Chicken and Marinated Bean Curd with Fuzzy Melon (腐乳五香豆腐節瓜雞, Fu6 Jyu5 Ng5 Hoeng1 Dau6 Fu6 Zit3 Gwaa1 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 29 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is an easy dish to prepare and fermented bean curd is the basis of the sauce. Each bean curd looks like a little soft rectangular pillow and is packed together in a bottle. I happen to use 7 of the fermented bean curds, but you’ll have to judge how much to use depending upon your taste. The sauce is light in color, so soy sauce is not used (but is used to marinate the chicken) since this would darken it. Marinated bean curd (or five spice bean curd) is the other ingredient used in this dish. Marinated bean curd is not fermented, but spiced and its texture is firm, so it doesn’t break up when stir fried. If you can’t find marinated bean curd at your local Asian market, use a firm pressed tofu as a substitute.

Enjoy!

Grilled Bourbon Chicken Wings (燒烤波本鷄翼, Siu1 Haau1 Bo1 Bun2 Gai1 Jik6)

 

This recipe was updated on 17 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and the Chinese name added.

Somehow, bourbon and chicken seem to go together. Adding your favorite bourbon (e.g. Jack Daniels, Jim Beam…) to chicken wing marinade before grilling gives the wings a unique and tasty flavor. Adding a smoking wood to the grill, such as hickory, mesquite, pecan, or whatever your favorite wood is, further enhances the flavor. You can choose to remove the wing tips before marinating, but I leave them on since I don’t mind eating them. I first smoked the wings covered over indirect heat before grilling over direct heat to get the grill marks. This is a simple recipe to make and I hope you will try it.

Enjoy!

Pepperoni, Mushroom, and Olive Pizza

Making your own fresh pizza and not eating frozen is one of the joys of life. To create the dough, I use Cheri’s Favorite Pizza Dough Recipe. You can read the background story here, but her secret is to add semolina flour to the dough.  I use the dough setting on my bread machine to create the dough rather than a food processor and I use all the dough to create one 14-inch pizza (rather than 2 medium pizzas as called for in the original recipe) since I like my crusts thicker than thin. The recipe says that you can make the dough in 5 minutes, but using my bread machine takes at least 45-60 minutes.

I use a Cuisinart 14-inch non-stick pizza pan to hold the pizza. Even though I have a convection oven, I use the oven mode (no convection) set at the highest temperature (in my case 555⁰F) and with the rack set at the lowest point so that the pizza is as close to the lower heating element as possible to get a crispy crust for 10-15 minutes. I found that if I use the convection setting, the toppings burn before the crust gets done. Depending upon your oven characteristics, your results might differ.

You can, of course, add any toppings that your heart desires. This pizza happens to use pepperoni, mushrooms, and Kalamata olives. For sauce I use a bottled tomato sauce from Trader Joe’s that I like – Trader Giotto’s Puttanesca Sauce – which contains anchovy and anchovy paste, among other ingredients. The cheese is a pre-packaged six cheese Italian blend (of course, your favorite cheeses can be used). Finally, I added the basil on top of the pizza at the last moment, since I forgot to place some down on the pizza after the sauce. This resulted in some rather sad looking dehydrated basil on top of the pizza (next time I won’t forget).

Enjoy!

Steamed Lemon Chicken and Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce (豆豉檸蒸蝦鷄, Dau6 Si6 Ning4 Zing1 Haa1 Gai1)

 

This recipe was updated on 30 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

When I first moved out of my parents’ house, many years ago, I was cooking novice. My Mom had always prepared the meals and now it was going to be up to me to do the cooking. Parents, being who they are, helped the newly independent kid by supplying some tools for me to succeed on my own. One thing my mom gave me was some 3x5 cards (remember those!) with recipes on them. The roots of this dish come from that original 3x5 card, which I still have.

 

The original dish my Mom used to make was Lemon Chicken with Black Bean Sauce. This was a healthier version of the fried lemon chicken dish with gloppy sauce that you get at Chinese restaurants. This dish is steamed and the lemon accompanies a black bean sauce (which is a great taste combination). I’ve modified the original ingredients slightly and added a flourish of shrimp to the dish, but the roots of the dish remain as written on that 3x5 card.

 

The chicken should be marinated at least 4 hours (overnight is preferable) and you’ll need to defrost the shrimp before steaming the dish. Other than those preparation steps, the dish is quick and easy to prepare (perfect for any cooking novice!).

 

Enjoy!

Grilled Magic Dust Beef Porterhouse and Pork Rib Steaks

Magic Dust is a spice mix created by champion BBQ pit master Mike Mills. The recipe can be found at the About.com web site.  You can use the mix on any meat. I happen to use it on beef and pork.

Enjoy!

Beef with Bitter Melon (苦瓜牛肉, Fu2 Gwaa1 Ngau4 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 22 May 2014. Quantities and measurements for some ingredients were changed, as well as the addition of metric measurements.
 

Beef with bitter melon in a black bean sauce is another classic, easy to prepare Chinese dish. I make this dish when I want something quick to eat. Bitter melon, for those who are not familiar with this vegetable, tastes exactly as it’s named and could be considered an acquired taste. I happen to like bitter melon and you can easily moderate the bitterness of the melon to your taste. The beef needs some preparation time, so you’ll need a minimum of 1 hour for marinating, but also can be marinated overnight.

Enjoy!

Spicy Pork and Dried Shrimp with Chives (油辣椒蝦米豬肉, Jau4 Laat6 Ziu1 Haa1 Mai5 Zyu1 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 02 Nov 2015. The Chinese name was added, some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

I bought chives at my local Asian supermarket because they looked good and I’ve never really cooked many dishes using them (plus they were cheap). If you’ve been reading my recipes, you’ll probably notice that many dishes are created from what’s available in my refrigerator. This is another dish that falls into this category. I’ve never made this dish before, but I had the ingredients and I needed to cook something for dinner. The leftovers (if any) make a good topping for noodles.

Enjoy!