Fried Shrimp Dumplings (炸蝦角)

There are three things I love and consider comfort food: noodles, dumplings, and wontons. Eat them separately? Eat them together? Egg noodle? Rice noodle? Pan-fried dumplings? Boiled dumplings? Soup dumplings? Eat them plain? Dip in soy sauce? Vinegar? Chili oil? I'm ALL IN. And most of the above is pretty easy to make at home. Then, it comes the fried dumplings that you may see at dim sum.

It's not that deep-frying is hard to do at home but it's just kind of a pain in the butt. Agree? But I decided to do it anyway because I was craving these little fried shrimp dumplings like there was no tomorrow. The trick in making restaurant-quality shrimp dishes is the shrimp. (DUH). Just what do Chinese restaurants do to make shrimp taste so good? The answer is in the texture which is written all over Chinese food. It's all about 口感 (mouth feel) - crunchy, soft, "springy" (彈牙), chewy, smooth, tender, etc... If you've had shrimp from a Chinese restaurant before, you'd notice that the shrimp tastes somehow "crunchier" in an interesting way. I was curious in just how such thing is accomplished so I started poking around for answers. Then, I stumbled upon a post written by Bee over at Rasa Malaysia. To sum up her research, treating shrimp and achieving a pH8 to pH9, which is considered alkaline, will make a crunchier texture. Cold tap water is usually alkaline with close to pH9. And that's why restaurants run cold water on shrimp. "Sea water is pH8 and the reason why live/raw shrimps have firm and crunchy flesh". Bee went further to test another method, that's used at some restaurants, of adding egg white (ph8), tapioca starch, and baking soda (ph8). It turned out to be a success, and it has been her go-to technique for preparing shrimp for stir-fries and whatnot. The only thing about this technique is that it requires 5-6 hours to marinate so plan ahead.

Gosh! Don't you love knowing food science? Or is it just me? Thanks Bee for sharing your findings.

Now, if you want the end product of the shrimp dish to have whole shrimps, then I'd suggest that you give Bee's technique a try. However, for these Fried Shrimp Dumplings (炸蝦角), I was looking for another texture that fried shrimp rolls (炸蝦卷) at dim sums offer. For that, it requires a shrimp paste that's commonly referred to as Ha Kaw (蝦膠) which describes a shrimp paste that's springy or stretchy. But what the heck? How do you do that? Just hold on a second and let me explain before you decide to bail on me! What you really need is to get your hands dirty by mixing the ingredients by hand. If you can do that, you can make Ha Kaw (蝦膠). Yea, sure. You may try using a hand/stand mixer instead but you'll miss out on the fun! Besides, your hands are mandatory in the last step so you might as well get them dirty now. After mixing the shrimp paste together (stirring in one direction continuously), form it into a ball shape. Take it with one hand, then smack it back into the bowl. Repeat that 10 times then it's ready to be used as filling.

For deep-frying, it's handy to have a cooking thermometer so you can keep track of the oil temperature. Something like this from Sur la Table would be ideal because it's got a clip that holds it securely to the pan during frying.

Like spring rolls at dim sum, these fried shrimp dumplings are commonly served with worcestershire sauce (but sometimes served with mayonnaise instead). It's definitely one of my favorite dim sum dishes of all time!

Fried Shrimp Dumplings

Prep time: 35 mins  Cook time: 20 mins  Total time: 55 mins

Serves: about 24

You'll need:

• 1 lb medium raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 30 round wonton wrappers
• 2 cups vegetable oil for frying

Approach:

1. After peeling and deveining the shrimp, raise it under cold water for a few minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.
2. Using the blade of a chef knife, lay it flat and mash the shrimp one by one by putting force down. Then push it to the side of the chopping board. Once all the shrimp has been mashed, give it a few more chops to make sure the consistency is good. Place it all in a big mixing bowl.
3. Add egg whites, olive oil, salt, white pepper powder, and sesame oil. Run your fingers clock or counter-clock wise until everything is well-blended together. Then form it into a ball shape. Take it with one hand, then smack it back into the bowl. Repeat that 10 times. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap, refrigerate for one hour.
4. Damp a paper towel and cover wonton wrappers when not in use, and place a small bowl of water at your work station.
5. Spoon about 1 tbsp of filling onto the middle of the wonton wrapper. Dip your finger in water and run it on the outskirt of half of the wrapper. Pinch the middle point on top, and make pleats on both sides. The tighter you can wrap a dumpling the better.
6. In a 5-6 quart sauce pan, heat vegetable oil to 350°F over medium-high heat. Carefully monitor your oil temperature. Fry no more than 4 dumplings at a time. Fry each side for about a minute and a half, until golden brown. Place cooked dumplings on a plate lined with paper towels.
7. Serve fried shrimp dumplings with worcestershire or mayonnaise as dipping sauce.

Hakka Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐)

The fact that I am Hakka but have not yet featured a Hakka recipe on the blog is simply a crime. I can't say that I learned everything that I know about Hakka cooking from my Ah Gong (grandfather) who cooked and used the kitchen way more than my Po Po. But I can say that my desire to cook was partly influenced by him. And if you know me, you'd understand my craze for feeding a crowd. All that, was much influenced by my gigantic Hakka family. I mean, how can I not when I basically saw my entire extended family every, single, weekend growing up? A house full of 25-30 people? Checked. Food? DOUBLE CHECKED!

Being a Hakka in Hong Kong isn't all that out of the ordinary. There are many Hakka villages spread around the New Territories that are very much populated. People move around as lands develop so Hakkas living outside of villages are becoming very common these days. While a reasonable amount of Hong Kong-born-and-raised Hakkas had moved overseas, the Hakka tradition lives on with a handful of regular celebrations and gatherings throughout the year.

Have I bored you yet with my mumbo jumbo? Let's go back to the topic of today and talk food! You can certainly read more about my Hakka heritage in the Proud to be Hakka post I wrote a while back!

There are many classic Hakka dishes like the Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐) that people would consider or have mistaken as Cantonese. The truth is, both cultures share a lot of similarities in cooking, and have been adapting and borrowing from each other for quite some time. With its rich migration history, dishes like Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐) travels with the Hakka people wherever they land. To me, food is always about adapting and that's what makes food universal and interesting. When Hakkas take dishes with them to live somewhere else, they adapt local flavors, ingredients, and techniques. According to Linda Lau Anusasananan, when the Hakkas moved to southern China a long time ago, wheat wasn't widely available to make dumpling wrappers so they adapted by using tofu instead.

I don't expect Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐) in other Hakka-influenced Chinese communities around the world to be all the same. The standard and common ingredients for Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐) requires, of course, tofu. The filling is mostly pork but it can sometimes be mixed with fish or shrimp. The filling can also be used to stuff other vegetables like bell peppers and eggplant. While some people stuff the filling with tofu pockets, I always like to make the open-face version of Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐). For sauces, soy sauce is used most of the time as well as oyster sauce, and fish sauce for Hakka Chinese who had migrated to South East Asia. Some like to steam, others prefer to deep-fry (I like to pan-fry), and each cooking method has its own beauty really. You could also choose to make a braised stuffed tofu dish after the tofu has been fried. Pan-frying, for me, produces the right balance of slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It's really one of the perfect ways, one of my favorite ways, to eat tofu.

Learn more about Hakka cooking, culture and history from Linda Lau Anusasananan in The Hakka Cookbook. Available on Amazon.

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Hakka Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐)

Prep time: 35 mins  Cook time: 5 mins  Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 12 pieces, 2"x2"

You'll need:

• 1 lb (1 block) firm tofu
• ½ lb ground pork
• 1½ tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 tsp Shaoxing cooking wine
• 3 dashes of white pepper powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 stalks scallions, finely chopped
• ½ cup corn starch

Sauce:

•  ½ cup chicken stock
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn starch and 2 tbsp water, mixed

Garnish:

•  1 stalk scallions, finely chopped

Approach:

1.   
2. Extract excess water from tofu by sandwiching it with few sheets of paper towels on a plate (underneath and on top of tofu). Using something considerably flat and heavy, gently place it on top and center of tofu for about 10 minutes.
3. Mix ground pork with minced ginger, cooking wine, white pepper powder, salt, sesame oil, and scallion.
4. Prepare, and set aside the ½ cup of corn starch in a medium size bowl (for coating tofu later before frying).
5. Prepare the sauce by heating up sauce ingredients (minus the corn starch mixture). Once it starts to boil, turn the heat down to simmer. Stir in corn starch mixture slowly which will start to thicken up the sauce. Continue stirring for another 30 seconds, then turn off the heat.
6. Slice tofu into 12 pieces. Then make a cavity in each piece using a teaspoon as a scoop. Save tofu scraps for another use if you wish. Stuff each tofu with roughly 1 tbsp of pork filling.
7. Heat up a cast iron pan with some oil. Carefully pick up stuffed tofu pieces, and coat them with corn starch on all sides (shake off the excess gently). Place them on the hot pan with filling side down. Cook for about 2 minutes, then flip them over with a spatula and cook for 2 more minutes. Add more oil to the pan as needed.
8. Plate, then sauce. Garnish with finely chopped scallion. Serve immediately.

Chinese Tea Eggs (茶葉蛋)

Tea eggs (茶葉蛋), also known as marbled eggs, is such an iconic Chinese snack that's not only common in mainland China but also in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and pretty much most Chinese communities. Growing up, I would see them being sold in food storefronts, usually next to other street food like gai daan jai (鷄蛋仔 or egg waffles), curry fish balls, fish siu mai, and other fried goodies. Some restaurants in Chinatown would have tea eggs on the menu too, if you're in luck. While tea eggs are sold more commonly by street vendors in mainland China (and often eaten as breakfast), you can also see them sold in 7-elevens and night markets in Taiwan.

The flavor of tea eggs is quite unique built up by some really good spices like cinnamon, star anise, and dried orange peel, along with the infused liquid by soy sauce and tea. It sounds kind of fancy, doesn't it?

^ This is why they're also called "marbled eggs" because of the pattern it creates on the surface of the egg during the cooking process.

Get your liquid and spices going by heating it up in a pot. Bring it to a boil then leave it to simmer.

In another sauce pan, we're pre-boiling the eggs. Put your eggs in and fill water up to 1" over the surface of the eggs. Turn on the heat, add 1 tsp of salt, and let it cook until it's reached the boiling point. Once water starts to boil, turn off the heat, and let the eggs sit in the hot water. Cover with lid, and set your timer for 8 minutes. (A perfect hard-boiled takes 13 minutes, but we're PRE-boiling here.)

Drain them out of the hot water and put them in an ice bath for about 5 minutes (or run them under cold water).

Using the back of a butter knife, crack the egg all around but leave the shell on.

After you're done cracking all the eggs. Turn off the heat on the simmering liquid, place the eggs in the pot with the lid on. Let the eggs marinate overnight (transfer pot to the fridge once it has cooled down completely). When you're ready to serve them the next day, simply reheat (but not boil).

It's possible to leave the eggs to marinate for a shorter amount of time (at least 4 hours). However, eggs will not be as flavorful as they would being marinated overnight.

You can eat tea eggs plain or cut them in halves and serve them with a bowl of noodle soup!

Chinese Tea Eggs (茶葉蛋)

Prep time: 20 mins  Cook time: 4 hours  Total time: 4 hours 20 mins

Serves: 9 eggs

You'll need:

• Pre-boiling:
• 9 eggs
• Fill water up to 1″ above surface of eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• Liquid:
• 6 cups water
• 3 tbsp loose pu-erh tea leaves (普洱茶)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 star anise
• 4 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorn
• A couple pieces of dried orange peel (store-bought or homemade)

Approach:

1. Get your liquid and spices going by heating it up in a pot or sauce pan. Bring it to a boil then leave it to simmer.
2. Pre-boil the eggs in another pot by filling water up to 1″ over the surface of the eggs. Turn on the heat, add 1 tsp of salt, and let it cook until it’s reached the boiling point. Once water starts to boil, turn off the heat, and let the eggs sit in the hot water. Cover with lid, and set your timer for 8 minutes. (A perfect hard-boiled takes 13 minutes, but we’re PRE-boiling here.)
3. Drain them out of the hot water and put them in an ice bath for about 5 minutes (or run them under cold water).
4. Using the back of a butter knife, crack the egg all around but leave the shell on.
5. Turn off the heat on the simmering liquid pot, place the eggs in the pot with the lid on. Let the eggs marinate overnight (transfer pot to the fridge once it has cooled down completely).
6. When you‘re ready to serve them the next day, simply reheat (but not boil).

Notes:

It’s possible to leave the eggs to marinate for a shorter amount of time (at least 4 hours). However, eggs will not be as flavorful as they would being marinated overnight.

Pork and Chives Dumplings (韭菜餃子)

Dumplings are so damn good. They just are. One of my favorite kinds is the pork and chives dumplings. I can devour on soup dumplings, fried dumplings, boiled dumplings any time of the day. Give me a whole mess of them, and I'll be a happy camper chowing them down quitely in a corner.

Growing up, dumplings are not something my mom would make often. I know Chinese in the North eats dumplings as a staple, and many children learn how to make dumplings from a young age (Im talking about real young, like 5-year-olds). So clearly I got tons of tricks to learn still when it comes to dumpling making. What's the difference between dumplings and wontons, you may ask? Well, the simple answer would be that dumplings are white in color, made with round wrappers, and can be made with any kinds of meat and vegetable you wish. Wontons (雲吞) on the other hand is often made with pork and shrimp, the wrapper could be white or yellow in color, and is thinner and square in shape.

There're so many different kind of dumplings, and generally speaking they're all called jiao zi (餃子) in Mandarin, or shui jiao (水餃) which means boiled dumplings. The pork and chives filling is very common when it comes to Chinese dumplings.

Dumplings that are boiled are usually served with broth but only the dumplings are expected to be eaten and not the broth. You can eat them plain but I think most people like to dip them in common sauces like soy sauce, red vinegar, black vinegar, chili oil or chili sauce. While boiled dumplings are soft and comforting, pan-fried dumplings can be crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. It's rare that I'd make anything less than twenty dumplings at once. I love freezing a whole mess of them as they're quick to thaw and cook, healthier and way cheaper than the store-bought frozen ones. I've also seen dumplings being filled with ingredients like chicken, shitake mushroom, shrimp, bok choy, or fish. Different local culture adapts the recipe differently. It might seem time-consuming the first couple times you make dumplings but it's fun, and you'll soon get better and better at it.

What do you say? Wanna make some dumplings this weekend?

Pork and Chives Dumplings (韭菜餃子)

Prep time: 5 mins  Cook time: 50 mins  Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 30-35

You'll need:

• About 30-35 dumpling wrappers
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 cup of finely sliced Chinese chives (韭菜), discard the root (white) part
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Shaoxing Chinese rice wine
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Approach:

1. Mix together ground pork with the already sliced chives, along with seasoning. Let it marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature.
2. Damp a paper towel and cover the wrappers when they’re not in use so they don’t dry out. Set a small bowl of water in your work station.
3. Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil. This is where dumplings would go once they’re wrapped.
4. Most dumpling wrappers have flour on one side and smooth on the other. With the flour side down, scoop about one tablespoon of filling onto the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger in some water, then run it through half of the outskirt of the wrapper. Fold the dumpling in half by pinching the top, then make 3-4 pleats on each side. A completed dumpling should sit easily by itself.

5. For boiling, heat a pot of water with some salt. Drop the dumplings in when water is almost boiling. Let it cook for about 4 minutes, or until dumplings have flowed to the top.

   For pan-frying, add oil to a hot pan, cook dumplings for about 2 minutes. Then add 1/4″ of water to the pan, cover, and steam for another 3 minutes (water may evaporate quickly so keep an eye on it and add more if needed).

6. Serve immediately with sauce of your choice.

Notes:

For freezing dumplings, line tinfoil on a cookie sheet, then lay dumplings flat on top. Wrap the entire cookie sheet with plastic wrap, and freeze until dumplings are very firm. Then transfer dumplings to a big ziplock bag.

Pan-fried Noodles with Soy Sauce (豉油皇炒麵)

What is a classic dish? Something traditional? Something that has survived through time that this ever-changing culture does not get tired of? Something so good, and so true to an identity that it has been stamped with a "no further modification needed"? Classic dishes live among all cuisine, and for the Cantonese, this Pan-fried Noodles with Soy Sauce (豉油皇炒麵) is definitely one of them.

Noodle is everything in a lot of Asian people's diet. Okay, a majority if not everything. I had recently pointed out my love for noodles. And if you must know, I eat some sort of noodle at least once a week (twice, if you count pasta). Anyway. What I admire about dishes like the pan-fried noodles with soy sauce is that it holds the ability to keep its cool over the years, sort of like flying low under the radar. The dish has not changed and very rarely you'd get a modified version. Pan-fried noodles with soy sauce is as basic and simple as a stir-fried noodle dish can get. There're only four things you need to make this authentic dish: egg noodles (either dried or fresh), bean sprouts, scallions, and soy sauce. (Well, two kinds of soy sauce.) It's not a fancy dish, and it doesn't need to be. Ever.

If you're traveling to the "kong", you'll come across pan-fried noodles with soy sauce in a lot of places. Almost all jau lau 酒樓 (big restaurants that can hold lots of banquet-size tables and mainly serving Cantonese cuisine and Dim Sum), Da Pai Dong, Cha Chaan Teng, fast food places like Café de Coral (大家樂) or Fairwood (大快活), and congee shops. Congee is pretty much the partner in crime to pan-fried noodles with soy sauce. The perfect match for locals who prefer a Chinese breakfast today because a western style breakfast was eaten yestetday.

Many Asian cultures eat noodle or rice for breakfast. Singaporean has their bee hoon, and Vietnamese has their bun. In Cantonese, calling someone a "rice bucket" simply means that person eats a lot of rice. I'm definitely the noodle version. Does that make me a "noodle bucket"? That just sounds ridiculous.

Slurp. Slurp.

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Pan-fried Noodles with Soy Sauce

You'll need:

• ½ lb egg noodles, dried or fresh (pan-fried not wonton noodles)
• 3 stalks of scallion, cut into 1" pieces
• ½ cup bean sprouts, rinsed
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp regular soy sauce
• Some oil

Approach:

1. If using dried egg noodles, blanch them in hot water first until el a dante. It'll take about 3 mins after water has boiled. Drain, and set aside.
2. In a hot pan, add 2 tbsp of oil. Rotate the pan to spread oil throughout the cooking surface. Add noodles and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring frequently with a pair of chopsticks or tongs. Then add scallion, bean sprouts, and both kind of soy sauce. Stir and cook for 4 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes:

If you encounter dryness while cooking the noodles, add water 1 tbsp at a time.

Iced Red Bean with Coconut Milk (椰汁紅豆冰)

Spring has finally arrived! In order to celebrate the return of warmth and the coming sweaty days, I decided to share with you an original Hong Kong summer dessert/drink - Iced Red Bean 紅豆冰 (with coconut milk). This is a drink that people usually don't make at home so you're in for a treat (no pun intended)! So if it's not made at home, then where do Hong Kongers go to get their Iced Red Bean?

Iced Red Bean was first created in a type of restaurants in Hong Kong known as Bing Sutt (冰室). The direct translation of the term is "ice room". Why "ice room" you may ask? Well, Hong Kong's climate is generally quite warm with summers that could be unbearable. Bing Sutts are places where people can pop in and out to get a cool drink in the 90°F summers (plus humidity)! So how do you know if you've walked into a Bing Sutt? Small tile floors, hanging fans, folding chairs, booth seatings are the characteristics of a typical Bing Sutt decor. Bing Sutts gained popularity in the 50's and 60's because they provided the working-class localized western meals at affordable prices, and they are mostly located in residential areas and neighborhoods making Bing Sutts great places for people of all social status to gather and to cool off! Bing Sutt eventually started serving food outside of their localized western menus to stay competitive with Cha Chaan Tengs (which I consider as the next generation of Bing Sutts). If you happen to pass by a Bing Sutt while visiting Hong Kong, I highly recommend that you pop in for a tea or coffee as there're not too many Bing Sutts left in the "kong" as real estate prices soar making mom-and-pop shops to fold one after another.

A traditional Ice Red Bean is made with three things: sweetened and cooked red beans, evaporated milk, and crushed ice. If you're not familiar with Asian or Chinese desserts, red or green beans are often made into sweets in various forms. Traditional Chinese pastries often use red bean paste as fillings, or an ABC (Air Batu Campur), which is a Malaysian dessert that is very popular in Southeast Asia, uses sweetened red beans on top of shaved ice. (Bee over at Rasa Malaysia has a Ice Kacang/ABC recipe for you if you're interested.) And you might also be wondering why evaporated milk? Evaporated milk is widely used in many Hong Kong style drinks and dessert. I think mainly it's because it's got a longer shelf life than regular milk, and it adds a certain flavor to tea and coffee. It could also because dairy is not consumed in most Hong Konger's daily diet (other than eggs), so regular milk is not very popular.

Besides the three key ingredients, I also added coconut milk which I was very happy with. The trickiest part of this whole operation is to get the ice crashed right. Even thought, I wasn't entirely happy with the consistency of the crushed ice my food processor was producing, I was happy that it was at least getting the job done (if that means processing the ice in batches, and scoop out any big stubborn pieces along the way). WELL. I guess that's why Ice Red Bean isn't usually made at home! It's easier for Hong Kongers to walk down the street from their apartments to get one rather than doing all the mumble jumble which no one ever has the time to.

So there you go. Treat yourself like a Hong Kong local on a hot summer day! (Want it to be more awesome? Top it with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!)

Iced Red Bean with Coconut Milk (椰汁紅豆冰)

Prep time: 2 hrs 15 mins  Cook time: 5 mins  Total time: 2 hrs 20 mins

Serves: 4, 12oz-glass

You'll need:

• ¾ cup red beans, raw
• ½ cup plus 4 tbsp granulated sugar
• ¾ water
• 4 cups finely crushed ice (almost close to shaved ice)
• 1½ cup coconut milk
• 1½ cup evaporated milk

Approach:

1. Cook raw red beans for an hour and a half until they become soft, and skin has started to fall apart from the beans. Keep enough water in the pot for at least 1" standing water on top for the entire duration of cooking the beans.*
2. Drain, and return beans back to the pot. Add ¾ cup of water plus granulated sugar. Let sugar melt on very low heat for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then pour beans on a baking sheet to cool completely, then stick the baking sheet in the freezer until the beans are chilled.**
3. Mix coconut milk and evaporated milk together. Set aside.
4. Using a food processor or blender, finely crush the ice.
5. To assemble, fill ⅔ of the glass with chilled red beans, ⅓ of the glass with crushed ice, fill the glass with the milk mixture.
6. (Top it with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!)

Notes:

You may choose to soak the beans overnight, that would cut down on cooking time.

You may choose to pour cooked beans into a big mixing bowl, and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

Yeung Chow Fried Rice (揚州炒飯)

Fried rice to me is comfort food (besides a good cup of milk tea or a big bowl of wonton noodle soup). I mean, it's quick to cook with zero tricky business. If I were to feed four kids on a weeknight after a long day at work, fried rice would be what I'd put on the dinner table.

This week, I made one of my favorite kind of fried rice - Yeung Chow Fried Rice (揚州炒飯). You might have had it before from Chinese take-outs. And unlike lo mein or sesame chicken, Yeung Chow fried rice from a Chinese take-out joint is probably one of the (not too many) dishes that is closer to what real Chinese food is. So what's in a Yueng Chow fried rice, you ask?

Yeung Chow (or Yang Zhou 揚州 in Mandarin) is a city in the Jiang Su province in China (3 hours west of Shanghai). So thinking that they must eat a lot of fried rice therefore calling the dish Yueng Chow Fried Rice would make perfect sense. End of story. BUT there's another kind of Yueng Chow Fried Rice (揚州炒飯) that actually made the dish famous and more common around the world. And this is the kind I grew up knowing and loving. It's a Cantonese version of Yeung Chow Fried Rice (揚州炒飯) made with ingredients like char siu (roast pork), shrimp, eggs, scallion as the basic standard. And vegetable like carrot, peas, shredded lettuce are added casually, and not always required. "Yeung Chow" in the Cantonese version didn't get its name from the city of Yang Zhou, it actually got its name from a restaurant in Guangzhou that specializes in Huai Yang cuisine (淮揚菜). They were first selling a Guoba dish that called Yang Zhou (Yeung Chow) Guoba, but then it had changed to using rice instead. They kept the name "Yeung Chow", and that's how the Cantonese version of Yeung Chow Fried Rice (揚州炒飯) started.

Phew. But isn't it kinda interesting where names are originated from?

Yeung Chow Fried Rice (揚州炒飯)

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 20 mins  Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

You'll need:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup raw shrimp, shelled (cut into smaller pieces if they're big shrimp)
• 1/2 lb char siu (Chinese roast pork), diced
• 4 cups day-old, cooked rice
• 2 stalks scallions, chopped
• salt and pepper
• seasoning:
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tsp salt

Approach:

1. In a hot pan/skillet, add oil and cook the eggs for 3 minutes. Salt and pepper, then set aside.
2. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Then add peas and carrots, cook for 3-4 minutes. Add raw shrimp and continue to cook until they start to turn pink, then add the diced char siu, and eggs.
3. If the rice is still in one big piece, break it down until there're no large chunks. Add rice to the pan, and stir everything together and season with soy sauce, white pepper powder, and salt.
4. Lastly, stir in chopped scallion. Serve immediately.

Black Pepper Sauce (黑椒汁)

What do you think of when you think of Hong Kong cuisine? Chinese? Cantonese? Well, you're heading in the right direction (sort of)!

Besides the typical Chinese and Cantonese food that can be found anywhere in Hong Kong. "Western style" food is a big part of locals' daily diet from breakfast to lunch to afternoon tea to dinner. Food is adaptive, and most "Western style" food in Hong Kong was created to tailer locals' tastes. After so many years of being a colony of the Brits (and practicing the art of having afternoon tea everyday), Hong Kong's version of "western" food still plays a big part of the city's dining culture. And as a Hong Konger, I can always appreciate a good cup of Milk Tea (black tea with milk and sugar)!

So where am I going with this? This black pepper sauce (黑椒汁) is a great example of how western culture had influenced this Chinese city over a long period of time. Like many dishes offered in cha chaan tengs where locals eat on a daily basis, the black pepper sauce was born out of unification of the east and west. Seriously, the sauce calls for both soy sauce AND ketchup! Yes, you read that right. Soy sauce of the east, and ketchup of the west. Somehow, the flavors are blended beautifully together to accompany the spiciness of freshly ground black pepper.

Hong Kong-style black pepper sauce is usually served with steak or chicken, and it comes with your choice of rice or spaghetti. To me, the sauce is great because it can be served with many kinds of proteins and vegetables, and it's got several layers of flavor built into it. Ask a Hong Konger if he or she has eaten any black pepper sauce (黑椒汁) growing up, the answer will always be yes.

Black Pepper Sauce (黑椒汁)

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 5 mins  Total time: 15 mins

Serves: about 1 cup

You'll need:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (such as ShaoXing 紹興)
• 3 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar

Approach:

1. Cook the minced garlic with some oil in a hot pan until fragrant, then add chopped onion and cook until it becomes transparent in color.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir until everything is mixed in. Let it cook for 5 minutes until sauce has thickened.

Stir-Fried Udon (炒烏冬)

I love Asian noodles, and probably just as much as Laura loves pasta. Stir-fried udon, mei fun (米粉), ho fun (河粉), pad thai, pho, etc... Dried or fresh, you name it, I'll get my hands on it. To me, Asian noodle isn't as heavy and dense as pasta so eating a massive amount of it is never a problem.

Let's talk about udon for a second here. The ones that are usually available at stores and even restaurants are the ones that are packed individually in little plastic bags that might look like they are vacuum-sealed. Even my favorite Japanese noodle bar in the East Village, Udon West, uses those kind of udon. (I love Udon West because it's a no BS, get-in-and-get-out joint that i can get a great meal for a bargain.) I would, however, love to try some fresh udon because everything tastes better fresh! (well, almost everything.)

Listen, I'm not Japanese or an expert in udon making. Was the udon noodle really introduced to the Japanese by Kūkai in the 9th century? I don't know. But I do know that udon is a thick, round noodle that's made out of wheat. It's soft and chewy, and usually served hot in a broth or dashi, very much like how soba and ramen are served. Another way to cook udon is "yaki" which means grilled or pan-fried. So next time you're in a Japanese restaurant, and see Yakiudon or Yakisoba on the menu, you should know what they are (without looking at the full-colored pictures). So yes, I guess I kind of made a Yakiudon here (without using a hot iron plate, and a much simplified version).

Stir-fries are easy. Chop your ingredients and line up your sauces and you're ready to get cooking. For this stir-fried udon, I got cabbage, broccoli, carrot, a couple (imitation) crab meat sticks, an egg, and used sweetened soy sauce for the main seasoning. I finished it off with a shower of sesame seeds on top! If you have teriyaki sauce, feel free to drizzle some of that in your stir-fried udon.

Pretty darn simple, right?

Stir-Fried Udon (炒烏冬)

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 20 mins  Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

You'll need:

• 2 packs of udon noodles
• 1 cup carrot, julienned
• 1 1/2 cup shredded green (flat) cabbage
• 1 1/2 cup broccoli floret
• 2 (imitation) crab meat sticks, cut into 1/2" pieces on an angle
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• sesame seeds
• sauce:
• 3/4 soy sauce
• 2 tbsp white sugar

Approach:

1. Break down the packed udon noodles in a big bowl of warm water. Let it sit.
2. In a sauce pan, heat up soy sauce with sugar on very low heat until the sauce has thicken up just a bit.
3. Fry the egg roughly with some oil, and break the yolk. Set aside.
4. Add some sesame oil on a hot pan, and cook the vegetable until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then, add egg and crab meat.
5. Drain the udon noodles (they shouldn't be hard anymore but not too soft), and add them to the pan.
6. Pour the sweetened soy sauce on top and stir frequently until the sauce has well-distributed.
7. Plate, and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Serve immediately.

Curry Beef Brisket (咖哩牛腩)

Here's another dish I grew up eating in Hong Kong - Curry Beef Brisket (咖哩牛腩). It's also one of my favorite home-cooked meals of my mom's cooking. When you order it from a Cha Chaan Teng, it's usually served on a bed of jasmine rice, and that particular style would be categorized as a Dip Tao Fan (碟頭飯) meaning rice dishes/plates. Like many other kinds of curry, the flavor of this curry beef brisket dish is rich and intense, and all made possible with a TON of spices!

I couldn't find much information on when curry was introduced to Hong Kong or how it became such a common dish. A typical Hong Kong-style curry uses Indian curry instead of Thai or Japanese curry, and it's usually served with big chunks of carrot, onion, and potato. It's super easy to make with just a few steps (seriously, a monkey can do it). I ended up over-buying (again) at the store, and now I'm all stocked up on curry! I got a small can of Thai red curry paste which I love, and wanted to try this Yeo's Malaysian curry powder at some point (Yeo's is actually a Singaporean brand). And for this curry beef brisket dish, I got a can of coconut milk, and a jar of Amoy'sChu Hou sauce (柱侯醬) which is made out of soybeans, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds.

Then, I got THIS. A jar of Pyramid's Madras curry paste which is packed with a truckload of spices, like chili powder, cinnamon, tumeric, coriander, cumin, cloves, garlic, and ginger. "Madras Curry" was said to be originated in South India but the term was invented by the British, and actually isn't used in India. It got its name from the city of Madras which is now Chennai. "Madras" is simply a spicy sauce created to use for meat, and it's used in Indian restaurant in Britain. A jar will last you for a while since you only need to use 1-2 tablespoons of it per pound of meat.

Beside the meat, what I love about curry beef brisket is the potato. The key for making a successful curry beef brisket dish is how the potatoes are prepared. What you want is the chunk of potatoes to stay in shapes while they're being slow-cooked in the sauce later on. In other words, you don't want them to "melt" and turn the whole dish into mush. SO, what do you do? You fry the potatoes which will create a thicker "skin" on the outside. But instead of using a ton of oil, I just pan-fried them on my cast iron.

After that, sear the meat until the outside is golden-brown.

Transfer the beef brisket to a new pan, and add Chu Hou sauce and curry paste.

Add a cup of water and two bay leaves, and let it cook for a few minutes until it starts to boil. Then turn the heat to low, and add onion, carrot, potatoes, and give it a big stir.

Let it cook for one hour, and stir occasionally (coconut milk will be added at the end to finish off the dish).

Curry Beef Brisket (咖哩牛腩)

Prep time: 30 mins  Cook time: 1 hour  Total time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 2

You'll need:

• 1 lb beef brisket, cut into small chunks
• 1 cup carrot, cut into small chunks
• 1 cup onion, cut into small chunks
• 1 1/2 cups potatoes, cut into small chunks
• 1 1/2 tbsp Chu Hou sauce (柱侯醬)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Madras curry paste
• 1 cup water
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 coconut milk (more coconut milk can be added to create a milder taste)

Approach:

1. Start by chopping the carrot, onion, potatoes, and the beef into small chunks.
2. Pan-fry the potatoes on all sides until they're brown and crispy on the outside, about 10 minutes.
3. Sear the meat until golden-brown, about 6 minutes.
4. Transfer the beef brisket to a new pan, and add <em>Chu Hou</em> sauce and curry paste.
5. Then, add one cup of water and two bay leaves, and let it cook for a few minutes until it starts to boil. Then turn the heat to low, and add onion, carrot, potatoes, and give it a big stir.
6. Let it cook for one hour, and stir occasionally.
7. Finish off the dish by adding coconut milk 15 minutes before serving. Make sure coconut milk is well-mixed into the dish.
8. Serve immediately with a side of jasmine rice.

Chinese Braised Sweet and Vinegary Spare Ribs (糖醋排骨)

Last week, I went to Choice Eats 2014 with a bunch of friends (I actually liked last year's better - with each restaurant/vendors' signs hang up, I could actually see where I was going. The signs play such an important role in a huge space full of people.) ANYWAY! It was a load of fun. We ate and drank so much, and we walked out of there completely stuffed. There was one particular dish that stuck to me, and I wanted more, a lot more. I had a spare rib that was super tender, juicy, and flavorful. And I knew it had to been a Chinese recipe because the taste was very familiar. Then, it hit me. It was táng cù pái gŭ (糖醋排骨)! Or as I like to call it Chinese Braised Sweet and Vinegary Spare Ribs.

The literal translation of the name is "sugar and vinegar spare ribs". A lot of people refer to this dish as "sweet and sour spare ribs" but I personally think that "sweet and sour" might be a bit confusing since the term is so widely used for another very popular Cantonese dish (like Sweet and Sour Pork). I didn‘t want you to think that these two dishes were "siblings" but they sure are "cousins" (who grew up in two different regions).

Chinese Braised Sweet and Vinegary Spare Ribs (糖醋排骨) was originated in the city of Wuxi (無錫) in the Jiangsu (江蘇) region. It's also classified as Huaiyang cuisine (淮揚菜). The dish is also known as Zhen jiang spare ribs (鎮江排骨) because it uses black vinegar that that made famous by the city of Zhen Jiang (鎮江), Jiangsu. Black vinegar is usually made from glutinous rice (sometimes millet or sorghum is used as well) with spices which makes the taste very unique. It's rich and often has a smokey flavor to it. When you look for it at the store, the label might have a spelling of Chinkiang vinegar instead of Zhenjiang vinegar. If you can't find anything that comes close to black vinegar, you may substitute for balsamic vinegar.

This dish is really easy to make. Within 3 hours, you'd be licking your fingers and munching on fall-off-the-bone ribs that are sweet and vinegary. I made a whole mess of them, and didn't want to share them with anyone else at all! That's how good I think they were. "But wait! There's more!" The ribs tasted even better the next day! So try not to eat them all right away (even though I know it's gonna be really hard to do!)

Start by searing the ribs to get some color on them, and that would start building flavor to the meat as well. Your cast iron pan would be perfect for the job! (Wait, what? You don't own a cast iron pan? That's crazy talk! Do yourself a favor and get a basic Lodge one. You'll be forever thankful.) Just remember that we're only searing here, not trying to cook the ribs fully. If you sear the meat for too long, you'll lose the good stuff - FAT. And losing the fat in ribs is like losing frosting on a cupcake. It will cost you at the end, and dry meat will change the texture of the ribs drastically which you won't be happy with after 3 hours of hard work!

After searing, let the sauce/marinate do its thing for the next 2 hours.

Look, how can you resist not to eat it all?!

FALL-OFF-THE-BONE goodness.

Chinese Braised Sweet and Vinegary Spare Ribs (糖醋排骨)

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 2 hours  Total time: 2 hours 10 mins

Serves: 2-3

You'll need:

• 2 lbs spare ribs (baby back ribs, about 20 ribs)
• sauce/marinate:
• 2 cup black vinegar (such as Koon Chun or Chinkiang)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine (such as ShaoXing)
• 3" section of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, roughly sliced

Approach:

1. Prepare the sauce/marinate by cooking sauce ingredients together in a large and deep frying pan/chef's pan on medium-low heat (ribs will be added in the same pan later on). Stir occasionally until brown sugar has melted completely. When it starts to boil, turn down the heat to low and keep warm.
2. Sear spare ribs on all sides, 1-2 minutes each side, preferably in a cast iron. Then transfer them to the pan with sauce.
3. Cover with lid and let the ribs cook for 1 hour on low heat. (Sauce should already been thicken/reduced at this point, and will continue to do so. Adjust the thickness of the sauce by adding water a little at a time.)
4. Uncover and check the ribs by moving them around with a tong. Continue to cook for 1 more hour with the lid on.
5. Transfer the ribs onto a serving plate and pour some of the sauce on top, if you like. Serve immediately.

Notes:

For a more intense and richer flavor, keep the cooked ribs in the sauce overnight (and in the fridge). The next day, simply reheat on the stove.

Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli (星洲炒米)

I don't just like this dish, I LOVE this dish. In a way, Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli (星洲炒米) (Singapore rice noodles or Singapore Mei Fun) is part of the identity of Hong Kong cuisine. It's a dish that every Hong Konger is familiar with growing up along with other east-meets-west fusion fairs that you can find in a Cha Chaan Teng. Now, listen, you can't find this dish in Singapore. It's not that they don't eat stir-fried rice vermicelli there (they DO!), it's just not the same thing with the same taste. So why is Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli (星洲炒米) called Singapore-style rice vermicelli then?

Well, let me take a step back real quick and mention that an authentic Singapore fried rice vermicelli is actually called fried bee hoon which does not include curry, nor it is spicy. Fried bee hoon can be considered as "street food" because it's served in a lot of cooked food centre or food hawkers in Singapore, and it's fast, cheap, and filling (and often eaten as breakfast). Learn how to make economical fried bee hoon from Whisk and Knife.

So... where did the curry come from in most of the Singapore-style rice vermicelli dishes outside of Singapore? I have not been able to find the true answer but many seem to think that the curried rice vermicelli dish was born in Hong Kong's Cha Chaan Tengs. And because it's cooked with curry and it's very similar to fried bee hoon, "Singapore Noodle" was created.

The kind of rice noodle used in Singapore-style rice vermicelli (星洲炒米) should be very thin so Mei Fun (米粉) is used often. I found the Wai Wai brand to be the best when cooking stir-fry noodles because the soaking time is short, and the texture is just right.

I was soaking three pieces of rice vermicelli but two are actually enough for this recipe. Remember to use warm water. I've cut them into halves so they can all be submerged. Plus, it's easier to stir-fry noodles that have been broken up. To save time, soak the dried noodles while you prep for the other ingredients which takes about 15-20 minutes.

Here I have everything cut up and ready to go! Stir-fry happens quickly so you don't want to get held up while things are already getting cooked in the wok. When I was at the store, I saw these small bell peppers so I used them instead of just a red bell pepper. Here I also have half of an yellow onion, 2 cooked and sliced eggs, some char siu, and some minced garlic and grated ginger. If you like to eat spicy, some hot pepper slices would be good, too.

And what can I say? :) I just can't get enough of Huy Fong's chili garlic sauce! It's just the perfect condiment for this singapore style rice vermicelli!

Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli (星洲炒米)

Prep time: 15 mins  Cook time: 15 mins  Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2

You'll need:

• 2 pieces of Wai Wai brand dried rice vermicelli
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 8-10 medium raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1/2 lb char siu, thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten, cooked, and sliced
• 1 cup of red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• a few slices of long hot green peppers
  
  Sauce:
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 2 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder

Approach:

1. Start by soaking the dried rice vermicelli in a large mixing bowl with some warm water while prepping for other ingredients. You may choose to cut them down in halves, in order for them to be fully submerged.
2. Mix the sauce together and set aside.
3. In medium-high heat, drizzle some oil in the pan or wok. Cook the shrimp for about 2 minutes each side then set aside.
4. Drain the rice vermicelli. (For easier stirring while cooking it with all the other ingredients, you may choose to cut the noodle down roughly. I like it this way also because it’s easier to eat, shorter noodles make better “bite sizes”. But that’s just a completely personal taste.)
5. Drizzle some oil in the pan/wok. Cook the garlic and ginger until fragrant, then add all the vegetables. Cook for 3-4 minutes until soften or until onion is transparent in color. Set aside.
6. Drizzle some more oil in the pan/wok. Cook the rice vermicelli until it turns soft, about 3 minutes, then add the vegetable, shrimp, char siu, and eggs. Give it a big stir while adding the sauce. Let it cook for another few minutes until the sauce is all mixed in. Stir frequently.
7. Serve immediately (with some garlic chili sauce on the side).

Notes:

If char siu isn’t available, try ham, bacon, or shredded pork.[br][br]Here’s a tip I picked up when cooking shrimp: straight shrimp are undercooked, shrimp that have just curled into a C-shape are perfectly cooked, and shrimp that have twisted into an O-shape are overcooked.

Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce (魚香茄子)

I don't eat a lot of eggplant but when I do, I like to make Chinese eggplant with spicy garlic sauce. The spongy eggplant soaks up the sauce and flavor, making it a great vegetable dish tag along with a bowl of hot jasmine rice! My version of Yu Xiang Qie Zi (魚香茄子), which is a Sichuan dish, is a bit simplified. The literal translation of the name is "fish-fragrant eggplant" although there is no fish or fish flavor in the dish. The name "Yu Xiang" (魚香) refers to the cooking method of using chili peppers, scallion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and vinegar, and it's the same method that was first introduced as how a fish would be cooked in Sichuan cuisine. A seasoning stable in Sichuan cooking is the board bean paste called "Dou ban jiang" (豆瓣醬) which is also used in the classic Sichuan spicy eggplant dish.

I love this part when the garlic, ginger, scallion, and chili peppers get cooked. It produces such an amazing aroma that fills the kitchen.

The original spicy eggplant dish requires deep-frying the eggplant first which I think most people skip these days. If you can get your hand on some Sichuan dried or pickled chili pepper, that‘s what you should use. I went with long green hot pepper instead because I couldnt find any Sichuan peppers at my local Asian grocery store. (I know, right? Of all the funky things an Asian grocer carries, there's actually something they don't have. Shocker!) The other thing that an authentic Chinese eggplant with spicy garlic sauce recipe called for is black vinegar (and if you must, you can substitute with balsamic vinegar). I also to had to throw in a teaspoon of Huy Fong's garlic chili sauce to add an extra punch to the flavor. Come on, I was cooking an Asian spicy dish, I simply just couldn't resist!

While writing this post, I stumbled upon a blogger who's based in China and focuses on Sichuan cooking. So if you're interested in Sichuan food, do pay a visit to China Sichuan Food for some authentic Sichuan recipes.

Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Garlic Sauce (魚香茄子)

Ingredients:

• 2 Chinese Eggplant, cut into matchstick-like pieces (don't cut them any smaller than 1/2 inch or it won't hold its shape when it's cooked.)
• 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tbsp finely chopped scallion
• 1/2 tbsp thin-sliced long green hot peppers
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 tbsp black (Chinkiang) vinegar (brands like Lee Kum Kee or Koon Chun)
• 1 tsp Huy Fong's garlic chili sauce 1/2 tsp sugar

Optional but highly recommend:

•  2 tbsp Doubanjiang (豆瓣醬)

Direction:

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil on medium-high heat, twirl the pan around a couple of times so the oil gets spread throughout the cooking surface.
2. Cook the eggplant pieces in a single layer for 1 minute, then flip them over and cook for another minute.
3. Make some room in the middle of the pan by pushing the eggplant to the sides. Then add 1 tbsp of oil in the middle, add the garlic, ginger, scallion, and hot peppers. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Then stir the eggplant into the mix and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes until the eggplant starts to soften.
4. Add the soy sauce, black vinegar, cooking wine, doubanjiang, and sugar. Stir to make sure the all the sauces are integrated. Serve immediately.

Chinese Char Siu Style Pulled Pork

Char Siu, the Cantonese version of BBQ pork. You know, those lines of roast pork hanging by the window of some of the restaurants in Chinatown. Char siu is such a stable and comfort food to me growing up. It's like fast food in a way because it can be served so quickly as inexpensive take-out. It's tender, sweet, savory, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. My mouth is watering just thinking of freshly made and sliced char siu on a bed of warm jasmine rice with some extra sweet soy sauce. So when I thought about making pulled pork, I automatically thought about char siu and that sweet and savory sauce.

So what do you do when you can't smoke a pork butt or pork shoulder? You dig out your slow cooker! It's really too bad that I don't own a grill big enough or even have the outdoor space to cook the pulled pork properly, and give it the smokey flavor that I love. But hey, I learned how to do it in a slow cooker so that's pretty good.

For the sauce, I looked at Bee's char siu sauce over at Rasa Malaysia, and adjusted her recipe a bit to my liking. My blogger friend Yi also has a recipe he posted on Yi Reservation. In general, here's what it takes... maltose, honey, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, Chinese rose wine, white pepper powder, five-spice powder, and sesame oil. Maltose is malt sugar, and you can find it in most Asian markets. I've never cooked with maltose before, and learned that it needs to be heated lightly so it's easier to handle. Otherwise, it just sits like a rock.

And once it cools, it goes back to being a rock again..

Here are 2 big pieces of pork butt being seared. I was gonna go for the pork shoulder but the butcher actually didn't have any so I went with the butt instead which is still a good hunk of meat for making pulled pork. Sometimes the shoulder comes with the skin, and the fat from it adds more flavor to the meat and could also make it less dry. I've also heard of pulled pork made from pork belly. So really depends of what you like, the pork butt is quite typical.

After browning the meats, coat them with the char siu sauce generously while they're still in the pan. Then transfer them in the slow cooker, on a bed of raw onion. Pour some more sauce on top (whatever is left on the pan). Turn it on high and let it do its thing for the next 4 hours!

Here's what it looks like about half way. Using a pair of tongs, flip the meats over and brush on some more sauce.

Here's what it looks like when it's closer to the 4-hour mark. The meat should be very tender at this point and already start to fall apart. I ended up leaving it cooking for another hour simply because it wasn't dinner time just yet.

HERE'S THE MAGIC. Get ready to pull!

If you want to get down and dirty, wash your hands and feel the tenderness of the meat by pulling my hands or just use a pair of forks!

Pull it!

Sauce it! Now, don't go too crazy. Taste, taste, TASTE as you go. I like to add some of the sauce that was left in the slow cooker as well as some of the char siu sauce as I'm mixing.

I can't have pulled pork without pickles. I just cannot. What's the icing on the cake is that I have some pickled daikons that I made last weekend! So that was a total no-brainer to throw some of that on the sandwiches.

The meat is so flavorful and tender while the pickles and daikon gives you that crunchiness. It's a win-win!

Chinese Char Siu Style Pulled Pork

Serves: 14-16 sandwiches

You'll need:

• 2 1/2 – 3 lbs pork butt/shoulder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 medium yellow onion, slice into rings
• 14-16 hamburger buns
• Some pickles (and homemade pickled daikons)

 Sauce :

•  4 tbsp honey
• 4 tbsp maltose
• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp freshly minced ginger or ground ginger powder
• 1 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tsp white pepper powder

Approach:

1. Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the sliced onion rings. Mix the sauce together in a sauce pan over very low heat. (Note: heat the maltose slightly in a microwave for easier handling.)

2. Season the pork with salt and pepper, then sear on medium-high heat with some oil untill all sides are brown.

3. While the meats are still in the pan, coat them with half of the sauce. Then transfer them into the slow cooker on top of the raw onion. Pour the rest of the sauce that in the searing pan in the slow cooker.

4. Turn the slow cooker on high heat and let it cook for 4 hours.

5. About half way through, flip the meats and coat them with more sauce.

6. After 4 hours, the pork should be very tender, and already falling apart when removing them onto the chopping board. Let it cool for a few minutes.

7. Start pulling the meat with a pair of forks or a pair of clean hands!

8. Sauce, taste, sauce, taste as you‘re mixing the meat and the sauce. (Whatever is left in the slow cooker is still good to use!)

9. Finally, toast some buns and have your pickles ready – it‘s chow time!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Oi! Is spaghetti bolognese one of your favorite pasta dishes? It sure was my favorite growing up! "I mean, what's not to like?" (Yes, I'm quoting from Friends ;)) But seriously. Tomato sauce, good. Beef, good. Pasta, good! This particular spaghetti bolognese recipe is closer to what you'd be able to find at a cha chaan teng in Hong Kong. It's a pretty straightforward pasta dish that's quite simple to make.

3 small vine tomatoes, half of an onion, 5-6 cloves of garlic, half of a box of spaghetti. (A few other things: 1 small can of tomato paste, some worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper, and a little bit of flour.)

I've tried bolognese sauce with other kinds of pasta before but spaghetti is the perfect pair in my book. I love twirling the pasta and the sauce at once. It just feels more cohesive as a bite than eating bolognese sauce with small pieces of pasta.

If you got some grated parmesan (and a glass of wine), you're set! It's a perfect dinner to make during the week because it's super simple and doesn't take long.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Serves: 3-4

You'll need:

• 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 3 small vine tomatoes, diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 6-oz can of tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp all-purposed flour
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 lb of spaghetti

Approach:

1. Prep your ingredients by mincing the garlic, and dicing the onion and tomatoes. In a medium bowl, mix together tomato paste and 1/2 cup of water, set aside. In another small bowl, mix flour and 1tbsp of water, set aside. Boil a pot of water for the spaghetti.

2. In medium heat, cook minced garlic with 1 tbsp of olive oil until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Then add diced onion, and cook until onion becomes transparent. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside.

3. When hot water is ready, drop your spaghetti with some salt (I like to break the spaghetti in half). Let it cook until al dente, then drain.

4. Brown the ground beef, and spoon out the excess fat so the sauce doesn’t get too greasy.

5.  Return the onion mixture to the pan with the beef, and season with salt and pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and sugar.

6. Add the diced tomatoes, and the water-downed tomato paste. Cook for another 5 minutes.

7. Lastly, stir in the flour mixture which would act as a binder for the sauce. Toss in the spaghetti (after it’s drained) and give it a good stir using a pair of tongs.

8. Plate, and sprinkle some grated parmesan if you have.

Buffalo Chicken Dumplings

Well, here's something you don't see everyday – Buffalo Chicken Dumplings! Good to snack on, better to share. These dumplings can be cooked in soup or pan-fried. Make a whole bunch, and store some in the freezer using my tip on how to freeze dumplings at the end of the post.

Making dumplings is quite fun, and can be done as a group activity. There're 3 things that are very important here: 1) over-stuffing your dumplings would make it difficult to close and that could get messy; 2) use water to seal the edges; 3) you're not selling dumplings for a living so not every single one needs to be perfectly wrapped. Have fun! If it's your first time making dumplings, watch this how-to video by Julie Deily over at The Little Kitchen.

So in the process of writing this post, I found out that Buffalo Chicken Dumplings aren't as original as I thought (I totally had a "that was MY idea!" moment). I love the fact that dumplings are so easy to make, and you can be as creative as you want with the filling. Every time I make dumplings, I always freeze at least half of what I make, and they freeze very well.

The trick to freezing dumplings is to freeze them right after they are wrapped. Make some room in your freezer, and make sure you can fit a small baking sheet in there (anything flat and non-stick really). You want to line them up, and freeze them in batches as you're wrapping. DO NOT let them touch one another otherwise they'd stick together while freezing. You want a bunch of single dumplings and not a dumpling cluster. 20 minutes or so should be good for the initial freeze, then you can throw them in a big ziplock bag or container. If you do it this way, you won't need to use any flour at all.

Buffalo Chicken Dumplings

Serves: 60

You'll need:

• about 60 dumpling wrappers (white, round ones – Not thin wonton wrappers)
• 1 lb ground chicken
• 8 tbsp hot sauce (I used Frank’s Original)
• 4 tbsp sour cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced carrots

Approach:

1. Mix together ingredients for the filling.

2. Prepare a small bowl of water for sealing the dumpling edges, and a damped paper towel to cover the wrappers whenever you‘re not using them.

3. Using a spoon, scoop about 1 tbsp of filling onto the wrapper. Dip your finger in the water, and run it around the wrapper creating a “glue” for the edges. Lift one side of the wrapper and pinch it to the opposite side without closing the dumpling all the way. Then, make 2-3 pleats on each left and right side.

4. For pan-fried dumplings, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Place dumplings on its bottoms and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Turn dumplings on its “back” sides, add a little more oil and cook for another minute or two until golden brown again. Drop 3 tbsp of water in the pan, cover and let water evaporate. The steam would soften the outside of the dumplings just a bit making it tender but crispy at the same time.

Notes:

If you’re freezing dumplings, make sure your freezer has room for a baking sheet or something that’s flat and non-stick.

Freeze the wrapped dumplings in batches, and leave enough room in between each one so they’re not touching one another for the initial 20 minutes. When you feel like the dumplings are hard enough to the touch, place them all in a big ziplock bag or container.

To get the dumplings back to life, thaw them for about 20-25 minutes before cooking.

Sweet and Sour Pork (咕嚕肉)

Ah... Sweet and Sour Pork or gu lou juk in Cantonese. Who would ever want to turn down such sweet, tangy, crunchy, and succulent dish? Even if you're vegan, I'm sure there're vegan versions of a sweet and sour dish out there. Another dish in Hong Kong that's just like sweet and sour pork is called 生炒排骨. It uses spare ribs instead of the leaner pork tenderloin. An authentic sweet and sour pork dish serves with green and red bell peppers, onions, and chucks of pineapples. Other places and cultures may cook it differently – where have you had your favorite sweet and sour pork or any other sweet and sour dishes?

Almost every sweet and sour pork recipe I came across has their own "secret" ingredients for the sauce. There're also many versions of the marinate, frying batter, or breading - light coating to heavy coating – really depends on how you like it. So after going through a bunch of sweet and sour pork recipes, I came up with this one. I threw in a tiny bit of Huy Fong's chili garlic sauce to the sweet and sour sauce in hopes that it'll add a tiny kick to the bite. And it did just that. Now, let's talk about the pineapple for a second here. Although, 99.9% of the time you'll find canned pineapple in sweet and sour pork, you're more than welcome to use fresh pineapple (which I love).

There are many ways to tenderize pork, and what I like to do is to use a little bit of whole milk to marinate the meat. Lactic acid in milk tenderize the meat without toughening (like when using vinegar or citrus juices). The calcium activates enzymes in the meat to break down the protein. You don't need a whole lot of milk, using 1/3 cup of it for every pound of meat would do the job. For best result, you can let it marinate over night but 2 hours should be enough.

Sweet and Sour Pork (咕嚕肉)

Serves: 3-4 as a main dish, 6-8 as a multicourse (Chinese) meal

You'll need:

• 1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 medium onion
• 3 rings of canned pineapple (juice reserved)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• cooked jasmine rice

Batter:

• 4 tbsp flour
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 2 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water

Sauce:

• 3 tbsp ketchup
• 3 tbsp pineapple juice
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp plum sauce
• 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp Huy Fong’s chili garlic sauce (optional)

Approach:

1. Place pork tenderloin cubes in a medium mixing bowl. Add milk, salt, and white pepper powder. Stir well, cover, and let it sit in the fridge and marinate for 2 hours (or overnight for best result).
2. Remove pork from the fridge, and let it return to room temperature while you get the frying batter, vegetable, and sauce ready; about 15-20 minutes.
3. Prep the bell peppers and onion by cutting them into small pieces. Cut each pineapple ring into 6 small pieces. Mince the garlic. Set aside.
4. Mix together ingredients for the sauce (chili garlic sauce optional). In another mixing bowl, mix together ingredients for the batter.
   *To avoid getting lumps of corn starch when mixing it in sauces, always dilute it with a liquid first then combine with all the other ingredients.
5. Heat 2 cups of vegetable or canola oil in a wok or a sauce pan to 350°F. Use a cooking thermometer to maintain the temperature throughout the frying process.
6. Stir pork cubes in the batter and coat well. Working in batches, fry pork cubes until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove pork cubes with a slotted spoon or a long pair of chopsticks onto a plate lined with paper towel. (Cut the first couple pieces to see how cooked the meat is, that should give you a better idea of how long exactly each batch needs based on the cookware you have.)
7. Using another wok or frying pan, in medium-high heat, cook the minced garlic with 1 tbsp of oil for 15 seconds until fragrant. Stir in bell peppers and onions, pineapples, and cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in the sweet and sour sauce, continue to cook for another 30 seconds. Place fried pork cubes in the pan, and stir gently until everything is well-coated.
8. Serve with hot jasmine rice.

Corn Cakes

I love corn. I mean, who doesn't? Fresh sweet corn, canned corn kernels, popcorn. I love them all! Corn is very versatile, and can be served many ways as appetizers, sides, and part of a dish in a meal. My other favorite corn dish is the Corn Bread Pudding which is packed with soft and warm bites of corn goodness that would take you to the moon and back. So for the love of corn, I whipped out these Corn Cakes that are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Dunk them in some sour cream, it might just take you into the outer space pass the moon and back.

Also for the love of broccoli, I threw in some of that in the batter as well. I think they go well together like peas and carrots. (Okay, peas and carrots are not my thing, I'm just using it as a comparison.) But what about you? What is your favorite veggie combo?

Corn Cakes

Prep time: 10 mins  Cook time: 10 mins  Total time: 20 mins  

Serves: about 15, 2-inch cakes

You'll need:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 5 eggs
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup small broccoli florets
• 2 1/2 cups canned corn kernels (or cooked corn kernels from the cob)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Sour cream to dip

Approach:

1. Using a stand (or hand) mixer, mix together flour, baking powder, eggs, and oil.
2. Fold in the rest of the ingredients until well-combined.
3. Set a frying pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add 2 tbsp of oil and twirl the pan to spread.
4. Use a 1/3 measuring cup to scoop batter onto the pan. Cook each side until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Add more oil before cooking each batch. if you're fitting multiple cakes on the pan, make sure you leave enough room in between them so they're not touching on the edges.
5. Serve hot with sour cream.

Proud to be Hakka (客家人)

I'm been wanting to write this post for quite some time now. It actually has been sitting in the back-end as a draft post since July. What sparked me at first to write this post started with my up-coming trip, back home to Hong Kong, some time last summer. I was looking for a couple new books to bring with me on my 16-hour flight. I ended up buying two books, and this was one of them – The Hakka Cookbook: Chinese Soul Food from around the World. This book is not just about Hakka cooking, author Linda Lau Anusasananan really dug deep and explained how the history of the Hakka people shaped the Hakka cuisine.

Let's talk about some fun facts that I learned from Linda, then I'll walk you through my heritage, and then we'll talk about food! Deal? :) The Chinese characters 客家 (Hak ka) literally translates to "guest family". The term does not originate from a certain area or a particular ethnic group. The made-up term simply describes the fact that the Hakka had left their homeland, and travelled to somewhere else as "guest" of the land they had visited and settled. According to Wikipedia, there're currently 40 millions of Hakka living in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. And another 40 millions living in over 50 countries worldwide. The migration history and journey of the Hakka people came a long way...

Take a walk with me

In the beginning of the fourth century (yes, that's like 300-something A.D), Hakka people were beginning to flee from the northern central part of China to the southern region because of invasions in the North. Wars and famine due to flood and droughts forced them to move. Over a long period of time by five big movements, from the 4th to the 19th century, Hakka had migrated to and lived in the southern region of China. The Hakka were seen and treated as outsiders and minorities of wherever they wanted to reside because earlier settlers had already claimed their territories. In order to survive, they were forced to settle at remote places and mostly hillsides. As a result, Hakka had gained the reputation as pioneers – farming and living on lands that nobody wanted. Over the course of the early political development in the 19th century in China, countless Hakka people migrated out of China. Many fled to Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, and even further from their homeland to North and South America, and the Caribbean.

The Hakka spirit was there century after century, and the Hakka people flourished wherever they could. The situation that they had to face and deal with really shaped the Hakka to be highly adaptive, independent, and resilient. And that mindset and attitude really helped them as they spread and settled throughout the world.

Now, walk in my shoes

After reading just the introduction and history by Linda, I felt incredibly proud to be a Hakka. I was hooked into Linda‘s great writing which was beautifully done with her ability to story-tell. I was inspired to look closer into my heritage and my roots.

My grandparents on my dad's and my mom's sides are both Hakka. They are both from the Guangdong Province but they do not speak the same Hakka dialect. While my mom's parents were originally from the Hakka heartland of Méi zhōu (梅州), the ancestors on my dad's side were originally from Bao'an, Guangdong. Speaking to my grandparents on my mom's side was always a challenge growing up but speaking to my grandparents on my dad's side with Cantonese was never a problem. I was brought up in a Hakka village in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Hakka villages are pretty common, and are spread out mostly, in the New Territories. There're many beliefs and arguments of when the Hakka started moving to Hong Kong. Some believed that they started migrating to Hong Kong during the late Ming and Qing dynasties (which is around the 1400's), long before the British set foot on Hong Kong Island in 1841, and making the Hakka Hong Kong's true indigenous people.

While it'll still take me some research in looking into the facts, all I know from growing up in a Hakka village in Hong Kong is this... There are 130 Hakka villages in Hong Kong, and most of them are "walled villages" called Wai Tsuen (圍村) located in the New Territories. They were built as a closed community to protect villagers from pirates and invaders. Some of the well-known villages like, Kat Hing Wai Walled Village (吉慶圍), Tsang Tai Uk (曾大屋), Fanling Wai (粉嶺圍) are well-preserved. There is also a list of declared monuments by the government in which you can easily find trails of the Hakka culture.

Kat Hing Wai Walled Village (吉慶圍):

Tsang Tai Uk (曾大屋):

Fanling Wai (粉嶺圍):

Like most Hakka people, my grandparents were farmers. The village I knew when I was young was full of life as everyone knew everyone, and you can see people working hard on their fields everyday. Seeing women working is very common as this is one of the Hakka cultural characteristics. On a sunny day, my grandma still wears the same Hakka hat that she wore on the field many years ago. Long before farmlands turned into houses, and outsiders began to live in Hakka villages, living in a farming village was a whole lot of fun. My childhood consisted of running around with 10-15 other kids, whom I was related to one way or another, playing or helping on the field whenever the adults allowed us to. Most Hakka families are big because the more people can help out on the fields the better. Big families mean big sunday dinners eating, of course, Hakka meals.

Interestingly, my grandma never liked being in the kitchen. My grandfather was the one who enjoyed cooking the hearty, robust, flavorful Hakka meals. Hakka cooking is bold. On one hand, techniques like salting, drying, and curing are used to preserve their food of which needed to survive both time and travel. On the other hand, dishes can also be as simple as stir-fry vegetable to balance out the meaty dishes. Pork (specially pork belly) can be considered as the main protein of Hakka cuisine. Rice is the main starch, and soy sauce is used as their main ingredient to braise meats. Hakka cooking is soul food to farmers and their families. It is the rustic, hearty meals that the farmers needed in order to do the labor-intensive jobs on the field. Over the past 20 years, farming has decreased considerably so such filling meals were not as necessary. Hakka home cooking you find these days may be a bit modified to accommodate the modern day lives while some of the robust, meaty dishes may be seen as a guilty pleasure.

Take off those shoes, let's eat!

Some of the Hakka classic that I enjoyed very much growing up are Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens (梅菜扣肉), Braised Pork Belly with Red Bean Curd (南乳燜猪肉), Braised Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐), Salt-Baked Chicken (鹽焗雞), Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausages (冬菇臘腸蒸雞), etc... And my grandfather's famous dish – the Poon Choy (盆菜) – literally translates to "basin dish". The dish was originally invented some time between 1000 and 1300 AD. Legend has it that when the Mongols invaded China, a young Emperor fled to the southern region of China, and into the New Territories of Hong Kong. In order to serve the Emperor and his army, locals gathered the best ingredients they could find. They prepared, cooked, and served the meals in wooden washbasins because they could not find containers that were big enough. A Poon Choy consists of many layers of ingredients including pork, duck, chicken, fish, prawn, squid, mushroom, turnip, and other vegetable. Ingredients are arranged by appearance usually with the more expansive and delicate ingredients on the top, and it's eaten from top to bottom. It's a dish that could take a couple of days to prepare and cook, and it's made for occasions like ancestor worshiping during special festivals. Take a look at this CNN Travel piece on a Poon Choy braised pork cook-off in Hong Kong. Poon Choy is truly a unique tradition of the Walled Villages of Hong Kong. It had gained popularity over the years, and nowadays, you can see it being served in Chinese New Year by non-Hakka families.

Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens (梅菜扣肉):

My grandfather's favorite of all Hakka dishes: Braised Pork Belly with Red Bean Curd (南乳燜猪肉):

Braised Stuffed Tofu (釀豆腐):

Salt-Baked Chicken (鹽焗雞):

Poon Choy (盆菜):

Cross-pollination with heart and soul

If you look closer at both Cantonese and Hakka cuisine, you'll find that they influent each other quite a bit, and share some similarities. Cantonese dishes such as Braised Fried Tofu with Pork (炸豆腐燜猪肉), Braised Stuffed Peppers, Eggplant, and Tofu (煎釀三寶) that you see at dim sum, Steamed Fish in Black Bean Sauce (豆豉蒸魚), Steamed Savory Egg Custard (蒸水蛋), and Steamed Fish with Green Onions and Ginger (薑蔥蒸魚), Braised Pork Belly and Lotus Root (蓮藕燜五花腩) were all originated from Hakka cooking. And because the southern region is close to the water and ocean, Hakka had taken the advantage of seafood. They had adapted this new source of protein, and had came up with seafood dishes that are true to their Hakka root. In many places in the world that the Hakka had travelled and migrated to, they continued to adapt local culture and cuisine. Don't be surprised if you ever see dishes from Jamaica, Peru, Honolulu, Tahiti, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, or Taiwan that had an influence of Hakka cooking. In many Chinese communities, you might be able to find restaurants that are own by Hakka families, serving dishes that are fusion beside the traditional. For many Hakka, their lives are about adaptation while sticking to the roots.

The Hakka Cookbook: Chinese Soul Food from around the World really was an eye-opener for me. I always knew that the Hakka population was big but I never knew just how big, and how much influence it had on other cultures.

Hakka is part of my identity, and I'll always carry that in my heart.

Oxtail Soup

This is a classic dish my mom used to make all the time. It's a very simple dish to prepare and cook. I just love the aroma of the soup that fills the air, and kindly reminds me of my mom's cooking.

There are many styles of Oxtail Soup – Korean, Hawaiian, Chinese, German, Polish, etc... And there're also oxtail stews that are usually richer and more flavorful. But what I love about this Oxtail Soup, that I have inherited from my mom, is that you can really appreciate the simple, natural taste of the wholesome ingredients. And since this is a brothy soup, I often like to add something that's more substantial to it to make it more of a full meal – potatoes or pasta (something like fusilli or rotini) would do just fine.

When you're cooking oxtail or any kind of stew meat in soups, the cook time is usually long because you want the collagens of the meat to break down slowly in very slow heat. If for some reason the oxtail meat did not turn out to be as tender as you thought, there might be a few explanations. And one would be that the meat was simply from an older ox/cow. And how can you tell if the meat is good when you're shopping at the grocery store? Well, that I'm afraid it's something that I haven't learned so I can't offer you a solution. From what I've read, searing the meats first before simmering might help to make it more tender. I gotta give that a try next time!

So beside the meat in this Oxtail Soup, the ingredients are really basic – cabbage, carrots, onion, and tomatoes.

Roughly chop up the cabbage.

Aren't these vine tomatoes gorgeous just to look at? :)

Use a BIG pot, something that holds at least a gallon.

Here's a little tip. Tomato paste is thick. If you drop a tablespoon of it into the pot, it's just gonna get lost in between all the vegetable. Instead, when adding the tomato paste, mix it up first in the ladle.

See how much easier this is?

Get ready to dig into a bowl of veggie goodness with some real tender beef!

Oxtail Soup

Makes: about 4 quarts Cook Time: 3 1/2 hour

You'll need:

• 2 lbs of oxtail
• 1 head of cabbage, chopped
• 1 16oz-bag of baby carrots (or 3-4 regular carrots)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 vine tomatoes, quartered
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp salt

Approach:

1. Heat 4 quarts of water in a big pot until boiled, add the oxtail. Reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 2 hours.
2. While the oxtail is cooking, chop up all the vegetable.
3. After 2 hours, add the bay leaves and all the veggies. Add the cabbage first (bottom), and tomatoes (top). Let it cook for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, give everything a big stir. Then, add the tomato paste by mixing it in the ladle first.
5. Add the dried basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
6. Let it simmer for 1 more hour.

Notes:

I like to cook the pasta separately, and add them into the soup later. This way I can make sure it won't be overcooked.