My Love Affair with Chinese Food

It's very possible that my interest in Chinese language stemmed from my love of Chinese food. One of our Friday night favorites was take out from Ding Hao, a little restaurant down the road. I'd come home from gymnastics in whatever awesome leotard I was wearing, and the family would sit down in the kitchen to whatever special cuisine we had chosen that night (sometimes it was breakfast for dinner!) and my brother and I would drink soda from sippy cups. Unfortunately, the staff "went on vacation for two weeks" and never came back. So we moved on to New Mandarin. Aside from our take-out favorites, once in a while we would really class it up and go to Red Dragon or China Harvest. China Harvest was my absolute favorite. I wrote about in English class. My aunt really spoiled me- she'd let me order pineapple drinks in funky glasses with a sword and umbrella, and if I was really lucky (which, let's be honest, was most of the time), we'd get the pupu platter! Steak on a stick, fried wontons, egg rolls...you name it, pupu had it. And that was just our appetizer! 

Now, as many of you know, most of what you find in the States is Americanized Chinese, and I'm okay with it. I love a good lomein. And there ain't nothin' Chinese about crab rangoon, but I could eat it every day for dinner and polish off the leftovers cold for breakfast. That being said, authentic Chinese cuisine is absolutely delicious. And why wouldn't it be? Lots of fresh garlic, ginger, scallion, basil, and all of these fresh ingredients combined right in front of your eyes to create an amazing dish. Chinese food is fairly simple to prepare at home because it does consist of these basic, simple ingredients, and all you need is a good wok and a gas range. The fire and heat is quite important, but I have an uneven electric burner and I still cook Chinese quite frequently. Another great thing about it? There's an even ratio of veggies to meat, so you get everything you need in one dish. 

When I studied abroad in China, I took an extracurricular cooking class. It mainly consisted of a few of us watching the teacher prepare a dish or two and then eating it, so I didn't really retain that much, but I learned that Chinese cooking, is in fact, fairly simple. Back in the States I met my good friend Yang. We started out as each other's writing/Chinese tutor, but a wonderful friendship was born out of all those hours spent together. He taught me how to cook most of what I know how to make: green pepper and pork; stewed pork, green beans, and potatoes; fried rice; etc. And then I went to Taiwan and discovered some of the tastiest food of all time. Once a week I would stop on my walk home to get the best fried rice I've ever had from a little old woman who lived just around the corner. I watched her over and over hoping to make it for myself, but it's just not the same. She makes magic happen. The scallions are pork somehow ended up slightly browned, probably from the intense heat of the wok, and it was just delicious. Then there was the little stand run by a husband and wife that specialized in Japanese style curry with Chinese cabbage on the side and a fried pork cutlet. And my favorite, eggplant. 

Eggplant wasn't something I discovered until I studied abroad. The eggplant familiar to most of us is dark purple and bulbous, kind of like an overgrown pear. If a pear were to be dark purple...and flat on the top. Anyway, this eggplant is generally quite bitter. Unless you know the secret that is! You have to slice the eggplant, salt it, and then  let it sit for about half an hour. You’ll notice that there's a lot of liquid, which is why I like to do this on paper towels. You then rinse it and you're ready to go. But, Japanese eggplant, the long, skinny bright purple kind, is a little more delicate and not bitter. And it tastes delicious braised in soy sauce, in a garlic sauce, stuffed with shrimp, and roasted with other vegetables. 

Now, it's hard to know when you've stumbled across a good Chinese recipe. Everyone I know who has taught me how to cook Chinese food doesn't use recipes. They just cook. And then there's correlating the Chinese phrase with the English translation. I spent 20 minutes in the grocery store today trying to figure out what black vinegar and dark soy were. It's all more complicated when working in English. That being said, I was happy to find that the local luxury Kroger has expanded it's Asian condiments aisle. And why was I searching for black vinegar and dark soy, you might be wondering? Because I had my heart set on making Emeril's Eggplant and Green Beans in Spicy Garlic Sauce. 

Okay, so I know what you're thinking. Emeril? The Italian guy with a New York accent who yells "bam!"? You're using his recipe? Let me tell you. This Emeril guy? He's solid. I have two more Emeril recipes to tell you about and only one of them is Italian. I'm sharing his recipe almost exactly as found on foodnetwork.com, and I've added my notes in parentheses. 

Eggplant and Green Beans in Spicy Garlic Sauce
From Emeril Lagasse

6 ounces ground pork (I used ground chicken because I find ground pork to taste somewhat like ammonia.)
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup canola oil (You can use other varieties just make sure not to use olive oil because it doesn't hold up to the high heat.)
1/2 pound blanched frozen green beans (I used fresh because I generally don't like frozen veggies.)
1 pound Asian eggplants, ends trimmed, cut on the diagonal into 3/4-inch slices (Make sure not to make them too thick, they won't break down as well when cooking.)
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup basil leaves, torn
2/3 cup chicken stock
4 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup dark soy (From doing a little research, dark soy seems to be primarily used as a coloring and seasoning agent in sauces. It has a bit of a molasses flavor, but is not all that sweet. I used Dynasty brand Brown Gravy Sauce.)
2 tablespoons black vinegar (This is just Chinese vinegar. I couldn't find it in the regular grocery store, but it should be available at any Asian Market.)
2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon water (I used sweet potato starch because that's all I had, and it worked just fine). 

Combine the pork with the soy sauce and allow to stand while you prepare the green beans and eggplant. 

Heat a large nonstick skillet or wok over high heat and add 1/4 cup of the oil. Allow the oil to heat and then add the green beans. (Wear an apron and stand back, because it will certainly splatter!). Stir fry until the beans are slightly wrinkled, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the green beans and transfer to a paper-lined plate to drain. Add the remaining oil to the pan and add the eggplants to cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplants are lightly browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes (*Although Japanese eggplants aren't bitter and do not require salting, I still think it's a good idea. I've never seen anything about it mentioned in Chinese cookbooks, but in the few times that I've cooked Japanese eggplant, it always seems a bit rubbery and oily. Eggplant, regardless of the variety, is like a sponge, and salting it seems to prevent it from absorbing too much oil when cooking. If you salt it and slice it fairly thin, the result will be tender, buttery goodness. Just remember to rinse of the salt before adding it to the pan). Remove the eggplant to a shallow bowl and set aside. 

Add the garlic and basil to the wok and cook for a few seconds just until fragrant. Add the meat and cook, stirring, just until it changes color, 1 to 2 minutes. Return the eggplant to the wok and add the chicken stock, hoisin, dark soy, black vinegar, chili garlic sauce and sesame oil and stir to mix well. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook until eggplant is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Return the green beans to the wok along with the cornstarch mixture and bring up to a boil. When sauce has thickened, serve immediately (with steamed white rice!).

A Soup History

French onion soup is my favorite! Even as a kid, I loved the soggy bread soaked in broth and the tender onions. My brother, on the other hand, only ordered it for the bubbly cheese on top...and got in trouble for it. Winter was always vegetable soup weather. I remember eating bowls of it while watching Redskins games. Then in high school, my aunt and grandma would go to the Amish farmer's market on the weekends and bring back containers of the most delicious chicken noodle soup. Yet somehow I never thought to make soup at home. Until...

Last October, I got sick just before I was set to go to a conference. It was chilly and I had spent the night working at a college fair, so I was feeling pretty yucky. I had been dating my beau Mike for just about a month, and when he volunteered to bring me something, I asked for soup. I thought he'd stop at Panera or maybe a Chinese restaurant, so my heart melted when he showed up with homemade soup! Mike is a vegetarian, so he chose a delicious lentil soup. It would be another four months before we said "I love you", just after Valentine's Day, but I think I fell in love with him a little that night. 

Now, I seek out soup recipes. I'm a huge fan of Smitten Kitchen's lentil soup with sausage, chard and garlic for the tomato base, the punch of garlic, and the hint of richness and heat from the sausage (I opt for using a lighter amount) and can also vouch for this french onion soup recipe (although I should probably be even more patient when browning the onions next time) and this delightfully sour Thai coconut curry soup. I've got my eyes set on some pretty tasty looking mushroom soup that I plan to make at the first hint of fall. For now, please enjoy the lentil soup that led me to love.

Mike's Lentil Soup 
(from Jolinda Hacket)

1 medium white onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock

1 cup whole lentils

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. ground thyme

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Comically large handful of raw spinach, coarsely chopped

Sautee onion and carrot in a bit of olive oil for 5 minutes. Add stock, lentils, bay leaves, thyme, pepper, salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer 40 minutes. Take out bay leaves. Add spinach, let simmer 5 more minutes. Stir in lemon juice.

(It’s that easy!)

I've Got a Voice

I started my first blog when I moved to Taiwan to be a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. For me, Nihao from Nicki seemed to be the perfect way to share my adventures in Taiwan with my friends and family back home. I treasure all of the entries I wrote and still read them every now and again as a way to feel a little bit closer to the friends and family I found there. 

As much as I loved writing for my blog, my life seemed way less exciting when I moved back to the States and it was hard to find inspiration to write. I wrote a bit here and there on some of the more difficult days when I felt like I needed to reflect, but I was mostly just busy being a student. Somehow, as I began to accept that I did not, in fact, want to go on to do a PhD and that I could see a number of careers in my future, I decided to focus on doing more of the other things that I love. I took a part-time job at a local florist because I had always wanted to work in a flower shop, started reading blogs that made me happy, requested more appliances for Christmas than my teeny tiny kitchen could hold, and got reacquainted with my artistic side as I helped my friends prepare for their weddings. 

At my dear friend Cate's wedding this past weekend, I found myself chatting with the photographer over some late-night pizza. Some pretty delicious pizza, actually. I've been thinking about it so much that I will probably have to recreate it this weekend. Think bursting heirloom tomatoes, fresh herbs, doughy crust, balsamic drizzle.... But back to the story. I was chatting with the photographer, and suddenly she asked if I had a blog. So I told her the very story that I opened with here. And then something amazing happened. She told me that I had a unique voice, that I had things to say. That I should write. Now, I'm not an expert on anything. But I do love sharing stories and connecting with people. So here, I hope to do just that.