Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Mixed Mushroom Fish Ball and Fried Tofu (湖南豆豉辣椒油炸豆腐菇魚蛋, Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Zaa3 Dau6 Fu6 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6)

This recipe uses a slightly spicy chili paste with mixed mushroom fish balls and fried tofu, together with canned straw mushrooms. The fish balls and fried tofu are available pre-packaged at your local Asian market in the refrigerated section (the fish balls might be frozen). So all you have to do is open the package or open the can to use these ingredients. So making this dish is relatively simple and doesn’t require much preparation time to make.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Chicken and Mixed Mushroom Fish Ball Noodles (紅油腐乳菇魚蛋雞麵, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6 Gai1 Min6)

Fermented bean curd adds a different flavor to this seafood and chicken noodle dish and is not often used in noodle dishes. I at first thought that fermented bean curd would not go well with and mask the flavor of the fish balls, but I found out that that this is a tasty combination. You of course have to like the taste of fermented bean curd and the brand I used is packed in chili oil, so the noodles are slightly spicy.

Enjoy!

Chili Garlic Sauce Ground Pork and Shrimp with Chives (蒜蓉辣椒韭菜豬肉蝦, Syun3 Jung4 Laat6 Ziu1 Gau2 Coi3 Zyu1 Juk6 Haa1)

Ground pork and shrimp make a great taste combination when used together in a dish. The chives add a mild flavor to the shrimp and ground pork combination, while the chili garlic sauce adds the spiciness. So the blended flavors of all ingredients go together to make this tasty dish.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Snow Pea Hong Kong Noodles (荷蘭豆雞炒雲吞麵, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

So the idea for this dish was to use ingredients (outside of the noodles) that were roughly the same size. Since snow peas were the principal vegetable in this dish, the other ingredients were chosen to mimic the snow peas visually. So chicken breast was chosen as the cut of meat to use since regular sized strips can be cut from it. If chicken thighs were used, the cut pieces would be more irregular and rectangular, rather than strip-like. Marinated (five-spice) bean curd was chosen because it comes formed in cakes that are approximately 2-inch (5 cm.) squares that can be thinly sliced. The dish is finished with a basic dark soy based sauce that just coats all the ingredients.

Enjoy!

Salted Radish Shrimp Chow Mein (菜脯蝦炒麵, Coi3 Pou2 Haa1 Caau2 Min6)

Salted radish and shrimp make a great taste combination. The crunchiness and saltiness of the radish contrast nicely with the softness and sweetness of the shrimp. In the USA, the names prawn and shrimp are used interchangeably, with prawn usually meaning a large shrimp; either ingredient can be used in this recipe. Baby bok choy adds a nice color contrast to the dish. The baby bok choy is cut into quarters lengthwise, but if the stalks are small, they should be cut in half.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Abalone Mushroom Hong Kong Noodles (鮑魚菇雞雲吞麵, Baau1 Jyu4 Gu1 Gai1 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

I had a can of abalone mushrooms and decided to make a noodle dish with them. Chicken and mushrooms are one of my favorite combinations, and all you have to do is to add some fired tofu and vegetables (in this case baby bok choy), and your dish is complete. In the USA, only canned abalone mushrooms are available in Asian markets, but any mushroom can be used if abalone mushrooms are not available.

Enjoy!

Lemongrass Chili Garlic Sauce Green Bean Chicken (檸檬葉蒜蓉辣椒青豆角雞, Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Syun3 Jung4 Laat6 Ziu1 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

Lemongrass adds a nice taste to this chili garlic sauce based chicken dish. Lemongrass provides a mild lemon flavor and can be purchased at your local Asian market (I’ve actually seen it occasionally available at large supermarkets). Only the thinly sliced white portions of the lemongrass is used, discarding the inedible and tough green parts.

 

Enjoy!

Basil Black Bean Chili Sauce Fuzzy Melon Shrimp (紫蘇黑豆辣椒節瓜蝦, Zi2 Sou1 Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Zit3 Gwaa1 Haa1)

Here’s a shrimp dish that has some spice to it, along with the taste of fresh basil leaves. The spice comes from Laoganma brand black bean chili sauce. You can, of course, make the sauce from scratch yourself, or use an equivalent brand, but this brand is readily available where I live. The sauce is spicy and not hot, so if you want hot, add dried red chili peppers to the recipe.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Shiitake Mushroom Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩冬菇雞雲吞麵, Gaa3 Lei1 Dung1 Gu1 Gai4 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

Curry powder is a tasty common flavoring added to Hong Kong noodles. Adding the red chili peppers is another common enhancement to curried noodle dishes. Not only do the red chili peppers add a little heat to the dish, but also makes for a good visual presentation. The amount of red chili peppers to add, if any, is entirely a personal preference. The curried version of Hong Kong noodles that’s found at Chinese restaurants is usually a deep yellow color. My guess is that additional turmeric is added to the dish to give it that electric yellow color. I didn’t add any turmeric to this recipe, so the color looks more like a normal fried noodle dish, but feel free to add some if you make this dish.

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!

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!

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!

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!

Black Bean Chili Sauce Chicken with Bitter Melon (黑豆辣椒苦瓜雞, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Fu2 Gwaa1 Gai1)

Beef and black bean sauce are the usual accompaniments to bitter melon (here’s my recipe: Beef with Bitter Melon (苦瓜牛肉, Fu² Gwaa¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶). This recipe uses chicken and fried tofu together with black bean chili sauce to spice up the bitter melon. Eating bitter melon is an acquired taste, but it is one that I’ve had ever since childhood. The bitterness can be reduced by salting the bitter melon and then washing the salt off before cooking. If the salt is left on long enough, the bitterness can be removed, but then what’s the point of eating bitter melon if there’s no bitterness?

Enjoy!

Baby Bok Choy Sprouts with Shredded Tofu (白菜苗豆腐絲, Baak6 Coi3 Miu4 Dau6 Fu6 Si1)

I had a similar dish to this recipe at my local Shanghai restaurant and wanted to reproduce it at home. I had posted a similar recipe earlier, Shrimp with Shredded Spice Tofu (五香豆腐絲蝦, Ng⁵ Hoeng¹ Dau⁶ Fu⁶ Si¹ Haa¹), which adds seafood. 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. 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!

Shrimp with Shredded Spice Tofu (五香豆腐絲蝦, Ng5 Hoeng1 Dau6 Fu6 Si1 Haa1)

I saw two ingredients at my local Asian supermarket that I’ve never cooked before – long baby bok choy sprouts and shredded spice tofu. As always I bought them before knowing what to do with them. Just those two ingredients alone would make a good dish, and I’ve had a similar dish using white shredded tofu at a local Shanghai restaurant, but I decided to add shrimp to the recipe. 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!

Shrimp with Sugar Snap Peas (蜜豆蝦, Mat6 Dau6 Haa1)

This looks like a standard shrimp with vegetable (in this case, sugar snap peas) stir fry. What makes this dish different and tasty, is black vinegar. The black vinegar adds a slightly sour taste to the dish, which is balanced by the hoisin sauce, which adds some sweetness. However, this is not a sweet and sour dish, but if you increase the quantities of the previously mentioned ingredients, it can be.

Enjoy!

Basil Asparagus Beef (紫蘇蘆筍牛肉, Zi2 Sou1 Lou4 Seon2 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe is a variation on a Chinese-American standard - here’s my recipe for this classic:  Cashew Asparagus Beef (腰果蘆筍牛肉, Jiu¹ Gwo² Lou⁴ Seon² Ngau⁴ Juk⁶). I never thought that mixing asparagus and basil would work together in a dish because I thought that the flavors would clash. Well, I was wrong since the taste combination is actually pretty tasty.

Enjoy!

Oyster Sauce Beef with Broccoli (蠔油西蘭花牛肉, Hou4 Jau4 Sai1 Laan4 Faa1 Ngau4 Juk6)

This dish is a Chinese-American standard, with the basic ingredients being beef, broccoli, and oyster sauce. The oyster sauce gives the dish its signature taste and can be the only element used in the sauce. You can buy broccoli florets instead of a whole broccoli head. I use the microwave to pre-cook the broccoli before stir frying to reduce the cooking time. Microwaved broccoli is wet, which helps with the heat transfer and browning (you’ll still have to add some liquid to help the cooking), so the stir frying will go much quicker.

Enjoy!