3 Cups Scallops

The “3 cups” style of cooking originally refers to a recips for cooking an entire chicken using 1 cup each of soy sauce, sesame oil, and wine. Obviously for lesser amounts of food, the amount of ingredients has also been reduced, but for most recipes of this style, the proportion remains the same 1:1:1. Often [...]

Braised Mushrooms

This is originally a Japanese recipe – I’ve replaced the mirin and sake with Shaoxing cooking wine and reduced the amount of sugar. Like all braises, this one starts with a quick saute/stirfry, then adds liquid to simmer. Unlike many Chinese braises, however, it takes a while. The mushrooms can be served hot, warm, or [...]

Braised Peas

Spring has definitley sprung in SoCal – I think we may actually get a few days of it before summer hits – and with it spring brings some fantastic English peas. We’ve been putting them in risotto, making stirfried rice with them, and just enjoying them steamed. Here is a simple stirfry version if you can [...]

Braised Daikon

Unlike in the Stirfried Daikon recipe, for this dish you want to cook the radish until it is tender, but still not falling apart. You can easily make this vegan by using water or vegetable stock for the liquid, although a good homemade chicken stock adds a more complex, rich flavor. Daikon, also called Asian radish, can be purchased [...]

Braised Beancurd with Mushrooms

Warm and nourishing and vegetarian (although the original recipe often contains a bit of pork)! I usually prefer the silken version of tofu, but for this dish the regular water-packed firm variety works best. You can use fresh mushrooms or rehydrate dry ones for 30 m in hot water – if you do the latter, save [...]

Basic Stirfried Noodles – Lo Mein

Noodle dishes make frequent appearances at banquets and birthday parties in China – the long noodles symbolize long life, so they are never broken or cut before serving.
While the kids and my husband tend to prefer soupy noodles (see Pan-Asian Noodle Soup post, for example), I have a weakness for stirfried noodles, called lo mein [...]

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 [...]