Spicy Cold Noodles with Sesame Tahini (Dandan mian)

This noodle dish is originally from Sichuan and appears on many a restaurant menu with varying degrees of spiciness. You can buy chili oil in most conventional grocery’s Asian section, or if you live near an Asian market, try some of the ones you see that have the chili flakes still in them (which is what [...]

Calorie Counting

Starting this past summer, New York chains with more than 15 stores were required to post calorie content of food next to the price on the menu. It seems that the wait is over for those who were wondering what sort of impact new nutrition labeling laws would have. The New York Times dining section today [...]

Stirfried Long Beans (or Green Beans)

This is an enormously popular restaurant dish that can be easily made at home. It is one dish, however, that often suffers from the fact that a domestic stove simply doesn’t generate enough BTUs to replicate the slightly shrunken, lightly browned appearance of the beans that you get in a restaurant. Some restaurants will deep-fry [...]

Dong’an Chicken

This dish is from the town of Dong’an in Hunan province, and it is unusual in that it uses chicken that has been precooked. Be sure not to overcook the chicken during the precooking stage, or it will be tough. As always, I recommend you find pastured chicken – your taste buds will thank you, [...]

Stirfried Noodles (Chow mein/Chao mian)

This is the ultimate “what’s in the fridge” dish: to the basic recipe, you can add whatever ingredients you happen to have on hand or whatever catches your eye at the market! I’m giving a simple, vegan version here, but you can also add some marinated, stirfried beef, pork, chicken, or seafood. Fresh Asian noodles are [...]

Michael Pollan for Foodie in Chief

It’s been a busy month for Michael Pollan:
An open letter in the New York Times to the president-elect.
An interview on Fresh Air titled “Food as a National Security Issue.”
A talk on Zeitgest ‘08: The Google Partner Forum on “Serious Sustainability” - here from YouTube:

I was just thinking that there needs to be someone in [...]

Stirfried Squid with Chinese Celery

If you are interested in eating sustainable seafood, squid seems to be a fairly good alternative – Montere Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch lists several good alternatives as well as a best choice (US Atlantic longfin, trawl-caught) and no flashing-light “avoid this!” The trick with squid is to avoid overcooking at all costs, or you will end up with [...]

Beancurd Sheets with Chinese Celery

This recipe is similar to Braised Celery with Bamboo Beancurd but features another member of the tofu family, tofu sheets, a.k.a. “thousand sheets” (qianzhang in Mandarin) – interesting parallel to the French mille feuille! The tofu sheets are made by skimming the creamy film off the vat of soymilk, layering it with cloth, and pressing it. [...]

Not for Parents Only!

I just got this link to a TED talk by Ann Cooper, the Director of Nutrition for the Berkeley Unified School District from Peggy Curry at Growing Great, and the video deeply impressed me. Don’t read the summary article – it doesn’t anywhere near do it justice, so I highly recommend you make the time [...]

Stirfried Fish with Eggs

This is a simple dish with an abundance of lean protein and a bright sunny color. For your most sustainable fish choice, visit Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.
ingredients:

4 oz white fish fillet (I like to use Pacific cod or sea bass)
4 large eggs, separated
4 scallions, minced
2 tsp Shaoxing cooking wine
1/4  tsp salt
2 T oil

marinade:

1 tsp ginger juice [...]