Recipes


Banh Mi (Pork)

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

Beef Stroganoff

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

虾仁炒西兰花 / Shrimp and Broccoli Stirfry

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.

酸辣汤 / Hot and Sour Eggdrop Soup

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

鱼香茄子 / Eggplant in Garlic Sauce

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