Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[miladyinsanity]

Oh I've made that, but I've never thought about wrapping mango--I se this and think peanuts, LOL. Hmm.... I wonder what other fruit I could possibly wrap.

[sheetz]

Due to other projects I've been slacking off with the cooking and photos, but this weekend I did manage to whip up a batch of joong. The filling is virtually identical to what Ah Leung used in his pictorial, except that I didn't use any chestnuts.

Edited June 21, 2007 by sheetz (log)

[prasantrin]

Oh I've made that, but I've never thought about wrapping mango--I se this and think peanuts, LOL. Hmm.... I wonder what other fruit I could possibly wrap.

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Strawberries. It remind me an awful lot of ichigo daifuku, so I think strawberries would be great (or biwa and maybe cherries, too).

[C. sapidus]

When I heard that Ah Leung had stepped down, I decided to cook up a small tribute. I was off work and Gulf shrimp were on sale, so today's lunch was Fisherman’s shrimp with chives (yu jia chao xia qiu) from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook. The shrimp were marinated in salt, potato flour, and egg white; deep-fried until partly cooked; stir-fried with garlic, chopped salted chiles, Chinkiang vinegar, chives, and thinly-sliced chile; and then finished with sesame oil.

No Chinese chives were available, so I used regular chives. Perhaps I'll add a little ginger next time. Anyway, this was quick and delicious.

[XiaoLing]

I have been really lazy lately. More so than usual so my camera has been sitting in the corner collecting dust and looking very cross at me.

So, the other day I was craving Korean food and I figured I would make a Chinese/Korean mock bibimbap with whatever ingredients I had in my fridge.

I made a quick shredded beef with diakon radish stir fry and then fried an egg. Simple, not really Korean since the beef was a Chinese but non the less it had some Korean flavors. It was very, very good and satisfied my craving.

Before Koren hot pepper paste:

After mixing (Can you tell I love spicy food?):

[Prawncrackers]

Gosh it's been two full weeks since the last post on this thread. Are you telling me that none of you have made any Chinese food in that time?

Tonight i made Salt and Pepper prawns and some Gau Ji:

[snowangel]

A true "fusion" meal.

Inspired by a hunk of elk that was languishing in the freeser, Cumin Beef (Elk):

Accompanied by leftover steamed Celebration Rice from Cradle of Flavor, with a side of green beans (ala Thai with "baby poop" -- aka fermented soybean sauce) on the side, ala fresco, on the deck.

The Cumin Beef calls for a couple of red peppers, plus some crushed dried red pepper. I doubled the amount of peppers, subbing Thai Birds, and used the full amount of crused red pepper, wanting a kick.

I can only wish I could bottle the scent of this dish and my kitchen right now. The leftovers are earmarked for my breakfast. Oh, and that I'd had more scallions that hadn't gone slimey!

[C. sapidus]

The Cumin Beef calls for a couple of red peppers, plus some crushed dried red pepper.  I doubled the amount of peppers, subbing Thai Birds, and used the full amount of crushed red pepper, wanting a kick.

Looks delicious! I'm jealous that you can double the chiles, though. We have been chile-deprived lately to accommodate house guests. Making a spicy dipping sauce is not the same as having delicious chile flavors thoroughly permeating dinner.

I can only wish I could bottle the scent of this dish and my kitchen right now. . . .

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Some perfume company is missing a golden opportunity. I would buy five-spice chicken perfume for Mrs. C in a heartbeat.

[Dejah]

Not sure where to post these as joongzi season is over, and this is what we've been eating the last couple of days.

I finally made my annual supply of joongzi this past weekend. To my traditional Toisanese fillings, I made some according to Tepee's Malaysian style with beef rendang.

Didn't take any pictures of the tradtional ones with salty pork belly, lap cheung, dong goo, onion, peanuts, and salty duck egg yolk. But it was more work this time as the only eggs available were cooked duck eggs! The flavour was excellent, but it was a pain having to cut them open just so, then scoop out the yolk with a small spoon. I had A LOTof egg whites, so I distributed them to all my Chinese students.

Here is a picture of the pork belly after curing for 3 days in coarse salt.

This is one with beef rendang:

Soooooo Good!

[Prawncrackers]

My parents in law were supposed to visit today. Now i know they love Cantonese Style Roast Duck. This was the very first thing that i cooked for them almost 5 years ago and is probably one of the reasons i was allowed to marry their daughter!!! Put it this way, i know how to cook this dish well

However i haven't prepared this dish for a couple of years now and i'd forgotten how involved it was. I took a Pekin duck out of the freezer on Thursday night and spent what felt like most of yesterday prepping it.

After i'd prepped it last night and hung it out to dry, my MIL called to say they weren't coming round today!! We've had some flooding in central England and they thought it best not to make the 3 hr drive and that they'll come next Sunday.

So... today has been a practise roast duck run. Results were good, slightly underseasoned to my taste but cooked to the absolutely right 'cuisson' - you know were the center of the thigh bone is just cooked. Next week it should be perfect for them.

I know, i know, if there is one thing i really need to improve on - it's my erratic chopping skills!! Enjoy the pics anyway....

Edited July 22, 2007 by Prawncrackers (log)

[Prawncrackers]

The in-laws made it round today and brought with them four lobsters!! So today we ate well... Stir-fried lobster, Roast Duck, Crab Fritters and some mixed veg:

[percyn]

WOW prawncracker, lthis pic looks like it was taken of a restaurant table.

[Prawncrackers]

Thanks for the compliment Percyn. I like my in-laws a lot and always take the time to put on a good spread for them, especially if they keep bringing the live lobsters!

[Dejah]

Double posting this image in Weight Watchers ( because of the noodles = 0 points) and here (because of the tendons and yu choy):

Shirataki noodles, chicken broth, bean sprouts, Thaio basil, yu choy, chili sauce, and dim sum style beef tendons that sister brought from Burnaby. I love it when she visits!

[mizducky]

Double posting this image in Weight Watchers ( because of the noodles = 0 points) and here (because of the tendons and yu choy):

Shirataki noodles, chicken broth, bean sprouts, Thaio basil, yu choy, chili sauce, and dim sum style beef tendons that sister brought from Burnaby. I love it when she visits!

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I meant to respond to this when you posted it over in the Weight Watchers topic before life got hectic on me -- that looks and sounds majorly yum!

On one recent super-hot and humid evening when the idea of turning on the stove made my skin crawl, I had myself a simple bowl of cold shirataki noodles garnished with dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and thinly sliced green onions. I must be getting used to konnyaku--or else I lucked out and bought an especially soft brand of shirataki--because the texture was just pleasantly bouncy in my mouth. Just the right thing in this weather.

[Prawncrackers]

I love the look of that beef tendon Dejah, the chewy sticky quality it has is surprisingly good isn't it? Did you prepare it from stratch, if so how is it done?

It's been exactly 4 months and 11 days since i last cooked Razorfish in Black Bean Sauce.... how do i know? Well i posted here last time i cooked it!! Choi Sum and Crab in the background too, enjoy:

[Dejah]

That lovely tendon came from Burnaby, B.C, three provinces away from me. Ain't air travel wonderful?

I do have dehydrated tendons and need to try cooking them myself one of these days. Do you have a good recipe?

I go to acouple of dim sum places in Winnipeg, but neither has beef tendons.

And I haven't had any razor clams either!

Yummy post!

[Prawncrackers]

I've only enjoyed beef tendon twice; once was as a dim-sum dish and the other was part of a hot-pot. The dim-sum dish was i think braised and had a sweet chilli and sesame oil flavour - very nice. If i could recreate that dish i would very happy.

Never cooked tendon at home, I was kinda hoping you would have few ideas Dejah!

[Dejah]

I've only enjoyed beef tendon twice; once was as a dim-sum dish and the other was part of a hot-pot.  The dim-sum dish was i think braised and had a sweet chilli and sesame oil flavour - very nice.  If i could recreate that dish i would very happy.

Never cooked tendon at home, I was kinda hoping you would have few ideas Dejah!

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Guess I'll have to try it one of these days. My sister gave me some dried ones, and they've been sitting in a jar in a dark cool room.

[C. sapidus]

Dinner from Land of Plenty: spicy braised rainbow trout with whole garlic (da suan shao yu); stir-fried spinach with chile and Sichuan pepper; rice and cucumbers. The trout was slashed and marinated in salt and Shaoxing wine while prepping the other ingredients. We separated three heads of garlic and fried the cloves until soft, and then fried the trout until the skin tightened.

After cleaning the wok, we braised the fish and garlic in a sauce of toban djan, ginger, chicken stock, dark soy, and sugar. When the fish and garlic when done, we reduced and thickened the sauce, then finished with sliced scallions and Chinkiang vinegar.

The fish was lovely, and the sauce had complex flavors and plenty of heat. Best of all, the boys approved.

Spicy rainbow trout braised with whole garlic

[hzrt8w]

This is my "semi home-made".

In Cantonese cooking there is a dish called "yau lum gai", which literally means "oil poured over chicken". The basic idea is laying some shredded green onions on top of a cooked and chopped chicken, and then splashing on some fumingly hot oil, and followed by dashing in some light soy sauce.

Some restaurants make the chicken steamed, some deep-fried. Mine was a store-bought Cantonese Fried Chicken, chopped. And I did the easy part.

[SheenaGreena]

This is my "semi home-made".

In Cantonese cooking there is a dish called "yau lum gai", which literally means "oil poured over chicken".  The basic idea is laying some shredded green onions on top of a cooked and chopped chicken, and then splashing on some fumingly hot oil, and followed by dashing in some light soy sauce.

Some restaurants make the chicken steamed, some deep-fried.  Mine was a store-bought Cantonese Fried Chicken, chopped.  And I did the easy part. 

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ahhhh, simple with an elegant presentation. I love that

[junehl]

Some more food

Lotus root soup with carrot, chicken, and black mushroom (I normally make it with pork and dried octopus, but the man does not like the smell or taste of the dried octopus, so had to lighten it up)

Ma Po Dofu

--

June

[Dejah]

Yum, June! My whole family loves lotus root soup - WITH OCTOPUS! Heading off to the big city tomorrow and will most likely come back with some fresh lotus root.

We went out to our house in the country today, and I picked quite a bit of gow gai gee off the bush in what used to be my garden. It is overgrown with grass, so I am surprised that it is still so prolific! I'll cook some in a light broth on Sunday when my Mom comes for supper.

A branch broke off while I was trying to clear the weeds, so I brought it home and will take a picture of it and the berries tomorrow in the daylight.

There are still a lot of green berries on the bush, but we got frost last night, so I don't think I'll be getting anymore.

[Domestic Goddess]

DylanK, for the shao qie zi, what exactly is dirty oil?