Basil Tomato Curry Chicken and Mixed Mushroom Fish Balls (咖哩紫蘇番茄菇魚蛋鷄, Gaa3 Lei1 Zi2 Sou1 Faan1 Ke4 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6 Gai1)

Tomatoes and curry are common ingredients in dishes available at Chinese-American restaurants in the USA. Some of my favorite recipes are: Curry Tomato Beef Tripe (咖哩番茄牛柏葉, Gaa³ Lei¹ Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Paak³ Jip⁶), Spicy Tomato Beef Curry (咖哩粉番茄牛肉, Gaa³ Lei¹ Fan² Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶), and the curried version of Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶). The previous tomato-curry recipes are beef based, so this recipe uses a chicken and fish ball combination to show that other proteins can be used to make this type of dish. Fish balls can be purchased at your local Asian market. The meat and fish combination also is a classic taste duo used in Chinese dishes. The curried based sauce can also be varied to be made sweet and sour, if desired, but just curry powder is used for this dish.

Enjoy!

Chinese Broccoli Beef Heart Hong Kong Noodles (芥蘭牛心炒雲吞麵, Gaai3 Laan4 Ngau4 Sam1 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

My previous noodle recipe using beef hearts, Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Sam¹ Caau² Min⁶), was a variation on a tomato beef curry noodles using chow mein noodles. This recipe uses the thinner Hong Kong noodles (also known as Won Ton Noodles), so the ingredients are cut small to compliment the noodles width, and uses a simple soy based sauce for flavoring. As a reminder, beef hearts have the same texture as chicken gizzards and, of course, taste like beef. You can think of them as a crunchy version of beef. Also since the heart is a muscle, beef hearts do not have an organ taste, for instance, like liver. You can purchase beef hearts at your local Asian market, usually already cut into pieces.

Enjoy!

Grilled Oyster Sauce Capsicum Lamb Chops (燒烤紅油辣椒蠔油羊扒, Siu1 Haau1 Hung4 Jau4 Laat6 Ziu1 Hou4 Jau4 Joeng4 Paa4)

This recipe uses lamb chops marinated overnight with a spicy chili oil and oyster sauce mixture. I use a bottled spicy chili oil that has ground bits of chili made by Ming Teh Food, but you can use any chili oil that’s readily available at your local Asian market. Combining the chili oil with oyster sauce produces a spicy and tasty combination when the lamb chops are grilled. Lamb chops are easily overcooked, so the lamb grilling and smoking time needs to be based upon the heat of your grill and previous experience. The trick is to quickly grill both sides of the lamb over a very hot fire before smoking.

Enjoy!

Oyster Sauce Broccoli Shrimp (蠔油西蘭花蝦, Hou4 Jau4 Sai1 Laan4 Faa1 Haa1)

This dish is an easy to make shrimp dish using oyster sauce and broccoli. I found a method to make shrimp crunchy in dishes, like those found at Chinese restaurants. The method can be found at: How to make shrimp crunchy? | Easy Delicious Recipes: Rasa Malaysia. I modified the method to also marinade the shrimp overnight and omitted the egg whites. I also precook the broccoli florets in the microwave to reduce the stir frying time in the wok.

Enjoy!

Basil Black Bean Chili Sauce Chicken Cabbage Chow Mein (黑豆辣椒紫蘇青椰菜鷄炒麵, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Zi2 Sou1 Ceng1 Je4 Coi3 Gai1 Caau2 Min6)

Here’s another variation of the Chicken Cabbage Chow Mein (青椰菜鷄炒麵, Ceng¹ Je⁴ Coi³ Gai¹ Caau² Min⁶) recipe, with basil and slightly spicier sauce. I’ve been adding cabbage to my chow mein recipes lately, probably because a nearby Chinese noodle restaurant does the same to their dishes. The cabbage adds a nice crunch to the recipe and a good textural contrast to the soft noodles. Depending upon the size of the cabbage, two to four leaves are needed for the dish. Other than the added cabbage, the rest of the ingredients used in this recipe are fairly common in chicken chow mein. This is a “dry” noodle dish and not a dish with a lot of “wet” sauce.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Scallops and Chicken (黑椒帶子鷄, Hak1 Ziu1 Daai3 Zi2 Gai1)

Here’s a seafood/meat combination dish using scallops and chicken in a black pepper sauce. I thought about making this with a black bean garlic sauce (which also would have been tasty), but decided that I wanted to make this dish with a different flavored sauce. I also thought about using shrimp, which is a more common combination ingredient, but found scallops available at my local market, so I bought scallops instead of shrimp.

Enjoy!

Basil Oyster Sauce Shrimp (蠔油紫蘇蝦, Hou4 Jau4 Zi2 Sou1 Haa1)

Shrimp and oyster sauce makes a great taste combination, and for this dish, fresh basil leaves are added. Previous recipes also used this shrimp and oyster sauce combination: Oyster Sauce Shrimp with Japanese Chilies (蠔油日本指天椒蝦, Hou⁴ Jau⁴ Jat⁶ Bun² Zi² Tin¹ Ziu¹ Haa¹) and Oyster Sauce Shrimp with String Beans (青豆角蠔油蝦, Ceng¹ Dau⁶ Gok³ Hou⁴ Jau⁴ Haa¹).

Enjoy!