How do you folks get your recipes nowadays? I have a whole bunch of cookbooks but I never touch them, I rely on social media and YouTube. Been on a Chinese kick, just wanting to cook up comforting Chinese dishes. I found this video on YouTube and it looked so good and it’s actually quite simple to make! I made adjustments from the original (I always do). Check it out!

Chinese Braised Tofu

Ingredients
2 blocks of firm tofu, sliced into 1/2 inch rectangles – drained and patted dry (extra firm okay too)
6 spring onions – white sliced thin and at an angle, greens sliced into 2 inch sections (reserve greens on the side)
5-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 C water

1 Tbsp neutral oil for panfrying tofu

For sauce, mix in green onion whites, garlic, black pepper, chicken bouillon, sugar, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch and water. Mix well. Set aside.

Pan fry tofu slices – brown on both sides. I had to do this in two batches since my pan wouldn’t fit two blocks of tofu in a single layer.

Add sauce mixture and cook until sauce thickens. Add green parts of the green onions and cook for an additional minute. 

Notes: Perfect dish to serve over rice – a bit salty. I would probably add a maybe 1.5 T of soy sauce next time. Take this with a grain of salt (heh), I’ve been into blander food lately.

Recipe Credit: Linda Guo’s Kitchen

I saw this recipe on TikTok and it didn’t really have like a full blog recipe for it so I won’t be able to post any credit links. I really wanted to try it because it seemed easy enough and I love using rotisserie chicken breast in salads!

Recipes always sound easier than they are. A lot of chopping and prep work goes into this dish. Chan and I enjoyed it! Nice low carb option for you that is healthy and easy to make!

Rotisserie Chicken Cabbage Salad

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 C shredded chicken breast (Sam’s or Costco Rotisserie Chicken Breast, all of it)
• 1 large cabbaged, shredded
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 5 mini cucumbers, sliced thick matchsticks
• 1 medium white onion, sliced
• Pumpkin seeds (or any nuts you prefer), optional topping

Dressing Ingredients:

• 6 T oyster sauce
• 4 T soy sauce
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 2 T honey
• 6-8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 t grated/minced ginger
• 2 T sesame oil
• 4 stalks green onions, sliced

Instructions

1. Combine dressing ingredients, okay to make ahead. Best overnight!
2. Combine all salad ingredients except the chicken into a big bowl, top with chicken breast and pour salad dressing over the ingredients (this way the chicken breast soaks up all the dressing goodness first!). Top with nuts if you prefer and serve!

Another adventure in Chinese cooking with Jenny! Hmm, I must have been too tired to keep track of where I got this recipe. But honestly, I kind of just experimented with different recipes all in one. I was first inspired by Jalna’s post but then got inspired to do the Chinese version (add black beans lol). It came out pretty good for my first try! I would definitely make this again!

Used the bag of mini sweet bell peppers from Sam’s Club, the whole bag.

Ground pork and shrimp mixture. Wondered if I should have maybe minced the shrimp less, made the pieces chunkier.

What a pain in the butt to stuff all these peppers, was worth it though.

Sautéing on both sides…

Chinese Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

You’ll need:

• 8 large shrimp, shelled, deveined and minced
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 10 water chestnuts, minced
• 4 scallions (half of the greens for the sauce, rest of greens and whites for the stuffing)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
• Fresh ground white pepper
• Bag of mini sweet bell peppers (From Sam’s Club)
• 1 tablespoon oil (for sauté)

For the sauce:

• For sauté of sauce:
  • 2 T oil 
  • 6 clove garlic (minced)
  • 3 tablespoon whole fermented Black Beans, washed and smashed
  • 2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• Okay to mix ahead of time:
  • 2 cup chicken stock
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoon oyster sauce
  • 2 tablespoon cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 1 tablespoon water)

Instructions

1. Use a cleaver or knife to finely mince the shrimp into a very fine paste. This process entails chopping and folding the shrimp paste over and onto itself, and continuing to chop. Transfer the shrimp paste to a bowl.
2. Chop the scallions. Set aside half of the green portion for the sauce. Add the rest of the chopped scallion to the shrimp, along with 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine, and white pepper to taste. Use a fork to beat/whip the shrimp until it is smooth and all the ingredients are well-combined.
3. Pop the stems off the bell peppers and follow the lines of each pepper to cut into 3-5 segments. Remove the seeds. If using long hot green peppers, just cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
4. Stuff each pepper segment with the shrimp mixture until the filling is even with the edges of the peppers. You can also trim the ends of the peppers to ensure they are flush and at the same level of the filling. This will make the peppers easier to cook.
5. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat and place the peppers in the oil, stuffing side down. Cook until they are browned, about 2 minutes. Turn the peppers over to sear the bottoms for another 2 minutes, turning the heat down if they start to get too dark. If using the long hot green peppers or another variety of thin-fleshed pepper, simply transfer them to the serving plate.
6. If using bell peppers, which have thicker flesh and take longer to cook, add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan, cover, and steam for another 2 minutes, or until the peppers are just tender. Set aside on a serving plate.
7. It’s time to make the sauce, which only takes a couple minutes. Heat the wok over medium heat and add the oil, garlic and fermented black beans. Stir-fry for a few seconds and add the shaoxing wine. When the wine is bubbly, add the rest of the sauce ingredients (except the cornstarch slurry) and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the cornstarch slurry gradually until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Stir in the reserved scallions and spoon the sauce over the peppers to serve.

Note to self:

• Shrimp was not needed and did not seem to add any taste different or texture difference
• I was a bit iffy about the the 6 minute cook time, it’s a pretty thick pork stuffing. But it worked out well for me because I was not eating it fresh anyway, it would be reheated for meals later. It was perfectly cooked when I reheated and the peppers retained their structure, did not get too mushy.

Recipe Inspiration/Credit: The Woks of Life

Another Chinese dish from my childhood, my family used to make this all the time over bean thread noodles. We also played around with chow fun noodles which I like a lot so I decided to go for it! No real recipes online that have it with chow fun so I had to improvise. My friend is constantly telling me to cook from my roots so I do try to. Chan and I both enjoyed it very much! Very time consuming because I had to prep the shrimp quite a bit but it was well worth it in the end.

I’m going to post the recipe below, this is actually from Made with Lau. I love their channel on YouTube because the dad cooks a lot of recipes that are akin to the ones I grew up eating.

The dish right before steaming!!

Steamed Garlic Shrimp on Vermicelli or Chow Fun

• Main Ingredients
  • 12 oz head-on shrimp (31/40 size) or
    2 lb Jumbo Head-on White Shrimp (5/9 size) – came out to 12 shrimp
• Vermicelli/Noodle Ingredients
  • 3 oz mung bean vermicelli (2 bundles of LungKuw) or
    4 packages of Sun Noodle brand Chow Fun (6 ounces)
  • 2 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 glass pie plates
• Garlic Paste Ingredients
  • 1 garlic bulb, smashed and coarsely minced
  • 6 green onions, whites and greens chopped and separated
  • 1.5 inch ginger, minced
  • 3 tablespoon neutral oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 teaspoon Oyster Sauce
  • 2 teaspoon Light Soy Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
  • 2 teaspoon cornstarch

Step 1: Prep vermicelli

First, soften the mung bean vermicelli (3 oz) by soaking the bundles in warm for 10 minutes.

Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut the vermicelli into shorter pieces. Drain from the water, using your fingers to move the vermicelli around to remove any excess water.

Place the vermicelli on a plate/bowl. Mix the seasoning in well until it’s evenly light brown.

Skip this step if using Sun Noodle Chow Fun noodles, no need to prep the fresh noodles.

Step 2: Prep garlic paste

Smash and peel the garlic. Trim off the hard ends of garlic. Smash the cloves using the back of a cleaver or chef’s knife. Chop the garlic finely into a paste, using different angles to produce even smaller pieces. Set aside in a small bowl.

Slice the green onion into fine pieces. Add the whites to the same bowl as the garlic. 

Set the green parts aside for garnish.

Peel the ginger and cut into thin slices. Cut into strips, then rotate 90 degrees and mince into a paste. Add to the bowl.

Step 3: Heat and season garlic paste

Heat a wok on high. Add the oil and cook for 30 to 40 seconds until it’s smoking.

Pour the oil into the bowl of garlic, green onion whites and ginger.

Season with the rest of the garlic paste ingredients, mix well. 

Step 4: Prep shrimp

Use kitchen shears to cut off the part of the head right behind the eyes. Next, trim off the legs and cut diagonally across the tail (This last step is optional, but you get bonus presentation points if you do it!).

Place the shrimp flat on a cutting board and use a small paring knife to slice through the shell halfway into the interior to make space for the garlic paste. Devein the shrimp. 

Step 5: Stuff shrimp

Add ½  to 1 teaspoon of garlic paste to the back of each shrimp.

(Chef’s Tip: Don’t overstuff the shrimp or else the garlic flavor will overwhelm the delicate sweetness of the shrimp.)

Set on top of the vermicelli in a circular pattern. Dollop any remaining garlic paste across any empty areas in the vermicelli.

Step 6: Steam shrimp

Place a steamer rack inside a wok or pot. Pour in hot water until it just reaches the bottom of the rack. Cover and bring the water to a rolling boil.

Carefully put the dish on the steaming rack, cover, and steam with the heat on high for 6 to 7 minutes, until shrimp meat is firm and opaque and the shell turns red. (This recipe yielded enough to make two glass pie pans worth for me)

Uncover and turn off heat. Garnish with the remaining sliced green onions.

Recipe Credit: Made with Lau