Grilled Apple-Oak Smoked Lemongrass Rosemary Garlic Turkey

This will probably be the last post for 2014. So with the last recipe of 2014, I wish you and your family a Happy New Year for 2015, and will see you next year with more recipes.

So the final 2014 recipe is for grill smoking a whole turkey with apple and oak wood that I made for my family’s Christmas dinner. You were probably expecting a photo of the whole cooked turkey in this post (it was impressive looking!), but since I was pressed for time cooking Christmas dinner, I wasn’t able to take any photos and the photo above is for the leftovers.

The turkey is made with a spice paste that is placed in the space between the skin and meat of the breast, thigh, drumstick, and back. The space is created by separating the skin from the meat using your hand or the end of a long cooking spoon. Even though the skin is separated from the turkey meat, it is still attached to the turkey, forming pockets for a spice paste. If using your hand to create the pockets, you have to be prepared to place your hand (and part of your arm) into the turkey. I use this method because I’m able to feel the interface between the skin and meat, and use my fingers to separate the skin from the meat without breaking the skin.

When I first thought about making the paste using a food processor, I wanted to use a fresh rosemary, garlic, kosher salt, and olive oil mixture. It’s a classic combination and I happen to have rosemary growing in my backyard. Lemons and lemon juice are typical additions, but I decided to give the paste an Asian twist by using lemongrass. Only the white portions of the lemongrass are used in the paste, and the inedible green portions, together with the rosemary stalks, are stuffed into the turkey cavity.

Inevitably, some of the spice paste gets on the outer skin when you’re putting the paste into the turkey. Don’t worry, since this adds to the flavor of the skin. The turkey skin is coated with a mixture of kosher salt, pepper, and baking soda. The idea and use of baking soda came from America’s Test Kitchen. The baking soda not only helps with browning, but also with crisping the skin. I used double the amount of ingredients called for in the America’s Test Kitchen recipe, keeping the 1:1:1 ratio of kosher salt, pepper, and baking soda.

Root vegetables can be cut up, coated with olive oil, and placed in the bottom of the roasting pan if desired. Pan roasted vegetables is a nice addition to the meal and doesn’t really add to the cooking time. The pan roasted vegetables also add some flavor to any gravy that is made from the drippings. I also put the turkey neck and organs on top of the vegetables in the pan to be cooked, but you can also omit these items and use them for stock or directly in the gravy.

A gas grill with a thermometer is necessary for grill smoking a whole turkey. Maintaining a constant temperature of 350⁰F (175⁰C) and previous experience with your gas grill will determine the total cooking time for the turkey. I have found that 12 minutes per pound (450 g.) produces the right results (again, previous experience determines total cooking time). So for a 14 lb. (6.4 kg.) turkey, a total of 3 hours is needed to cook the turkey.

The size of your gas grill also matters since that will determine how many burners can be kept on for indirect cooking, which influences the ability to maintain a constant temperature. My gas grill is large enough to keep both end burners on during cooking, so I’m able to center the roasting pan with the turkey between two lit burners. For smaller gas grills, only one end can usually be kept lit for indirect cooking once the roasting pan with the turkey is placed on the grate, which might necessitate an increased cooking time. Regardless, the roasting pan should be rotated 180⁰ half way through the cooking time to even out any hot spots in your gas grill.

The turkey should rest for 30 minutes or more before carving, so don’t carve the turkey immediately after coming out of the grill since all the juices will not remain in the turkey meat and will just drain onto the cutting board. I consider a turkey just a large chicken, so you can follow the instructions for cutting a chicken in the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe to carve the turkey. Unlike the chicken, where all the meat will fit onto one plate, separate the turkey dark meat from the white and use two plates. In the end, the turkey was very tasty and my family was duly impressed with the flavor.

Enjoy!

Bean Sauce Chicken with Green Beans and Salted Radish (豆瓣青豆角雞, Dau6 Faan6 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

 

This is a basic bean sauce chicken and green bean stir fry with an added ingredient: salted radish. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to decipher the Chinese characters for this ingredient, so there’s no entry (as of now) in the English-Cantonese Ingredient Names page. The degree of saltiness varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, so the amount to use in the dish depends upon the brand you buy and your preference for saltiness in a dish. In general, I’ve found that those manufactured in Thailand are much saltier than those made in China. You’ll have to experiment with the amount to determine the right quantity to use. The salted radish not only provides flavor to the dish, but also texture since it’s crunchy. Use too little and you’ll probably not notice the salted radish in the dish. Use too much and the dish will be too salty.

Enjoy!

Grilled Cumin and Sichuan Peppercorn Lamb Leg Steaks (燒烤孜然花椒羊肉, Siu1 Haau1 Zi1 Jin4 Faa1 Ziu1 Joeng4 Juk6)

Lamb leg steaks are sometimes available at my local market. I can always find either bone-in and boneless whole lamb legs, but unless I want to grill a whole leg (recipes: Grilled Butterflied Lamb Leg and Grilled Mesquite-Smoked Garlic Rosemary Lamb), lamb leg steaks can be more convenient to cook. The spice paste used to season the lamb is not hot, but spicy and flavorful. You can apply the spice paste one hour before grilling, but the lamb will taste better if left to marinate overnight in the refrigerator. If you want more heat, just add and grind dried red chili peppers to the mixture.

Enjoy!

Basil Shallot Sauce Chicken and Chinese Sausage Chow Mein (紫蘇紅蔥醬臘腸雞炒麵, Zi2 Sou1 Hung4 Cung1 Laap6 Coeng4 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

I made this noodle dish for a Thanksgiving lunch that I was invited to. Since I wasn’t able to respond until the night before, I had to think about which dish I could make the next morning, since the dish couldn’t take too long to make and I had to use ingredients that were on hand. Fortunately I had some chicken marinating in the refrigerator, but it wasn’t enough to be the only meat ingredient in the dish. So I decided to add some Cantonese pork sausage, which adds a nice flavor to any dish. All the other ingredients needed for a noodle dish were in my pantry or in the refrigerator. The shallot sauce was a nice flavorful addition to my normal noodle dish finishing sauce.

 

The recipe has been scaled down to produce a more normal sized dish since I made a large amount of noodles for the lunch. Finally, since I was pressed for time, I didn’t get a chance to take pictures after I cooked the dish. It was only after I came back home from the lunch that I got a chance to take pictures of the cold leftovers (of which, there wasn’t much).

 

Enjoy!

Fermented Bean Curd Green Bean Chicken (腐乳青豆角雞, Fu6 Jyu5 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

 

Fermented bean curd is one of those ingredients that goes well with chicken. I used the non-spicy version of fermented bean curd, but added red chili peppers to make the dish more visually appealing (the amount to use is a personal preference). I used regular green beans, rather than long beans, since I had them on hand. The rest of the ingredients are readily available at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Oysters and Ground Pork with Chinese Broccoli (芥蘭豬肉鮮蠔, Gaai3 Laan4 Zyu1 Juk6 Sin1 Hou4)

Seafood and ground pork are a classic combination in Chinese dishes. In this case, fresh oysters are the seafood with the contrasting texture comes from the Chinese broccoli. The oyster liquor, which is the juice from the oyster, is added to the sauce to further enhance the oyster flavor and to increase the amount of sauce (which goes well over rice).

 

Enjoy!

Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Pork Rib Eye Chops

Indirect heat from a charcoal grill is used to roast these spicy pork chops. The pork chops should be cut at least 1-inch (2.5 cm.) thick so that they will stand on their own on the grill grate without the need of a rack to support them. The pork chops are placed on the cool side of the grill (the side opposite the lighted charcoal) with the pork chop’s flat bone on the grill grate, rib bone facing the heat, and fat cap facing up. A rack to support the pork chops will be required if the pork chops are too thin or if the pork chops are cut at an odd angle (so the pork chops will lean to one side or the other, and subsequently fall over during cooking).

Enjoy!

Grilled Dry Rub Pork Baby Back Rib Fried Rice (燒烤排骨炒飯, Siu1 Haau1 Paai4 Gwat1 Caau2 Faan6)

So if you have leftovers from the Grilled Dry Rub Pork Baby Back Ribs recipe and cooked rice, you can remove the meat from the ribs and make fried rice. I added red serrano chili peppers to the dish to spice it up even more, but that can be omitted depending upon your preference for spicy food.

Enjoy!

Hot Fermented Bean Curd Chicken (辣椒腐乳雞, Laat6 Ziu1 Fu6 Jyu5 Gai1)

Fermented bean curd can be purchased with or without chilies. I decided to use the hot version in this dish together with red serrano chili peppers to give the dish an added kick of heat. You can, of course, leave out the added red chili peppers and even use the non-spicy version of fermented bean curd if you don’t like the spiciness of the dish.

Enjoy!

Hot Bean Sauce Turkey (辣豆辦火雞肉, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Fo2 Gai1 Juk6)

Hot bean sauce gives this dish its spiciness. The serrano peppers also contribute to the spiciness, but also help to give the dish some color together with the red bell pepper. The black or cloud ear fungus gives the dish a slight crunchiness which contrasts nicely with the texture of the ground turkey. You can substitute ground pork for the turkey if it’s more convenient and you’ll probably not notice the difference.

Enjoy!

Shredded Spice Tofu Baby Bok Choy Sprouts (五香豆腐絲白菜苗, Ng5 Hoeng1 Dau6 Fu6 Si1 Baak6 Coi3 Miu4)

I posted similar recipes using shredded tofu and long baby bok choy sprouts: Shrimp with Shredded Spice Tofu (五香豆腐絲蝦, Ng⁵ Hoeng¹ Dau⁶ Fu⁶ Si¹ Haa¹), which adds seafood, and Baby Bok Choy Sprouts with Shredded Tofu (白菜苗豆腐絲, Baak⁶ Coi³ Miu⁴ Dau⁶ Fu⁶ Si¹), which uses plain shredded tofu.

Long baby bok choy sprouts resemble spinach in form, but retains its crunch when cooked, and are the young long sprouts of the bok choy plant. The long sprouts go well with shredded tofu which is also long in length. I used spiced shredded tofu instead of the white version, which is more common, to give added flavor to the dish. If you can’t find long baby bok choy sprouts (also called long bok choy muy) at your local Asian supermarket, you can substitute baby bok choy (小白菜, siu² baak⁶ coi³). Regular firm tofu, cut into strips, can be substituted for the shredded tofu.

Enjoy!

Hot Bean Sauce Bitter Melon Chicken (辣豆辦苦瓜雞, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Fu2 Gwaa1 Gai1)

The bitterness of the bitter melon goes well with the spiciness of the hot bean sauce in this dish. The other ingredients, the chicken and fried tofu, complete the dish. The bitterness of the bitter melon can be controlled by salting the wet bitter melon pieces for up to 10 minutes; more than 10 minutes and the bitterness is mostly removed, so it doesn’t take the salt too long to remove the bitterness. The salt can be omitted if you like the full bitterness of bitter melon.

Enjoy!

Garam Masala Long Bean Shrimp (胡荽豆角蝦, Wu4 Seoi1 Dau6 Gok3 Haa1)

Garam masala powder is the basis for this dish and I think of it as a spicier version of curry powder. I think I got the translation into Chinese correct for garam masala, but I’m not certain. The use of prepared curry powder is common in Cantonese American dishes, so the use of garam masala is a variation on the more common dish that uses curry powder. This is actually a good dish to have over rice.

Enjoy!

Steamed Lemon Garlic Black Bean Pork Baby Back Ribs (檸蒜蓉豆豉蒸排骨, Ning4 Syun1 Jung4 Dau6 Si6 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1)

Steaming is one of my favorite methods to cook pork spareribs since the cooking time is relatively quick when compared to other methods. Using salted black beans with garlic is a classic Cantonese preparation with steamed pork spareribs, which are usually cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces. I also use this method for whole pork baby back ribs, which are just as tasty. The added twist to the recipe is the addition of lemon juice just before steaming, which adds another flavor to the dish. You can prepare this dish ahead of time (i.e. the night before) and even used a prepared black bean garlic sauce (I recommend the Lee Kum Kee brand), but don’t add the lemon juice until just before the dish is steamed.

Enjoy!

Pea Sprouts with Duck Eggs (豆苗鴨蛋, Dau6 Miu4 Aap3 Daan6)

Pea sprouts are the shoots that are usually discarded after pea pods are picked from the plant. This classic Cantonese dish pairs the pea sprouts with two types of duck eggs – one salted and one preserved. The cooked salted duck egg is a duck egg preserved in salt, which results in a dark orange yolk and firm egg white. The preserved duck egg has a yolk that is dark green color and the egg whites are dark brown as the result of alkaline preservation. The preserved duck egg is also known as “hundred-year” and “thousand-year” old eggs. Be assured that preserved duck eggs are not that old! You can purchase all the ingredients for this dish at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Beef with Long Beans and Enoki Mushrooms (黑椒汁金菇豆角牛肉, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Gam1 Gu1 Dau6 Gok3 Ngau4 Juk6)

Fresh enoki mushrooms come packaged as a single block with a base from which the individual enoki were grown. The mushrooms themselves have long stems with a very small cap. The enoki mushrooms are cut from the base, which is discarded, and then are added to the beef and long beans in this dish.

Enjoy!

Curry Cashew Long Bean Shrimp (咖哩腰果豆角蝦, Gaa3 Lei1 Jiu1 Gwo2 Dau6 Gok3 Haa1)

When you see a dish in a Chinese restaurant whose title contains the word, curry, it means that curry powder was added to the sauce. These dishes are usually stir fried (even when curry is used in a clay pot) and reflects the quick nature of Chinese wok cooking. This dish reflects that background using long beans and shrimp. The cashew nuts are toasted while the wok heats up, and then the ingredients are cooked quickly over high heat before adding the curry sauce. The one thing that a home kitchen can’t reproduce fully is the wok flavor imparted to the dish that comes from using high heat available in restaurant, the so called, “breath of the wok” (鑊氣, wok⁶ hei³).

Enjoy!

Tagu Choy with Dried Shrimp (蝦米塌古菜, Haa1 Mai5 Taap3 Gu2 Coi3)

Tagu choy (sometimes called taku choy) is a long stemmed vegetable available at your local Asian market. It makes a good change of pace from using another Asian leafy vegetable in a stir fry. If tagu choy is not available, you can substitute any Asian leafy vegetable in its place. Dried shrimp always adds a good flavor to vegetable dishes and, if desired, the rehydration liquid adds flavor to the sauce.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Long Bean Chicken (紅油腐乳豆角雞, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

I’m always on the lookout for new ingredients at my local Asian market. The market started carrying a new fermented bean curd in chili oil made by Laoganma. So I bought it, adding to my already full pantry of Chinese ingredients, and made this chicken and long bean dish with it. I also made the dish with a good amount of sauce, using the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid. The chili oil is not very hot, at least in my opinion, but it does add another flavor to fermented bean curd and the dish.

Enjoy!

Hot Bean Sauce Bell Pepper Chicken (辣豆辦青椒雞, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Ceng1 Ziu1 Gai1)

The sweetness of the bell peppers contrasts nicely with the spiciness of the hot bean sauce, and the combination of chicken and mushrooms is a classic taste pairing. The hot bean sauce also gives this dish its deep colored sauce. Together all these ingredients make this quick cooking dish.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Oyster Mushroom Chicken (黑椒汁蠔菇雞, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Hou4 Gu1 Gai1)

I had a can of oyster mushrooms available, but you can use any mushrooms, whether rehydrated, canned, or fresh, to make this dish. Black pepper sauce makes a good basis for the sauce and goes well with the chicken. If you like things spicy, add some red chili peppers for both heat and appearance.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili Sauce Snow Pea Chicken (黑豆辣椒荷蘭豆鷄, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1)

Some dishes are better with a small amount of sauce and others are not. This is one of those dishes that calls for more sauce, which, of course, goes well over rice. The amount of sauce can be controlled by the amount of liquid added to the basic sauce ingredients. In this case, the liquid from soaking the dried Shiitake mushrooms is used, but you can always add more water or stock instead. You may have to increase the amount of corn starch used to thicken the sauce if you add more liquid.

Enjoy!

Cumin Baby Bok Choy Sum Lamb Hong Kong Noodles (孜然小白菜心羊肉雲吞麵, Zi1 Jin4 Siu2 Baak6 Coi3 Sam1 Joeng4 Juk6 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

Lamb leg meat is usually available as a whole leg with the bone still in, semi-boneless, or boneless. Occasionally smaller quantities are available and that prompted the creation of this dish. Cumin adds another flavor to the dish and that spice goes nicely with the dried red chili peppers. You can of course adjust the amount of chili peppers to your personal preference. Finally fried tofu (cut into strips) and an Asian leafy vegetable gives the noodle dish some added texture. Any leafy vegetable will do, but I used the leaves from baby bok choy sum.

Enjoy!

Fried Fish Cake and Ground Pork with Bean Sauce (豆瓣魚片豬肉, Dau6 Faan6 Jyu4 Pin3 Zyu1 Juk6)

Fried fish cake, sometimes labeled as fried fish tempura, is available already prepared in the refrigerated section of your local Asian market. Purchasing already prepared is the easiest way to make this dish, rather than frying the fish cakes yourself. The fish cakes are paired with ground pork, which is a classic preparation in Chinese cooking. The contrast in texture comes from the cloud ear fungus, which is slightly crunchy. In this particular case, strips of the fungus were used, but whole can also be substituted. As usual, red chili peppers are optional, but they add some color to the dish and some spiciness.

Enjoy!

Spicy Fermented Bean Curd Chicken Wings (辣椒腐乳鷄翼, Laat6 Ziu1 Fu6 Jyu5 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 27 Aug 2015. Some instructions were changed.

This is a one pot (or Dutch oven) meal. The chicken wings are first browned, and then the bean curd knots and fermented bean curd with chili are added before cooking. Finally the vegetables are added at the very end of cooking to complete the dish.  The one ingredient that is probably most unfamiliar is the bean curd knots. Bean curd knots are available fresh or dried, in this case I used dried, and are bean curd skin tied into a knot. Bean curd knots are available at your local Asian market in the dried foods or if you want fresh, in the refrigerated section. Bean curd sticks can be substituted if bean curd knots are not available.

Finally, this dish is not spicy even though that’s in the title. The fermented bean curd I used has small bits of chili in it, but it’s not all that hot. However, if you are adverse to any chili spiciness, regular fermented bean curd (without chili) can be substituted.

Enjoy!

Basil Italian Sausage and Manila Clam Pasta

I am fortunate to live close to many Asian markets. Manila clam meat is available in the freezer section, so there’s no need to have to shell the clams (although the clam meat would be fresh and not frozen). As I’ve mentioned in my previous pasta recipes, I cook my pasta like a stir fry using olive oil. For me, making a pasta dish is like making chow mein with a different sauce. Care needs to be taken on the amount of heat used to cook the dish, since olive oil has a lower smoking point than oils used for your typical stir fry. So depending upon the strength of your heat source, you may need to reduce the heat used to cook the dish.

Enjoy!

Salted Radish Long Bean Salmon (菜脯豆角鮭魚, Coi3 Pou2 Dau6 Gok3 Gwai1 Jyu4)

This recipe was updated on 31 Mar 2015. The Cantonese translation for salted radish was added.

Although the amount of salted radish is small, it adds a major accent to this salmon dish. Salted radish is a preserved vegetable that can be purchased at your local Asian market in various forms, from whole, to pieces, to being shredded. Salted radish not only tastes salty, but there’s also a sweet crunchiness. The one thing that you need to do before cooking this dish is to taste how salty the radish is since it varies from brand to brand (as does the sweetness). Reduce the amount of salty radish used in the dish if it tastes too salty. So far I’ve found the brands from China are less salty than the brands from Thailand.

Enjoy!

Broccoli Beef (西蘭花牛肉, Sai1 Laan4 Faa1 Ngau4 Juk6)

I was looking through the my recipe list and was rather surprised that I had never posted this recipe, even though I’ve cooked it many times and it’s a classic Chinese American restaurant dish. This is one of those basic and ubiquitous Chinese American dishes whose ingredients are readily available in the USA. As the Chinese immigrated around the world, local ingredients were incorporated into cuisine. So each Chinese community around the world has its own uniquely flavored and adapted cuisine that reflects the locality, where the local residents find familiar ingredients, but cooked with a Chinese flair. This dish reflects the Cantonese American adaptation of a bean sauce based beef dish paired with a readily available American vegetable. The dish usually just consists of beef and broccoli, but I’ve added fried tofu for my adaptation.

Enjoy!

Yam Leaves with Dried Shrimp (蝦米蕃薯葉, Haa1 Mai5 Faan1 Syu4 Jip6)

Yam leaves, also known as sweet potato leaves in the USA, are available in your local Asian market. I actually was looking for another vegetable when I saw very fresh yam leaves on sale, so I changed my plans and bought the yam leaves instead. When I first cooked yam leaves, I made the mistake of not separating the leaves from the stems. If you just cook yam leaves whole (like spinach), the stems will be undercooked and the leaves will be overcooked. Also the thicker bottom portion of the stems need to be discarded since they are tough and will never become tender when cooked. How much of the bottom portion of the stems to discard will depend upon how young and fresh they are when you purchase them. Finally, the volume of the leaves will decrease dramatically and quickly when cooked, so don’t be alarmed if it looks like the amount of uncooked leaves won’t fit into the wok.

Enjoy!

Baby Choy Sum Chicken Chow Mein (小菜心雞炒麵, Siu2 Coi3 Sam1 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

This noodle dish uses bay choy sum as the vegetable. Baby choy sum is used rather than regular choy sum because of its small size. Due to its size, you can use it whole in the dish and also cooks quickly in a hot wok. Baby choy sum can be “made” from normal choy sum by peeling off all the outer stalks, leaving the tender center, if you can’t find the baby version at your local Asian market (but then you’ll have to find another use for all those choy sum stalks).

Using bamboo shoot strips with noodles is a way to give the dish an added invisible crunch. By invisible, I mean that the bamboo shoot strips will blend in with the noodles and most people will not even notice that they’re present in the dish. The fresh bamboo shoot strips, which you can usually find in bulk bins at your local Asian market, are crunchier than the canned version and you can buy just the amount that you need for a recipe. I usually use a ratio of ½ lb. (250 g.) fresh bamboo shoot strips to 1 lb. (500 g.) of noodles, but drained, the canned version is 10.5 oz. (300 g.), which is close enough.

Enjoy!

Salmon and Mushroom Pasta

I actually cook my pasta dishes like I make chow mein – stir frying. In my mind, the technique to make pasta or chow mein is the same, the only differences being the ingredients and the use of a tomato based sauce (usually a bottled pasta sauce). For this dish, salmon is paired with mushrooms. Top with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve with Garlic Garlic Bread.

Enjoy!

Lemon Black Bean Chili Sauce Oysters with Garlic Stems (檸黑豆辣椒蒜芯鮮蠔, Ning4 Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Syun3 Sam1 Sin1 Hou4)

Oysters are not usually used in stir fry dishes because they are hard to keep intact during the cooking process. If you gently stir fry oysters, really just browning them quickly over high heat, you can make this dish. Eating oysters with lemon is a great taste combination, so fresh lemon juice is used in the black bean chili sauce. Finally garlic stems add a nice crunch to the dish, as well a nice garlic flavor.

Enjoy!

Grilled Dry Rub Pork Baby Back Ribs

So I was looking for a method to keep the temperature under 300⁰ (150⁰C) in a barbeque kettle grill for a long period of time (4-6 hours) and not have to constantly refill kettle with charcoal. You can of course use a gas grill, where it is easier to control temperature, but I wanted to use a kettle grill using charcoal to cook the ribs. I saw a TV episode from America’s Test Kitchen making Smoked Chicken in which they used one-third lighted- to two-thirds unlit charcoal with a pan of water under the chicken with a relatively shorter cooking time. The pan of water helps supply humidity and helps to stabilize the temperature.

So this got me thinking on how to extend the cooking time to 4-6 hours and to adapt their method for pork baby back ribs. So I realized that a smaller number of lit coals could control the temperature of the grill and keep the temperature in my desired range of 250⁰F (120⁰C) to 300⁰F (150⁰C). Also using mostly unlit charcoal, which would slowly light over the extended cooking time, makes it possible to not have to constantly reload the charcoal during cooking. It took me two tries, but I found that for my grill, 8-12 lit coals placed into a crater in a semi-circular wall consisting of one charcoal chimney’s worth of unlit charcoal provides the temperature control and cooking time duration that I wanted. I also used two pans of water to help control the temperature; one pan opposite the unlit charcoal wall, and one pan over the lit coals on the grill grate opposite the pork baby back ribs. One chunk of smoking wood was placed in the crater over the lit coals and given the limited oxygen due to the dampers being mostly closed, the chunk lasts about 2 hours. When a new wood chunk needs to be placed over the lit charcoal, the water pan on the grill grate should also be refilled. The water pan opposite the charcoal will likely never need to be refilled.

A barbeque thermometer is a necessary tool to control the temperature of the barbeque kettle. I put the thermometer into the mostly closed upper damper on the lid. The bottom damper is used to control the temperature and may have to be closed completely after some of the coals in the charcoal wall become lit. If this happens, there should be enough oxygen coming in from where the lid meets the kettle, and the upper damper to keep the charcoal lit. If there are too many lit coals, the temperature can increase beyond the desired range, so it is important to control the temperature with the lower damper. You will have to experiment with your grill to maintain a stable and desired temperature.

So after a mostly technical explanation of the cooking method, how did the pork baby back ribs turn out after 4 hours of cooking? Well, I was very pleased with the results. The ribs had a nice smoky bark on the outside and the ribs themselves were slightly chewy, which is the way I like my ribs. After cutting the rack into individual ribs, I ate the ribs with a tangy sauce.

Enjoy!

Grilled Chili Garlic Chicken Wings (燒烤蒜蓉辣椒鷄翼, Siu1 Haau1 Syun3 Jung4 Laat6 Ziu1 Gai1 Jik6)

Grilled chicken wings are always a treat to eat for me and they don’t take very long to cook using indirect heat on the grill. Grill marks can be added at the end of cooking using direct heat. If you start by grilling the chicken using direct heat (i.e. over the coals), you’ll probably burn the chicken before it’s cooked. So using indirect heat first to cook the chicken and then direct heat to produce the grill marks, allows the charcoal to come to a lower temperature while still producing the marks. Of course, adding grill marks is optional and you can just serve the chicken after indirect cooking.

The wing tips can be removed before cooking, but I also like to eat them, so I don’t cut them off before cooking. The marinade uses chili garlic sauce. Huy Fong Foods brand Chili Garlic Sauce is available in the USA and is made in southern California. They also manufacture their famous Sriracha sauce in the same factory. As usual, you can add more chili garlic sauce if you like your food spicier or substitute Sriracha sauce.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Bitter Melon with Pork and Chinese Sausage (臘腸豬肉苦瓜, Laap6 Coeng4 Zyu1 Juk6 Fu2 Gwaa1)

This classic Cantonese dish is made with pork and with the addition of Chinese sausage. I had previously posted a similar recipe using turkey: Stuffed Bitter Melon with Turkey and Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇釀苦瓜, Dung¹ Gu¹ Joeng⁶ Fu² Gwaa¹). Bitter melon lends itself to being stuffed, since the inedible pith and seeds in the middle leave so much space after being removed. I added diced Chinese sausage to the pork for taste, and sliced Chinese sausage to the tops of the stuffed bitter melon cylinders for a visual element to the dish. The further addition of whole Shiitake mushrooms makes the dish even tastier.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili Sauce Chicken Shanghai Noodles (黑豆辣椒雞上海麵, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Gai1 Soeng6 Hoi2 Min6)

I’ve been using Laoganma brand black bean chili sauce as the basis for sauces in my dishes recently. This sauce is spicier (but not hot) than the normal Lee Kum Kee brand black bean garlic I normally use. You can always make your own sauce from scratch, but that takes time. Using a prepared sauce certainly makes dish preparation easier and once I find a sauce I like, I tend to use it often. If you go to your local Asian market, there are many choices for prepared black bean sauces, both spicy and non-spicy. I’m always trying different prepared sauces to find out what they taste like. You should do the same and find a prepared sauce that meets your taste criteria. You can find some of the brands that I prefer in the recipes on this blog.

Enjoy!

Coconut Curry Cauliflower Shrimp (咖哩椰子椰菜花蝦, Gaa3 Lei1 Je4 Zi2 Je4 Coi3 Faa1 Haa1)

This dish is made backwards. You usually start by cooking the meat or seafood, then the vegetables, and finally the sauce when making a dish. In this case, the process is reversed; the sauce is made first, followed by the vegetables, and then the seafood. The dish also has some added heat to it with the addition of capsicum in red oil or red chili peppers if the former is not available. The amount to use depends upon how spicy you like your dishes, so the quantity to use is a personal preference.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Garlic Sauce Chicken with Garlic Stems (蒜蓉豆豉蒜芯鷄, Syun3 Jung4 Dau6 Si6 Syun3 Sam1 Gai1)

Garlic stems are available at your local Asian market. They are exactly what the name describes, stems of the garlic plant, harvested before they bloom and are slightly crunchy. Garlic stems have a mild garlic flavor and are much milder tasting than a garlic clove. Garlic stems can be cooked with any meat or seafood.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili Sauce Beef Rice Roll Chow Fun (黑豆辣椒牛肉炒粉, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Fan2)

Rice roll chow fun noodles are rolled chow fun noodles and are available at your local Asian supermarket. Since the noodles aren’t refrigerated (at least in California where I live and there is a law allowing this), they have a soft texture. If the noodles are refrigerated, the texture of the noodles becomes tougher, if not hard. Since you have to use the noodles the day you buy them, you have to plan ahead to get all the ingredients ready before getting the noodles. Outside of that, the dish takes the same amount of effort to make as any other stir fried noodle dish.

Enjoy!

Cashew Asparagus Shrimp (腰果蘆筍蝦仁, Jiu1 Gwo2 Lou4 Seon2 Haa1 Jan4)

A previous version of this dish, Cashew Asparagus Prawns (腰果蘆筍蝦仁, Jiu¹ Gwo² Lou⁴ Seon² Haa¹ Jan⁴), used a basic sauce. This version uses the prepared Lee Kum Kee brand black bean garlic sauce. In the USA, the terms prawn and shrimp are used interchangeably, with prawn generally meaning larger shrimp. Try this version of a classic Chinese-American restaurant dish.

Enjoy!