Braised mushroom meat sauce 香菇肉燥

I haven't post anything on my blog for a long time. Almost abandoned this blog. I feel a little guilty if I use "busy" as the excuse, but ... I AM BUSY with the twins, my husband (a forever two-year-old) and housework. Anyway, the weather is getting cold, so I decided to cook something tasty and nutritious.

Noodles in minced pork sauce 炸醬麵

This was one of my favorite food when I was little. It is a traditional dish especially in Northern China. There are many different ways of making the sauce, all with slight variation. I guess there is no good translation for it, either. So this is the version from my father. Every summer the string beans are growing so well in my in-law's garden, that's when I think of making this for my family. The sauce is great with noodles or rice.

Fried pork chops 炸豬排

We have a long drive to work everyday. When we stuck in traffic (which is pretty often), we like to look at the cars on the road. After many discussions, we came to the same conclusion that BMW makes the most stylish cars. Our eyes always chase after the shadow of a BMW, especially the 5 series. It just catches my eyes so much, and every time I see one, it makes me feel happy. Oh~ Such a beauty! We also agree that if we were going to buy a car next time, we will buy a BMW X5! We say it so many times, now it feels like a dream. I wish it will stay as a dream. This way, I will have something to look forward to, and it will always be the best car in my eyes. Sometimes the human nature tends not to treasure the things after you get it.

Fried pork chops are a very common dish in Taiwan. I fried them in a flat pan, so I don't have to use so much oil.

Spicy meat sauce noodles 辣醬麵

We had some rain over the weekend, the weather suddenly cools down a lot. I love spicy food, even in the summer time. There is a small restaurant in the Chinatown here, and it is always so busy. You know they have good food there. One of my favorite is the spicy meat sauce with mixed vegetables over noodles. I try to reproduce it at home, so that I can also add some personal touch to it.

Spinach lasagna 菠菜肉醬千層麵

Thank God it's Friday!! After the hot weather earlier this week, the weather has been really nice. So nice that we don't want to get up in the morning to go to work. That's why I so look forward to the weekend. We got some beautiful spinach from my in-laws, fresh from the garden, so I want to make something good with it. Making lasagna is a good idea! Again, I went to Carol's website for instructions.

BBQ 烤肉

Today is the first day of the July 4th holiday weekend. I know everyone has a lot of activities planned for this long week, so today is the best time to host a backyard BBQ party. We have been busy for today's BBQ for the whole week. We were shopping for a new charcoal grill, planning the menu and making drinks and desserts. I also went to many websites to search for best BBQ recipes.

Stuffed tofu 油豆腐鑲肉

My mom is not a great cook; my dad cooks better than my mom, but there are a few dishes that I remember from childhood to be "my mom's special". Stuffed tofu is one of them. This dish showed up pretty frequent on our dinner table or in my lunch box. No matter when it showed up, it always made me eat a little more rice that day, because it tasted so good. Now I am cooking this in my own kitchen, remembering Mom and my childhood memories.

Spinach noodle soup 菠菜蛋花肉絲麵

Spinach is ready to harvest in my in-law's garden. I am trying to come up with so many different ways to consume the spinach. Probably everyone in my generation would link spinach with the hero "Popeye the sailor man". (I don't know if kids now watch it anymore.) Popeye always became so strong after he ate a can of spinach and was able to rescue his sweetheart, Olive, from the rascal. Indeed, spinach has a lot of iron in it, which will help in the production of red blood cells, in turn increases oxygen carrying to tissues and muscles.

Pan-fried leek buns 韭菜水煎包

The weather is getting warmer and warmer. Summer is in the air. The vegetables in my in-laws' garden are growing so fast that we can't keep up our speed on consuming them. Leek is one of them. This makes me think of a common street food back in home, the pan-fried buns. It took a little time to make, because we had to wait for the dough to rise, which made the dinner time a little later than usual on this week night, but it's all worth it. The moment when we dig in, oh, it tasted so good! I have to say when flour meets fat (oil, butter or cheese), magic happens!

Pot stickers -- a big flower 冰花煎餃

Dumplings are a traditional Chinese food, especially in Northern China. It is made into a shape like the "yuanbao" (元寶), a silver/gold ingot used to be the currency in China until the 20th century. The filling can be a mix of ground meat and vegetables. It can be boiled, steamed or pan-fried. Because of its shape, it is a "must-have" during Chinese New Year, representing good luck in money. Of course, it is also a common food through out the year. I like to have pan-friend and steamed dumplings in the summer time, and the boiled dumplings in the winter time. It's just a personal preference.

Steamed pork buns and veggie buns 肉包和素包

I like to cook something that needs a little work to make on the weekend. Those are the things I don't usually have time to make on weekdays. Bao zi (steamed buns, 包子) is a something we love very much. The wrappers are made from dough after risen by yeast, and become so soft after steamed. The fillings can be anything, all meat, all vegetables or a mix of the two. I made both kinds. I made the wrappers for the veggie buns with vegetable juice so that they can be distinguished from the meat buns. We also invited my in-laws and sister-in-law's family to come over for lunch. My brother-in-law? Again, pursuing happiness -- the love of his life.

Sweet and sour short ribs 糖醋排骨

"Sweet and sour' dishes are my favorite. I guess probably no one wouldn't like the taste, sweet and sour. The origin of the "sweet and sour" style dishes is from Jiangsu (江蘇) region in China, but it has become so popular that it's the most well-accepted Chinese dish around the world. My husband loves short ribs. He always says the meat attached to bones tastes the best. So I combine the two today; this should please him (or his stomach). The ingredients are easy to find at the grocery stores, and the colorful dish really intrigues our appetite.

Bak kut teh 肉骨茶

It's already mid May, but it has been raining for the whole week, and the temperature is only in the low 50 degree Fahrenheit. I see people walking on the street all with heavy coats, but the temperature next week will be in the 80s! Such a weather roller coaster is not fun. It's very easy to catch a cold.

My husband worked from home today, because someone was coming to do some work around the house. Since he's already home, he's in charge of dinner, so I didn't have to beat the traffic to get home to cook. "Bak kut teh" is the best choice, it's hearty and it's easy. It's the best remedy for a cold rainy day like this, and it's easy enough for my husband to cook.

Leek box 韭菜盒子

My in-laws have a garden in their back yard. They maintain a good variety of vegetables in the garden. Each month we will have a different vegetable "in season" and shows up on our dinner table for the entire month. Recently, the leek is very productive due to the rainy weather we have, so the best way to consume these leeks is to make "the leek boxes"! It is a traditional Northern Chinese food, especially in the summer time. The key is to use hot boiling water to destroy the gluten in the flour, and also they are half cooked this way, so it is very crispy on the outside.

Moo shu pork with moo shu pancakes 木須肉, 木須餅

"Moo shu" is a popular dish in Chinese take-out restaurants. There are many different spellings for "moo shu"; I use the one in Wikipedia. It is actually a very common home dish, and there is really no fixed recipe for cooking it. It goes well with rice or moo shu pancakes. If you don't have the moo shu pancakes, just use pita bread.

Baked spring rolls "烤"春捲

Spring is here, so let's have some spring rolls. It is also called egg rolls. It is the perfect food for a day in spring, not too hot, but not too cold either. In Chinese culture, there is a typical day in spring (Qingming 清明), the first day of the fifth solar term. It is a time for people to go outside and enjoy the greenery of springtime and tend to the graves of departed ones. Spring rolls are the typical food for Qingming Festival (清明節), especially in southeastern China, like Taiwan.

Steamed buns 包子

I was in the mood of some steamed buns. There have been more and more reports recently about healthy ways of cooking, and steaming is one of them. It says that the nutrients will be preserved better if steamed. This shouldn't be difficult for Chinese. There are a lot of Chinese dishes that are steamed and delicious, like the steamed buns.