Black Bean Chili Oil Bitter Melon Shabu Shabu Pork Stir Fry (黑豆辣椒油苦瓜炒涮涮锅豬肉, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Fu2 Gwaa1 Caau2 Saan3 Saan3 Wo1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Thinly sliced meat is used for a Japanese dish called Shabu Shabu. The raw meat is dipped into a stock with chopsticks, moved around quickly in the stock to cook, and then dipped into a sauce before eating. The meat (typically beef) can be found at your local Japanese or Asian market. For this recipe, thinly sliced pork loin is stir fried with other ingredients rather than using it for Shabu Shabu. I used thinly sliced pork butt to make a similar dish: Chili Black Bean Bitter Melon Pork (辣椒豆豉苦瓜豬肉, Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Dau⁶ Si⁶ Fu² Gwaa¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶), and that meat can be substituted to make this dish also. You can always substitute pork loin or butt cut into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces if you’re unable to obtain Shabu Shabu pork.

Enjoy!

Leek Flower Sauce Green String Bean Chicken (韭花酱青豆角鷄, Gau2 Faa1 Zoeng3 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Gai1)

Leek flower sauce is deep green in color and has a strong garlicky taste. The sauce is also very salty, so feel free to adjust the amount used in this dish. The sauce is not a common one to use (at least in Cantonese cooking), so give it a try. The sauce can be purchased at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Lemon Black Bean Sauce Green String Bean Fish Tofu Chicken (檸豆豉青豆角魚豆腐鷄, Ning4 Dau6 Si6 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Jyu4 Dau6 Fu6 Gai1)

Lemon and black bean sauce is a tasty combination and is a nice change from just using black bean sauce in a stir fry dish. This combination has great memories for me since it was used in one of the first dishes I ever learned how to make, which resulted in this recipe: Steamed Lemon Chicken and Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce (豆豉檸蒸蝦鷄, Dau⁶ Si⁶ Ning⁴ Zing¹ Haa¹ Gai¹). I used this flavor combination with another combination commonly used in Chinese cooking – meat and seafood - which in this case is chicken and fish tofu. Fish tofu can be found (usually frozen) at your local Asian market. Regular (firm) tofu can be substituted if you’re not able to obtain fish tofu. Finally if you’re pressed for time, you can always use a prepared black bean sauce instead of using salted black beans, my favorite being the Lee Kum Kee brand Black Bean Garlic Sauce.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili Oil Imitation Lobster Ball Shabu Shabu Beef Stir Fry (黑豆辣椒油龍蝦丸炒涮涮锅牛肉, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Lung4 Haa1 Jyun4 Caau2 Saan3 Saan3 Wo1 Ngau4 Juk6)

Think of this dish as a Chinese stir fry version of surf and turf. For those not native to North America, surf and turf refers to lobster (surf) and steak (turf), usually broiled or barbequed, served together in one dish, usually without vegetables. As is common in the USA, the lobster and steak are the main ingredients and are large in quantity. The dish is usually the most expensive seafood and steak combination dish on a restaurant’s menu.

So my stir fry version uses imitation lobster balls and Shabu Shabu beef. Imitation lobster balls can be purchased at your local Asian market and do not contain any lobster in them (they’re colored to make them look like lobster). As far as I know, you cannot purchase true lobster balls, since they would be prohibitively expensive. Shabu Shabu beef is thinly sliced and can usually be purchased at your local Japanese or Asian market. Depending upon the cut of meat used, the price can vary widely. The seafood and meat combination is commonly used in Chinese dishes, so this recipe uses those ingredients to give an Asian take on a favorite American dish.

Enjoy!

Steamed Ginger Scallion Pork Stomach with Green String Beans (青豆角薑葱蒸豬肚, Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Goeng1 Cung1 Zing1 Zyu1 Tou5)

I first had this dish at a Chinese restaurant and the dish intrigued me since it was such a simple presentation. The pork stomach dish was topped with heated oil and soy sauce just like a steamed fish, and the pork stomach was very tender. The original restaurant dish only consisted of steamed pork stomach (i.e. no vegetables) and was served within 15 minutes of ordering. Pork stomach usually requires a long cooking time, so I started to think how this was dish made, and how I could reproduce making it at home.

My first try at making this dish didn’t produce the results that I experienced at the restaurant. Cooked pork stomach is available at my local Asian market, so I thought that I could save time, just cut the cooked pork stomach into strips, and steam it. The resulting pork was tough and required a lot of chewing! So that wasn’t the answer. For my second attempt, I started with fresh pork stomach (not cooked), and used a baking soda solution to tenderize the pork stomach before poaching the whole pork stomach with ginger, garlic, and Shaoxing wine. This turned out to be the solution. The baking soda not only removes any (as is commonly said) unwanted smells, it also tenderizes the pork stomach. The pork stomach needs to be submerged in a baking soda solution (i.e. baking soda and water) to make it tender, so don’t just sprinkle the baking soda on the pork. I added green beans to make a more complete meal that can be made in one dish, but you can leave the vegetables out if desired. The dish is topped with julienned ginger and green onions, together with heated oil and a soy sauce solution, just like when making a steamed fish.

A pork stomach dish is usually not the first choice of most people, but I think this dish will change your mind about eating this part of the pig. The tenderness of the pork, together with the taste of the toppings, together with heated oil and a soy sauce solution, reminded me of eating steamed fish. So give it a try.

Enjoy!

Basil Japanese Curry Red Wine Pork Spareribs (紫蘇日本咖哩紅酒豬排骨, Zi2 Sou1 Jat6 Bun2 Gaa3 Lei1 Hung4 Zau2 Zyu1 Paai4 Gwat1)

One of my favorite ingredients is pork spareribs, and making the pork with a curry, in this case, a Japanese curry, makes for a tasty dish. Japanese curry comes packaged as ready to cook cubes with a varying degree of spiciness (to be honest, there really isn’t any spiciness in Japanese curry). It’s very convenient to use and is added at the end of cooking. The instructions say to use water to cook your ingredients, but any liquid can be substituted and, in this case, red wine was used instead of water. Using a different liquid besides water gives the curry an added flavor and it’s a very easy change to make. The curry instructions suggest that 3 cups (750 ml.) be used when using 4 cubes of the curry (one-half package), but I’ve found that 2 cups (500 ml) produce a thicker sauce that is common for Japanese curry.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushroom Clay Pot Rice (煲仔冬菇鷄飯, Bou1 Zai2 Dung1 Gu1 Gai1 Faan6)

Chicken and rice cooked in a clay pot is classic Cantonese dish. This version adds mini-shiitake mushrooms, dried lily flowers, dried black fungus strips, and dried scallops. Mini-Shiitake mushrooms (my nomenclature) are very small Shiitake mushrooms that are occasionally available at my local Chinese herb and dried foods store. Since they are hard to find, a good substitute is to use diced regular sized Shiitake mushrooms. The one caution when making this dish is that any excess liquid marinade from the chicken will burn in the clay pot when the rice is cooked, so the chicken needs to be separated from the marinade before adding to the clay pot. The same caution also goes for the oyster sauce, which is only added at the end of cooking.

Using a clay pot to make rice is very similar to making rice in a pot. A crust is produced on the bottom of the clay pot, similar to cooking rice in a pot, and you don’t have to reboil to release the scorched rice from the bottom. The taste of the rice is very similar to making rice in a pot. The sequence of cooking the rice in a clay pot is:

1. Pre-heat the clay pot over medium heat for 5 minutes to prevent shocking the clay pot and possible breaking it.
2. Bring the clay pot rice to a boil over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
3. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes over low heat.
4. Scorch the rice using medium-high heat for 10 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat and allow the clay pot to sit for 10 minutes to release the scorched rice from the bottom.
6. Serve the rice.

Given that there are many variables when cooking rice in a clay pot, the cooked rice will vary from every time you cook it. If more water is used, the rice will take longer to cook. If too little water is used, the rice becomes more al dente and the volume decreases because the rice doesn’t get fluffy. Burner heat will determine how quickly the rice cooks and how scorched the rice will get. You just have to experiment and watch for the indications that signal when the rice is cooked to your personal preference. Making rice in a clay pot seems like a simple task, but you’ll find that it takes practice to get consistent results.

Enjoy!