Ginger Creme Brulee

This really does NOT qualify as a Chinese recipe, but being someone who always craves a sweet after dinner, I thought I’d share this version of a favorite dessert…. Crème brûlée is supposed to provide contrast, both in temperature (hot crust, cold custard) and texture (crisp top, creamy bottom). It’s easiest to make with one of [...]

Chocolate Surprise Pie

Full disclosure: this is NOT a Chinese recipe. Not even close. But it contains tofu, and it’s really delicious…. My kids love this pie so much that they often ask me to make it when we have company – they love to make the guests guess what’s in it. I’m always surprised by people who [...]

Simple Syrup for Fruit

All the summer fruits are coming to the farmers’ market in Southern California now – two weeks ago the kids begged for “anything but citrus, NO MORE ORANGES!” and now we’re happily gorging on strawberries, melons, peaches, nectarines, cherries…. I try to buy for the week, carefully choosing some peaches that must be eaten TODAY, [...]

Coconut Sticky Rice Pudding

Disclaimer – this is in no way a Chinese recipe, but I put it together this weekend, inspired by a Food & Wine recipe from Pok Pok in Thailand, and it was so good I had to share! And it works wonderfully at the end of a Chinese meal. And it’s very simple. And it [...]

Red (or Green) Bean Soup

This warming winter “soup” is really a dessert or snack item, and it is traditionally served for the Lantern Festival, the last day of the lunar New Year celebration, which just passed. You can sometimes find it (or another sweet soup) served gratis at the end of a restaurant meal. You can increase or decrease the [...]

Split Pea “Cake”

The term “cake” is a bit misleading here – this sweet is really more like a jelly or stiff pudding, but as it is served in slices it seems appropriate to call it a cake. The ingredients may be a bit off-putting – who puts split peas into dessert?! – but you’ll be surprised at [...]

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 [...]

Almond “Jello”

Dessert, anyone? It’s very rare to have dessert with a meal in China (at least something that fits the conventional American definition of dessert), but you’ll often find fresh fruit to round out the meal. I’m guessing that this dish was probably invented to appease the American demand for a sweet at the end of [...]