Hot Bean Sauce Shrimp and Mixed Mushroom Fish Balls with Ground Pork, (辣豆辦菇魚蛋蝦豬肉, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6 Haa1 Zyu1 Juk6)

This recipe uses the classic Chinese combination of seafood and meat to make this tasty dish. The seafood ingredients are shrimp and fish balls, and the meat is ground pork, together in a spicy bean sauce. The amount of sauce in this dish is also important and is more of a gravy than a sauce (i.e. there’s a lot of sauce!). The amount of sauce is a personal preference, so feel free to adjust the amount by adding less or more of the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid, but you’re likely on adding more rather than less.

Enjoy!

Steamed Salted Radish Pork Baby Back Ribs (菜脯蒸排骨, Coi3 Pou2 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1)

This is an easy to prepare spicy pork rib recipe using salted radish. Salted radish brands from China tend to have some sweetness, together with saltiness, while brands from Thailand are either salty or sweet. Depending upon your preference, pick the brand that suits your tastes. For this dish I chose a salty Thai brand. Steaming takes only 30 minutes to finish the dish. The pork ribs should be marinated beforehand, but this certainly can be omitted if desired. Serve with some vegetables and rice, and dinner is served!

Enjoy!

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!