Category: Weeknight dishes

A friend of mine wanted to make the beef noodle soup recipe I had from December, but she found the number of steps/ingredients/pots and pans too intimidating. So I decided to put up a simpler version!

Disclaimer: it’s simpler but… it’s still beef noodle soup so it won’t be like making eggs.

Ingredients:

• 1 tri-tip
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 5 slices of ginger
• 2 teaspoons of chili flakes
• 3 star anises
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 stalk of green onions (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil for cooking
  2 tablespoons of doubanjan (spicy fermented bean paste)
• 1/3 cup of soy sauce
• 1/2 cup rice wine (you can use red wine or any other type of cooking wine)
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• Water
• Noodles
• Garnish with chili peppers (optional)

Tips:

• Place the garlic, ginger, chili flakes, star anises, and green onions in one bowl.

Directions:

• Cut the beef into 1.5 inch cubes.
• Place the beef into water with a splash of rice wine; bring to a boil and turn the heat down to medium; cook for 2 minutes and remove the beef from the water and set aside. Dump out the water.
• In the same pot, put in the cooking oil and the doubanjan and fry until fragrant and the oil turns red.
• Put in the garlic, ginger, chili flakes, star anises, and green onions into the pot (if you had this in a bowl, then just toss it all in). Cook until fragrant.
• Place the beef into the pot and move the beef around the sauce.
• Put in the soy sauce, brown sugar and rice wine and stir fry for a few minutes.
• Pour in enough water until it is about 2 inches above the beef.
• Cover the pot and simmer for 2 hours. You can taste it in the middle and add water or soy sauce to adjust the taste to your liking.
• Once the beef is almost ready, cook the noodles and place them in bowls.
• Pour the soup over the bowls and place pieces of beef on top.
• Garnish with chili peppers.
• Ready to serve!

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:

• The salmon goes great with rice and the egg tomato stir fry I made here: https://www.chefcelia.me/2020/03/15/egg-and-tomato-stir-fry

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.

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!

This is possibly one of the simplest dishes I’ve ever made (and I make it very often)!

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 large tomato
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of cane sugar
• Oil for cooking

Tips:

• I like a high egg to tomato ratio for this recipe, but this is super adjustable.
• I also don’t love the acidity of tomatoes so I add a pinch of sugar, but this is completely optional

How to serve:

• This goes great with the simple chicken adobo I made (https://www.chefcelia.me/2019/09/08/simple-chicken-adobo/)
• It also goes great with brown or white rice!

Directions:

• Beat the eggs in a bowl and set aside.
• Cut the tomatoes into cubes.
• Heat up oil in a pan and put the eggs in to scramble.
• Add the tomatoes and stir-fry until the tomatoes are no longer cubes.
• Add the salt and sugar and cook for 2 more minutes.
• Ready to serve.

There is nothing fancy about this dish but I eat it a lot because it checks off all the boxes: Protein? Check. Fiber/healthy-ish carb? Check. Flavor? Check.

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant cubed
• 1/4 of an onion (chopped)
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 stalk of chopped green onions
• 3 slices of minced ginger
• 1 tablespoon of fermented black beans (optional)
• 2 oz of ground pork (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon of canola oil

Tips:

• I don’t actually cube my eggplant, I do it  滚刀块, which basically roughly translates to “cutting diagonally into chunks.” This exposes the most surface area of the inside of the eggplant. (I think.)

How to serve:

• You can serve it with rice but I like to eat it on its own.

Directions:

• Heat up a non-stick pan and place the ground pork into the pan.
• Flatten the ground pork and try to separate it into little pieces.
• Throw a pinch of salt and very little soy sauce into the ground pork once it starts to brown.
• Place the chopped onions into the pan with the meat and stir-fry until fragrant.
• Set the meat and onions aside.
• In the same pan, heat up the canola oil.
• Place the eggplant into the plan and stir-fry until you start to see it browning a little bit.
• Put in half of the allotted water and cap the eggplant to allow it to cook and soften.
• Open the cap and throw in the rest of the water, green onions (reserve a few pieces of the very green ones for garnish later), ginger, and garlic and then immediately cap it again. (Now would also be a good time to add in the fermented black beans.)
• Wait about 1-3 minutes.
• Open the cap and toss the eggplant around; at this point, the eggplant should be tender.
• Add in salt the soy sauce and toss for another 1 minutes.
• Put the dish into a bowl and garnish with the green green onions.
• Ready to serve.