Mexican-Style Pork Stew (Posole)

Posole is a Mexican pork stew. This recipe is not authentic, but it is tasty. The flavor comes from the dried guajillo chilies that are added to Mexican-style tomato sauce. The traditional method to preparing the chilies is to roast them in a frying pan, remove the seed and stems, and then rehydrate the chilies in hot water before adding them to the sauce. I roast the chilies in the oven, remove the seeds and stems, and then skip the rehydration step and add the chilies directly into a food processor to make the sauce. I figure the rehydration step can be done while the chilies are cooking in the sauce.

Enjoy!

Fish Tofu and Baby Clams with Ground Pork (蛤蜊魚豆腐豬肉, Gap3 Lei4 Jyu4 Dau6 Fu6 Zyu1 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 12 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I have to admit that this recipe has an odd combination of ingredients - there’s ground pork, fish in the form of fish tofu, and clams for shellfish. However the combination tastes great together with the juice from the clams providing even more flavor in the sauce. You can also make this dish with hot bean sauce for a spicier version of this dish.

Enjoy!

Steamed Hot Bean Sauce Pork Baby Back Ribs (辣豆辦醬蒸排骨, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Zoeng3 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1)

 

This recipe was updated on 27 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This is an easy to prepare spicy pork rib recipe using hot bean sauce and steaming takes only 30 minutes to finish the dish. The pork ribs do not require any marinating beforehand, but this certainly can be done if desired. Serve with some vegetables and rice, and dinner is served!

Enjoy!

Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Naam5)

 

This recipe was updated on 23 Sep 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Beef outside flank (also called drop flank) and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. Beef outside flank is a thin cut of meat from the cow with silver skin, which requires long slow cooking to become tender and is available at your local Asian market. The silver skin is an integral part of the stew, so it shouldn’t be removed before cooking! This cut of meat should not be confused with the more common beef flank or flank steak, which is used for stir frying. Beef tendon is tough and requires long slow cooking, at which time it becomes soft and gelatinous, so it’s totally about mouth feel. Chee Hou sauce is the other important ingredient. Chee Hou sauce is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted) and has a slightly spicier taste to it.

Starting with this recipe, I’ve changed the format to include metric measurements and a list of the equipment needed to make the dish. Living in the USA all my life, I’ve always used the English measurement system, so from now on I hope the recipes are friendlier to the rest of the world.

Enjoy!

Sea Cucumber with Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇海參, Dung1 Gu1 Hoi2 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 07 Jun 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changes, and metric measurements added.

Sea cucumber is an ingredient usually reserved for special occasions. I remember eating this dish at every birthday dinner for my maternal Grandparents. Sea cucumber also makes appearances at Lunar New Year’s dinners, so this dish came to mind and seemed appropriate as the first recipe for the Year of the Snake.

The ingredient is not only expensive, but in its dried form takes some time to prepare and after rehydration you have to clean out the intestines before cooking. I used to be able to buy sea cucumber already rehydrated and cleaned at my local Asian market, but no more. It is now available frozen, so it needs to be thawed first before cleaning. Sea cucumber can be black or white in color, with the white version more highly prized and more expensive than the black. Another name for sea cucumber is sea slug, which doesn’t sound very appetizing, and it has a firm, jello-like texture (my brother-in-law calls it, “fish jello”). No matter what you call this ingredient, it really is quite tasteless and acquires the flavor of the other ingredients it’s cooked with and the sauce.

Enjoy!

Beef and Bell Peppers with Fermented Bean Curd (腐乳青椒牛肉, Fu6 Jyu5 Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 26 May 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

Fermented bean curd is the basis for the sauce for this dish. The bean curd has a distinctive sharp salty flavor that goes well with the sweetness of the bell peppers and the marinated beef. You can use more or less of the fermented bean curd in the dish depending upon your taste.

Enjoy!

Shrimp and Green Beans (青豆角蝦, Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Haa1)

This recipe was updated on 02 Dec 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This is an easy and tasty dish to make with ingredients available at your local supermarket. In order to reduce the green bean cooking time, they are microwaved first before cooking in the wok. If you had a restaurant strength burner to cook this dish, that step would not be necessary, but for most home cooks this is an easy way to speed up the cooking of the beans.

Enjoy!