Chinese Eats at Home (Part 2)

[Prawncrackers]

Ah that is a meal after my own heart Liuzhou!

Tonight, we had Tea smoked duck breast with a crispy garnish of shallot, garlic, chilli, salt & sugar, with egg fried rice of course. I've posted this dish before but the garnish this time has really added an extra dimenson. Yum!!

[Ce'nedra]

Prawncrackers: Again, I must repeat that your duck is cooked to PERFECTION!

[hzrt8w]

Chicken with Yellow Hotbed Chives (韭黄)

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liuzhou: did I see some spotty green thing in this dish? What is that? (Or is my computer screen too dusty? )

[liuzhou]

liuzhou: did I see some spotty green thing in this dish? What is that? (Or is my computer screen too dusty?  )

Yes, it's your screen! Or I may have got dinner all over my camera lens!

No. maybe a little finely chopped spring onion / scallion.

Edited October 4, 2007 by liuzhou (log)

[hzrt8w]

No. maybe a little finely chopped spring onion / scallion.

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Ahhhh! Finely chopped spring onion! Brilliant! I thought I saw some pesto sauce used.

[Gastro888]

I made a quick dinner of baby Shanghai bok choy chowed in garlic with a dash of Maggi Seasoning.

Oooooh yeah.

[C. sapidus]

Most of tonight’s dinner was from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Yueyang velveted (or passed through oil, if you prefer ) fish (liu yu pian); stir-fried greens with black beans and chiles; eternal cucumbers; and jasmine rice. I couldn’t find halibut, so we used flounder, which flaked into fairly small pieces. Consequently this tasted better than it looked, with the crunch of red bell peppers and the lovely flavors of thinly-sliced ginger and garlic, dried shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil.

We also made stir-fried greens with black beans and chiles. Every time I use fermented black beans, I always vow to use them more often. The recipe called for water spinach stems. I intended to substitute regular spinach but inadvertently grabbed some arrow-shaped leafy things hiding in the spinach section. The recipe is pretty flexible, so the mystery greens tasted delicious.

[liuzhou]

Yet another meal for the two of us.

鱼香茄子 Fish Fragrant Aubergine (Eggplant)

Beef with Mushrooms (and other stuff). A bit of a fridge clearing dish, but it was tasty.

Steamed Fish (Oops! Forgot the greenery on top!) Tasted good anyway.

[Dejah]

Liuzhou: What kind of fish did you use?

Lunch yesterday - a quick one from the freezer:

steamed beef meat balls (dim sum style), daikon wedges, romain lettuce, and saffron rice. I diluted some oyster sauce and ladled it over the meatballs and lettuce. Tummy warming on a rainy windy fall day.

Last night was traditional Canadian Thanksgiving turkey, ham and the fixings. Tonight we are having a mixed-up supper according to requests from the kids who are home this weekend: lotus and ocotpus soup, a Thai beef curry dish, some kind of stir-fry vegetable, cumin basmati rice, banana cream pie and pumpkin pie.

[Gabriel Lewis]

鱼香茄子 Fish Fragrant Aubergine (Eggplant)

I've been wanting to try a lot of fish fragant dishes, but haven't been able to source good pickled chilies. What do you use for pickled chilies? Incidentally, does anyone have a recipe for sichuan style pickled chilies (pickled with salt, wine, spices, not vinegar)?.

[liuzhou]

Liuzhou: What kind of fish did you use?

It's a carp (鲤鱼)

What do you use for pickled chilies?

Fortunately, I have access to excellent Sichuan pickled chillies. But then, I'm in China.

[Gabriel Lewis]

Fortunately, I have access to excellent Sichuan pickled chillies. But then, I'm in China. 

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Ah right, how silly of me! Ah well, the search continues. Might I ask you to describe the chiles you use a bit, or post a photo? I've read descriptions of a few different kinds that are commonly pickled in my books, but it would be lovely to see them.

[liuzhou]

Might I ask you to describe the chiles you use a bit, or post a photo?

I'm away from home until Thursday, but can post a picture then.

In the meantime check this link out.

[Tepee]

Long time no see! I've been very busy with decorated cakes since April but am taking a 2-month break. Happy to find new faces here and lots of great homecooking. Yum!

I thought twice about posting tonight's humble dishes, am a bit intimidated by the grand meals featured in the past few pages. Well, I usually cook ultra-simple chinese fast food on Mondays after the weekend's excesses. This weekend we had a birthday dinner and a bon-voyage (chin hung) lunch. Besides, hubby's not coming home for tonight's meal, so I can get away with not having a meaty dish, heheh.

Me and my chicken-stomach girls had...omelette with big onions, liver sausage and bitter gourd.

and, fish balls stir-fried with broccoli

*BLUSH*

[Dejah]

Tepee So good to see you posting. It's good to know your cake decorating biz is doing so well that you need a 2 week break!

I loved that omelette with the sausages and bitter gourd. Now I know what to do with my duck eggs and gourd - for supper tomorrow.

Keep posting!

[Tepee]

Yat teng (will do)! I was going to ask you about how Ben-sook was (read that he paid you a visit), then I realized it's HIS BIRTHDAY TODAY! Sang Yut Fai Lok, Ben-sook! What an auspicious day I chose to pop in.

Erm...actually, I'm so burned out, it's not 2 weeks' break I need, it's 2 months.

[junehl]

Dinner last night

Watercress soup

Bacon two ways (marinated and then braised. then took half of it, and baked it again so the skin was crispy...couldn't get it as crispy as i wanted, but it looked ok!)

Hope you don't mind the 3 photos...

Bacon and Baby Bok choy sum

Bacon and Baby Bok choy sum with sauce (the sauce was simple, but it went with the bacon marinade soooo well)!

Close up so you can see the two textures, one's smooth and there is crackled.

[Dejah]

June: Watercress soup is one of our family favourites. I get it whenever I see good bunches at the store.

The "bacon" you showed, was it side pork/pork belly that you used? When you say bacon, I think North American bacon that is served for breakfast or BLT sandwiches. Was that what you used - a big unsliced slab of cured bacon?

It looks delicious BTW...in all three pictures.

[junehl]

Watercress is one of my favorites, but I think my most favorite has to be this veggie that has leaves that look very lacey I don't know the actual name for it it sounds like "hong ho"?

I did use the side pork belly. I was in the store, and it was so lean (for pork belly), I couldn't pass it up. Although a big slab of cured bacon sounds good for breakfast.

[Tepee]

June, that veg you're describing is called tong ho where I come from. And, yeah, one person's fav veg is another's poison (mine). Your meal sounds so much like comfort food.

Had a very busy day today. Just made King Spareribs (pak kuat wong) and a very flavourful soup made of a huge chunk of roast bone plus meat I bought, remaining fish balls, napa cabbage. Sorry, snapped pix on the way out, should have had more of it in focus.

[hzrt8w]

Welcome back, TP! We need your Chinese cookings with a Malaysian twist!

[hzrt8w]

Watercress is one of my favorites, but I think my most favorite has to be this veggie that has leaves that look very lacey I don't know the actual name for it it sounds like "hong ho"?

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I don't think watercress is the same as "tong ho". Watercress is "sai yeung choy" in Cantonese, which has a literal meaning of "The Western Vegetable".

Tong Ho is a different vegetable, which has a strong taste (a bit like celery).

Unless my memory has completely failed me... I need to go back and live in Hong Kong for a few years...

[Tepee]

Right you are, Ah Leung Gaw, but, do read June's post again. She is talking about 2 different vegs.

[Tepee]

Welcome back, TP!  We need your Chinese cookings with a Malaysian twist! 

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Thank you, Ah Leung Gaw. If you look at the herb in the pix, it's malaysian. It's called ulam and usually eaten raw with sambal chilli. We ate it with gravy made by deglazing the pan and adding maltose and honey with fried garlic (ai yahh...your recipe lor). I'm sure there's an english name for it. Anyone? I can be so ignorant.

Edited October 10, 2007 by Tepee (log)

[Ce'nedra]

Teepee: I'm coming right over to your house!