I have moved to oriquilt.wordpress.com

Dad's Ginger Scallion Crab/Lobster Recipe

This is one of my favorite dishes and I was never able to make it at home until I met Harry because I'm too squeamish. 

Also I realized as I was flipping through internet recipes that my Dad's method is a little different than other recipes.

Crustaceans

2 1.25 - 1.5 lb lobsters

or 

1 Dungeness crab

or 

4-6 blue crabs depending on size (males are bigger, but females have roe in season)

Other ingredients:

1 or 2 eggs

1/4 c corn starch or flour

2" piece of ginger julienned

3 or 4 Scallions - cut into 2 or 3" segments

Rice wine to deglaze or jiu niang (jiu niang especially homemade will add a sweetness to the shellfish)

Pepper to taste

Handful of fresh Thai basil to taste (optional)

Make sure all the other ingredients are ready before breaking down the crustaceans.

The first step is to break down the shellfish.  I make Harry do this because it requires a certain amount of strength to do it humanely.  It's easier if you place the shellfish in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before cutting them cut up to slow them down.

You can kill the lobster and Dungeness crab first by shoving a knife into their mouths.

Do scrub down the outer shells of the crustaceans before breaking down.

Put a cutting board in a baking sheet.

Breaking down a lobster.

1. Remove the carapace (head section).  

2. Pour/scrape the goopy stuff in the head and the body into a bowl.  Reserve.

3. Remove the gills and throw away.

4. Cut off the tail.

5. Split the tail lengthwise. And then cut each half into 3 or 4 pieces crosswise depending on the size of the lobster.

6. Cut off the claws.

7. Separate the claws and knuckles.  

8. Split the claws lengthwise.

9. Hit the knuckles with the flat of the knife.

10. Split the thorax lengthwise, then cut each half into 2 pieces crosswise.

11. Put the lobster pieces on a plate.

12. Scrape and pour the juices on the cutting board and in the baking sheet into the bowl of innards.

Breaking down Dungeness crab.

1. Remove the flap at the back of crab. Throw away.

2. Remove the top shell. Reserve.

3. Pour/scrape the goopy stuff in the shell and the body into a bowl.  Reserve.

4. Remove the gills and throw away.

5. Cut the crab in half.

6. Cut the body into sections. 

    - first section includes claw

    - the remainder should include 2 legs a piece.  

7. Hit each segment of the claw and legs with the back of the cleaver to crack the shells.

Breaking down blue crab.

1. Remove the flap at the back of crab. Throw away.

2. Remove the top shell. Reserve.

3. Pour/scrape the goopy stuff in the shell and the body into a bowl.  Reserve.

4. Remove the gills and throw away.

5. Remove the claws.

6. Cut the crab in half.

7. Cut the body half so each piece has a couple of legs.  Optional. Cut off the tips of the legs.

8. Hit each segment of the claw with the back of the cleaver to crack the shells.

Cooking directions
1.  Crack an egg in to the bowl of innards and scramble.  It should be the consistency of scrambled eggs.  If it's not thick enough add another egg.

2.  Dip the exposed meat portion of the shellfish in the egg mixture.

3. Then dip the exposed meat portions in the flour.

4. Set aside. Until all the pieces are coated.

5.  Heat up enough oil to coat a wok of a heavy pot.

6.  Add ginger, scallions, and pepper to taste.

7.  Saute until aromatic.

8.  Add more oil it needed.  Sear the floured parts of the shellfish in batches until done.  Adding and heating oil as needed.

9.  When done add all the shellfish to the wok.  Pour the egg mixture into the wok and stir fry.  Add a heaping Chinese soup spoon of jiuniang or 1/4 cup rice wine to the wok.  Toss in the chopped Thai basil at this time.

10. Reduce heat to med/low.  Cover.  Cook shellfish for 5-10 minutes.  The blue crab may need less time, the other 2 may need a little more time.  It also depends on your stove.

Variations:

The secret to this method of cooking shellfish is the initial high heat seals the juices in.  And the innards make a lovely sauce.

Instead of ginger, scallions, and rice wine for anymore Italian flavor try garlic, basil, white wine, and lemon juice.  Or preserved lemons.

Try different herb, acidic, and alcohol combinations.

I personally like Riesling and seafood for the sweetness.

You can also shred some of the scallions or basil and sprinkle on top of dish before serving.

Grandma's Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

This is my grandmother's beef noodle soup recipe.
It doesn't look like any of the other recipes I've seen online.
But Grandma lived in Taipei most of her life and this is just yummy.




One beef shin, cut into at least 2 in chunks, don't cut the pieces too small otherwise they all dissolve.
1 package beef tendon if you like it. I don't put extra in anymore because Harry won't eat them and I get left with a pot tendon and no meat.
equal amounts of tomatoes and onions maybe 2 lbs each? or a can of tomatoes. about a quart of canned tomatoes?
one can of sweet noodle paste (甜面酱）tian mian jiang
one can of douban jiang spicy bean paste (豆瓣酱）or you can use 2 cans of the above depending on your spice tolerance

rice wine
sugar
Oil

1. Cut the meat about 2" pieces
2. Cut of the tomatoes and onions about 1" chunks.
3. In a heavy pot, heat up oil in the pan about 1/8" deep? Medium heat.
4. Add about a Chinese soup spoon of sugar. Watch the sugar brown, once the edges start turning brown (it happens really fast). Stir the sugar around.
5. Brown the meat in the pan. you may have to do this a couple of times.  Add sugar and oil as needed.
6. Remove the browned meat from the pan. pour out the extra oil. Then saute the onions until translucent.
7. Put the meat back in the pot. Or if you are planning on using a crock pot put everything in the crock pot at this time.
8. I mix everything up look at how wet things look and add a little water and rice wine to give it some liquid to get things going. The onion and tomatoes produce most of the liquid for the stew as they cook.
9. This ends up being a really thick stew. I serve it over noodles or rice. If it's noodles I will add noodle water to the bowl. oh and Shanghai baby bok choi. I throw those in the with the noodles towards the end. or I throw a handful of baby spinach in the bottom of the bowl before I add the noodles and water.

This is really yummy served over these homemade noodles.
Biang Biang Noodles Recipe:
https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/biang-biang-mian-biang-biang-noodles/

Recipe "Research"

In case people are wondering how I decide which recipes to try or how I kludge things together...

Well I usually start by searching google.

For Chinese stuff, I look first and see if any of my "usual" websites have the recipe.

They are:

The Woks of Life
https://thewoksoflife.com/

Carolyn Phillips
http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com

Serious Eats
https://www.seriouseats.com/

Use Real Butter
http://userealbutter.com/

Rasa Malaysia
https://rasamalaysia.com/

If none of  those have it, I will start looking at Australian and New Zealand sites.  Then Malaysian and Singaporean sites.  Why? Because Australia and New Zealand are closer to Asia and the Chinese Australians or New Zealanders there tend to be from China or Taiwan.  Malaysia and Singaporean recipes will often be in English too, except the Chinese cuisine there has picked up a lot more local flavor, so they are a little different than what I'm looking for.  I mean I've tried some of them, and they are good.  But usually aren't quite the taste profile I'm aiming for.  Because I'm usually trying to figure out how to make something I ate as a child while visiting family in Taiwan.  And the Chinese food of Taiwan has it's own unique local color.

Then if I can't find the thing, I will eventually do a google search using Chinese.  

One of the things I do look for as I'm searching through recipes is commonalities and differences.  For example cumin lamb skewers.  All these recipes say lamb shoulder.  All of them have garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes.  One of them added fennel, another one had something else.  One of them used soy sauce, another used salt.  Etc etc.  So I kinda thought about the skewers I've eaten in the past, then sort of looked at the various ingredients, looked at my pantry and made a spice blend.  I went with salt, sichuan AND black peppercorns, fresh garlic and rice wine.  Why rice wine?  Alcohol kills the gaminess, like allium plants. The reason rice wine probably isn't an ingredient in many of the recipes is because these are from the Xinjiang region.  The Uighers or Muslim ethnic minority lives there.  They are unlikely to be using alcohol.  But hey I'm not Muslim I'm Han Chinese, so in goes the booze!  Why fresh vs granulated garlic or garlic powder?  Bc GARLIC!  lol  Why 2 kinds of peppercorns, because I like the smell of fresh black peppercorns, and wanted the tingly aromatic flavor of  the sichuan.

Yes...  I cook kinda like I how I do fiber projects...  I think these things will go together.  Therefore I'm going to card, spin, weave, knit them together in a finished piece.  Some of it's quite random, some of it's really personal taste.

Links for Preserved Foods

Chinese bacon - 臘肉 This is really good!
https://thewoksoflife.com/2015/12/chinese-cured-pork-belly/

Kimchee Recipe I didn’t add as much red pepper flakes and I used sha cha sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce, which is some sort of fish paste or sauce) instead of the brined shrimp and fish sauce because I didn’t have any.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTucCw1w6Ak https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi

Brined Duck Eggs 鹹蛋
https://en.christinesrecipes.com/2010/09/homemade-salted-eggs.html

Osmanthus Syrup 3/17/19 - Made some. Letting it age. http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2018/08/homemade-osmanthus-blossom-syrup.html

Pao Cai 泡菜3/16/19 - made the lao xian shui. 老鹽水 http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2012/11/really-and-truly-amazing-traditional.html


Ginger syrup & Candied Ginger
https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/candied-ginger-and-syrup-123111

Chinese Sausage 香腸
This is really yummy.
http://taiwanduck.com/how-to-make-taiwanese-sausages-shang-tang/?fbclid=IwAR0Jvh-G1e5qcf9vL6aZ1Pe-alSpdBGMtou72k3a6E7a6StxJD8fULgPWuU

I haven’t tried these yet.
Different Kimchi Recipes https://www.saveur.com/how-to-make-kimchi-recipes?src=SOC&dom=fb&fbclid=IwAR06g2dmHNNEYMw0ZhcQiEwiiL57MKn6x9EktwVgAmFNIvSDOIIhMtQkzAk#page-5

Recipes links to remember

This is a running list of recipe links, that I update as I find new ones. Mostly, as I find new ones to try, but also because people keep asking me about my recipes. Unfortunately, I don't really cook with recipes. Mostly, I use them for the techniques, but tend to modify them based on personal preferences and what ingredients I have around me. I have tried to note some of my modifications in each line item.

Have tried these:

Daikon Radish Cake 蘿蔔糕I use this mostly to get an idea of proportions. but will put my own “add-ins”.
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Turnip-Cake-Law-Bock-Gow-100779?fbclid=IwAR2fURkfrKIaPG9FAc73WkbRLhOkKL3yVNX2HaRViE2FTkQBihe-9DEE8Fk

Red Bean Coconut Rice Cake 紅豆椰子
https://eggwansfoododyssey.com/2012/02/05/red-bean-and-coconut-rice-cake-chinese-new-year-dessert/?fbclid=IwAR0S3nfexd8aOxEvSf9DPHqzVSBjBycTOce-80SvsxIIsdnJyp6bFr2mOI8
I usually also add ginger to when I’m making the bean paste. And sometimes tangerine peel

Beef pockets 牛肉餡餅 http://www.ourkitchentales.com/tales/2015/7/14/mama-liaws-meat-pockets

Cumin Garlic Lamb Skewers - 羊肉串https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/05/spicy-lamb-skewers-chinese-street-food-recipe.html
I use the boneless leg of lamb of Costco because it it readily available. I do try and alternate the fattier outer pieces with the meatier pieces.
I also add minced fresh garlic, szechuan peppercorns, and black peppercorns.

Apple Cider donuts These are really good, but a candy thermometer is a must.
https://newengland.com/today/food/breakfast-brunch/donuts/vermont-apple-cider-doughnuts/

French Apple Cake
This is really yummy with other fruit as well. Sometimes I use cognac isnstead of rum.
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/french-apple-cake.html

Preferred enriched dough, for baked buns
I use the brioche dough recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Mostly bc it’s meant to be refrigerated overnight and I don’t have to do everything in one day.

Biang Biang Noodles Recipe: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/biang-biang-mian-biang-biang-noodles/

Shaanxi Hot Oil Recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RayiXikKsC0 I only use 1/2 c of red chili flakes instead of the the 3/4c he calls for. I add more garlic and sesame oil to make up the crunchy bits.

Korean Cinnamon Tea:
https://mykoreankitchen.com/sujeonggwa-korean-cinnamon-punch/

Sesame Pan Bread 芝麻大餅Goes great with the cumin lamb.
http://tastynomz.blogspot.com/2010/07/sesame-scallion-bread-zhi-ma-da-bing.html

No Knead Olive Bread
https://www.oliviascuisine.com/mediterranean-black-olive-bread/ I've also substituted cut up sopressata for the olives. It was yummy too.

Ginger Snap Cranberry Lime Pie https://keviniscooking.com/gingersnap-cranberry-lime-pie/
I only made the curd (filling). I only used about 3/4 - 1 cup of sugar. Taste it after adding the eggs and when still over the double boiler to determine if it needs more sugar. I also added an extra 1/4 c of lime juice and doubled the lime zest. I prefer tart.

Want to try these

Turnip pastries 蘿蔔絲餅
http://userealbutter.com/2014/01/27/chinese-turnip-pastries-recipe/

Egg Custard 蛋撻
http://userealbutter.com/2014/01/19/chinese-egg-custard-tarts-recipe/

Ginger Plum Slump
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/ginger-plum-slump-recipe?fbclid=IwAR1TReRwnqCqvlRWbHfXFBEPo5TIn5nEaqoQbg8Rt_Cyx1CNJ_dZ8R3pdyg

Tea Smoked Duck - 樟茶鴨
https://www.teanamu.com/2010/07/tea-and-camphor-smoked-duck/

Drunken Chicken 醉雞
https://rasamalaysia.com/drunken-chicken/

Fermented Sticky Rice - Jiu Niang - 酒釀

Because people keep asking me what this is. Jiu niang is fermented sticky rice. You can think of it as an alcoholic rice pudding. It can be used in cooking anywhere you would use rice wine. It’s usually eaten in a sweet soup, for dessert or breakfast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuniang - for a more in depth explanation.

Jiuniang is made with a special starter - called jiuqu or yeast balls. It is also called jiu bing - 酒餅. Or literally wine biscuit/cookie/cake. It’s not just yeast. It’s also has some sort of mold or fungal culture mixed in. Apparently, you can’t ferment rice with yeast alone. You can read all about it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q%C5%AB
It looks like this, not the red stuff in the article. That’s for red rice wine. They look like pingpong balls. Some are larger some are smaller. The bag I got was filled with smaller packages of 3 balls each. Combined they looked about the size of the packs with 2 golf ball sized balls. But hey... it’s yeast, I figured if I underestimated it’s like bread, it would just have to sit around longer. Some of websites I’m seeing, (mainly Singapore and Malaysia) the jiubing, is literally cookie shaped. So they look like discs instead of balls.

yeast balls

I used my father’s recipe.

This recipe is pretty close. http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/05/homemade-fermented-rice.html

This recipe has the best pictures:
http://userealbutter.com/2015/02/04/chinese-fermented-sweet-rice-jiu-niang-recipe/

From people who have used the rice cooker. It’s too wet and it makes the rice too mushy. I steamed the rice in metal steamers.

I find this site to be fairly reliable as well. https://thewoksoflife.com/2018/01/sweet-fermented-rice-jiu-niang/

Since my father’s instructions were a little lacking in detail. I sort of skimmed a bunch of other recipes to get a better feel for the procedure. I found the first link to be the most informative and closest to my father’s recipe. My father uses sugar and flour mixed with the ground up rice balls. She uses cornstarch instead. I think her method of SOAKING yeast balls to soften instead of grinding it up is probably easier. I threw the yeast balls and rock sugar in the spice grinder and ended up with a fine powder all over the kitchen. Read the comments and explanations by her and other people. Mostly, the thing I found the most useful was... TASTE IT, after a few days and see if it TASTES right.

And yes... it really is that easy.

Rinse the sticky rice well. about 3 or 4 times until it runs clear. Soak it overnight.
Steam it in cheesecloth lined steamers trays for 1 hour. Let cool. Put it in a clean container. Mix in the ground up flour, sugar, and yeast ball. Make a hole in the center of the rice. Add some water to rice. How much? I have no idea. I just put in enough to wet the rice. And I used the water I steamed the rice with since it had been boiling for an hour. I covered my plastic bucket with a piece of plastic wrap and put the lid on, but I did not seal the lid tightly.
I wrapped the bucket in a blanket and put it in the warmest room in the house. I checked every day for mold. The 2nd or 3rd day I smelled alcohol and saw liquid at the bottom of the hole of rice. The following day, I took a big metal spoon and mixed everything together. and tasted the spoon when I was done. SUCCESS! Left it for a few more days and put the whole bucket in the fridge.

The carolynphillips site says she only uses filtered and boiled water. I have no idea where she is located. I’m in NY and we have good water. I just washed and soaked the rice in tap water, since I knew I was going to STEAM IT FOR AN HOUR. If that’s not sterilized I don’t know how else to do so in home kitchen.

How to serve?

1. Eat it with a spoon straight.
2. Use it instead of cooking wine.
3. 酒釀湯圓湯 - Fermented rice sticky rice dumpling soup.
   1. For 1 serving.
   2. Boil about 1/2 cup water.
   3. Add a heaping tablespoon of jiuniang to the boiling water. Stir and wait for it to come to a boil again. Taste the soup. You might need more jiuniang, it depends on the batch. You may need to add sugar.
   4. add 2 or 3 sesame sticky rice dumplings. Boil according to the directions on the packaging.
   5. Crack 2 eggs into the mixture. Poach until yolk is soft but not raw.
   6. Serve.
   7. Most of use prefer to break one of the dumplings so the filling flavors to the soup. We also break one egg, so the soup gets all yolky and eat the other egg straight. The egg whites should take on the flavor of the jiuniang.
   8. If I am making more than one or 2 servings. I will scramble an egg into make “egg flowers” or egg drop soup type egg to enrichen the soup.
   9. Optional, osmanthus flowers can also be added to soup.
   10. Here is an online recipe, which is kind of similar. http://www.thehongkongcookery.com/2017/01/tong-yuan-dumplings-in-/osmanthus-sweet.html

3/3 batch - double batch of rice - 10lbs - added osmanthus flowers steeped in hot water to the rice at the same time as the yeast mixture.
Comments:

1. Dissolve the rock sugar in hot water or to the osmanthus flowers. It’s easier than trying to grind or beat the sugar in a bag with the yeast.
2. Rice fermenting in the same room as the kimchi from the previous day. Will this affect the fermentation? Flavor?
3. Added more water than last time. Hopefully it will be less pudding and more soupy.

3/4 day 1 update. Nothing seems to happening except the rice grains have swelled. The bucket definitely smells more peachy-apricoty. I wonder if it’s because the flowers have fermented as well or if the alcohol hopefully being produced is extracting more flavor from the flowers.

3/5 day 2 update.

There is liquid in the hole.

Tasted it. It's not quite there yet and not as sweet as the previous batch. It has a touch of bitterness at the end. Not sure if it's from the flowers.

I don't smell the osmanthus (peachy-apricoty notes) as much as yesterday. But I'm also more congested.

After I mixed everything together.

Eric Rhude says his batch:
The liquid smells slightly yeasty and is a bit sweet. the liquor is yellow and think. No white or black mold.

It has a yellowish hue like rice wine.

Mistress Jadiwiga says that the fruity favor is probably due to the flowers fermenting as well was the alcohol from the rice extracting those notes.

3/6 day 3 update - much wetter. Going to put it in the refrigerator. Not as sweet as the last batch.

3/21 update - it’s gotten sweeter the longer it’s been sitting in the fridge. it’s almost sickly sweet eating it straight.

Ready for the fridge

The dark specks are the osmanthus flowers.

The grains have pretty much disappeared.