Category: Recipes

Categories
Articles Recipes

Thriving in a Chinese Kitchen (March 2015)

When Chinese food fatigue kicks in, I strongly urge you to seek the thrills of Korean food. From the indescribable kimchi to the playful banchan (tapas-like side dishes) and meat barbecue, it won’t leave you indifferent.

China’s neighbor has a wonderfully distinct food that is still fairly new and unknown in Western mainstream circles especially in Europe. In Dalian, home to tens of thousands of Koreans buying the ingredients is a breeze. You can easily explore the myriad of restaurants and get a grasp of the flavors and textures.

We cannot discuss Korean food without discussing kimchi, the pickled cabbage relish (also other vegetables) with dried chilies that graces the tables of Koreans. I will admit that it is an acquired taste but one that will bring health and flavor like no other food. Packed with probiotics and vitamins it is also good for lowering cholesterol and best of all it is very low calorie. Kimjang, the tradition of making kimchi at home is still alive in Korea and kimchi refrigerators (where the kimchi is stored during the winter to replicate the burying of kimchi earthenware pots) fairly common.

Other Korean dishes to try are bibimbap, bulgogi, gimbap, cold buckwheat noodles in a broth and seafood pancakes.

One of my favorite Korean every day dishes is Soondubu, a tofu “hotpot” with clams or beef. The dish is named after the soft tofu it is made with. If you have not tried this I have to persuade you try it at the Harbor Plaza Korean BBQ restaurant and then to try this easy recipe at home.

Soondubu

Easy Soondubu

Serves 2

  • 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp. of Gochujang (Korean Chile paste*)
  • 2 cups of beef stock
  • 2 ounces of rib eye thinly sliced
  • 8 ounces of clams
  • 1 uncurdled tofu or packet of silken tofu, broken up
  • ½ cup of kimchi, chopped
  • 2 tsp. of salt
  • 1 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp. sesame oil

Put the clams in salt water. Rinse. Put a little oil in a pot, add the garlic fry for a little, without letting it get colored and add the gochujang.

Add the stock and let it simmer for a minute. Add the beef, then the tofu and kimchi and clams.

Cook for a couple of minutes until beef is cooked through.

Season with salt and soy sauce. Add sliced green onion and cook for a minute and then add the eggs and cook to your liking (normally it is added raw just before serving). Serve the soup drizzled with a little sesame oil. Serve with rice on the side.

*there are different types of sauce from hot to mild.

Categories
China Recipes

Fideos Zhajiang

A veces los platos que definen la vida cotidiana de un país son desconocidos para los extranjeros. Esto suele pasar en el caso de China, un país enorme con distintas geografías, climas y grupos étnicos. Y tampoco tiene nada que ver la comida de los restaurantes de un cierto nivel con lo que come la gente en casa. Esto mismo pasa en España donde los extranjeros se quedan sorprendidos con nuestra variedad de verduras que luego no encuentran en los restaurantes. Cuando salimos preferimos el chuletón, el pescado y el marisco.

Los chinos no invitan a sus amigos a restaurantes a comer comida de todos los días.  Tradicionalmente, los invitan para impresionarlos y para comer productos carísimos como el pepino de mar, el abulón o el ala de tiburón. Los mas jóvenes van a restaurantes de hot pot de Sichuan, un tipo de fondue picantísima en la que se pone todo tipo de pescado, carne, verdura y setas. Y al final cuando llega la cuenta hay peleas porque todos quieren pagar.

Los restaurantes chinos baratos en el extranjero sirven, en general comida para occidentales: mucho agridulce, mucho frito, arroz tres delicias, rollitos de primavera y muchos platos que no representan la comida de este país. En los “Chinatowns” americanos o en Londres siempre hay un menú en cantones o mandarín para chinos y si os fijáis, lo que piden no tiene nada que ver con lo que viene en el menú.

Como los occidentales no compartimos la pasión de los chinos por la textura (pies de pollo, texturas gelatinosas) y los tropezones (pollo troceado con huesos) los restaurantes tienden a segregar. Si un chino tuviera que elegir platos españoles probablemente elegiría manitas de cerdo y callos.

Hace poco fuimos a casa de unos amigos aquí en Dalian y este fue el menú que nos sirvieron:  maíz y boniatos asados, cerdo salteado con calabacines, gambas cocidas, taro cocido con azúcar, cerdo salteado con hongos negros, arroz al vapor, sopa de caldo de cerdo y espinaca salteada. Nada de fritos y nada agridulce. Fue un menú simple de fin de semana.

Probablemente uno de los platos mas corrientes y populares de la comida china casera son los huevos revueltos con tomate. Este plato aunque suene aburrido es realmente sabroso. Se calienta en un wok aceite de cacahuete y se echan los huevos revueltos. Después se añade el tomate en trozos y al final una salsa de fécula de patata, sal, azúcar y agua (tan corriente en la cocina china) para espesar. Se puede servir sobre arroz, fideos o también solos. No hay nada mas rápido o simple.

Uno de mis platos favoritos de cocina casera es Zhajiang mian o Fideos Zhajiang, un plato originalmente de Beijing. Aquí en el noreste de China (antigua Manchuria), los platos de fideos de trigo y los bollos (mantou) al vapor son muy populares. Este plato es el equivalente a unos espaguetis boloñesa.

Se cocina el cerdo picado con especias, salsa de soja fermentada dulce (Hoisin), jengibre y cebolleta. Se sirve sobre fideos finos acompañado de verduras en juliana blanqueadas o crudas. También se puede acompañar de verdura de China en conserva (ya cai, zha cai etc.). Las recetas de este tipo de fideos difieren de persona a persona y van de muy dulce a salado. En Corea del Sur es un plato muy popular y barato también.

Zhajiang Mian es comida de estudiantes, oficinistas, trabajadores de fabrica o niños.

Fideos Zhajiang

Ingredientes

  • 3 cdas de aceite de cacahuete o girasol
  • 300 g de panceta de cerdo picada
  • 2 cdas de jengibre picado
  • 1 cebolleta picada
  • ½ taza de salsa Hoisin más 2 cucharadas
  • Sal al gusto
  • Agua
  • 2 anises estrellados
  • 1 pepino en juliana
  • 1 taza de guisantes
  • 1 taza de repollo en juliana
  • 1 zanahoria pequeña en juliana
  • 1 sobrecito de verdura china en conserva (ya cai, zha cai, xue cai) (opcional)
  • 400 g fideos de trigo chinos o similar

Elaboración:

Poner el aceite en un wok y calentar. Añadir el cerdo y saltear hasta que este blanco.

Añadir el jengibre y la cebolleta y saltear un par de minutos. Añadir la salsa hoisin y mezclar bien. Después añadir la sal, el anís estrellado y el agua hasta cubrir la carne. Cocinar a fuego lento durante 15-20 minutos hasta que salsa se haya espesado y reducido.

La salsa tiene que estar un poco más salada de la cuenta cuando la pruebes, si no con los fideos va a resultar un poco soso.

Preparar una olla con agua y llevar a ebullición. Blanquear la zanahoria, los guisantes y el repollo.

Cocinar los fideos según las instrucciones del paquete.

Servir en bols individuales. Primero los fideos y después la carne decorando con la verdura y la verdura en conserva. Mezclar antes de comer.

Blanca Valencia antigua profesora y directora de la escuela de Alambique lleva un año viviendo en China. Es editora de cocina y restaurantes para la revista “Focus on Dalian” y da clases de cocina española y mejicana. En Marzo de 2015 espera poder ir al Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine a estudiar la comida Sichuanesa.

Categories
Articles China Recipes

Thriving in a Chinese Kitchen (Jul 2014)

When we relocate to China, many of us face having to say bye to four-hob stoves and fancy kitchen equipment and are faced with small kitchens, little countertop space and one-hob burners.

There is no need to panic. The Chinese kitchen is, on close inspection ingenious and versatile. For thousands of years they have managed to prepare feasts with relatively little equipment.

The secret is to create a variety of dishes using different cooking methods: One cold dish, a stew that you can prepare in advance or some steamed dishes that you can stack, a sweet no bake treat, and maybe a last minute stir-fry.

To get started, buy a wok. You can use a wok for stir-frying, stewing, deep-frying, boiling, steaming. It is a truly diverse kitchen tool. They are inexpensive and easy to take care of.

Next, get a good set of bamboo steamer baskets that allow you to cook several things at the same time in a healthy way.

The next items is a good Chinese cleaver and chopping board. Once you start using a cleaver, you will wonder what are those crazy Western knife sets for.

Another indispensable piece of equipment is an electric slow-cooker or a pressure-cooker. This tool will allow you to create an extra “hob” and to make amazing stews out of cheaper cuts of meat, cook pasta, beans and grains

Finally, get some no-bake desserts or sorbet recipes under your belt, for this you will need a square baking tin made out of metal or plastic.

Get yourself ready and you will be hosting dinner parties with ease.

Broken Biscuit Cake

Chocolate Broken Biscuit Cake

  • 300 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 100 g butter, diced
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder
(optional)
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 x 400 g can condensed milk
  • 250 g digestive biscuits, broken
  • Line a 450 g loaf tin with cling film and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and add the espresso powder, salt and condensed milk, stirring well. Add in the biscuits and stir until they’re evenly distributed in the chocolate. Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tin, pressing it down evenly and firmly with a spatula. Place in the fridge for about 4 hours or until set. Cut into thin slices or small cubes to serve.

Categories
Articles Recipes

Piedmontese Peppers

There is much more to Italy than pasta and pizza. Although deservedly popular, it is the vegetable dishes of Italy that surprise with their creativity. With great weather and fertile land it is no surprise that we can find such a wide spectrum of vegetables.  Fennel, with its aniseed flavor, sliced thinly and drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice or served caramelized on top of bruschetta, it is something unique.  The eggplant is extremely popular in Italy where it is cooked in various ways but finds its zenith with Sicilian caponata, a sweet and sour salad of eggplants.  Bright green zucchinis are prepared in tortes or sautéed with garlic and herbs. Basil, that most Italian herb, gets transformed into that unforgettable preparation of pesto.

Piedmontese Peppers

This dish of Piedmontese peppers is my staple lunch in hot summer days. It is also a great recipe to cook for large parties.

Piedmontese Peppers

  • 4 red peppers
  • 4-6 ripe tomatoes, quartered
  • 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 8 anchovies, packed in olive oil, chopped in two
  • 2 tbsp. capers, rinsed
  • 1 small handful of basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6.

Cut the peppers in half trying to maintain the stalk intact and remove the seeds. Lay the peppers in a roasting dish.

Place tomato quarters in each pepper half until full. Tuck a few garlic slices into each. Tear the basil and tuck in, tuck in two anchovy halves and a bit of capers. Follow with a drizzle of olive oil and pepper.

Roast the peppers for 30 minutes or until they are starting to blacken around the edges. Alternatively steam for 15 minutes. Eat hot, or room temperature with crusty baguette.

Categories
China Recipes

Smoked Tofu with Celery and Peanuts

Cooking healthy Chinese food at home is easy and if you are in China then it’s painless.  No running to Chinatown or finding an Asian store in your hometown. We all miss the foods and customs of our country but given the kitchen restrictions you might find here having a couple of delicious Chinese recipes up your sleeve is not a bad idea.

There are a myriad of books out there, at the moment my favorite book is Fuchsia Dunlop’s Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking.  Fuchsia is probably the most knowledgeable food writer about the Middle Kingdom’s gastronomy.  Her memoir Shark’s fin and Sichuan Pepper is now legendary for any self-respecting Chinese foodie.  For those us trying to learn Mandarin, her home cooking book is unusual since it gives you the Chinese characters and pinyin (phonetic) for all the basic everyday ingredients so you can practice your conversational skills while you shop.  Her recipes are nutritious and use a variety of cooking methods.  After 2 months of cooking out of her book my favorites are Zhaijiang noodles, salted duck egg and winter melon soup, sour and hot mushroom soup and smoked tofu with celery and peanuts.

The last recipe is so practical since you only need celery, a packet of smoked tofu, roasted peanuts and chili oil.  This type of tofu has a wonderful taste reminiscent of smoked gouda, the peanuts with their sweet crunchiness make a nice contrast.

Give it a try !

Smoked Tofu with Celery and Peanuts

from Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop

Serves 4 as a Starter

  • 3 1/2 ounces smoked or spiced firm tofu
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 1 ounce Fried or Roasted Peanuts
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons chili oil with 1/2 tablespoon of its sediment, to taste
  • Good pinch of sugar
  • Salt, to taste

Cut the tofu into 3/8-inch cubes.  De-string the celery stalks, cut them lengthways into 3/8-inch strips, then into small pieces to match the tofu.  Bring some water to a boil in a saucepan, add the celery and blanch for 30 to60 seconds; it should remain a little crunchy. Remove to a colander and cool immediately under the cold tap, then shake dry.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Serve.