Steamed Chicken Wings with Dried Lily Flowers (金針蒸鷄翼, Gam1 Zam1 Zing1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 30 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Lily flowers (also called lily buds) are often used in steamed Chinese dishes with chicken. Lily flowers can be purchased dried at your local Asian market. After being rehydrated, the lily flowers are tied into a knot to prevent them from unfurling. You have to be gentle while tying them since the rehydrated flowers will break. The dried lily flowers should be light brown in color and if they turn black, the dried lily flowers are past their prime and should be discarded.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Sauce Chicken with Snow Peas (豆豉荷蘭豆鷄, Dau6 Si6 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 29 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Black bean sauce chicken is a standard recipe, it’s just a question of what else to include in the dish. All you have to do is to look in your pantry and pull out whatever your heart desires to make a tasty dinner. In this case, snow peas and cloud ear fungus were the choice, with red bell pepper to add color to the dish. If you’re feeling lazy, you can use a prepared black bean garlic sauce, my favorite brand is Lee Kum Kee.

Enjoy!

Pork Hearts and Fish Tofu with Snow Peas (荷蘭豆魚豆腐豬心, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Jyu4 Dau6 Fu6 Zyu1 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 09 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Pork and seafood is a tasty combination used in Chinese dishes - in this case it’s pork hearts and fish tofu. Just like dishes using beef hearts, such as Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Sam¹ Caau² Min⁶), Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu¹ Haau¹ Laat⁶ Ngau⁴ Sam¹), and Beef Heart with Bell Peppers (青椒牛心, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Ngau⁴ Sam¹), dishes with pork heart don’t taste like organ mean since it’s a muscle (physically smaller than a beef heart), is crunchy like chicken gizzards, and has a subtle pork flavor. Ground pork is usually included in this dish, so when I saw pork hearts at my local Asian market, I decided to try something different and was happy that I did.

Enjoy!

Garlic Pork Fried Rice (蒜豬肉炒飯, Syun3 Zyu1 Juk6 Caau2 Faan6)

This recipe was updated on 01 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Fried rice means leftovers and a tasty quick cooking dish. The rice from last night’s dinner has been in the refrigerator overnight and the pork from the Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops, Grilled Curry Pork Chops (燒烤咖哩豬排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Gaa³ Lei¹ Zyu¹ Paai⁴), or Asian-Brined Smoked Pork Chops is cut up into bite sized pieces. If you’re a garlic lover, you can always add more sliced garlic to the dish to satisfy your tastes. Finish the dish with oyster sauce and sesame oil.

Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops

No longer are pork chops just called pork chops. Pork chops are now being sold as ribeye or porterhouse pork chops. While the pork chops are the same, the marketing has changed, which is clever given the cost of beef nowadays. No matter, the pork still taste the same no matter what they’re called. I’m able to purchase thick pork chops - thick meaning larger than 1-inch (2.5 cm) - which lends itself to cooking the pork chops like beef steaks. This version uses a teriyaki and sake marinade before being grilled. You can just as easily use thinner pork chops to make this dish, but you’ll need to reduce the grill times.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Chicken (黑椒汁鷄, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 04 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Just like black bean garlic sauce, black pepper sauce is another ready-made bottled sauce that comes in handy when you want to make a stir fry dish. Among other ingredients, the sauce consists of black pepper (obviously) and some tomato paste. The sauce is supposed to go well with beef. I happen to use Lee Kum Kee brand and you can purchase black pepper sauce at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Beef with Black Bean Hong Kong Noodles (豆豉牛肉炒雲吞麵, Dau6 Si6 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 07 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using Hong Kong noodles, this one using salted black beans. Chicken and Bell Peppers with Hong Kong Noodles (青椒鷄雲吞麵, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Gai¹ Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) and Beef Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩牛肉炒雲吞麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) are previous recipes using these noodles. Hong Kong noodles are thin egg noodles and the literal translation in Cantonese is wonton noodles. While there aren’t any wontons in this dish, these noodles are typically used together with wonton in a soup broth, hence their name, and that leads to no end of confusion if you use the literal translation. So you’ll find dishes named in English referring to thin egg noodles, Hong Kong style noodles, and even vermicelli (whose use isn’t quite correct). Needless to say, the noodles are just really thin and are really good in a stir fry.

Enjoy!