Chinese Eats at Home (Part 3)

[liuzhou]

That hot and sour soup looks like something I would dive into (figuratively!). Still warm here in southern China, but I might give it a go.

The mushrooms in oyster sauce look great, too. I bought my first button mushrooms of the season today.

[Dejah]

My students from Louyang saw my soup post on facebook and slyly hinted that they "also had colds". I had made a huge pot in anticipation, so took enough for 8 to school next day. I think a dozen students dipped their spoons in the container.

Button mushrooms are available year round, but I envy you on the more unusual ones and other vegetables we can't get in our small city. It's getting better as more Chinese immigrate here.

[Emily_R]

Dejah -- That hot and sour soup looks great -- would you mind sharing the recipe?

[Dejah]

Supper last night: Salty chicken (Yeem gok gai): my restaurant's buffet version: chicken legs, thighs, wings, etc marinated in salt, tumeric, MSG (before the cry for NO MSG)

Eaten with stir-fried baby bok choy:

And yummy leftover rice from this pot the night before:

[patrickamory]

Dejah, that looks fantastic. Is the chicken deep-fried after the marination?

[C. sapidus]

Dejah – Yum! I always enjoy seeing your meals.

It has been too long since I cooked a Chinese meal . . .

Dry-fried chicken (Gan ban ji): Made with leeks rather than celery. No Sichuan chile bean paste (dou ban jiang) in the house, so I improvised with fermented soybean paste and Sriracha. Not quite the same, but good nonetheless.

Steamed peppers with black beans and ginger (Dou chi zheng jian la jiao): Cubanelle and Anaheim peppers, roll-cut and steamed with chicken stock and sesame oil.

Jasmine rice and eternal cucumbers

[Dejah]

Dejah, that looks fantastic. Is the chicken deep-fried after the marination?

Patrick: The chicken was rinsed off, patted dry, the roasted in 400F oven for about 25 minutes. Bone-on breasts took a little longer. I took the skin off for ourselves - before marinating. These are a couple of the ones with skin-on for my students. The skin got crispy, and the bit I tried was so good!

[Dejah]

Bruce: Great to see the "eternal cucumbers" again!

How did you do the chicken...deep fried first?

I'm making lobak goh tonight for the students' Halloween party on Wed. Other teachers are taking cookies, cupcakes. 85% of our students are from China, so I decided to make something savory and familiar. Might be scary for non-Chinese studentys tho', but they are game for anything I take in for them.

[C. sapidus]

How did you do the chicken...deep fried first?

No, just stir-fried in a fairly generous amount of oil, which gets flavored with the dried chiles, Sichuan peppercorns, etc.

I'm making lobak goh tonight for the students' Halloween party on Wed. Other teachers are taking cookies, cupcakes. 85% of our students are from China, so I decided to make something savory and familiar. Might be scary for non-Chinese studentys tho', but they are game for anything I take in for them.

What do you use to make your lobak goh? I think I've quite enjoyed that at dim sum. Anyway, I am sure that your Chinese and non-Chinese students consider themselves very fortunate.

[Darienne]

Made a large pot of Hot and Sour Soup last night. Can't get a lot of the ingredients where we are so I brought them from home.

We like a bowl of the soup for supper. (We eat our big meal at noon.)

[aliénor]

dejah - would love to see your recipe for hot and sour soup. i am just starting a cold and know that the soup will be a good soothing hellp for me. so looking forward to reading all about it

tia

[Dejah]

I don't really have a recipe as I always made it in a huge stock pot, but the ingredients are Chinese mushrooms, bamboo shoots, BBQ pork, chicken, small shrimp, chicken stock, vinegar, and a specific chili paste by Koon Yick Wah Kee. I usually throw in several chicken thighs to add to the chicken stock and the meat is then perfect for the finished product. The soup is thickened at the end with cornstarch slurry, then cubes of soft tofu is added at the last minute to heat up. The flavours are better the next day.

[Dejah]

There's a foot of snow outside, all from today and it's still snowing! That's Manitoba for ya.

So, decided to use the oven today to warm up the house...and make it smell good.

Supper tonight was pork side ribs, slow roasted for 3 hours in the oven, then a mix of Hoisin sauce, 5-spice powder, a bit of sugar slathered on for another 30 minutes.

Started the meal with fuzzy melon and Chinese mushroom soup followed by the ribs, jasmine rice, and Shanghai bok choy.

[Darienne]

Those ribs look excellent. Mouth is watering.

[Dejah]

Thanks, Darienne. Got a few ribs left and we'll have them with congee maybe tomorrow.

Tonight, we started with fish maw crab soup, steamed beef meat balls, and fu yu stir-fried green beans.

For dessert, we had one of these each. The product is made in Korea. - chewy texture with a nice mango flavour.

Got these at the Safeway store. They also have Honeydew and one in Banana. Haven't got past the mango ones yet.

[C. sapidus]

Dejah – Everything looks delectable, especially the ribs. What kind of crab do you use in your soup?

Dinner from Land of Plenty

Fish braised in chile bean sauce (Dou ban xian yu): Red snapper marinated with salt and Shaoxing wine, and then fried to crisp the skin. Sauce of chile bean paste, ginger, garlic, Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce, and chicken stock. Simmer the fish in the sauce until done and remove. Finish the sauce with cornstarch and scallions and pour over the fish. Snapper turned out tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Jasmine rice to go with.

Stir-fried Swiss chard with garlic (Chao han cai): I added a little chile bean paste for extra flavor, and I’ll probably do that again.

[Hassouni]

Need a recipe idea. It's getting obnoxiously cold in the DC area, so keep that in mind. I have 3 Chinese eggplants, firm and soft tofu, somewhat spicy fresh long green peppers, negi (like a gigantic scallion or very skinny leek), and a large stock of largely Sichuanese stapes (dried chiles, chile bean paste, sichuan peppercorn, etc), as well as black beans, light and dark soy sauce, black vinegar, and the like.

What can I make with that? Mapo doufu with the addition of eggplant, perhaps?

Edited November 6, 2012 by Hassouni (log)

[C. sapidus]

. . . What can I make with that? Mapo doufu with the addition of eggplant, perhaps?

Sounds good. With minor modifications you could also make fish-fragrant eggplants from Land of Plenty. Ms. Dunlop says that the sauce can be poured over prawns or squid, so it should work with doufu.

Stir-fried peppers with black beans and garlic (from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook is one of our staples.

[Hassouni]

I don't have RCC, what's involved in that stir fry?

[Dejah]

Need a recipe idea. It's getting obnoxiously cold in the DC area, so keep that in mind. I have 3 Chinese eggplants, firm and soft tofu, somewhat spicy fresh long green peppers, negi (like a gigantic scallion or very skinny leek), and a large stock of largely Sichuanese stapes (dried chiles, chile bean paste, sichuan peppercorn, etc), as well as black beans, light and dark soy sauce, black vinegar, and the like.

What can I make with that? Mapo doufu with the addition of eggplant, perhaps?

That's exactly what I do, Hassouni, because I love mapo doufo AND eggplant with chili bean paste and ground pork. I can never decide which one to make, so I just throw them together.

Bruce: I had a package of Dungeness crab meat, so it was quick, added more flavour, and texture.

[Dejah]

I have never cooked red snapper, and I see it in our supermarkets. Now that I've seen your dish, Bruce, I will try it. Anything with chili bean paste has got to be good!

I remember using fresh Swiss chard as a substitute for bok choi years ago when the real choi was not available, and it was great. Now, when I buy it in the stores, it always seem to taste "muddy", so I don't buy it anymore...just stick to various kinds of bok choi.

[C. sapidus]

I don't have RCC, what's involved in that stir fry?

Here is a link to the recipe from Splendid Table:

http://www.publicrad..._eggplants.html

Edit: Oops, wrong recipe. Cut up red and green bell peppers (we often use mildish chiles like Anaheim or Poblano) into squares. Stir-fry peppers until tender and remove. Stir-fry sliced garlic and rinsed fermented black beans, add peppers, and season with salt and a splash of rice vinegar and chicken stock. Finish off the heat with sesame oil.

Edited November 6, 2012 by C. sapidus (log)

[C. sapidus]

Anything with chili bean paste has got to be good!

Words to live by.

I have had snapper fillets become dry, so I was very happy with how the whole snapper turned out. High-heat-then-simmer seems to be a good way to cook delicate marine critters.

I remember using fresh Swiss chard as a substitute for bok choi years ago when the real choi was not available, and it was great. Now, when I buy it in the stores, it always seem to taste "muddy", so I don't buy it anymore...just stick to various kinds of bok choi.

Hmm, I have seen gritty chard, but fortunately have not run into "muddy". Swiss chard is one of the few leafy greens that the boys like, so . . .

[Dejah]

Snow storm in Manitoba today. Fortunately, we missed the brunt of what was in the forecast. Got maybe 20 cm instead of the 35 predicted. Might not be over yet.

Made wonton soup to stay comfy and cozy inside.

Wonton filling was ground pork, shrimp, and waterchestnut

Had lots of filling left over, so stuffed sweet pepper, Chinese mushrooms, and deep fried tofu pockets. Drizzled with sauce made from chicken stock and oyster sauce. Great soaked into steamed rice!

[heidih]

Dejah - the soup of course looks immensely comforting. I am curious about the stuffed items The edge of the pepper appears to have some browning on it. How was the dish prepared?