Soup  Rolls  Dumplings  Prawns  Chicken-1  Chicken-2   Pork   StirFry  Beef

Raindrop Soup

Source: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/chinese/mp-chinese-menu-1.html

6 Water Chestnuts
2 Scallions
1 T Sherry
3 c Chicken Stock (1 cup = 250 ml)
6 oz diced cooked Chicken
Salt and Pepper

Slice the water chestnuts and slice the spring onions (scallions) finely. Put these in a saucepan with the chicken stock and the chicken. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add the sherry and season to taste.

Flower Scallion Rolls (popular in northern China )

Yield: About 12 Rolls

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/3 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
scallions, finely chopped, as desired

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for 15 minutes.

Place the flour in a large bowl. Begin adding the yeast in a steady stream, stirring.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding a bit of flour or water as necessary. Let the dough rise for 3 hours.

Dissolve the baking powder in 1/2 tablespoon of cold water. Knead into the risen dough.
until the dough is again smooth and elastic.

To prepare rolls: Roll the dough into a 24-inch square. Lightly rub the sesame oil over with your fingers. Sprinkle over with salt and scallion.

Roll the dough up tightly, as you would when rolling up a sleeping bag or when making jelly rolls. Make sure the ends are even. Cut the dough into 2-inch pieces.

Press down lengthwise on the center of each bun with a lightly oiled chopstick, firmly enough so that the layers spread apart, but not so firmly that you cut clear through. The layers will push out to the sides, so that you have two ovals that are joined in the center. Pick up the dough by its smooth, rounded ends, and pull until they meet underneath the roll. Pinch the ends together underneath the roll. This causes the flower to become rounder in shape.

Let the rolls sit for 10 minutes and steam for 20 minutes on high heat.

 

JiaoZI (Chinese Dumplings)  

Skins:

8 cups white flour
about 2 1/2 cups (very) cold water
1 teaspoon salt

Dissolve salt in water. Add 2 cups water to flour and blend THOROUGHLY. Do not add more water until it is absolutely necessary. Add remaining water as slowly as possible in order to get as hard a dough as you can. If the dough is too soft, add more flour. Knead thoroughly. Harder dough is much easier to fill. Chill while you make the filling.

Separate dough into 2 portions. Form into long sausages, about 1 inch diameter. Cut sections every 1cm. Form sections into balls and use rolling pin to form into round, flat skins about 3 inches diameter. If they are too thick, the jiaozi will be very doughy. Modify sizes of balls as appropriate.

(The other way to make skins is to buy "JiaoZi Pi" in the local Chinese store!)

Meat:

1 kilo ground meat
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoon brandy or sherry or other aromatic alchohol
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Add soy sauce and salt to meat. Stir slowly, always in the same direction (if you change directions, the meat fibers don't stick together as well, and the jiaozi are more likely to fall apart when cooked). Add remaining ingredients.

Let sit while you prepare the vegetables and other additional ingredients. All need to be finely minced. Use a food processor if you have one. If you don't, I hope you have a LOT of patience. If the bits are too large, the jiaozi will fall apart.

1 inch ginger (finely minced. You can use a grater)
3-4 stalks spring onion
1 small clump fresh coriander (cilantro)
1 very small clump chives
Either: 8-10 stalks celery (at least half the entire stook). Once minced, squeeze out any excess water.
Or: 1 small head Chinese cabbage
Optional: 3 large carrots
Optional: 3-4 chinese black mushrooms (shiitake)
Optional: one fried egg

Stir them slowly into the meat mixture. For now, add only the lower numbers (eg. 8 celery, not 10). Don't let the mix get too moist.

Test scent. It should be very aromatic. If not, add a little more brandy, or sesame oil, or onion. Test consistency. Fry a teaspoon or so of the mix. It should stick together very easily. If it falls apart, it could be because (a) the mix is too dry in which case add more veggies and/or oil, or (b) because its too moist in which case add a little more meat. (Since its easier to add more veggies, that's why I suggested adding the veggies slowly!) Test flavour. (Eat the fried bit). Your entire tongue should get a little bit of life. If necessary, add a few spices to supplement -- savoury gets central tongue, white pepper the back, black pepper the front, paprika the sides.

Fiddle until you're happy.

To roll:
Take about 1 tablespoon filling and place into centre of skin. Bring one half up to meet the other half. Seal thoroughly. This usually means creating "pleats" in one half and gluing them to the other (use a tiny bit of water if you need to), If they're not well sealed, they fall apart when cooking.

To cook:
Bring large pot of water to boil. Add enough jiaozi to cover the base of the pot about 1.5 times (about 25 in a 12" diameter pot, about 50 in a good size wok). Cover.

When it comes to a boil, add 1 cup cold water. Cover. Repeat. When it comes to a boil for the third time, they are ready to serve.

Note: if you stop it before the third boil, the meat will not be cooked through. Also, if you don't add cold water each time, the jiaozi will fill up with air and explode.

Alternate cooking method:
After you've boiled them, you can fry them. This is a wonderful way to serve the leftovers, and a very common Chinese breakfast!

To serve:
Typically eaten with a sauce constructed of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. (ratio about 1/4 cup SS: 1/4 cup Vinegar: 1 teaspoon sugar). Also good with plain malt vinegar. To ensure that the sugar has dissolved completely, heat briefly. For more flavour, add a little sesame oil, hot oil, maggi (available in most chinese stores), and/or chilli pepper as you wish.

To store:
JiaoZi keep very well in the freezer. To freeze, place on trays so they are not touching (if they touch, they will stick together). Freeze overnight. The next day, place into plastic bags & seal. Will keep indefinitely.

 

Sweet and Sour Prawns

Source: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/chinese/mp-chinese-menu-1.html

1 lb fresh Prawns, peeled
2 T Tomato Ketchup
1 T Sambal Oelek (meshed hot chilies)
pinch of MSG (monosodium glutamate)
1 T Sugar
1 ½ Rice Wine
1 T Cornstarch stirred in 2 tblsp water
1 clove, Garlic
1 ½ T fresh Ginger
3 oz Scallions

Marinade:
1 Egg, white
3 T Cornstarch
½ t Salt
3 T Water
5 T Oil

Marinate prawns for 20 minutes in egg white, cornstarch, salt, water and oil.

Mix together the tomato ketchup, sambal oelek, MSG, sugar, rice wine and cornstarch. Peel garlic and ginger and chop finely. Also chop scallions finely.

Heat 3/4 litres oil in a pan or wok and fry half of the prawns. Take them out of the pan after 45 seconds and drain them. In another pan or wok put 5 tablespoons of oil and fry garlic and ginger for 30 seconds. Add prawns and fry while stirring constantly.

Add prepared sauce and fry for 1 minute. Add chopped scallions and 2 tablespoons oil.

 

Chicken Dice with Fried Walnuts

Source: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/chinese/mp-chinese-menu-1.html

 4 dried Mushrooms
4 oz shelled Walnuts
1/3 c Oil
3 lb Chicken
1 t Cornstarch
1 T Sherry
2 T Soy Sauce
1 t Salt
1 t Brown Sugar

Soak the mushrooms in hot water for 10 minutes. Chop the walnuts and fry in 2 tablespoons of the oil for 2 minutes. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper to remove all traces of oil.

Cut the chicken meat into small pieces, fry in remaining oil for 3 minutes over fierce heat, stirring all the time. Mix the cornstarch to a smooth paste with the sherry, soy sauce, salt and sugar. Add to the chicken and mix well.

Drain the mushrooms and chop roughly, add to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the walnuts.

 

Velvet Chicken

Serves 4 - 6

2 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons water
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sherry
Pepper to taste
Oil for deep-frying
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons cooked ham, minced

Mixture
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water


Bone and skin the chicken breasts. Then mince the chicken meat very finely (if you like use a blender at low speed).

While you are mincing the chicken add 2 tablespoons of water to the chicken a few drops at a time until the water is absorbed and the chicken is like a paste.

Beat the egg whites until they are slightly stiff. Carefully fold the beaten egg whites into the chicken mixture.

Stir in 1 tablespoon cornstarch to the chicken/egg white mixture. Add seasonings - 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste if desired, 1 tablespoon sherry if desired.

Heat wok and add oil for deep-frying. When oil is ready, add the chicken and deep-fry, using chopsticks to separate the chicken pieces. Turn over and cook the other side (total cooking time should be about 2 - 3 minutes). Remove the chicken from the wok and drain. Clean out the wok.

Reheat the wok and add 2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying. When oil is ready, add the stock. Add the chicken and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch/water mixture, stirring to thicken. Serve hot and garnish with minced ham.

• Variations: (These would be added at the stir-frying stage)
  *Chicken Velvet is often made with snow pea pods and dried mushrooms. To prepare, remove the strings from the snow pea pods. Soak the dried mushrooms in water for 20 minutes and remove the stems. At the stir-frying stage, stir-fry the peas and mushrooms and set aside. Add to the dish after cooking, along with the ham garnish.

 

Pork and Bamboo Shoots

Source: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/chinese/mp-chinese-menu-1.html

2 lb Lean Pork
¼ c Soy Sauce
1 T Sherry
1 t Brown Sugar
1 t Ground Ginger
1 l water
4 oz Bamboo Shoots

Cut the pork into small cubes. Mix the soy sauce, sherry, sugar and ginger together, add to the pork, toss well and leave for 10 minutes. Put pork and flavorings in a large pan, add the water and bring gently to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour. Drain bamboo shoots and shred finely, add to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. If wished, liquid may be thickened with 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Mixed with a little cold water.

Szechuan Style Stir Fry

Source: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~mjw/recipes/ethnic/chinese/stir-fry-coll.html

1 lb Tofu, cubed
½ lb Snow Peas
1/3 c Teriyaki sauce
3 T Szechuan Spicy Stir-fry sauce
2 t Cornstarch
1 Onion, chopped
3 c Bok Choy, chopped
2-3 T. Cooking Oil
1 c. Broccoli florets
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 7-oz. can Straw Mushrooms
1 14-oz. can Baby Corn

Combine teriyaki, stir-fry sauce and cornstarch; set aside. Cut bell pepper in strips. Cut snow peas and baby corn in half. In wok stir-fry onion & bok choy in 1 T. oil for 2 minutes. Add broccoli & bell pepper; stir-fry 2 minutes. Remove from w Stir-fry cubed tofu in 1 T. oil for 2 minutes; add more oil if necessary. Stir sauce mixture and add to tofu; cook until bubbly. Add all vegetables; heat through. Serve over hot rice.

 

Beef with Ginger and Onions

Source: http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~blairsa/r/r16.html

450 grams Beef (use a good cut like filet, which has no gristle or fat)
1 t Salt
1/8 t Pepper (or to taste)
1 ½ T Corn Flour
1 Egg, white
2 large Onions, sliced into thin rings
1 T Ginger, grated fine
1 T Sugar
3 T Water
2 T Soy Sauce
2 t Corn Flour
2 T Water
2 T Sherry, medium dry
¼ c Sesame Oil
2 T Vegetable Shortening

Cut the beef into thin strips (approx. 1 1/2 to 2 inches x 3/16-inch). I find it easiest to first slice the beef into 3/16-inch layers, and then slice the layers into 3/16-inch wides strips, and then if the strips are too long, slice the strips in half (or thirds). Put the beef strips into a bowl.

Mix the salt and pepper together in a small bowl and then sprinkle this over the beef strips and mix well. Add the first amount of corn flour (1 1/2 Tbsp.) and mix well. Add the egg white and mix well. Set the bowl by your stove in position 1.Put the sliced onions and grated ginger in a bowl together in position 2 by your stove. Mix the sugar, soy sauce and 3 Tbsp. of water together in a small bowl or cup and place in position 3 by your stove.

Mix the 2 tsp. corn flour, the sherry and 2 Tbsp. of water in a small bowl or cup and place in position 4 by your stove.

Heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. When hot, stir-fry the beef for 1 1/2 minutes. Take the pan from the heat while you remove the beef from the pan into a clean bowl. Put this bowl between the soy sauce bowl and the sherry bowl.

Return your pan to the heat and add the vegetable shortening. When melted, stir fry the onions and ginger until the onions are tender. (This is a tricky part, because you don't want to overcook the onions and yet you don't want to undercook them either. I would say 5 minutes is about the maximum time, but be careful. They should lose their hard round shape. Taste them if you're not sure. Cook them until they are no longer sharp.).

Add the soy sauce mixture and mix well.

Return the beef to the pan and mix well.

Add the sherry mixture to the pan and mix well for about 1/2 a minute.

Serve with white rice.