Roast Pork Shanghai Noodles (燒肉上海麵, Sui1 Juk6 Soeng6 Hoi2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 23 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Roast pork is always a treat to eat. This recipe uses already cooked roast pork that can be bought at your local Chinese delicatessen, and pairs it with thick and chewy Shanghai noodles. The crispy skin is separated from the pork before cooking so it won’t become soggy, and then added at the end. A soy based sauce is all that’s needed to complete this quick cooking dish.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Scallops (黑椒汁帶子, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Daai3 Zi2)

This recipe was updated on 25 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Black pepper sauce goes well with seafood, in this case scallops. I used frozen 60/80 scallops (60 to 80 scallops per pound/500 g.), but you can use fresh and/or larger sized scallops to make this dish. Scallops this sized don’t take long to cook, so use a hot wok and quickly stir fry to keep them tender.

Enjoy!

Steamed Chili Lemongrass Chicken Wings (鮮辣椒檸檬葉蒸鷄翼, Sin1 Laat6 Ziu1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Zing1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 23 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another easy to make steamed chicken wing dish. The previous dish, Steamed Chicken Wings with Dried Lily Flowers (金針蒸鷄翼, Gam¹ Zam¹ Zing¹ Gai¹ Jik⁶), used lily flowers as a topping. This recipe is spicier, and uses Sichuan Gao Fu Ji brand fresh chili sauce (any brand chili sauce can be used) and lemongrass for a topping. Lemongrass adds another flavor to this spicy dish and can be purchased at your local Asian market. You peel the tough outer layers of the lemongrass, cut and discard the green portions, thinly slice the tender white parts before combining with the chili sauce, and then top the chicken wings with the mixture before steaming.

Enjoy!

Beef and Bell Pepper Dough Sliced Noodles (青椒牛肉刀削麵, Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6 Dou1 Soek3 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 08 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I tried another brand of frozen dough sliced noodles. I had been buying the noodles that were made in Taiwan, but the ones from Korea were on sale at my local Korean market, so I thought I would give them a try. I really couldn’t tell any difference between the two brands, both having the chewy texture associated with dough sliced noodles, so I’ll add the Korean to my list of noodle sources.

The flavor for this dish comes not only from the ingredients used, but from the sauce, which mainly consists of soy sauce. The type and brand of soy sauce greatly influences the final taste of the dish. If you go into your local Asian market, you’ll find shelf after shelf with many brands of soy sauce, each with a unique flavor. The only advice that I can give to pick a particular brand of soy sauce is to try as many as you can before settling on one that you like. Some soy sauces are more expensive than others, and these tend to be special or first pressings (like olive oil). So try one of these “special” soy sauces in a sauce, but don’t use it in large quantities for a marinade. Use a more inexpensive soy sauce for marinades – I buy soy sauce in one gallon (about 4 liters) sized containers for this purpose.

Enjoy!

Chili Black Bean Sauce Chicken Wings with Zucchini (黑豆辣椒意大利青瓜鷄翼, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 26 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Cooking chicken wings in a wok requires the use of high heat to brown the wings uncovered and then a lower heat to simmer using a cover. The bean curd sticks used in this dish are also cooked in this manner, but not the zucchini. The zucchini is added at the end of cooking to prevent them from being overcooked. A Dutch oven can also be used in place of a wok.

Enjoy!

Shrimp and Salted Duck Egg Fried Rice (鹹鴨蛋蝦炒飯, Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Haa1 Caau2 Faan6)

This recipe was updated on 12 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

So this isn’t a typical fried rice dish for me since the ingredients are not leftovers, except for the cooked rice. 51/60 shrimp is used in this dish, which means that there are 51 to 60 shrimp per pound (500 g.). The reason being that you want to use small shrimp when making fried rice to make it easier to eat. A cooked salted duck egg is diced and added to the dish for added flavor. Cooked duck eggs can be purchased at your local Asian market. If you can get uncooked salted duck eggs (which are now hard to find in my area), you can just scramble it with the other (chicken) eggs. The amount of fried rice will easily feed four people.

 

Enjoy!

Steamed Chicken Wings with Dried Lily Flowers (金針蒸鷄翼, Gam1 Zam1 Zing1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 30 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Lily flowers (also called lily buds) are often used in steamed Chinese dishes with chicken. Lily flowers can be purchased dried at your local Asian market. After being rehydrated, the lily flowers are tied into a knot to prevent them from unfurling. You have to be gentle while tying them since the rehydrated flowers will break. The dried lily flowers should be light brown in color and if they turn black, the dried lily flowers are past their prime and should be discarded.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Sauce Chicken with Snow Peas (豆豉荷蘭豆鷄, Dau6 Si6 Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 29 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Black bean sauce chicken is a standard recipe, it’s just a question of what else to include in the dish. All you have to do is to look in your pantry and pull out whatever your heart desires to make a tasty dinner. In this case, snow peas and cloud ear fungus were the choice, with red bell pepper to add color to the dish. If you’re feeling lazy, you can use a prepared black bean garlic sauce, my favorite brand is Lee Kum Kee.

Enjoy!

Pork Hearts and Fish Tofu with Snow Peas (荷蘭豆魚豆腐豬心, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Jyu4 Dau6 Fu6 Zyu1 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 09 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Pork and seafood is a tasty combination used in Chinese dishes - in this case it’s pork hearts and fish tofu. Just like dishes using beef hearts, such as Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Sam¹ Caau² Min⁶), Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu¹ Haau¹ Laat⁶ Ngau⁴ Sam¹), and Beef Heart with Bell Peppers (青椒牛心, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Ngau⁴ Sam¹), dishes with pork heart don’t taste like organ mean since it’s a muscle (physically smaller than a beef heart), is crunchy like chicken gizzards, and has a subtle pork flavor. Ground pork is usually included in this dish, so when I saw pork hearts at my local Asian market, I decided to try something different and was happy that I did.

Enjoy!

Garlic Pork Fried Rice (蒜豬肉炒飯, Syun3 Zyu1 Juk6 Caau2 Faan6)

This recipe was updated on 01 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Fried rice means leftovers and a tasty quick cooking dish. The rice from last night’s dinner has been in the refrigerator overnight and the pork from the Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops, Grilled Curry Pork Chops (燒烤咖哩豬排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Gaa³ Lei¹ Zyu¹ Paai⁴), or Asian-Brined Smoked Pork Chops is cut up into bite sized pieces. If you’re a garlic lover, you can always add more sliced garlic to the dish to satisfy your tastes. Finish the dish with oyster sauce and sesame oil.

Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Ribeye Pork Chops

No longer are pork chops just called pork chops. Pork chops are now being sold as ribeye or porterhouse pork chops. While the pork chops are the same, the marketing has changed, which is clever given the cost of beef nowadays. No matter, the pork still taste the same no matter what they’re called. I’m able to purchase thick pork chops - thick meaning larger than 1-inch (2.5 cm) - which lends itself to cooking the pork chops like beef steaks. This version uses a teriyaki and sake marinade before being grilled. You can just as easily use thinner pork chops to make this dish, but you’ll need to reduce the grill times.

Enjoy!

Black Pepper Sauce Chicken (黑椒汁鷄, Hak1 Ziu1 Zap1 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 04 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Just like black bean garlic sauce, black pepper sauce is another ready-made bottled sauce that comes in handy when you want to make a stir fry dish. Among other ingredients, the sauce consists of black pepper (obviously) and some tomato paste. The sauce is supposed to go well with beef. I happen to use Lee Kum Kee brand and you can purchase black pepper sauce at your local Asian market.

Enjoy!

Beef with Black Bean Hong Kong Noodles (豆豉牛肉炒雲吞麵, Dau6 Si6 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 07 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using Hong Kong noodles, this one using salted black beans. Chicken and Bell Peppers with Hong Kong Noodles (青椒鷄雲吞麵, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Gai¹ Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) and Beef Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩牛肉炒雲吞麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) are previous recipes using these noodles. Hong Kong noodles are thin egg noodles and the literal translation in Cantonese is wonton noodles. While there aren’t any wontons in this dish, these noodles are typically used together with wonton in a soup broth, hence their name, and that leads to no end of confusion if you use the literal translation. So you’ll find dishes named in English referring to thin egg noodles, Hong Kong style noodles, and even vermicelli (whose use isn’t quite correct). Needless to say, the noodles are just really thin and are really good in a stir fry.

Enjoy!

Grilled Butterflied Lamb Leg

Here’s another butterflied leg of lamb recipe. The previous version, Grilled Mesquite-Smoked Garlic Rosemary Lamb, used different spices and two grilling methods to prepare the dish. This version uses an Asian based marinade and direct heat to grill the dish. The amount of chili garlic sauce can be varied according to taste – use more if you like spicy, less if you don’t. If done correctly, the outer layer of the lamb will be crusty and the inner meat medium-rare.

Enjoy!

Mussels and Ground Pork with Snow Peas (荷蘭豆貽貝豬肉, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Ji4 Bui3 Zyu1 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 28 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Ground pork with mung bean vermicelli (also called bean threads) is a classic combination, just those ingredients together make a dish. Adding snow peas and mussels is my customization to the recipe. You can eat the dish all by itself or serve it over rice.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Chinese Broccoli Noodles (芥蘭鷄乾撈麵, Gaai3 Laan4 Gai1 Gon1 Lou1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 29 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another variation of Noodles in Sauce (乾撈麵, Gon¹ Lou¹ Min⁶) and is very easy to make. The combination of chicken, Chinese broccoli, and oyster sauce is very tasty. If you’re really in a hurry to eat, you can just use oyster sauce alone to make the sauce, but the other ingredients add more flavor, so take the time to prepare the complete sauce.

Enjoy!

Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa3 Lei1 Faan1 Ke4 Ngau4 Sam1 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 02 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s a variation on Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶) recipe using beef hearts instead of the usual beef flank. Also instead of using fresh beef hearts, I used Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu¹ Haau¹ Laat⁶ Ngau⁴ Sam¹). The beef hearts give an added crunch to the dish. The tomatoes came from my garden and this batch didn’t hold up to stir frying very well, so I got tomato skins in the finished dish rather than tomato wedges!

Enjoy!

Grilled Curry Pork Chops (燒烤咖哩豬排, Siu1 Haau1 Gaa3 Lei1 Zyu1 Paai4)

This recipe was updated on 13 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This recipe uses thin pork chops with the skin on. The pork chops usually bought in a supermarket have the skin removed, but pork chops with skin can be purchased at Asian markets. If pork chops with skin cannot be obtained, then use the pork chops without skin from the supermarket. To prevent the pork chops from cupping, the skin is cut in two places before marinating and cooking. Thin pork chops, ½-inch (15 mm.) wide, are required since the cooking method uses a hot coals to quickly grill and brown the pork chops, with the curry powder adding a nice flavor to the finished dish.

Enjoy!

Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu1 Haau1 Laat6 Ngau4 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 30 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using beef hearts, this time grilled in a spicy chili sauce. I bought the beef hearts already sliced at my local Asian market and they slice the beef hearts thicker than my neighborhood supermarket. The beef hearts are also always available at the Asian market, unlike the supermarket. I didn’t (and couldn’t) eat all the grilled beef hearts, so the leftovers were used for another dish.

Enjoy!

Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉, Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Zing1 Zyu1 Juk6)

Steamed pork is a dish I grew up eating and all Chinese Moms have a recipe for this dish. Steamed pork is usually never the only ingredient used in making this dish and there are innumerable recipe variations for additions. There is another recipe for Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (鹹魚蒸豬肉, Haam⁴ Jyu⁴ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶) .

This version uses cooked salted duck egg, whose saltiness goes well with the savory pork flavor. You can buy cooked salted duck eggs at your local Asian market. If you can get uncooked salted duck eggs, which are getting hard to find in my area, you can crack the egg over the top of the ground pork. Don’t confuse salted duck eggs with preserved duck eggs (皮蛋, pei⁴ daan⁶,), also known as thousand year eggs, which are black/green in color and definitely an acquired taste!

On the surface, this seems like an easy dish to make. If this dish is prepared correctly, the steamed ground pork has a tender mouth feel when eaten. I have found, through many attempts, that if you add 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) corn starch per ½ lb. (250 g.) ground pork, together with the other marinade ingredients, you get the desired result. Previously attempts that didn’t work used ground pork with more and less fat content, ground pork with small and large grind, and other binders (tapioca and rice starch).

Enjoy!

Chicken and Fish Balls with Black Bean Chili Sauce (魚蛋黑豆辣椒油鷄, Jyu4 Daan6 Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 06 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I was actually going to make another dish until I saw the one pound (454 g.) package of frozen fish balls at my local Asian market. Fish balls are made like other meatballs, ground meat (in this case fish) mixed together and formed into balls. Fish balls are most commonly used in soups and are also served deep fried. I guess you could make fish ball spaghetti with them too! Fish isn’t the only flavor available, you can also get prawn and cuttlefish balls at your local Asian market. So I decided to combine the fish balls with chicken and green string beans and used Laoganma brand black bean chili sauce to finish the dish. It turns out that chicken and fish balls makes a tasty combination.

Enjoy!

Beijing-Style Chicken Wings (北京鷄翼, Bak1 Ging1 Gai1 Jik6)

This recipe was updated on 04 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This recipe was adapted from the Mi Zhi Ji Chi Chuan (Beijing Chicken Wings) recipe at saveur.com. The original recipe used skewers since that’s how the wings are cooked on the streets. I omitted the skewers, but didn’t change the method the wings are cooked – quickly over hot coals until charred. I also used chili garlic sauce in the spice paste, where the original uses a chili oil after cooking, to produce the spicy hot taste of the wings. The spicing of this recipe is similar to that used in the Grilled Xinjiang-Style Chicken Wing (新疆燒烤鷄翼, San¹ Goeng¹ Siu¹ Haau¹ Gai¹ Jik⁶) recipe.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Zucchini with Spicy Bean Paste (意大利青瓜春辣酱雞, Ji3 Daai6 Lei6 Ceng1 Gwaa1 Ceon1 Laat6 Zoeng3 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 04 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Zucchini is in season now, so I added some chicken and spicy bean paste to make this dish for dinner. The Laoganma brand spicy bean paste includes a spicy oil that adds flavor to this dish. If you can’t find Laoganma brand spicy bean paste at your local Asian grocery store, you can substitute black bean sauce and hot chili oil.

Enjoy!

Grilled Xinjiang-Style Lamb Rib Chops (新疆燒烤羊扒, San1 Goeng1 Siu1 Haau1 Joeng4 Paa4)

This recipe was updated on 11 Apr 2015. Some ingredient quantities and instructions were updated.

This recipe was adapted from that published in Saveur Magazine, June/July 2013 issue in the article, “Fire in the Belly”. The original recipe was for lamb skewers. The spice paste, consisting of red chili flakes, cumin, Sichuan peppercorns, and oyster sauce would go well with any meat. I happen to have two racks of lamb in my freezer, so it made sense to use them instead of making skewers with lamb shoulder as called for in the original recipe. The article makes the point that a very hot fire is used for cooking, so I piled the charcoal into one-half of the grill to place the coals as close to the grill surface as possible. You may have to decrease the cooking time depending upon the heat of your grill. Cooking time is fast for medium-rare rib chops, so be careful not to overcook the lamb.

 

Enjoy!

Grilled Miso Garlic T-Bone Steak

This dish was adapted from a Saveur Magazine website (saveur.com) recipe, Garlic and Red Miso Porterhouse. While I didn’t use red miso paste because I had the brown version in my refrigerator, I used more garlic than I normally use in a marinade. I also added sake to the marinade, which was not in the original recipe. This was a tasty and easy way to grill a steak, and the marinade would work with other meats.

Enjoy!

Beef Heart with Bell Peppers (青椒牛心, Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 12 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Not only was this an opportunity to use the first bell peppers from my garden, it was also the first time I’ve ever used beef hearts in a dish. It was one of those irresistible urges once I saw beef heart slices available for the first time in my local supermarket. Not knowing what they taste like, I used a basic marinade to prepare and then to sauce the dish. Since the heart is a huge muscle, it does not taste like organ meat, but has an understated (in my opinion) beef taste. I liken the texture to chicken gizzards, but with a little more crunch in the mouth. I have to say that I like eating beef hearts and would gladly prepare another dish using it (I’m thinking that a noodle dish is in order).

Enjoy!

Chicken and Bell Peppers with Hong Kong Noodles (青椒鷄雲吞麵, Ceng1 Ziu1 Gai1 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 06 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

This noodle dish uses a simple soy sauce based sauce for flavor, with dark soy sauce giving the dish its deep color. You should be able to get dark soy sauce at your local Asian market. The chicken and vegetables are cut into same sized strips which makes for a quick cooking dish.

Enjoy!

Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (Haam4 Jyu4 Zing1 Zyu1 Juk6, 鹹魚蒸豬肉)

This recipe was updated on 02 Aug 2013. Some instructions were changed.

Steamed pork is a dish I grew up eating and all Chinese Moms have a recipe for this dish. Steamed pork is usually never the only ingredient used in making this dish and there are innumerable recipe variations for additions. There is another recipe for Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Zing1 Zyu1 Juk6, 鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉).

This version uses salted fish, whose saltiness goes well with the savory pork flavor, and is an acquired taste. Salted fish is made by salting a whole fish and drying it in the sun. You can still buy salted fish at your local Asian market, but you can also get salted fish preserved in oil in a bottle. I prefer the bottled version since it stores easily and there is no fishy smell since the fish is immersed in oil.

On the surface, this seems like an easy dish to make. If this dish is prepared correctly, the steamed ground pork has a tender mouth feel when eaten. I have found, through many attempts, that if you add 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) per ½ lb. (250 g.), together with the other marinade ingredients, you get the desired result. Previously attempts that didn’t work used ground pork with more and less fat content, ground pork with small and large grind, and other binders (tapioca and rice starch).

Enjoy!

Scallops with Sugar Snap Peas (蜜豆帶子, Mat6 Dau6 Daai3 Zi2)

This recipe was updated on 18 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

Scallops are always a treat to eat. Frozen 60/80 scallops were used for this dish, meaning that there are 60-80 scallops per pound (500 g.). You can use larger scallops, but the 60/80’s are readily available at my local Asian market. If you can get fresh scallops, that’s always best and the dish will taste even better.

Whole coin mushrooms were used to make this dish. This type of Shiitake mushroom is so named because of the size resemblance to large coins and is available at your local Asian market. Regular Shiitake mushrooms, cut into pieces, can be substituted if the coin mushrooms are not available.

Enjoy!

Hot Bean Sauce Fish with Asparagus (辣豆辦醬蘆筍斑腩, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Zoeng3 Lou4 Seon2 Baan1 Naam5)

 

This recipe was updated on 12 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Fish fillets in hot bean sauce is a classic Chinese dish and using asparagus is a Western addition to the dish, with Shiitake mushrooms adding another flavor. I used coin mushrooms in this dish, which are small, coin-sized Shiitake mushrooms – the Cantonese translation is “Gold Coin Mushroom”. If coin mushrooms are not available at your local Asian market, just use regular Shiitake mushrooms cut into pieces.

The root end of the asparagus has a tough skin. The usual advice is to take the root end of the asparagus in one hand and the tip end with the other, snap the asparagus (it breaks at the natural tough-tender skin boundary), and discard the root end and use the tip end. However that results in a lot of waste (in my opinion) since the center of the root end is still tender and edible, it’s just the skin that’s tough. So I’ve found that if you use a vegetable peeler, you can remove the tough outer skin and use the entire asparagus stalk. It takes some practice to just remove the asparagus’ tough skin. My first efforts using a vegetable peeler resulted in breaking the stalks and/or peeling too much of the asparagus at the root end, so I had some odd looking asparagus pieces. I’ve tried using a knife to remove the skin, but I’ve found that with practice the vegetable peeler removes less of the asparagus stalk root end’s tender center.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Fried Tofu with Chive Buds (韭菜花油炸豆腐鷄, Gau2 Coi3 Faa1 Jau4 Zaa3 Dau6 Fu6 Gai1)

This recipe was updated on 17 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Chive buds make this dish attractive looking and tasty. Chive buds are available at your local Asian market, and you can also use garlic buds (another somewhat expensive ingredient) to make this dish, although the dish will have a different flavor.

Enjoy!

Bacon, Egg, and Peanut Butter Sandwich

I have to admit that this is a weird concoction, but it is a tasty sandwich. It’s the result of my love for chunky peanut butter, eggs, and bacon. In the USA, peanut butter (I use no-salt chunky peanut butter) is a common ingredient, but for other parts of the world, it’s an acquired taste. The saltiness of the bacon helps to make this dish tasty and I used turkey bacon, which has less fat than the pork version. I used garlic bread (bread baked with garlic cloves) for added flavor, but sourdough or any other dense bread will work. Try making this and you’ll probably be smiling like me while eating this sandwich.

Enjoy!

Chili Lemongrass Shrimp with Sugar Snap Peas (辣椒檸檬葉蜜豆蝦, Laat6 Ziu1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Mat6 Dau6 Haa1)

 

This recipe was updated on 06 Nov 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Lemongrass was available at my local farmer’s market and I couldn’t resist buying it. Like its name, lemongrass has a lemon flavor and looks like a long (about 2 ft. or 60 cm.) thick green stalk of grass. The outer leaves are tough and inedible, so you have to remove the outer layers to reveal the softer inner core, which is edible and a small part of the stalk near the root. The inner core is sliced finely and stir fried with dried red peppers to flavor the oil used in this shrimp dish. Sugar snap peas add the crunch to this dish. Depending upon your tolerance for heat, you can use more or less red chili peppers.

Enjoy!

Basil Shrimp and Italian Sausage Pasta

I actually cook my pasta dishes like I make chow mein – stir frying. In my mind, the technique to make pasta or chow mein is the same, the only differences being the ingredients and the use of a tomato based sauce (usually a bottled pasta sauce). For this dish, shrimp is paired with Italian sausage, since pork and shrimp make a great taste combination. To add more flavor, fresh basil leaves are added at the end of cooking. Top with grated Parmesan cheese if desired. Serve with Garlic Garlic Bread (the recipe can be found here).

Enjoy!

Steamed Pork Baby Back Ribs with Shrimp Sauce (幼滑蝦醬蒸排骨, Jau3 Waat6 Haa1 Zoeng3 Zing1 Paai4 Gwat1)

 

This recipe was updated on 19 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Shrimp sauce, consisting of ground fermented shrimp and salt, is a funny looking, unnatural purple colored sauce, which has a distinctive taste and strong smell. However once cooked, the sauce loses the smell, but keeps its unique salty taste. When coated on with pork baby back ribs, topped with crushed garlic and ginger, and steamed, the combination tastes great. So don’t let your nose prevent you from trying this dish.

Enjoy!

Curry Scrambled Eggs with Avocado (咖哩粉鱷梨炒蛋, Gaa3 Lei1 Fan2 Ngok6 Lei4 Caau2 Daan6)

 

This recipe was updated on 13 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Madras brand curry powder is a staple in my and, I suspect, in many Chinese-American pantries. Adding curry powder to the dish is a great way to spice up scrambled eggs. I happen to have some avocado, so I also added that to the eggs as a topping to make a great breakfast. To make fluffy scrambled eggs, start by heating a cold pan or wok over medium-low to medium heat, pouring in the liquid egg solution while the pan heats up. As the eggs set, move the cooked eggs toward the center of the pan, allowing the remaining liquid eggs to be cooked in the pan. Repeat this process until no liquid remains. The dish is done when the eggs are fluffy and still look a little wet, but are not totally dry.

Enjoy!

Beef Shanghai Noodles (牛肉上海麵, Ngau4 Juk6 Soeng6 Hoi2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 24 Oct 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Shanghai noodles are thicker than the normal chow mein noodles and have a chewy texture. As with all my noodle recipes, I recommend that you slightly burn the noodles as is done in restaurants to give the dish an added flavor. Sliced garlic is another added ingredient that makes this tasty dish.

Enjoy!