Stuffed Red Peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 cup ground pork
1 tablespoon brown bean sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 green onion, minced
1 clove garlic, chopped
Preheat the oven to 300°F.
Wash the red pepper; cut off the top and set it aside. Remove the seeds.
In a medium-sized bowl, use your hands to mix the ground pork with the brown bean sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sugar, and rice wine. Add the green onion and chopped garlic.
Stuff the red pepper with the ground pork mixture. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce on top and replace the lid. Place in a heatproof dish in the oven, and bake until the pork is cooked through, about 45–55 minutes.
Picking Peppers
While Szechwan cooks favor fiery chili peppers, bell peppers also make a frequent appearance in Chinese dishes. Like their hotter cousin, sweet bell peppers are a New World fruit, discovered by Christopher Columbus during his trips to the Americas. The intrepid explorer took them back to his homeland, where they eventually spread throughout Europe and Asia. The round shape of bell peppers makes them perfect for stuffing. Be sure to remove all seeds and membranes before filling.
Serves 1
The Chinese version of miso, brown bean sauce is made with soybeans and spicy seasonings such as chili and garlic.
Serves 4
Don't have any bok choy on hand? You can use broccoli instead of bok choy and green beans instead of snow peas.
Vegetable Chop Suey
½ cup water chestnuts
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch bok choy
½ pound snow peas
4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ tablespoons water
½ teaspoon minced ginger
½ teaspoon minced garlic
½ red onion, chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms
1 teaspoon sugar
1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
½ cup mung bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
Clean the mushrooms with a damp towel and slice. If using fresh water chestnuts, wash and peel. If using canned, rinse in warm water and slice.
Cut the green and red bell peppers in half, remove the seeds, and cut into thin strips. For the bok choy, separate each stalk and leaves. Cut the stalk diagonally and cut the leaves across. Wash and string the snow peas.
Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or frying pan. When oil is ready, add the bok choy stalks. Cook for about 1 minute, then add the leaves. Add the salt, and sprinkle with water. Cover and cook on medium heat until the bok choy is tender but still firm. Remove and set aside.
Wipe out the wok with a paper towel and add 2 tablespoons of oil. When oil is ready, add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry until aromatic. Add the red onion and stir-fry. Remove from the wok and set aside. Add the green and red peppers and the snow peas. Stir-fry for about a minute, then add the mushrooms and 1 teaspoon of sugar and continue stir-frying. Remove from the wok and set aside. Add the water chestnuts and carrot. Stir-fry for a minute, then add the bean sprouts.
Mix cornstarch and water, then stir in the oyster sauce. Add the removed vegetables back into the wok and mix. Make a well in the center and gradually add the cornstarch/oyster sauce mixture, stirring to thicken. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and serve hot.
Stir-fried Potatoes
1 pound potatoes
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1½ tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1½ teaspoons sugar
1½ teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1 slice ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
Wash the potatoes, peel, and julienne. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and boil the potatoes until they are cooked but still a bit firm (about 15 minutes). Drain well.
Add the chicken broth, rice wine, and sugar to the cornstarch-and-water mixture, stirring. Set aside.
Add oil to a preheated wok or a frying pan. When oil is hot, add the slice of ginger and stir-fry until it is aromatic. Add the potatoes, stir-frying in batches if necessary. Add the salt. Continue stir-frying until the potatoes are tender, about 4–5 minutes. Taste and add more salt if desired.
Stir the broth mixture. Make a well in the middle of the wok by pushing the potatoes up to the side. Add the broth mixture in the middle, stirring vigorously to thicken. Mix with the potatoes.
Serves 4
This Chinese dish proves that you don't need to douse a potato with sour cream and chives to add flavor.
Serves 4
The combination of shiitake mushrooms, snow peas, and baby corn provides an interesting contrast in color and texture. Serve with a more highly seasoned dish.
Three Vegetable Stir-fry
4 ounces snow peas
1½ tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1 can baby corn, rinsed and drained
6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Wash and string the snow peas.
Add oil to a preheated wok or frying pan. Add the baby corn and stir-fry briefly, then add the snow peas. Stir-fry until the snow peas turn a bright green. Push them up to the side and stir-fry the mushrooms. Add the dark soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Mix through.
Lucky Recipes
The Chinese love to create vegetable and dessert recipes with 3, 5, or 8 main ingredients, as these are considered to be lucky numbers. The number 8 is particularly auspicious, symbolizing sudden prosperity and good fortune. The next time you're dining at a Chinese restaurant, look for recipes with these numbers in their name.
Peppers with Potato Stuffing
4 green bell peppers
2 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons water
¼ teaspoon chili paste Stir-fried Potatoes (page 249)
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Wash the green peppers. Cut off the tops and save. Remove the seeds. In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, water, and chili paste. Add the stir-fried potatoes and toss.
Stuff each pepper with the potato mixture and drizzle a bit of the sauce over the top. If any sauce is remaining, add that into each pepper. Place the stuffed peppers in a 9″ × 9″ baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until peppers are tender.
Serves 4
Potato and peppers make a great combination. Substitute red peppers for added color and an intriguing mix of spicy and sweet.
Spicy Eggplant Stir-fry
1 eggplant
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
2 tablespoons red rice vinegar
½ teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon chili paste
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
Wash the eggplant, cut off the ends, and slice diagonally into 1-inch pieces.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When the oil is hot, add the eggplant slices, stir-frying in batches if necessary. Stir-fry for about 2–3 minutes.
Add the red rice vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and chili paste, and mix through. Drizzle the sesame oil over and give a final stir.
Serves 4
This dish can be made with truncheon-shaped Chinese eggplant or the thicker eggplant commonly available in local supermarkets.
Serves 4–6
Blanching the celery before stir-frying gives it a brilliant green color. For an intriguing mi
x of flavors, serve with a savory dish.
Sweet-and-Sour Celery
4 stalks celery
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Wash the celery and cut into 1-inch slices on the diagonal. Blanch by plunging into boiling water and boiling for 2–3 minutes.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When the oil is hot, begin stir-frying the celery. Add the salt.
Stir in the rice vinegar, sugar, and cinnamon. Remove the celery from the wok and pour any remaining sauce over.
Cutting Green Vegetables
Unless the instructions state differently, cut green vegetables like celery, bok choy spears, and green onions on the diagonal. This gives maximum heat exposure and ensures even cooking.
Bitter Melon Stir-fry
2 bitter melons
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
½ teaspoon brown sugar
Wash the bitter melons, cut in half, and remove the seeds inside the pods. Slice thinly on the diagonal.
To degorge the bitter melons, place the slices in a bowl and toss with salt. Leave for 15 minutes and place on paper towels to drain out excess water.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil the bitter melons for 3 minutes. Drain well.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. Add the garlic and stir-fry briefly until aromatic. Add the bitter melon and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce, water, rice wine, and brown sugar. Mix through and serve hot.
A Remarkable Melon
Bitter melon is one of those foods that people either love or hate. Native to China, it works best with pungent ingredients such as chilies and black bean sauce that can hold their own against its strong flavor. To reduce the bitterness, try degorging or steaming.
Serves 4–6
Even with degorging, bitter melon has an acrid, almost chalky taste. Feel free to substitute another gourd such as angled luffa.
Serves 4
In order not to waste any oil, strain the oil from stir-frying the eggplant so that it can be used again.
Szechwan Eggplant with Black Rice Vinegar
5 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
2 Chinese eggplants, chopped into tiny pieces
2 teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon black rice vinegar
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon hot bean sauce
¼ cup chicken stock or broth
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
2 green onions, chopped into thirds
Mix together the soy sauce, black rice vinegar, sugar, dark soy sauce, and salt. Set aside.
Add 4 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the eggplant. Stir-fry about 5 minutes, until the eggplant is soft. Gently press the eggplant with a spatula to remove any excess oil. Remove from the wok.
Remove the oil from the wok, and wipe the wok clean with a paper towel. Add 1 tablespoon of oil back into the wok. When the oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic, and hot bean sauce and stir-fry briefly. Add the sauce and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Add the eggplant back to the wok, and stir-fry until the sauce is nearly gone.
Add the sesame oil and green onions. Give the dish a final stir.
Steamed Carrots with Oyster Sauce
2 cups baby carrots
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1½ tablespoons oil for stir-frying
2 teaspoons minced ginger
½ teaspoon sugar
Steam the carrots until tender. Drain well.
Mix together the oyster sauce, water, and rice wine. Set aside.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is ready, add the ginger and stir-fry until it is aromatic.
Add the steamed baby carrots. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, until the carrots turn a bright orange color. Add the oyster sauce mixture, and the sugar. Bring the sauce to a boil and stir-fry for another minute, mixing the sauce thoroughly with the vegetables.
Substituting Vegetables
When it comes to making substitutions, the names of Chinese vegetables can be misleading. Although bok choy and choy sum are both types of cabbage, choy sum's delicate pale green leaves bear little resemblance to hardy bok choy. When you need to make a substitution, pay attention to the vegetable's texture and color.
Serves 4
Oyster sauce is frequently married to broccoli in restaurant dishes, but there are numerous other possibilities — like baby carrots.
Serves 4
Large western eggplant works best in this dish. Freeze any leftover ground pork to use in dishes such as Lion's Head Meatball Stew (page 133).
Stuffed Eggplant
4 eggplants
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 pounds ground pork
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Wash the eggplants. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out as much of the middle as possible without splitting the eggplant. Discard the pulp.
Mix the beaten egg, soy sauce, white pepper, and rice wine in with the pork, using your hands. Marinate the pork for 15 minutes.
Take a quarter of the pork mixture and stuff it into each eggplant. If possible, cover with the top half of the eggplant.
Place the stuffed eggplants in a baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the eggplants are cooked.
Serves 4
Also called Shanghai bok choy, baby bok choy has a sweeter flavor and is more tender than regular bok choy.
Braised Baby Bok Choy
4 bunches baby bok choy
½ cup chicken stock or broth
½ cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon sesame oil
Wash and drain the baby bok choy. Cut off the roots and separate the stalks and leaves.
Combine the chicken stock, water, sugar, and rice vinegar.
Add oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is ready, add the garlic. Stir-fry until aromatic.
Add the bok choy stalks and stir-fry until they turn a bright green. While stir-frying the stalks, add the leaves.
Add the chicken broth mixture. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and drizzle with the sesame oil.
Mu Shu Vegetables
2 bok choy stalks
½ red bell pepper
¼ cup water
¼ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
4 fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ teaspoon sesame oil
Separate the bok choy stalks and leaves. Cut the stalks diagonally into 1-inch pieces. Cut the leaves crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Remove the seeds from the pepper and cut into thin strips.
Combine the water, chicken broth, dark soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside.
Stir ¼ teaspoon salt in to the eggs. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, scramble the eggs. Remove from the wok and set aside.
Clean out the wok and add 2 tablespoons oil. When oil is hot, add the bok choy stalks.
Stir-fry for about 1 minute, then add the mushrooms and red pepper. Stir-fry briefly and add the bok choy leaves. Add the sauce in the middle of the wok. Bring to a boil. Stir in the scrambled egg. Drizzle the sesame oil over. Mix through and serve hot.
Wrap It Up!
Meat and vegetables cooked in the mu shu style make a great filling for tortilla wraps. To make, adjust the above recipe by draining out some of the sauce so that the filling isn't too wet. Lay the wrap in front of you and add ½ cup of filling to the bottom. Fold over the right side of the wrap. Fold the bottom of the wrap over the food, and continue rolling up the wrap. For added variety, try the flavored wraps, such as spinach, pesto, or garlic.
Serves 4
The combination of eggs and vegetables makes this a nutritious, quick, and easy meal for busy weekdays.
12
Desserts and Snacks
Almond Cookies
Egg Custard Tarts
Almond Fruit Gelatin
Mango Pudding
Almond Float
Poached Asian Pears
Poached Pears with Lemon
Steamed Apples
Sweet Baked Pineapple and Banana
Sweetened Walnuts
Steamed Fruit with a Surprise
Walnut Cookies
Mandarin Pancakes
Sweet Red Bean Paste
Pineapple and Ginger “Ice Cream”
Grass Jelly Dessert
Sesame Seed Balls
Bowties for Kids
Bowties for Adults
THE EVERYTHING® CHINESE COOKBOOK Page 23