Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Chinese Braised Beef/紅燒牛肉


Chinese Braised Beef is a popular Szechuan dish.  After 1 - 2 hours of slow cooking, the beef absorbs all the good flavour from the sauce and carrots and tastes so tender, juicy, soft and flavourful.  I only use carrots in this dish, however you can add tomatoes to give an extra sweet and sour flavour.  I use chili bean sauce for this dish because I like spicy flavours with beef.  You can use a regular bean sauce if you prefer it less spicy.  This dish is also great to make noodles and I will show you how to make Braised Beef Noodles in an upcoming post.


Ingredients:
  • 1 lb lean beef 
  • 1 lb carrots
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil
  • 6 pcs star anise 
  • 1 tsp dried cumin
  • 1 tsp dried cinnamon 
  • 1 tsp caraway seeds
  • 1 tsp dried clove 
  • A few bay leaves
  • A few basil
  • 5 - 6 pcs crystal sugar 
  • Half tsp Sichuan peppercorn
  • 2 tbsp Asian chili broad bean sauce
  • Soy sauce to taste
  • 4 green onion 
  • A few cilantro
  • Half cup garlic 
  • 2 oz sliced ginger slices

Directions:

  1. Cut the carrots and beef in cubes. 
  2. In a large non-stick saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add all ingredients except beef, carrots and crystal sugar, stirring for about 1 - 2 minutes.  Add beef and cook, stirring, until it's no longer pink, about 4 minutes.  
  3. Add 3 - 4 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add the crystal sugar and then cover, reduce heat and simmer for about half an hour.  Add carrots and bring to a boil.  Make sure there is enough water to cover all the ingredients.  Cover and then simmer for 1 - 2 hours.
  4. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with fresh cilantro.  Now enjoy!

Video Recipe Update - Braised Pork Rib with Soy Beans

Thursday, June 23, 2011

重慶口水雞/Sichuan Spicy Sesame Chicken



You may have seen my other Cantonese White Cut Chicken recipe. When I made that dish I saved half the chicken to make this Sichuan Spicy Sesame Chicken by adding my own Sichuan style sauce so we had two different types of chicken to eat.  Although I used a cornish chicken this time, a regular chicken will be just as delicious as a cornish chicken, try to choose a small one that's under 1.5 lbs. With a small regular chicken (around 1 lb) - turn off the heat when the water starts boiling. This allows the chicken to cook in the residual heat for around 30 minutes and the chicken will still remain tender and moist.  I learned this Sichuan Spicy sauce recipe from my mom when I was in China.  This is a famous dish in Chongqing and is called "The Drooling Chicken" in Chinese because this chicken will make you drool when you think about it.  You will know why only after you try it.


Ingredients:

  • 1 cornish chicken (or a small regular chicken)
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 oz sliced ginger
  • 2 - 3 tbsp cooking wine
  • 1 tsp salt


For the sauce:

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil 
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce 
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger 
  • 1 tbsp ground garlic
  • 1 tbsp chopped green onion
  • 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp ground peanut 
  • 1 tsp chili oil 
  • Half tsp ground Sichuan peppercorn
  • A little bit cilantro


Directions:
  1. Cut the green onion approximately one inch long.
  2. Add half green onion and half sliced ginger in the chicken's tummy.
  3. In a large soup pot, add chicken, the rest of the green onion, sliced ginger and half pot of water (just about cover the chicken).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, and then use a soup strainer to strain all the dark bubbles on top of the water.  Reduce the heat to the lowest and cook for 25 minutes.
  4. Transfer the chicken to a plate.  While the chicken is hot, add cooking wine and salt and rub everything evenly with the chicken.
  5. Cut the chicken into small chunks. Add all the sauce ingredients in a bowl, mix evenly.  Pour the sauce on top of the chicken.  Now enjoy!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

白灼蝦/White Boiled Spotted Prawn with Ginger and Green Onion



My nanny is on vacation and I have to keep up with my hyper, two-year-old little one so I have to make a really quick and easy yet nutritious dinner for my family.  This White Boiled Spotted Prawn with Ginger and Green Onion can be made in 15 minutes and it's very healthy and delicious.  My daughter ate 7 prawns for the very first time and she loved it so much.  This dish is great for kids because prawns are a rich source of protein that helps your little one to grow.  It's also fun for them to play with the prawn and then enjoy eating them at the same time.


The key to this dish is using live prawns.  We live in Vancouver, BC, Canada where we have the freshest seafood all year long.  Late spring and early summer is spotted prawn season and you can get them for really cheap in Chinatown.   "White Boiled" in Chinese means a simple cooking style so there is not a lot of extra sauce added.  Fresh live prawns are naturally juicy and delicious so they don't require any fancy cooking style.  




Ingredients:

  • 1 - 2 lbs of live prawns
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 oz sliced ginger
  • Half tsp salt
  • 1 tsp olive oil

For the dipping sauce:

  • Half oz julienne ginger
  • 2 green chili peppers
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp olive oil

Directions:

  1. Cut the green onion approximately an inch long.  Julienne the green chili peppers. 
  2. In a small bowl, add all the dipping sauce ingredients and mix everything evenly.
  3. In a medium pot, bring half pot of water to boil.  Add olive oil, salt, green onion, sliced ginger and all the prawns to the boiling water and cover. When the water is boiling again, transfer all the prawns to a serving plate.  Now you can enjoy your White Boiled Spotted Prawn with Ginger and Green Onion!

蠔油芥蘭/Blanched Kai-lan in Oyster Sauce



This Blanched Kai lan in Oyster Sauce is one of my easiest recipes, you can make it in 5 minutes.  Anyone can make this dish and the ingredients are very simple too.  This dish is very healthy, clean and refreshing.  Kai lan is known as Chinese broccoli. Its flavor is very similar to broccoli and it's very low in fat.  It's a great side dish and goes well with any main course, fried rice or noodles.  This is also a very common dish at many Chinese restaurants, but for the same amount of money you can have triple the amount of vegetables if you cook it at home.




Ingredients:


Directions:


In a medium pot, bring half a pot of water to boil.  Add the olive oil and salt, and then blanche the Kai lan until the water is boiling again.  Transfer to a serving plate and pour the oyster sauce on top of the Kai lan.  Now you are done!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

白切雞/Cantonese White Cut Chicken



I have been very busy with my little two-year-old because my nanny is on vacation this month.  We have been eating out a lot!  Trying different restaurants is fun but I still like my homemade food the most.  We once ordered this Cantonese White Cut Chicken from a local Chinese restaurant and I transformed it to a Sichuan Spicy Sesame Chicken by adding my own Sichuan style sauce.  It was so yummy!  After researching this Cantonese White Cut Chicken recipe, I decided to make it from scratch.  It tasted even more delicious when I made it myself and I know there is no MSG added!  After the chicken is made you will have the soup to use for other Chinese dishes that require chicken stock.  The chicken was so tender, moist, and flavourful.  I made a Cantonese traditional dipping sauce and also a Sichuan style sauce so we had two types of chicken to eat.  I will update the Sichuan Sesame Chicken recipe in my upcoming postings.  If you are not used to eating spicy food this Cantonese White Cut Chicken will be the best choice.  I got a cornish chicken this time because I just happened to see it on sale in Chinatown.  You can use a regular chicken if you would like.  A regular chicken will be just as delicious as a cornish chicken, try to choose a small one that's under 1.5 lbs. With a small regular chicken (around 1 lb) - turn off the heat when the water starts boiling. This allows the chicken to cook in the residual heat for around 30 minutes and the chicken will still remain tender and moist.  Even my two-year-old daughter loved this chicken so much.  She was trying to copy us by dipping the chicken in the dipping sauce and had so much fun with it.  She ate at least a whole chicken leg by herself and we were so proud of her!




Ingredients:

  • 1 cornish chicken
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 oz sliced ginger
  • 2 - 3 tbsp cooking wine
  • 1 tsp salt

For the dipping sauce:

  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp chopped green onion
  • Half tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Half tsp salt
  • Half tsp roasted sesame seeds
  • A quarter tsp sugar

Directions:

  1. Cut the green onion approximately one inch long.
  2. Add half green onion and half sliced ginger in the chicken's tummy.
  3. In a large soup pot, add chicken, the rest of the green onion, sliced ginger and half pot of water (just about cover the chicken).  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, and then use a soup strainer to strain all the dark bubbles on top of the water.  Reduce the heat to the lowest and cook for 25 minutes.
  4. Transfer the chicken to a plate.  While the chicken is hot, add cooking wine and salt and rub everything evenly with the chicken.
  5. Cut the chicken into small chunks. Add all the dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl.  Now enjoy your delicious Cantonese White Cut Chicken!