Menu: Chinese Thanksgiving

It’s been a while since I posted a menu, and of course with Thanksgiving on everyone’s mind, where else would I go with this thought? So for anyone who is interested in veering far from the traditional turkey day path and still sticking with the usual ingredients….
the recipes:

black pepper edamame
spicy daikon & carrot salad
lotus leaf buns
chinese [...]

Chinese Chicken Soup for the (Body and) Soul

This is an unusual Chinese dish to the American palate, a bit on the sweet side (sometimes very sweet!) and often served as a tonic in China, but since it’s close to “turkey day” with its festive bird, it seemed like a logical inclusion. If you omit the browing step, it’s also very easy to put [...]

Mandarin Pancakes

These thin pancakes are most often used for serving mooshu style dishes and Peking duck, but they make a great wrap for just about any stirfry, such as Vegetable Stirfry Wearing a Hat. The simplest way to make this is to use the food processor, in which case you may need less water than indicated.
ingredients:

2 [...]

Vegetable Stirfry Wearing a Hat

This is a super quick stirfry using vegetables that are in most cook’s refrigerators – you could also substitute whatever veggies you have on hand. A mandolin is a great gadget to have on hand for all the matchstick-sized strips you’ll need to cut, but you can also do it by hand – aim for [...]

Vegetable Dumplings

To repeat the intro to Friday’s post (Pork & Cabbage Dumplings): Homemade dumplings are a great quick supper, particularly if you make more than you need and can freeze some for later. It’s also a great party food – have the guests come ready to help wrap their dumplings! Kids also love this activity – just [...]

Pork and Cabbage Dumplings (Jiaozi)

Homemade dumplings are a great quick supper, particularly if you make more than you need and can freeze some for later. It’s also a great party food – have the guests come ready to help wrap their dumplings! Kids also love this activity – just be sure hands are washed and be able to put [...]

Asian vegetables: resource sites

Came across two interesting sites about Asian vegetables – definitely worth checking out (oddly, both claim to be a “thesaurus”). Although neither give cooking tips, there are very useful photos and a list of “also known as” given in many different languages.
From ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations): Vegetable Thesaurus
From Australia’s Deparment of Primary [...]

A new study and a new label

In the New York Times this morning, results of a scary new study about childhood obesity:
the thickness of artery walls of children and teenagers who are obese or have high cholesterol resembled the thickness of artery walls of an average 45-year-old.
Beyond scary when you consider:
Childhood obesity is considered an epidemic in the United States, with about [...]

Steamed Pork Belly

This is the ultimate winter comfort food but it also appears at fancier banquets. It’s fancier name is “Tiger Skin Steamed Pork” due to its stripy appearance. It can be steamed with rehydrated dried mustard greens (available in Asian markets, called meicai in Mandarin) or simply inverted over a plate of blanched or stirfried fresh mustard greens. [...]

Stocking the Cabinet

So Rahm Emanuel is in for Chief of Staff. Arnold Schwarzenneger is rumored to be considered for Energy Secretary. Perhaps Colin Powell in Education. But the burning question is – who will be chosen White House Chef? 2 names seem to be flooding the blogosphere: Art Smith and Rick Bayless, both of Chicago. And Michael Pollan [...]