The Taste of Home (Sichuan, China)

中文： 四川家常菜：家的味道

The Chinese New Year holiday is coming soon.  It is like Christmas to Americans.  Families and friends get together to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.   It is also the time that can make us really homesick. I miss everything back home, especially my grandma’s kitchen.  That is the taste of home I can’t recreate here in America.    

My husband grew up in Sichuan, China.  It locates in the southeast of China.  It is mostly famous for Sichuan cuisine which is hot, spicy and tasty.  These are part of the food photos I took during our last trip back home.  They are actually from my mother-in-law’s kitchen.  They all taste so good.  That is right; the secret ingredient is love! 

I might not be able to translate every dish’s name here. But I can assure you they are all fantastic!

Garlic chives and pork

Peppers and pork

Smoked aged pork

Sichuan sausages

pork

More aged pork are in process.  

Spicy cucumber salad

beef

Smoked pork

One of the local salads.  It has a unique and distinctive smell and flavor.  

Freshly harvested vegetable

pork

Chicken and duck feet

pork

Pork again

Chinese celery and pork. 

Hot pepper and pork

Sichuan sausage.  I can literally eat it every day and never be tired of it. 

Salad 

Cucumber salad

Stir-fried vegetable 

Dried beans braised with chicken stock

Rice cakes

pork

Oyster mushrooms and chicken soup

We visited father-in-law’s brother.  They were busy preparing vegetable pickles.  It is a great way to preserve vegetables.

Sundried vegetable

Fresh ones

The vegetable hearts are the best part.  The leaves will become dinner for farm raised pigs. 

Deep fried fish

Smoked beef

goose

Sweet rice

Taro roots

Pork and daikon soup

pork

Dried tofu and garlic chives

Pork and garlic chives

Pork and mixed vegetable

Stir-fried vegetable

Smoked pork

Dates and white mushroom soup

Corn cakes

pork

Lotus roots

Hot and spicy pepper with diced beef

Chicken and duck feet

Pork and celery

goose

Celery and pork

Hot peppers and pork

Pork and white garlic chives

Pickled duck eggs

Smoked pork

Sichuan sausage again.

pork

Pork and celery

It is been such a great and wonderful trip!O(∩_∩)O~

Coco Swirl Steamed Buns

中文菜谱: 可可双色馒头卷

When I was a child, my mom always handed me a little piece of dough when I volunteered to help out in the kitchen.  I got creative with it, turning it into a bunny, a daisy flower, or whatever I could think of.  They were not at all vivid or pretty judging from an adult’s view point, but my mom was so happy to see my little creations.   Well, that might be the very starting point of my interest in cooking.

I did these coco swirl buns before.  What is different is that I use a pasta roller this time, so that the rolls are smoother and better looking, I think. 

For white dough:

2 cups of bread flour
2/3 cup + 1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk
2/3 to 1 teaspoon yeast
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
flour to dust

For coco dough:

2/3 cup bread flour
2 tablespoon coco powder
1/3 cup + 1 to 2 teaspoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon yeast
2 to 3 tablespoon sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
flour to dust

Directions:

Microwave the milk for 25 to 30 until lukewarm. Dissolve the yeast with milk.

Add bread flour, sugar and salt for white dough to stand mixer bowl (I use KitchenAid Professional 600, good reviews on amazon); whisk well; add milk and yeast, along with vegetable oil.  Turn on the mixer.  Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.  That may take 8 to 10 minutes at speed 2. 

I knead the coco dough with hands.  In a large bowl, add bread flour, coco powder, sugar, and salt; mix well; add milk and yeast, along with vegetable oil. Whisk with hand until flour and milk come together.  Transfer the dough to a board dusted with flour; knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Cover both dough with plastic wrap.  Proof until they double in size.  It takes 60 to 80 minutes. 

Dust a kneading board with flour.  Punch down the dough, gently knead them into a ball again.  Cover them and let them rest another 10 minutes. 

With the pasta roller running on stand mixer, run the dough sever times.  The thickness for white dough is 1, 3 for the coco dough.

Place the coco dough sheet on top of white dough sheet, and roll from the long end like a sushi roll.

Don’t they look nice and smooth?

With a sharp knife, cut them into 2 inches wide rolls.

Line the bamboo steamer with little parchment paper (you can find this on amazon) squares.  Bamboo or stainless steel steamers are available in Asian grocery store or amazon.

Place one dough roll on each parchment paper square.

Cover the proof the rolls for the second time.  It takes about 25 to 35 minutes.

Heat a large pot with water over high heat.  Place the bamboo steamer on top of a large pot filled with water.  Steam over high heat until the water boils.  Reduce to medium heat and steam for another 8 to 10 minutes. 

Aren't they cute?

I just love the looks.  And the taste is great too. O(∩_∩)O~

Latte Coffee with a Pinch of Coco Powder

中文菜谱：拿铁咖啡

We now drink mostly black coffee.  Occasionally I make latte or cappuccino coffee.

Coffee: steamed milk: foamed milk is about 1:1:2.  I posted before how to make espresso here:

The coffee is creamy and smooth. I add a pinch of coco powder on the top. 

Americano Coffee

中文菜谱： 美式咖啡

Both my husband and I enjoy a couple cups of coffee together every day.  We drink decaf.  But good decaf coffee beans are really hard to find.  To my surprise, we found a good one during a visit trip to my sister and brother-in-law in Colorado.   They introduced us to a local organic store coffee.  It tastes good. So we left Colorado with six bags of these organic decaf coffee beans in my carry-on luggage. 

About two months later, they are almost all gone.  So my sister sent me more coffee beans, along with two pounds of black lentil beans we use to make lentil sprouts.  (It is posted before here: http://www.yankitchen.com/english-blog/lentilsproutssalad)

Coffee time!

I didn't realize I misplaced the bottom stainless steel board until we finished our coffee。。。。。This machine has excellent reviews in amazon, see here.

My husband is making coffee, so I have all the time to take pictures.

Love the crema.

We are not that into espresso.   So we add hot water to make our favorite Americano coffee. 

It does smell and taste really good. 

Hot and Spicy Diced Chicken

中文菜谱： 辣子鸡丁

This is my number one comfort food.  As a matter of fact, all hot and spicy food can be my comfort food.  But this hot and spicy chicken gets the crown.

Chicken thighs are perfect for making this dish.  They are tasty and tender, and they don’t easily get dry when frying.   

My husband is from Sichuan, China.  That is a place most famous for hot and spicy food in China. (Yes, they also have panda there too.)  Sichuan pepper corn gets its name because they have the best quality pepper in Sichuan. 

After living together for a long time, I find myself crazily in love for hot and spicy food too!  We both learn to like what the other likes to eat.  That is good. 

Ingredients:

6 to 8 chicken thighs
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2  teaspoon dried ginger powder/ or freshly ground ginger
freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 cups of dried chili pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons Sichuan pepper corns
3 to 4 gloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 green onions; keep the white part and chop coarsely
1 small piece of ginger, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
salt to taste
oil for deep frying and cooking

Directions:

Remove the fat, bones and skin from chicken thighs, and cut into half inch cubes. 

Place chicken in a large bowl, add soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, ginger, salt and black pepper, mix well, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. 

Heat a wok filled with oil over high heat.  Fry the chicken in several batches until they are golden brown.  Drain well.

Heat another wok over medium low heat; add oil along with garlic and ginger. When garlic turns slightly golden brown, add Sichuan pepper corns and dry chili peppers. Fry them in oil for 1 minute; add fried chicken; season with salt.  Stir fry chicken and pepper over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes.  Add sesame seeds and keep stir frying for another couple minutes.  Serve immediately. 

It goes great with icy cold beer!