Century Egg Porridge 皮蛋瘦肉粥

A popular Chinese breakfast or lunch item made with preserved duck eggs that are black in color!

 Century egg porridge is usally not served with cilantro, but I love cilantro so much, I put it in mine.

One trick to unpeeling the eggs is to make a small hole at the narrow end and a larger whole at the wider end. Then blow hard through the small hole and if you're lucky, the entire egg will pop out like magic!

2-3 lbs pork bones with meat - like neck or back bones
some soaked dried scallops, shredded, or some dried anchovies
few slices ginger
Three peeled century eggs, chopped
salt and white pepper to taste

Parboil the bones to get rid of any surface dirt and smell (i.e., bring pot of water to boil, add bones and when redness is gone, drain and use)
Bring another pot of water to boil, add bones, dried anchovies or scallops, ginger, and simmer for two hours.  Use sieve to remove all solids.  Meat can be removed from bones to add to porridge later, or discard and slice some fresh pork thinly and season with some soy sauce and sugar.
Add 3/4 cup rice to liquid, simmer till rice is cooked.  Add pork, century eggs and season to taste. Simmer till porridge consistency.

Soy Milk Congee

New take on a favorite Chinese staple.

2 cups unsweetened Chinese soy milk (not the Western type)

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup cooked white rice

1 carrot, finely diced

1 stalk celery, finely sliced

Some dried “wood ear” or black “cloud ear”, soaked in water and julienned

Salt and white pepper to season

Bring everything to a boil (uncovered or slightly open cover, soy milk tends to boil over easily if pot is covered), then simmer for 20 minutes or till carrots are tender.

Rotisserie Chicken Porriddge

Another delicious way to use up those leftover store-bought roasted chicken.

Ingredients:

Leftover roasted chicken

1 onion, sliced

4 slices ginger

2 carrots, diced

1 16oz can chicken stock

1 cup uncooked jasmine rice

white pepper

Method:

Remove meat from chicken and shred.  Set aside.

Put bones and skin, onions and ginger to a pot.  Add enough water to just cover them and bring to a boil.  Simmer for one hour.

Drain liquid into vacuum pot (take care not to scald yourself, let it cool a little first if too hot).

Add uncooked rice and carrots and bring to a boil. Cover pot and let it stand overnight or 4 hours.

Add can of chicken stock andbring to a boil again.  Simmer till desired consistency.

Add the shredded chicken and dash of white pepper.  Taste before adding any salt.

Serve with green onions or cilantro if desired.

Fried Bean Sprouts & Celery

A light and crunchy vegetable dish that goes well with fried rice or meat.

Ingredients:
One carrot juliened
3 - 4 stalks celery with fibers removed and sliced thinly
1 bag bean sprouts, rinsed
3 stalks scallions, sliced into 2 inch lengths.
3 slices ginger
fish sauce

Heat oil and fry ginger for 30 seconds.  Add carrots and celery and fry 1-2 min, add scallions and fry another rminute.  Add bean sprouts and some fish sauce and fry 1-2 min. Plate and serve.

Sticky Rice 糯米饭

 These dried Chinese sausage and bacon come individually wrapped now.

 Scallions, mushrooms, sliced Chinese sausage and bacon.

 Soaked dried scallop and small dried shrimp.

 Fry uncooked rice few minutes till just starting to turn very very  light brown.

There are different methods of making this dish. Some people soak and steam the glutinous rice, fry the meat, and then mix the two together.  My method is different but it works well for me.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon small dried shimp
1 Chinese sausage (lap cheung), sliced thinly
1 Chinese bacon, sliced thinly
2 stalks green onion, sliced
4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked, then diced
2 dried scallops, soaked overnight and shredded (optional)
2 oz diced pork, seasoned with soy sauce & Chinese wine (optional)

2 cups glutinous rice, uncooked
1 cup Thai jasmine rice, uncooked
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy
3 3/4 cups cold water, plus liquid from soaked scallops to make 4 rice cups liquid
(note: if using all glutinous rice, reduce liquid to 3 cups only)

Method:
If using pork, fry pork and remove. Fry all other ingredients and remove.  Add more oil if nec, fry uncooked rice for a few minutes. Put everything in a rice cooker, add seasoning and water and cook rice. 
Serve with vegetables for a complete meal.

Vietnamese Rice Rolls

On a hot summer day, Vietnamese Rice Rolls are perfect for a light and healthy lunch. The ingredients are simple and easy to put together.  It's also a fun family activity when all the ingredients are put on the table and everyone makes their own rolls. 

These are availalbe at Vietnamese grocery stores.  Soak for 5 seconds in warm water and use while still stiff.  It will soften very quickly, even as you put ingredients on top.  Can use two sheets together if you find they break too easily.

 Vietnmaese or Chinese rice vermiceilli can be used.

I use precooked cocktail shrimp that have been thawed and tails removed. 

Sauce Recipe:
1 tablespoon peanut butter
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
Heat over stove until peanut butter is melted and stir till sauce is smooth.  Adjust to taste and desired consistency.

Rice Dumplings 棕子

Dumplings boiled for at least 2 hours.

 Some dumplings are triangle shaped, but these are rectangular.

 The rectangular ones can be cut using the strings they were tied with.

Savory dumplings cut with a fork. Contrast with the clean lines below when dumplilngs are cut with a string.

Sweet rice dumplings with red bean paste, cut using string.

Dried bamboo leaves have to be soaked in boiling water to soften them before use.

Rice dumplings are eaten traditionally eaten once a year on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.  It is to celebrate a festival called 端午节 which commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, poet and statesman of the Chu kingdom during the Warring States period . Celebrations include dragon boat racing.

The dumplings are glutinous rice filled with either sweet red beans or savory meat with mushrooms, salted egg yolks and mung beans wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled for a few hours. I remember my mom used to make hundreds of them and they will be given as gifts to neighbors, friends and relatives.  Of course we will get our fair share back from them, resulting in a wide variety of dumplings for everyone.  My mom used to tie the dumplings by the dozens on a long bamboo stick hung across two chairs or tables. Boiling hundreds of dumplings was quite a task and huge empty metal oil containers were used.

Method for Savory Dumplings:
Boil a large pot of water and put in the dried bamboo leaves.  Boil leaves for 10 min until soft and remove, keep the water for boiling dumplings.
Soak glutinous rice in water for an hour.
Drain rice and season with dark soy, light soy, some sugar and oil.
(Use more light soy since dumplings will be boiled in water for a long time and will lose some saltiness. Alternatively, you can salt the water instead.)

Filling Ingredients:
fatty pork cut into chunks and seasoned with dark and light soy sauce, some sugar and sesame oil
shitake mushrooms, sliced and seasoned with light soy and sugar
yellow mung beans
roasted chestnuts (these can now be bought shelled and cooked and in a bag)
salted egg yolks (these can now be bought with just the yolks vacuum packed in a bag)
boiled quail eggs (optional)
five spice powder (optional)

Put rice on leaves, add fillings, cover with rice and wrap with strings into pyramid or rectangular shapes.  Boil dumplings for 2 hours if water covers all dumplings.  If water in pot is only half full, boil 3-4 hours, shifting top dumplings to the bottom after 1-2 hours.

For the red bean paste recipe, see here Red Bean Paste Filling.

Cold Chicken Noodles with Sesame Sauce

Great on a hot day and a great way to use up those leftover roasted chicken, especially the drier breast meat.
The sauce can also be used as a dressing for regular salads.

Ingredients:
Leftover roasted chicken, shredded
One cucumber, peeled and shredded (can substitute with lettuce)
Bean sprouts, blanched
Cooked Chinese noodles or spaghetti, drained under cold water.

Sauce Recipe:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon sesame paste
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon rice or apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 finely minced garlic clove
1/4 to 1/2 cup hot water
1 teaspoon chilli oil or chille sauce (optional)
chopped green onions or cilantro for garnish

Mix above with enough hot water to form heavy cream consistency.
Sauce is enough for 2-3 people if serving as a complete dinner.

Put cold noodles on plate.  Top with cucumber and bean sprouts, then chicken.  Pour sauce over, garnish with cilantro and serve.

Stir Fried Nian Gao 炒年糕

If you are not familiar with these noodles, you need to seriously get acquainted.  Friend of ours used to call them "football noodles" because of their shape. These are a favorite of Shanghainese, Foochow and Korean people, particularly eaten during Chinese New Year.  Their hallmark is their chewy texture.

Gone are the days when you buy these noodles in a dried form and they are hard as a rock and take a long time to cook.  These days, the Koreans have come out with a pre-sliced quick cooking variety.  However, I stll soak them overnight for faster cooking. Make sure the noodles are made in Korea - I've bought "fake" ones before that totally disintegrated when boiled.

There are many ways to cook the noodles.  In this dish, I boil a pot of water, put in the noodles and bring it back up to a boil and they are ready for cooking (if you presoak them overnight). If not presoaked, you will have to boil it a few minutes longer.  Stir-fry with your favorite meat and veggies and season with oyster sauce and soy sauce.

Add dark soy sauce if you prefer a darker color.

These noodles are versatile.  This version uses Korean sweet chilli paste as seasoning.

Non-Boiling Method:
You can skip the boiling step if you use Nappa cabbage, which produces a lot of liquid when cooked.  Simply stir fry your meat with chopped garlic (season meat with Chinese wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and pinch sugar) and remove.  Then put in the nappa cabbage, place uncooked but presoaked noodles on top of the nappa cabbage, pour in 1/2 cup water, cover, and let the noodles steam-cook over medium heat for 5-10 min.  Check halfway through to see if it needs more water.  Uncover, add back the meat and give it a stir and season to taste with oyster sauce or soy sauce.

Soup Style:
Some people like to have them in a soup. Just stir-fry your seasoned meat with some garlic, ginger and green onions, add water and bring to a boil.  Add noodles and veggies and boil till cooked.  Add soy sauce and white pepper to season.

Lobster Noodles

Korean noodles stir-fried with lobster chunks.