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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.

This dish can be easily found in most Chinese restaurants and indeed it is deliciously prepared I often cannot resist.  However the restaurants deep fry the eggplants and end up the dish comes out too oily which I don’t really like. Therefore preparing the eggplants at home takes a bit of challenge and work. I have modified the original recipe by blanching the eggplants, it has lost some of its purple color but the dish came out not oily and yet another healthy dish to share.

Ingredients:
2 Chinese eggplant (cut into 2″ strips)
2 tbsp sesame oil or cooking oil
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
4-5 dried red chilli (break into half, seeded)
1/2 green bell pepper (cut into strips)
1/2 red bell pepper (cut into strips)
1 stalk scallion (chopped; for garnish)
1/2 lb minced pork (marinate with 1 tbsp rice wine, soy sauce and 1 tsp cornstarch)

For the sauce:
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp Hot Bean Sauce (辣豆瓣醬)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tsp cornstarch (dissolve with water)
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

Cooking Method:

1. Marinate the ground pork with rice wine, soy sauce, cornstarch for 30 minutes.
2. Cut the eggplant into 2″ strips, soak in salt water to prevent turning brown color and to reduce absorbing oil.
3. Brings a pot of water to boil, dash some salt and drizzle sesame oil into the water. Blanch the eggplant until slightly tender about 2 minutes. Remove and drain.
4. Heat up a pan with 2 tbsp cooking oil over medium, add in ginger, garlic and dried red chillies, stir fry till golden brown with spicy fragrant.
5. Add in marinated minced pork, stir fry till half cook.
6. Add in all seasoning, brings to boil until sauce thickens.
7. Add in green and red bell pepper, quickly stir fry. Then add in eggplants and quickly toss and coat with sauce.
8. Dish up, garnish with chopped scallions.

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Hey guys! First of all, wishing everyone a Happy 2010 New Year! It’s been a while since my last post here as I had some fun times during the past holiday season with my mom. She flew all the way from Malaysia to visit me in LA for the first time. We had been traveling to places all these while, not far far away but just a couple of  lovely places around California.

Since my mum was here, she did most of the cooking when we weren’t traveling. So those days when I reached home after work, the dinner was ready; hot and delicious. It was such a home sweet home feeling by having a comfy meal especially for those like me who are away from home all these years, struggling to manage study, work and life. I wish my mum could have stayed here longer. :P

You must be wondering if I have learned some traditional recipes or techniques from my mum, right? Err.. most of the time my mom cooked and i just ate. But yes, my mom did pass me a couple of her recipes and I will try to make them at a later time. Fortunately, I could still manage to photograph two of my mom’s dishes.

Below is one of the dishes from my mom’s recipe, “Sweet and Sour Black Vinegar Pork Ribs (浙江糖醋排骨)”.  The pork ribs were crunchy on the outside, and so tender and juicy on the inside. One important thing is you need use the Zhe Jiang sweet black vinegar (浙江甜黑醋) which creates the sweet and sour sauce that made it so appetizing.

Ingredients:

1 lb small pork ribs

For marinating:
Salt & Pepper
1/2 cup cornflour
1 tbsp cooking wine (紹興酒)
1 egg white

For the sauce:
1/2 cup sweet black vinegar “Zhe Jiang” (浙江甜黑醋)
2 tbsp cooking wine (紹興酒)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp black soy sauce
1/4 cup water

Cooking Method:

1. Marinate the pork ribs with salt & pepper, cooking wine, cornflour and egg white for an hour or overnight for more taste.
2. Heat a pot with oil and deep fry the pork ribs until golden brown and crunchy.
3. Drain excess oil off the deep fried pork ribs with a paper towel.
4. Leave 1 tbsp of oil in the pot over medium heat, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and pour it into the pot with the pork ribs. Bring to boil.
5. Turn to low heat, stir frequently to avoid burn and cook for 20 minutes until the sauce become sticky.
6. You can put some sesame oil on top before serving.

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A friend of mine just gave birth two weeks ago and this reminds me the sweet vinegar pork feet that cooked by my mum occasionally. I could still remember how much I love it by eating bowl and bowl of rice with the sauce.

This traditional Cantonese dish is served to women who are in first month of confinement after childbirth and it is believed to supply extra nutrition. Of course, this dish is also for those who love the sweet and sour vinegar taste like me. So I decided to make this dish for the first time.

I am not a huge fan of pork feet. Therefore, I used the pork tenderloin as replacement. It will give the same results. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lbs pork tenderloin (cut in cubes)
4 cm ginger (cut in slices)
2 dried chili pepper
1 gloves garlic (cut in chunk)
1 lemon (without the juice)
2 cups water
Salts to taste
Many of Loves (ya… no kidding)

For the sauce
2 tbsp Sesame oil
1 tbsp sugar
2 cup sweet vinegar (dark color)
1/2 cup water

Serve Size: 2~3 people

Cooking method:

1. Pan fry the pork without oil until it turn golden brown color(using a non-stick pan)
2. All in the lemon & water to boil together with pork around 10min, drain and rinse with cold water. Remove the lemon, keep the pork.
3. (This is to remove the raw meat smell)
4. Medium heat up sesame oil.
5. Pan fry ginger & garlic chunk until fragrance.
6. Add in the dried chili pepper, sugar & pork, stir fry it for 2 mins.
7. Turn heat to low, add in the sweet vinegar sauce for slow cooking for 60 mins.
8. Add in the water, and cook for 2min and ready to serve.

Serves as part of a meal.

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I always love to eat fish because fish is delicious and great with benefits to our health. My mum always cook fish for us at home since seafood is cheap back in my hometown. I remembered my sister used to tell me ”eat more fish, it is good for your eyes”. Don’t know if that is true but I still have astigmia eyesight since I was young.

Ever since studying here in the United States, what I’ve learn from the american cooking is all grilled, baked or steam fish, all fishes are fillets you can’t even see the fish head. Today I am going to cook this fish dish by deep frying the whole fish (with the head) and serve with all time favorite sweet and sour sauce.

Ingredients:
For the fish
1 whole  fish, 2 lbs
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1 cup  all purpose flour
3 tbsp cornstarch

For the sweet and sour sauce:
2 tsp garlic (chopped)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 green pepper (diced)
1 red pepper (diced)
1 tomato (diced)
½ red apple (diced)
½ onions (diced)

3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup water
½  tsp. of salt
1 tsp cornstarch

Cooking Method:
Deep Fry the Fish

1. Pour the flour & cornstarch on a shallow plate and season with some salt and pepper. Whisk the egg.
2. Cut 3 diagonal slits on both sides of the fish. Dip the fish into egg, then dredge it into flour coat evenly on both sides. Shake off excess.
3. Fill the skillet with enough oil to cover the fish and heat at medium high; or use the fryer preheat to 370 degrees F.
4. Cook fish until golden brown on both sides,  about 5 mins each side on skillet. About 10 mins in fryer.
5. Remove fish and drain on paper towel , then set on a platter.

Cook the Sauce

1. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saucepan, add garlic and onions cook until golden brown.
2. Add the tomatoes and apples, stir until tender.
3. Pour in the ketchup, water, vinegar and sugar, bring to boil.
4. Add the red and green pepper last and stir (don’t cook too long to not lose its color)
5. Dissolve cornstarch with some water and pour over sauce, stir quickly to cook until thickens. Season with salt to taste.
6. Remove from stove and pour sauce over the fish.

There you go, the lovely Sweet and Sour Fish, perfect with a bowl of steamed rice.