Grilled Hard Ginger Ale Chicken Thighs

Hard ginger ale is used in the marinade in place of the usual Shaoxing wine to make this grilled chicken dish. Hard ginger ale provides a slight sweetness on its own, together with a slight ginger flavor. Regular ginger ale can be substituted, but I would also add some Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry to the marinade if this is done. The ginger flavor is enhanced by using fresh crushed ginger in the marinade. This is a really simple dish to make and you’re only limited by the amount of grill space on your barbeque.

Enjoy!

Garam Masala Beef Hong Kong Noodles (胡荽牛肉炒雲吞麵, Wu4 Seoi1 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This is a slightly spicier version of the Beef Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩牛肉炒雲吞麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) recipe using Garam Maslala. 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). Adding cabbage gives the dish an added crunch when you eat it in combination with the noodles.

Enjoy!

Oyster Sauce Mustard Green Shrimp (蠔油芥菜蝦, Hou4 Jau4 Gaai3 Coi3 Haa1)

Mustard greens are slightly bitter and is a great taste combination with the oyster sauce. Shiitake mushrooms are also another ingredient that is often paired with mustard greens. Altogether just the previous mentioned ingredients are a menu item in most Cantonese restaurants. Seafood is added to this dish to make it more luxurious, with the most common being sea cucumber (if you’ve been to a Chinese banquet, you’ll often see this combination). While I plan to make the sea cucumber dish eventually, I used shelled shrimp for this recipe. The shells add flavor to the dish, but need to be removed before eating (unless you’re strange like me and eat the shells). The usual method for eating the shrimp is to suck on the shelled shrimp to extract the flavors, and then remove the shells before eating the shrimp meat. If you’ve never seen this done before at a Chinese restaurant, you’re likely to be surprised the first time you see how this dish is eaten. Try this shelled shrimp eating method and you’re likely to do the same!

Enjoy!

Steamed Ground Turkey and Salted Radish with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋菜脯蒸火雞, Haam4 Aap3 Daan6 Coi3 Pou2 Zing1 Fo2 Gai1)

Steamed meat dishes are a staple of many Chinese-American home-style dinners. The dishes are simple to prepare and cook quickly. I’ve previously posted some steamed pork recipes: Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉, Haam⁴ Aap³ Daan⁶ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶) and Steamed Pork with Salted Fish (Haam⁴ Jyu⁴ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶, 鹹魚蒸豬肉). Pork is usually the meat of choice, but ground chicken and turkey can also be used. Corn starch plays an important part in producing a tender mouthfeel to the meat. I have found that 1 Tbs. (15 ml.) corn starch per ½ lb. (250 g.) ground meat results in the best texture in the cooked dish. In this recipe, ground turkey is used together with salted radish, shiitake mushrooms, and an uncooked duck egg. Uncooked duck eggs can be hard to find and luckily my local farmer’s market has a vendor that sells them, but cooked salted duck eggs can be substituted and are sold at your local Asian market (just follow the Steamed Pork with Salted Duck Egg (鹹鴨蛋蒸豬肉, Haam⁴ Aap³ Daan⁶ Zing¹ Zyu¹ Juk⁶) recipe to find out what to do with a cooked salted duck egg).

Enjoy!