Posted by Patrick.C
It is always good to have a bowl of slow cooked soup for body rejuvenating and reinvigorating after a worn-out week. Weekend is normally the best time for me to boil soup especially slow cooked soup. It requires several hours (at least 3 hours) for simmer. Dried bok choy soup (菜干湯) was what I’ve boiled last weekend. This homespun soup was one of my favorites back in Malaysia.
Back in ancient times, bok choy was dehydrated for preservation until the next harvest but nowadays you can easily get the fresh boy choy all year round. Besides, you do not need to dehydrate the bok choy because packages of dried bok choy can be easily in most Asian markets. Some of the packages of dried bok choy are labeled as “dehydrated cole”.
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Posted by Bel.C
My boyfriend and I like eggplant, especially this Chinese recipe, Szechuan style Spicy Eggplant with Minced Pork (四川魚香茄子). If you know Szechuan, you will definitely know the place is very famous for hot and spicy food such as Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐), Spicy Pork Strip (魚香肉絲), and etc. Previously I was always wondering why the dish is called Yu Xiang Qie Zi (魚香茄子) in Chinese, literally means “fish-fragrant” eggplant. After getting to know more about Szechuan cuisine, Yu Xiang (魚香) is actually a Szechuan style of culinary tradition. It’s named so because the preparation of the sauce resembles the taste and flavor of the fresh fish, but it doesn’t use real fish in cooking.
The main ingredients for the Szechuan Yu Xiang (魚香) dishes are basically standard; dried red chillies, scallions, ginger, and garlic; not forgetting sugar, salt, hot bean sauce and soy sauce. The ingredients are well incorporated to bring out the essential flavor and tastiness of salty, sour, sweet, spicy, aroma, and freshness, that make it another mouthwatering dish to be served perfectly with steamed rice.
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