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Recipes that include garlic

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Chinese Cucumber Salad (with any type of cucumber)

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

I posted a Taiwanese Cucumber Salad recipe 10 years ago! It is one of my most loved dishes, meaning my kids love it, Lon loves it, all my guests love it. It’s such a great side dish that I use it very, very often and I get requests for the recipe every time.

During the pandemic, I started looking at my recipes in a new way. I realized that the old recipe might deter some from trying it because the traditional method works best with Taiwanese cucumbers or Persian Cucumbers. They are slim, thin-skinned, and seedless cucumbers. But, those cucumbers are hard to find and not necessarily at everyone’s local supermarket. They weren’t available to me for the last several months either. So, I’ve re-written this recipe to work for standard conventional cucumbers or English Hothouse cucumbers. If the skin is thick, use this method, which starts with peeling the cucumbers. If you have a thin-skinned, seedless cucumber, use the old method.

~made with conventional cucumbers~

Just so you know, in actuality, I’ve been using this method for years because sometimes I just happen to have standard conventional cucumbers in the fridge and that’s what I use. It just never occurred to me to re-write the recipe but the pandemic has made me more aware of the value of versatility in a recipe.

~Spicy version~

Chinese Cucumber Salad

Ingredients –

  • 2 large cucumbers (around 2 lbs)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • chili oil to taste (optional)

Instructions –

  1. Peel the cucumbers. Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Discard peels and seeds.
  2. Slice into 1/4″ thick pieces and place in a storage container (that has a lid).
  3. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. Cover tightly and shake the container to coat the cucumbers in sugar and salt. Put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours (up to the day before you want to eat it).
  4. Drain the cucumbers (these will let out quite a bit of water). Add vinegar and sesame oil. Cover tightly and shake again. Place it back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (up to a few hours).
  5. When you’re ready to serve, add garlic. Drizzle chili oil if you want it to be spicy. Cover and give it a good shake. Serve.
  6. The cucumbers will be most refreshing the first day but left-overs can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
~made with very large kirbies~

posted by jessica at 09:41 AM Comments Off on Chinese Cucumber Salad (with any type of cucumber) Comments Off on Chinese Cucumber Salad (with any type of cucumber)

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Red Cooked Fish

Monday, November 24, 2014

At the risk of making this sound like a joke, Chinese people will “red cook” anything.  The thing is I’m serious. Whether it’s pork, beef, squid, tofu, or eggs, we can red cook it. On a basic level, that means cooking in a mix of soy sauce and a sweetener (sugar, rock candy, or honey). The recipes vary a little depending on what you are cooking. Sometimes you add ginger, garlic, scallions, orange peel, cilantro, chilies, or a combination of those things. While the ingredient list is so similar, many of these Red Cooked dishes come out tasting very different. (Try Red Cooked Pork Belly and Cuttlefish or Red Cooked Tee Pong.)  Right now, let’s talk Red Cooked Fish. It is a classic you’ll find in the home of most Chinese families. It’s also commonly sold at “real” Chinese restaurants. It’s a must know recipe!

Red Cooked Fish on grey

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posted by jessica at 12:07 AM 2 Comments » Add a Comment

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Dairy-Free Mexican Street Corn (Elotes)

Monday, August 18, 2014

While I went to culinary school and have worked in restaurants, Lon is self-taught. For the most part, it’s the one thing he looks to me for guidance with. Lon is a great home cook though and loves to do it when he has the time, which is not often these days between two kids and a demanding job he loves. Yet, every once in a while on one of those days that Lon cooks, he totally blows my socks off. He makes something that tastes amazing and/or is just an idea that works so well that I never thought of. This dairy-free version (Lon can’t have any dairy) of Mexican Street Corn or Elotes is one of those times! It was so good I had to document it and blog about it!

Dairy-Free Mexican Street Corn (Elotes) -Cover Pic

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posted by jessica at 09:39 AM 6 Comments » Add a Comment

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Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

For the last few months, my brain cells were being lost to lack-of-sleep so needless to say, having a newborn around is not one’s most creative time. Luckily, we have thousands of recipes to fall back on. I also look for new recipes to try, ones that take less time to make! Since Remi was born (he’s four-and-a-half months already!), this is the best recipe I’ve tried: Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings! Holy cow, are these delicious. Not surprisingly, it’s from the owner of the famous Thai restaurant, Pok Pok, in Portland. I adapted the recipe to suit my tastes and stuck with his super easy three ingredient marinade, just fish sauce, sugar, and garlic. It’s so simple, yet unbelievably good. It’s pure genius!

Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings title pic

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posted by jessica at 10:20 AM 7 Comments » Add a Comment

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Three Cup Tofu

Saturday, June 8, 2013

There’s this pretty well-known Taiwanese dish called Three Cup Chicken. The flavorful dish of dark meat chicken is flavored with sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil with a strong dose of Chinese/Thai Basil.  My mom came up with a vegetarian version, Three Cup Tofu with the same flavor profile and it’s even easier to make. I was planning on posting Three Cup Chicken first, since it’s the original dish. That would have made more sense but alas, my body was just not willing to work with me on this…

Three Cup Tofu 3

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posted by jessica at 05:02 PM 13 Comments » Add a Comment

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Red-Cooked Pork Belly and Baby Cuttlefish

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Very early readers may remember that I was a professional figure skater in my early life. (Lon too! I swear. Isn’t that crazy?) In my early 20s, I joined a hip-hop and breaking crew. My 30s seem to be shaping into my partner dancing era. I am in love with Argentine Tango and I also enjoy some salsa, bachata, cha and cha, and hustle. Just last night, I went to a workshop for BachaTango and it was wild! You dance on the count for Bachata with Tango moves thrown in. In the beginning, it was a little bit of a mind game for me not to switch to one or the other but once I got the hang of it, it was super fun. It seems to be growing in popularity in Europe and I hope I see more of it here.

BachaTango reminded me of this lovely Red-Cooked Pork Belly and Baby Cuttlefish dish because it fuses two elements, a surf & turf of Chinese sorts. Red-Cooking is a classic Chinese cooking method. In a very basic sense, it’s a sauce base of soy sauce and rock candy. How can that go wrong, right? Nearly anything can be red-cooked if you ask a Chinese person. We’ve done a Red-Cooked Picnic Shoulder in the past, a traditional dish called Tee Pong, and we’ve even done a Red-Braised Pork Belly on FoodMayhem. Don’t be surprised if you see more in the future! Here, we’re Red-Cooking rich little chunks of pork belly with plump baby cuttlefish. Double the textures, double the fun!

Red-Cooked Pork Belly & Cuttlefish 3

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posted by jessica at 10:41 PM 2 Comments » Add a Comment

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Triple Mushroom, Lotus Root, and Soybean Skin

Friday, April 5, 2013

I kind of really fell off the planet for almost two years. Becoming a first time mom is tough, at least it really kicked me in the butt. It took me a long time to get back in the game (I hope you’ve noticed the new regularity in posting!) and then I realized: things had really changed since my “maternity leave”. What are all these new social media platforms? Panic! It was really daunting at first, especially because there was so many. I stalled several times yet once I did it, it quickly became habitual to take pictures of Caya on Instagram and plan out future home reno projects on Pinterest. And, thanks to the encouragement of Jackie and Blanca, I’m on Google+ now too. (I’m still a little lost on G+ but Chef Dennis Littley has a very helpful Community Education Series). So follow me on Instagram and Pinterest, and circle me on Google+. I’m back from the dead!

New social media platforms can seem scary to approach at first and so can unfamiliar ingredients. This beautifully earthy dish has some not-so-standard ingredients. Don’t fret; I’m here to walk you through.

title picture: mushrooms, lotus root, soybean skin

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posted by jessica at 08:39 PM 5 Comments » Add a Comment

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Cous Cous with Kale and Preserved Lemon

Thursday, March 28, 2013

When I had extra Meyer lemons to use up, I decided to preserve them. My intention was to try that famous Moroccan chicken dish with olives and preserved lemon. Well, life got in the way, and that has not happened yet. It will.

Something even better happened though! The Moroccan inspiration was definitely in mind one night when I threw together a last-minute meal for some friends. I had a beautiful leg of lamb that had to be eaten before we left for a trip, so I called some friends and said my friends’ favorite five words, “please, come eat my food.” That’s the kind of generous friends I have. In a pinch, they’re always ready to lend a helping stomach.  I needed a side-dish and out of my head popped Cous Cous with Kale and Preserved Lemon. Of course, having kale that I also wanted to use up guided my inspiration. The dish worked so well though that I immediately tried to replicate it when we got back from Sanibel and Captiva.

Cous Cous with Kale and Preserved Lemon 5

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posted by jessica at 09:55 AM 3 Comments » Add a Comment

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Easy Chicken with Sun-dried Tomato and Capers

Thursday, February 28, 2013

This may be the easiest recipe I’ve ever written.

It came about as a very last-minute decision just minutes before serving dinner to my little family. Dinner had already been prepped and planned during Caya’s nap as usual. Lon had just arrived at home, which is usually 15 minutes later than ideal. We rush through a hand-off of Caya to Lon and I need dinner on the table in under 10 minutes.

In my mind, I was pretty much set: a carb, a veg, a protein; the three minimum requirements I have for a meal. As I looked at my dinner, it dawned on me that it’s incredibly plain. I love plain bread (with good olive oil or butter) and I often keep veggies simple, sauteed with garlic and oil. Good meat is also just fine seasoned with salt and pepper. Nothing is wrong with any part of my dinner when paired with other dishes but when all three are so plain, that is a boring meal. In a moment of panic, I dug through the fridge to see if I had any left-over sauces to dress-up dinner a little. I saw a jar of sun-dried tomatoes next to a jar of capers and I thought, hey I could make a sauce with that but making a sauce might take too long so I just chopped it up, added garlic, warmed it up and put it on top. I threw it on the table and thought, that looks pretty nice. Hope it tastes good…

Chicken with Vase

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posted by jessica at 10:53 AM 8 Comments » Add a Comment

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Chorizo and Butternut Squash Hash

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I’m really into roasting potatoes with some fennel and sweet bell peppers and when I’m not serving vegetarians, little bits of ham or some bacon can add some smoky saltiness. Then one day, I wanted to turn that side dish into more of a meal. I crumbled some sausage in instead of the ham/bacon and threw an egg on top. Last weekend, my cousins came over and I mentally prepared to make that dish but when I started prepping, I realized we were out of potatoes. I dug through my fridge and thought maybe butternut squash would work. It did! The added sweetness counters the saltiness of the meat perfectly and the pop of orange color makes the whole dish so vibrant. I now wanted to write a recipe and post it so badly. I had more of all the ingredients except for the Italian sausage. That’s when another swap happened. This time I tried it with chorizo.

IMG_2861

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posted by jessica at 11:49 AM 5 Comments » Add a Comment

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