From the category archives:

Chinese Recipes

Boiled Peanuts

August 10, 2009
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Green peanuts are really just fresh raw peanuts straight from the ground (before they’ve been salted, dried or roasted). If you’ve never had a boiled green peanut, they’re closer in spirit to edamame than the dry roasted variety sold by the monocled peanut. They’re not actually green, but the name is a disambiguation for the [...]

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Claypot Flounder with Ginger and Scallion

January 28, 2009
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This is one of those weeknight meals I just sort of cobbled together with stuff I had in the fridge. It leans towards Chinese in flavour but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an authentic claypot dish. It was good, but the real star of the meal was the rice.
If you’re [...]

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Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)

December 11, 2008
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Take a stroll through any Chinatown in the world and you’re bound to see restaurants with strips of red char siu hanging from hooks in the windows. Char siu literally means “fork burned” which is a reference to the traditional preparation, skewered and barbecued over a fire. While you may not have had a chance [...]

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Chinese Five Spice Powder

December 9, 2008

While it’s commonly believed that it gets it’s name because it contains 5 spices, the number actually refers to the 5 elements: wood, fire, water, earth, metal, and water. In traditional Chinese medicine, these elements manifest themselves in various parts of the human anatomy and imbalances in these elements are said to be the cause [...]

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Garlic chive shrimp fried rice with garlic chips

November 18, 2008
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One of the best things about fried rice is that it can be made with just about anything and can be seasoned with an almost infinite combination of flavours. It’s one of those dishes that I like to make when I’m really not in the mood to think too much and I happen to have [...]

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Bittermelon with pork and blackbean sauce

September 5, 2008
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Bitter melon is one of those things that I used to detest as a kid and to this day, I can’t say I’m a huge fan. It’s a curious looking vegetable (technically a fruit), that looks a bit like a cucumber with blisters all over it. If you hang out at Asian groceries you’ve probably [...]

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Noodles with black bean sauce

July 28, 2008
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I’m fascinated by foods that have been transplanted from one country to another and in the process become their own unique dish. Some dishes like Chop Suey get totally lost in the translation, while others, like Tacos Al Pastor, and Japanese Curry take on a different, though no less tasty life of their own.
This dish [...]

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Stir fried lettuce

May 19, 2008
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I know… it sounds weird, most of us are put-off when the lettuce goes all wilty in a sandwich, but when the right kind of lettuce is quickly sauteed over high heat it makes a delicious vegetable side dish. It retains its crisp texture and the greens become almost fluorescent in color. The part I [...]

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