Spinach Velvet Soup
serves 4
This soup does not reheat well. Do not prepare too far in advance or it will lose its beautiful bright green color.
PROCEDURE
serves 4
This soup does not reheat well. Do not prepare too far in advance or it will lose its beautiful bright green color.
PROCEDURE
- 1 Remove stems from spinach, rinse thoroughly, and drain.
- 2 Heat 2 quarts (1.9 l) water to a boil; add sugar and spinach, stirring until water boils again. Immediately drain in a colander, running cold water over the spinach to stop the cooking process.
- 3 Squeeze spinach leaves to extract as much water as possible. Julienne finely; do not use a blender.
- 4 Beat egg whites with water until smooth but not foamy.
- 5 Mix tapioca powder and ¼ cup (2 ounces, 60 ml) stock.
- 6 Heat remaining stock over high heat, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Add half the ham and ginger juice and cook 4 minutes. Turn heat to high and add the spinach, stirring until it returns to a boil.
- 7 Season soup and add the tapioca powder mixture. Stir until the soup thickens (creamy).
- 8 Remove from heat and whirl in the egg whites. Do not stir for 30 seconds, then stir to mix. Add sesame oil and vegetable oil.
- 9 Pour soup into bowls and garnish with remaining ham. Adjust seasoning. Serve immediately.
Char Siu
Cantonese Roast Pork
serves 4
PROCEDURE
Cantonese Roast Pork
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Trim fat from meat and cut into 1 × 1 × 8 inch strips(2.4 × 2.4 × 20 cm).
- 2 Combine all marinade, ingredients; mix well. Add pork and toss to cover with marinade. Cover and set at room temperature for at least 1 hour or refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Turn every 30 minutes or so.
- 3 Thread pieces of pork lengthwise on skewers, using pieces of carrots as the end pieces to keep the pork from sliding off.
- 4 Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Fill a shallow roasting pan with 1 inch (2.4 cm) boiling water to catch dripping and to prevent smoking. Place pan on the lowest rack in the oven and hook skewers to the highest rack, each 2 inches (4.8 cm) apart. Roast meat for 40 minutes.
- 5 Turn oven to 450°F (232°C). Mix the honey and mirin. Remove skewers from oven and brush with honey mixture, then sesame oil.
- 6 Empty the water from the roasting pan and return to the oven. Hang the skewers as before and roast 10 minutes. Remove.
Char Sui Bau Steamed Pork Buns
yield: 12 buns (dough for up to 24 buns) PROCEDURE Filling
yield: 12 buns (dough for up to 24 buns) PROCEDURE Filling
- 1 Heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the shallots 2 minutes or until light brown. Add the flour, stir to combine, and cook 1 minute.
- 2 Add the chicken stock, stir well, and cook 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook one minute.
- 3 Remove from heat and stir in cut pork and seasoning ingredients. Chill until very firm.
- 1 Dissolve sugar in warm water, sprinkle yeast over; let stand for 2 to 3 minutes, and then stir to mix well. Let set until it starts of foam, 10 minutes.
- 2 Sift flour and make a well in the center. Combine lard, extra-fine sugar, yeast mixture, and milk; mix well. Combine liquid mixture with the flour; gradually incorporate the flour with the liquid to make dough.
- 3 Knead the dough for 10 minutes, sprinkling with flour as necessary.
- 4 Use the oil to grease the dough; cover and let rest in a warm area 1½ hours or until double in size.
- 5 Punch dough down and flatten out to about ¾ inch (1.8 cm) thick. Spread the baking powder mixture evenly on the dough (this acts as a stabilizer). Roll dough up and knead about 15 minutes, or until smooth and satiny. The dough should be firmer than regular white bread dough.
- 6 Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
- Dough Breaking
- 1 Divide dough into four equal parts. Roll one part by hand to form a rope approximately 9 (22.5 cm) inches long and 1¼ inchs in (3.12 cm) diameter.
- 2 Mark into 6 equal parts, 1½ -inch (3.75 cm) long.
- 3 Holding the dough with one hand, grip at the first mark with the thumb and index finger of the other hand and tear away briskly to break off a small dough piece. Continue breaking off until you have 12 pieces.
- 1 Flatten each piece of dough with your palm.
- 2 Using a rolling pin, roll each into a round disc, making a quarter turn with each roll.
- 3 Roll to leave the center thick; thinner edges are easier to pleat.
- 1 Place about 1½ tablespoons (¾ ounce, 21 g) of filling at the center of each dough round, flat side up.
- 2 Gather the edges by first pleating counterclockwise, then twisting to seal securely.
- 3 Let rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes.
- Cooking
- 1 Steam on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not uncover the steamer any time during the steaming. If a flat-lid steamer is used, wrap the lid with a kitchen towel to prevent condensed steam from dripping on the buns.
Stir-Fried Squid with Fermented Black Bean Paste
serves 4Chef Tip Squid is cut (scored) because as it cooks it rolls up, and the crosshatching cuts will catch and hold the sauce.
PROCEDURE
serves 4Chef Tip Squid is cut (scored) because as it cooks it rolls up, and the crosshatching cuts will catch and hold the sauce.
PROCEDURE
- 1 To clean squid, grip the head in one hand and the body in the other. Gently pull the head away from the body. The ink sac will come out at the same time. Pull out the yellow jelly pouch and the translucent center bone inside the body.
- 2 Reserve only the body for this recipe and discard the rest or keep the tentacles for some other use. Open up the body cavity and under running water rub the purplish outer skin with fingers, peeling it off. On larger squid, the skin tends to be tough when cooked.
- 3 Rub and squeeze the squid with salt; rinse and drain well.
- 4 Turn the inner side of a piece of squid up, scoring gently on the diagonal at ¼ inch (.6 cm) intervals, forming a diamond pattern.
- 5 Bring 6 cups (1.4 l) water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the squid immediately. Stir once and pour into a colander to drain. Arrange in a single layer on paper towels and pat dry.
- 6 Prepare ingredients for sauce and set aside.
- 7 Set wok over high heat; when very hot; add the oil. Add the ginger, garlic, and chile; stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add the bean paste and cook 10 seconds. Add the bell peppers and onions; stir-fry 1 minute.
- 8 Add squid and stir-fry 45 seconds. Push squid and vegetables to the side, restir the sauce mixture, and add to the center of the wok, stirring until thickened. Sizzle in the wine along the edges, stir to mix all ingredients, and glaze with sesame oil.
- 9 Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, mix well, and serve.
Buddha's Delight
serves 4
Adapted from Louhan Zhai , the vegetarian dish for the five hundred disciples sworn to protect the Buddhist way.
PROCEDURE
serves 4
Adapted from Louhan Zhai , the vegetarian dish for the five hundred disciples sworn to protect the Buddhist way.
PROCEDURE
- 1 If using dried mushrooms, soak them in ½ cup (4 ounce, 120 ml) of warm water for about 15 minutes or until soft. Trim the stems and tough ends. Squeeze to extract moisture from shiitake. Reserve mushroom liquid; strain through cheesecloth.
- 2 Blanch all the vegetables individually in boiling water, rinse with cold water and reserve.
- 3 Cut the bamboo shoots finely into ⅛ × ⅛ × 1½ inch (.3 × .3 × 3.6 cm) shreds. Drain and pat dry with paper towel.
- 4 Set wok or heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat. When hot, add 2 tablespoons (1 ounce, 30 ml) oil. Flavor oil with 1 garlic clove; remove garlic when brown. Add the shiitake, stirring for 1 minute.
- 5 Add remaining blanched vegetables, stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes
- 6 Add mushroom liquid and all seasoning and bring to boil.
- 7 Make a slurry by mixing water and cornstarch and add 1 to 2 tablespoons to vegetable mixture.
- 8 Add sesame oil and serve hot.
Fried Chicken Hong Kong Style
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Remove any yellow film on chicken thighs; rinse and pat dry. Prick with a fork so marinade can penetrate.
- 2 Mix marinade ingredients, combine with chicken, and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or in refrigerator 2 to 3 hours. Drain and reserve marinade.
- 3 Combine marinade with sauce ingredients and set aside.
- 4 Heat 6 cups (48 ounces, 1.4 l) oil to 375°F (190°C), or until a piece of green onion or ginger sizzles noisily and quickly turns brown. While waiting on the oil, dip the chicken in egg and dredge in cornstarch-flour mixture. Shake off excess.
- 5 Add chicken to hot oil and deep fry until the coating sets and is lightly browned. Remove and drain.
- 6 Use a fine-mesh strainer to remove sediment from the oil. Reheat oil 400°F (204°C). Return chicken pieces and deep-fry until golden brown; remove and drain on paper towels.
- 7 Using a basket, add onions to hot oil. Fry onions 1 minute, until soft and translucent. Remove onions. Pour out oil and wipe wok clean.
- 8 Set wok over high heat and add 1 tablespoon (½ ounce, 15 ml) oil. Flavor oil with garlic; stir-fry 10 seconds. Mix sauce ingredients again and add to wok, stirring constantly until thickened. Turn heat to low, glaze the sauce with remaining oil, and turn off heat.
- 9 Arrange thighs in single layer on serving platter, top with fried onions, pour sauce over, and serve immediately.
Steamed Whole Fish
serves 4
PROCEDURE
serves 4
PROCEDURE
- 1 Clean and scale the fish; rinse well and pat dry.
- 2 Arrange green onions lengthwise on a heatproof fish platter; the platter should be large enough to hold the fish and be placed in the steamer. Place the fish on the green onions, so the steam will flow under and over the fish.
- 3 Steam fish for approximately 10 minutes or until a chopstick can go easily into the thickest part of the fish. Remove from steamer; drain excess liquid. Discard green onions.
- 4 Sprinkle the white pepper and salt over the fish. Spread ginger and green onions on top of the fish.
- 5 Heat the oil and sesame oil to very hot and pour over the fish. Add the soy sauce to the bottom of the serving platter. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve.