Chicken Risotto

7 cups chicken broth, divided
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
2 cups Arborio rice
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste
2 cups chopped cooked chicken, about 2-3 pieces breast or thighs, skin removed

3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions

1/3 cup parmesan cheese (optional)

In a saucepan, warm the broth over low heat.

Warm 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until done. Remove and set aside.

Add the remaining olive oil to skillet, and stir in the onions. Cook until carmelized. Add rice, stirring to coat with oil, about 2 minutes. When the rice has taken on a pale, golden color, pour in 1/2 cup broth to the rice, and stir until the broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in chicken, parmesan cheese and green onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

• Note: This recipe is very flexible. You may replace the chicken with just about anything : mushrooms, asparagus, shrimp, crab meat, lobster, etc.

Hoisin Sauce Short Ribs

Ingredients:

* 2 pounds short ribs
* 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
* 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
* 3 tablespoons ketchup
* 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped/or garlic powder

Preparation:

Cut the spareribs apart.Combine the light soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ketchup, rice wine or sherry, brown sugar, and the chopped garlic or garlic powder. Pour over the spareribs.

For a more enhanced taste: Cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator, turning occasionally to make sure the ribs are thoroughly coated.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roast the pork for 30 minutes, or until the ribs just begin shrinking and the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Optional: Brush the spareribs several times with the honey and water mixture during roasting. Remove and cool.

Serves 4-6.

Pork chop and cabbage casserole

1 small head cabbage, shredded
4 potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
salt to taste
1 10.75 oz can condensed cream of chicken/mushroom soup
½ 10.75 oz can water
1 small onion, diced
4 pork chops

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Place a layer of shredded cabbage into baking dish and then a layer of sliced potatoes. Repeat cabbage and potatoes and salt.

Simmer the soup, water and diced onion. Pour over cabbage and potatoes.

Bake covered for 45 hour. Meanwhile in a skillet, brown each pork chop in a small amount of oil and place on top of mixture and bake 20 more minutes or until chops are tender and potatoes are soft.

Chicken Claypot rice

2 cups rice, washed and drained
3 cups chicken stock
2 chicken drumsticks cut into pieces (bone in chicken pieces can also be used)
5 Chinese mushrooms, soaked, cut into half
1 Chinese sausage, sliced
1 ½ cm thick salted fish, sliced thinly, fried till crispy (optional)
1 tbsp black soya sauce
4 tbsp garlic oil
Green onions for garnish

Marinade:
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp of ginger juice (grated a knob of ginger and squeeze)
1 tbsp sesame oil
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp sugar
½ tbsp corn flour

Mix chicken, mushrooms with marinade and ginger, season for 30 minutes.

Put rice and chicken stock into a clay pot, cover and bring to boil lower fire and cook with low heat till holes are formed on top. (About 15 minutes)

Spread marinated chickens and mushrooms, Chinese sausage on top, cover and cook with low heat till rice is dry and chicken pieces are cooked (another 15 minutes). Remove from fire.

Sprinkle salted fish on top, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes till rice is dry and fluffy.

Before serving, sprinkle spring onion , black soya sauce and garlic oil, mix in to combine toppings and rice.

Potstickers (and Wontons)

* 1 lb ground pork (or ground turkey)
* shittake mushrooms
* raw shrimp, peeled
* water chestnuts
* green onions (scallions)
* celery
* carrots
* soy sauce
* ginger
* egg
* sesame oil
* white pepper (black pepper will work fine too)
- measurements for the above items can be flexible depending on how much you want to add or not
- Feel free to add other ingredients you find suitable and mix it all together. (Enoki mushrooms, bamboo shoots, straw mushrooms, etc.)

* potsticker (gyoza) skins and wonton skins (as many as you can make!)

* Chop up everything into small pieces and mix well together. Put a small amount in the middle of your potsticker skin and fold over. Use either water or egg wash to help the skin seal together. (I also use flour on my hands to avoid everything sticking together.)

* Boil them for a few minutes until they float, then transfer to another pan for some light pan-frying. (You can probably deep-fry them if you so desired.)

You can also put the same filling in the wonton skins and they work out just fine.

They freeze well if you allow them to freeze separately from each other. Otherwise they all stick together and can pose a problem later when defrosting.

Steamy Egg Pudding (Dun Dan) (Dessert)

I haven't been able to make it correctly lately, but here's a recipe for Steamy Egg Pudding. Easiest thing you can make on here blog!

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp sugar
hm... I think that's it.

1. Start heating up a big pot, one where you can put a cover over. Be sure you have enough water to boil for 15 mins, and also add a thingy to prop up the dish (forget what its called, but you know what I mean!)
2. Mix the egg with milk.
3. Add sugar and mix well. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar!!
4. Pour into a flat dish.
5. Be careful when you pour into the dish to keep the bubbles out that were formed during mixing.
6. Carefully place the dish into the pot and not to spill.
7. Place chopsticks over the top (on each side), and cover the lid on top of the chopsticks so the steam can escape.
8. Heat on medium-high (make sure it's hot enough for bubbles!!) for about 12-15 minutes.
9. If you're lucky, the water did not drip onto the pudding and it was heated enough
10. Carefully take the dish out with some asian tongs (no idea what they're called).
11. Let it sit for a few minutes.
12. Eat!!

Okay, make at your own risk. You're not losing much by trying it, but if it works out, it taste good!! If you're not lucky, it will be too watery. Oh wells, can't blame me. Not my blog.

Easy spaghetti Bolognese (Williams Sonoma)

6 oz bacon slices cut into ½ inch pcs
1 yellow onion, diced
1 ½ tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup milk
1/3 c grated parmigiano-reggiano

1 lb spaghetti, cooked, water reserved

in the stove top save insert of a slow cooker over medium high heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 7-10 minutes. Spoon off all but 1 tbsp of the fat. Add the onion and ½ tsp of the salt and cook until tender, 5-7 min. add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the beef and remaining 1 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef is no longer pink, 5 min. Stir in the tomato paste, milk and 1/3 c cheese.

Place the insert on the slowcooker base. Cover and cook on low until the sauce thickens, about 4 hours. Skim the fat off the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce along with enough pasta-cooking water to loosen the sauce and toss to combine. Transfer to individual bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Serves 6.

**I don’t always use bacon. I’ll just use some regular oil to brown the meat. Also, I’ll do the 1st part in a regular pan, then transfer to my slow cooker. Yes, I know, sounds strange with the cheese and the milk.

Easy Italian stew (kind of like minestrone)

This is a super hearty meal that is super easy to prepare. Quick dinner!

2 tbsp kraft zesty Italian dressing (or oil)
1 lb bulk Italian (turkey) sausage (break these into small pcs before cooking, and also remove casing)
2 cans (14.5 oz ea) chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) cannelloni beans, rinse, drained
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian style diced tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup pasta (any except the noodle kind)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded for topping
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 zucchini, cubed
1 onion, large dices

heat dressing in large sauce pan on medium. Add sausage, cook 8-10 min, break sausage into small pcs. Add onion and cook for a few minutes. Add tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes stirring.

add broth, veggies, beans and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Stir in pasta. Reduce to medium, simmer 8-10 min until pasta is cooked. Stir.

Ladle into bowl and top with cheese.

**I use whatever veggies I have on hand, spinach, brocolli, cauliflower, etc. I don’t always use beans, and I usually use turkey (or chicken, the italian sausage from TJ's is wonderful) sausage, but pork is fine. Serve with crusty bread and salad!

Sai Mei Bo Deen

Tapioca pudding, baked
This is the kind sometimes found in chinese restaurants, but my mom used to make this for us when I was little. Again, this is her recipe.

2 ounces sai mei low
2/3 cup sugar (this can be reduced by about half)
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tbsp custard powder
2 ounces butter
3 ounces lotus paste or red bean paste
3 egg yolks

Put tapioca in water to soak for 10 minutes. Next drain tapioca and cook in small pot with water until translucent. Use warm water to rinse the starch from the tapioca. Mix cornstarch and custard powder with 1/4 c water and then add egg yolk. In a separate pot, mix butter, sugar, and 2/3 c water and bring to a boil. Pour in tapioca under low heat. Slowly pour in egg mixture into the pot and heat on low until it coats the back of a spoon. Turn off heat. Put the bean paste/lotus paste in the bottom of an oven safe dish and pour custard mixture on top and broil 15 minutes in a water bath at 450 degrees.

I don't love the paste part, so if you don't like it or don't have it, you can make it without. I could just eat the tapioca pudding part. Also, make sure not to cook the tapioca too much if you like it sorta chewy.

Pork and Watercress Wonton's

Again, from my Mom....

1 pound ground pork
2 bunches watercress
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp chicken powder
1/2 tsp ginger powder
wonton skins, thin
water or egg for sealing

Clean watercress thoroughly (soak and rinse several times, there can be a lot of sand and dirt) Boil a large pot of water. When it comes to a boil, put the watercress in. Parboil (maybe about a minute). Remove the watercress and drain. Chop into small pcs and squeeze excess water out.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Then wrap! Line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap and place wontons so they do not touch. Lay another sheet of plastic wrap when the sheet is full. Just make sure they don't touch. Freeze overnight. The next day, put the frozen wontons into a ziploc bag and put back in the freezer for storage. You can, of course, cook some right away, but this make so much, you'll have to freeze some.

You can also make this with shrimp. Instead of the watercress, use about a 1/2 pound of shrimp, peeled, cleaned and diced. And no need to parboil anything.

Spicy Sauce (Hoong yaow chow sauw) - okay, this is my recipe....my own crazy concoction...

1-2 tsp chili sauce (Old Lady Chili Sauce)
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp sweet soy
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chinese black vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil

Mix sauce ingredients and pour over cooked wontons. (these measurements are just estimations b/c I usually just dump it into a bowl, and I've also added peanut butter or hoisin and those are good additions as well)

Shanghainese Kao Fu

per Michelle's Mom's instructions

1 pkg fresh wheat gluten (purchased near the tofus, usually available in an 8 or 10 oz bag)
1/2 box dried wood ear (soak a square in water and after rinsing, freeze half of it for later use)
1/2 can sliced bamboo
2 handfuls dried shitake mushrooms
2 or 3 star anise

soy sauce
sugar

oil for deep frying

Take the wheat gluten, wood ear, and mushrooms and soak in hot water for at least 30 minutes(each in it's own bowl). Squeeze the water from the wheat gluten as much as you can and then rinse several times. It's okay if the gluten tears a little, b/c you're going to tear it into 1-2 inch pcs later anyhow. Squeeze the water out again and tear the gluten into bits.

Heat the frying oil. Fry the gluten chunks until golden brown, and I do mean brown, like a dark honey color. (I'll take a picture the next time I make it). Place on paper towels to help absorb excess oil. While you are frying, you can rinse out the wood ear and mushrooms a few times as well. For the mushrooms, you'll want to cut off the stems. You can also halve the mushrooms, but this is optional. Drain and rinse the bamboo shoots. Cut the wood ear into smaller pieces if they are large.

After you are done frying all the gluten chunks, place them in a large bowl and rinse them with water a few times. (I know, this sounded so crazy to me, but I think it's just to remove the excess oil)

Put the star anise, gluten, bamboo, wood ear and mushrooms in a large pot. Fill about 3/4 up (not to cover) with water. I start with about 1/2 c soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Bring up to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Do not cover the pot. Most of the liquid has to evaporate. Check the flavor of the sauce intermittently and add soy and/or sugar as needed. Unfortunately, I have never measured. I do find that I use a lot of soy and a lot more sugar than I think I'm going to need.

This dish is best served cold.

Lion's Head Meatballs

Per Michelle's Mom's cryptic instructions

2 inch section of Nagaimo (root vegetable typically found in chinese/japanese markets in styro tray wrapped in saran) Also could be called wy-sang (sp) in chinese, peeled and cut into 1 inch pcs
1/3block medium firm tofu
1 pound ground pork

napa cabbage or bok choy

oyster sauce (~2 tbsp for the meat mixture, 1 tbsp for the sauce)
soy sauce (i used dark, about 1 tbsp)
3 tbsp chopped water chestnuts
2 tsp chinese wine
white pepper
corn starch
oil for fying
chicken stock

Peel and cube the nagaimo. It's extremely slimy and strange. Put the cubed nagaimo and tofu into a blender and let her whirl for a bit. It will be liquidy. In a large bowl, mix the ground pork with the nagaimo/tofu mixture (you'll want to add this maybe half at first, then add little by little - you don't want it to be too watery or the meatballs will fall apart). Add seasonings..oyster sauce, wine, soy sauce, water chestnuts and corn starch. After mixed very well, form into meatballs. You can make them any size you want.

Put some oil in a large pan. Brown the meatballs all around. Be careful turning them b/c they will be very soft. It doesn't have to be cooked all the way thru yet. If you've got excess oil in the pan, drain it out. Add chicken stock to cover half the meatball and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the veggies to the broth and cook until tender. Add some oyster sauce to the sauce. Remove the meatballs and the veggies to your serving dish. Add a cold water/cornstarch mixture to the broth to thicken. Once it's reached the desired consistency, pour the sauce over your meatballs. Viola!

Note: Sorry, I don't have exact measurements of anything b/c this is how my mom does it. Also, I've only made this once, and the meatballs were extrememly tender and moist, but I don't think I added enough seasonings. Also, I have made another recipe which called for water chestnuts and I did like the crunch of them, so maybe next time I'll also add those. According to my mom, its the slimy nagaimo that makes it so soft. (she always has some "secret"/must-have ingredient)

Update: I added the some seasoning, (recipe above is updated) and it tastes really good now. Stephen said..."just like the restaurants". Wow. Enjoy!

Ma-Po Tofu

Ma-Po Tofu
by Karen

Ingredients:

1 block silken tofu (19 oz box) 1/4 lb - 1/2 lb ground pork
3 tablespoons spicy bean sauce
1-2 tablespoons chili sauce, like the kinds you would get at Chinese restaurants
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 stalks scallions (chopped into 1 or 2-inch length)
2 gloves garlic (chopped)
1/2 cup water or stock

(See sample of sauces used)
http://usa.lkk.com/Common/08Consumer/CS002.aspx?Catalog=LKK&OID=4
http://usa.lkk.com/Common/08Consumer/CS002.aspx?Catalog=LKK&OID=2

Method:

Cut the tofu into small pieces, drain the water from the tofu and set aside. Heat up a wok and pour in the cooking oil. Add the chopped garlic, ground pork, bean sauce and stir-fry until the pork is half-done. Then add in chili powder, soy sauce, fermented black beans and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the tofu and water; stir gently to blend the tofu (don’t break them) well with the sauce. Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-5 mins or until the sauce thickens. Add in the roasted Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions. Gently stir and blend well. You may thicken it a bit with a little cornstarch and cold water.

Dish out and serve hot!

Miso Soup

MISO SOUP
by Hiroshi K

A couple cubes of tofu (silky)
Soy bean paste
Dried seaweed--any length/size
Enough hot water as soup you'd like to make

1. Heat up some cubed tofu (in this case, use silky tofu) with a bit of water in a small pan. The purpose is to heat it up, not to fry it (you could steam it, but with such a small amount, this is the "easy" way to do it.) I guess you could also put the tofu in your soup bowl & microwave it with a bit of water (to prevent drying it out).
2. Mix hot water & soy bean paste (to taste) in a soup bowl.
3. Add tofu.
4. Add dried seaweed and wait a minute for it reconstitute.

Voila!

MA PO TOFU

Ma Po Tofu (creamier sauce, with veggies)
by Lilly K

Makes 6-8 servings.

Grocery store:
1 package firm tofu, cubed (I cut mine into 36 cubes).
2 cups frozen vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, beans, or any other you like)
2 tbsp soybean paste (more commonly found in Korean or Japanese markets than Chinese)
½ pound ground turkey (or ground beef, pork, or chicken)

Spice rack:
Oil for stir-frying (I use olive)
2 cloves crushed garlic
Salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup hot water
Black bean sauce (to taste)
Hot chili oil (optional, to taste)
Soy sauce (to taste)
Corn starch (to taste)
1/2 to 3/4 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS
1. Start heating pan on high heat. Rinse frozen veggies to help thaw and remove any bits of ice (but they don’t need to reach room temperature).
2. In a small bowl, mix hot water, soybean paste, black bean sauce, hot chili oil (purpose of water is to dilute soybean paste).
3. Sautee ground turkey with oil & garlic. Sprinkle with salt to season.
4. Add mixture from Step 2 to meat when meat is 75% done, stirring well.
5. When meat is cooked, add frozen vegetables, stirring to coat everything. Cover.
6. Veggies are already cooked, so they just need to be thawed and heated up. While waiting for this, mix corn starch and cold water to make a paste (the thicker you like your sauce, the higher concentration of corn starch). You could make this earlier, but it starts to separate pretty quickly, so you may need to re-mix.
7. When veggies are hot, taste the sauce. Add salt, soy sauce or more black bean sauce (if necessary) to taste.
8. Add tofu to pan, turning over a couple times—stir carefully so as to not break up the tofu.
9. Make a little “well” or “hole” in middle of pan, pushing ingredients aside.
10. Pour corn starch & water paste into well. Wait a couple seconds while it begins to cook up as a thick sauce. Then stir to coat everything with sauce and simmer a couple minutes.

We scoop rice into a big bowl, and spoon the ma po tofu over it ("one dish eating!").

NOTES
1. Traditionally, this dish is made with medium-firmness, “silky” tofu, but I personally don’t like it when the tofu breaks up too much—so I use firm.
2. I remove the garlic cloves at Step 4, but Hiroshi doesn’t fish them out until they’re on his plate.
3. Because I don't measure the ingredients, Step 7 is where I can make any adjusments to taste. I suppose I could just measure everything and then jot it down for future use, but I can't be bothered!
4. This is is HK, but i also add a smidgeon of XO sauce in Step 2. We bought a small jar of it 2 years ago just b/c we were curious. We don't use it for any other recipe besides this one. If you have one, lemme know!
5. I've also been meaning to try this with shrimp. When I do, I’ll let you know the results!

Beef Noodle Soup

Beef Noodle Soup
by Michelle Tsang

2lbs each of beef shank and tendon – 3.99 per pound at ranch 99. Have them cut the tendon (which comes frozen in block). I usually get the beef chuck roast(?) from the regular supermarket. Comes as a large “steak” and fills the entire tray, about 2 lbs. Trim fat and cube. I don’t always use tendons either.

Half jar of “dow ban cherng” chili bean paste
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
3 star anise
2 big chunks of ginger, pounded
1 bunch of green onions
2 tbsp dark soy
2 tbsp sweet soy
1 tsp chicken powder (or chicken stock cube)
1 tsp sugar
water to cover meat

Boil meat and tendon in water for about 10 minutes in large pot. Rinse the meat with water to get rid of the yucky stuff. Put the meat back into the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2-3 hours covered. Before turning off the stove, bring pot to a boil with lid on. Do not remove the lid.

(Optional) The next day, cook again for 2-3 hours. Serve with noodles of your choice.

Chili Bean Sauce by Wanjashan. The jar has a green and white cap, with a red and gold label. This is the sauce to buy. It can be found at Ranch 99. Search the sauce aisle...it's there.