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!