Posted by Bel.C
I must say Crab Rangoon (炸蟹角) is a Chinese fusion appetizer introduced to the American Chinese cuisine. Yes, Americans love Chinese food too, but not all of the traditional Chinese food. Therefore a lot of Chinese food in the States are modified to catered based on the Americans’ taste. Crab Rangoon is one of them. I never had these before in Malaysia until I came to the United States. I was studying in Lincoln, Nebraska and there are two or three traditional Chinese restaurants I can recall, the rest are American Chinese restaurants such as Panda Express, Pick Up Stix, or other local ones like Golden Wok and China Wok. So I was able to try these delicacies in these Americanized restaurants.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually think the Crab Rangoon is a break through from the traditional Chinese cuisine in adapting to the American culture. The Crab Rangoon is filled with cream cheese (I like mostly anything with cheese), imitation crab meats or canned crab meats, scallions, garlic or other seasonings. They are wrapped with wonton egg wrappers or egg roll wrappers and deep fried until golden. Here in the States, some restaurants serve the Crab Rangoon with sweet and sour plum sauce or mustard for dipping. I just like mine plain and simple.
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Posted by Bel.C
Chinese dumpling or Jiaozi (餃子) is one of the traditional yet popular Chinese dishes prepared during the festive season of Chinese New Year. Maybe not for the Malaysians, but for Chinese (especially from Northern part of China) or Taiwanese, this dish is usually served during the Chinese New Year Eve or some other family get together occasions. This is because the dumpling is shaped like a yuan bao (元寶), a traditional money used during the Ming Dynasty, that means good luck, wealth and prosperity.
Being born and raised in Malaysia, I never have dumplings really. Until I attended university in the United States, my Chinese and Taiwanese friends would make these delicate dumplings for me. And I must say once you’ve tried it you will love it. This Chinese Lunar New Year falls on the 14th of February which is also the Valentine’s Day. You can learn to make this recipe ahead and prepare for your family or loved ones just in time.
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Posted by Eric.N
One of my favor party starters is Chinese egg roll. It is made by wrapping a combination of vegetables and meat in a sheet of dough, and then it is deep fried until golden brown. I love eating it since I was a kiddo. Well, I suppose everyone especially kids like the crispy food. I still remember my family always prepared this dish during the Chinese New Year. My sisters and I would help my mom to wrap the egg rolls, and then my mom would deep fry them. Believe it or not, I could finish up 20 egg rolls continuously in less than 10 minutes.
Since my home isn’t equipped with a fryer, it took me quite sometimes to deep fry all the rolls. For those with a fryer at home, you have advantage of doing this. Anyway, if you never try this recipe before, I personally recommend you to at least try making it once at home even you don’t have the fryer. Trust me, you will enjoy toward the last bite of the last roll!
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Posted by Eric.N
When I dine out with my friends, most of the time seafood will be my order selection. Especially crab, shrimp, clams…you named it, they are all my favorites. Well, I guess this is the reason why my friend nick-named me as a “Seafood Fanatic”.
During my last visit to the Asian market, I bought a box of frozen Arctic Surf Clams as it was on sale. Since the clams were fully cooked and good to be served as cold appetizer, so i made myself a simple and nice clam salad over the weekend.
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Posted by Eric.N
One of my favorite appetizers is the Deep Fried Taro Ball with Shrimp. I still remember when I was a kid, my mum always prepared this dish for my family. The taro ball is like a size of a golf ball, with a shrimp tucks inside it and leaving the tail outside forming like a curve drumstick. The taro ball is then deep fried till golden brown, it is crunchy on the outside with the crisp of the bread crumbs, but still tasted soft and sweet on the inside.
Well, it had been quite some time since the last time I had eaten this. I really can’t wait till my next hometown visit to have my mum making this again. So I called my mum to get the recipe and tried to to prepare this appetizer for the first time.
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