This Szechuan soup makes a wonderfully satisfying meal. Take a small packet of bean thread noodles and soak them in cold water. Now take some pieces of black fungus or wood-ear fungus (available in Asian grocery stores) and cook them until tender. Meanwhile bring 1½ litres (50 fl oz) of stock to boil. Remove the…… Continue reading hot and sour soup
Tag: chinese food
tofu with mushrooms + water spinach stir-fry
The people of Sichuan (Szechuan) Province in China are fond of hot and spicy food. This recipe, adapted from Eating Well Magazine, is no exception although you can moderate it to suit your taste. Drain your fresh tofu on several paper towels. Sprinkle with a little salt on each side. Place more paper towels on…… Continue reading tofu with mushrooms + water spinach stir-fry
san choy bow
This is my own version of a classic. For serving, wash a head of iceberg lettuce and separate the leaves. For 700g (1½ lbs) minced chicken you will need 1-2 carrots, an equal amount of cabbage, 1 green pepper, 1 small can of water chestnuts , 5-10 diced button mushrooms and 1-2 onions. All of…… Continue reading san choy bow
green beans
Here are two ways to prepare green beans. This is a simple Spanish-style salad. First steam the beans for 6 minutes and then drain and rinse them briefly in cold water to stop them cooking any further. For the dressing combine 4 tablespoons of good olive oil, 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons…… Continue reading green beans
ginger chicken + vegetable stir-fry
Serve these two simple stir-fries with rice for a quick and delicious meal. This stir-fry was taught to me by a good friend and has only 4 ingredients: fresh ginger, sesame oil, chicken and oyster sauce. Cook shredded ginger briefly in a hot dry wok until fragrant. Next the sesame oil and then the diced chicken. When the chicken is…… Continue reading ginger chicken + vegetable stir-fry
celery stir-fry
Never a favourite of mine, I used to leave celery off my shopping list. That was until I travelled to China. There I ate some simple celery stir-fries, usually with only one other ingredient such as onion, lotus or even macadamia. Since then, I’ve added celery to my repertoire, sometimes with onion or with tomato segments and…… Continue reading celery stir-fry
mapo tofu
Mapo Tofu (Grandma’s beancurd) is a favourite of mine. In this version I cook 500g of minced beef in a hot pan, making sure it’s broken up into small pieces to form the basis of the sauce. No oil is necessary as the meat first loses it’s water content and then fries in it’s own fat, intensifying…… Continue reading mapo tofu
michelle picker cooks 