Chinese Soul Food

#hcCNY -- or, Hsiao-Ching's Chinese New Year

2010-02-15T23:24:49Z

It did not occur to me that I missed cooking a proper feast for Chinese New Year until I was applying the dry rub on the duck for crispy duck. With that task, I began the two-day process required to prepare this dish, which I make only for special occasions. The duck was one of ten dishes I'd be serving. I needed no recipes, just an internalized sense of the amounts of ingredients, the types of flavors and textures, and the symbolic value of each dish. Until this past weekend, it had been four or five years since the last time I made this feast.

We've celebrated Chinese New Year, but in

Edible Portland Piece on Chinese New Year

2009-12-10T20:07:01Z

I think this piece counts toward my coming out of "retirement": I was asked to write a story about Chinese New Year for Edible Portland. This was the result. You have to scroll to page 42. I hope you enjoy. Story.

Here's a simple recipe for Chinese New Year:

‘LION’S HEAD’ MEATBALL STEW

SERVES 4 AS PART OF A MEAL

1 pound ground pork

2 stalks green onions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce

½ teaspoon white pepper

Plain vegetable oil for pan-frying

1 head of Chinese cabbage (about 1 pound)

1 bunch dried cellophane noodles

In a bowl, combine the ground pork, chopped green onions, soy sauce and white pepper. Mix well. Form meatballs using about 3 heaping tablespoons of meat. Brown the meatballs in oil in a pan. You don’t have to cook them all the way through. Place the meatballs in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Once all the meatballs are browned, add enough water to the pot just to cover the meatballs. Bring to a boil and then turn the pot down to medium low and let simmer for about 1 hour, or until the flavor of the broth has developed.

Meanwhile, cut the cabbage leaves into 1 ½-inch (approximately) squares. Add the cabbage to the pot, adding a touch of water if necessary, and let it cook down. The cabbage will shrink in size once tender. About 10 minutes before taking the pot off the stove, add the cellophane noodles to the pot to cook. Taste for seasoning. If necessary, add a touch of salt. Serve as part of a meal with rice.

Hoisin Chicken and Yu-choy

2009-06-22T17:31:17Z

It's been a while since my last post. I gave birth to my son on May 5 and it's been busy to say the least. I am fortunate that my mother lives with us, so we have enjoyed her cooking on those days (which have been many) when I just can't manage to juggle putting dinner on the table. The first order of business for any Chinese matriarch is to make a postpartum pot of chicken soup to help the new mom with breastfeeding. So I came home from the hospital to my mom's rich, simmering pot of chicken soup that had been flavored with fresh ginger and shiitake mushrooms. It's a soup that she's made countless times and that I've made for myself, too, but I never tire of it. It's always soothing and the leftovers make a utilitarian base for noodle soup or refrigerator soup or mian ger tang (flour dumpling soup).

One of the ways that we stretch ingredients is to break down a whole chicken, which is cheaper to buy. Typically, the breast is saved for stir-fries and the rest is cut into parts for chicken soup. For the dish above, it's fine to use thighs -- also less expensive than breast. I combined chunks of chicken with yu-choy, soy sauce and a dash of hoisin. Quick and easy.

HOISIN CHICKEN WITH YU-CHOY
SERVES 4

½ pound chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 bunch yu-choy, about ½ pound
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
Dash of water, as needed

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken chunks with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and cornstarch. Mix well and set aside.

Rinse the yu-choy. Trim about an inch off the bottom end of the stalks, which is tough to chew. Cut the yu-choy into 2-inch segments. The leaves will shrink significantly once cooked, so if they are a little larger, it’s ok.

Heat wok over medium-high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and let heat through for about 30 seconds. Gently add the chicken and quickly start stirring to separate the chunks and so that the pieces don’t stick. Stir-fry the chicken pieces until just cooked through, about 3 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken chunks. Add the yu-choy and stir to combine. Once the yu-choy has wilted, add the 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and the hoisin. Stir to combine. If it looks a little dry, add a touch of water to thin out the sauce.

Serve with rice and other dishes as part of a meal.

My Nutella

2009-03-03T04:59:46Z

One of my favorite condiments is red bean paste. Whether it's in a steamed or baked bun, a fried sesame ball, or simply on a slice of white bread, red bean paste takes me back to my childhood. I didn't have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had red bean paste on Wonder bread.

My tastes are a more sophisticated now and I prefer these sesame flatbreads called shao bing, which are often served with warm soy milk and Chinese doughnuts (you-tiao) at breakfast. Freshly made is best, but these frozen ones aren't bad and they're easy: Just put them in the toaster.

Then split in half and spread some red bean paste on it. The sesame seeds add a warm nuttiness to the combination of sweet, mashed red beans on toasted bread. Great snack!

Tomato Eggs

2009-03-02T00:09:13Z

I love this dish for its simplicity and its utilitarian nature that carries it through breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's even better when local tomatoes are actually in season, but a hothouse tomato will do in a pinch. And, like a custard base that can achieve several outcomes, this combination of ingredients (eggs, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, green onions) can be a stir-fry or it can be transformed into tomato egg drop soup or a steamed custardy soup that resembles chawan mushi.

TOMATO EGG

SERVES 3-4 FAMILY STYLE

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more as needed

1 stalk green onion, finely chopped

6 large eggs, beaten

1/8 teaspoon white pepper, optional

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Splash of water, if needed

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, optional

In a wok or skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil. When the oil is hot, add the green onions and fry for about 15-20 seconds. Add the beaten eggs and cook, gently scrambling the eggs. Add the white pepper, if using. Once the eggs are cooked but still tender, push them to side of the wok where it's not as hot. Add about a teaspoon of oil to the center of the wok. Let heat for a few seconds. Add the diced tomatoes and stir-fry the tomatoes until they are soft and have released their juices, about 1 minute. Add the soy sauce and stir. Combine the eggs with the sauce. If it looks too dry, add just a splash of water. Gently stir-fry for about 1 minute. Drizzle with sesame oil, if using, and serve with rice and other dishes as part of a family-style dinner.

Note: Of course, if you like it spicy, you can add some hot sauce when you add the soy sauce.

Something from Nothing

2009-03-01T02:08:30Z

It is a constant refrain: There’s nothing in the fridge.

Perhaps. But a cook can create something from nothing. When I say “cook,” I don’t mean “professional chef.” That implies a level of restaurant refinement that most home cooks have neither the need nor the skill to achieve. Besides, few of us have the time or the battery of specialty tools required to make restaurant food.

Knowing how to cook certainly requires a base knowledge about ingredients and techniques. But in the context of a home kitchen, knowing how to cook means being open to the possibilities and not being bound by recipes. This is when understanding cooking principles is important.

For example, my husband once wanted to make pot roast, but there were a couple of ingredients that he didn’t have. He started to agonize about what to do and threatened to make a special trip to the store at the eleventh hour for items that, in my opinion, weren’t significant enough to warrant the effort. My question to him: What is a pot roast? I proceeded to explain that a pot roast is essentially a braise and that based on one of his previous experiences preparing a recipe from Molly Stevens’ “All About Braising,” he already had everything he needed in order to make a delicious pot roast. Instead of relying on the seasoning packet that he had intended on using, my husband was able to create flavor through technique: searing the meat, sautéing the savory vegetables, enriching the sauce with red wine and fresh herbs, letting the constant heat of the oven do the work.

On days when there is “nothing” in the refrigerator, I take it as a challenge to create something. How do I do it? From the perspective of a Chinese kitchen, it starts with some basic ingredients: soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, wine, ginger, green onions, garlic, sugar, peanut or vegetable oil, sesame oil, white pepper, rice, noodles, dried shiitake mushrooms. There’s something to cover the hot, sour, salty, sweet and umami (savory) flavors. A few other items I usually have on hand: Chinese sausage, Chinese (or napa) cabbage, carrots, celery, baby bok choy and yu-choy.

With these ingredients on hand, the possibilities are many.

If I’m in a position to have to make something from nothing, it usually means that I’ve had a long day and I didn’t have time to stop at the store, or it’s just one of those frugal weeks. We are a meat-eating family, so when there’s nothing, it probably means there’s no significant piece of protein that’s ready to use. While I don’t cook Chinese for every meal every day, it’s what I rely on for a something-from-nothing situation.

There are two issues you have to consider: What combination of the ingredients on hand will build the most flavor and how best to allocate your ingredients in order to create enough quantity to feed your family and maybe even have some leftovers. Say I opened the fridge and had the following staples: Chinese cabbage, Chinese sausage, carrots, celery, eggs, green onions, tomato. I could make one dish or I could make three. I’d go for three and make a pot of rice, which would yield leftovers for my husband’s lunch the next day. The options:

Cabbage with Chinese Sausage: Sliced Chinese cabbage and sausage stir-fried with soy sauce, maybe a drizzle of sesame oil at the end.
Celery and Carrot Stir-Fry: Julienned carrots and celery with soy, red pepper flakes or a jalapeno (whatever is on hand), touch of rice vinegar.
Tomato Egg: Scrambled eggs with chopped green onions in a sauce of tomatoes and soy. OR, instead of the stir-fry, the tomato and eggs can become a tomato egg drop soup (sauté the tomatoes until soft, add soy sauce, add water, bring to boil, add beaten eggs, stir, adjust seasoning).

Don’t fret about not having a recipe. Just remember the basic technique behind a stir-fry:

Cut all your ingredients first. Vegetables should be in pieces that are of similar size so they cook evenly. Meats are thinly sliced or cut into small chunks so that they will cook quickly.
Heat pan or wok. Add oil.
If you are cooking meat, do so now. Remove from the pan or wok. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any bits. Then, add a little more oil and let it heat through before adding savory items.
Add savory items: If you are using ginger, garlic, green onions and/or chilies, add them now to the hot oil. This will help release the flavors.
Add vegetables and stir-fry. Add meat back in. Stir.
Add sauce: soy and a little water, if needed. Depending on the flavor profile, you can add vinegar, bean sauce, hot sauce, white pepper, sugar, etc.
Finish, if needed, with a drizzle of sesame oil.

Saved By Chopsticks

2009-02-26T05:02:06Z

It was one of those days when the pregnancy hormones were raging and conspired against my ability to face making dinner, after getting home very late, without crying. There was "nothing" in the refrigerator and attempts to suggest to my husband that we go out to dinner were, for various reasons, unsuccessful. I didn't want cheap takeout either. I wanted something balanced, something that was made with care and would deliver a salve for my frayed edges. Alas, the clock was ticking: A two year old can lose patience quickly. My mom, who cares for Meilee while I'm at work, usually doesn't eat much during the day. And then there's my zero-to-sixty in 3.4 seconds hunger that's a part of being pregnant.

I had to cook.

In the moment, when my emotions were skittering in every direction, looking for the steam vent, the tears fell as I trimmed the baby bok choy, sliced and rendered the Chinese sausage, blanched the broccoli, cubed the tofu. These were the ingredients I had and not until they were actually combined in the wok did dinner materialize.

After I rendered the Chinese sausage, I removed them from the wok and set them aside. I added some red pepper flakes and two cloves of smashed garlic to the wok and let them swim in the sweet, hot fat. In went the blanched broccoli with some soy sauce and a dash of rice vinegar. This was dish one. In the meantime, I took the remaining dozen of homemade dumplings out of the freezer to fry them in a skillet as potstickers. I rinsed the wok, heated some oil and added the baby bok choy, which gave up their moisture for the sauce. The sausage went in with some soy sauce and once everything had sizzled together for a minute, dish two was done. I quickly blanched the tofu in some lightly seasoned water for Meilee. I can't always guess her mood, so I try to have certain backup foods (such as her beloved tofu) in case she doesn't care for what the rest of us are eating.

By the time everything was on the table, I had regained my composure. But my mood was still depressed. I sat down with the weight of the long day, the sluggishness from not being able to take a true sick day for my cold, and the fatigue from cooking even a simple meal. I was a sack of potatoes that wanted to cascade onto to the floor.

In Meilee's current developmental stage, testing boundaries and throwing tantrums are par for the course, and it's not unusual for her to refuse to finish her dinner. But tonight, Meilee actually was eating her rice, tofu and some sausage, and sitting nicely in her chair. AND, she was using her chopsticks to eat instead of playing air drums.

I usually set her place with her kid-sized chopsticks and a spoon, and I usually repossess the chopsticks shortly thereafter -- to great protest -- to prevent a mishap. I believe that repeated exposure, whether to the chopsticks or diverse foods, will help to make Meilee a better eater in the long run. I figure it will all just click one day. Indeed, Meilee held her chopsticks and focused her eyes on her right hand as if she were willing it to make the necessary motions to grasp a bite of rice. While slightly clumsy, she managed to pick up a bite of rice and transfer it to her mouth. I praised her and she proceeded to repeat her feat several times.

To be clear, it is not unusual in Asian countries for two year olds to use chopsticks. But our meals straddle many cuisines, which means we're just as likely to use a fork and knife -- or our hands for pizza, burgers or sandwiches -- as we are chopsticks. I wouldn't have been surprised if it took a little longer for Meilee to master chopsticks. But there she was, maneuvering two little sticks better than some adults. I was so proud and I told her so. She knew she had accomplished something, too, because she started showing off a bit for the camera.

Suddenly, my mood shifted. Meilee's triumph swept away the vortex of desperation that had taken control of my senses. I wasn't necessarily in a happy place yet, but I definitely wasn't where I had started the evening. In a way, I had proven a point. Had we gotten cheap takeout, we probably would have eaten in front of the television (horrible habit, I know). But because I generally make it a point to cook dinner from whole ingredients and to insist on family meal at the dining table, we were able to have this chopsticks moment.

It was food for the soul.

Chinese Spaghetti

2009-02-25T06:48:42Z

We call it "Chinese spaghetti" because the transliteration of the Chinese name is hard to pronounce for some. But in principle, zha jian mian resembles spaghetti and meat sauce. Literally, it means "fried sauce noodles." There are many versions of the recipe, but the one I grew up eating includes ground pork, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce, peas and carrots, and wheat noodles.

This is the "no-brainer" recipe. I'd like to play around with it and see how I might tweak it a little to enrich the flavor. I'll keep you posted on the experiements. In the meantime:

ZHA JIANG MIAN

MAKES ENOUGH FOR 4-6 PORTIONS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound ground pork

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons sweet bean sauce

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat in the wok. When the oil just begins to smoke, turn down the heat to medium. Add the ground pork and cook, breaking up the pieces as you go. Once browned, add the tomatoes. Turn the heat up a little, if it seems like it's cooking too slowly. Stir-fry the tomatoes with the pork until the tomatoes cook down and render the juice.

Add the soy sauce and sweet bean sauce. Stir to combine. Then stir in the peas and carrots. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick, add 1 cup of water to loosen it up. Taste. If it's too salty, add a touch more water. (The sauce should be a little salty because the noodles will balance out the flavor.)

Serve the sauce on boiled Chinese wheat noodles. Spaghetti noodles work in a pinch.

Refrigerator Stir-Fry

2009-02-21T20:25:20Z

Even though I own more cookbooks than I can count, I still cook from my refrigerator, which is to say that I open the door, look at what I have and decide what to cook. (This is the opposite of how my husband cooks -- if he cooks. He opens a cookbook, decides on what looks good and then makes his shopping list. Seasonality, difficulty level and what we actually have available in the pantry are secondary.)

What often happens is that I will make "refrigerator soup" or "refrigerator stir-fry." These are dishes determined purely by what I have on hand. Today, I had tofu, fresh yellowfoot chanterelles from the farmers market, cremini mushrooms and some leftover wonton filling (ground chicken, green onions, seasonings) from earlier in the week. So I made a stir-fry of these ingredients, which I paired with udon noodles that we buy by the five-pack in the freezer aisle at Waji.

A couple of notes on technique: While you don't need a wok in order to make this recipe, the benefit is that after you cook the ground chicken, you can just push the meat up the side of the wok (see photo) and let it rest as you cook the mushrooms. There's no need for the extra step of removing the chicken as you would if you were to use a normal skillet. Also, while I give specific amounts for the ingredients, they are based on what I had. You can take the principles of the recipe and apply it to what you have on hand. If, for example, I had only a half cup of ground chicken instead of a cup, then the dish would have been made with that half cup of chicken.

I also chose to make a dark sauce. The dish would have worked as well with a light sauce made from a combination of chicken broth and white wine or simply water and white wine. Since I was serving this to my 2-year-old daughter, I didn't season the dish too boldly. I might have added some chili paste or started by

searing some sliced fresh jalapenos. Of course, you can serve this with hot sauce on the side and maybe some chopped fresh cilantro. Another option would have been to add some dried cellophane noodles directly to the sauce at the end, let it simmer until soft and serve. I probably would have increased the liquid a tad to turn it into a soup.

CHICKEN & TOFU REFRIGERATOR STIR-FRY

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup ground chicken (or pork)

1/2 block Chinese-style firm tofu (about 7 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch (approx.) cubes

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon sweet bean sauce

1-2 tablespoons soy sauce, to taste

Drizzle of sesame oil

Chili sauce and chopped cilantro, optional

Cooked rice or noodles to serve

Method: Heat wok or pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Once heated, add the ground chicken and cook, breaking up the meat as you go. Once the chicken is mostly cooked-through, about 3 minutes, push it up the side of the wok to rest or, if using a skillet, remove the meat from pan. Add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry/saute the mushrooms until soft. Add the chicken back in. Then add the water, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce and combine. If you'd like to make this dish spicy, you can add the chili sauce at this point, too. Gently stir in the tofu and let everything simmer for 2-3 minutes, or just until the tofu has heated through. Drizzle with a touch of sesame oil. Garnish with chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve with rice or noodles.

The Rice and the Cooker

2009-02-20T15:49:39Z

I had always believed there was no reason to buy a fancy rice cooker, that a $20 basic model would suffice: measure rice, add water, press button, wait 25 minutes and voila. For many cooks, that belief rings true.

For our wedding, my husband, Eric, and I received a Krups all-in-one rice cooker/slow cooker/steamer, which was as fancy a rice cooker I'd ever used. But the rice-cooking function broke within a year, which was disappointing for something that cost about $60. I still managed to use it for more than four years by using the steam function to cook the rice. It wasn't perfect, but it did the job. It wasn't until I threatened to buy a $20 rice cooker from the drug store that my husband finally agreed to discuss replacing our Krups. (You see, for Eric, form often precedes function when it comes to kitchen appliances, which means that my $20 all-function-no-form rice cooker would offend his sensibilities.)

I have always been curious about the Zojirushi cookers that Waji sells, but the price point has been a deterrent. Some models are several hundred dollars -- though they feature induction heating. We settled on a Tiger Jag-B cooker that we found for about $90. It resembles the lower-end Zojirushis, but at a more affordable price. What sold me was that this type of rice cooker has settings for different kinds of rice: three settings for plain rice, as well as options for sweet rice, brown rice, and congee. How great is that? I wonder why I never bothered to look under the hood, so to speak, of this style of rice cooker. I guess I was always put off by the price tag. The first pot of rice I made with the Jag-B was so delicious that I immediately started chastising myself for putting up with the broken Krups for all this time. I have good knives and good pans, why not a good rice cooker? Rice is the core of a Chinese meal, after all.

If you've bought rice recently, you may have noticed the "new crop" label on bags. New crop rice available from November through February tends to be the "freshest." It's probably more accurate to say that new crop rice contains more moisture. Rice aficionados swear by the flavor difference of new crop. It's worth spending the extra money for a brand such as Tamanishiki. Just look for the golden yellow bag with the "new crop" label. It is an absolute revelation to taste rice this good. One bite will make you understand why the Chinese believe that rice is the centerpiece and the accompanying dishes are considered "condiments."