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Yellow curry is another kind of Thai curry, commonly found in the Thai restaurants in Los Angeles here. Comparing with other Thai curries, yellow curry is normally creamier and richer. This is because coconut cream is being used instead of coconut milk. However, I preferred watery curry instead of a creamy one, so I used the coconut milk this time.

Potato is a must-have ingredient to be added in the yellow curry as I heart potato for life. Who doesn’t? Other than potato, I put in okra (lady’s fingers), carrot and red chili peppers as well to give it a more colorful version.

A buddy of mine asked me, how the heck do you know how to cook so many kinds of Thai curry? I just told him to follow the recipes I provided. Just cook few more times, try an error then you will know the answer. Enjoy!

I heart curry! Do you? Check these: panang curry, red curry and green curry.

Ingredients:

1 piece of skinless chicken breast (sliced)
2 potatoes (cut into small cubes)
1 carrot (sliced)
2-3 red chili peppers (sliced)
1 onion (chopped)
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
3 tbsp yellow curry paste (Mae Ploy)
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup water (Add more water if you want it to be more watery)
1 tsp sugar

Cooking Method:

1. Heat up a pot with 2 tbsp cooking oil. Add in the curry paste and stir with medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Pour in the 1 cup coconut milk and keep stirring until the curry paste is dissolved.
3. Add in another cup coconut milk and chicken meats. Heat until boiling.
4. Add in potatoes, carrot, onion and water. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are soften.
5. Add in red chili peppers, kaffir lime leaves and sugar. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. Dish up and serve well with steamed white rice.

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We love taro a lot and we were thinking to make the Pork Belly with Taro which Eric wanted to eat all these while. But it requires too much of work and then it was often put aside. While I was researching about the dish, I stumbled across this long forgotten Hakka recipe Stir Fry Taro Dumpling or Abacus Beads “Suan Pan Zi”(客家炒算盤子). I was so excited as I didn’t have this for years. So I have decided to give the recipe a try. Obviously Pork Belly with Taro was put aside again.

Since my father side is Hakka, that’s why I know of and have tried this dish. We often get to eat various traditional Hakka dishes whenever we go back to “Semenyih”, our old home town (老家) in Malaysia. My uncle is a great cook and he will always prepare a big meal, like 8-10 dishes sometimes double the dishes because we have so many relatives visiting.

In Chinese the dish is called 炒算盤子 “Chao Suan Pan Zi”, literally means Stir Fry Abacus Beads. The taro is steamed and prepared into dough form then shaped into round balls resembling the beads on the Chinese Abacus, an old calculating tool before calculator.

The taro balls are then boiled and rinsed under cold water becoming chewy little taro dumplings. I thought this is actually very similar to Italian Pasta making except they used different ingredients. But they are both prepared into dough and shapes turning it into carb food to the meal.

To my Hakka friends, please enjoy!

Ingredients:

For the Dough
1 lb Taro (peeled, sliced, steamed, mashed)
1 cup Tapioca Starch (木署粉)
1 tbsp of cooking oil
1 tsp salt
Water

For Stir Fry
2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
1 handful of dried shrimps (soaked and chopped)
1/2 lb minced pork (marinate with soy sauce and wine)
1 medium carrot (cut into fine strips)
6 mushrooms (soaked, cut into strips)
1/2 cup sliced dried wood ears of black fungus
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Method:

1. Steam the taro slices until soft about 20-30 minutes. Mashed into paste about 2 cups.
2. While it is still warm add the starch and salt, slowly add in water little by little, mix and combine well to form a dough. (Note: add little if dough too dry, add in more starch if too watery) Recommended to add in few drips of cooking oil for easier kneading.  Knead to form smooth dough without lumps.
3. Shape dough into marble size balls and gently press in the center. Repeat.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil, add in the taro balls cook until it floats. Remove and drain under cold water.
5. Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan, stir fry minced garlic, add in dried shrimps stir fry till fragrant.
6. Add in minced pork, stir and combine, follow by carrots, mushrooms, wood ear fungus. Continue to stir fry.
7. Add in taro dumplings, stir and combine well with all ingredients.
8. Add in seasoning of oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and combine well.
9. Serve and garnish with chopped scallions.

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The Braised Napa Cabbage and Mushrooms, or more commonly known as “白菜滷” in Chinese word, is a Taiwanese style vegetable stew. I learned this dish from my Taiwanese coworker as she always likes to cook it. I think it is so much different to our style of cooking and I decided to give it a try. The main ingredient of the dish is the napa cabbage. You can add other ingredients to the pot, some common ones are carrots and all sorts of mushrooms. You can also add pork strips for a more complete pot dish to your meal, or opt out for a vegetarian style.

Eric did not get used to eat this dish the first time when I cooked it, because he didn’t like the cabbage being cooked to that soft texture. But after a couple of tryouts and changes to the recipe, now we enjoy this dish very much. Sometimes we will cook a pot and just goes with white rice, that’s how good it is. I used some dried shrimps and lots of garlic to sauteed the vegetables, that will add more flavors and also a nice fragrant to the dish. Seasoning is also very important to create a tasty sweet broth. Do not overcook the napa or it will turn out too mushy, so be watchful of the time and heat.

Ingredients:

1 1-11/2lb whole Napa Cabbage
1 handful dried shrimps (soaked in water to soft, coarsely chopped)
1tbsp  + 1 tbsp minced garlic
3 stalks scallions (cut into 2″ slices)
3 carrots (cut horizontally into 2″ slices)
3 Korean King Oyster Mushrooms “杏鲍菇” (cut into slices)
2 pack Golden Needle Mushrooms “金针菇” (trimmed the bottom part, rinse)
1 cup water

For the seasoning:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
Few dashes salt and pepper

Cooking Method:

1. To prepare the Napa Cabbage, cut and separate the leaves from the stems, chopped leaves and stems into 1 1/2 – 2″ big pieces, divide them into separate bowl. Cut the carrots, oyster mushroom into smaller slices. Prepare the others as above.
2. Heat up a wok or pot on medium high heat with 2 tbsp oil, add 1 tbsp minced garlic and stir fry till slight golden, follow by dried shrimps and scallions, stir fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the cabbage stems and carrots, stir fry and combine, cover with lit for about 2-3 minutes till slightly soft, stir or sightly toss occasionally to prevent burn.
4. Add in the rest of cabbage leaves to the pot, combine and cover for another 2 minutes till slightly reduce.
5. Add in 1 cup of water or till the half level of the vegetables, add in mushrooms, bring to boil. Turn heat to low, cover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes till cabbage is soft but not mushy.
6. Add in seasoning, combine and bring to boil.
7. Optional: Heat up a saucepan on medium high with some oil, add in remaining minced garlic, stir fry till golden. Top the fried garlic oil on Napa cabbage when serving.

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If you ever visit a Hong Kong style western café, you will know once you are seated, the waiter or waitress will serve you with a hot cup of their daily special soup. This is a common practice in most Hong Kong style cafés, in fact Hong Kong people like to drink their soup before the meal. So don’t be surprise. The two popular soups that are usually serving are either the cream of corn (something like Campbell soup) or Luo Song Tong (羅宋湯) / Russian Borscht Soup, this is what I like the most.

I love the taste of Luo Song Tong (羅宋湯) , it is a hearty tomato based vegetable soup that is is quite similar to our ABC Soup actually (in Patrick’s previous post). The main difference is the Luo Song Tong is much more intense in flavor as the soup base is cooked with beef bones or beef stew with lots of tomatoes and all kind of vegetables such as carrot, onion, potato and celery. I always want to try to make this at home. So this has been a good timing since I removed my wisdom tooth and I couldn’t eat too much of solid food, I’ve made a pot of yummy Luo Song Tong for my weeknight dinners with some greens.

Despite my love to Luo Song Tong, I actually just found the soup has been modified from the Russian Borscht soup, a hearty beetroot vegetable soup originated from Ukraine or Eastern Russia. I always couldn’t figure out why it is called “Luo Song” Soup, it is actually a translation of pronunciation for the word Russia. Please excuse my unknown. Enjoy a hearty meal.

Ingredients:

1 lb beef stews or beef bones for soup
5 tomatoes (cut into cubes)
3 carrots (cut into cubes)
3 talks celery (cut into cubes)
1 red onion (cut into cubes)
1/4 cabbage (optional)
4 garlic (crushed)
10-15 peppercorns (crushed)
1 bay leave
1 6 oz can tomato puree ( you can make your own tomato puree from scratch)
1/2 cup of beef stock
1 1/2 all purpose flour (dissolve in water)
2 tbsp ketchup (for flavor enhancement-optional)
Salt &  black pepper to taste

Serve size:  4-6 people

Cooking method:

1. Blanch beef stews or beef bones in boiling hot water, drain and rinse slightly with running cold tap water.
2. Add the beef stew or beef bones into a pot of boiling water, add the beef stock, bay leave, crushed peppercorns, garlic and half of the chopped onions into the pot. Cook for 90 minutes until the meat is tender.
3. Rinse and cut up all vegetable ingredients into cubes or bite sizes.
4. Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat, stir fry the onions until translucent. Add some tomatoes and stir fry for a while till tender. (This is to make the tomatoes more thicker and cook quicker, you can skip this step.)
5. Toss all the cut vegetables into the pot, bring to boil and turn to low simmer for 45 minutes until the vegetables become tender. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom.
6. Add the tomato purees and flour water into the pot to increase its thickness. Bring to boil, turn to low and simmer for another 15 minutes, stir occasionally.
7. Tip, add in 1 to 2 tbsp ketchup for flavor enhancement and sweetness.
8. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Garnish with parsley or cilantro. Serve hot.

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It had been a fun and busy long weekend filled with luncheons, dinners and friend gatherings for the celebration of Tiger Year. On the other hand, I had a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner with my lovely boyfriend. Everything was just great. Here once again, I wish everyone a good start in the Chinese New Year and wish all the couples a happily ever after (有情人總成眷屬).

On the first day of Chinese New Year, I’ve prepared the well known vegetarian dish so called the Buddha’s Delight or lo han jai (羅漢齋). It is traditionally consumed by the  Buddhist monks who are vegetarians. However this dish has grown popularity over the years and now can be found in most Chinese restaurants for serving. For Buddhists who are not solely vegetarians will also practice vegetarians on the first and fifteenth day of the month based on the lunar calendar. Therefore this vegetarian dish has become more and more popular and eventually become a traditional dish for the Chinese New Year.

Lo han jai consists of various vegetables,  mainly the napa (Chinese cabbage), mushroom, carrot, bean curd sticks (圓支腐竹), mung bean vermicelli (粉絲), golden needles (金針菇) and black wood ear (黑木耳). You can also add in other ingredients based on your preference such as water chestnut, baby corn and snow peas. I specially added fat choy or black moss seaweed (髮菜) into the dish for a good luck signification for the Chinese New Year. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 bean curd sticks (soaked in water till soft, cut into 2″ pieces)
2 handful of mung bean vermicelli (soaked in water till soft)
8 mushrooms (soaked in water till soft, cut into halves)
5-6 pieces of napa cabbage leaves (cut into 1″ pieces)
1 carrot (cut into slices)
8 black wood ears (soaked in water till soft, remove the harden areas, cut into smaller pieces)
12 snow peas
12 button mushrooms (cut into halves)
8 baby corns
1 pack golden needles (remove the bottom part)
1/4 cup fat choy (soaked in water till soft)
3 pcs fermented red bean curd “南乳” (mashed into paste)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup water

For the seasoning:
2 tbsp shaoxing wine (紹興酒)
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 cup water

Serve size: 4 -6 people.

Cooking Method:

1. Soak all the dried ingredients in a separate bowl, including the bean curd sticks, mung bean vermicelli, black mushrooms, black wood ears and fat choy. Remove and drain. Cut into smaller pieces. Prepare the other ingredient, rinse, wash and cut into smaller pieces if desired.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok over medium. Stir fry minced garlic and fermented red bean curd till fragrant. Add in 2 tbsp water to prevent from drying out.
3. Add in the black mushrooms and bean curd sticks. Add the shaoxing wine and stir fry till fragrant.
4. Pour in water and bring to boil. Add in seasoning and all other ingredients. Cook and stir fry on high heat till water reduced to half, fairly dry. Serve hot.