Many of you already know that my family is in LA and we go there often to visit. My kids all love the trip despite a 5 1/2 hour long flight each way. When asked why they like California so much, their first comment is always “because Po Po (maternal grandmother) makes us yummy food”. They are certainly not wrong on that front, my mother is a great cook, and this is one of her receipes that my 2nd son loves. In fact, he had 6 egg rolls in one sitting!

Ingredients:

1 head of napa cabbage (about 3lbs), thinly sliced
1/2 lb pork, julienned
1 can bamboo shoot, julienned (optional)
1 package of square egg roll wrapper (I personally prefer Wei Chuan brand)
3 tbsp canola oil, divided
1½ tbsp to 2 tbsp flour
Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large wok, or sauté pan, heat about 1 ½ tbsp oil until hot, then sauté the julienned pork until cooked. Remove. Add the remaining oil, and sauté the cabbage. Once the cabbage is wilted, mix in the cooked pork. Add salt to taste.

At this point, use 2 to 3 tbsp of the liquid from the wok/pan and mix with the flour to create a slurry. Pour in the slurry back to the wok/pan to thicken the mixture. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours until cold.

Take out 1 egg roll wrapper on the table, position it like a diamond. Place about 1½ to 2 tbsp of the mixture in the center, in a rectangular shape. Fold the wrapper from the bottom first, then left, then right, and finally roll the whole thing upward.

To fry the egg roll, you’ll need enough oil to cover at least ½ inch from the bottom of the wok/pan. Once the oil is hot, slowly place the egg roll in the hot oil, turning once if the top is not covered in oil, and remove the egg roll when the whole thing turns golden. Drain on paper towel lined towel, and enjoy while hot.

In my family, we serve ours with Zheng Jiang vinegar (similar in taste to balsalmic vinegar) and plain congee. Yum!

Note: use a small sewing needle, pierce the egg rolls a few times so that the steam can escape while the egg roll is being fried. This way, it’ll prevent the egg roll from exploding in the pan.

For relief during the dog days of summer, nothing is more refreshing than yummy cold dishes. Due to a general aversion to raw food, the Chinese turn to cold noodles to satisfy such cravings.

The following recipe has been adapted to accommodate my boys’ picky tastes, so it lacks vegetables. If your child has a more adventurous palate, you can add either blanched mung bean sprouts or julienned cucumber or carrots.

Ingredients:

1/2 lbs Chinese dried noodle or thin spaghetti
1/3 C Creamy peanut butter
1/4 C Cold water
3 T Soy sauce
1 1/2 T Zhengjiang Vinegar (can substitute with Balsamic vinegar)

Directions:

In a large sauce pan, bring to boil 4 quarts of water, add dried noodle or thin spaghetti, cooked according to package instruction. When done, pour out the water, and rinse noodle in cold water.

In the meantime, mix the creamy peanut butter with water, add a little at a time so that the peanut butter doesn’t get lumpy. Add more or less water to create a thick creamy dressing’s consistency (such as Cesar).

Add cooked cold noodle to the peanut sauce, add soy sauce and vinegar. Toss and enjoy!

Enjoying Noodle

One of my favorite childhood snacks were tea eggs.  My mom would buy them from a street vendor in Chinatown.  In our family, we ate them still warm from the bag.  They were savory with a hint of sweetness and star anise.  The eggs were as beautiful to look at as they were delicious to eat. 

I can still picture myself sitting in my mom’s kitchen, savoring the warm eggs.  Peeling the tea and soy stained shell off, holding the warm slippery egg in my hand as I admire the beautiful crackled patterns that had seeped into the egg white turning it into a golden treat that was beautiful to look at and yummy to eat. 

As an adult, I don’t live close to a Chinatown anymore and needed to replicate this recipe.  So after a few trial and errors, I think I’ve got it! 

Today, I still enjoy these eggs but with a twist.  I’ll eat the flavorful egg white and dispense of the yolk inside.  No need to consume the extra cholesterol!

Here it is for everyone to enjoy!Ingredients:

• 6 – 8 eggs
• ½ cup light soy sauce
• ½ cup water (may need a bit of extra water to cover eggs)
• 2 to 3 star anise
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 2 table spoons of loose black tea leaves

Directions:

1. Boil eggs for about 6 minutes as if you are making hard boiled eggs.
2. Remove eggs from water and allow them to cool to the touch.
3. Crack the eggs all around but do not remove the shell
4. Return the eggs with the rest on the ingredients and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer for about 10 minutes on very low heat. 
6. Remove eggs from heat but let them sit in the soy/tea mixture for at least one half hour. 

I found it! I first came across this Knorr Tom Yum soup base in one of the many Chinese supermarkets in the Richmond district of San Francisco. It really was by chance, and I thought it was so inexpensive that it was worth trying. Once home, I made my very first Tom Yum, following directions on the tiny little box, adding shrimp, firm tofu, and bean sprouts, fresh lime juice, and cilantro, it was the yummiest Tom Yum I’ve ever had. I quickly returned to that store and bought a whole box. That was 8 years ago. I have been looking for them ever since. ..even on my recent trip back to San Francisco, I was able to find that exact same store, but no Knorr Tom Yum soup base. I was so disappointed. So, when I came upon this item on this new site, I was so excited that I ordered immediately. Now I can’t wait for my shipment and make my favorite Tom Yum again! You can buy yours at Very Asia.

This is not the most healthy recipe, but my kids just love them. I used to eat something like this in Hong Kong as a kid, it’s a famous cheap, easy dish.

• 2 cups of cooked rice (could be your leftovers)
• 3 hot dogs of your choice, sliced.
• 4 eggs beat
• Frozen peas (could be corn, carrots, or a mixture of your likes) Rinsed to rid of ice.
• ½ onion diced
• 3 table spoons Vegetable oil

1. Get the wok heat up, and add the vegetable oil.
2. When the oil is hot, put the eggs in, just like making scramble eggs. Don’t worry about the amount of oil, the rice will absorb.
3. Take the eggs out.
4. Brown the onion, but don’t burn.
5. Put in hot dogs and let seared.
6. Put in frozen vegetable.
7. Add cooked rice. Make sure you keep moving the rice around, and make sure you keep breaking the rice apart especially when it is the leftovers. Add soy sauce liberally to your taste. Cook until all rice is not stuck together anymore, about 3-5 minutes.
8. Add eggs back in and mix in with rest of food.