Sliced pork w/ hot garlic
Noodle men
Rice meatball w/ tomato ginger sauce
Red bean pie with spiced cream
Chicken for 2 w/ pepper sauce
Eggplant and Cherry Tomato Masala
This spicy vegetable stew reminds me of a warm woman lying next to me on my couch watching reruns of Friends on a cold windy day. You never want it to end!
- 4 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 10 fresh curry leaves
- 1 spanish onion, sliced thin
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp ground fennel, cumin, and coriander
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp tamarind liquid
- 1 cup water or stock of choose
- 2 Japanese eggplants, cut into wedges, pan-roasted
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, and as they begin to pop, add the curry leaves. Immediately, add the sliced onions, cook until light brown.
- Add the tomato paste, spices, and cook until the flavor is combined and the oil has come out into the pan.
- Add the tamarind liquid with the water. Bring to a boil while adding the roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes. Simmer until slightly reduce and the flavor is balanced. Should have a slightly more spicy taste, with a sour note.
Spicy Braised Fish
I love finding recipes that requires me to do nothing, but teaches me flavor and technique in the same time. This is a ultra simple dish. All you need is one-pot and a firm white fish. I use sturgeon.
In my five-spice powder mix, I use more Sichuan peppercorns for a”Ma-La” sensation in your mouth. But you can have some fun and come up with your own recipe.
Garlic Pepper Chicken
Chinese cuisine distinctive flavor can be found in the use of ground white pepper. It is use as a spice to provide hotness in dishes, such as “Hot and Sour ” soup. Be careful, a little goes a long way.
Double cooking in Chinese cuisine is a major component to keep the meat moist and flavorful. Here, I made a braising liquid of chicken stock, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, chilies, garlic, dried orange peels, dried ginger, and nutmeg. Bring the liquid to a boil, add the meat, and turn off the stove. In 25 minutes, the chicken is cooked. I prefer to braise the chicken a day ahead so the braising liquid can penetrate into the meat.
Vegetable Tofu Skin w/ Cucumber raita
What is tofu skin? During the boiling of soy milk, a thin skin composed of a soy protein-lipid complex forms on the liquid surface. It is then collected and dried into yellowish sheets known as tofu skin.
I roll the tofu skin with a stir-fired vegetable medley of sliced ginger, scallions, red onions, carrots, dried mushroom, and green squash. Instead of the typical soy dressing, I made cucumber raita, which is from my Indian roots of Madison Ave.
Overall, a very healthy pseudo India-Chinese dish.
Pan-Seared Cod in Black Bean Dressing
Chinese dried black beans are under-used and an under-appreciated ingredient for everyday cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I know it has a funky smell to them, but when added to stews and sauces, their flavor is a blend of salty and earthy.
The Chinese way of cooking fish is the utmost healthy way to eat fish. The two methods of cooking is either steaming or braising the fish in a wok with soy sauce, rice wine, stock, or ginger. Unfortunately, I didn’t do either because I was too lazy to set-up the steamer.
