Soft Boiled Eggs in Soy Sauce and Rice Wine

中文版菜谱：溏心温泉蛋（米酒版）

If you are a fan of ramen noodles like me, you would be familiar with the soft boiled eggs in soy sauce and know how great they taste. 

Tonkotsu ramen is very hard and time consuming to make from scratch at home.   On the other hand, soft boiled eggs are quite simple and easy.

Making authentic Japanese style soft boiled eggs recipe requires merin, which is similar to rice wine but sweeter.  When you don’t have merin at hand (well, I guess most people in America don’t), you can always substitute with rice wine like I do.  And it works out pretty good too.

Ingredients：

8 fresh eggs
water for boiling eggs plus more for soaking
ice cubes
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup rice wine
1 1/3 cup water
salt to taste

Directions：

In a medium stainless steel pot, add water and eggs. 

Cook over high heat until water boils.  Turn off heat and cover eggs with lid immediately.  Wait for 3 to 4 minutes.  If you like egg yolks to be less runny, wait for another a couple minutes.

Fill a large bowl with water and ice

Add eggs

Add soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, salt and water to a medium pot.  Cook over medium high heat until the mixture boils. 

Remove from heat and allow it to cool down to room temperature.

Peel the eggs and soak them into soy mixture.  Cover with lid or plastic wrap.  Refrigerate overnight.

I use a small bowl to help eggs to completely submerse under soy mixture.

The second day, eggs are ready.

With a sharp knife, cut eggs open in the center

Braised Pork Feet and Chicken Hocks in Soy Sauce

中文菜谱：

红烧猪蹄鸡脚杆

Braised pork/ chicken/ beef in soy sauce are very traditional way to slow cook food in China.  Although the specific details vary from the south to the north; families to families, the essential ingredients remain the same.  Meat, soy sauce, rice cooking wine and ginger are a must for this dish. 

I learnt how to cook it by watching my grandma in the kitchen, starting with passing along soy sauce, washing ginger and building wood fire.  After a while, I could help with seasoning the meat and occasional stirring during simmer process.  I learnt from all these tiny things and daily chores that cooking can be so amazing and magical. 

The common ingredients to be braised are pork belly or other parts of pork, chicken, fish, shrimps and beef.  Technically most meat can be cooked this way.  I just personally prefer pork and chicken.

The chicken bones I use here are not really “bones”.  It is chicken hocks, the ankle part connecting chicken feet and drumsticks.  Not many Asian grocery stores sell it.  Whether and when you can buy it pretty much depends on your luck that day. (￣▽￣)”

Ingredients：

1 package of cut pork feet (about 2 to 3 pounds)
1 package of chicken bones
1 large piece of ginger root, cleaned and smashed
3 to 4 dried chili peppers，cut into pieces
1 small piece of cinnamon bark
3 to 4 star anies
1 to 2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
5 to 6 cloves
1 black cardamom，smashed
4 to 5 dried ginger
2 to 3 bay leaves
4 to 5 tablespoons rice cooking wine
salt to taste
1/4 to 1/3 cup soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
water for cooking

Directions：

Clean pork feet and chicken bones and rinse well under running water.

Add dried chili peppers, star anises, Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, black cardamom, dried ginger and bay leaves to a piece of coffee filter paper.

Tie it up to be a spice bag

Fill a large pot with cold water.  Add cut pork feet.  Cook over high heat until water boils.  Continue cooking over high heat for 7 to 8 minutes.  Drain well and rinse with hot water.

Heat a cast iron soup pot over high heat.  Add 2 to 3 quarts of water, blanched pork feet, spice bag and rice cooking wine.

Cook until the water boils.

Cover with lid.  Reduce the heat to simmer about 90 minutes.

At the same time, blanch chicken bones in boiling water for 2 minutes.

After 90 minutes, tough tissues on pork feet gradually become tender.

Add chicken bones to cook together for another 30 to 40 minutes.

Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and salt; cook together for another 5 minutes.  Tune up the heat to medium high.

Gently stir pork feet and chicken from time to time using a wood spoon.

When most the liquid in the pot has evaporated, remove from heat and serve immediately with pot. 

Anyone who hasn’t tried braised pork/chicken feet might consider it is bizarre and strange.  You have to try them yourself to know how amazing they taste.  After long hours’ braising, tough tissues and meat become soft and tender, but with a very special gelatin-like texture which makes to top of my favorite list.

I also stir fry some green vegetables to make it a delicious and nutritious meal.

Smoked Duck with Rudy’s BBQ Dry Rub

中文版菜谱：

熏鸭 （Rudy’s BBQ dry rub）

I brought back a bottle of dry rub from Rudy’s BBQ during our last visit. Their brisket and chicken BBQ tasted pretty awesome so i decided to buy their dry rub to try BBQ duck with it. Although duck is not on the menu of most BBQ restaurant, I started my experiment with it anyway because both my husband and I love duck meat so much more than chicken.  Guess what?  It turned out so great and tasty!  If you find it hard to believe, just take a look at the photos.  They would convince you how good it is (￣▽￣)”

Ingredients：

1 whole duck (about 5 to 6 pounds)
1/2 bottle of Rudy’s dry rub or your favorite brand (about 5 to 6 oz)
oak smoking chips

Directions：

Clean and rinse the duck under running water.  Pat dry with paper tower

When I was checking out in the BBQ store, I asked the cashier how much I should use for a brisket or a chicken.  She went to the person who was in charge of smoking who by the way was a very nice guy.  He told me that usually they use about 2 bottles’ amount dry rub on a whole large brisket. 

So I decide to use half bottle on my duck.

Sprinkle on duck

Massage the dry rub all over the duck, inside and out

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight

Rudy’s dry rub ingredients

The next day, preheat smoker to 225F/107C

Rudy’s use exclusively oak wood, so I go with oak wood chips too.  I always buy variety pack of smoking wood chips to go with different kinds of meat.

This tiny chicken roaster is such a great help in smoking chicken and ducks.  With it, the duck can stay vertical in the smoker so very part of duck is perfectly smoked.

Skew the duck with chicken roaster.  It works the same with chicken.

Smoke for about 5 hours or until the duck is golden brown.

Smoke coming out of the door and smoker

Make a quick inspect 3 hours into the smoking process.  If all the smoking wood chips have burnt down, refill the smoke box.

5 hours later

How good does that look?

Allow the duck to cool down and cut into small pieces with a sharp cleaver.

Smoked duck pairs better with beers.  But all I have in fridge is red wine.  That will do too.

Smoked Cornish Hen with Five-spice Powder

中文：五香熏鸡

Since the day we got the new Masterbuilt smoker earlier this year,  we've become obsessed trying different recipes smoking a variety kinds of meat O(∩_∩)O~ I did a smoked Cornish hen this time with a little bit of Asian twist in it.  It turns out gorgeous and quite tasty.  It might just  be our new favorite!

Ingredients：

1 Cornish hen
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 to 2 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups of water
salt to taste

Directions：

Add ground white pepper, rice cooking wine, sugar, soy sauce and salt to a medium bowl.  Whisk while slowly adding water to the bowl. 

Add Cornish hen.  Massage for a few seconds.  Cover with plastic wrap.

 Refrigerate overnight.  Flip the hen once or twice in between to marinate more evenly.

Preheat the smoker to 225 F/107 C

Add Cornish hen.  Smoke for about 3 hours or until it is golden brown.

I have to tell you this is one of most beautiful smoked chickens I have ever seen O(∩_∩)O~

A duck has been smoked before adding the Cornish hen to smoker.   Here is how to smoke a duck with sea salt and Sichuan peppercorns.

Smoked Duck with Sea Salt and Sichuan Peppercorns

中文食谱: 椒盐熏鸭

We recently bought an electric smoker which, after a few uses, has proven to be a great toy for foodies like my husband and me.   

We have been smoking ribs, brisket, chicken wings, chicken, duck and a lot of more since the day it was delivered to our house.  One of the best and tastiest is smoked duck with sea salt and Sichuan peppercorns.

This is our new favorite, Masterbuilt electric analog smoker.  Most electric smokers are dark colors.  I am very pleased to find this bright red one.  Isn’t it a beauty?

We were struggling between the models with and without glass front door.  A few of my husband’s friends who have serious hobby of BBQ smoking told him it wouldn’t matter after a while because the smoke will taint the glass anyway.  That helped and we ordered this one.  

We were looking for small size, 30 inches.  You might want bigger size if you have larger family than two. 

Ingredients for smoked duck：

1 frozen duck, about 5 lbs
1 to 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
2 to 3 fine sea salt, or use more or less according to personal taste

Directions：

Most ducks we can get from grocery stores are frozen.  Defrost it for a couple days in the refrigerator.  And rinse well inside and out under running water. 

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add sea salt and Sichuan peppercorns.

Sautee until the salt slightly changes its color.  At this point, you should be able to smell an intense flavor from Sichuan peppercorns too.

Rub the sea salt and Sichuan peppercorns immediately evenly inside and out.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple days.

Add smoke chips to designated smoker box.  Preheat the smoker to 225 F/107 C

Place the duck on top rack.  I use the middle rack for ribs

Close the door, sit back and relax!

When the duck is being smoked, I prepare some chicken wings coated with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, ground black pepper, ground cumin and salt.

Two hours later, add the wings to the bottom rack

The duck and ribs are looking good.

Check smoker box every couple hours.  Refill it when chips are gone.

About 5 to 6 hours’ smoking time produce a beautiful smoked duck

ribs

And good looking wings too

Hot off smoke racks

With a sharp clever knife, chop the duck into small pieces

Smoky and tasty

A cold beer makes it perfect  O(∩_∩)O~