Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Scallops and Gulf Shrimp (湖南豆豉辣椒帶子蝦, Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Daai3 Zi2 Haa1)

Gulf shrimp are harvested from the Gulf of Mexico on the southern Gulf Coast in the USA. If you’re fortunate enough to live in that area, the shrimp can be purchased fresh, but if you’re like me, they’re occasionally available frozen or thawed. So when I saw thawed Gulf shrimp available at my local market, I couldn’t resist buying them. These shrimp were on the large size: 16/20, which means that there are 16-20 shrimp per pound (500 g.). Thawed scallops were also available, so I decided to pair the two with a spicy sauce and sugar snap peas. The dish is actually very easy to make and cooks quickly, with the danger being overcooking the shrimp or scallops.

Enjoy!

Chili Oil Bean Curd Chicken and Mixed Mushroom Fish Ball Noodles (紅油腐乳菇魚蛋雞麵, Hung4 Jau4 Fu6 Jyu5 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6 Gai1 Min6)

Fermented bean curd adds a different flavor to this seafood and chicken noodle dish and is not often used in noodle dishes. I at first thought that fermented bean curd would not go well with and mask the flavor of the fish balls, but I found out that that this is a tasty combination. You of course have to like the taste of fermented bean curd and the brand I used is packed in chili oil, so the noodles are slightly spicy.

Enjoy!

Steamed Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Lemongrass Pork Baby Back Ribs (湖南豆豉辣椒檸檬葉蒸排骨, Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1)

This is an easy to prepare spicy pork rib recipe using chili paste with fermented soy bean and lemongrass. 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!

Soy Sauce Chicken Wings with Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇豉油雞翼, Dung1 Gu1 Si6 Jau4 Gai1 Jik6)

Making this tasty dish is a two-step process, and takes a little more time and work to make (but it’s worth doing). The chicken wings are first poached in a soy sauce solution before being stir fried with the other ingredients. Use the Soy Sauce Chicken (豉油鷄, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹) or Soy Sauce Chicken Gizzards (豉油鸡胗, Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹ San²) recipes to poach the chicken wings at least one day before stir frying the completed dish. Browning the already soy sauce poached chicken wings in a wok gives the wings an added flavor over just the poached. The poaching liquid is also used in the completed dish’s sauce to further reinforce the flavor.

Enjoy!

Shallot Sauce Scallop, Shrimp, and Chicken (紅蔥帶子蝦雞, Hung4 Cung1 Daai3 Zi2 Haa1 Gai1)

This is a very tasty combination seafood and chicken dish. The use of shallot sauce is not very common, but adds a nice flavor to the seafood and chicken. Black bean garlic sauce would be a more common sauce to use, and can be easily purchased bottled at your local Asian market. The dish takes a little time to prepare if, like me, you use frozen scallops and shrimp. The shrimp need to be thawed overnight in the refrigerator and then marinated for at least an hour. The scallops just need to be thawed overnight.

Enjoy!

Chili Garlic Sauce Ground Pork and Shrimp with Chives (蒜蓉辣椒韭菜豬肉蝦, Syun3 Jung4 Laat6 Ziu1 Gau2 Coi3 Zyu1 Juk6 Haa1)

Ground pork and shrimp make a great taste combination when used together in a dish. The chives add a mild flavor to the shrimp and ground pork combination, while the chili garlic sauce adds the spiciness. So the blended flavors of all ingredients go together to make this tasty dish.

Enjoy!

Sea Cucumber, Shrimp, and Chicken Hong Kong Noodles (海參蝦雞雲吞麵, Hoi2 Sam1 Haa1 Gai1 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This is not the typical noodle dish that I would make for an everyday lunch because of the ingredients and effort involved in making it. As with many Chinese dishes, seafood and meat are combined together for a tasty combination. In this case, the seafood is sea cucumber and shrimp, and the meat is chicken. In my experience, sea cucumber was served for special occasions and often at banquets celebrating those occasions. While there wasn’t a special occasion for making this dish, just having sea cucumber in a dish signifies that the meal is out of the ordinary. Sea cucumber is available in the USA either frozen or dried. The dried version takes a few days of preparation, so I prefer using the frozen version. Sea cucumber can be black or white in color, with the black type being more common and the white being less available (and more expensive). There’s no difference in taste that I can detect, so use whatever type is available.

Hong Kong noodles are used to make this dish and, in keeping with a dish that’s out of the ordinary, are specially prepared by forming a disc of noodles, and then making them crispy and slightly burnt for flavor on the outside, while still being soft on the inside. This can be accomplished by using a hot wok to crisp and brown the outsides (which is the method I used) or by baking the noodle disc in a hot oven after spraying oil on the surface. Since crispy noodles are used in this dish, the other ingredients used as the topping are “wet”, meaning that the toppings are contained in a corn starch thickened sauce. Finally, the dish is prepared in reverse from most noodles dishes, in that the noodles are cooked first, followed by the toppings.

Enjoy!