Steamed Beef and Buttercup Squash

 中文：南瓜盅粉蒸牛肉

My favorite squash is Kabocha squash, but unfortunately it is seldomly available in the city I live in.  So I always go with buttercup squash, which can closely resemble a Kabocha squash.  When cooked, the flesh is a little bit dry, sweet, and mild; and tastes like something between sweet potato and chestnut. 

I like to steam a buttercup squash whole with skin on.  The tough skin can keep the steam moisture out so that the flesh doesn’t get soggy.  I also like to steam it with meat.  The mild squash flavor goes well with pork, beef or chicken. 

Ingredients：

1 medium sized buttercup squash
1/2 lb chuckeye beef
1/4 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 to 1 tablespoon spicy bean sauce (available in Asian grocery store)
1/2 teaspoon rice cooking wine
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 piece of fermented bean curd (available in Asian grocery store)
1/4 cup chicken stock
salt to taste

Directions：

Thinly slice the beef.  In a bowl, add beef, white ground pepper, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sesame oil, fermented soy bean curd and salt; mix well and let the beef marinate for at least 20 minutes. 

Cut off about 1/5 of the squash.  With a spoon, take the seeds and any inside squash tissue. 

Heat a wok over medium low heat with rice and Sichuan peppercorns in it.  Stir occasionally until the rice turns slightly brown.  Grind the rice and Sichuan peppercorns in a coffee grinder for 5 to 6 seconds. The rice should be coarsely ground now.  The Sichuan peppercorns will add a bit of kicks to it.

Add ground rice and chicken stock to the beef; mix well again.  Make sure each piece is evenly coated with ground rice. 

Stuff the squash with marinated beef. 

Steam it for 50 to 60 minutes. 

Cut the squash into 8 or 10 slices.  Serve immediately.  

Asian Style Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms

 中文： 小鸡炖蘑菇

This is one of my favorite ways to cook young hen or chicken.  The broth is loaded with intense chicken and mushroom flavor.  It is really the go-to comfort food during chilly season. 

Ingredients：

1organic Cornish hen (can also be substituted with 6 chicken wings or drumpsticks)
1 package of crab mushrooms (150g, available in Asian grocery store)（约454克）
2 packages of enoki mushrooms (100g/3.5 oz each, also available in Asian grocery store)
1 piece of ginger, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
3 to 4 fresh chili peppers
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1 star anise
5 to 6 tablespoon soy sauce
1 to 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons rice cooking wine
2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
4 to 6 dried Asian dates (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoon cooking oil
salt and black pepper to taste
2 cups of boiling water

Directions：

Trim the mushroom roots. Wipe clean with damn kitchen paper tower or rinse quickly under running water.

With a sharp cleaver, dice the Cornish hen into 1 by 2 inches pieces.  Soak in a large bowl of water for 20 to 30 minutes.  Rinse and drain well.

Heat a large wok over high heat.  Add oil and sugar.  Wait for the sugar to melt and become amber color.  Add chicken and stir fry for a couple minutes.  Add ginger, chili pepper, Sichuan peppercorns and star anise; continue to stir fry until the chicken is golden brown. 

Add boiling water along with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine and dates.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for 30 to 35 minutes.  Add mushrooms and salt to taste. Cook over high heat until the broth is boiling again.  Continue to cook over medium heat for another five to six minutes. 

I love to serve it in a mini cast iron wok which my husband brought back from China.  It can be heated over a candle or chafing dish fuel so that the whole dish can stay hot for the entire meal.  That is really comforting in cold winter. O(∩_∩)O~ 

Stir-fried spicy pork and daikon

中文： 五花肉炒萝卜干

Pork belly and daikon, two of my favorite ingredients, can create such a wonderful flavor when they are stir fried together.  I air dry the daikon first, and then rehydrate it with water.  The dehydration and rehydration process makes daikon more al dente and chewy.  The daikon flavor is also more intense by doing so. 

Ingredients：

1 piece of pork belly (about 1 1/2pound)
1 1/2 cup dried daikon (also available in Asian grocery store)
2/3 cup dried red chili peppers
2 teaspoons Sichuan pepper corns
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
3 to 4 tablespoon chicken stock/ water
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
chopped onion
2 to 3 tablespoons oil for cooking
salt to taste

Directions：

Dried daikon is available in Asian grocery store.  You can also make it at home.  It is very easy.  All you need to do is to peel the daikon, cut it into string cheese size pieces and then air dry in a food dehydrator and under the sun.  I prefer to air dry daikon pieces under the hot summer sun.  It takes two to three days to get dried inside and out.

Keep any extra dried daikon in Ziplock bag and store in the refrigerator.  It should be able to last a really long time. 

Two hours before cooking, soak dried dakai in water.  After it is totally rehydrate, rinse a couple times under running water.

Thinly slice the pork belly.

Dried red chili peppers are sometimes covered in dust.  I like to rinse and drain them and then cut into pieces.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, and then add sliced pork belly.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.  Stir fry over high heat until the pork turns slightly golden brown.  Add garlic, Sichuan peppercorns.  Stir fry until the spices are toasted with pork fat.  Add daikon; stir fry for another couple minutes; add chicken stock/ water, oyster sauce, rice cooking wine and salt.  Continue to stir fry until all the liquid is absorbed by pork and daikon.  Sprinkle with chopped green onion and transfer to a big bowl or plate.  Serve immediately. 

It is the perfect combination. O(∩_∩)O~

Pork and Shiitake Mushroom Meat Sauce

中文菜谱： 香菇肉燥

I made a batch of pork and shiitake mushroom meat sauce.  It goes great with rice, noodles and stir-fry.  I once even made Chinese version sloppy joes with it, and it turned out awesome too!

Shiitake is widely popular in Asian countries.  I think it might be the most beloved mushroom there.  The fresh ones have silky, smooth texture. They are my husband’s favorite.  When cooked, they just melt in your mouth.  The dried ones have more intense aroma because of the dehydration process.  They are used in soup, porridge, and dumplings. 

This recipe calls for dried shiitake mushrooms.  They are available in every Asian grocery store.  Yes, that is how much we love them. 

Ingredients:

240 to 300g grounded pork shoulder
 1 medium purple onion, peeled and minced
6 to 8dried shiitake mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 slice of fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder (available in Asian grocery store)
one pinch of white pepper powder
2 tablespoons cooking rice wine
3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 to 1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 to 2 cups water
salt to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons oil for cooking

Directions:

Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in water for at least 1 hour.  Drain the water through a coffee filter or cheese cloth.  Set the water aside for later use.

Chop mushrooms finely  with a food processor. 

Heat a wok over medium high heat. Add oil.  Add garlic and ginger.  When the garlic turns color, add ground pork. Stir fry over high heat for a couple minutes; add rice cooking wine and white pepper.  Continue to stir fry until the pork is golden brown. About 4 to 6 minutes. 

Add onion; cook until the onion turns transparent. Add shiitake mushroom, along with five spice powder, sugar, soy sauce and salt to taste.  Stir fry for 1 minute; add water which is used to soak shiitake mushrooms and drained before.  

When it comes to boil, cover with wok lid, and reduce the heat to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Stir once in a while to prevent burning. 

It goes great with almost everything.  My favorite choice is a bowl of freshly cooked rice. 

Spinach Cavatelli Noodles with Pork and Dried Daikon

中文菜谱: 菠菜猫耳朵面

There is about 1/3 bunch spinach left in the refrigerator.  It is not enough to do any stir frying, so I make some spinch cavatelli noodles out of it.

As a matter of fact, in Chinese there is another cute interesting name for noodles in this shape: cat’s ears.  Those pointed tips do look like cat’s ears.   

Ingredients:

1/3 bunch spinach
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cup bread flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 cup water
boiling water and a pinch of salt (for blanching spinach)

Directions：

Fill a large bowl with water and ice.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add a pinch of salt and spinach.  Get the spinach out as soon as the color turns dark green, and shock it with iced water.

Drain the spinach.  Place it to vitamix (from amazon) container; add water and blender until smooth; the smoother the better.  

Add flour, salt, spinach mixture and oil to a KitchenAid mixing bowl (from amazon).

Turn on stand mixer, and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. 

Place dough on a board dusted with flour; shape it into a ball; covered and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes. 

With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch in height. Cut it into thumb nail sized squares. 

Divide them and dust with flour again.

On a gnocchi paddle (from amazon), push down those tiny dough squares and push forward at the same time. You will get those little cute cat ears with marks. 

Dust with flour so that they won’t stick together. 

Every time I make them, that sensational scene from Godfather comes to my mind.   Vincent Mancini and Mary Corleone were making gnocchi.  

It is really nice to cook and enjoy a lovely dinner with your loved one, isn’t it? 

Ok, let’s get back to our cat ears.

Ingredients:

1 piece pork shoulder, (3 to 5 oz) , thinly sliced
a handful of dried chili pepper, cut into halves
1/2 cup dried daikon (available in Asian grocery store), diced
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper
2 to 3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
2 gloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced or minced
2 to 3 chicken stock or water
freshly ground black pepper
1/4  teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
2 to 3 tablespoon oil for cooking
water (for boiling noodles)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add a pinch of salt and spinach noodles.  Cook until they float, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain them well.

Heat a wok over medium high heat; add oil, garlic and Sichuan pepper corns.  When garlic turns color, add pork, salt, black pepper and rice cooking wine.  Stir fry over high heat until the pork is golden brown.  Add spinach noodles, salt, soy sauce, sugar to taste.  Stir in chicken stock, and cook together for another 1 or 2 minutes. 

Serve immediately. 

Freeze any extra raw noodles and store them in a sealed Ziploc bag. 

Just love the color and taste.