Black Bean Zucchini Squid (豆豉意大利青魷魚, Dau6 Si6 Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Jau4 Jyu4)

My previous squid (only) recipes: Chili Lemongrass Squid (辣椒檸檬葉魷魚, Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Ning⁴ Mung⁴ Jip⁶ Jau⁴ Jyu⁴) and Squid In Salty Shrimp Sauce (蝦醬鮮魷, Haa¹ Zoeng³ Sin¹ Jau⁴), used frozen squid. Frozen squid is convenient to use since they’re already cleaned and ready for cooking after being thawed, and is always available (from the freezer). My local farmer’s market had fresh squid (caught that morning in California’s Monterey Bay according to the vendor), so I decided on the spot to buy and make a dish with them. Fresh squid is available at my local Asian markets, but many times they’ve been frozen (whole) and then thawed for sale. So, this squid was truly fresh!

Cleaning fresh squid is simple. Grasp the squid’s head and pull the tentacles and head, together with the quill and innards out in one motion. The quill is the only hard part of the squid and is inedible. Cut the tentacles away from the head, just below the eyes, and discard the head and innards. The tentacles are my favorite part of the squid to eat (I guess because of their texture). The squid’s body is in the shape of a cylinder, so open the cylinder with a long cut the length of the cylinder. Remove the outer skin from the squid’s body, score the outer part of the body with diagonal cuts, and then cut into edible pieces.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 lb.	1 kg.	Fresh squid (魷魚, jau4 jyu4), cleaned, scored, and cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
1 lb.	500 g.	Zucchini (意大利青瓜, ji3 daai6 lei6 ceng1 gwaa1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) diagonal pieces
8	8	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated and cut into quarters
8 oz.	227 g.	One package fried tofu (油炸豆腐, jau4 zaa3 dau6 fu6)
8 oz.	227 g.	One 15 oz. (425 gm.) can baby corn (玉米尖, juk6 mai5 zim1), drained and cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Salted black beans (豆豉, dau6 si6)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Preparation Instructions

Squid Tentacles and Head, Quill, and Body

Cleaned Squid Tentacles and Body

1. Cleaning fresh squid is simple. Grasp the squid’s head and pull the tentacles and head, together with the quill and innards out in one motion. The quill is the only hard part of the squid and is inedible. Cut the tentacles away from the head, just below the eyes, and discard the head and innards. The squid’s body is in the shape of a cylinder, so open the cylinder with a long cut the length of the cylinder. Remove the outer skin from the squid’s body, score the outer part of the body with diagonal cuts, and then cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
2. Pour boiling water over the small dried whole Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid and remove the stems. Cut the Shiitake mushrooms into quarter pieces. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process. If you need to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms quickly, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹).
3. Wash and cut the zucchini into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) quarter-cut pieces. Cut the zucchini on the diagonal and turn the zucchini a quarter-turn. Repeat the diagonal cut and quarter-turn steps until the entire zucchini is cut into pieces.
4. Open the fried tofu package and discard any liquid.
5. Open the can of baby corn and discard any liquid. Cut the baby corn into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
6. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
7. Wash and lightly crush the salted black beans in a small bowl. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press, put into the bowl with the salted black beans, and mix the ingredients together.
8. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the squid to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the squid in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the squid to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer to the bowl with the squid.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the fried tofu. Stir fry the fried tofu and then transfer to the bowl with the squid.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the baby corn. Stir fry the baby corn and then transfer to the bowl with the squid.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the salted black bean mixture. Quickly stir fry the salted black bean mixture until it becomes fragrant. Add the zucchini to the wok and stir fry until browned. Add the contents of the bowl with the squid back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together.
6. Add the green onions and the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid to the wok. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish, and serve with Clay Pot Rice (煲仔飯, Bou¹ Zai² Faan⁶) or steamed rice.

Black Bean Sauce Green String Bean Chicken with Fish Maw (豆豉青豆角魚肚鷄, Dau6 Si6 Ceng1 Dau6 Gok3 Jyu4 Tou5 Gai1)

Black bean sauce is a common way to flavor chicken dishes. A standard dish found in many Chinese-American restaurants is black bean sauce green string bean chicken, which are commonly available ingredients. My version of this dish can be found here: Black Bean Garlic Sauce String Bean Chicken (蒜蓉豆豉青豆角雞, Syun³ Jung⁴ Dau⁶ Si⁶ Ceng¹ Dau⁶ Gok³ Gai¹). This version of the classic dish adds fish maw to make a common dish uncommon.

Fish maw is the bladder of the fish that controls buoyancy. Fish maw is one of those weird and wonderful special banquet ingredients (at least in my experience) that is served at auspicious events such as weddings and at Lunar New Year. Fish maw can be purchased at your local Asian market or herb specialty store. If you’re lucky enough to have an Asian herb store near you, it’s worth going in to see all the dried herbs and creatures that are sold at these stores. The herb stores also have the most variety of fish maw to buy and with the prices to match!

There are two types of fish maw: dried and fried. For this dish, the fried version is used. If you purchase the dried version, like I did, there’s an extra step to deep fry the fish maw yourself. I actually shallow fried the fish maw, ladling hot oil over the fish maw (be careful when using this method). You can save a step and time by buying the fried version, but this will take more storage space than the dried version for any fish maw that you don’t use. The best description of fried fish maw is that it looks like chicharrón, which is fried pork skin. The fried fish maw should soak in cold water for at least an hour to soften it to a spongy texture and then cut into bite sized pieces. After soaking, fish maw has no inherent flavor (so it won’t smell fishy at all) and acquires the flavors of the ingredients it is cooked with.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Black Vinegar Beef Ox Tail Stew (燉黑米醋牛尾, Dan6 Hak1 Mai5 Cou3 Ngau4 Mei5)

Black vinegar not only adds flavor to this dish, but also a rich dark color. The dish is not sour with a dominant vinegar flavor as you might think, in fact the black vinegar adds depth to the sauce’s flavor. While I’m not convinced, the Chinese think that the vinegar cuts down on the richness of the beef ox tail stew. Chee Hou sauce is an important ingredient to making this dish. Chee Hou sauce is a prepared sauce and is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted if you can’t find it at your local Asian market) and has a slightly spicier taste to it. Beef oxtails are readily available at most markets. Removing the outer fat layer from the oxtails is an important step to producing an almost fat free sauce. Use a sharp knife to remove the outer fat layer before cooking.

Enjoy!

Basil Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Shabu Shabu Pork Loin Stir Fry (紫蘇湖南豆豉辣椒炒涮涮锅豬肉, Zi2 Sou1 Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Caau2 Saan3 Saan3 Wo1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Here’s another stir fry dish using Shabu Shabu pork, which is thinly sliced pork and can be found at your local Japanese or Asian market. You can always substitute pork loin or butt cut into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces if you’re unable to obtain Shabu Shabu pork. This dish is slightly spicy and is additionally flavored using fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Madras Curry Pasilla Pepper Chicken (马德拉斯咖喱粉豌豆胡椒鷄, Maa5 Dak1 Laai1 Si1 Gaa3 Lei1 Fan2 Wun2 Dau6 Wu4 Ziu1 Gai1)

Passila peppers are a deep green color and, in my opinion, look better in a dish than green bell peppers. Passila peppers are also have some heat to them, so they add some spiciness to the dish together with the Madras curry powder. Passila peppers can be found at your local Mexican market and Poblano chilies can be substituted if Passila chilies are not available. If neither of those peppers are available to you, then use green bell peppers and dried red chilies (e.g. Japanese chilies) to give some spiciness to the dish.

Enjoy!

Mesquite Grilled Rosemary Garam Masala Red Wine Chicken (燒烤豆科灌木迷迭香胡荽紅酒鷄, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Mai4 Dit6 Hoeng1 Wu4 Seoi1 Hung4 Zau2 Gai1)

I used a basic soy sauce marinade with red wine to grill the whole chicken, together with fresh rosemary and Garam Masala powder. I put the chicken on a “beer can” stand to roast it upright in the barbeque. While I didn’t use a beer can to keep the chicken upright, I have an apparatus that has two rods attached to a pan that keeps the chicken standing while being grilled. The standing chicken is placed in the charcoal grate, without using the grill grate. The barbeque cover can’t be used if the standing chicken is placed on the grill grate in a 22.5 in. (57 cm.) barbeque grill, so that’s why the standing chicken is placed on the charcoal grate with the coals arranged around it in a circle.

You can look at the Poached Chicken (白斬雞, Baak⁶ Zaam² Gai¹) with Ginger-Scallion Oil (薑蔥油, Goeng¹ Cung¹ Jau⁴) recipe for instructions on cutting and arranging a chicken on a platter.

Enjoy!

Mesquite Grilled Korean-Style Spicy Pork (돼지불고기, Daeji Bulgogi)

This is definitely not an original Korean dish, but the Korean hot pepper paste (고추장, Gochujang) and hot pepper powder (고추가루, Gochugaru) are used to marinade the pork shoulder steaks as in the traditional recipe. The traditional recipe uses pork belly and is cooked on an indoor grill, with the cooked pork being wrapped in lettuce leaves (and other added ingredients) before being consumed whole. This recipe is an Americanized outdoor barbeque version of this dish using pork shoulder steaks. The amount of hot pepper powder can be varied depending upon your tolerance for spiciness. The hot pepper paste actually provides more sweetness to the dish than spice, so there’s no need to use hoisin sauce (my usual sauce used in marinades). This is a really easy and tasty way to grill pork (or any other meat) and is very similar to a previously published recipe: Grilled Gochujang (Hot Pepper Paste) Pork Ribeye Steaks.

Enjoy!