Chef Celia

I’ve been craving this dish because I’ve been feeling a little homesick. Hunan (my home city) is a place of spice and flavor and it is also adjacent to Sichuan, which is where this fire-y dish originated from!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 filets of Basa Swai (you can get these at any Asian market!)
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons of rice wine
• 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 stalk of green onions, chopped
• 1 inch of ginger, minced
• 2.5 tablespoons of doubanjang (spicy fermented bean paste), separated into 2 and 1/2 tablespoons
• 3 tablespoons of canola oil (you’ll use this separately as well)
• 2 Chinese eggplants, chopped into 1-2 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoons of Sichuan peppercorns, grounded
• 5-6 dried chili peppers
• About 2 cups of water
• Cilantro for garnish (optional)

Tips:

• You can use any vegetables that you like, including Napa cabbage, sprouts, mushrooms, etc. I would just limit to 2 types of veggies at the most.
• The spicy level can be adjusted by adding more or less Sichuan peppercorns and dried chili peppers and water.
• I don’t serve the dish with the Sichuan peppercorns, but you definitely can if you like the mala flavor!

How to serve:

• This dish goes best with white rice!

Directions:

• Cut the filets at an angle to make sure each piece is about 2 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick.
• Put the filets, a pinch of salt and cornstarch in a bowl and mix well. Marinate for about 30 minutes or overnight.
• In a pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of canola oil and put in some of the Sichuan peppercorns and the dried chili peppers. Stir-fry until fragrant. Take out the peppercorns and peppers and leave the oil. (You don’t need to get all of it out).
• In the same pan with the oil that is left, place your vegetables of choice into the pan and stir-fry until soft and cooked. Place the vegetables into the serving bowl.
• In the same pan, heat up another tablespoon of canola oil and put in the garlic, ginger and green onions. Stir-fry until fragrant.
• Put in the 2 tablespoons of doubanjang and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.
• Pour in about 1 cup of water and bring the mixture to a boil.
• Gently put your fish slices into the water, put the lid back onto the pan, and bring the mixture to a boil.
• The minute it boils, turn off the heat! (This ensures that you don’t overcook the fish)
• Pour the mixture on top of the vegetables in the serving bowl.
• Place the dried chili peppers and peppercorns that you had set aside on top of the dish.
• Optional: heat up another tablespoon of oil and pour it on top of the dried chili peppers and peppercorns for a nice sizzle!

My mother taught me how to make this a long time ago. I remember being very mesmerized as she did each step to accomplish this dish, thinking that all I ever wanted to do was to cook and eat. 😛

Ingredients:

• Any kind of noodles (about 3 small bunches)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of dried crushed red peppers
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 stalk of green onions, chopped and separated into white and green parts
• 3 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
• 3 more cloves of garlic, sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, shredded (optional)
• 1 spicy sausage, chopped (optional)

How to serve:

• I added two sides to this meal, the cucumber and sausage, but the noodles taste great on their own without embellishments!

Directions:

• Chop and shred your optional toppings first and set them aside.
• Bake the sausage in an oven for 15 minutes on 350 degrees and set aside.
• Slice the 3 cloves of garlic and mince the other three cloves of garlic.
• In a bowl, mix peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, crushed red peppers together and mix well until mixture is creamy and integrated together.
• Heat up sesame oil in a shallow pan on medium heat; add in the white parts of the green onions. Stir fry until fragrant.
• Add in all of the mixture from your bowl and stir fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• Boil water and cook your noodles.
• In a bowl, put the cooked noodles in first. Add the sauce and the green parts of the green onions and use tongs to mix well. Top the bowl with the shredded cucumber.
• Place the baked sausage in a plate with the sliced garlic.
• Ready to serve!

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.