Cooking Club 9: The Socialite Slackers

All speaking, no cooking, no worries. The most relaxed Cooking Club to date!  This might have something to do with the fact several guys planned and attended. Chop vegetables and meat, boil the hot pot, cook the rice, and spend most of the time eating and talking. They didn’t teach me any new cooking in English, but we had some great conversation.

Hot Pot is central to both home cooking and restaurant cooking in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Chongqing. There are many varieties, from super spicy, to sour, to clear and salty. I'll do another post on this cooking technique another time--it needs some attention.

Cooking Club 9, 30 March 2013

Xu Jie

Yu Xiangyang

Maixi (Murphy)

Lian Tingting

Hu Longjing

Chen Lingyi

Zeng Lingting

Zhou Zhenyan

Kou Jiani

Chen Jing

Huo3 Guo4—Hot Pot

Ingredients: Liquid: hot pot seasoning pouch (store purchased), garlic leaves (suan miao) cut into large pieces, thinly sliced tomato, bean sprouts. To cook in the hot pot: spinach, other green leaf vegetables, green noodles (parboiled); a variety of mushrooms, cabbage, tofu all cut into bite size pieces; potatoes thinly sliced, pork thinly sliced, a variety of meatballs, anything else you want to eat. Dipping sauce: dry red chili flakes, salt, MSG, powdered Sichuan pepper, vinegar.

Bring a wok half-filled with water to a boil. Add the seasoning pouch and some oil (lard is better) and garlic leaves. Bring to a boil and simmer for several minutes. Move heating elements and wok to dining table and bring liquid to simmer again. Add vegetables and meat as you like and cook until done. Dip in sauce and eat.

Cooking Club Returns

China, it's 2013, 6 weeks of travel behind me, a new semester underway. 

It's wouldn't be right with out another edition of Cooking Club.

If you recall, the last meeting of the club in 2012 ended with a fire and the demise of my stove. Thanks, Zunyi Normal College. I have a new stove and the smoke has cleared. 

Cooking Club 8 was chaos, but a good time. I opted to let ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE who wanted to participate sign up. This means gatherings of at least 15 students each week. I've readjusted my schedule so we can begin an hour earlier. I hope this means we eat lunch before 3, but we'll see...

In this week's edition, we have a couple attempts at dry frying. It's a delicious technique. While you get the impression you're eating less oil and thus eating a bit healthier, the truth is that the "dry" dishes have been deep fried until crispy, with the oil then removed before serving. 

I'd also try to find some Liang3 Ban4 Dou4fu Gan1 if you can. Delicious, and a little like Kraft Singles, though more subtle. I've been fascinated with the cheese equivalents in Chinese cuisine. They do not use or eat cheese, but several items seem to take on the same role as in Western cooking. 

Finally, try the potato cubes; a student named Champion taught me to make them.

Cooking Club 8, 23 March 2013

Deng Lanlan (Tinna)

Ye Baoyi (Bowie)

Ling Wanchen (Andrea)

Len Jinsu (Susu)

Wan Conglian (Stara)

Chen Xingxing (Joanna)

Qin Yanjuan (Doris)

Zhu Wenjing (Sharon)

Chen Panpan (Champion)

Bai Shuyun (Cherry)

Peng Daoju (Connie)

Zhou Jing (Jean)

Liang Tianxu (Janet)

Gu Chunhua (Fiona)

Gan1 Bian1 Yu2 – Dry-Fried Fish

Ingredients: 1 whole fish, ginger finely sliced, cilantro chopped, garlic greens (suan miao) cut in long pieces, green onions minced, garlic minced, tomato finely chopped, dried red chili flakes (hu jiao), pickled chili (suan lajiao), salt.

Clean the fish and score deeply cutting toward the head and then sprinkle with salt and let sit for a few minutes. Heat a lot of oil (enough to cover half of the fish) to a high temperature, add the fish and then reduce the heat. Cook on each side about 5 minutes. Cook until the fish is done and beginning to get crispy. Remove the fish to a serving platter. Remove most of the oil from the wok and heat the remainder to medium hight. Add 1 cup pickled chili along with the garlic, ginger, and dried chili flakes. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add some powdered Sichuan pepper and MSG. Next add the tomato, garlic leaves, and cilantro. Pour the mixture over the fish and serve.

Gan1 Bian1 Tu3dou4 Si1—Dry-Fried Potato Slivers

Ingredients: 2 large potatoes thinly sliced and then cut into threads and then soaked in water, salt, green onion minces, dried red chilies, rice vinegar, tomato thinly sliced, MSG, powdered Sichuan pepper.

Add the potatoes to hot oil (enough to cover the potatoes) and cook until becoming crispy but not burned. Remove from oil and remove most of the oil from the wok. Heat a little oil and add chili flakes and green onion, then add the tomato, vinegar, MSG and Sichuan pepper. Return the potatoes and cook for a couple of minutes over high heat.

Hong2 Shao1 Qie2zi—Red Fried Eggplant (see previous cooking club for recipe)

Jiao3zi—Pork-stuffed Dumplings

These dumplings were purchased raw but already made(constructed?).

Add the dumplings to boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, add some cold water and return to a boil again. Repeat. After three boils, the dumplings are ready to serve.

Fan1qie2 Ji1 Dan4—Tomatoes Fried with Eggs (see previous cooking club for recipe)

Tu3dou4 Kuai4’er

Ingredients: 2 large potatoes cut into half-inch cubes then soaked and drained, green chili chopped into large pieces, spicy fresh red chili chopped into medium pieces.

Add the red chili to hot oil, then the green chili and potatoes. Fry for a few minutes, then cover to steam until potatoes are beginning to soften. Fry again and add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce; cook until evaporated.

Chou3 Dou4 Jiao3—Fried String Beans

Ingredients: 1 pound of green beans washed, garlic minced, dried red chilies chopped, MSG.

Add beans to the hot oil (enough to cover most of the beans). Fry until outer skin begins to wrinkle. Remove beans and most of the oil. Heat again and add the garlic, chilies, MSG. Return beans and fry until dry but not browning.

Liang3 Ban4 Dou4fu Gan1—Dried Egg Tofu

Ingredients: Dried egg tofu purchased at the market sliced into wide thin strips, dried red chili flakes, green onion minced, cilantro finely chopped, soy sauce, salt, MSG.

Arrange the tofu in a circle on a small serving plate. Combine the other ingredients and pile in the center of the tofu. Serve cold. (Quite delicious, and again a type of cheese equivalent in Chinese cuisine)

Shi2 Jin3 Guo3 Pan2—Mixed Fruit Salad

Ingredients: cherry tomatoes halved, lemon halved and sliced, banana sliced, apple chunked, dark and white chocolate flaked, plain yogurt.

Mix the apple and banana in the center of a serving plate. Arrange the lemons and tomatoes around the edge of the plate. Over the top, spoon the yogurt and sprinkle the chocolate flakes.

Rou4 Ding1 Wan1 Dou4—Green Peas Fried with Cubed Pork

Ingredients: pork cut into very small cubes, green peas shelled and washed, red bell pepper cut into small squares, green onion minced, soy sauce, salt, MSG, powdered Sichuan pepper, 1 tomato cut into thing wedges.

Parboil the peas, remove from water. Add meat to hot oil and fry until done but not brown, add peas and cook for several minutes until the peas are done (cover to steam if necessary). Add tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.

Bing1 Zhe2 ‘er3 Gen1 Se4 La1—Cold Guizhou Root Salad

Ingredients: Zhe ‘er gen root threads removed and washed cut into one inch pieces, picked vegetables (suan cai) chopped, spring onion minces, cilantro finely chopped, vinegar, salt.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt to taste. Serve.

The Cooking Club to End All Cooking Clubs (or, Lucky Number Seven)

The students arrived today in a new line up. Because each class has already sent a group (I have six classes or student groups), today two from each class came. There were a couple that had already been to Cooking Club, which is a big no-no, since with 270 students each spot for each Saturday is full. But I'll work on their understanding of the Western idea of "rules" another day.

This was quite a day.

1) Cooking Club took 6 hours.
2) The dishes cooked today were the best so far. I would cook them all again, and plan to.
3) Students removed hot oil to a plastic container, although I strongly suggested using a metal pan. Oil melted through onto the stove and floor. Oil smoke filled my apartment. And my stove caught on fire (picture below). No injuries, and, while I had it ready, we didn't need to use the fire extinguisher. The responsible student was crushed, so I did my best to make her feel better. She did cook the best dish, after all (the tofu/pork balls; see below).

Thus, it was an appropriately grand finale to the semester. Next semester, more Cooking Club--if I get a new stove by then!

Cooking Club 7, December 15th, 2012

Li Yue

Long Zhongxia

Ren Deying

Yang Qin

Pan Xiaolu

Wang Qing

Bai Qin

Luo Qian

Xia Mingfeng

Wei Sisi

Zeng Xiangdan

Wo1 Sun3 Chao3 Rou4 – Lettuce Stems Fried with Pork

Ingredients: 2 lettuce stems peeled and sliced into ovals, thin short slices of boneless pork, starch, whole dried red chilies roughly chopped.

Combine the pork with a little starch. Add chilies to hot oil, then the pork. When it is cooked, add the lettuce stems. Finish with salt and MSG.

Zhe2 er3 gen1 Chao3 Rou4 – Guizhou Root Vegetable Fried with Pork

Ingredients: zhe er gen washed with root hairs removed and chopped into long pieces, very thinly sliced pork, roughly chopped whole dried red chilies, salt, MSG.

Add pork to the hot oil. Remove when cooked. Add the zhe er gen and chilies, cook for a couple of minutes, return the pork to the wok. Finish with salt and MSG.

Rou4 Mo4 Qie2zi – Pork Strips and Eggplant

Ingredients: 2 eggplants cut into 1/8ths then chopped into long piees, boneless pork thinly sliced, green chilies chopped into rounds, minced garlic, scallions finely chopped, doubanjiang (chili bean paste)

Mix the pork with some starch and then with the chilies, garlic and scallions. Add the meat mixture to the hot oil and remove when cooked. Add more oil. Fry the eggplant in batches, removing when cooked. Return the meat mixture to the wok, adding doubanjiang, and returning the eggplant to the wok. Cook until the eggplant completely cooks down.

Jin1 Zhen1 Chao3 Rou4 Si1 – Dried Lilies Fried with Strips of Pork

Ingredients: boneless pork sliced into threads, red bell pepper sliced into long thin strips, celery sliced into long thin strips, minced garlic, minced ginger, roughly chopped whole dried red chilies, salt, soy sauce.

Add the pork to the hot oil. When cooked add the pepper, celery, and dried lilies. Then add the chilies, ginger and garlic. Finish with 1 Tblsp soy sauce and some salt.

Zhe2 er3 gen1 Chao3 Mu4’er3 – Guizhou Root Vegetable Fried with Wood Ear Mushrooms

Ingredients: Wood ear mushrooms sliced into thing strips, zhe er gen washed with root hairs removed and broken into long pieces, minced garlic, salt.

Add the mushrooms and root vegetable to the hot oil. When cooked, add the garlic and some salt.

Fried Tofu and Pork Balls – A dish of the Bu4 Yi1 Zu3 (minority group) of Southern Guizhou. They have their own language, so there is no pinyin transliteration.

Ingredients: minced boneless pork with fat left on (basically, ground pork), minced small scallions, firm tofu, 1 egg, minced ginger. I've been making this for a while and I often add mince mushrooms as well (porcini / xiang gu). 

Mix the pork, scallions, tofu, ginger and eggs together. Add a little salt. Heat a large amount of oil in the wok to deep fry. Form the mixture into balls and cook in batches until golden brown and cooked through. Note: If the oil gets too hot, you will burn the balls before the pork is cooked. 
They're delicious as is as part of a larger meal. You can also make a sweet and sour sauce for dipping (Black vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, chicken broth, ketchup if you have it. bring to a boil and add some corn starch dissolved in water.)

Chao3 Tu3dou4 – Fried Potatoes

Ingredients: 2 large potatoes washed, peeled, and julienned, roughly chopped dried red chilies, minced garlic, thinly sliced red and green bell peppers, salt.

Add the chilies and garlic to the hot oil, then the peppers. Then add the potatoes and cook until softening. Finish with salt.

Tang1 Huo3 Guo1 – Soup Hot Pot

Ingredients: Chinese cabbage broken into large pieces, chopped cilantro, rou4 wan (processed meats for hot pot), sliced mushrooms, red chili flakes, whole cooked small white beans, whole small scallions, whole dried red chilies, salt, MSG.

Add whole chilies and garlic to a little hot oil. Then add 3 bowlfuls of water. Add salt and MSG to taste and bring to a boil. When boiling, add the meats. Then add the vegetables. Serve when vegetables are cooked. Prepare a dipping paste from the red chili flakes, cilantro, and beans, with a little oil. This hot pot is not nearly as spicy as the Chongqing hot pot of a previous post, although the dipping paste is quite spicy.

Cooking, and not just with the Club

As I have learned more and more Chinese dishes from my students, I have also replicated them on my own--usually with moderate success. In other words, I cooked it pretty much correctly, it was delicious, but I was lacking in practice and some skill inherent to Chinese cooking.

A few observations from this novice:

Oil: make sure the oil is quite hot (smoking or almost smoking) when you add the initial ingredients. However, this means the garlic and chilies can cook only for a few seconds before you add another ingredient if they aren't to burn. In other words, learn to control the heat of the wok by adjusting the fire or lifting the wok from the burner.

Americans, me included, need to get over the idea that a lot of oil makes for unhealthy food. Use enough oil, or nothing will turn out right. This is healthy oil, and it isn't making any Chinese people fat.

Chopping: The key to most dishes is getting the vegetables and meat chopped to the right shape and size. Take your time. Learn the different cuts. Preparation is at least 3/4 of Chinese cooking.

Flavors: While many dishes use the same basic seasonings (chilies, garlic, ginger, Sichuan pepper, black vinegar, soy sauce, salt, sugar, cilantro, spring onions), they can be combined to produce a variety of flavors. I only point this out to anticipate criticism of Sichuan/Guizhou Chinese cooking as a cuisine that's just doused with chilies and garlic, and voila!

MSG: We often equate MSG with unhealthy eating. But it has become a standard ingredient in most Chinese dishes. The seasoning is artificially produced, but is nearly identical to a natural compound. It's unhealthy qualities have mostly been debunked. You can cook with or without it, but it enhances flavor. Use a small amount if you like. Or leave it out if your other ingredients are of high quality.

Eat...It...All

It is a common Chinese saying that "We Chinese eat everything--every part of the animal!"

This saying is proclaimed half proudly and half apologetically. On the one hand, it is good not to waste,* and every part of the animal is transformed into a delectable dish.** On the other hand, there is a sense here that in rich countries like America it is no longer necessary to eat every part. China is in a period of transition in this regard, as was America decades ago. My grandparents ate head cheese and blood sausage. I bet it was delicious.

The Chinese middle and upper classes no longer need to eat every part. But I hope China keeps its culinary traditions rather than following the American model of shrink-wrapped morsels of sanitized animal sold at the supermarket. Though I have vegetarian sympathies,*** the pig ear and spring onion dish I had at a farmer's birthday party a few weeks ago was one of the culinary highlights of my life.


For my own satisfaction and your entertainment, here's a list of my repertoire of most unusual "parts" so far (slightly unusual parts not included):
duck tongue (when cured, they look like a type of strange insect)
duck blood (coagulated and served in a soup; I posted a pic of this on Facebook)
deep fried duck bones (part of Peking Duck, served shortly after all the meat has been carved off the bird; you eat the entire skeleton)
pig intestines (I mistook one intestine dish for an eggplant confection)
pig ears (with spring onions and a chili sauce--yes)
pig brain (grilled in aluminum foil with chili and oil; a late night snack with beer)
century duck eggs (aged/preserved; they seem to serve a similar function to blue cheese in Chinese dishes--very rich and just a little moldy funk; often used in soup)
cow throat (a hot pot delight, cooked at the table in hot oil; crunchy/chewy)
rabbit head (yes, the entire head, including eyes and brain, broiled and rubbed in chili; delicious once you get past the idea of biting a face)
chicken feet (deep fried, fried, or boiled in a soup)
soft-shelled turtle (served whole over boiled pumpkin in my experience)
pretty much every internal organ of the pig and cow (hot pot; Chinese five-spice)

The aforementioned rabbit

Duck tongues

I wish I had taken more pictures! I know there are many new food experiences on the horizon. Can't wait.


*American's are tempted to see the Chinese waste-not attitude as reflective of a deep respect for the life of the animal that has been killed for consumption, a la the American Indian's use of the bison. I do not sense that such a perspective is part of the Chinese consciousness. Animals are eaten. Enough said. **Chinese food is said by many to be one of the world's best cuisines, rivaled only by the French tradition. Absolutely. It certainly stems from one of the world's most ancient cultures, though I have no clue as to the origins of contemporary Chinese cooking. To the list I would add the cuisine of Southern Mexico, but what do I know?
***It would be easy to be a vegan in China--vegetable protein is available in innumerable variations, beans are everywhere in Guizhou--as long as you never ate out with friends, made up your own dishes when cooking at home, were pleased to never integrate into Chinese society, and were fine with being a constant annoyance to your friends. The truth is the Chinese not only eat every part of the animal, they also make every possible use of the vegetable, while embracing the simple fact that pigs are delicious.

Eating Bugs and Drinking Flowers

The Chinese eat everything, as many have said, and so will I.

As I continue the culinary ecstasy that is living in China, I come across dishes and drinks now and then that are particularly foreign to the Western palate.

The chinese drink more plants, for example, than do Americans, who are usually limited to black tea, coffee, and carbonated chemicals. Chinese flower tea (hua cha) is a delight. The variety is endless. If it's pretty, tasty, and not poisonous, then add hot water and you have tea. Mums, roses, and flowers I cannot identify are in my pantry, awaiting my mug every night. A particular favorite of mine is a pink fuzzy ball of a flower that, while not caffeinated, seems to have pick-me-up properties. I can't find a photo, however, and am too lazy to take my own.

On the other end of the spectrum from the delightful idea of drinking flowers--to a Westerner, at least--is the fact that bugs are on the menu here. The other day, a very sophisticated colleague's wife and daughter, while said colleague and I were eating a perfectly 'normal' dinner of beef and green vegetables, stopped by the restaurant where we were eating on their way home. The wife had received a gift from a friend: fried spiced silkworm larvae. She was feeding them furiously to her daughter, who ate them between the frequent distractions of a five year old. She offered some to us. I ate. It was clear that the wife, husband, and daughter did not think the worms were especially delicious. Not bad, but not delicious. I would agree. However, the larvae are considered to be very good for one's health, being high in protein and other beneficial compounds. It's akin to Americans drinking green tea or eating a bitter green salad. In case you're interested in other such healthy eats, duck blood is good for your lungs.

Last but not least, is dog. While there is no logical reason not to eat dog if we eat pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, and sheep, there is probably no other animal for which the idea of roasting and eating is more repugnant to the Western mind. It's worse even than horse, which, thought not to my knowledge common on the Chinese menu, is eaten in many other cultures. Last weekend, I met several other PC Volunteers in Qinghe, Guizhou, for a Halloween retreat. River swimming and costume party could not compare to the experience or watching a local farmer skin a roasted dog on the riverbank. We were transfixed, at once horrified and seeking to understand. It was a moment about cultural integration, a goal at the top of the list for us Volunteers. We knew there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. It was even beautiful: the farmer, likely poor, working diligently for his family's evening meal. At the same time, it was an in-our-face moment that made us realize how little we really understand China. It's one world today, more than ever before, but we are foreign here--foreigners who cannot escape our own culture and who cannot fully understand this one, no matter how hard we try.

I had posted some pictures of the event on Facebook, but later removed them, not wanting to instigate any anti-China comments. But I think my few and faithful blog readers are sophisticated enough for the whole picture. Don't go further if you have a weak Western stomach.

By the way, I have not eaten dog...yet (apologies to Buzzy and Chauncey).

 Footnote: While the range of plants and animals consumed in China is vastly wider than in America, it is important to stress, I think, that the everyday fare of most people here consists of vegetables and pork. Bugs, dogs, snakes, etc., are for special occasions, or are eaten only occasionally and not by everyone.