Materials

• 500g of pork belly (五花肉), preferably one long slab
• 30g of sugar
• 20g of cooking wine
• 7g of soy sauce
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger - cut into slices
• A small section of leek
• 2 star anises
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 sticks of cinnamon
• cooking oil
• salt
• seaseme
• green onion

Instructions

1. Cut the pork belly into two equal sized pieces, put in a pot submerged in cold water, add half of the ginger slices, 10g of cooking wine, bring to boil
2. Upon boiling, skim the floating foams off of the top, let boil for 2 min
3. Remove the pork from the pot, cut into 3cm/1in cubes
4. In a separate pot, add a bit of cooking oil, place over low heat
5. Add sugar into the pan, slowly wait for it to melt. Upon melting and the formation of bubbles, add in the pork
6. Turn the heat up to medium-low, add in cooking wine quickly stir fry for 30s, add in star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger, leek, stir fry for 30s.
7. Add boiling water until everything is submerged. Turn heat down to low, simmer for 50min
8. Turn the heat up until the water boils away and the sauce is thick
9. Garnish with seaseme and green onion

Comments

It is unreasonably hard to find pork belly in American grocery stores… But almost all the Asian ones (big chains like HMart) have them.

Pork bellies is crucial because we really want each piece to have both muscle and fat for optimal taste. Remember that when cutting things into cubes!

Source

Originally from here

Materials

• 1/2 lb of pork - sliced into thin stripes
• 1/2 a long english cucumber (or any other cucumber), sliced thinly
• 1 carrot and (maybe) some daikon, sliced thinly
• Green chili peppers (optional), sliced thinly
• lemongrass aioli
• cilantro
• bread (baguette, probably)
• a pinch of minced lemongrass
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp of fish sauce
• 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil
• 1.5 tbsp of pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tbsp of cooking wine

Instructions

1. Mix the pork and marinade together (everything in the ingredient list after bread), marinade for at least 30 min (2 hr+ for best results)
2. Add oil to a flat pan, when oil is simmering, grill marinated pork on the grill. Cook until pork is nicely charred on both sides.
3. Construct the sandwich in the following order (from bottom to top): bottom bread, lemongrass aioli, pork, spicy peppers, cucumber, daikon/carrots, cilantro, top bread.

Comments

This is really a recipe on how to season pork more than anything else. So please let it marinate, be patient.

One should technically use baguette… But experimentation might yield results you personally enjoy.

Source

Originally from here

Materials

• 0.7 lb of beef sirloin or tenderloin - cut into 3/4” x 3/4” x 3” strips
• 2 small shallots - thinly sliced
• 1/2 lb of button mushrooms - cut into quarters
• 2 tbsp of flour or starch
• 1.5 tbsp of paprika
• 1.5 tbsp of pepper
• 1.5 tbsp of salt
• 12 oz wide egg noodles
• 4 tbsp of butter (unsalted)
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth
• 1/2 cup of heavy creme
• 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
• chopped parsley for garnish

Instructions

1. Mix well in a bowl: beef slices, 2 tbsp of flour/starch, 1.5 tbsp of paprika, 1.5 tbsp of salt, 1.5 tbsp of pepper.
2. Place a skillet over high heat, add oil. When oil begins to shimmer, sauté the beef slices, until it’s well browned on the outside but rare inside, transfer to a plate for later use.
3. Turn down the heat to meadium, add 1 tbsp of butter to pan, when it begins to foam, add the mushrooms, toss to coat with fat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Concurrently, bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
5. When the mushrooms has released a lot of its moisture (you’ll see a lot of liquid in the skillet, which will be boiled off), add in the sliced shallots and 1 tbsp of butter, stir to combine.
6. While you’re doing this, the pot will probably start to boil, add in the egg noodles and cook per the noodle’s instruction, drain upon finished.
7. When the mushroom and shallot are soft and caramelized, deglaze the pan with vermouth, when the wine has reduced by about half, slowly stir in the cream, mix well.
8. Add the Worcestershire sauce, stir well, then add Dijon mustard, stir well.
9. Add the meat along with the juices, mix well with the sauce, until the beef is cooked.
10. Serve the noodles under the stroganoff, sprinkle with parsley on top.

Comments

A mistake I made early on is slicing the strips too thin and overcooking them. Having a thick strip allows you to see the interior color of the beef and not overcook it too early. Remember that the beef get cooked twice, so it doesn’t have to be all the way done the first time around, o/w it’ll be very dry in the end.

The choice of vermouth is perhaps arbitrary. I like the aroma it adds, but YMMV.

This is a side comment on seasoning meat in general – don’t be afraid of using (washed) hand to mix things together. Almost guaranteed better results.

When I say ‘slowly stir in the cream’, I mean really slowly. 1/2 cup isn’t that much to begin with, but I’d recommend 4 small drips.

Sounrce

Originally from here

Materials

• 1 (small) head of broccoli, tore apart into small pieces with the stem removed
• 1 carrot, sliced into edible sections
• .5 lb of shrimp, remove head and shrimp line
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp of starch
• 1.5 tbsp of salt
• 1/4 cup of cooking wine

Instructions

1. Mix in a bowl the following: 1.5 tbsp of salt, 1 tbsp of starch, shrimp, diced garlic, set aside to marinate
2. Bring a pot of water to boil, upon boiling, add in broccoli and carrot for 15s, get them out of the pot and set aside.
3. Add oil to (a different) pan over medium heat, once the pan is hot, add marinated shrimp
4. Stirfry until the shrimp is still somewhat transparent, add in cooking wine, continue to stirfry
5. When the shrimp curls up and is fully non-transparent, add in the broccoli & carrot
6. Bring the heat up to high to boil away the excess moisture
7. Bring the heat down, add salt to taste, and plate

Comments

I am personally very against adding soy sauce to this dish. Not for any real (read as: taste-related) reason, but just that I don’t like the shrimp + soy sauce coloration.

When I was growing up, this dish was considered a very healthy dish for reasons that I don’t fully understand. Thought it might be worth mentioning.

Family recipe.

Materials

• 1 tomato - diced
• 1 box of silky tofu - sliced into thin strips
• ~5 shiitake mushrooms - sliced into thin strips
• ~8 wood ear
• small amount of enoki mushroom, tore apart
• 2 eggs
• 2 sticks of green onion
• cilantro
• 3 tbsp of starch
• salt
• a pinch of pepper flakes
• a lot of white pepper
• 2 tbsp of vinegar
• 1.5 tbsp of soy sauce
• some amount of boullion (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut tofu, tomato, fungi into designated pieces, mix starch with water, beat the eggs in a bowl, cut green onion into little pieces
2. Add oil to pan over medium heat, when hot, add tomato and stir fry until the juices come out
3. Add two bowls of boiling water, and add the fungi and tofu, turn heat to high, bring to boil
4. Add salt, pepper flakes, soy sauce, boullion, then slowly pour in the beaten eggs, stirring the entire time to form the egg drop
5. Add in starchy water, mix well
6. Turn the heat down to a simmer, right before turning the heat off, add white pepper flakes and vinegar, serve, garnish with cilantro and green onion on top.

Comments

The amount (and variety) of fungi you use is up to you. Honestly the core ingredient of tofu, tomato, shiitake, and white pepper stands on its own.

Source

Originally from here

Materials

• 3 eggplants, sliced into thin strips
• 100g of ground meat (beef or pork or chicken or plant-based substitutes)
• 2 stalks of green onion, minced
• 2 slices of ginger, minced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 hot peppers, minced
• 1 tbsp of sweet bean pastew
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 1 tbsp of oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1 tbsp of starch
• half of bowl of water
• lots of cooking oil

Instructions

1. Mix the ‘fish sauce’: mix the following in a bowl: soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar, starch and water
2. Add above average amount of oil to pan, turn the heat to high, add in the sliced eggplants and cook until it turns a bit yellow, set aside
3. Add the ground meat, stir fry until cooked
4. Add in green onion, ginger, garlic, and hot pepper, stir fry until aromatic
5. Add in sweet bean paste, mix well
6. Add in eggplant + fish sauce, mix well
7. Cook until fish sauce is reduced, plate when the sauce is thick

Comments

As with some of the other recipes here, this can easily switch between vegetarian versus non-vegetarian depending on what ground pork you use. I personally think beyond beef ground beef works just fine (even better, tbh) as a vegetarian substitute.

Asian (I guess Chinese, at least) eggplants are long and thin. American eggplants are much larger and rounder. I think the Asian variety works a lot better for this dish because the texture of eggplant skin + meat is preserved on each slice. But the American variety probably works fine.

Source

Originally from here

Materials

• 200g of beef - sliced into thin strips
• half of an onion - cut into thin slices
• 2 bell peppers (perferably different color for looks)
• 1 thai spicy pepper - minced
• 3 cloves of garlic - minced
• some ginger, grated
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of cooking wine
• 1 tablespoon of starch
• pinch of sugar (optional)
• black pepper peper
• white seaseme seeds

Instructions

1. Mix the following in a bowl: beef, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, starch, some black pepper, a pinch of sugar (optional). Marinate for 30 min+
2. Add oil to wok, when oil is heated, pan fry the marinated beef to ~half cooked.
3. Remove the beef from the wok, add in bell peppers, onion, and spicy pepper, stir fry until cooked
4. Add back in the beef strips, season with black pepper
5. Garnish with white seaseme seeds

Comments

Depending on if you want/like spicy food, you may want to skip the spicy pepper.

Materials

• 1 can of cannelli beans (without liquid)
• 1 can of chickpeas (with liquid)
• 1 cup of oat milk
• 1 tablespoon starch
• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 bayleaf
• a pinch of chinese five spice powder
• grated parmesan cheese
• red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Skin and break apart the head of garlic, cut/crush each clove into 1-2 large pieces
2. In a pot, melt butter over medium high heat, add garlic, cook until golden brown
3. Add oat milk, chickpeas and their liquid, white beans, thyme, bay leaf, five spice, and stir to combine
4. When mixture begins to bubble around the edges, reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 30 min.
5. While simmering, mix starch in a bowl with a bit of water, pour into the pot, stir until broth thickens.
6. Season with salt + pepper to taste.
7. Remove the bay leaf, set aside until cool enough to handle, garnish with red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese.

Comments

The red pepper flake adds a lot of flavor, do not skip over just because it’s a garnish.

The orginal recipe called for whole milk instead of oat milk + starch. I am lactose-intolerant so I’ll always prefer the dairy-free recipe. But YMMV.

Source

Originally from here.

Substitued Oat Milk + Starch for whole milk.