sweet 'n' savory TWO

Jia's Dan Dan Mein

Dan Dan Mein ('mein' is how noddles is pronounced in Chinese) is a classic Chinese noodle dish originating in Szechuan province, which is known for bold and spicy flavors.  Dan Dan Mein is characterized by its sauce and meat topping.  Bob first had it in a local Chinese restaurant specializing in handmade noodles and asked me to make it at home.  

It took me a few tries to come up with the sauce that is just right with a flavor that is simple yet complex, spicy but not overly salty like the sauce served in most Chinese restaurants.  My other secret to the sauce - is to use my own special-blend sesame sauce instead of the store-bought sesame paste which has a bitter taste to it that can be unpleasant. 

The meat topping, on the contrary, didn't take me long to get it exactly how Bob likes it.  The addition of Chinese preserved vegetables addes interest to both taste and texture to the meat topping.  Bob likes the meat topping so much that he even eats it with chips as snack.  So here's my interpretation of the classic Chinese Dan Dan Mein, enjoy!!

<Dan Dan Mein for Four>

• Chinese noodles (dry, white), 16 oz
• Soy sauce, 4 TBS
• Chili oil, 3 TBS (or to taste)
• Jia's sesame sauce, 2 TBS
• Chinese black vinegar, 1 TBS
• Dan Dan Mein meat topping, 2 cup
• Green onion, 1, minced

1. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. 
2. Combine soy sauce, chili oil, sesame sauce, and vinegar and whisk to mix well.  Divide sauce in four bowls in which the noodles will be served.
3. Once water is boiling, add noodles to water and cook over high heat.  It should take only another 3 to 4 minutes after water reboils for the noodles to be cooked and reach desired texture - which is slightly softer than al dente without being mushy.  
4. As soon as the noodles are cooked, drain and divide equally into the four bowls with Dan Dan Mein sauce.
5. Top each bowl of noodles with half cup of prepared meat toppings (or more if desired) and some minced green onions.  Serve immediately and have the guests stir their bowl of noodles until well coated with sauce. 

Meat Topping for Dan Dan Mein

<Meat Topping)

• Cooking oil, 2 TBS
• Ground pork, 1 lb
• Chinese preserved vegetable, 1 cup (about 100 g)
• Green onions, 4, julienned
• Shaoxing wine, 3 TBS
• Spicy bean Sauce, 1 TBS
• Sweet bean Sauce, 1 TBS
• Soy sauce, 1 tsp
• Mirin, 2 TBS
• Salt, to taste (optional if salted shaoxing cooking wine is used)

1. Rinse Chinese preserved vegetables lightly with water to remove excessive saltiness but without washing the flavor off completely.  Drain and dice.  
2. Combine shaoxing wine, black bean sauce, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce and salt in a small bowl.
3. Add oil to pan and heat over high heat.  As soon as oil begins to smoke, add meat to pan and quickly stir-fry until ground pork begins to turn white in color and separates.  Add diced preserved vegetables and sauce mixture to pan.  Stir-fry until meat is completely cooked and evenly coated with sauce.
4. Sprinkle green onions over the meat and quickly stir-fry for another minute.  Serve immediately with cooked rice or noddles.

Below is a picture of the Chinese preserved vegetables I used.  It comes in a small package and can be found in most Asian grocery store.

Fish Taco - a feast wrapped in tortilla

After wanting to make fish tacos at home for a while, we've finally managed to get all the ingredients we need to make it this weekend.  Our version of fish tacos are made with beer-battered fried fish, fresh tomato salsa, honey-lime cabbage slaw and chipotle sour cream!  Crunchy fried fish topped with freshly made condiments that are refreshing and burst with flavors - this is as good as it gets!!

Honey-lime Slaw

• Freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 TBS
• Honey, 2 TBS
• Green cabbage, 3 cups, thinly shredded
• Red onion, 1/4 cup, minced
• Jalapeños, 2 TBS, minced
• Cilantro, 1/4 cup, chopped
• Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp

1. Whisk lime juice and honey together and mix well.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a big bowl. Marinate for at least an hour before serving.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

• Tomatoes, 4 medium round, diced
• White onion, 1 small, minced
• Jalapeños, 1 large (or more if desirable), minced (stemmed & seeded)
• Cilantro, 1/2 cup, chopped
• Freshly squeezed lime juice, 2 TBS
• Garlic, 2 large cloves, minced
• Kosher salt, 1 tsp

1. Combine all ingridents in a big bowl and mix well.

Chipotle Sour Cream

• Sour cream, 1/2 cup
• Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, 1 large (seeded), minced (plus some adobo sauce to taste if desirable)
• A splash of freshly squeezed lime juice to taste (optional)

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Beer Battered Fried Fish

• Rice flour, 1 cup
• Kosher salt, 2 tsp
• Black pepper, 1/2 tsp or to taste
• Beer, 1 cup (not dark)
• Fish fillets (cod or halibut), 1 lb, cut into 3- by 1-inch strips
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

1. Heat 2 inch oil in a deep pan or heavy pot over high heat until reaches 375°F.
2. In a bowl whisk beer, rice flour, salt & pepper together until mix well.
3. Dredge fish strips in batter to coat completely, letting excess drip off.  Fry fish in batches, turning once or twice, until golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.  Serve warm.

Assemble fish tacos by filling each warm tortilla with 2 fish strips, then top with salsa, cabbage slaw, and Chipotle Sour Cream. 

 

Comfort me with a bowl of rice

Taiwanese Meat Sauce

• Ground pork, 1 LB
• Oil, 1 TBS
• Shallots, diced, 1 cup
• Garlic, 4 cloves, minced
• Soy Sauce, 1/4 cup
• Soy Sauce Paste, 1/4 cup
• Mirin, 2 TBS
• Rice wine, 2 TBS
• Five-spice powder, 1/2 tsp
• Water, 2 cup
• Hard boiled eggs, 6 to 8

1. Heat oil in a pan.  Add shallots to oil and saute until slightly brown.  Add garlic to pan and saute until fragrant.
2. Add pork to pan and saute until pork turns white.  Add soy sauce, soy sauce paste, mirin, rice wine to pork and saute for a minute.
3. Add water, five spice and eggs to pan.  Bring water to a boil and then simmer for an hour.
4. Serve with steamed rice and sauteed taiwanese picked mustard green.  Garnish with cilantro leaves.

Sauteed Taiwanese Pickled Mustard Green

• Taiwanese pickled mustard green, 12 oz
• Oil, 1 TBS
• Red chili peppers, sliced, 1 TBS
• Sugar, 1 tsp
• Sesame oil, 1/4 tsp

1. Rinse pickled mustard green until running water.  Drain water and cut into match-sized pieces.
2. Heat pan (without oil) and saute mustard green pieces in pan for about 5 minutes or until most moisture evaporates.
3. Remove mustard green from pan and set aside.  Heat oil in pan and add red chili peppers to pan and saute for a minute. 
4. Return mustard green to pan and saute with red chili peppers.  Add sugar and sesame oil to mustard green and saute until sugar melts.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pancakes for Two

Bob and I usually only have breakfast during the weekend when we have time to prepare ourselves something delicious.  When we do have breakfast at home, pancake is what we like to make since homemade pancake is so much better then the ones served in most restaurants.  We like our pancake light, fluffy, tender inside and, best of all, slightly crispy on the edge.  The following recipe is based on the 'Bette's Buttermilk Pancake Recipe' published in San Francisco Chronicle in 1999 but has been adapted to fit a breakfast for two.

1. Combine all dry ingredients including all-purpose flour (1 cup), sugar (1 TBSP), baking powder (1 tsp), baking soda (1/2 tsp) and kosher salt (1/2 tsp) in a mixing bowl.
2. Combine all wet ingredients including one egg, buttermilk (1 cup), milk (1/4 cup) and melted butter (2 TBSP).  Lightly whisk to combine.
3. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients and stir just long enough to mix the ingredients together.  The batter should still be lumpy.
4. Add butter (1 TBSP) to a non-stick pan and heat over medium heat.  When butter melts, evenly distribute melted butter in pan and pour 1/4 cup pancake batter to pan to make one pancake. Make as many pancakes as what can fit in your pan.  Space pancakes far enough so they don't touch each other. (Add more butter to pan if necessary, additional toppings such as blueberries, bananas, or toasted nuts can be added to individual pancakes at this point.)
5. Once bubbles appear on the surface of pancakes, flip pancakes and cook for another minute or until the bottom is slightly browned.
6. Remove pancakes from pan and serve warm with good grade B maple syrup!

Creamy Chicken Pasta with Veggie and Cheese Sauce

Think of this dish as the "healthier" version of Chicken Alfredo - a true "one-pot meal"!

1. In a big pan or dutch oven, saute broccoli (bite-sized florets, 4 cups) for a few minutes until cooked but remaining crisp.  Add garlic (2 cloves, minced) and red pepper (one, thinly sliced) to broccoli and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add whipping cream (1 1/2 cup), grated Parmesan cheese (1 cup), and a mixture of shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack (1 cup, substitute with other cheeses if desired) to pan, and simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
3. Add cooked chicken (3 cups, cubed) and freshly cooked pasta (1/2 lb, preferably penne or rigatoni) to pan and continue to cook for a few minutes until all ingredients are coated evenly with cheese sauce.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately!

Five-Spiced Fried Pork Chops

Growing up, my brother and I LOVED the fried pork chops made by our mom.  They are crispy outside, tender inside, and always perfectly seasoned to be enjoyed on its own or with steamed white rice!

Here's how you make it:

1. Pound four pork chops thin.
2. Mix soy sauce (1 TBS), Mirin (1 TBS), one clove of garlic (minced) and five-spice (a pinch) to make marinade (multiply marinade as necessary). 
3. Marinade pork chops for an hour or longer.
4. Bread pork chops generously with Taiwanese yam flour on both sides.  Shake off excessive flour before frying.
5. Heat oil in deep fryer or wok over medium heat until reaches 375F.
6. Add pork chops to fryer/wok and deep fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.  Serve warm!

Stir-fried Tomato with Eggs

Some dishes are so incredibly simple and yet absolutely soul-comforting.  This is one of those comforting dishes I grew up with.  It is a cheery dish that is both sweet and tangy with eye-catching colors that appeal to both kids and adults.

Here's how to make it:

1. Quarter 3 large Roma tomatoes.  Cut one green onion into 2 inch pieces.  Whisk three eggs and water (1 TBS) in a small bowl and season with a pinch of salt.
2. Thinly coat a nonstick pan with cooking oil.  Heat the pan over medium low heat.  Add eggs to pan and make omelet.  Divide omelet into 2x1 inch pieces with spatula.  Remove cooked eggs from pan (don't overcook omelet) and set aside.
3. Add a bit more oil to pan over medium heat.  When oil is hot, add green onion pieces to pan and stir fry till fragrant.  Add tomato slices to pan and stir fry for a few minutes until tomato is softened.
4. Add omelet to pan as well as ketchup (1 TBS) and a pinch of salt to taste (a tiny bit of sugar can be added if desirable).  Stir fry all ingredients for a minute or two until well incorporated.  Serve warm with steamed white rice.