Steamed Chicken Feet in Black Bean sauce

中文：豉汁凤爪

If you have been to any authentic Chinese dim sum restaurant, there is a great chance you might have seen people enjoying this dish not far from you.  It is a dim sum classic.  I never go to a dim sum restaurant without ordering one or two or sometimes three of them. O(∩_∩)O~ 

Chicken feet, well, they taste a lot better than they sound.  They are high in collagen which gives them the unique texture.  If you have never had one before, try to think about how ox tails taste like.  It is kind of similar.  When put it that way, chicken feet sound less bizarre, right?

Ingredients：

1 package chicken feet (available in Asian grocery store)
2 gloves of garlic
2 tablespoons fermented black beans
2 to 3 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 to 2tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon fermented tofu
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons chicken stock (optional)
salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Directions：

Ring the chicken feet under cold running water.  Remove the nails with a pair of sharp kitchen scissors .

Pat dry with kitchen tower and then deep fry them in a deep fryer until golden brown.

Be alert!  This step is highly dangerous because the oil will spatter vigorously.  Be careful not to burn yourself, or anything else.  O(∩_∩)O~

Soak the fried chicken feet in cold water for 6 to 9 hours.  If you are in a rush, you can cook them in boiling water for 30 to 40 instead.

Peel the garlic gloves and press them with a garlic press to get super fine minced garlic.   In a small bowl, add garlic, fermented black beans, oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, fermented tofu, ground white pepper, chicken stock and salt.  Mix well.

Drain the chicken feet and toss them with seasoning sauce.

Steam over low heat for 2 to 3 hours

I like to do the steam in this large 6 quarts lodge cast iron Dutch oven.  It is spacious for a large bowl and the water needed for long steaming process.

Gently toss the chicken feet with sauce a few times during steaming so that they can be evenly colored and flavored.

Serve immediately in small portions in mini bamboo steamers.  Doesn’t it bring you right back to the dim sum restaurant? O(∩_∩)O~

Brioche Bread

中文： Brioche 面包

I just can’t get enough of soft, sweet, light and fluffy bread.  Brioche is also one of my favorites.  So I never stop trying different ways to make it.

 The recipe is adapted from http://forums.huaren.us/showtopic.aspx?topicid=1400907.  According to the author, she adapted from somewhere else.  Anyway, many thanks to the both authors who have contributed to this recipe!

PS.  I didn’t expect this piece of eggy dough to rise so high in the oven.  That is why we have a giant mushroom shape loaf here. O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup warm water
3 eggs
2egg yolks
6 tablespoons softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoon yeast
1/4teaspoon salt
 

For the filling：

2/3 cup raisins
4 to 6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 to 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
egg wash for brushing the top
white sesame seeds   (optional)

Directions：

Dissolve the yeast in warm water.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Add water with yeast, eggs, egg yolks, flour, sugar and salt to the bread machine .  Start dough process.  My bread machine will knead the dough for 20 minutes.

Stop the machine after kneading by pressing stop button for seconds.  Add diced softened butter, start dough process all over again.  This time, allow the machine to knead and proof the dough as programmed.

It takes about 2 hours for the dough to double in size.

Transfer the dough to a well-floured wooden board.  Punch down and knead gently to get rid of any big air bubbles.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Equally divide the dough into 4 pieces.  With a rolling pin, roll each one flat and thin; sprinkle with brown sugar, ground cinnamon and raisins; and then roll up from one end all the way to the other end.  

Loosely braid them together.  Proof the dough again in a greased loaf pan. 

It takes about another hour or so for the dough to double in size again.

Preheat the oven to 350F/177C.  

Brush the top with egg wash.  Sprinkle with white sesame seeds.

Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the baking pan you are using.  You might need to cover the bread with a piece of foil to prevent too dark color on the top.

Sweet Rice Cake with Red Beans and Coconut Milk

中文：椰奶红豆年糕

Right now, we are celebrating the Chinese New Year.  According to the tradition, the celebration lasts for 15 days.  It is just like Christmas for American people.  We get together with families and friends, partying, eating, drinking and having a wonderful time.  And we have some traditional holiday food too.  Sweet rice cake is one of them.

Ok, I am crazy about sweet rice cakes.  I have met any sweet rice cake I don’t like.  Sweet, savory, spicy… love them all.  One of my favorites is the traditional sweet rice cake with brown sugar. I add red beans and coconut milk to add more flavor and texture.  And it turns out fantastic! 

You can serve the sliced sweet cake right away, and you can pan fry them like I do.  It is so so so good that we always have to fight for the last piece. O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients:

1 package of sweet rice flour (16 oz)
1package of red beans (12 oz)
1 3/4 to 2 cups coconut milk
1  to 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar  (use more if you have a sweet tooth)
water for boiling

I love red beans.  So I use the whole package here.  You can use half or 2/3 package.

I use light coconut milk from trader joe’s.  It tastes good and contains less fat and calories than the regular coconut milk. O(∩_∩)O~

Directions：

Add water and red beans to a medium stock pot.  Heat it on high heat.  When the water boils, reduce to medium heat and cook for 50 to 60 minutes just until the beans are tender but don’t fall apart yet.

Drain the beans well.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together sweet rice flour and dark brown sugar.

Add coconut milk and whisk just until the dry flour is gone.

With a rubber spatula, fold in cooked red beans.

Spray a round glass bowl, and line up with parchment paper.

Steam the sweet rice cake on a vegetable steamer  in a covered pot. I love to use Lodge 6 quart Dutch oven for steaming.  Steam over medium heat for about 60 to 70 minutes.

Now it is done.

Remove from glass bowl

Remove parchment paper.  Isn’t it beautiful?

You can serve it immediately.  The sweet rice cake might be sticky now.  Dip the knife into cold water with every cut.  It helps to make it easier to slice the sweet rice cake.

It is good the way it is right now.

After refrigerating for a couple days, the cake begins to harden. 

Cut into thick slices.

Heat a cast iron pan over low heat.  Add 1 to 2 teaspoons cooking oil.

Add sliced sweet rice cake.

Flip them when the bottom side is gold brown.

Flip them when the bottom side is gold brown.

Cook until both sides are golden brown.

It takes time to make great pan-fried sweet rice cake.  Heating over low heat means longer cooking time but also means they will get crunchier and crispier on the outside. 

Top with honey if you like.

Now it is time to enjoy!  It is crunchy and crispy on the outside, soft and sweet and sort of gooey on the inside.  O(∩_∩)O~

Matcha Macarons

中文： 抹茶马卡龙

Yes, I am so obsessed with macarons and I always try to perfect my recipe. O (∩_∩) O~

Through experiments, I make some tiny modifications to my previous macaron recipe.  A little bit change makes huge difference in the finished products.  You can see in the picture that the feet and the skirts improve a lot.

The matcha powder I bought just arrived.  So I make a batch of matcha macarons.

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites
110 g powder sugar
45 g granulated sugar
54 g almond flour
8 g matcha powder (super fine green tea powder)
a pinch of cream of tartar

Direction:

Combine powder sugar, matcha powder and almond flour.  Pour the mixture into food processor. 

Run the process for about 10 seconds. 

Shift the flour mixture through a flour shifter or strainer.

Discard any big almond pieces.

Add cream of tartar to the egg whites.  Beat the egg whites with an electric whisk.

Beat at low speed for about 1 minute.  Switch to medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes.  And then beat at high speed for 1 to 2 minutes.  Add sugar in three batches in between.  Stop beating when the stiff peak forms.

It takes about 5 to 6 minutes beating time for the egg whites to form stiff peaks.

Add shifted almond flour mixture.

With a rubber spatula, gently fold the flour mixture into egg whites.

Fold it gently until the batter can fall smoothly like a silky ribbon.

Prepare a 14 inch decorating bag with Wilton NO. 12 tip.  Use a wide mouth drinking glass to help the bag to stand up straight which will make it so much easier to pour the batter.

Fill the pastry bag with almond batter.

Line 2 cookie pans with silicone baking mats.

Squeeze a dollar coin size batter onto the silicone mat, about a quarter inch in height.   Repeat it until all the batter is finished. 

Tap the bottom of the cookie pan when done to smooth the cookie dough tops.

Let the pan sit on countertop until the surface becomes dry to touch.  It might take 30 to 60 minutes depending on the humidity around.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes. 

Allow the cookies to cool down on the silicone mats before removing them. 

Use any filling of your choice: jam, chocolate, cheese, nutella……….  Be creative! 

I love chocolate.  So I use chocolate gouache as the filling here.

Love the macaron feet and skirts

Time to enjoy!

Stir-fried Rice with Soy Sauce

中文： 酱油炒饭

Stir-fried rice is also one of my favorite comfort foods. You should be able to find stir-fried rice in any Chinese restaurants.  They come in so many flavors and countless combinations of meats and vegetables that there are many cooking books devoted to stir-fried rice. 

A good bowl of stir-fried rice should feed you and also satisfy you at the same time.  I learned how to cook rice when I was in elementary school.  And now I am still learning how to do it better and better.  O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients:

1 bowl of cooked rice (about 2 cups; cooked and refrigerate overnight)
2 egg yolks
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce  I use low sodium soy sauce)
1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/4  to 1/2  teaspoon oyster sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil
a pinch of sugar
a pinch of ground white pepper
2 teaspoons lard ( I use bacon fat)
2/3 diced ham
chopped green onion

Sometimes I collect excessive bacon oil when I bake bacon in the oven.  Drained and stored in an air-tight mason jar, it will last a long time in the refrigerator. 

I use it to bake some traditional flaky crispy cookies like this one.  They always come out amazing. (The cookie recipe was posted before )

I use low sodium soy sauce .  If you are using the regular one, please sample the rice a couple times when adding soy sauce and dark soy sauce.  You might need to use less.

Dark soy sauce  is usually used for food coloring.  It is not as salty as soy sauce.

Directions：

The secret to good stir-fried rice is cooked and refrigerate overnight rice.  Do not the use the freshly cooked rice because it is kind of sticky.  Trust me; you don’t want sticky rice when you are making stir-fried rice.

Break apart any large lump of rice with a wooden spoon or fork.  Try not to smash them.

Add 2 egg yolks to the rice.  With a pair of chopsticks, gently whisk them together. 

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, and then the rice with egg yolks.  Stir fry until both the rice and yolks are cooked through.  

Transfer to a plate.

If you do it right, nothing shall stick to the wok.  If you don’t, clean and rinse the wok under running water before moving on to next step. O(∩_∩)O~

Heat the wok on high heat again.  Add bacon fat.  When it melts, swirl the wok a couple times so that the bacon fat can evenly coat the bottom of the wok.  That is a very important step.

Add cooked rice.  Stir fry for a couple minutes.  The rice shall be evenly coated with bacon fat and it is kind of glowing.  Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar and oyster sauce.

Stir fry for another couple minutes.  Add ground white pepper, chopped green onion and diced ham.  Stir fry for one last minute.

Now you have a bowl of beautiful stir-fried rice with soy sauce.

I think the best way to enjoy it is to take small bites.  The umami taste comes from the combination of soy sauce, eggs, ham and rice cooked together over high heat and it is very satisfying. That is the reason why it is called comfort food. O(∩_∩)O~