Which came first.....

.... well in my case it was the Chicken!

The other day for dinner I cooked Chicken With Ginger. The chicken was a favourite with Joshua, although he wasn't too keen on the stir-fried bell peppers that I served with it.

The ginger is fried in large slices with the skin intact. This releases some mouth watering aromas and preps the oil for when the chicken is fried.

Shaoxing wine, chicken stock, chili flakes and a little light soy sauce combined with the greens of scallions added at the very last minute produce a chicken dish which is succulent and infused with ginger. 

Delicious! A single teaspoon of sesame oil was stirred through the chicken immediately prior to serving. This gave the dish an extra depth and complexity. I'm always weary of using sesame oil, I find it rather pungent and it can overpower other flavours. However, the Chinese apparently know how to use it very well indeed, when it is used it is mostly used cold and it really enhances flavours rather than mask anything.

The chicken and vegetables were served with some fresh (not dried, refrigerated) Shanghai noodles. I think I have a preference for these 'fresh' noodles. They are sooo fun to slurp up :)

Desert was Egg Custard Buns

Today I tried my hand at Tea Eggs.
Eggs are cooked in liquid to which a seasoning bag and a tea bag have been added. They cook for about 2 1/2 hours. After the first 20 minutes the shells are broken to allow the seasonings to infuse the egg.

This photo doesn't show the deep colour of the eggs very well.

Tonight I am going to make Boiled Beef Slices in a Fiery Sauce. As it's just Josh and I, I'm going to make 2 versions, one fiery, one not so much :)

Nothing fishy going on

Yesterday I had an experience that really reminded me why I love to cook so much.

I had decided that it was by far time that I cooked a whole fish for the first time. So I took myself to Cleveland Asia Market and picked out a nice looking strip bass. This was immediately followed by relief when the lady behind the fish counter went ahead and gutted the fish for me.... phew!!

Matt ended up staying late at work due to a last minute meeting and I contemplated holding off on cooking my fish. The only other person eating it would be Joshua, my 13 year old step son who thinks mac'n'cheese is delicious!!! He looked very dubious about the prospect of a yummy dinner after I showed him the fish, head and all.

But I decided to go ahead and cook it. And I am so glad that I did!!!

I followed the Fish Braised in Chili Bean Sauce from my Land of Plenty authentic Sichuan recipes cookbook.

I am going to include the full recipe here as it was so good! It takes 30 minutes from start to finish!

You will need:
1 carp, trout or sea bass (1 1/2 lbs)
peanut oil
salt
1-2tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (or medium dry sherry)
4tbsp Sichuanese chili bean paste
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tsp white sugar
1-2 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/4 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp cold water
1/2 tsp Chinkiang vinegar (black chinese vinegar)
3 scallions, green parts only, finely sliced.

1. Use a cleaver to make 4 or 5 shallow diagonal cuts into each side of the fish & pierce its head. Rub inside and out with salt and Shaoxing rice wine. Allow to marinate.

2. Season the wok and then add 1/3c of peanut oil over a high heat until smoking. Dry the fish with paper towels and then fry briefly on each side to crispen the skin. Set fish aside. Rinse and dry wok.

3. Using 4tbsp of fresh oil fry chili bean paste for 20-30 seconds. Add ginger and garlic then fry for another 20 seconds. Pour in the stock and bring to boil. Add soy sauce and sugar to taste.

4. Gently place fish into wok and spoon sauce over it. Turn down heat, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes, turning over once.

5. When done, gently transfer fish to a serving dish. Add corn starch to sauce in wok and stir until thickened. Add vinegar and scallions and stir a couple of times before pouring the sauce over the fish.

The fish fell apart a little bit as I transferred it to the serving plate, I don't think I used the ideal utensil to do so!

Both Josh and I were a little nervous before trying any. It had a very peculiar smell, not unpleasant, but an aroma that I have never apparently smelled before. It was tangy, vinegary and ever so slightly fishy.

One mouthful was all it took. Josh and I spent the whole meal with Mmmmm's and Aaaaaahhhs. The flavour, like the aroma was something that I have never had before and I don't know how to describe it.

The sauce was delicious. Joshua ladled some over his rice bowl and we both dipped our bok choy and mushrooms in it.

We ate the whole thing......

..... and then realised we hadn't saved any for Matt!!!! Matt came home at 8.40pm to a cheese and turkey sandwich and had to sit through Josh and I telling him how amazing the fish tasted! Sorry Matt, I will make it again this week :)

As I mentioned mac'n'cheese earlier I figured I share a little 'moment' I had last week. I had made a pork belly dish which used pork belly with the skin on. The belly that I got also had 2 nipples on it. We had a bit of a laugh at it as it really was rather strange to see. HOWEVER, later that week I made some mac'n'cheese for Josh and his friend Alexa. The sight of the BRIGHT ORANGE 'cheese' powder and the nutritional information on the box really freaked me out, especially when you think how much of this 'crap' kids eat.
It made me smile to think that I wasn't disturbed by pig nipples, but a box of mac'n'cheese gave me chills. Just thought it was kind of amusing, not something I'd ever thought I'd smile about :)

"Lotus Eat"

Yesterday I tried my hand at steaming Chicken and rice wrapped up in Lotus leaves.

I got the recipe from my Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.


The first thing to do is soak the dried lotus leaves in hot water for about 5 minutes.

The chicken was cut into large slices and then marinated with some thinly sliced pork belly in Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, freshly chopped ginger and scallions.

Some long grain and glutinous rices were toasted in a dry wok with some star anise until they were brittle and yellow. The smell was amazing!

The meat and rice were mixed together with a little water, divided up among the lotus leaves and wrapped into neat parcels.

The parcels were steamed for 30-40 minutes. When they were done they were served with a stir-fry of baby shanghai bok-choy, lotus root, enoki mushrooms and scallions.

The aroma when you unwrap the parcels is wonderful, it really gets your salivary glands going!
I will definitely make this again, but I will use smaller pieces of chicken (like they did in the restaurant) and will add some shrimp too.

There is also a different lotus leaf recipe for me to try in my Land of Plenty cookbook.

Desert was some custard buns; delicious steamed buns that have some sweet custard in their middles. YUMMY!

I flossed today

I'm super excited to have found pork floss at the Cleveland Asia Market today.

It is dried pork meat that has then been shredded into floss like texture. It has a lovely rich flavour.

I used some for lunch with my congee. I also had it with some roasted unsalted peanuts and kimchee.

It was delicious!

Tonight I'm going to try making sticky rice and chicken steamed in lotus leaves. It's one of Joshua's favourite foods from the Chinese restaurant we frequented in Omaha and I now have a recipe from one of my cookbooks.

I LOVE Chinese food...

.... and I'm not talking about 'American Chinese' food (General Tso's, Sweet n sour chicken, beef lo mein). I'm talking about the authentic Chinese food, that Chinese people eat in China.

The Chinese food I have been cooking is from Chinese cook books full of recipes straight from China and full of ingredients that I can only find at the Chinese market. AND IT HAS ALL BEEN DELICIOUS. I'm sure to a native of China it probably doesn't taste quite authentic, but I feel confident that it's pretty close!

I am currently on vacation in Las Vegas. I drove here from Cleveland, which is a 33 hour drive away and obviously haven't been doing any cooking during this time. And my tummy has been suffering!!!!

So yesterday I was super excited to find that the Bellagio has a restaurant called Noodles that serves some good authentic Chinese food (as well as some of the expected American Chinese dishes and other dishes from Japan and Korea). I had congee for lunch yesterday, congee again for lunch today (with edamame and kim-chee) and a wonton soup tonight for  dinner, which had shrimp dumplings that were to die for. And my tummy is already feeling a lot better.

Yummy congee:

Here is a photo of tonights soup:

I LOVE CHINESE FOOD!!!

Pita patter

Yesterday I decided to try making my own pita breads.

They turned out ok, but a bit thicker than I would have liked.

3 cups of flour were mixed with 1 1/2tsp salt, 2tbsp olive oil, a packet of dry fast action yeast and 1 1/2 cups of water.

After sitting for 90 minutes the dough was split into 8ths and allowed to rise for another 20 minutes. These balls were then rolled out (too thickly!) and baked at 420F for 10 minutes, flipping over after 5.

Good taste, but too thick.

I served the bread with an olive, tomato, mozzarella, avocado and basil salad.

 We also had some homemade lamb and chicken kebabs hot off the outside grill. I had marinated the lamb and chicken in cumin, paprika and Cavender's greek seasoning.

Put it together and whaddya got? Bibbity bobbity yummy pita pockets boo.

Writing a Wee Bit Regarding Red Wine...

... try saying THAT quickly 10 times after a few glasses!!

Ok, so I'm writing this blog entry in hopes that a reader will be able to help :)

I am a fan of red wine. In the past I have particulary enjoyed big mouthy reds, the ones that punch you in the face with their tannins and yell "TASTE MY DEPTH" at you.

But recently they've become too much. Especially some of the new world wines, they are too fruity, almost candy-like.

Last June while we were in Vegas we stopped at a place in The Venetian to have some wine with meats and cheeses. I had a glass of a 2008 Mongrana. At first I was not at all impressed; it had very little tannins and the mouth feel of warm water.

BLEURGH! was my initial response...... until...... it really allowed the cured meats and smelly cheeses to shine!

Ever since that night I've been looking for something similar (can't find Mongrana in stores for the life of me). Malbecs just don't cut it anymore. They remind me of a cupcake with too much frosting in a glass!

I've tried Beaujolais: that was great on the tannins, but had an acidity that hung around afterwards.

Tonight I headed to Whole Foods and asked the lady working in the wine section for some suggestions. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about and she gave me some samples to try. She was spot on with the tannins, but the acidity was still too much.

Anyway, after about 10 minutes with her I decided on a Pinot Noir from Oregon. I told her that I had been told somewhere else to stay away from New World wines (not because they are bad, but because they're not what I'm looking for in a wine). She was able to tell me that due to the climate in Oregon it won't have the same candy-ness. I didn't sample this wine, so who knows how it'll taste.

So here is the bottle (and 2 super cute dogs):

Time to open the bottle....

Yay!!! It's delicious! Smooth, round, not too sweet, very little acidity!!!! :D

But please readers, if you have any suggestions of other wines I should try (with the characteristics I'm looking for) please let me know!

And here is a photo of the best wine ever. It also helps that I had great company too, Matt and I had some wonderful conversation that evening :)

I'm super excited that I get to go to Las Vegas again for my birthday :D I bet they won't still have the Mongrana, but I'll enjoy going back to that restaurant anyway :)