Roast Butterflied Chicken

I find butterflied chicken has quite a few advantage over whole chicken when it comes to roasting.  It cooks quickly and evenly so you can use much higher temperature without drying out the meat.  Here I roasted this bird at 400℉ convected to 170℉ internal temperature.  It took only 35 minutes or so.  I seasoned it with salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, chili powder, lime juice and olive oil.  Even the breast meat is juice and tender although I didn't brine it as many do these days. 

Chicken Mushroom Huaishan Stew

I saw a nice stick of huaishan 淮山, also know as shanyao 山藥 in Chinese and nagaimo 長芋 in Japanese, in the market and decided to cook with it for dinner.  I cut up half a chicken, marinated it with sugar, salt, soy sauce, shaoxing liquor, soy sauce and cornstarch for half an hour or so before browning lightly with ginger.  Reconstituted shiitake were added next and then shaoxing liquor, sugar, salt, soy sauce and water.  Simmer for 15 minutes then big chunks for huaishan went in for another 10 minutes, until the huaishan cooked through.  If you overcook the huaishan, it will disintegrate, but if you undercook it, it is rather unpleasant. Keep an eye on it and the result if wonderful.  Huaishan is considered to be one of the best food/medicine in Chinese medicine, tasty too.

Steamed Pork 瑤柱冬菇蒸肉餅

Steam meat 'cake' is perhaps the most common home cooked Cantonese dish.  Here I chopped up some pork and mixed in a couple chopped reconstituted shiitake mushroom and a shredded reconstituted dry scallop, seasoned with grated ginger, sugar, salt, soy sauce, cornstarch and just a touch of sesame oil.   As mundane as can be, but still good.

International Food for Chinese Service

The 'bloody' soup is a beet and kale soup made with onion, carrot, celery, canned tomato, garlic cloves, tomato paste, olive oil, bay leaves, oregano  and chicken stock.  I find sautéing the onion carrot and celery first make the soup richer.  The oxtail is browned first and then added into sautéed onion, carrot and tomato.  Tomato paste and canned tomato are next. Cook for an hour or two until the meat is tender.  The chicken is poached and then shredded.  Shajiang power 沙姜 and salt is cook slightly in warm oil until the fragrant comes out and then the chicken are tossed into for the flavour. 

Stinky Cheese

I walked into Les Amis du Fromage and asked for stinky cheeses and was offered the epoisses on the right.  I also picked up the chèvre on the left.  Both are French and very stinky.  I like very stinky cheese.

Sandpot Rice with Yellow Ear Mushroom and Chicken 黄耳菇滑鸡煲仔饭

Sandpot rice is a good one pot dish.  The trick is the control of heat and timing.  You want to have the rice and the accompaniment on top to cook just right and have a nicely golden crisp crust on the bottom. I bring the rice with water to a boil rapidly and then let it simmer at medium heat until not water is visible then the seasoned stuff--chicken marinated with sugar, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch, plus dry red dates and yellow ear mushroom--are put on top and cover for 15 minutes. 

Yellow Back Ear Mushroom and Tofu 黄背耳炒豆腐

Yellow back ear mushroom is like a wood ear but smoother and more tender.  It is supposed to have plenty of health benefits also, lower lipid and such.  I got these already shredded and dry so all I have to do is soak it for a hour or so before using. Here I stir-fried it with some pork, tofu, and celery, seasoned with garlic, salt, sugar, Shaoxing liquor 绍兴酒, soy sauce, cornstarch and hot bean sauce 禆县豆瓣.  Finished with a little sesame oil and scallion.

Pork Chops with wild mushroom sauce

The chops are salt-and-peppered before searing in a hot pan.  Mushroom and onion are then sautéed in  the pan until soften.  Deglaze with a little white wine, reduce then add some cream and let it thicken.  Put the chop back to warm up and that is it.  Tasty but quite fattening.

Smoked Coho Salmon

Trying something different.  I have smoked king and sockeye salmons and they are typically the type of smoked salmon in the market.  Here I smoked some coho.  Coho is a little less fatty than both king and sockeye but still a very tasty with slightly softer fresh.  I marinated it over night with soy sauce, sugar, salt, maple syrup and water then dried in the fridge overnight then smoked with maple chips for 4 hours.  The result is quite good.

Chicken roasted with wild mushroom

I brined the chicken with salt and sugar for four hours then dried it well.  Browned it all over quickly in a heavy pot before wild mushroom and onion and garlic were added to cook for a few minutes.  Cooked it in a 300℉ oven for 30 or so minutes until the chicken reached 150℉ then remove the lid and turn the oven way up for 10 minutes...







And I had a tender and juicy roast chicken with wild mushroom and sauce directly from the pot.

Disappointment

I picked this up while I was waiting at Narita airport.  Never seen or heard of this make so gave it a try. Well, don't like it at all.  Usually when I think of daiginjo I think of something on the delicate side with pretty nose of fruit and flower.  This does have some fruit and flower but it is also very dry, almost sharp, with a rather powerful alcohol attack.  It is almost like they mix daiginjo with honjozo.

欖仁 Salad

One of my favourite salad is with pine nuts and Stilton. Recently I try a pine nut look-alike we call 欖仁 . I think it is more fragrant then pine nut though less buttery.  I am not sure what it is though,  My guess is that it is either olive nut (as the Chinese name suggest) or Indian Almond (as there is a tree with edible nut with the same name).  If someone out there knows, please let me know.

Best Bits and Pieces of a Big Fish

The tip of the belly is a cut you hardly every see in restaurants, except Japanese ones.  There is maybe 3-4 oz of it in a 10lb fish, most fish markets probably just throw it away.  For me, it is the best part.  Whenever I open up a whole salmon, the first thing after I finish is to cook up the trimmed belly.  I just salt it lightly the sear with a little oil in a very hot pan.  In just a few minutes the skin is crisped and the meat browned, the centre remains moist and tasty as can be. This is a coho I bought today. 

Mountain and Sea Fall Special

Visited my mushroom picker in Granville Island and picked up three kinds of fresh mushroom--yellow chanterelle, slippery Jack and hawk's wings.  One of the best way to eat wild mushroom is rice, risotto is one.  The rice takes up the flavour of the mushroom wonderfully.  The fish is coho, marinated in water, salt, sugar, soy sauce and maple syrup.  It is seared quickly and the skin is crisped up along side.  The combination doesn't work so well together.  The fish crashing a bit with the risotto.  I should have eaten them separately.  Two perfectly good things don't always come together well. Things are like that sometimes, aren't they?

Boeuf Bourguignon

The Carinena isn't too enjoyable to drink but it is good enough to cook.  I like to make stews in pressure cooker not because I need it quickly but I find it gives a much more juicy and tender result.  This is very basic, beef pieces are salted, peppered and browned before carrot, onion, whole garlic and celery are added for a few minutes.  Sprinkle on some flour and then fresh thyme and bay leaves go in before the wine.  Brought it all to a boil and up to pressure then cooked for half an hour.  I like to leave it in the pot overnight before heating it up and simmer for 10 minutes with sautéed mushroom. 

Castillo de Monséran Carinena Granacha

I bought this to give it a try because it was on sale but the result isn't so good.  It has a strong alcohol attack and harsh on the tongue when newly opened.  It the stink goes aways after a hour or so but when the fruit shows up it is rather flabby.  It just tastes cheap.  Too bad.

Chanterelle with Beef

When you live in a temperate climate with forest near by, you have wild mushrooms. It is fall chanterelle season.  Chanterelle is one of my favourite mushrooms, woody and meaty.  Here the beef slices are marinated with crushed garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, shaoxing liquor, oil and cornstarch.  The mushroom is sautéed for a few minutes in high heat before removing.  Beef is first browned lightly before the mushroom returns to the pan.  A few seconds more and it is down, finish with a touch of sesame oil.

Now, Back to Eats... Pork Chops, Again.

Pork chop is great for lazy and impatient people--cooks quickly and simply.  I marinated the chops with pressed garlic, salt, pepper, Shaoxing liquor, sugar and cornstarch.  Seared on a hot pan with extra virgin olive oil until brown then brown and crisp lots of garlic and crushed chili with it.  I like this with rice or bread, the garlic is a dish in itself.

Glenfiddich 18 years

The 12 years is available just anywhere one travels and I don't ever order it, found it thin an dull. This is another story entirely--full, rich, deep, long and complex--quite the opposite of the little brother. This is becoming my favourite Speyside malt. This bottle comes from friends visiting from the US, very very very good friend indeed. Thank you, Tom and Ah Lan.

Mezzomondo Negroamaro Rosso Salento

Another wine from a mostly unknown region--Salento, the heel of Italy. Negroamaro is the native grape. It is not a great wine but very good. Dark, plum, perfumed, the tannin is a little rough but not harsh. At C$9.99, I always keep a few around.

Argiolas Costera

When one think of wine, Sardinia is not usually near the top of the list, but this is a very nice wine. Tasted it at the last VIWF and found it interesting enough to buy a couple. It is very well made, lot of fruit, lovely cherry, but without the heaviness one may expect from hotter climate. Maybe a little pricey for what it is at C$25, it is good to have for it's uniqueness--native varietaals Carignano and Bovale blending with Cannonau (Grenache). Come to think of it 25 may not be too much after all.

Schloss Reinartshausen Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen

Chris asked for drinks and here starts a few alcoholic drinks I drank in the last 10 or so days. This is a mild surprise. I wanted to buy their first growth at the last Vancouver International Wine festival after tasting it, but it was sold out so I picked this up at C$21. Drinking it without comparing to the first growth, it turns out to be very satisfying. Full but not heavy, lots of stone fruit, just slightly oily; it does nothave the mineral level of the first growth but very balanced and bright. The bottle is also great, beautiful blue long bottle with a glass stopper. I will steam off the label and use the bottle.

Steak!

Sometimes you just need a steak. Ribeye, red wine reduction with shallot and crushed pepper. Simple and enough beef for a month.

Nordic Maki

Hidekazu Tojo said he created inside-out maki, and since I live in the same city, I make one also. On the outside is gravlax with cucumber and crispy salmon skin from the gravlax. It is not bad but the cucumber sort of thin out the taste too much. Maybe I should use avocado next time.

More Smoked Salmon

Garden vegetable pasta is good but add some smoke salmon, it is better. Here is olive oil, garlic, chili pepper, tomato, yellow summer squash, basil, oregano, smoke salmon, salt and pepper.

Salad

Other than the cucumber (from my neighbour) and the radicchio everything else is from my garden. I particularly like the yellow beans, sweet and beany, called Kentucky Wonder Mix.

Chicken with Plum Sauce

Continuing with the plum. Here I sauté some garlic and onion in olive oil then add browned chicken pieces, deglaze with some white wine, add some thyme and cut up plums, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce thickens and chicken is cooked. Very brightly flavoured, sweet and sour.

Plum Cake

I have a Italian prune plum tree and this is plum season. I have to find ways to eat a whole tree of plums (I still have preserves from last year's harvest in the fridge!). This is easy and tasty. The batter is just a cup of flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, a touch of salt, 2/5 cup of sugar, half a stick of butter, 3/8 cup of milk, an egg just mixed together. Usually this is made with the plum's fresh side up, prettier that way. I like it facing down with the plum melting into the cake, think it tastier.

Quick Pork Stirfry

This is pretty basic: thin slices of lean pork, garlic, ginger, onion, red bell pepper, Sichuan hot bean paste 郫縣豆瓣醬, Shaoxing liquor 紹興酒, scallion and sesame oil. Hot pan, add oil and then ingredients in that order. Perfect to go over rice.

Not Bad as Dinner

Yes, I said the outside round roast isn't great for dinner, but it is good enough. I made a pan sauce with dijon mustard, pepper and a little beef stock. The side is a seasonal vegetable stew of orange bell pepper, asian eggplant, yellow summer squash, potato, onion, garlic, olive oil, basil and oregano. Not refine but very happy kind of meal.

Horny Tomato

Well, what else can I say...

Outside Round Roast

Cheap cuts like outside round may be too lean and dry to make a good dinner oven roast, it does make a good cold cut. I do it simple--salt and pepper, brown in a pan, roast at 300℉ to 135℉ in the centre. When sliced thinly it makes great sandwiches and I even float them over rice noodles and chicken broth. A very economic and tasty standby.

Smoked Salmon Quiche

I still have a pie shell in the freezer and smoked sockeye in the fridge so what is better than a quiche. Sauté some onion and red bell pepper add the fish and some herbs put into the pie shell pour over the custard and back, very simple. I just follow the instruction on box regarding the custard and baking, comes out well.

Summer Garden Spaghetti

Even when there isn't much coming from the vegetable garden, a little of this and that is plenty enough. A couple of tomato, a small yellow summer squash and a few springs of basil are all I have. Chop and cook them with a little olive oil, garlic and crushed chili, salt-n-pepper, toss with some spaghetti and one of the best tasting pasta dish is made.

Smoked Salmon Omelette

If you have a little hot smoked salmon hanging around, omelette is a good way to go. This morning I take a small piece of my own smoked sockeye, sauté some onion and red pepper, add a couple of eggs and voilá a very tasty omelette.

Roast Pork Shoulder

Shoulder is good everyday roast. It is interesting because a few different muscle groups run through it and give the roast different texture. Just don't overcook, slice thinly and it is a very good eat. Here I stuffed it with garlic, thyme, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper, pan seared the outside and roasted in 300℉ until the centre reached 160.

Giant kernels

Bought a few ears of corn from the farmer's market, every but one is normal and regular. This one, however, has some giant kernels! Taste like others, very sweet.

Tomato Salad

Late summer is great tomato time. The rainbow colour tomato join my own home grown early bird tomato and basil in this salad. Even without cheese, just a simple dijon mustard vinaigrette is enough to make a very fine salad.

Rainbow Tomato

I don't know what this variety is called but I picked it up at the farmer's market. Certainly very colourful, quite tasty too.

Gravlax

Leftover salmon is great for gravlax. It is easy to make and great to eat. Sockeye has a firm texture and the mouth feel is almost crunchy. I use about 50/50 of sugar and salt, a handful of cracked black pepper, a sprinkle of gin, lemon peel, lemon slice and dill to bury the fish, put some heavy can on top and keep in the fridge for three days.

Quiche

I haven't made quiche for two decades, not since college. Forgot how easy it is and what a good way to get rid of the leftover. Here I have black forest ham, egg, cream, milk, onion, parmigiano reggiano, mozzarella and thyme, all pour into a frozen pie shell. I have some filling leftover so I cook it in a ramekin, sort of a baked omelette.

This is salmon season and very nice and large sockeye salmon are available at very reasonable price. Here is a 5-pounder dressed at just C$25. It is not possible, of course, to eat all of it all at once. Smoking and curing much of it are just great ways to make it last.



Filleting a big fish isn't that difficult just need a little practise and a very shape knife. This takes me all five minutes. Not exactly perfect but quite usable at home.

Do-Your-Own-Cooking Meal

Hot pot is pretty much cooking free for the cook. If you want to eat, you put it in the hot water and cook it yourself, I just put things on the table. Here I have a mix of cooked and raw pots. In the pot are beef meat balls, fish cake slices, fried gluten, napa cabbage, ginger and water--a cooked pot. I also have some sliced ribeye to be cooked briefly by dipping into the soup--a raw element. A minimum fuss way of serving people.

A Recent Dinner

Some dishes from a dinner I made recently--oxtail stewed with potato 牛尾炆薯仔, sugar and vinegar ribs 糖醋排骨, seared sockeye salmon, scallion sea cucumber 蔥燒海參.

Chicken Curry

Besides Buddhism, curry is probably India's greatest export. Like Buddhism, curry morphs into innumerous version each unique to the location in which it takes root. This is a Hong Kong-ish curry, I suppose. This time I blend my own spices--coriander seed, cumin, clove, cardamon, black mustard seed, black pepper, tumeric, chili powder (heavy on the coriander bacause it is summer). I marinated the skinless chicken thighs with the mix and salt for a couple of hours and roast them in a hot oven until they lightly browned. Meanwhile, I saute a couple onion, sliced, for 20 minutes until nicely golden, then ginger and garlic a thrown in. The spices go in next for half a minute then the lightly roasted chicken. Toss it all about for a minute or two then in goes the potato and carrot and water and salt (if needed). Cook until the potato is almost soft then add a table spoon or two of curry paste from Kwan Yik 冠益華記油咖哩. The tangliness and fragrance of the curry paste is just the right finishing touch. Simmer for another 10 or so minutes and it is done.

Hot Water Dough Pastry

This pastry 燒餅 is also made with hot water dough. The dough is rolled thin and then an oil and flour mixture, 30g of flour to 80g of oil, is brushed on to the dough. Roll up the dough and roll to a square (make sure not to roll all the way to the edge and break the pasty). Fold in three and then roll again, repeat. Lightly wet the surface of the resulted rectangle and stick on some sesame. Bake in 400C oven for 10 minutes. Tender layered pastry that make excellent sandwiches.

Hot Water Dough

No one I know use hot water dough as much as Chinese. Hot water dough is made by first mixing hot water, about half of the amount needed, into lightly salted flour to partially cook it and then finish with cold water to form a nice dough. The result is a tender and smooth dough, not as strong as the normal cold water dough but very easy to cook and shape. Traditionally potstickers 鍋貼 are made with this dough. The almost creamy wrapper is far better than the cold water dough used in boil dumplings in this application.

Spicy 'Stir-fry'

Stir-frying is a method of cooking, not a dish. Partially cooked ingredients are finished in a very hot pan with a sauce, just enough to coat, that is stir-frying. Here I cut up a couple pork chops, marinate them in sugar, salt, soy sauce, shaoxing liquor, sesame oil and cornstarch before browning them on medium high heat until nicely brown and 70% cooked. Garlic and ginger are lightly browned in a seperate pan, add the pepper and asparagues and cook for a minute or so. Add hot bean sauce 豆瓣醬 and then the pork, deglaze with a little shaoxing liquor, season with sugar, soy sauce if needed. Toss about a little, add a little sesame oil and it is done. Very flavourful.