Korean Pine Nuts

I got these from my brother-in-law; he didn't even know what they were, he bought them in China in Beijing. Oddly enough, the picture on the package led me to believe that they were hazelnuts; well, very odd hazelnuts. Perhaps even cob nuts? Then it struck me that they looked like pine nuts, once I cracked the shell, anyways.

It turns out that they are Korean pine nuts, a popular nut grown in Northeastern China. They might even be the pine nuts you buy in the store here in North America. They are difficult to crack, takes a fair amount of work to extract the small seeds; I can see why they are expensive. They are tasty, though, my daughter even likes them.

King's Zen Tea King's Jasmine Pearls

King's Zen Tea has a number of very interesting teas, this one is a green tea that is scented with jasmine blossoms, using a 9 century old technique for tea scenting. The tender green tea leaves and buds (these come from Fujian Province in China) are then hand rolled. The jasmine smell of this is quite strong and intoxicating, the green tea is quite good as well, yielding a good cup of tea to enjoy.

Durian Candy

At first glance, one would think that this durian candy came from Thailand, the Thai script is quite prominent. I suppose perhaps the Durian came from Thailand, if anything, this is a candy made in China. I liked that the first ingredient is durian, followed by sugar and flavour. It does taste like they used durian, I’m glad of that, and they’re not so sweet.

Spicy Chinese-Style Noodle Sauce

This came from a cookbook called Takeaway, essentially quick recipes which you might find at any restaurant that provides takeout/takeaway quickly. This recipe particularly looked tasty; there are others too that look good. The original recipe called for ground beef, I used ground chicken instead, and am thinking of trying it with ground pork. Pickled radish can be found in most Asian supermarkets, it's an ingredient in many Asian dishes, including Pad Thai. The sauce was tasty and not too spicy, but there wasn't really enough "sauce" for my tastes (I found it difficult to mix with the noodles). To me, this looked to be a cold noodle dish, though I ate it hot. This is a quick and easy recipe to make for a busy weekday, and you can also make the sauce ahead and store in the fridge for even more time savings.

Spicy Chinese-style Noodles
adapted from a recipe from Takeaway by Les Huynh
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
300 g ground chicken
100 g preserved radish, finely chopped
For dressing:
4 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar
1-1/2 Tbsp chili oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
4 spring onions, finely chopped
handful cilantro leaves, finely chopped, to serve

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Add the onion, garlic and ground chicken and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the preserved radish.

Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Pour over the cooked chicken and radish, and stir to combine.

Serve over cooked noodles; sprinkle with the chopped cilantro.

Scallops with Black Bean Sauce

We got this recipe from a Chinese cookbook we have, with fairly good recipes; this one seemed interesting, as it has the salted, fermented black beans I've tried in other recipes. It turned out fairly salty, but still interesting enough. The next day, my beautiful Bride stir-fried it with some Chinese greens to make it taste better.

Scallops with Black Bean Sauce
1 kg large scallops
2 Tbsp salted, fermented black beans, rinsed and mashed
3 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp oil
2 spring onions, cut into 2 cm lengths

Slice the small, hard white muscle off the side of each scallop and pull off any membrane. Rinse the scallop and drain.

Place the black beans, garlic, ginger, sugar, light soy sauce and oyster sauce in a bowl; mix well.

Heat a wok over high heat, add the oil and heat until very hot. Stir-fry the scallops for 2 minutes, until the scallops are cooked through (they will be opaque). Add the spring onions just before the scallops are finished cooking. Place the cooked scallops in a colander to drain.

Lower the heat to medium, then stir-fry the black bean mixture for 1-2 minutes, or until it becomes aromatic. Return the scallops and spring onion to the wok and toss together to combine.

Eisiti Chinese Herbal Drink

I like trying new things, and occasionally there are new interesting things for sale in the Chinese supermarkets. Having tried a sample of this, I thought it tasted pretty good, kind of like licorice (and I found out later, one of the ingredients is Glycyrrhizin, which comes from licorice root). The herbal drink, which has been made for many years in China, I don't know the properties or effects, and the main ingredient is Ageratum (which, in searching the 'Net, might help with summer colds).

Sweet and Sour Fried Pork

I had been meaning to post this recipe for a long while, I'm really sorry for that, as I find this to be the best version of the Chinese Sweet and Sour Pork that I have ever eaten. And, it's likely better for you than eating at a regular Chinese buffet restaurant. You can substitute chicken for the pork, I'm sure it'll work well too. It's fairly easy to make as well.

Sweet and Sour Fried pork
300 g pork or chicken sliced in to 1 inch
1/2 tsp salt, for marinating
120 g sweet bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
1 medium onion, chopped into small pieces
1 cup orange or pineapple sliced into pieces
For the sauce:
1/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp chinese cooking wine
1/4 cup red sugar
2 Tbsp soya sauce
1 Tbsp corn starch
For the batter:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 tsp salt

Mix together all ingredients of the sauce in a medium bowl.

Marinate the pork with salt; set aside.

Mix the batter ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Meanwhile, put enough oil for deep frying into a wok; put on medium-high heat.

Add the marinated pork into the batter and mix well.

Deep fry the pork when the oil is hot and put on paper to absorb any oil.

Put the sauce mixture into a clean wok. Cook the sauce, mixing, until the sauce become thick and boiling. Adjust seasonings.

Add the fried pork into the boiling sauce, mixing in quickly. Add the rest of the cut vegetables and mix well. When the vegetables are heated, the dish is ready for serving.

Chinese Green Tea - Moonlight of Spring River

I must admit, this gift box of Chinese Green Tea has been sitting on my shelf for a few months; I only recently opened it. At first, I thought there was a large bag of loose green tea, but opening the box revealed something quite different.

There were several small boxes, all the same.

Opening the small box revealed several bags of what felt like loose green tea.

Opening the bag reveals slivers of green tea, enough for a cup of tea.

The tea tasted very fresh, I think a measure of the individual packaging (with a large bag, it tends to go staler faster); on the other hand, there is a lot of packaging, not good for the environment (though some of it is recyclable). As always, the second steeping is sweet while the first is more bitter.

Yellow or Golden Chives

Yellow chives or Golden chives are exactly the same plant as the green Chinese garlic chives you see for sale in Chinese supermarkets, they are just grown without direct exposure to sunlight, thus the leaves are yellow instead of green. This also results in a milder flavour, more onion-y than garlicky. Where can you use them? Most anyplace that you can use the green Chinese chives. I've enjoyed green Chinese chives as part of an omelette, as part of a filling in Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi), and in stir-fries. And, of course, Pad Thai (but don't substitute the yellows ones in that dish, you need the flavour of the green ones).

Yanjing Beer - New Dark

My brother-in-law brought me back this new beer from Beijing, China, it's a dark beer (most Chinese beers are pale lagers, though there is the odd dark beer - Tsingtao makes one). I wonder if it was created for the last Olympics, held in 2008 in Beijing. Anyway, it was fairly good, though a little sweet.

Grand Maple Pineapple Cake

In these kinds of cakes, it is the fruit paste or jam that is key to its flavour, and in the case of this cake, the pineapple paste is just not that good tasting, with just a little pineapple flavour. But then, what should I expect for a little more than a dollar?

Stir-Fried Potato with Lup Cheong and Green Chilli

We saw this recipe on Kylie Kwong's show on the Food Network (the Beijing Episode), it looked quite tasty, so when we found it online, we had to try it. And it tasted as good as it looked on television. The lup cheong she used was made with duck meat (which also sounded good); ours was made with pork and chicken - there are all kinds with different flavours. Chinkiang vinegar is dark vinegar made from glutinous rice. The green chili we used was smaller, I believe, than the one that was used to make this recipe. This amount makes enough for 4-6 people as part of a larger meal.

Stir-Fried Potato with Lup Cheong and Green Chilli
from a recipe by Kylie Kwong
2 large potatoes, peeled
1 medium carrot, peeled
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 cm (2 in) piece ginger, cut into thin strips
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 lup cheong (Chinese dried sausage), finely sliced
2 Tbsp Shao Hsing wine
1 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 large green chilli, finely sliced lengthways
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup water

Cut potatoes lengthways into 5 mm (¼ in) slices, then into 7 cm (2¾ in) strips. Use a vegetable peeler to shave carrot into ribbons, then cut into fine strips.

Heat oil in a hot wok or large heavy-bottomed pan until surface seems to shimmer slightly. Add potatoes, ginger and salt and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, or until the potatoes are lightly browned. Add sausage and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Add shao hsing wine and sugar and stir-fry for a further 2 minutes. Stir in carrot and remaining ingredients and stir-fry for about 6 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Serve immediately.

Kuohua Frozen Red Bean Pie

This is quite good, a good snack, essentially flaky pastry with red bean paste inside. I am sure you could make something similar using pre-made pastry.

Some things from Chinese New Year

Health, happiness, wealth, joy, luck, and surprises I wish for all my friends and family.

It's the Year of the Ox.

Colourful lucky candies are given out. These are made from peanuts and feature several flavours - cocoa, sesame, coffee and almond.

Cards are sent to friends and family as part of the New Year celebration. This one features a lucky dragon on the front.

Chinese laughing dumplings are supposed to bring happiness, as the cracks in the flour look like smiles. The fried balls are sometimes filled with red bean paste and are usually covered with sesame seed.

Kruller with Bean Sauce

We bought this from a restaurant called The Fritter King in Mississauga, on Central Parkway West, they serve lots of different dishes (including congee, rice rolls, stir-fry, noodle and rice dishes), but only a few from fried dough. This is a sweet dough, the sauce is slightly salty; the final product is crunchy and chewy, sweet and salty. Tasty, but I think better hot (ours wasn't).

Stir-fried King Oyster Mushrooms, Snow Peas and Black Moss

Being Chinese New Year last week (26 January), we wanted to make some traditional dishes with food that is thought to bring luck, or wealth, or happiness for the next year. This is the year of the Ox, time for hard work. Black moss, also called fat choy or faat choy, sounds similar to the popular Chinese New Year saying in Cantonese, Gung Hei Faat Choi (congratulations and be prosperous), so is thought to bring wealth and is a popular ingredient in dishes served during the Chinese New Year. The proper black moss looks like black hair (though is dark green) and is a little disconcerting but tasty, and cooked properly has a consistency similar to thin cellophane noodles. I have found it to be an interesting taste, and this dish is tasty, but I have also read that black moss might contain a certain toxin which could impact your health (it brings you wealth but not health, I guess). Eat only at Chinese New Year, I would say.

Stir-fried King Oyster Mushrooms, Snow Peas and Black Moss
1/2 oz (14 g) black moss
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 lb (340 g) king oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tbsp Shaoxing cooking wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
6 tbsp chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 lb (340 g) snow peas or sugar snap peas, trimmed
Salt to taste

Soak moss in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse and squeeze dry. Tear into 2-inch lengths and set aside.

In wok or large frying pan, heat oil over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 10 seconds – don't let it brown. Add mushrooms, cooking wine, soy and stock.

Stir-fry until mushrooms are limp, about 3 minutes. Add snow peas and stir-fry until crisp tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and transfer with slotted spoon to serving dish. Add moss to liquid remaining in wok and stir-fry just until hot. Mound moss in centre of mushrooms and serve.

Chicken with Gai Lan

I have been reading Barbara Fisher's blog Tigers and Strawberries for a long while now, a big shout out to her, and have wanted to make some of her recipes she's posted, this is the first that I have got to, and I must say that it worked out really well, and even better the second time, as I completely forgot to put in the fermented black soybeans in the first time, despite buying a container of them especially for the recipe; the black bean taste gives it a great flavour. We were even thinking of making this for our Christmas dinner with our relatives. The Shao Hsing wine gives it an interesting flavour too. Gai Lan is also known as Chinese broccoli. Light soy sauce can be found in most Chinese supermarkets, though you have to search for it; the Shao Hsing wine and fermented black soybeans (look for preserved soybeans, usually in salt) are easier to find. I've posted her recipe here, though I have made some changes to the directions, that make it more understandable to me.

Chicken with Gai Lan
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs cut into thin 1″x1/2″ slices
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing wine or sherry
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1-1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
1 tablespoon fermented black soybeans
1-1/2" cube fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing wine or sherry
1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced into diagonal, oval-shaped slices (about 1/8″ thick)
1 pound gai lan, bottoms of stems trimmed and thick stems sliced thinly on the diagonal, thin stems and leaves cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Toss chicken meat with the first measures of wine or sherry and soy sauce. Sprinkle with cornstarch, then toss with your hands to coat the
chicken pieces thoroughly.

Heat wok until a thin ribbon of smoke coils up from the hot metal. Add oil, and allow to heat for about another thirty seconds. If using a heavy-bottomed pan, heat oil in pan on medium-high heat until hot, then reduce heat slightly. Add onions, and cook, stirring, until they turn golden and translucent. Add soybeans and ginger, and keep stirring for thirty seconds. Move the onion to the edges of the wok or pan to make room for the chicken. Add chicken, and spead out over the bottom of the wok in a single layer. Sprinkle the garlic on top of the chicken and allow the chicken to cook undisturbed for a minute or until the meat browns well on the side touching the wok. Start stirring and cook until most of the pink is gone. Add soy sauce and wine and cook, stirring for thirty more seconds.

Add carrots and thick stem slices of gai lan and cook, stirring until the chicken has no pink showing and the vegetables are tender, about one minute. Add the broth or stock and the thin stem and leaf pieces of gai lan, and cook, stirring, until the gail lan leaves wilt, and the sauce reduces to a nice, thick brown glaze, about another minute.

Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Chinese Spaghetti Sauce Soup

Chinese spaghetti sauce a vegetarian sauce, we first encountered this dish when we went to the Buddhist Temple in Mississauga, we tried to near-duplicate their noodle-soup dish. The sauce is mostly soy and wheat gluten in oil with a little green bean, mushroom, sugar and spices. You can use it directly on spaghetti as a sauce, but it works well as a ingredient in soup.

You can use any kind of noodles in this dish, we had egg noodles on hand. To make it non-vegetarian, you can use heated chicken stock. To finish the soup, stir together so that the sauce permeates throughout the stock. Quite delicious.

Chinese Spaghetti Sauce Soup
egg noodles, enough for two
mushroom stock, made with boiling water
baby bok choy, a handful per person
julienned carrot, a handful per person
Chinese spaghetti sauce, 2 Tbsp per person

Cook the noodles until they are done. Place noodles in the bottom of a big soup bowl. Blanch the bok choy for 2 minutes, until they are slightly soft. Place a handful of bok choy leaves on top of the noodles. Place a handful of julienned carrots on top of the noodles. Carefully cover the soup ingredients with the stock. Place a couple of tablespoons of the Chinese spaghetti sauce on the side. Serve hot.

Hot and Sour Cabbage

I've had and liked Chinese sweet and sour cabbage, this is very similar, but adds spice to the mix. I would think that the Sichuan peppercorns add enough heat, and you can decrease these and the dried peppers if you can't stand the heat, with the dried chili peppers, there was a definite heat to this dish. But good.

Hot and Sour Cabbage
adapted from a recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Susie Ward
1-1/2 lb korean cabbage
10 Sichuan peppercorns
2-5 dried red chili peppers
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1-1/2 Tbsp white vinegar
1-1/2 Tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
3 Tbsp oil
1 tsp sesame seed oil

Wash cabbage in cold water and cut leaves into small pieces.

Cut the chilies into small bits (removing the seeds, if you don't want it too hot). Mix the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt together to make a sauce.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan on medium heat, until the oil starts to smoke. Add the peppercorns and chili bits, stir; a few seconds later add the cabbage. Stir for about 1-1/2 minutes until the cabbage begins to go limp.

Pour over the prepared sauce and continue stirring the cabbage until well blended.

Garnish with a little sesame oil just before serving.

Osmanthus Fragrance Dancong Tea

Osmanthus is a flower from a small bush that can be combined with green tea to create a new flavour or fragrance, much like Jasmine flowers. You can have tea made with Osmanthus flowers, or combined with other green or black teas, but this is not that, it is a green tea that has Osmanthus Fragrance, and it smells, more subtly than not, kind of like peach, though I have read it is supposed to be apricot. We were told at the place we bought it, Zen Gardens, that it was a favourite of one of the former Chinese Emperors, and likely would have only been enjoyed by the Royal Court. Dancong teas, or single-bush teas, can imitate the flavours or fragrances of various flowers or fruits, like orange blossom or almond; as I say, this one tastes and smells, to me, more like peach, and I don't know whether it has the fragrance of apricot, and thus smells like osmanthus, or the other way around. Anyways, it makes a pleasant but not strong flavoured green tea.