Menu: Happy New Year!

Planning a family New Year’s feast? Consider making Chinese food! Much of this menu can be made ahead, leaving you to enjoy the party, whether it’s tonight or on New Year’s Day. If you want to venture out on your own for menu planning, check out the Menu Planning Tips post, and remember to serve a fish [...]

New Year’s Resolutions

I guess I’ve (almost) completely converted to the idea that eating at home is infinitely preferable to going out – it’s more economical, I know exactly what’s in the food, and  it just plain tastes better than most restaurant food! It’s not that we don’t go out – we probably eat out once a week, [...]

Chinese Cabbage, Two Ways

Voila – 2 dishes in the time it takes to prepare 1! This is a recipe my husband came up with as a solution to the fact that our kids won’t eat spicy food but like cabbage, and we love cabbage and spice. You can make a very pretty presentation by putting the two types side [...]

Chef’s Holiday!

No recipes today – I’ve been demolished in “Horseopoly” and don’t have the strength…. 
Wishing everyone happy holidays and will be back Monday with something new!

Food/Life

I can’t resist posting these gorgeous pictures from China – they’re taken in Jilin province after the harvest. Click on the individual pictures to view them (and more) on their original site.
What a cute village – looks a bit like Legoland! And look  – they must be into xeriscaping, or some other sort of new [...]

Eight Jewels Rice

Dessert is rather an anomaly in a traditional Chinese meal – sometimes there is a sweet soup made of beans and/or barley, but most often fresh fruit is served. Nowadays you can find all sorts of fancy western-style cakes and pastries in China, but true Chinese desserts are few and far between. Some restaurants in [...]

Daikon Omelet

Here’s a simple variation of the Chinese Omelet recipe using daikon. My kids joke that you could kill someone with the daikon we find at the farmers’ market here in Southern California – they can be absolutely huge! I would recommend seeking out the smaller ones for this sort of dish and reserve the larger [...]

Chinese Omelet

Best known as Egg Fooyung, this dish used to be on most Chinese restaurant menus, although I haven’t seen it offered recently. In Mandarin it is called furong dan, or hibiscus or lotus flower eggs. It can be made with egg whites or whole eggs and can contain a variety of ingredients, ranging from ground pork to [...]

Red-cooked Pork Belly or Ribs

This is a great winter dish – warm and rich – which can be lightened up considerably by adding some vegetable ingredients. The trademark red color comes from caramelizing the sugar before adding the other ingredients. Like most of the braises in Chinese cooking, the quick assembly and long cooking time make it an ideal [...]

Steamed Pork with Five-Spice Rice Powder

This is a delicious dish that can be quickly assembled if you use Cream of Rice cereal or the rice powder sold in Asian markets. Or you can make the rice powder from scratch – it’s not difficult, but will take an extra step (see note below). You can then let the dish steam while you [...]