CLASSIC PEANUT BUTTER CAKE I’m struck by how quickly the years have passed. What a difference a year makes. A period before airport security queues, broken Skype talks, long-distance email threads, and increasingly regular discussions about the “future,” to be precise. I worry that as I get older, my memories will fade away until more […]

SICHUAN DRY FRIED STRING BEANS A comment from a reader sparked the idea for this dish. When I asked her about it, she said that Sichuan Dry Fried String Beans or Gan Bian Si Ji Dou are made with dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. Sui mi ya cai, a traditional Chinese preserved vegetable dish, […]

STIR-FRY BROCCOLI WITH  GARLIC When it comes to broccoli, this is the first time you’ve had it this way. A broccoli stir-fry is one of the best examples of Chinese cuisine’s ability to make veggies taste fantastic. The fact of the matter is, we don’t want to brag about ourselves too much here, but it’s just […]

GARLIC NOODLES FROM ASIAN COUNTRIES To make this savory dish, combine a few Western and Asian staples you probably already have in your kitchen, such as garlic noodles and sesame oil. They are both delicious and nutritious as a side dish or as a vegetarian main dish with some bok choy or fried broccoli! WHAT […]

DARK CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN SCONES Flourish, King Arthur Flour’s baking blog, and pumpkin are two of our recent obsessions. In the past, we’ve made pumpkin doughnuts (or at least a fair imitation employing mini muffin pans and a creative mental transference from a muffin to a doughnut hole), but our desire for the vivid orange gourd […]

DIM SUM TRIPE STEW You either love Dim Sum Tripe Stew, or you don’t want to touch it with a 10-foot rod. Can you guess which group I belong to? You’ll learn all about it if you keep reading! This dish is known in Cantonese as niu za (), pronounced phonetically as ngau tzop (excuse […]

PERFECT DUMPLING SAUCE A Chinese dumpling is one of the world’s finest culinary creations. Whether fried, steamed, or boiled, dumplings are best served with a contrasting sauce that complements the juiciness of the ingredients inside the chewy, thin dough. Ideally, dumplings should be served with a dipping sauce, however, this isn’t always the case. SAUCE […]

HOW TO MAKE DUCK SAUCE Fresh, preservative-free ingredients allow you to customize this recipe for homemade duck sauce to suit your tastes. The best part is that it is created with real ingredients and does not include high fructose corn syrup. I worked in a number of Chinese restaurants in the 1980s that provided duck […]

STUFFED MUSHROOMS IN A SNAP The basic version of filled mushrooms is the simplest to prepare, and it is also the tastiest, in my view! SIMPLE CAN TIMES BE BETTER. In other words, what’s the key to a delicious stuffed mushroom recipe? Just a few simple ingredients––no magic ingredient––are all needed to make these filled […]

THE DAN DAN NOODLES Before we get started, I’d like to make one thing clear. I don’t claim to be an expert in every Chinese food. What a huge country we live in! When I’m determined to master a dish (typically one I adore), I do a lot of studies first. Research the dish’s history, compare […]

DRY POT CAULIFLOWER The Pot Is Empty. We have eaten cauliflower innumerable times in Chinese restaurants. When we go out to dine, this is the veggie we order. With a bit of spice, saltiness, and the addition of pork belly, we learned that cauliflower could be wonderfully delicious. HOW COME CAULIFLOWER IS DESCRIBED AS A […]

GARLIC CHIVE STIR FRY WITH PORK “Flies’ Heads” is the direct translation of Chinese for “Garlic Chive Stir-Fry with Pork,” or Cang Ying Tou. This is only the tip of the iceberg. When this meal was given the name “flies’ heads,” someone wasn’t paying attention to the dish’s appearance or intended audience. That person, however, […]

SPARE RIBS IN DIM SUM SAUCE WITH BLACK BEANS My favorite dim sum dish is steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce. As children, we eagerly anticipated our trips to Chinatown for dim lunch. Ah…a long time ago now, that was. Steamed spare ribs were also a favorite of my daughters, nieces, and nephews when […]

FUNFETTI ICE CREAM SANDWICHES Things may become snippy when you’re running a culinary blog with your family. Irritation? Shouting? Fights that go all the way to the ground? This is all part of the “creative process,” if you will, in our kitchen. Things can quickly escalate over ANYTHING when you’re slaving over hot stoves all […]

CURRYING BOK CHOW WITH GARLIC SAUCE This garlic-spiced baby bok choy stir-fry is one of our favorite ways to eat the vegetable. It’s fast, simple, and nutritious all at the same time. Garlic baby bok choy is a tasty vegetable side dish to serve alongside grilled meats and fish when grilling season arrives. As a […]