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Chinese Hot & Sour Soup From Mark's Website cups chicken stock 1/4 lb julienned lean pork or chicken 2 T garlic & red chile paste 2 T soy sauce 3/4 tsp ground white pepper 4 eggs, beaten 5 T cornstarch 1 c sliced shittake mushrooms 1 can peeled straw mushrooms 1 can sliced bamboo shoots 1 can sliced water chestnuts 1 can baby corn ears 1 cake soft tofu, sliced into 1/4 inch cubes 1/4 c white vinegar 1 tsp sesame oil 1/4 c dried black fungus (cloud ears), soaked in water for one hour, drained and sliced. finely chopped scallions for garnish Preparation: 1. Bring stock to a simmer, add soy, pork, mushrooms & chile paste, simmer for 10 minutes. 2. add pepper, vinegar, bamboo, baby corn, water chestnuts, fungus and tofu, simmer 10 min 3. Mix cornstarch with 5 tbsp water and add. bring back to a simmer and pour the eggs in a very thin stream over the surface. Let stand for 10 seconds before gently stirring in the sesame oil. 4. serve with a garnish of chopped scallions. The pepper, vinegar and chile paste can be varied to taste. You're a chile-head, you know what to do! Keywords: Soup, Appetizer, Easy, Hot and Spicy, eGCI ( RG270 )

Chinese Dumplings (Potstickers) Dough: 1/2 tsp salt 2-1/2 c unsifted flour 1 T lard, chopped fine (OK, I use margarine!) 1 c boiling water Filling: 1 lb ground pork 2 T dry sherry 2 T soy sauce 1 tsp grated ginger 1/2 tsp groud white pepper 1 T toasted sesame oil 1 T chopped green onion 1/2 tsp sugar 1 egg white 1 tsp salt 1 T corn starch 2 cloves garlic, finely minced > 2 T finely chopped water chestnuts 2 T finely chopped bamboo shoots 1 T (or more) garlic & red chile paste 1 c finely chopped cabbage with moisture squeezed out Mix all the Dough ingredients and knead thoroughly. Let rest on the counter under a bowl for 20 Min. Combine all filling ingredients and mix into a bowl. 1. Break off about a teaspoon of the dough, and roll into a 3 inch circle. 2. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the middle of the circle, and wet the edges of the circle with a little water. Seal into a half-moon shape, avoiding trapped air. 3. Heat a saute pan with 2 tbsp peanut oil, and place the dumplings upright in the pan and cook on medium /high heat until bottoms become nicely browned (3-5 min.) 4. Pour 1 cup chicken stock into the hot pan and immediately cover. Cook another 3 or 4 minutes, until most of the broth is absorbed. 5. serve immediately with a sauce made with 1/2 cup soy with a dash of ginger, scallion and a few drops of sesame oil for dipping. Keywords: Appetizer, Pork, Chinese, Hot and Spicy ( RG259 )

Chinese Broccoli (Gai-lan), several ways Serves 4 as Side. One of our favorite vegetables, we frequently order Gai-lan when out for Dim Sum or other Chinese meals. It looks similar to Broccoli Rabe, but tastes like a cross between regular broccoli and asparagus with none of the bitterness of broccoli rabe. We generally prepare it Chinese-style, but it can also be prepared Italian-style, just like other forms of broccoli. Chinese Broccoli or Gai-lan, figure 1 bunch for 4 people With Oyster Sauce 1/4 c Oyster Sauce, best quality Sauteed with Garlic 1/3 c Peanut or Olive Oil 6 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and sliced Salt or Soy Sauce, to taste 1 tsp Sesame Oil, optional Blanch the vegetable: Set a large pot of water to boil, add salt when it comes to the boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready. Prepare the Chinese Broccoli by trimming the cut ends, washing, then separate the leafy, thinner-stalked half from the larger stem half by cutting approximately in half. Blanch the vegetable, adding the thicker stemmed portion to the water about 1 minute before the thinner stemmed/leafy portion. After about another minute the vegetable will turn bright green.* Use a pasta scoop or spider web chan to remove the vegetable and shock in ice water. When cold, drain and saute the vegetables. Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce * If planning to serve immediately with Oyster Sauce, do not shock, but cook the vegetable just a little longer in the boiling water, then remove to a platter. Drizzle the Oyster Sauce all over the vegetable and serve immediately. Chinese Broccoli Sauteed with Garlic - Chinese Style Heat Peanut Oil in a wok and add the garlic and blanched Gai-lan. Stir fry until the vegetable is heated through and the garlic is lightly golden. Drizzle with Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil and serve. Chinese Broccoli Sauteed with Garlic - Italian Style In a very large skillet (or wok), place garlic slices and Olive Oil and bring up to heat, adding Gai-lan and a sprinnkle of salt while the garlic is still white. You can either briefly saute it to keep the vegetable crisp-tender, or lower the heat and cook it until wilted, like Broccoli Rabe. Keywords: Side, Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher, Easy, Vegetables, Dinner, Chinese ( RG176 )

Chinese Hot & Sour Soup Recipe courtesy =Mark 6 c chicken stock 1/4 lb julienned lean pork or chicken 2 T garlic & red chile paste 2 T soy sauce 3/4 tsp ground white pepper 4 eggs, beaten 5 T cornstarch 1 c sliced shittake mushrooms 1 can peeled straw mushrooms 1 c can sliced bamboo shoots 1 can baby corn ears 1 cake soft tofu, sliced into 1/4 inch cubes 1/4 c white vinegar 1 tsp sesame oil 1 can sliced water chestnuts finely chopped scallions for garnish 1/4 c dried black fungus (cloud ears), soaked in water for one hour, drained and sliced. Preparation: 1. Bring stock to a simmer, add soy, pork, mushrooms & chile paste, simmer for 10 minutes. 2. add pepper, vinegar, bamboo, baby corn, water chestnuts, fungus and tofu, simmer 10 min 3. Mix cornstarch with 5 tbsp water and add. bring back to a simmer and pour the eggs in a very thin stream over the surface. Let stand for 10 seconds before gently stirring in the sesame oil. 4. serve with a garnish of chopped scallions. The pepper, vinegar and chile paste can be varied to taste. Keywords: Chinese, Easy, Soup ( RG117 )

I'm not sure that my searching has been very effective but so far I haven't been able to turn up a chinese recipe with kidney as the primary ingredient. I have about 1/2 a kilo and chinese is my current culinary favouite so if you have a recipe, or the name of a dish, I'd really appreciate it.

So there is this little BBQ place near the market that we love to shop at, and we always end up buying at least 1/2 lb of BBQ pork once or twice a month (so cheap, about $4!) I have had it on its own with some rice, I have also made BBQ Pork fried rice - I want to do something different with it, but am at a loss for ideas. Help, eG!

I always use sesame oil with my stir fry at the end is this right? Are there some instances where sesame oil should never be used with certain ingredients? Some recipes I see never use it others always do there seems to be no rule that I have discovered so far. Look forward to your input Thank you.

It's called "Zha Xian Nai" in Chinese. No, you don't pull the milk into the hot oil for deep frying. It's a dessert dish. Anyone has a good recipe for it? Thanks

Does anyone has a suggestion for a light fried "batter"? My wife had one at a Chinese restaurant in New Orleans when she used to live there. She said it was very light, it was a sweet and sour sauce (not the American style with ketchup and food coloring) with the pork lightly coated with a crust. I was thinking maybe it was egg whites with maybe cornstarch, no egg or flour. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Hello I always thought that every chinese savoury recipe required ginger & garlic, but now I see some recipes do & some don't. Are there rules for when to use garlic & ginger or just 1 or the other? Many Thanks Andy

Hello, There may already be a thread on this topic but I couldn't find it (in the 5 minutes I looked!) so here goes. A friend recently asked me what special equipment she should acquire to be able to make most Chinese recipes. I immediately thought "wok" but then Ah Leung does all his recipes without a wok. That lead to me to re-think and I came up with the following list of items which are more a list of questions: 1. Gas vs electric 2. wok 3. rice cooker 4. deep-fryer 5. bamboo basket for steaming 6. clay cooking pot for braising 7. food processor 8. etc. Presumably none of these are absolutely necessary (except maybe the gas, though some cook books try to get around this as well). I wonder what your opinion is on these items, as well as others I have probably forgotten. I guess that the answer depends on the chef! Thanks

Anyone have the original?

Hey, I just stumbled upon what looks like an excellent glossary of types of flour available in China in English, Chinese and pin yin. The link is here, hope it helps! Also, a little off-topic but; I just got an email from Pantry Magic Corporate saying that they've been trying to get the new Beijing store (near Worker's Stadium) to close down since mid-February for 'serious non-compliance'. What's up with that? P.S. I'm not connected to that bread web site or Pantry Magic in any way, for you jaded, snarky-types lurking out there!

I've been wanting to make wonton broth like the ones back in Hong Kong. I found some dried stockfish (Dà dì yú - 大地魚), which is what is used in stock if I remember correctly. However, in one of the sealed bag, there was a black, fuzzy caterpillar like bug crawling inside. That freaked me out a little and I just didn't want to get any from that brand, which was the only one available. So, I am thinking maybe I can make my own dried fish. I believe it is flounder I need to start with. I was thinking of just getting one fresh, clean it and then stick it in the dehydrator. Anyone tried that before? Also, in the bag that I didn't purchase, were quite a few star anise. Not sure what they were doing there. Perhaps store together to give the fish flavor. Anyone know?

I picked up a dried fish maw from a Chinese store, with the goal of making Chinese fish maw soup. Does anyone have a good recipe or good ideas/advice on how to make soup with fish maw? I searched my Chinese cookbook collection and couldn't find one single mention of this soup. I found a few recipes on the internet, but I'm not thrilled with any of them. Thank you for any replies!

Here's a question for you: is there anything out there, and more on the nose anything I've got a chance of finding here in Ecuador, that is an acceptable substitute for Pandan leaves? (I've got access to everything from breadfruits to various jasmines, but Pandan is sadly lacking in this country.) I have a serious hankering for Hainanese Chicken Rice, and every recipe I can find calls for them as a major component of the flavour. Alternately, will the dish come out tasting proper without them?

Pictorial Recipe Steamed Curry Squid (Dim Sum) (咖哩蒸魷魚) This dish may be found in some dim sum restaurants: Steamed curry squid. It is quite easy to make at home. The key is in the marination. I used reconstituted dried squid to make this dish. You may also use fresh squid instead. My experience has been that the smaller the squid, the tastier. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2-3 Preparations: Main ingredients (upper right, clockwise): - About 1.5 to 2 lb of reconstituted dried squid - Garlic, use about 4-5 cloves - Sa Cha Sauce (Bull Head Brand "Chinese Barbeque Sauce") - Curry Powder - (Not shown in picture) Ginger, about 1 inch in length Soak the reconstituted dried squid in water for about 30 minutes. Rinse it thoroughly. Drain the water well. To marinate: Place the squid in a mixing bowl. Add: - 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed - 3-4 tsp of Sa Cha Sauce - 2 tsp of curry powder (Madras type) - 1/2 to 1 tsp of salt (or to taste) - 2-3 tsp of your favorite hot chili sauce, or slices of 1 small fresh chili pepper - grated ginger (about 1 inch in length) - 2 tsp of corn starch - 3-4 tblsp of chicken broth - a pinch of sugar (e.g. 1 tsp) If you are a fan of MSG, this is the time to sprinkle some on top. Mix the ingredients well. Transfer the marinated squid to a steaming dish. Cooking Instructions: Cooking is very simple: place the dish in a steamer and steam for 20 minutes. To avoid getting excess water condensation in the dish, I advise to place a plate on top to cover the steaming dish to block off some of the water condensation. This is what the dish looked like after 20 minutes. Scoop and transfer the squid along with some sauces to the serving plates (or small dim sum dishes). Picture of the finished dish.

Pictorial Recipe Minced Beef Over Rice in Clay Pot (窩蛋免冶牛肉煲仔飯) One thing that I don't like about having steamed minced beef in Chinese restaurants, be it in clay pot or in dim sum dishes, is that the beef seems too soft and spongy. Probably it is the result of using meat tenderizing agent like borax or carbonate. I like making minced beef dishes at home to avoid these additives. This is a rice clay pot with minced beef. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2-3 Preparations: Main ingredients (upper center, clockwise): - 2 to 3 cup of long grain rice - Minced beef, about 1/2 lb - Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli), about 3-4 stalks - 1 small egg - (Not shown in picture) Garlic, about 2-3 cloves - (Not shown in picture) Ginger, about 1 inch in length Cooking Instructions: Slightly rinse the rice grain. Add about 2 cups of water. Pour the rice/water mixture onto the clay pot. Set on stove and heat over medium/slow fire with lid on. It will take about 10-15 minutes for the water to boil. Meanwhile, add the minced beef to a food processor. To marinate: add 1 tsp of sesame oil, 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, 1 tsp of ground white pepper, 2 tsp of dark soy sauce, 1-2 tsp of corn starch and a pinch (e.g. 1/4 tsp or to taste) of salt. Also, peel and press 2-3 garlic and grate 1-inch worth of ginger and add them to the mixture. Optionally, you may add about 4-5 peeled water chestnuts (freshed or canned, finely chop them first) to the mixture to make the beef patty softer. Break the egg and add the egg white to the beef mixture. Save the egg yolk for later. Use the food processor to blend the mixture for about 1/2 to 1 minute. (The color of this mixture turned out a little more pink than I expected. If you want the color darker, you may add some more soy sauce.) The key is: Watch the rice in the clay pot. Once the water start boiling and reducing, add the minced beef patty on top of the rice once the water looks almost evaporated. Continue to cook with the lid on for another 3 to 5 minutes. Don't add the beef too early or too late as it can easily overcook or undercook. While the beef is cooking, use a second pot to blanch the 3-4 stalks of Chinese broccoli. Drain well. When the beef/rice is ready, transfer the broccoil to the clay pot and lay them around the rim. Make a small impression at the center of the beef patty and add the raw egg yolk on top. To make a sauce: Use a small bowl. Add 3 tblsp of dark soy sauce, 3 tblsp of hot water, 2 tsp of sugar. Mix well. Add the sauce (to taste) to the beef/rice clay pot at the dinner table before serving. Picture of the finished dish.

Hi all. I need some help locating a good recipe for red bean cake. One of my Chinese colleagues recently got a red bean cake from home that was absolutely amazing. I'm longing to give it a try but can't get a good recipe. I did ask said colleague but his wife didn't want to part with the recipe. I tried googling but the recipes that turned up weren't satisfactory. The cake I had was "cakey" with a light, airy texture but definitely still a cake, while the recipes I've found seem to be more jelly-like requiring red bean paste, gelatine, and sugar. Do you have any favorite recipe you could share? How do YOU make red bean cake at home?

I love yu-shiang eggplant when I go out for chinese food. It seems pretty simple, but I have no idea how to make the sauce, and specifics. Does anyone have a good recipe for that? If hzrt8w could do one of his great pictorials, that would be fabulous!!

Pictorial Recipe Salt-pressed duck gizzard This is a common dish served as a cold appetizer anywhere from common working class joints to fancy restaurants. The gizzards are salted, spiced with star anise and Sichuan pepper, drizzled with sesame oil and mixed with sea salt to add a little extra textural interest. Serving Suggestion: 3 - 4 Ingredients: - 0.5 lb duck gizzard - star anise - Sichuan pepper - Chinese cooking wine - salt - ginger - scallions - sesame oil - sea salt Start with .5 lb duck gizzard. Trim fat. Cooking wine, salt, Sichuan pepper, star anise. Crush up the star anise, Sichuan pepper a bit. Add star anise, Sichuan pepper, 2 tbsp salt, 1/2 up cooking wine. Mix and refrigerate for a few days. Wash off the salt and seasonings, place into pan. Add ginger, scallions, 1 tbsp salt, cooking wine. Fill with water to immerse, cook for 20 minutes with lid on. Strain and cool, slice into pieces. Add 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp sea salt (I'm using fleur de sel). Done!

Around the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival) is Shanghai Hairy Crab season. I haven't seen any hairy crab in the Asian markets in the USA. Has anybody? Are they banned for imports?

It's roughly 1 month left before Chinese Lunar New Year, the date falls on Feb 18, 2007. The zodiac animal that rules this coming year will be the Fire Boar>>not roasted pig . People born on the years of the boar generally speaking will have a good year this year because of the astrological allignments in the heavens which doesnt happen all the time to each animal who rules the year, and the sign that should be cautious would be the snake, the prensence of the snake has angered the God of the Year Tai Sui, or Grand Duke Jupiter. People born in the year of the snake should always be cautious of accidents concerning falling or slipping, financial ventures are very risky this year. If dealing with big ventures or big amounts of money, May and October are the months to do it and avoid travelling to the NorthEast directions if possible, if not carry with you a charm called Pi Yao, it will appease Tai Sui and lift his anger upon the snake. The first day of the new year is the 18th, this day most chinese families eat the most bountiful to represent the beginning of the year to be bountiful and would end the same. Popular foods to be served during this time of the year are whole fish, sticky rice, Lo Bak Goh, Nien Kao, Whole chicken from head to feet (of course feathers plucked lol), 12 round fruits representing each month of the year, candied fruits which also symbolizes good luck and fortune such as lotus seeds, lotus roots, wintermelon, watermelon seeds, pineapples, taro, etc. Observers of this holiday knows that like most holidays, lunar new year events revolve around family and food, the one thing you cant separate in most cultures. *The yearly update on top about the horoscope is for trivia purposes only, if you choose to follow the advise do so, but in no way obligated to. thank you" aznsailorboi

This is why China is the greatest nation in the world: Stamps released in China to celebrate the Year of the Pig taste like sweet-and-sour pork. That is *so* much better than those Skinny Elvis stamps that tasted like... er, never mind. Edit: you can use one to mail one of these edible postcards made out of squid!

This is the first time I made bao. I am happy with this recipe as the skin is soft and chewy. However, my bao pleating needs a lot of improvement and pratice. Anyone can tell me how to make the pleats in bao properly ? very ugly pleatings of bao