Chinese Almond Cookies

Happy (belated) Chinese New Year! I decided to celebrate by making some almond cookies. I used Marcona almonds to top the cookies. I had these for the first time around a year ago and I'm HOOKED. They're a bit softer than regular almonds and normally served lightly coated in oil and crunchy salt. Get them at Trader Joe's!

For some reason my cookies didn't quite have the crunchiness of a regular almond cookie, but I'm guessing thats because I used a mish mash of flour. A bit of leftover cake flour, a bit of whole wheat, a bit of all purpose and almond meal (not almond flour).

Lion's Head Cassarole and Potato and Cheese Pierogi

Sorry about the photo- I couldn't quite figure out how to make it look appetizing.

I don't particularly care for meatballs, especially Italian meatballs (sorry!), so I was surprised when I liked a lion's head. It's slightly crispy (if you don't steam it) on the outside and so juicy and soft, not the hardpacked Italian version. I made the version that's all meat because I didn't have tofu, but the tofu one is way better. It's a lot softer. I don't know how to cook Asian food, unless it's fried rice. I really have no idea what the spices look like or what they're called or what flavors go with what so I'm really thankful for Taiwanese bloggers who post recipes like this because without them I'd be lost.


Pierogi is like a dumpling and I love dumplings, all shapes and forms. I've only had them from Traktir, a great Russian restaurant in West Hollywood, CA. I looovveeee their pierogi, but it's pretty expensive for the amount they give you and I can probably eat two platefuls so I thought it'd be a good idea to make them at home. I got the recipe here. Again, the addition of sour cream is unexpected and thankfully I couldn't taste it in the dough. I am going to need to work on making pierogi. My dumplings were not the silken, plump half moons at Traktir, mine were lumpy HUGE ovals- some of which blew up while boiling. I didn't make the sauce- I couldn't bring myself to use all that butter and sour cream.

Potato filling. I added a LOT of dill to this after the photo because it was bland.

Chinese-Style Lettuce Wraps

Recipe adapted from here. I used it as a base for ingredients, but I made some changes to make it more vibrant. :) Perhaps the most significant ingredient change was the portabella mushrooms--since it's often used as a meat substitute.

I added this (and other ingredients) mostly for texture/appearance. The final result doesn't look the most traditional, but it definitely tastes pretty close to it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground pork (4% fat)

• 1 can (8 oz) chopped watercress

• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 small portabella mushrooms, chopped
  
• 1 head of lettuce (couldn't find butter lettuce, but I'd suggest using that)
  
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• soy sauce to marinate pork (~1/8 cup)
• 1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
  
• 3 tbsp hoisin sauce, plus extra to use as sauce
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• black pepper to taste
• 4 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp potato or corn starch mixed in 1 cup cold water
  

Directions:

1. Peel, wash, and set aside lettuce leaves for drying.
   
2. Heat canola oil in wok or large pan.
3. Add garlic, followed by ground pork, soy sauce, black and white pepper, and ginger powder. Stir to cook evenly.
4. When pork is almost all brown, add soy sauce, onions, mushrooms, and carrots.
5. When onions are translucent, add water chestnuts, potato starch mixed in water, and oyster/hoisin sauces.
6. Making sure pork is cooked thoroughly, remove from heat and serve on top of lettuce head leaves. Add hoisin sauce as desired. And yes, it's a finger/hand food!

Cantonese-Style Preserved Egg & Pork Congee

(Pei Dan Sou Yuk Jook)

First! Let's clarify. I tell people about this wonderful dish all the time and I'll constantly receive comments like: "but I thought it was just a plain rice soup with no flavor!" Yes it is, but no it isn't--will be my answer. I'm well aware that in most of China (possibly even Taiwan), they call it "shi fan" or something like that in Mandrin--and that, is in fact, plain. Plain rice boiled with water, and you can add savory food to it as you like. I myself have never tried that but it doesn't sound very appetizing (sorry Chinese folk). But here's the version I grew up to know and love so well--the version you'll probably find most popularized in Hong Kong--it's what the Cantonese call "jook".

This recipe is a prized possession of mine, as I think it makes one of the best jooks I've ever had--better than several restaurants I've been to. It's adapted from a combination of sources: my grandma, my mom, my friend from Taiwan, online recipes, and as always I've thrown in a little twist of my own.

Ingredients (per cup of rice)

Congee Portion:

• 9-10 cups water
• Ginger, peeled and cut into slivers
• 1/2 tbsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 preserved ("thousand year old") eggs, chopped into 8 pieces each
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce (optional)
• 15-20 small dried scallops (optional)
• 1/4 cup dried skin peanuts (optional)

Dried Scallops

Pork:

• vegetable oil
  
• 1/4 lb ground pork
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1-2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

• 1 stalk green onions, chopped
• you tiao (savory fried Chinese donut)

Directions

Congee

• Wash and drain rice. Add ginger and boil with 9-10 cups of water per cup ice. After about 10 mins, let simmer on low-med to medium heat. If you don't have non-stick be sure to stir occasionally so rice doesn't stick and burn at bottom. You might have to add a little more water if the congee becomes too thick during simmering. During this time you can prepare all your other ingredients.
• About half an hour into simmering add all other ingredients to taste except for preserved eggs and beaten egg.
• Simmer until pot has been cooking for about 3 hours total. It could be ready sooner, after maybe 1.5-2 hours, but I usually let the jook simmer for at least 3 hours. This really pulls out the flavors and infuses it into the soup.
• Turn off heat when done, and stir in beaten egg.
  

Pork

• Now this pork isn't your traditional sau yuk pork, but I enjoy the separation of flavors, not to mention the ease, of ground pork.
• Coat frying pan with oil, enough to have a thin coat to cook pork with.
• Heat at medium to med-high heat, and check to be sure oil is hot (To check: if you put a drop of water into the pan, it should sizzle)
• Add salt and pepper. Once pork is thoroughly cooked, turn off heat and add oyster and hoisin sauces to your liking. Set aside, as this will top the congee.

After the congee has cooked, fill a bowl with hot congee, add some chopped pieces of preserved egg, and top with pork, green onions, and you tiao to your liking.

Preserved Egg

This savory dish is great for several purposes: breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, sick days, and cold winter days... enjoy! :)

(P.S. I took all the pictures except for the last one with a borrowed Nikon D90. I'm hoping to get one of my own soon, too. Hooray for nice dSLRs!)

Chinese Tea (or Soy Sauce) Egg

This is one of my favorite things to eat- they sell them at 7-11's in Taiwan in big crock pots. I think they sell packets of pre-measured seasonings at asian supermarkets, but I haven't tried those. I got the recipe here. I really love the internet and finding great recipes like this for asian foods that I love, but don't have recipes for. I was surprised to find cinnamon on the ingredient list and the star anise I found at Whole Foods.

The ingredients (minus the eggs).

Post-boiling and sitting overnight.

Well it definitely helps to simmer them longer. My eggs turned out pretty pale compared to the ones you find at 7-11 (although those are probably in the pot for a day). Anyways- a great thing to try if you haven't already. I really liked the licorice-ness of the eggs (even though I hate licorice).

I have to share my favorite root beers: Virgils. You can find it at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and it's the best root beer ever. (Not that I've tried many fancy ones, but this is wayyyyy better than A&W). Also pictured: BLT on honey whole wheat with basil mayonnaise (just blend mayo and basil). Sometimes simple is good.

Char Siu Stir Fried Rice Noodles

Hiatus. Over. Time to get serious with more food. To start, let's catch up with what I've been cooking up the last few months.

I don't really know the name of this one, so I kind of just made it up. It's a not-so-common Chinese dish, perhaps exclusively Cantonese, and it has always made a yummy meal for my family. This recipe is adapted from my mother, but of course I spruced it up quite a bit for flavor and enjoyment. :)


Ingredients

4 eggs, scrambled with 1 tsp salt, or to taste
2 packets of the Banh Boc Loc noodles
¼ cup canola oil
1 lb char siu meat, chopped (can substitute with shrimp)
(everything below is “or to taste”)
1 bag or 3 handfuls of soy bean sprouts
¼ cup soy sauce
4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp seasame oil*
a pinch of white pepper*
1 tsp ginger powder*
3 cloves minced garlic*

Directions
1. I starred* the ingredients you probably can go without and it will taste relatively the same.
2. Heat oil in pan at medium to medium-high heat until it is less viscous/can move around easily.
3. Add garlic; when it starts browning throw in noodles and sprouts. Cook for 2 mins.
4. Add char siu. Continue adding the rest of the ingredients in no particular order, and stir well as you go.
5. Total cooking time should be about 10-15 minutes. Taste the noodles--when they are soft then the dish is about ready.
6. Lastly add in the pre-scrambled eggs and oyster sauce. Stir for a minute before turning off heat.

Makes about 6 servings. It's really good. So my question is: why hasn't AllRecipes.com accepted my recipe? Maybe because they haven't tasted it yet...

Green onion pancakes

I've had this recipe (from Use Real Butter) bookmarked for a LONG time. I've been hesitant to make it because with all the rolling and flattening, I figured it'd take a long time. And since you're spreading oil onto the dough and then rolling it out and flattening it- I thought it'd be a big mess as well. I was completely wrong- they go fast, once you get the hang out it and they weren't that messy (I did it all on a wee little cutting board). I ended up making it today because I had a bunch of extra green onions.

I love green onion pancakes! They're so crispy and salty- mmmmm! I usually buy them frozen, but I thought I'd try to make them. They're really cheap to make, the only ingredients are flour, warm water, salt, oil and green onions.



First of all, these are small pancakes- like 5-6 inches across. I was kinda surprised since the frozen ones can be a foot across. SALT LIBERALLY. I thought I was overdoing it, but they came out great. I use the back of a wooden cutting board to do my kneading and dough work... my counter is not the cleanest place. You'll notice my "rolling pin" in the middle. It's my salt shaker wrapped in plastic wrap and dusted with flour. Hey, it works!


The camera decided to poop out and not focus on anything. This is the first rolling of the dough- like a burrito without tucking in the ends.

Then you roll it again on its side.


Flatten it again. Some of the bigger pieces of green onion will fall out- it's okay, just smush them back in.



Flatten it a bit more and then fry it- these taste best fresh (like most fried foods).