Just Like Crab

This is a dish that is trying to mimic the taste of crab meat using eggs and fish. I personally like this dish a lot because it is easy to do and cheaper than crab.




Serves 2

Prep time: 6 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
1 sole fillet, sliced into 2 inch sections
1teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon corn starch
2 teaspoon cooking wine or dry sherry
3 eggs, cracked into a bowl
3 tablespoon peanut or other vegetable oil
1 inch ginger, minced
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup chicken stock

Tips:

1. The fish is suppose to represent the meat of the crab
   

Instruction:

1. In a bowl, mix the fish with salt, pepper, corn starch and wine, let it marinate for 5 minutes
2. In a wok or a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, put in the fish slices and cook until fish is cooked through, about 2-4 minutes, put the fish into a plate
   
3. In a wok or a skillet, heat 2 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat, drop in the egg, and use a pair of chopstick or spatula to break it apart rapidly. When egg is almost cooked through, add in the fish, ginger, vinegar, sugar and mix well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Lastly add in the chicken stock, bring to a boil and taste to adjust seasoning.
4. Transfer to a plate and serve
   

Tofu with Green Onion

Today's dish is very easy to make, healthy and looks pretty. Because of the simple ingredients in this dish, a good silken/soft tofu is a key to this dish. Oh, did I mention this dish looks pretty?


Serves 2

Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:
1 silk/soft tofu, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 teaspoon salt
4 green onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil


Tips:

1. The amount of salt and oil can be varied based on your taste/preference.
2. Pour the hot vegetable oil over the scallion will actually cook them a little bit, which brings out more of their fragrance.
   
   

Instruction:

1. In a small stock pot, boil 4 cups of water, add a teaspoon salt after water boils. Add in tofu and turn off heat, let it sit for couple minutes.
2. Drain the tofu, put it into a serving tray, sprinkle salt over it, then sprinkle green onion slices over it. Lastly, sprinkle the sesame oil.
   
3. Heat vegetable oil in a pan, when smoking, pour it over the scallion and tofu. Then serve.
   

Grilled Chicken with Cumin

There is something about summer that makes me want to go out to our patio and light up our grill. I don't know what it is, but I really enjoy the grilling experience. Here is a Chinese flavored grilled chicken that is simple to make and low in fat, all it takes from start to finish is 30 minutes. This recipe idea came from my fiancee Renee and it was an instant hit.

Grilled Chicken with Cumin

Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
6-10 wooden skewers, soaked in warm water for 8-10 minutes
1.5 pound of boneless chicken thigh or breast, cut into 1-2 inch wide thick slices
couple sprays from nonstick cooking spray
2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoon cumin powder
2-6 teaspoon chili pepper


Tips:

1. Couple vegetables options that could be grilled and served with chicken is grilled mushrooms, grilled corn, grilled white peach (oh, it was so good), and grilled bell peppers.
   
   

Instruction:

1. Preheat the grill to medium heat
   
2. Put the chicken pieces on the wooden skewers, spray with nonstick cooking spray
   
3. Put the chicken skewers on the grill, cook for 1 minute, sprinkle on the salt evenly on both side of the chicken by turning it once. Let it cook for 2 minutes, then rotate the chicken and sprinkle with cumin. Before the chicken is done (about 10-15 minutes total), sprinkle with chili powder and cook for 1 more minute.
4. Transfer to a place or tray and serve
   

Corn with Bell Pepper

This is a light recipe that is easy to make. The yellow corn is combined with red and green bell peppers to display a very colorful dish. This recipe comes from Beijing chef Xu's website.

Corn with Bell Pepper

Serves 2

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
15oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 small green bell pepper, seeds taken out, finely diced to match the corn size
1 small red bell pepper, seeds taken out, finely diced to match the corn size
1 tablespoon of butter
2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoon water

Tips:

1. Cut the bell pepper into the same size as corn will make the dish look more uniformed

Instruction:

1. In a wok or saute pan, heat butter over high heat until melted
2. Add in the corn, stir fry until corn release its fragrance, about 3 minutes
3. Add salt and stock, the stock should be covering the corn
4. Put on a lid, and cook until stock boils, then turn to low heat and simmer for 1 minute
5. Mix in the bell peppers, cook over high heat for couple minutes
6. Mix in the corn starch mixture to let the sauce thicken, and serve
   

Tomato with Egg

I am very excited to introduce today's new dish, this dish is very special because this is a classic Chinese home cooked dish. In fact, it is probably one of the first dishes when someone wants to learn cooking in China. The reason this dish is so popular is because tomato and egg is a mouth watering combination and it is really easy to make. I still remember when my mom use to make this dish while I was little, and it was delicious over rice! This recipe came from Beijing chef Xu's website.



Serves 2

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
5 medium tomatoes
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

Tips:

1. Cut the tomato into pretty big chunks so they don't dissolve during cooking
2. Only beat the eggs couple times until the egg white just mixed into the yolk, but can still see the white and yellow color seperately, this way the eggs coming out will look prettier with two colors.
   

Instruction:

1. Cut the tomato into pretty big chunks and discard the tough core on the bottom
2. Beat the eggs
3. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a pot over high heat, when oil is hot but not smoking, put in the eggs and stir fry until it's not runny and you can smell the egg fragrance, put the eggs into a bowl
   
4. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a pot over high heat, when oil is hot near smoking point, put in the tomatoes and stir fry until you can smell the tomato fragrance about 2-4 minutes.
5. Mix in the eggs, salt and sugar
6. Put on the lid, simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes, then change to high heat and cook for 1 minute
7. Taste test to see if it needs more sugar or salt, then serve
   

Red Radish Salad

Red radish is not a common vegetable on our dinner table, but after trying this family recipe, I think radish will be visit our dinner table more often, especially during the summer months. The outcome of this dish is sweet and sour in flavor. It is light and healthy, and it also helps that red radish are cheap, it is like 45 cents for a bunch at my local grocery store.


The above photo was borrowed from Chee Wei's website. Doesn't it look nice?

Red Radish Salad

Serves 2

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ready in: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1 bunch red radish about 10 radishs, trimmed of leaves and washed
2 tablespoon white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
2 tablespoon sugar

Instruction:

1. Sliced the radish into thin slices
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the radish slices with the vinegar and sugar well
   
3. Let it stand for 15 minutes, turn the radish 2-3 times in between to let the marinate coat evenly then serve
   

Tomato Salad

We have a small vegetable garden with tomatoes and peppers. My fiancee is in charge of it and she has been doing such a great job. The tomatoes looks and tastes really good. Since our tomato supplies are pretty plentiful, this simple salad comes in handy to enjoy our fruit of labor.

Tomato Salad

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ready in: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
3 medium sized vine-ripen tomato cored and cut into wedges
1 tablespoon of sugar

Instruction:

1. Mix the tomato with the sugar in a bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes then serve.

Cucumber Salad

The weather just keeps getting hotter and hotter, and it's making my appetite decrease. In this hot summer days, I want to eat something cold and refreshing. This marinated cucumber does just this, and it is so simple to make.

Cucumber Salad

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Ready in: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 medium sized cucumber, peeled
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
salt to taste

Instruction:

1. Split the cucumber lengthwise into two halves, then slice them into "half-moon" slices
2. Put the cucumber slices into a medium sized bowl and mix in 2 teaspoon of salt, let the cucumber marinate for 10 minutes
   
3. Pour the excess juice that came out of the cucumber, mix in the sesame oil and serve