Oven Roasted Chestnuts

中文:  糖烤栗子

Have you ever tried roasted chestnuts?  A lot of Asian people, including us, would enjoy fresh chestnuts in late fall season.  Cooked chestnuts taste like roasted buttercup squash, only sweeter and starchier.

My friend sent me a bag of really fresh chestnuts, so the second day I made oven roasted chestnuts.

Ingredients:

30 to 40 chestnuts
1/2 cup water
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Preheat a toaster oven  to 425F/218C

Make a shallow cut on the top each chestnut with a sharp knife or scissors. I prefer scissors for cutting chestnuts.  Add them to a round cast iron pan

Bake in the toaster oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add water and sugar to a medium pot . Heat over high heat until it boils.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add chestnuts to the pot.  Stir with a wooden spoon so that chestnuts can be evenly coated with sugar syrup.

Send the chestnuts back to oven to roast for another 15 to 20 minutes.

The whole house is filled with sweet aroma which is really nice.

Be sure to wait until the chestnuts are cool to touch. 

It is really easy to shell the chestnuts when roasted this way.  Now enjoy the sweet chestnuts! O(∩_∩)O~

Beef Shank and Tendon Stew with Dried Bamboo Shoots

中文：牛筋牛腱笋干煲

Half of the beef shank and tendon I cooked in an instant pot was used in a Daikon stew .  The other half was used in a dried bamboo shoot stew here.

Bamboo shoot is a widely used ingredient in China.  We cook it fresh when bamboo shoot is in season.  Any extra bamboo shoots can be sun-dried and used or cooked later.  Sun-dried bamboo shoot has longer shelf life.  The drying process intensify bamboo’s flavor and add chewiness, in a good way. 

I use bamboo shoot which is a gift from a friend all the way from China.  That is exactly why this dish is so so so good! O(∩_∩)O~

It is cooked almost exactly the same way as that Daikon stew.

Ingredients:

1 large piece of cooked beef shank, cut into cubes
12 pieces of cooked beef tendon, cut into cubes
dry bamboo shoots
3 to 6 fresh chili peppers, coarsely chopped
2 to 3 gloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 small piece of ginger root, sliced
2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 to 1/2 cup of soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil
salt to taste

Directions：

These bamboo shoots are from a dear friend.  But you can also find them in any Asian grocery store.  

They come in many forms. 

Soak the bamboo shoots for 1 day and rinse well under cold running water.  Cut or dice them up. 

Heat a wok over high heat; add oil, and then garlic, ginger, red chile peppers and Sichuan peppercorns;   sauté for half to a minute. 

Add beef tendon and shank cubes along with oyster sauce and rice cooking wine.  Sit fry over high heat until the liquid evaporates. It takes about 5 to 8 minutes. 

Add beef stock and bamboo shoot

When it boils again, transfer the stew to a tagine pot.  I use a Le Creuset enameled cast iron 2 quart tagine pot .  Love it very much.

Simmer over medium low heat for 15 to 20 minutes

Serve hot immediately.

During the cold winter, I love to a Staub fondue universal base  to keep stews or soups hot.  It doesn’t just look pretty but also very functional too.

Light the fire gel  up with a multipurpose lighter

Time to enjoy! O(∩_∩)O~

Beef Shank and Tendon Stew with Daikon

中文：牛筋牛腱萝卜煲

When it gets cold, I love to serve hot and bubbling dishes.  This beef shank and tendon stew with daikon is very comforting and appetizing in cold weather like now. 

Ingredients for beef stock：

2 large pieces of beef shank
4 to 5 large pieces of beef tendon
1 piece of ginger root
1 black cardamom pot
2 to 3 star anises
4 to 6 dry chile peppers, snapped or cut into pieces
2 to 3 bay leaves
3 to 4 cloves
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 pieces of dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices
1 small piece of cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon black pepper corns

For the beef stew (I use only half of the soup made from ingredients listed above):

1 large daikon, peeled and cut into cubes
3 to 6 fresh red chile peppers, coarsely chopped
2 to 3 gloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 small piece of ginger root, sliced
2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 to 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 to 1/2 cup of soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil
salt to taste

Directions：

Fill a 6 quart pot  with cold water, add beef tendon and shank.  Heat over high heat until the whole pot comes to boil.  Allow it continue to cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Drain and rinse the beef tendon and shank under running water.

Gather the spices for soup on a piece of coffee filter paper

Tie it up

Add beef tendon, shank, spice bag, ginger root, bay leaves and water to instant pot

Set it to cook under high pressure for 50 minutes.

The stock is done, fast and quick. 

With a sharp knife, cut beef tendon and shank into walnut sized pieces. 

The whole plate of meat is way too much for two of us.  So it use half of it, and save the extra meat for later use. 

Heat a wok over high heat; add oil, and then garlic, ginger, red chile peppers and Sichuan peppercorns;   sauté for half to a minute. 

Add beef tendon and shank cubes along with oyster sauce and rice cooking wine.  Sit fry over high heat until the liquid evaporates. It takes about 5 to 8 minutes. 

Add beef stock and daiko 

When it boils again, transfer the stew to a tagine pot.  I use a Le Creuset enameled cast iron 2 quart tagine pot .  Love it very much.

Simmer over medium low heat for 15 to 20 minute

Serve hot immediately.

During the cold winter, I love to a Staub fondue universal base  to keep stews or soups hot.  It doesn’t just look pretty but also very functional too.

Light the fire gel  up with a multipurpose lighter

Time to enjoy! O(∩_∩)O~

Mooncakes with Yolks and Lotus Seed Paste Fillings

中文菜谱： 蛋黄莲蓉月饼

2016 Mid-Autumn Day is September 15.  It is a traditional Chinese festival to celebrate harvest time, family and friendship.  Yes, it is kind of like Thanksgiving Day.  Mooncakes will be served as the traditional dessert on this special day. 

I love to make them from scratch every year not just because it is fun to do so, but also because I am trying to create the taste of home for my own family O(∩_∩)O~

Mooncakes with yolks and lotus seed paste may sound bizarre.  As a matter of fact, they are so tasty that they remain the number one flavor on my mooncake list.  The combination of salted duck egg yolks and sweet creamy lotus seed paste is very pleasantly balanced and wonderfully tasty. 

I posted how to make salted duck eggs before too. 

The whole salted duck egg process takes about a month.  So I made a batch one month ahead of time. 

Do not boil the eggs.  For this recipe, we need raw duck eggs.

Crack them into a small bowl. 

Spoon the yolks onto a baking pan.

Spray them with rice wine.  I use Vodka. 

Bake in an oven preheated to 375/190C for 8 minute

I am planning to use 50 g mooncake mold.  So the whole yolks need to be sliced into halves.  Otherwise, they would be too big in the cakes.

Each of them weighs between 9 to 12 g. 

The ready to use version duck yolks are available in most Chinese grocery store.  You can find them in frozen food section. 

Don’t forget to thaw them under room temperature before using.

Cut them into halves too. 

Now we can move on to lotus seed paste.

For the lotus seed paste：

300 g dried lotus seeds
water for boiling
130 to 150 g oil
280 to 300 g sugar

Boil the lotus seeds in water for about 90 minutes.  Puree them with a hand blender or in a food processor. Transfer to a nonstick pan.  Sautee over medium high heat; stir constantly.  Add sugar and oil in between.  Cook until the paste is thick and has the texture of apple butter. 

Completely cool down to room temperature before using. 

With a digital kitchen scale, divide the paste into 25 g each, 35 g each if no yolks is added later. 

Pat them down a little bit and add a piece of yolk.  My friend’s hand is posing here O(∩_∩)O~

Wrap it up.  Repeat until all yolks are done. 

The mooncake recipe is adapted from : http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=cooking&MsgID=472418

For the dough:

150 g cake flour
75 golden syrup
40 g oil
1/2 teaspoon lye water  (also available in Asian grocery store)
a pinch of salt
egg yolk wash

Preheat the oven to 375F/191C

Mix flour, syrup, oil, lye water and salt together

With a digital kitchen scale, divide it into 15 g pieces. 

Gently press them down with fingers.   Add the fillin 

And then wrap it up. 

I use 50 g mooncake molds

Use the mooncake mold to shape each of them.  Transfer to large cookie pan lined with baking mat

Bake in the oven for 5 minutes.  Take them out and brush with egg yolk wash. 

Send them back to oven to bake for another 15 minutes or until they are nicely golden brown. 

They need to sit in an air-tight box for a couple days before serving.  These extra couple days will help the mooncake to develop their flavors and textures. 

Pack them in pastry boxes and send them as nice little surprise gifts to my friends.

Happy Mid-Autumn Day! O(∩_∩)O~

Asian Style Boiled Peanuts

中文菜谱：五香水煮花生

You are still eating popcorns when watching movies or having beers with friends?  Try boiled peanuts which are tastier, healthier and so much more fun to eat! O(∩_∩)O~ 

Ingredients：

2 to 3 pounds raw peanuts with shells
3 star anises
2 to 3 teaspoons five spice powder
black cardamom pot
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1 handful dried chili peppers
1 small cinnamon stick
3 to 4 bay leaves
2 to 3 cloves
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
salt to taste*
water for boiling peanuts

* Add a little more salt than how you usually season your food.  Otherwise the peanuts in the shells might not be well seasoned.   

Directions：

Clean and rinse well the peanuts under running water.

Add peanuts along with all the spices and seasonings to a medium stainless steel boiling pot .  Add twice or three times as much water as peanuts.

Heat the pot over high heat until it boils.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for 2 to 2.5 hours.

Stir occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom.  Stirring also helps peanuts to be better seasoned. 

All we need is a couple cold beers! O(∩_∩)O~