, in this case scallops. I used frozen 60/80 scallops (60 to 80 scallops per pound/500 g.), but you can use fresh and/or larger sized scallops to make this dish. Scallops this sized don’t take long to cook, so use a hot wok and quickly stir fry to keep them tender.

Enjoy!

Steamed Chili Lemongrass Chicken Wings (鮮辣椒檸檬葉蒸鷄翼, Sin1 Laat6 Ziu1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Zing1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 23 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another easy to make steamed chicken wing dish. The previous dish, Steamed Chicken Wings with Dried Lily Flowers (金針蒸鷄翼, Gam¹ Zam¹ Zing¹ Gai¹ Jik⁶), used lily flowers as a topping. This recipe is spicier, and uses Sichuan Gao Fu Ji brand fresh chili sauce (any brand chili sauce can be used) and lemongrass for a topping. Lemongrass adds another flavor to this spicy dish and can be purchased at your local Asian market. You peel the tough outer layers of the lemongrass, cut and discard the green portions, thinly slice the tender white parts before combining with the chili sauce, and then top the chicken wings with the mixture before steaming.

Enjoy!

Beef and Bell Pepper Dough Sliced Noodles (青椒牛肉刀削麵, Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6 Dou1 Soek3 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 08 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I tried another brand of frozen dough sliced noodles. I had been buying the noodles that were made in Taiwan, but the ones from Korea were on sale at my local Korean market, so I thought I would give them a try. I really couldn’t tell any difference between the two brands, both having the chewy texture associated with dough sliced noodles, so I’ll add the Korean to my list of noodle sources.

The flavor for this dish comes not only from the ingredients used, but from the sauce, which mainly consists of soy sauce. The type and brand of soy sauce greatly influences the final taste of the dish. If you go into your local Asian market, you’ll find shelf after shelf with many brands of soy sauce, each with a unique flavor. The only advice that I can give to pick a particular brand of soy sauce is to try as many as you can before settling on one that you like. Some soy sauces are more expensive than others, and these tend to be special or first pressings (like olive oil). So try one of these “special” soy sauces in a sauce, but don’t use it in large quantities for a marinade. Use a more inexpensive soy sauce for marinades – I buy soy sauce in one gallon (about 4 liters) sized containers for this purpose.

Enjoy!

Chili Black Bean Sauce Chicken Wings with Zucchini (黑豆辣椒意大利青瓜鷄翼, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 26 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Cooking chicken wings in a wok requires the use of high heat to brown the wings uncovered and then a lower heat to simmer using a cover. The bean curd sticks used in this dish are also cooked in this manner, but not the zucchini. The zucchini is added at the end of cooking to prevent them from being overcooked. A Dutch oven can also be used in place of a wok.

Enjoy!

Shrimp and Salted Duck Egg Fried Rice (鹹鴨蛋蝦炒飯, Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Haa1 Caau2 Faan6)

This recipe was updated on 12 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

So this isn’t a typical fried rice dish for me since the ingredients are not leftovers, except for the cooked rice. 51/60 shrimp is used in this dish, which means that there are 51 to 60 shrimp per pound (500 g.). The reason being that you want to use small shrimp when making fried rice to make it easier to eat. A cooked salted duck egg is diced and added to the dish for added flavor. Cooked duck eggs can be purchased at your local Asian market. If you can get uncooked salted duck eggs (which are now hard to find in my area), you can just scramble it with the other (chicken) eggs. The amount of fried rice will easily feed four people.

 

Enjoy!

Steamed Chicken Wings with Dried Lily Flowers (金針蒸鷄翼, Gam1 Zam1 Zing1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 30 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Lily flowers (also called lily buds) are often used in steamed Chinese dishes with chicken. Lily flowers can be purchased dried at your local Asian market. After being rehydrated, the lily flowers are tied into a knot to prevent them from unfurling. You have to be gentle while tying them since the rehydrated flowers will break. The dried lily flowers should be light brown in color and if they turn black, the dried lily flowers are past their prime and should be discarded.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Sauce Chicken with Snow Peas (豆豉荷蘭豆鷄, Dau6 Si6 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 29 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Black bean sauce chicken is a standard recipe, it’s just a question of what else to include in the dish. All you have to do is to look in your pantry and pull out whatever your heart desires to make a tasty dinner. In this case, snow peas and cloud ear fungus were the choice, with red bell pepper to add color to the dish. If you’re feeling lazy, you can use a prepared black bean garlic sauce, my favorite brand is Lee Kum Kee.

Enjoy!

Pork Hearts and Fish Tofu with Snow Peas (荷蘭豆魚豆腐豬心, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Jyu4 Dau6 Fu6 Zyu1 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 09 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Pork and seafood is a tasty combination used in Chinese dishes - in this case it’s pork hearts and fish tofu. Just like dishes using beef hearts, such as Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Sam¹ Caau² Min⁶), Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu¹ Haau¹ Laat⁶ Ngau⁴ Sam¹), and Beef Heart with Bell Peppers (青椒牛心, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Ngau⁴ Sam¹), dishes with pork heart don’t taste like organ mean since it’s a muscle (physically smaller than a beef heart), is crunchy like chicken gizzards, and has a subtle pork flavor. Ground pork is usually included in this dish, so when I saw pork hearts at my local Asian market, I decided to try something different and was happy that I did.

Enjoy!

Garlic Pork Fried Rice (蒜豬肉炒飯, Syun3 Zyu1 Juk6 Caau2 Faan6)

This recipe was updated on 01 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Fried rice means leftovers and a tasty quick cooking dish. The rice from last night’s dinner has been in the refrigerator overnight and the pork from the Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops, Grilled Curry Pork Chops (燒烤咖哩豬排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Gaa³ Lei¹ Zyu¹ Paai⁴), or Asian-Brined Smoked Pork Chops is cut up into bite sized pieces. If you’re a garlic lover, you can always add more sliced garlic to the dish to satisfy your tastes. Finish the dish with oyster sauce and sesame oil.

Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops

No longer are pork chops just called pork chops. Pork chops are now being sold as ribeye or porterhouse pork chops. While the pork chops are the same, the marketing has changed, which is clever given the cost of beef nowadays. No matter, the pork still taste the same no matter what they’re called. I’m able to purchase thick pork chops - thick meaning larger than 1-inch (2.5 cm) - which lends itself to cooking the pork chops like beef steaks. This version uses a teriyaki and sake marinade before being grilled. You can just as easily use thinner pork chops to make this dish, but you’ll need to reduce the grill times.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Chicken (黑椒汁鷄, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 04 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Just like black bean garlic sauce, black pepper sauce is another ready-made bottled sauce that comes in handy when you want to make a stir fry dish. Among other ingredients, the sauce consists of black pepper (obviously) and some tomato paste. The sauce is supposed to go well with beef. I happen to use Lee Kum Kee brand and you can purchase black pepper sauce at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Beef with Black Bean Hong Kong Noodles (豆豉牛肉炒雲吞麵, Dau6 Si6 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 07 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using Hong Kong noodles, this one using salted black beans. Chicken and Bell Peppers with Hong Kong Noodles (青椒鷄雲吞麵, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Gai¹ Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) and Beef Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩牛肉炒雲吞麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) are previous recipes using these noodles. Hong Kong noodles are thin egg noodles and the literal translation in Cantonese is wonton noodles. While there aren’t any wontons in this dish, these noodles are typically used together with wonton in a soup broth, hence their name, and that leads to no end of confusion if you use the literal translation. So you’ll find dishes named in English referring to thin egg noodles, Hong Kong style noodles, and even vermicelli (whose use isn’t quite correct). Needless to say, the noodles are just really thin and are really good in a stir fry.

Enjoy!

Grilled Butterflied Lamb Leg

Here’s another butterflied leg of lamb recipe. The previous version, Grilled Mesquite-Smoked Garlic Rosemary Lamb, used different spices and two grilling methods to prepare the dish. This version uses an Asian based marinade and direct heat to grill the dish. The amount of chili garlic sauce can be varied according to taste – use more if you like spicy, less if you don’t. If done correctly, the outer layer of the lamb will be crusty and the inner meat medium-rare.

Enjoy!

Mussels and Ground Pork with Snow Peas (荷蘭豆貽貝豬肉, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Ji4 Bui3 Zyu1 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 28 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Ground pork with mung bean vermicelli (also called bean threads) is a classic combination, just those ingredients together make a dish. Adding snow peas and mussels is my customization to the recipe. You can eat the dish all by itself or serve it over rice.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Chinese Broccoli Noodles (芥蘭鷄乾撈麵, Gaai3 Laan4 Gai1 Gon1 Lou1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 29 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another variation of Noodles in Sauce (乾撈麵, Gon¹ Lou¹ Min⁶) and is very easy to make. The combination of chicken, Chinese broccoli, and oyster sauce is very tasty. If you’re really in a hurry to eat, you can just use oyster sauce alone to make the sauce, but the other ingredients add more flavor, so take the time to prepare the complete sauce.

Enjoy!

Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa3 Lei1 Faan1 Ke4 Ngau4 Sam1 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 02 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s a variation on Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶) recipe using beef hearts instead of the usual beef flank. Also instead of using fresh beef hearts, I used Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu¹ Haau¹ Laat⁶ Ngau⁴ Sam¹). The beef hearts give an added crunch to the dish. The tomatoes came from my garden and this batch didn’t hold up to stir frying very well, so I got tomato skins in the finished dish rather than tomato wedges!

Enjoy!

Grilled Curry Pork Chops (燒烤咖哩豬排, Siu1 Haau1 Gaa3 Lei1 Zyu1 Paai4)

This recipe was updated on 13 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This recipe uses thin pork chops with the skin on. The pork chops usually bought in a supermarket have the skin removed, but pork chops with skin can be purchased at Asian markets. If pork chops with skin cannot be obtained, then use the pork chops without skin from the supermarket. To prevent the pork chops from cupping, the skin is cut in two places before marinating and cooking. Thin pork chops, ½-inch (15 mm.) wide, are required since the cooking method uses a hot coals to quickly grill and brown the pork chops, with the curry powder adding a nice flavor to the finished dish.

Enjoy!

Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu1 Haau1 Laat6 Ngau4 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 30 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using beef hearts, this time grilled in a spicy chili sauce. I bought the beef hearts already sliced at my local Asian market and they slice the beef hearts thicker than my neighborhood supermarket. The beef hearts are also always available at the Asian market, unlike the supermarket. I didn’t (and couldn’t) eat all the grilled beef hearts, so the leftovers were used for another dish.

Enjoy!

Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉, Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Zing1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Steamed pork is a dish I grew up eating and all Chinese Moms have a recipe for this dish. Steamed pork is usually never the only ingredient used in making this dish and there are innumerable recipe variations for additions. There is another recipe for Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (鹹魚蒸豬肉, Haam⁴ Jyu⁴ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶) .

This version uses cooked salted duck egg, whose saltiness goes well with the savory pork flavor. You can buy cooked salted duck eggs at your local Asian market. If you can get uncooked salted duck eggs, which are getting hard to find in my area, you can crack the egg over the top of the ground pork. Don’t confuse salted duck eggs with preserved duck eggs (皮蛋, pei⁴ daan⁶,), also known as thousand year eggs, which are black/green in color and definitely an acquired taste!

On the surface, this seems like an easy dish to make. If this dish is prepared correctly, the steamed ground pork has a tender mouth feel when eaten. I have found, through many attempts, that if you add 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) corn starch per ½ lb. (250 g.) ground pork, together with the other marinade ingredients, you get the desired result. Previously attempts that didn’t work used ground pork with more and less fat content, ground pork with small and large grind, and other binders (tapioca and rice starch).

Enjoy!

Chicken and Fish Balls with Black Bean Chili Sauce (魚蛋黑豆辣椒油鷄, Jyu4 Daan6 Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 06 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I was actually going to make another dish until I saw the one pound (454 g.) package of frozen fish balls at my local Asian market. Fish balls are made like other meatballs, ground meat (in this case fish) mixed together and formed into balls. Fish balls are most commonly used in soups and are also served deep fried. I guess you could make fish ball spaghetti with them too! Fish isn’t the only flavor available, you can also get prawn and cuttlefish balls at your local Asian market. So I decided to combine the fish balls with chicken and green string beans and used Laoganma brand black bean chili sauce to finish the dish. It turns out that chicken and fish balls makes a tasty combination.

Enjoy!

Beijing-Style Chicken Wings (北京鷄翼, Bak1 Ging1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 04 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This recipe was adapted from the Mi Zhi Ji Chi Chuan (Beijing Chicken Wings) recipe at saveur.com. The original recipe used skewers since that’s how the wings are cooked on the streets. I omitted the skewers, but didn’t change the method the wings are cooked – quickly over hot coals until charred. I also used chili garlic sauce in the spice paste, where the original uses a chili oil after cooking, to produce the spicy hot taste of the wings. The spicing of this recipe is similar to that used in the Grilled Xinjiang-Style Chicken Wing (新疆燒烤鷄翼, San¹ Goeng¹ Siu¹ Haau¹ Gai¹ Jik⁶) recipe.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Zucchini with Spicy Bean Paste (意大利青瓜春辣酱雞, Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Ceon1 Laat6 Zoeng3 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 04 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Zucchini is in season now, so I added some chicken and spicy bean paste to make this dish for dinner. The Laoganma brand spicy bean paste includes a spicy oil that adds flavor to this dish. If you can’t find Laoganma brand spicy bean paste at your local Asian grocery store, you can substitute black bean sauce and hot chili oil.

Enjoy!