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Spicy pork ribs

Pork ribs are wonderful, pretty much however you cook them. One of my pet peeves with pork ribs is tough meat – basically, if you’re going to do pork ribs, make sure the meat is fall off the bone!

Ingredients:

  • 6 medium size ribs (about half of a rack)
  • 2 tablespoons of spicy doubanjang (fermented chili black bean sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon of chili oil
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of coriander
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon of fermented black beans
  • 1/2 tablespoons of Sichuan peppercorn
  • 6 cloves of garlic smashed
  • 8 slices of ginger
  • 2 stalks of green onions chopped
  • 2-3 star anise
  • 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of rice wine
  • 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
  • Oil for cooking
  • Water as needed

Tips:

  • This makes a pretty spicy dish, but if you don’t like it super spicy, you can omit the peppercorns and the chili oil and it’ll taste just as good.
  • As always, this is a recipe that takes lots of patience. 🙂

Directions:

  • Cut the pork ribs into individuals ones.
  • Prepare garlic, green onions, ginger, star anise, peppercorns, fermented black beans, bay leaf, coriander, and cinnamon and put everything in a bowl.
  • Place the pork ribs and a few pieces of ginger into a pot and fill with water; bring to boil and boil for 2 minutes.
  • Drain and set the pork ribs aside.
  • In a different pot (or same pot if you’ve washed it), put in oil and spicy doubanjang.
  • Stir fry the doubanjang until fragrant.
  • Put in all the ingredients from the bowl you’ve prepared earlier and stir fry again until fragrant.
  • Add in the pork ribs, sugar, soy sauce, and rice wine and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add in water to barely cover the meat.
  • Put the lid on and cook on low medium heat for 2 hours.
  • Turn and move the meat around every 20-30 minutes in between.
  • Once the meat is soft, place it into a bowl and garnish with leftover green onions.
  • Ready to serve!

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Chinese braised beef (紅燒牛肉)

I love this dish, but even more so, I love making it! It’s similar to any beef noodle soup recipe, but without the soup. Personally, I enjoy this more because it’s traditionally eaten with rice and I’m more of a rice person than a noodle person. (I know, I know)

Ingredients:

  • 10-12 oz of tri-tip steak
  • 1 russet potato, skin on or off, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons of doubanjiang (fermented bean paste)
  • 1 ginger root, sliced and divided
  • 1 whole head of garlic, smashed
  • 1 stalk of green onions (chopped and save a few greenest pieces for garnish later)
  • 3 star anises
  • 1/3 cup of Sichuan peppercorns
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of coriander
  • 1 dry red pepper, minced
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon of rock sugar
  • 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of rice wine
  • Water
  • Canola oil for cooking

Tips:

  • If you don’t love the mala taste, you can lose the Sichuan peppercorns.
  • You can easily add more potatoes, but I just prefer this particular ratio.
  • The recipe can be cooked with tri-tip, brisket, or even chuck roast.

Directions:

  • Cut the tri-tip beef into 1 inch cubes and soak them in water for an hour.
  • Take the beef out then into a pot of new water.
  • In this new pot of water, add 3-4 slices of ginger and 1 tablespoon of rice wine. Bring the mixture to a boil for about 5 minutes.
  • Drain the beef and dispose of the water.
  • In another new pot (or you can wash the pot you just boiled the beef in), heat up canola oil on medium heat.
  • Place the doubanjiang into the pot with the oil and fry on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes until fragrant.
  • Add in all the spices, the garlic, green onions, and the rest of the ginger (leave out the sugar, soy sauce and the rest of the rice wine) and cook for 5 – 7 minutes on low heat.
  • Then turn up the fire to medium low heat and add in the beef.
  • Stir fry for about 5 minutes and add in the sugar, soy sauce and rice wine; stir fry for another 5 minutes.
  • Pour in water to barely cover the beef; the beef should still be peeking out at the top.
  • Cover and cook on low heat for at least 1 hour.
  • During this hour, heat up a little bit of oil in a different pan.
  • Stir fry the potatoes for 10 minutes til soft.
  • When the beef is about done, place the potatoes into the pot with the beef, stir, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
  • Take the beef out and place it in a bowl; garnish with the green green onions.
  • Ready to serve!

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Ginger soy salmon

I wanted to make something healthy and delicious tonight and I did!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb of salmon, cut into little rectangles (1 by 2”)
  • 1 stalk of green onions, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 5 slices of ginger, minced
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar (divided)
  • 3 tablespoons of rice wine
  • 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of cornstarch (optional)
  • Water as needed
  • Oil for cooking

Tips:

  • I marinated mine for about an hour, but you definitely don’t have to and it’ll taste just as good.
  • Slow and steady really wins the race here!

How to serve:

Directions:

  • In a bowl, mix the salmon with salt, half of the sugar, half of the soy sauce, and half of the rice wine. Add in the cornstarch if you have it.
  • Cover and set aside for 1 hour.
  • Mince the garlic.
  • Chop the green onions and divide the green parts from the white parts.
  • Mince the ginger.
  • In a pan, heat up canola oil.
  • Place the salmon skin side up into the heated pan, and cook for 2 minutes on medium high fire.
  • Turn the fire down to medium low, and place the white parts of the green onions, the ginger, and the garlic into the pan.
  • Pour about 1/2 cup of water over the salmon and the green onions/ginger/garlic mixture.
  • Put the lid on and cook for about 3 minutes.
  • Open the lid and put the rest of the sugar, soy sauce, and rice wine into the pan.
  • Turn the salmon pieces over and cover with the lid to cook for another 3 minutes.
  • Take the salmon out of the pan and garnish with the green parts of the green onions.
  • Ready to serve.

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Cucumber and egg bowl over rice

The magic of cooking lies in making very “simple” food taste amazing. During shelter-in-place, I’m finding that cooking keeps me sane.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

  • 1 English cucumber, sliced diagonally
  • 4-6 ounces of ground pork
  • 1 tablespoon of fermented black beans
  • 4 cloves of minced garlic
  • Quarter of an onion, minced
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 pieces of bacon
  • 1 stalk of green onions, chopped
  • Rice
  • Canola oil for cooking
  • Salt for taste
  • 1 -2 tablespoons of soy sauce (divided)
  • 1 tablespoon of Laoganma pepper sauce (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar

Tips:

  • This dish can be modified to be vegetarian (just lose the bacon and the ground pork)!

Directions:

  • Cut your cucumber into slices; go slow and try to make them all the same thickness.
  • Mince the garlic and onions.
  • Chop the green onions.
  • Heat up a non-stick pan (no oil needed).
  • Cook the ground pork in the pan; use your spatula to separate the ground pork into small pieces.
  • Add salt, some of the soy sauce, and the sugar and stir fry the meat until cooked; set aside.
  • In the same pan, throw in half of the garlic and the onions; cook until onions are fragrant and translucent; set aside. (You can put them with the cooked meat).
  • In the same pan, heat up the canola oil.
  • Place the cucumber into the pan, add the black beans and cook on a medium to low heat; oscillate between moving the cucumber around and putting the lid on to let them cook. (This will take about 10 minutes)
  • While the cucumber is cooking, heat up a different non-stick pan.
  • Place the two pieces of bacon into the second pan and wait for the fat to come out a little bit.
  • Crack one egg onto each bacon piece.
  • Sprinkle some of the green onions onto the yolks.
  • Flip the egg/bacon when they feel solid and cook for 2 more minutes; turn off the stove and move the pan off of the stove.
  • Back to the cucumber, by now, the cucumber should be nice and soft. Add a pinch of salt and the rest of the soy sauce.
  • Add the ground pork and onions into the pan with the cucumber.
  • Cook for a few more minutes; add the Laoganma sauce.
  • Place the egg/bacon and the cucumber over rice in a bowl.
  • Ready to serve!