Sausage Buns

At least once or twice a week, I would stop by at a Chinese bakery in Chinatown on the way to work to get a Sausage Bun. I thought that it would be interesting to try making it this weekend so I don't have to do a pit stop on the way to work and save some money. After searching for the recipe online, I finally settled on this one on Toxo Bread because there's a detailed step-by-step instruction.


From this experience, I am convinced that baking bread is NOT my forte because it's just too complicated for me and I only had 1 bun came out looking decent and the other 7 were an embarrassment. Although they tasted good, I'd rather spent $0.95 to get one in Chinatown instead.

Ingredients:
300 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
5 grams (1 teaspoon) instant dried yeast

10 grams (2 teaspoons) white granulated sugar

6 grams (1 teaspoon) salt

1 egg, lightly beaten
220-230 grams (1 cup) lukewarm milk

2.5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
8 pieces of hot dog sausages

egg wash: 1 egg, lightly beaten

sesame seeds, for topping

Directions:
Follow the step-by-step direction at Toxo Bread.

Stir Fried Green Beans

I bought a couple of types of green beans at the Farmers Market last week - the French-style haricot-vert and the Chinese long bean because I was in the mood to have a simple stir-fried green beans specially the Asian-style, with some chili sauce and shrimp paste. Porgy helped me cleaned up the green beans and snapping off the ends and cut them into 2-inch sections while we're enjoying our Manhattans.


Ingredients:
1 lb of haricot-vert (French green beans), cut into 2-inch sections
1 lb of Chinese long green bean, cut into 2-inch sections
4 shallots, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 inch of ginger, thinly sliced
3 dried red chili pepper
a small tip of shrimp paste (~1/16 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon of Sambal Oelek
vegetable oil
1/4 cup fried shallots (optional)

Directions:

• Heat up a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large wok (or stir-fry pan) over medium heat for a 1-2 minutes until hot.
• Add in the green beans and stir fry for 5 minutes or so until they're just about to cook through. Set aside.
• Heat up another 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the wok over medium heat and add in the shallot, garlic and ginger slices along with the red chili pepper and shrimp paste. Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and then add in the Sambal Oelek.
  
• Add in the semi-cooked green beans, add 2 tablespoons of water, cover the wok and cook for 3 more minutes or until the green beans are all cooked through.
• Add in the fried shallots, stir and transfer to a serving plate.
  

Stir-Fried Beef with Broccolini and Shitake Mushroom

I was surprised to find Broccolini in the Farmers Market a couple weeks ago since I thought they are only available during the Winter and Spring time. Maybe I am wrong? Since it was an impulse purchase, I did not know what to use them for. After looking at the contents of my refrigerator and browsing some cookbooks, I made Stir-Fried Beef with Broccolini and Shitake Mushroom – with sauce that's similar to the Noodle with Red-braised Short Ribs and Asparagus post.


Ingredients:
1 lb of Broccolini
1 lb of fresh Shitake mushroom, halved
0.5 lb of stir fry beef meat
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 garlic, smashed with skins removed
1-inch ginger, cut into julienne strips
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch sections
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
1 tablespoon Mirin
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Directions:

• Marinate the beef with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine, 1 tablespoon Mirin and 1 teaspoon of cornstarch for 30 minutes.
• Mix the rest of the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, sesame oil, sugar, salt, black pepper, cornstarch) in a bowl and set aside.
• In a large pot, blanch the Broccolini for 1-2 minutes until the color turns bright green and plunge to cold ice bath to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large saute pan until hot but not smoking.
• Add the meat and stir with spatula until all pieces are coated with oil, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent sticking. Fry until the meat just cooked, set aside.
• Add the rest of the oil and stir fry garlic, ginger and half of the green onions for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the sauce and mushroom, stir to blend and cover with lid, lower heat to a simmer and braise for 5-6 minutes.
• Add the meat, Broccolini and the rest of the green onions into the pan, stir well until all is coated evenly with the sauce.
• Adjust seasoning and transfer to a serving dish.

Chicken in Black Bean Sauce

One of my favorite lunch spots in San Francisco Financial District is the Henry's Hunan Restaurant on Sacramento Street. I go there at least once a month with MoFo and we usually always order the same food: Dumplings, Chicken with Black Bean Sauce and Chicken with Bean Curd. We used to be able to finish them all in one seating but sadly we can't do it anymore because we just can't eat that much anymore and we don't want to do a face plant onto our desks when we get back to the office. This dish is my attempt to make their Chicken with Black Bean Sauce and I think it's pretty darn good. I'm definitely looking forward to eat it for lunch for the next few days.


Ingredients:
1 lb chicken meat (thigh or breast meat), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 head of cabbage, cut into quarters and then roughly sliced
2 carrots, sliced into 1/4-inch coins
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, cut into quarters and then roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons Chinese Black Bean and Garlic sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup of roughly chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup of chopped green onion
1 teaspoon corn starch

Directions:

• Marinate the chicken meat in ginger, Shaoxing cooking wine and sesame oil for 30 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan until hot and then add the marinated chicken. Stir fry until it cooks through (about 5 minutes or so) and set aside.
• Add in the chopped onion and garlic into the hot pan and stir fry until fragrant.
• Add in the chopped cabbage, carrots, salt, white pepper and continue cooking on a medium heat for 5 minutes.
  
• Add in the Black Bean and Garlic sauce and sugar, stir the mixture, lower the heat, cover the pan and continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes until the carrots starting to soften up.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch with a little water.
  
• Return the chicken meat into the pan, add the corn starch mixture, chopped green onion and basil leaves.
• Adjust seasoning as needed, stir well and continue cooking for another minute or two until the sauce started to boil and thicken up.
• Serve over rice.
  

Vegetable and Tofu Soup

After eating plenty of cupcakes in the past few days, we both felt that we should eat better so I made this light yet very tasty Vegetable and Tofu Soup. It is another fantastic recipe from Periplus' Homestyle Chinese Cooking cookbook – I'm loving this cookbook more and more!


Ingredients:
6 cups of water
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 lb fresh Shiitake mushrooms (or 8-10 dried Shiitake mushrooms)
1/2 lb of fresh bok choy or similar Chinese vegetables
1 package of firm or soft tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
5 slices ginger, cut into thin strips
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
1 teaspoon Mirin
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
2 green onions, finely chopped

Directions:

• If using dried Shiitake mushrooms, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes and drain.
• Bring water to a boil in a large pot and then add salt.
• Cut the mushroom stems and then cut each mushroom in half.
• Wash and rinse the vegetables, removing any dirt, any tough or wilted stems, and separate the leaves.
• Add the mushroom to the boiling water, and let the water return to boil, then add the tofu, ginger, white pepper, soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine and Mirin. Return to boil on medium flame, cover with lid and simmer for about 15 minutes (or 20 minutes if using dried mushrooms).
• Add the vegetables and stir, let water return to boil and simmer for 1 more minutes.
• Sprinkle chopped parsley and green onion prior to serving.
  

Dan Dan Noodles

A couple weeks ago, ShunBun made Dan Dan Noodles using Jamie Oliver's recipe. When he told me about it, I remembered reading a similar recipe at Appetite for China. They looked very appetizing so last weekend I decided to make it by combining both recipes together and substituting the Sichuan peppercorn with dried red chili pepper. Some people might think that this dish is not an authentic Sichuan dish because I didn't use any Sichuan peppercorn. I don't care because the result was a total success as each bite contains full punch of spicy, salty and crunchy goodness.


Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons peanut (or vegetable) oil
4 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons ginger, peeled and finely chopped
5 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons chili oil
1.5 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon dry red chili pepper
8 oz chicken stock
1 pack dry spaghetti noodle
1/2 lb of Choy Sum (Chinese vegetable)
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped

Directions:

• Marinate the ground pork with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce of 1 teaspoon of salt for 30 minutes.
• In a large skillet, stir fry the pork with 2 tablespoons of oil for 10-12 minutes until it's golden and crunchy. Pour away any excess fat, then add honey and toss until all the ground pork is nicely coated. Cook for another minute and then set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil (to be used to cook the noodle and blanch the vegetable).
• Reheat the skillet and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and stir fry the garlic, ginger and onions until fragrant for about 2 minutes or so.
• Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, dry red chili pepper, salt and chicken stock and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
• Cook the noodles according to the direction (7-8 minutes). Add in the Choy Sum in the last minute to quickly boil them. Drain the noodles and vegetable well.
• Return the noodles, vegetable, cooked meat and the peanut sauce into the pot.
• Add in the chopped green onions and roasted peanuts and mix well.

Indian Mee

We still could not finish the Roast Leg of Lamb even after eating it for 5 days on and off so I had to figure out what to do with the rest of them. Flipping through my collection of cookbooks, I decided to make this Indian Mee recipe on a Primarasa's Hidangan Asia – an Indian-inspired Chinese noodle dish. The recipe called for fresh thick yellow noodle but I had to substitute it with dry Chinese egg noodles instead. It was not the best decision because the noodles were a bit too thin... so if you want to try it out, I recommend you to use spaghetti noddle instead.


Ingredients:
1 lb of lamb meat, cubed
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
4 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon ghee
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 half onion, sliced
1/2 package of fried yellow tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
12 oz dry Chinese egg noodles
1/2 lb Choy Sum (Chinese vegetable)
4 green onions, cut into 1-inch sections
2 eggs, beaten with a little bit of water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup fried shallot
1/2 cup chopped parsley

Curry sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon paprika powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Marinate the lamb meat with soy sauce, dark soy sauce and black pepper for 30 minutes or so.
• Boil the dry egg noodle for 4-5 minutes or according to the direction. Add in the Choy Sum in the last minute to quickly boil them.
  
• Heat up the ghee and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok and stir fry the sliced onion until translucent.
• Add in the curry sauce and stir well until fragrant.
• Add in the lamb meat cubes and cook until they change color.
• Add in the cooked noodle, stir until all is mixed well while adding the tofu and green onions.
• Move the noodle mixture to the side of the wok, add in the rest of the vegetable oil in the center of the wok.
• When the oil is hot, pour in the beaten egg. Let it sit for awhile until the egg started to harden and then stir a little to scramble it.
• Move the noodle mixture back to the middle of the wok, add in the lemon juice, parsley and 1/2 cup of the fried shallots and mix well.
• Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle the rest of the fried shallots on top.
  

Eggplant and Tofu Braised in Fragrant Sauce

One of my 'ambitious' goals this year is to eat less meat. This is a hard one for me because 1) I love love love meat and 2) I'm somewhat clueless when cooking vegetables. I usually put at least a little bit of meat in my vegetable dishes but tonight I decided to go all vegetarian by adding tofu to substitute for the meat. This dish was inspired by one of the recipes in Periplus' Homestyle Chinese Cooking cookbook and has a similar taste as the Spicy Eggplant Balado that I made a few months ago.


Ingredients:
5 medium Chinese eggplants
1 package of cooked fried (yellow) tofu
3 tablespoons oil
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 slices ginger, finely chopped
2 leeks, well washed and chopped
1 stalk lemon grass (white part only), sliced in half and bruised
4 green onions, finely chopped
1.5 tablespoons chili paste (I used Sambal Oelek)
3/8 cup water
1/2 cup fried shallots (optional)

Sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine
1.5 tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons vinegar
1.5 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon mirin
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Cut eggplants length wise and then cut each half into 2-inch pieces.
• Combine all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
• Stir fry garlic, ginger, leek, lemon grass and eggplants over medium heat in a heavy bottom pan or a wok for 4 minutes until the eggplants absorb the oil and begin to soften.
  
• Add in tofu, green onion and the chili paste and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add the sauce and mix carefully to combine all the ingredients.
• Add the water and cover the pan with a lid, lower the heat and simmer for 6 minutes.
• Sprinkle with fried shallots on top, stir one more time and serve.
  

Heaven's Dog

A couple months ago, Mo-Fo, ShunBun and I went to Heaven's Dog for lunch. It's one of Charles Phan's newer San Francisco restaurants that focuses on Northern Chinese cuisine. I forgot to blog my visit there until today after seeing these pictures on my iPhone.

The lunch started well as we had the Pisco Apricot Tropical and Bumble Bee Cocktail. Both of them were very well made, super refreshing and gave me a nice buzz.


We ordered Braised Pork Belly in Clam Shell Bun and Scallion Pancakes for appetizer. I love the crisp and salty scallion pancakes and their braised pork belly in clam shell bun was a close second to Momofuku's. I'm so happy that I can find these yummy buns here in San Francisco.


For the main course, I had the Shrimp Wonton Soup (with pork char siu, crackling, thin egg noodle) while Mo-Fo had the Beef Noodle Soup (slow cooked short rib, choy sum, wide rice noodle) and ShunBun had the Timmy's Beef (niman flank steak, ginger, scallion, jalapeno, wide egg noodle). Of course, I had a taste of their food and I enjoyed all of them.


Heaven's Dog is definitely a great place for lunch since it has high quality and delicious food with reasonable prices. I will definitely go back there some time in the near future and I will for sure bring my camera.

Chicken with Dry Red Pepper

A quick and simple chicken stir fry dish using the ingredients that I've already had in my fridge.


Ingredients:
1 lb chicken thigh meat
1 eggplant, cut into medium-sized cubes
1 cup of shredded carrots
10 dry red pepper (seeded and rinse)
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
3 green onion, cut into 2" length
3.5 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1.5 tablespoon sugar
1.5 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1.5 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 cup chopped cashew

Directions:

• Cut the chicken meat into 1" cubes and marinate with 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce, cornstarch and oil for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat 1/2 cup of oil in a wok, stir fry the chicken meat for a couple of minutes or so over high heat and then set aside.
• Saute dry pepper in the wok over medium heat with 2 tablespoon of oil until fragrant.
• Add in ginger, garlic and green onion; continue to stir fry for another minute.
• Add the chicken meat back to the wok, along with eggplants and shredded carrots; cook for another 5 minutes or so and then add the rest of the seasoning sauce.
• Stir until thicken and heated thoroughly.
• Remove, add some chopped cashew and serve hot over rice.

Sweet and Sour Spareribs

I finally dusted off my Chinese food recipe collection this weekend. I don't usually cook Chinese food that often because I think that they're too complicated for me. However, this Sweet and Sour Spareribs recipe seems pretty simple enough for me to follow and it looks so delicious because it's not like those sweet and sour dishes in Chinese Restaurant.


Ingredients:
1.5 lb of pork spareribs
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of rice wine
3 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
5 tablespoons of water
4 slices of ginger root
4 stalks of green onion

Directions:

• Wash and cut spareribs into 3 inches long each.
• Boil the spareribs in pan filled enough water to cover them.
• Remove the meat when the water boils.
• Drain the spareribs well.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok and stir fry the ginger until fragrant.
• Pour all the seasonings, green onions and spareribs into the wok, bring to boil.
• Cover with lid and cook over low heat until the sauce almost gone (approximately 30 minutes), turning the ribs to baste from time to time.

Olive Fried Rice

I was looking at the photos from my vacation to Singapore and Indonesia a few years ago and was reminded of my first Olive Fried Rice and all its briny and saltiness goodness. After Googling around the web, I noticed that almost all of the recipes use salted Chinese olives. Since I could not find it in San Francisco Chinatown, I had to use chopped black Mediterranean olives and added a mixture of soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil instead.


Ingredients:
3 garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 lb ground pork
3 Chinese sausage, sliced
1 8oz can of black olives, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
6 cups of cooked rice (preferably a day old and on the drier side)
1 16oz frozen spinach, dethawed, squeezed and drained
a small bunch of parsley, chopped
3 green onion, chopped
4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Mix the chopped olive with the sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce in a bowl. Set aside.
• Make a thin omellete using the 4 eggs. After it's done, cut into thin strips. Set aside.
  
• In a large wok or pan, stir fry the garlic and onion over medium high heat with 2 tablespoon of olive oil until fragrant.
• Add in the ground pork, stir occasionally until the meat is cooked.
• Add in the sliced Chinese sausages, spinach and the olive mixture. Cook for another minute or two.
  
• Try to loosen the grains of the day-old rice before adding it into the pan. Mix the rice well with the olive mixture and cook for several minutes until the rice is heated through.
• Add in the chopped parsley and green onion.
• Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and with any of the sauces.
• Serve fried rice with thin strips of egg omelette on top.
  

Soy Noodles with Braised Tofu

I had soy (tofu or bean) noodles for the first time at King of Noodles a couple weeks ago and fell in love with the firm yet light texture of the noodles. This weekend, I was fortunate enough to find fresh soy noodles at the Hodo Soy Beanery stand at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Markets. Since I wanted to make this dish as a vegetarian dish, I decided to get their Braised Tofu too as meat substitute.


Ingredients:
Fresh soy noodles
Braised tofu, cubed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon sugar/honey
2 stalks of green onion, chopped
several cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions:

• In a medium size bowl, mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin and sugar/honey.
• Add in the soy noodles and cubed braised tofu and let marinate for 1 hour or so.
• In a large pan or wok, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stir fry the soy noodle and the braised tofu for 5 minutes.
• Add in the chopped green onion and cilantro.
• Serve warm or room temperature as a side dish or a small meal by itself.

Note: We had a similar firm braised tofu in Indonesia called Tahu Bacem that has much more flavor (because it's braised with a mixture of Indonesian spices and coconut milk and then fried).

King of Noodles

Last Thursday, I went to the the California Academy of Science's NightLife to celebrate the World Oceans Day Celebration and one of the main events was a moderated discussion on sustainable seafood. After the party, Shun, Danny and I went to King of Noodles for dinner. It was a nice small Chinese restaurant that made their own noodles. We enjoyed it very much.

Pork and Shrimp Dumplings with Green Chives


Green Chives Pancake


Beef Stew Noodle Soup

R&G Lounge

Last night, I went to R&G Lounge with Danny, Mo-Fo and ShunBun after having a drink at Tunnel Top. I was supposed to go to the gym, have a good workout and eat salad at home but they twisted my arms so I had to oblige. =)

House Combination Chow Mein - Pan Fried Hong Kong Style


Ma Bo Tofu


R&G Special Beef


Water Spinach in Fermented Tofu Sauce