A fellow Malaysian at Ohio Wagyu sent me some of his farm-raised wagyu beef. He flew the beef overnight to me, and when I received them, they were still ice cold and frozen. My favorite of all was the flank steak, which I used to make the ponzu and miso butter steak, and the leftover, I made them into Chinese ginger and scallion beef.
Ginger and scallion stir-fry is one of the very first Chinese recipes I learned when I first started cooking (you can read how I learn Chinese cooking and my journey to be a great cook in my cookbook introduction chapter). The combination of fresh ginger, scallion, a protein of your choice, with a light oyster-based sauce and a dose of wok hei (breath of wok) is always so inviting and delicious. The thought of a hot-off-the-wok ginger and scallion stir-fry always get me ravenously hungry.
Please find my simple and easy ginger and scallion beef Recipe after the jump. Enjoy!
(Click Page 2 for the Ginger and ScallionBeef Recipe)
Image by elana’s pantry
The idea for this green smoothie comes from the amazing Sarma of oneluckyduck.com. I recently purchased her book Living Raw Food and am loving it. While some of the recipes can be complex, she has many that can be made in minutes.
This Ginger Cilantro Shake is a hybrid of her Cilantro-Pineapple Shake and her Bangkok Baby. Here is my version, a nice healthy green drink for Saint Patrick’s day.
When it is Raining Outside
Image by Sam Breach
Find Comfort in Eggs:
This picture was taken on Dec 1st 2005, looking out of the window onto a rainy, stormy day in San Francisco.
Check via the following link for more details and a pseudo-Recipe: becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2005/12/comfort-food-for-rainy…
Why Eat the Ugly Apple?
Image by roboppy
These posters are part of a project I had to do for class. Unfortunately, the project…um, kinda fell by the wayside and my partner and I need reactions to it. NOOOOW.
Our project was to make some kind of marketing campaign to raise awareness about local, sustainable agriculture as opposed to…well, the other stuff. Agribusiness, produce that comes from a bagillion miles away, etc.
We’re not in a graphic design course, so we’re not looking for responses about the design as much as the message. (Yeah, they’re both important and we like suggestions, but our project is focused on food, not design.) Since most of your are probably food-minded, you might already know about farmer’s markets and why it’s better to eat local food.
…But if you’re not so food minded, would these posters incite any interest? We tried to make it somewhat eye-catching and mildly professional.
We plan to print up a bunch of copies and hang them up…somewhere. We don’t know. SOMEWHERE AROUND NYU. If you have suggestions, let me know. Hell, feel free to print this out and hang it up somewhere. If you’re bored.
OMG PEOPLE PLEASE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE MESSAGE! If you don’t care about the message, you can even say that! It’s okay!
Okay, after the lack of response about the message (MAYBE YOU ALL KNOW ABOUT LOCAL FARMS ALREADY…WHICH IS COOL) I guess this isn’t…really doing anything in that department, in which case it doesn’t seem worth it to print these out and post them? Which I guess we have to do..really soon. Oops. Ah! Um. Yeah, this project wasn’t well planned.
I love soups of all sorts, especially Chinese soups. To the Chinese, soups are highly nourishing as each ingredient in the soup delivers a certain health (and beauty) benefit and promotes overall strengths to the body. Drinking soup is a huge part of the Chinese food culture, soup is often considered as “tonic” (補品).
There are endless variations of soups in Chinese cuisine as so many ingredients could be used—Chinese herbal (medicinal), meat-based (chicken, pork, beef, duck, bones, etc.), vegetables (fresh and dried), dried seafood (dried scallops, abalone, oysters, etc.), fresh seafood, the exotics (bird’s nest, shark’s fin, etc.), and the combination of all the ingredients above. The possibilities are endless, and most importantly, delicious, wholesome, healthy, and certainly much more than the regular egg drop soup and hot and sour soupâ€
One of the easiest soups that I always make at home is ginger and clam soup, or 丝蛤蜊汤. This soup is especially popular for the Taiwanese, and served at Taiwanese restaurants. It takes only a few ingredients and practically 15 minutes to prepare, but the end result is absolutely pleasing. According to my Chinese soups cookbook, ginger and clam soup is great for the liver and stimulates a healthy appetite.
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchstick strips
1 lb Manila clams, rinsed and scrubbed
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (not Shaoxing wine)
Salt to taste
Dash of white pepper
Method:
Bring the water to boil and add the ginger and clams. Cover the pot and let cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until all clams are open. Add the Chinese rice wine, salt to taste, and pepper. Dish out and serve immediately.
Cook’s Note:
For this recipe, please use the regular Chinese rice wine which is transparent in color, and not the amber-colored Shaoxing rice wine.
In Chinese culture, a baby’s
first month birthday calls for a celebration. Proud parents
introduce their latest addition to friends and relatives by holding a red
egg and ginger party. Traditionally, the baby’s name is also announced at this
time. Â
Guests attending red egg and gingerparties bring
gifts. Lysee or “lucky money” in red envelopes is often given to
baby boys, while girls may receive expensive jewelry. The guests
don’t leave empty handed, either. The parents hand out red-dyed eggs,
symbolizing happiness and the renewal of life.
Red egg and gingerparties
have their origins in ancient Chineseculture. As in other countries,
infant mortality rates in China were quite high prior to the medical advances of
the twentieth century. A baby who reached one month of age was likely to
survive, and so the event was celebrated.
Traditionally, this was also a time to reintroduce the
mother to the world. The Chinese believe mothers are in a highly weakened state
in the period immediately following birth. Just as English custom calls for new
mothers to enjoy a brief period of confinement, Chinese mothers have
traditionally been expected to rest indoors for one full month after giving
birth. This helped ensure they didn’t become overtired, or contract any germs or illnesses from the outside
world that could prove dangerous
in their weakened state. Besides resting, they drank a nutritious broth made with
pig’s feet, eggs, vinegar and ginger. Many new mothers still follow this ritual today.
In the past, due to the
traditional importance of male children in Chinese culture, red egg and ginger
parties were sometimes given for boys only, or the celebration for boys was more
elaborate. Today, parties are given for babies of both
sexes.
In recent years, some of
the traditions surrounding red egg and ginger parties have been
modified. Parents may choose to hold the celebration at a fancy restaurant,
complete with costumed Chinese performers or even a children’s magician.
Also, the baby may be anywhere from one to three months old by the time the
party is held. But the custom of passing out red-dyed eggs continues.
Parents may also use the brightly colored eggs to announce the birth; an
even number of eggs are sent out for a boy, and an odd number to announce a
baby girl.
Go to my Previous Features
**New to the Chinese Cuisine Site? You’ll find a complete guide to help you
find your way around here.
