Soy Rice Fire, inspirations from classic Chinese recipes and techniques - Part 20

Once you know how to balance the tastes when cooking with bitter melon, you’ll find that it can be very refreshing, as in this dish where it's stuffed and steamed with ground meat.

Meat• [Steaming]

Stuffed bitter melon with ground pork, beef, and veal

Stir-fried head-on shrimp with black pepper, garlic, and Shaoxing wine, creating an explosion of peppery and smoky flavors on the outside and sweet, juicy, and tender flesh inside the shells.

Fish and shelfish• [Stir-frying]

Black pepper shrimp

These Shanghai-style cold noodles, with an assortment of toppings and a fragrant sesame and peanut sauce, are refreshing in hot weather.

Cold dishes and salads• Rice, noodles, and grains• [Boiling/Poaching]

Cold noodles with sesame and peanut sauce

The lotus roots are pickled with white rice vinegar and sugar. Ginkgo nuts and wood ear mushrooms add colors and textures. This cooling, feel-good dish is perfect for the summer.

Cold dishes and salads• [Pickling/Raw]

Pickled lotus root salad with ginkgo nuts and wood ear mushrooms

With beef meatballs and sweet corn kernals (both cooked and uncooked), this egg custard is comforting and fully of flavors and textures

Poultry and eggs• [Steaming]

Steamed egg custard with sweet corn and beef meatballs

With a unique aroma and a complex salty, bitter, and sweet taste, fermented black soybeans add a nice punch to the sweet and delicate manila clams.

Fish and shelfish• [Stir-frying]

Manila clams in fermented black bean sauce

The “white” in the name refers to the fact that the chicken is poached in a simple, clear broth until just cooked through, which results in extremely juicy and tender meat in their natural color and flavor.

Cold dishes and salads• Poultry and eggs• [Boiling/Poaching]

White-cut chicken (白切鸡)

Among the many varieties of amaranth, my favorite is the multicolor variety. Here, the multicolor amaranth leaves turn the cooking liquid into a beautiful red-purple broth while retaining their vibrant green and red colors when cooked.

Vegetables• [Stir-frying]

Stir-fried amaranth with garlic