Clam and Turkey Chow Mein (蛤蜊火雞炒麵, Gap3 Lei4 Fo2 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

 

This recipe was updated on 20 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

The combination of ground turkey and clams seems at first glance to be an odd combination, but it really does make a tasty dish. I used ground turkey because I had it, but ground pork would be a good substitute. I’ve eaten restaurant dishes where ground pork is cooked in combination with shellfish and sometimes vegetables, so that was probably the inspiration for this noodle dish using Bull Head brand shallot sauce.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Sauce Beef Tripe (豆豉牛柏葉, Dau6 Si6 Ngau4 Paak3 Jip6)

This recipe was updated on 16 Jul 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, as well as the addition of metric measurements.

You can never eat too much tripe. For those unfamiliar with tripe, it’s (one of the) cow’s stomach. Here’s another recipe using poached honeycomb tripe, but the poaching liquid does not have any soy sauce. If you want a soy sauce poached tripe recipe, you can look at the Soy Sauce Beef Tripe with Sour Mustard (酸菜豉油牛柏葉, Syun¹ Coi³ Si⁶ Jau⁴ Ngau⁴ Paak³ Jip⁶) recipe. The tripe is poached so that it comes out white in color (close to the original uncooked color) and is then used in a classic black bean sauce stir fry recipe.

The non-classic addition to this recipe is sliced lotus root. Sliced lotus root is crunchy and has the distinctive holes that make this root so appealing. It actually is the root of the lotus flower that you find floating in ponds. You can buy lotus root fresh or pre-sliced in a package at your local Asian market. Fresh lotus root is crunchier than the pre-sliced packaged version, but if fresh lotus root is not available, the packaged version is a good substitute.

Enjoy!

Chinese-Style Barbecue Sauce Chicken Fried Rice (燒烤醬鷄炒飯, Siu1 Haau1 Zoeng3 Gai1 Caau2 Faan6)

This recipe was updated on 15 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Here’s another fried rice recipe this time using leftovers from the Chinese-Style Barbecue Sauce Chicken (燒烤醬鷄, Siu¹ Haau¹ Zoeng³ Gai¹) recipe. Fried rice is synonymous in my mind with leftovers. This is a great dish to make when you need something quick after surveying the contents of your refrigerator!

I use Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce because it’s the brand I grew up with and has a good flavor. It’s a little more expensive than other brands, but it’s worth the price in my opinion. I once had a weak moment and bought an inexpensive brand of oyster sauce, and was disappointed in the flavor when compared to the Lee Kum Kee Premium brand. So get the good stuff!

Enjoy!

Turkey and Eggs with Bitter Melon (苦瓜火雞炒蛋, Fu2 Gwaa1 Fo2 Gai1 Caau2 Daan6)

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

I had some marinated ground turkey and bitter melon in my refrigerator and was trying to figure out what to do with these ingredients to make dinner. I thought about making a dish with a spicy black bean sauce, which sounded yummy in my mind, but I decided that recipe could wait until a later date. I then thought about the Eggs with Bitter Melon (Scrambled Style) (苦瓜炒蛋, Fu² Gwaa¹ Caau² Daan⁶) and Eggs with Bitter Melon (Pancake Style) (苦瓜炒蛋, Fu² Gwaa¹ Caau² Daan⁶) recipes, and decided that I could modify the scrambled style dish to incorporate ground turkey. So this recipe is the result, and you could just as easily use ground pork or beef to make this dish.

I usually buy and marinate a 2-3 lb. (1-1.5 kg.) package of ground turkey. Only ½ lb. (250 g.) of the turkey is used for this recipe, so the rest can be used to make turkey burgers or to make other dishes: Asparagus Turkey, Spaghetti with Basil Turkey Meatballs, Turkey Basil Cheeseburger with Tzatziki Sauce, and Turkey Basil Mushroom Egg Cheeseburger. The recipe specifies marinade for ½ lb. (250 g.) of ground turkey.

Enjoy!

Soy Sauce Beef Tripe with Sour Mustard (酸菜豉油牛柏葉, Syun1 Coi3 Si6 Jau4 Ngau4 Paak3 Jip6)

 

This recipe was updated on 15 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

I have to admit that this dish is more involved to make than some of my other recipes. It’s really a two-step process to make this dish. First you have to poach the beef tripe in a soy sauce mixture, and then you can cook the dish. For those not familiar with honeycomb tripe, it’s (one of the) cow’s stomach, so called because of the tripe’s honeycomb pattern. The salty and slightly sweet poaching liquid also forms the basis of the sauce, which contrasts nicely with the sour mustard.

The tripe can be prepared and refrigerated the day before you make this dish. Baking soda is required to clean and remove any unwanted smells from the tripe, unlike the other recipes where the baking soda is optionally used to tenderize the meat. Poaching will shrink the tripe, so poach the whole tripe and don’t cut it up into pieces beforehand; otherwise you’ll end up with itsy-bitsy tiny pieces of tripe (I made that mistake once before!).

Enjoy!

Grilled Cumin Lamb Arm Steaks with Vegetables

Lamb arm steaks have been available at my local market recently. The steaks are great when grilled when marinated with cumin. Grill with some vegetables; in this case bell pepper and mushrooms, and you have dinner.

Enjoy!

Squid In Salty Shrimp Sauce (蝦醬鮮魷, Haa1 Zoeng3 Sin1 Jau4)

 

This recipe was updated on 11 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Calamari is usually used when naming or titling a dish with squid in it. It seems rather odd that people are more likely to eat a dish with calamari in the title than squid, given that they’re the same ingredient. So why does this dish title have squid in the name? The main reasons are that the name of this classic dish is the literal translation from Chinese and that’s the name this dish is known by.

This is not the traditional preparation for this dish, which usually consists just of squid stir fried in shrimp sauce, since I’ve added some vegetables to the recipe. Carved squid pieces and squid tentacles are available in the frozen section of your local Asian supermarket. You can of course use fresh squid if it’s available. I happen to like eating squid tentacles, so I include them in dishes when I can, but some are not fans, so feel free to not use them in the dish.

My local farmer’s market had purple long beans, which are usually green in color. I’ve never eaten before this type of long beans before, so I couldn’t resist buying and using the purple long beans in this dish. If you can’t get long beans (whatever the color), substitute regular green beans.

The most important ingredient in this dish is the shrimp sauce, which is an odd purple color. Shrimp sauce is, to say the least, a pungent mixture of ground fermented shrimp and salt, and for some, pungent is just a nice way to say it smells. No matter what someone thinks about the smell of this sauce, you can’t make this dish without it. Shrimp sauce and squid just naturally taste good together.

Enjoy!