Featured posts | Soy, Rice, Fire

Braising or simmering kabocha in a flavorful cooking liquid is a great way to bring out its delightful taste and texture.

Braised kabocha with garlic cloves and pork belly

Tofu with bok choy and shiitake mushrooms

This tofu stew, with tender bok choy and fragrant shiitake mushroom, is one of the best feel-good dishes.

Fragrant scallion oil elevates this simple dish to something special.

Steamed pork ribs with scallion oil

Sweet and sour fish

The whole fish is fried until golden and crispy on the outside but still juicy and tender inside. The sauce, made with tomato paste, sugar, white rice vinegar, has a pleasant balance between sweet and sour, and pairs well with the fish.

Rice with white radish (萝卜饭) is a specialty from the city of Quanzhou (泉州) in southern Fujian Province.

Rice with white radish (萝卜饭)

Steamed egg custard with spinach and shrimp

This smooth egg custard, with spinach and shrimp, makes a perfect one-dish meal.

One of my favorite Chinese greens, choy sum has thinner stems, darker leaves, and sometimes yellow flowering shoots.

Cantonese-style blanched choy sum (白灼菜心)

Youpo wontons (油泼馄饨)

Here, boiled wontons are served youpo (油泼) style. My recipe is inspired by youpo mian (油泼面) or “oil-splashed noodles,” which is an iconic dish from Shaanxi (陕西), a northwestern province in China with a long and rich history and fascinating culinary traditions.

This dish is so named because the fluffy egg whites resemble the white flowers of furong

Furong shrimp (芙蓉虾仁)

Steamed pea shoots with shiitake mushrooms

Pea shoots are the immature tips of young pea plants, which include leaves, tendrils, and stems—all deliciously tender and crisp with a fresh pea flavor. Here, they are mixed with garlic and fermented tofu and steamed briefly atop shiitake mushroom caps.

In Chinese cuisine, these vegetable-in-rich-broth dishes, labeled shangtang (上汤), are popular both at home and in restaurants.

Broccoli in rich broth (上汤西兰花)

Gong Bao chicken (宫保鸡丁)

The authentic version of this Sichuanese dish uses only chicken and peanuts as the main ingredients. The optimal ratio of sugar, Zhenjiang vinegar, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce creates balanced and layered flavors.