SAMPLE RECIPES
Kung Pao Chicken
宫保鸡丁
gōng bǎo jī dīng
By Sally Liu
“Bread is the staff of life.” People cannot live without food. Every country creates a representative food, and Kung Pao Chicken is but one of these. Kung Pao Chicken is a typical, traditional Chinese food; it tastes savory, crisp, a little oily, but not greasy. Because of its simple cooking method, not only do Chinese, but also most foreigners, like to eat it.
INGREDIENTS
Main materials:
Boneless chicken breast 200g
Peanuts 50g
Subsidiary materials:
Amylum 3g
Scallions 5g
Garlic 2g
Dried red chilies 25g
Ginger 3g
Soy sauce 3g
Cooking wine 3g
Rice vinegar 3g
Salt 2g
Sugar 1.5g
Sesame oil 50g
Prickly ash 10g
Water 3 teaspoons
EQUIPMENT
In the process of making this dish, we will use a wok of common size, a spoon, a bowl, and a knife.
DIRECTIONS
First, pat the chicken with the back of the knife blade -- like clapping hands, because the fiber of chicken is rough. After patting, it will be easier to cook and will taste tender. Then dice the chicken into 1-centimeter cubes. Next, mix the chicken with amylum 2g, cooking wine 3g, salt 1g, and 2 spoons of water. After that, marinate it for 30 minutes.
Second, fry the peanuts. They are easy to cook. First, wash these peanuts in order to take away the farming dust. Air the wet peanuts for a while. At the same time, pour 2 spoons of oil into the wok; then put those peanuts and turn up the heat. Begin to deep-fry. When the peanuts turn yellow, scoop them up. Peel the red hulls from the peanuts after they turn cold.
Third, prepare the sauce. Remove the seeds from the dried red chilies then cut the chilies and scallions into pieces and chop the garlic and ginger. In the bowl, put amylum 1g, rice vinegar 3g, soy sauce 3g, sugar 1.5g, salt 1g, oil 10g and 1 spoon of water together and mix well; heat oil in wok synchronously.
Now, start to fry the chicken. Stir-fry the chicken with big heat until the cubes separate and turn white, then remove it [onto paper towel to] drain off the oil. Heat the remaining oil, fry the dried red chilies until aromatic. After that, add prickly ash 10g and scallions 5g; deep-fry for 30 seconds.
Finally, return the chicken to the wok and stir-fry for 1 minute; then add sauce mixture and fry with that. Last, turn off the heat and sprinkle on peanuts. Mix it all round and serve hot with rice.
The ancient story behind this dish is related to the late Qing Dynasty [1644 - 1912]. Ding Baozhen, who was granted the title Shao Bao (which means the protector of the prince), was respectfully called Ding Gongbao by other people. One day, Ding Gongbao made an inspection of the Sichuan Province with his chamberlains [an officer who manages the household of a king or nobleman]. Because of their busy schedule, lunch was delayed. Consequently, they had to eat lunch in a small restaurant by the roadside.
Unfortunately, most vegetables sold out that day, so there was not much food to cook. Everybody was starving and they could not wait to go to another restaurant. Hence, the chef fried residual chicken pieces and other bits of materials left aside (dried red chili, ginger, amylum, and so on) hastily to make any kind of lunch for them to eat. After Ding Gongbao ate up this dish, he found it tasted fresh and pleasing, so he was very satisfied and asked the roadside cook to tell his chamberlain how to prepare it. Ding Gongbao was very fond of peanuts, so he ordered his cook to add peanuts to this dish upon their return from Shichuan. Contrary to expectations, it was tastier than before. From then on, Gong Bao Chicken, named by Ding Gongbao of the Qing Dynasty, became well- known. In some foreign countries people call it Kung Pow Chicken.
| PDF - Kung Pao Chicken |
Hot Chinese Cabbage
酸辣白菜
suānlà báicài
By Edward Meng
Hot Chinese Cabbage is a common and popular dish on the family dinner table in China. Hot Chinese Cabbage is not only easy to cook, but also very cheap to make. That is the reason why most Chinese families like Hot Chinese Cabbage so much.
The most important ingredient of this dish is Chinese cabbage, an important vegetable for people’s dietary needs. Everyone likes it very much. In China, Chinese cabbage has a good name, “King of Vegetables,” because Chinese cabbage is full of nutrition and tastes great. The place of origin of Chinese cabbage is Northern China. Later, in the South of China, Chinese cabbage was mass-produced. In the 19th century it spread to Japan, Europe, America, and other countries. There are many kinds of Chinese cabbage. In the northern part of China (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Shandong) it is grown.
Chinese cabbage is rich in protein, various vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and fiber. It can be cooked by stir-frying or mixed in a salad, as well as made into stuffing or used for garnishing. Chinese cabbage helps enhance the flavor of meat and decreases such problems as excess nitrites and nitrous acid-salt. Consequently, it reduces cancer which is induced by nitrite and nitrous acid salts.
Although Chinese cabbage is very nutritional, there are some issues that are of importance when you cook it. First, be careful of the overnight-ripe [spoiled] cabbage or any that is not fully preserved with salt. Second, people who have diarrhea or are deficient of energy should not eat too much Chinese cabbage because of possible ill effects.
During my childhood, my family was poor. At that time, the economy of whole country was not good until the Reformation and Opening [which begun in 1978 and morphed over the following years]. Reformation and Opening was an important economic period in China. It changed the old form of China’s economy and used new sciences and technologies to develop high production. After that, China’s economy improved -- it became better and more powerful. People’s lives changed, and they became richer and happier. There were even more vegetables in people’s lives; they could afford them.
Although Hot Chinese Cabbage is popular in China, I do not like it anymore. But I’ll introduce it to you anyway, even though it has left me with the worst feelings I ever had in my life. As I mentioned, Hot Chinese Cabbage is very cheap and easy to cook; therefore that was the first cooking choice of my destitute family. Really, my childhood was very happy, but because cabbage was so cheap, two meals each day unhappily contained Chinese cabbage.
Every day we ate Hot Chinese Cabbage, and that situation stayed with us a for a long time. No matter how delicious the dish was, I ate it all day, every day. Back then, whenever I saw Chinese cabbage, I could not help but be scared of it. When you eat it at first, it is very delicious. But I ate it too much of it during those poverty-days and now feel it has no flavor. Those days of eating so much Chinese cabbage made me fear this dish, even until today. We were so poor…it was my worst nightmare. But Hot Chinese Cabbage is really nice dish for most people (except me).
INGREDIENTS
750g Chinese cabbage
10g Green pepper, chopped
5g Dried and fried Chinese red pepper
[red, dried red hot chili peppers flash-fried
and blackened in a tiny bit of oil]
Vegetable oil
1 spoon Salt
30g Vinegar
DIRECTIONS
Making Hot Chinese Cabbage is an easy process. It involves a few simple steps. First, peel the cabbage open and wash it clean, then shred it. Cut the chili peppers into pieces and wash them clean.
Next, pour the vegetable oil into a pot. When the oil heats, put in the dried Chinese red pepper. When the peppers get darker in color, put in the Chinese cabbage and some salt then stir-fry. Next, add the vinegar and stir-fry all these things until well-distributed.
Cover and wait for about two minutes and then move the cabbage to a plate. This dish is complete.
Hot Chinese Cabbage is a very popular dish in Chinese families. Hot, salty, and fragrant are all characteristics of this dish. It suits all people’s needs. Hot Chinese Cabbage is a common dish because it is really cheap and easy to cook. I think you will like it (but I hate it).
| PDF - Hot Chinese Cabbage |
Tea Eggs
茶叶蛋
chá yèdàn
By Jackie Hong
INGREDIENTS
Eggs: ten fresh eggs Tea: Oolong tea, about fifty grams (you can also use MoLi tea [jasmine tea]) Salt: thirty-five or fifty grams Caraway: fifteen grams Capsicum: twenty grams Fennel: ten grams Cassia: ten grams Anise Seed: fifteen grams Ginger: ten grams Water: enough to cover the eggs
EQUIPMENT
Boiler; Chopsticks; Scoop; Gauze material; String
DIRECTIONS
First, put the eggs in water and wash them because the eggs we use must have clean shells. We must keep them clean! Then put the fennel, cassia, anise seed, capsicum, and ginger in the gauze; bundle them together in a pouch. Also, you can put in a little curry powder. I like curry very much. Next, use the string to tie up the gauze pouch. By doing this, you can use it many times. After everything is done, put the eggs and wrapped seasonings into the pot and add enough water to cover the eggs (about 5 cm higher).
In the beginning, we use a hot fire to hard-boil the eggs. There are many ways to hard-boil eggs, and different people prefer different methods. Choose the method you like. Third, after boiling them for ½ of the time, lift the lid and use chopsticks to knock the eggs and give them a little crack. This crack will allow the eggs to absorb the tea’s nutritional elements and the spices’ flavor. Now, put the salt and Oolong tea into the boiler and stir everything around. Following this, a few minutes later, we can see the eggs’ color turning black from the Oolong tea.
Now we start to use a slow fire to simmer them for the remaining minutes. This will make the eggs absorb the flavor as slowly as possible and keep them soft. Finally, after about five minutes, remove the pot from the fire. The Tea Eggs are done; enjoy! Although the cooking method is simple, the cooking time is very important. Just hard-boil them your favorite way. But if you boil them too long, the ginger will make the egg whites become tough and the taste will be bitter. And if you boil them too short, the eggs won't absorb the spices. So focus on the time.
When winter is at an end and spring is coming, Tea Eggs are called “Golden Treasures.” In Chekiang, the local people call eating Tea Eggs “Taking Golden Treasures.” When I was ten years old, my mother began to teach me how to prepare Tea Eggs, but I needed a lot of practice because I couldn’t control the fire very well. When I was a senior in high school, my mother put many Tea Eggs into my bag before I left home. She was afraid I wouldn’t eat well at school.
Whenever I eat Tea Eggs, I always remember my mother’s face. I tell myself that Mother can see me, so I must do better in my studies. So, Tea Eggs and I have a love which can’t be broken as easily as an eggshell is broken. This love includes my mother and me -- an invaluable asset. Now I study at SIAS University and miss my mother very much, but I have a unique method to deal with this: eating Tea Eggs! When I eat them, thoughts and memories of living at home emerge before my eyes one by one.
Tea Eggs: Their preparation is simple, their taste is savory.
Tea Eggs: From childhood to now, they give me nice memories.
Tea Eggs: They’re a bridge of love between my mother and me.
| PDF - Tea Eggs |
Boiled Beef in Hot Chili Soup
水煮肉片
shuǐzhǔ ròupiàn
By Sunny Li
Chongqing’s cuisine is an important part of the Eight Chinese Cuisines. It has a long history that dates back to the Shu Guo period [Kingdom of Shu; 221 -263 AD]. It is famous for its spicy taste. The dishes there never lack chili pepper because of Chongqing’s special weather. The city’s topography is that of a basin, so the city is surrounded by mountains. When people go places, they usually walk because there are many steps and stairways. Due to this topography, fog covers the city throughout the year. People feel moist air everywhere all the time. In order to adapt to the environment, people have formed the habit of eating spicy food to live comfortably there. They have done this since ancient times.
I have loved eating this dish ever since last winter. I had a serious fever then, so I felt very cold all the time and had a very poor appetite. Instead of going to the hospital, my father took me to a restaurant that served Chongqing cuisine. Although I said I didn’t want to eat any food, my father ordered Shui Zhu Rou Pian for me.
After seeing and smelling the alluring beef and the spicy chilies, I couldn’t help eating the first mouthful. After that, I really wanted to eat more. My father told me I would soon know why he ordered this dish for me. Without realizing it, I finished eating in a full sweat and didn’t feel cold any more. To my surprise, this amazing dish cured my sickness. Its great flavor gave me a good appetite and its hot chili made me sweat.
Boiled Beef in Hot Chili Soup is made with beef, chili peppers, and lettuce (or any other vegetables you like). The dish is rich in iron and has many kinds of vitamins; it not only provides enough nutrition, but it also tastes delicious. The smooth beef slices in your mouth make you feel you’re walking on a soft, warm cloud, and the spicy flavor spreads from your lips to your whole body, causing you to eat it all up in a very short time. The keys to this great delicacy are the ingredients and the cooking order.
INGREDIENTS
250 g beef roast, sliced
50 g lettuce
1 g egg yolk
10 g dry chili pepper
10 g scallions
5 g garlic
1.5 g salt
15 g starch
10 g chili powder
15 g bean paste
50 g vegetable oil
600 ml water
EQUIPMENT
Before cooking, you should prepare useful tools, including a knife, a pot, a spatula, a stove, a spoon, a big bowl, some other bowls, and some plates.
DIRECTIONS
The process of making this dish is not difficult. You only need to follow a few simple steps. First, rinse clean the beef and cut it into slices; put them in a bowl. Now crack one egg, separate the whites and put them in another bowl. Then add starch and one cup of water to it. Stir and mix in the beef slices. You must wait fifteen minutes to let the ingredients completely permeate the beef slices.
During this time, wash the lettuce and cut it in half before placing it in the bottom of a big bowl. Dice the scallions and garlic and put them on a small plate. Turn on the fire under the pot and pour in the 35g oil. When the oil belches smoke, add the dry chili pepper, bean paste, diced scallions, and garlic to it while stirring them with a spatula. After you smell the fragrance coming from the pot, pour in the remaining water and salt it.
Next, turn up the fire and wait until the water boils. After it boils, slide the beef slices along the inside of the pot one-by-one to separate them. About thirty seconds later you will see the beef slices turn white. At that time, turn off the fire and move the beef slices to the big bowl with the lettuce on the bottom. Then pour the soup into the big bowl, too; however, pay attention that you do not cover more than two thirds of the beef slices.
Now evenly sift chili powder on the top of the beef slices. Next, rinse out the pot then pour in 15g of oil and turn up the fire. Finally, when the oil boils, pour it on top of the beef slices covered with chili powder. When you do this, you will hear a sizzling sound. Put the hot dish on the table, sit down, and help yourself to this delicious dinner.
The culture of Chinese cuisine is deep and colorful and has a long history. A wonderful Chinese dish must be beautiful in appearance, attractive in fragrance, and perfect in taste.
Shui Zhu Rou Pian is loved by so many people because it has the amazing combination of these three elements. It is not hard to cook, but it is difficult to make excellently.
Besides using the proper ingredients and following the right order, you should really like this dish and practice it seriously.
| PDF - Boiled Beef in Hot Chili Soup |
