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Chinese Recipes

Chinese Beef and Daikon stew

Dec 19th, 2010
by dave.
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Chinese Beef Stew

It’s been incredibly cold the past couple weeks here in Boston. Usually it ends up around the low 40′s high 30′s in December but we’ve already had our fair share of subzero Fahrenheit days already (three weeks ago it was 7 degrees out when I left for work in the morning!). I’ve been cooking up a lot of stews and other winter comfort food lately, but nothing really new or improved. More like “revisiting” a familiar wine =P

But I can’t say I’ve exactly been inactive though! I’ve got all my Christmas shopping done! Earliest I’ve finished shopping ever (It helped that most of it was done online, gotta love getting it done from the comfort of an armchair and a glass of scotch (A nice pour of Glenmorangie 10Yr). And that being finished, I celebrated by hitting some of Boston’s restaurants, some of the recent ones being Giacomo’s in the North End, Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Mistral in the Back Bay, and Neptune Oyster in the North End. Fantastic, all of them. The raw bar at Neptune Oyster is fantastic, over a dozen selections and mostly local too, which is a plus. And the burger at Craigie? I’ve been scoffed at, but I’d definitely go out of my way to enjoy the burger again. Even at $21, I think it’s a steal for dinner. Local freshly ground beef, homemade bun and condiments, local bacon, all cooked just right. Enough juice in the burger to make each bite tasty and the toasted bun just enough to keep from making a mess but not oversized for the pattie.

But anyway, onto today’s recipe. Even though I’ve been cooking a lot of the recipes built up over the past two to three years, I managed to cobble together a nice recipe for a homestyle Cantonese recipe: Beef brisket and daikon radish stew.

Chinese Beef and Daikon stew

Recipe adapted from Christina’s recipes.

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs brisket (more or less, up to you)
- 3 slices of ginger
- 3 whole star anise
- 3 tb Chu Hou Sauce
- 1 piece rock sugar (optional)
- 2 L water or broth (enough water to cover brisket)
- 2 carrots
- 2 tsp l. soy sauce
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tb starch + 2 tb water
- Bean thread sheets (optional)

Method:
1. Blanche brisket to get rid of some of the fattiness
2. In a pot, saute oil, ginger, chu hou sauce. Add beef and brown.
3. Add anise, sugar, and water/stock. Bring to simmer.
4. Stew for about 20-30 minutes
5. Add in seasoning (soy sauce, oyster sauce, corn starch, water), daikon and carrots. Add a little more Chu Hou sauce to taste.
6. Add in the bean thread sheets about 5-10 minutes before serving

Butter and black pepper chicken

Oct 6th, 2010
by dave.
1 comment

Butter Chicken

I never really think about this kind of thing but cooking the dish above got me started. When I cook or dine out, I usually think about a cuisine’s common ingredients, like basil in Italian cooking or say cilantro in Hispanic cooking. I tend not to think about what isn’t used in a particular style until I see a recipe that seems a little unusual.

In this case, it’s butter. I know, butter! It’s something I use almost on a daily basis but I can’t really think of any other time I’ve used butter in cooking Chinese food. The closest I can think of is when I use a tiny pad to keep an egg from sticking to a pan.

I haven’t been cooking a whole lot of new stuff lately so I apologize that posts have been far and few in between. Now that I’ve built up a decent binder of recipes I like, I’ve been going back to them fairly often. Maybe I’ll post a few more cooking catchups just with updated pictures =)

Recipe adapted from hzrt8w of eGullet

Butter and Black Pepper Chicken

Time: 35-40 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
– 1 – 1.5 lb Chicken breast, cubed
– 1/8 – 1/4 stick butter
– 2 – 3 scallions, chopped
– 5 cloves garlic, minced
– 1 tsp sambal olek or other chili sauce
– salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
– 1/4 cup chicken broth
– 1 tsp sugar
– 1 tsp white vinegar
– 1/2 tsp corn starch + 1 tsp water

Marinade:
– 1 tsp sesame oil
– 1/2 tsp white pepper
– sprinkle of salt
– 1 tsp soy sauce
– 1 tsp ShaoHsing Rice Wine
– 1 tsp corn starch

Method:
1. Mix the marinade with the chicken and set aside for about 20 minutes.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium high heat. Swirl in some oil. Tip in the chicken and let cook undisturbed for about a minute. Then turn to cook the other side for another minute or so. Remove once about 3/4 cooked.
3. Add in the garlic and chili sauce. Cook until fragrant, then add in some salt, the white parts of the scallions and about a tsp of freshly ground black pepper. Dash in 1 tsp vinegar.
4. Add the chicken broth, 1 tsp sugar, and corn starch slurry. Stir in and cook for about 30 seconds.
5. Add chicken back in, stir well to coat the chicken.
6. Add the rest of the scallions, 1 tsp soy sauce, and more salt and black pepper to taste.

Chicken stir-fried with Black Bean sauce

Jul 7th, 2010
by dave.
4 comments

Black Bean Chicken

Short post this week. Had an incredibly busy July 4th weekend and I’m flying down to DC for a wedding this Saturday so time is a little short (serves me right for not scheduling posts). I do have a variety of posts to write up in the coming weeks though and I’m hoping things start to settle down again for a little while at least =)

Andrea Nguyen’s Into the Vietnamese Kitchen has been one of my favorite cookbooks for the past couple years and I’m a frequent visitor of her blog, Viet World Kitchen. She writes incredibly well and frequently posts about dishes she’s made recently, one of them being the inspiration for today’s post!

Chicken stir-fried with Black Bean sauce

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Adapted from Andrea Nguyen’s recipe at Viet World Kitchen

Ingredients:
– 1 to 1.5 lb chicken thighs, cubed
– 2 tbsp oil
– 1 tbsp fermented black beans, washed
– 2 tsp garlic
– 2 tsp ginger, grated
– 1 tsp dark soy sauce
– 1/3 cup Chicken Broth or water
– 1 medium red onion, sliced
– 1 tsp red pepper flakes
– 1 carrot, sliced thinly
– 1 – 2 scallions, chopped

Marinade:
– 2 tsp corn starch
– 1 tsp ShaoHsing rice wine
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1 tsp oil
– 2 tsp light soy sauce

Method:
1. Mix together the chicken and marinade. Marinate at least 10 minutes
2. Mash the black beans with a spoon, mix together with garlic, ginger, and dark soy sauce. In a separate bowl, mix the water/broth with the remaining 1 tbsp ShaoHsing rice wine
3. Heat a wok or frying pan under high heat. Add some oil in along with the red onion and red pepper flakes. Stir fry the onions briefly and then add the chicken. Spread the chicken out evenly throughout the pan and let cook undisturbed for a minute. After a minute, stir fry the chicken until just barely finished.
4. Add carrots and black bean sauce, stir fry a few moments, then add the broth mix and 1/4 tsp salt. After stir frying another minute or so, add the scallion in and stir fry another minute before serving.

Stir-fried Pork and Scallions

Jun 30th, 2010
by dave.
3 comments

Pork and Scallions

I’ve been playing around a lot with Photoshop lately (yes, it’s a real copy), trying to clean up my deficiencies in photography. It’s a great tool but it just makes me feel guilty having not set up the shot right to begin with (AND extra effort. I get lazy, I’d rather do it right the first time, hehe). But still, it’s really awesome how you can do this nowadays. I’m finally getting around to trying to improve my photography (and this helps me cover up that my lighting stinks, more on this another time). Baby steps.

July 4th is just around the corner and for the first time in a few years, I’ll actually be in town (That means Chowderfest!). There’s all kinds of things that go on in Boston July 4th weekend, it’s a great time to visit the town. Historical tours, demonstrations, parades, and the famous concert on the Esplanande (sp?) given by the Boston Pops (1812 Overture with cannons, can’t go wrong with that). And the open secret is that the best time to go is for the dress rehearsal. You get the whole concert minus the crowds. On July 4th, it gets BUSY. Last time I went, it took 2 hours to get home but well worth it. Great time for a picnic too =P

Stir-fried Pork and Scallions

Time: 20-30 minutes
Serves : 3-4 with rice and vegetables

Adapted from Grace Young’s Breath of a Wok

Ingredients:
– 1 to 1.5lb Pork Butt, sliced
– 1 1/2 tsp ShaoHsing Rice wine
– 2 tsp light soy sauce
– dash of fish sauce
– 2 tsp Corn Starch
– 1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
– 1/2 tsp white pepper
– 3 thin slices of ginger
– 6 stalks scallions, sliced into 1 inch pieces
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp sugar

Method:
1. Mix together the ShaoHsing rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, corn starch, fish sauce, and pepper. Marinate pork for at least 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat a wok or frying pan over high heat. Once the pan is hot (water boiling off a split-second after touching the pan), add 1 tbsp oil and the pork. Stir fry for about 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the scallions, salt and sugar. Stir fry until the pork is done. Serve with rice

Sichuan spicy fish fillets

May 26th, 2010
by dave.
No comments yet

Sichuan Fish Fillets

I had the privilege of feasting on some of “Meat guy’s” (Jason of Bite-the-Bullet BBQ) pulled pork this past week. As I wrote a couple weeks back, I was recently in New Hampshire to pick up a very large order of BBQ (4 3-packs of ribs, 4 packs of pulled pork, sadly all spoken for!). I don’t think I could get tired of this stuff. As I’m typing, I just finished a sandwich and have been picking at some of the extra I heated up for lunch tomorrow. Might have to heat up some more =P

BTB-BBQ Pulled Pork

BBQ is something I used to associate with frozen hamburgers, hotdogs and the like. I’ve made a few strides since then. A few years back, my friends and I made frequent visits to Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington. That was the beginning of my BBQ craze. The crowning achievement was finishing the Trio, 3 different meats with two sides and cornbread (typically, brisket, burnt ends, and pulled pork). Sounds like a ton doesn’t it? Well, it was…and I fondly look back on the days when such feats of gluttony were commonplace. I mean they still happen now and then but not as frequently as in the past (I’m getting old, my bones can’t handle it anymore. Maybe I’m over the hill.)

Then, I spent 3 months in Texas on a work rotation. You can probably imagine what I ate, right? SUSHI! And the freshest vegetables you could find at Central Market! I’m kidding of course…I ate tons of BBQ, several times a week. Texas BBQ was slightly different than I imagined though, catering more to the brisket eater (not a bad thing). The other thing I noticed about BBQ places was the incredible quality of the dinner rolls. I mean, a dinner roll really is just a dinner roll. But whatever buttery/oily goodness that comes fresh out of those ovens is truly a magnificent specimen of your average dinner roll. And if you ran out, you always got more! (And as an aside, I have to mention the ridiculously good Vietnamese food in Arlington, TX)

And this is all leading up to…a post about Chinese food. Really.

I needed something to write about and the pulled pork was the first thing that came to mind. But again, I digress.

I always order this dish whenever I go out to one of the local places, Sichuan Gourmet. I’ve been to the Framingham and Billerica locations and they just recently opened in Brookline but I haven’t been there yet but I hear the quality is just as good. I thought this was mostly a stir-fried dish which surprised me because typically I have a hard time keeping the fish from falling apart! However, I think the fish may actually be cooked separately from the sauce and combined right before serving, which makes a ton of sense. In fact, after perusing Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty, my suspicions were confirmed. The fish is sliced, marinated, dipped in cornstarch and then BOILED. Then, it’s removed until the sauce is ready.

Recipe adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty

Chili bean sauce link (this is what it looks like): Chili Bean Sauce

Sichuan Fish Fillets in Spicy Chili sauce

Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
– 1 – 1.5 lb white fish, sliced (Used Striped Bass)
– 4 tbsp cornstarch
– 3 tbsp water

Marinade:
– 1 inch ginger, unpeeled
– 1 scallion, chopped
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 2 tsp ShaoHsing rice wine

Base:
– 6 dried chillies, seeds removed
– 1 inch piece of ginger, sliced thin
– 4 cloves garlic, sliced
– 5 scallions, chopped (1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces)
– 3 tbsp canola oil
– 1 tbsp Chili Bean Sauce
– 1/2 tsp ground sichuan peppercorns

Oil:
– 3/4 cup canola oil
– 1.5 tbsp chili bean sauce
– 10-20 dried chillies, seeds removed
– 2 tsp sichuan peppercorns

Method:
1. Mix the fish and marinade, set aside.
2. Add some water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch and water mix to the fish at this point. Stir carefully to coat the fish with the cornstarch mixture.
3. In a separate pan, add 3 tbsp canola oil over high heat. Add the chili paste, ginger, garlic, scallions, chillies, and sichuan peppercorns (from the base) and stir-fry until fragrant (but be careful about burning!). When finished, pour into the bowl/dish you will serve the fish in.
4. Add the fish to the boiling water and boil untouched until just cooked. Add to the serving bowl/dish.
5. In a frying pan, add 3/4 cup oil, chili bean sauce, chillies, and pepper (from the oil header). Stir fry until fragrant, pour over the fish and serve immediately.

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