Black Bean Sauce

As long as you see Chinese people, you can find black bean sauce anywhere in the world.  It has to be the most famous and distinctive Chinese cooking, and the smell too!  You can tell from miles away that this is “Black Bean Sauce” and I must be close to a Chinatown!  There is nothing beats the unique salt and spicy flavour of fermented black beans (dul see)

You can buy black bean in any Asian markets.  There are many brands but I like the one called “陽江薑鼓”. There are only three basic ingredients you need to make this sauce: Shallot, Garlic and Black Bean.  I usually make a big batch and keep it in the freezer so I can use it on demand.  It takes only a small tea-spoon to turn your blended, tasteless dish to a flavourful mouth-watering plate.

Black Bean Sauce ready for storage in freezer

Chicken, Mushroom and Sausage Hotpot Rice,冬菇臘腸走地雞煲仔飯

This is a very traditional Hong Kong “Bistro” style cuisine.  You’ll never find it in a big fancy full service restaurant.  However it is one of the most popular “Winter” comfort food in Southern China region.   In Hong Kong, you will find the chef actually cooking hotpot rice outside the restaurants with several hot clay pots in a row at the same time, this also helps to attract people to eat in their restaurant.

Most of you would be familiar with various types of hotpot: Swiss cheese fondue, Japanese shabu shabu, sukiyaki, Korean Stone bowl rice, etc. In hotpot style cooking, you can retain the heat and temperature of the food for a longer time.

Hotpot rice is absolutely a traditional and authentic Cantonese cuisine. The rice is steamed in a clay hot pot with fragrant foods on top.  Generally, on the top of the rice is often put different kinds of Chinese preserved meat, and as the rice being streamed, both the aroma of the preserved meats and the scent of the clay pot permeate the rice.

I am using chicken today but you can also use pork spareribs in black bean sauce, or salty fish with minced pork.

Important Points:

1. It is all right to let the bottom of the rice to “burn” a little to achieve a special “charred” aroma
2. Use a mix ½ and ½ long grain rice and Thai jasmine rice
3. Use plenty of fresh ginger as this is the soul behind this dish

Chicken Hotpot Rice

Roasted Leg of Lamb, Balsamic Vinegar Glaze, and Mushroom Saffron Risotto (Risotto funghi e zafferano)

If you like lamb, you have to try this!  Fall is coming very soon.  A glass of red wine and a few slices of roasted leg of lambs can make your winter days a lot warmer.  I like using a slow roasting method so the lamb meat is very tender and moist.  Also I don’t marinade the meat over night so you can speed up the cooking if you feel like having lamb tonight.

Roast leg of lamb

Yang Zhou Fried Rice 楊州炒飯

Oh joy!!  Yang Zhou Fried Rice 楊州炒飯 is the most famous Fried Rice in the Chinese culture!  It is so popular that it is served in almost every Chinese restaurant around the world.   This fried rice is a staple among the Chinese fried rice dishes and is comparable to how Americans perceive hamburgers.  Chinese barbecued pork or ‘cha siu’ (叉燒) is an essential ingredient in Yang Zhou Fried Rice.   It is the barbecued pork that gives it its special sweetish flavour.   Despite the name, this dish does not originate from Yang Zhou; instead, the recipe was invented by the Qing dynasty’s Yi Bingshou (175–1815) and the dish was named Yang Zhou fried rice since Yi was once the regional magistrate of Yangzhou.  Still, there have been attempts by people in Yangzhou to patent the dish.

Yang Zhou Fried Rice 楊州炒飯

Mobile Cooking School (無比烹飪學校) Chinese Recipes – back from 1966 by Miss Tam Kwok Mui (譚國梅)

Please check out these recipes!  They are some of the most original and oldest Chinese recipes from Miss Tam Kwok Mui (譚國梅).  Some of recipes don’t exist any more due to method changes or lack of cooking ingredients.  I have kept these recipes for 45 years and it is my honor and privilege to share it with all of you in a PDF file.  These recipes are the foundation of my Chinese cooking knowledge.  Please feel free to download them and let me know how it works!

Mobile Cooking School Chinese Recipes

Pan-fried Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf Recipe

(古法荷葉生炒糯米飯)

This is a very traditional, hearty, and savoury Cantonese-style home cooked meal. This recipe is written in both English and Chinese.

Typically, this dish is served during the winter because it is so filling and warm. This is a very old Cantonese (Guangzhou) recipe that is not usually served in ordinary restaurants. I also like serving this to guests because of the beautiful presentation and variety of colours and textures.

Click to learn more:

Saffron Rice

Saffron Rice - ready to serve

saffron Rice - on the stove before baking

Saffron

Saffron rice is very easy to make and it is the basis for several other dishes.  However you need to buy the right kind of Saffron with the intense aroma. Saffron is the most expense herb in the world but you only need a very small portion to make this dish.  Please don’t buy the Turkish inexpensive type just for the color without the aroma.

1 cup long grain rice

1 cup jasmine rice

1 cup basmati rice

1 1/2 cup white wine

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

6 table spoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1 clove of shallot (finely chopped)

Pour olive oil in a large pan under medium heat.  Transfer garlic and shallot in the pan but make sure it doesn’t get burn.  Wash the rice and drain well.  When you can smell the aroma from the garlic, put the rice in the pan and stir well.  Season it with 3/4 tea-spoon of kosher salt and a pinch of black pepper.  In a small bowl heat up the chicken stock and white wine.  Put a pinch of saffron in the liquid but don’t let it boil.  Let it cook below boiling point for at least ten minutes (allow the saffron to release its intense aroma) and transfer it to the pan with the rice in it.  Keep stirring to avoid sticking to the bottom.  Pre heat oven to 350ºF, put a lid over the pan and transfer it in the oven for 45 minutes.  (Option – can pour in more olive oil before serving)