Category Archives: Ingredient

Chinese Chive

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Chinese Chive

Chinese chive is very popular vegetable in China. So far, I haven’t see it in American Supermarket.

Compare to regular vegetables, Chinese chive has a strong taste/smell, similar to onion and garlic, but different and lighter. It normally is used in fillings, sometimes in stir fry dishes, but not very often. One of the popular dish is stir fry with eggs.

Chinese chive is a perennial plant, when you harvest, all you need to do is cutting the part about ground, it will keep growing. You can harvest as many time as you like.

For more info., please click the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_tuberosum

For dishes using Chinese chive, please click on following links:

Stuffed Tortilla with Chinese Chive

Stuffed Bun with Chinese Chive and Egg

Dried Shrimp

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driedshrimp

 

Dried shrimp is mainly used for flavor. Compare to fresh shrimp, dried shrimp can bring a much stronger flavor and different for fresh one.

Dried shrimp is normally made with small shrimp.

Dried shrimp is mainly used in fillings, sometimes is used in simmer dishes, once a while in stir fry dishes.

For more info., please click the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dried_shrimp

 

For dishes using dried shrimp, please click following links:

Pancake with Zucchini and Dried Shrimp

 

 

How to Make a Yeast Dough

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Make a Yeast Dough

 

Yeast Dough can be used very often, such as pizza, bread, roll, etc.

Make a Yeast DoughIngredients:

flour, 1-2 tsp yeast, 1-2 tsp sugar

Method:

Make a Yeast Dough1. Mix yeast and sugar, soak in warm water. Then set aside until it’s covered by bubbles.

You can stir some to speed up the dissolving process.

2. Slowly pour yeast mixture into flour, stir quickly meantime, so flour stick together, turn into little pieces. Stop until you don’t really see much loose flour.

Make a Yeast DoughAdd more warm water if you need to.

Depend on your needs, dough can be firm, can be tender. Tender dough is more for pizza, bread, dinner roll, etc. Firm dough can use for some Chinese steaming buns. Of course, less loose flour left means tender dough.

3. Form the flour pieces into a smooth ball, this is your yeast dough.

 

Nori

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Nori

 

I’ve been calling this “seaweed” for years. I always feel that nori is the name for sushi wrap. But since wiki call it nori, I’ll go by wiki’s name.

This type of nori is not made for sushi, I only use it in soup. At the end of cooking, before or right after you cut heat off, tear/cut nori into small pieces, throw into soup, they’ll get soaked and spread within a minute.

Below is the wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nori

 

For dishes using nori, please click on following link:

Egg Drop Soup with Mushroom and Nori

Egg Drop Soup with Mushroom and Nori

 

 

 

Oyster Sauce

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oyster sauce

Oyster sauce is the seasoning I use mainly when I cook vegetable without meat or seafood. It makes the dish more tasty.

I do use it when I make meat fillings for dumplings, wonton, steaming buns, etc.

One thing you need to know is it needs to be refrigerated once it’s open.

Below is the link from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_sauce

For dishes using oyster sauce, please check following link:

Stir Fried Asparagus with Mushroom and OnionStir Fried Asparagus with Mushroom and Onion

Rice Wine

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Rice Wine

 

Rice wine is made of sweet rice and yeast, It can be eat as is since rice is fully cooked. You can also cook and serve as soup.

The wine itself can be use as cooking wine and drinking wine.

I’ll post more picture when I make some next time.

Below is the link from wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_wine

 

For dishes using cellophane noodle, please check the following link:

Smoked Pork Sausage (Chinese Version)

Cellophane Noodle

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Cellophane Noodle

 

Cellophane Noodle is a very popular ingredients in Chinese cooking. It’s made from starch, the most popular kinds are from mung bean and yam. Ones made from yam are in darker color.Cellophane Noodle

Shape wise, most cellophane noodles are thin, but there are other shape, too. Thin ones are good to use in stir frying, the other kinds are good to use in stewing or simmering, because it takes a lot longer to cook it.

To cook with it, I normally soak it in water for a while, until it get tender a little bit. But you still need cook it with hot water. When it gets clear, it’s ready to eat. It’s hard to bite on if it’s not fully cooked.

For more details, please check the wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellophane_noodles

 

For dishes using cellophane noodle, please check the following link:

Spring Roll with Veggie and Egg

 

 

 

Winter Melon

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Winter Melon

 

Winter Melon is one of the popular vegetables in China. It’s good to cook in soup, or cook with meat or shrimp.

Before you cook winter melon, you have to get rid of its hair first. Be really carefully when remove hair, your skin can be really itchy if you touch it.

Seeds need to be removed, too.

Winter Melon          Winter Melon

Winter Melon showing in pictures is a mini winter melon. Most of them are huge, about same size of a big watermelon.

For more info., please check with wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_melon

 

Preserved Pork

By | | Ingredient, Meat
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Preserved Pork

 

Preserved Pork is very popular in South China. This is one of the main way to prevent meat from going bad before refrigerator exists.

To make preserved pork, most people would use pig belly. First, season pork with salt and pepper for 1-3 days, then add other seasoning such as rice wine, soybean oil, etc., then smoke it or air-dry it.

Of course, different area has different way to preserve meat. In country, lots of families hang treated pork above their stoves until they are ready to cook it.

I make it at home. Because I live in South, winter temperature is not low enough to let it air-dry, I have to let it sit in my refrigerator for days to let it dry. It’s not the original taste, but close enough.

Don’t be scared of the color, it comes from soybean oil.