Sichuan green beans are one of my favourite sides when I eat at a Sichuan restaurant. Frying the beans in a hot wok gives it that quitessential wrinkly skin. The dish is then brought together with the spicy heat of the Sichuan pepper, pickled mustard and minced pork. My husband didn't realise that the pickled … Continue reading Sichuan green beans
Prawn dumplings are always a crowd favourite and although I'm using prawn in this recipe, it really can have almost any type of filling. We even used up some leftover beef bulgogi my father-in-law made and turned it into a filling. But prawn is one of my favourite fillings and can be paired with almost … Continue reading Basic Prawn Dumplings
Chinese pumpkin cake is something my mother made very regularly, to the point of excess. It's one of those things that you can't just make a little bit of. My mother used to tell me stories of how she would have to shred the pumpkin to make this cake (she calls it 'kuey'). Nowadays she … Continue reading Fried Chinese pumpkin cake
Chinese sticky rice parcels are called "bacang" (pronounced "ba-san") in my family. It is also called zong zi. While you can buy them from Asian stores, my mother used to always make them because not only did hers taste much better, it was the only way to guarantee its freshness. It's really hard to tell … Continue reading Chinese sticky rice parcel
This Chinese New Year fish is sure to bring prosperity this year. This is because the word for fish, "yu" sounds like abundance. So gong xi fa cai to the year of the Rooster. My husband has already started making "cock" jokes. Sigh! This particular pair of snapper fish were from Footscray Market. We had … Continue reading Chinese New Year fish
Chinese crispy pork belly is, in my humble opinion, the best kind of pork belly. It is the perfect combination of crispy (not hard and crunchy) skin with juicy and tender meat. I was actually planning on making a kimchi pork belly stew to accompany the Korean fried chicken that my brother and his girlfriend … Continue reading Chinese crispy pork belly
My uncle made this amazing Chinese turnip cake one night for Chinese New Year many years ago. It had a lot of fillings and had a lot of umami flavour. At the time, I didn't understand why he was so excited about the fillings as surely they were standard in all turnip cakes. Little did … Continue reading Chinese turnip cake
I am so glad I'm pregnant right now and need the extra calories and can eat all this yummy food. I tried dry wonton noodles for the very first time when I was in first year of university and have loved it ever since. It really isn't that hard to make once you have all the ingredients. This … Continue reading Dry pork and shrimp wonton noodles (721 calories per serve)
Wontons are such a versatile dumpling. They can be used in soups, dry noodles, served with chilli oil, fried or boiled/steamed on their own. They are actually really easy to make so long as you can be bothered to wrap them up. I prefer them best in a dry noodle. Check out the recipe here. Serves … Continue reading Basic pork and prawn wonton (248 calories per serve)
