Kohlrabi!

For some reason, my kids find the name “kohlrabi” hysterically funny – they even invented a creature called the kohlrabi monster that lived in our basement and attacked little children who went down there alone, particularly those children that didn’t eat their vegetables. (Now that the basement is finished, he rarely makes an appearance, though.) [...]

These are Turnips?

I have tried to like turnips for a very long time, but I just can’t seem to find a way to cook them that is pleasing. But just recently I realized it’s not the cooking method I should change – it’s the turnip! I’ve recently discovered Hakurei turnips (read more about them on Kitazawa Seed [...]

Stirfried Greens

Lots of greens are in season just now – kale, chard, collards, spinach. Here’s a quick stirfry recipe for just about any variety of sturdier greens. For the more tender types (spinach, water spinach, amaranth) check out the Recipes page for specific cooking instructions. ingredients: 1 bunch greens – any of the sturdier varieties mentioned above [...]

Broccoli Stem Stirfry

If you tend to have leftover broccoli stems, don’t toss them! We tend to use the crowns down to the main stem for a green vegetable with western meals, but that leaves us with quite a lot of long stems. These can be cut into “matchsticks” and stirfried into a delicious vegetable (or meat) dish. ingredients: [...]

Stirfried Pork with Bamboo Shoots & Broccoli Stems

I generally try to buy local, fresh ingredients, but once in a while we will buy something more exotic, such as bamboo shoots. If you live near an Asian market, look for the vacuum-sealed packages – the bamboo won’t carry the taste of the can with it. If you want to stick with local ingredients, [...]

Braised Winter Vegetables

Although the original recipe calls for potatoes, carrots, and Chinese cabbage, a variety of vegetables would work well in this dish. The finished dish has a sort of sweet and sour flavor – you can play with the amount of sugar and the amount and type of vinegar to get the flavor you like best. Black [...]

Braised Cabbage

Well, the pickings are pretty slim for Chinese vegetables in Michigan in the winter – so bad that every time we cook Chinese food, my daughter groans, “bok choy agaaaaaaaain?!?” I do miss the Asian vendors at the Torrance Farmers’ Market, but we’re making do with napa and bok choy, which seem to be the [...]

Winter Vegetable & Pressed Beancurd Stirfry

Truly deep into the winter vegetables in Michigan now – if we want to buy local, we’re down to roots and a lot of the cabbage family. Luckily we like those veggies, but we do think often of the farmers’ market in Torrance these days…. This recipe is great for using up broccoli stems, although [...]

“Christmas Stirfry”

My husband made this for dinner yesterday, and it was strikingly pretty (as well as tasty!), in the perfect seasonal colors. Garlic chives, jiucai in Mandarin, are available in Asian markets and at farmers’ markets that have vendors of Asian produce. The look like a long, flattened version of our chives. When fully grown they are [...]

Five-Spice Sweet Potatoes

Got any leftover uncooked sweet potatoes (or yams) from Thanksgiving? Here’s a great recipe based on one from the November 2009 issue of Food &Wine. It gives a Chinese twist to traditional glazed sweet potatoes, so I’m calling it Chinese home cooking, although it should probably be served with a Chinese-inspired western menu, rather than [...]