Cooking Club Continues

Kitchen equipment updates.
Gargantuan rice cooker.
Vats of oil.
I'm now actually ready for cooking club.

The second and third cooking club meetings at Zunyi Teacher's College have been a success. By success, I mean that my students have had a great time trying to teach me Chinese cooking in English, and that I now have nine more basic dishes under my chef's hat. It's good to note that cooking club is mainly about home cooking. These are everyday dishes, nothing you'll get at a banquet, which is what most of us need to know how to cook, right?

The students come over for lunch at noon every Saturday, lugging bags of ingredients. I make the rice. Then the magic begins. A little tea, sunflower seeds, and fruit to break the ice and sate the appetite come first, along with some discussion of the map of China on my wall: "Here's my hometown. You are invited to visit in your free time."

Chefs in the bunch take the lead, while the others lounge on the couch gossiping about their college lives and talking merrily about the tall white guy who thinks he can cook Chinese food. Fun, education, and cultural exchange are all noble things. But cooking and eating together are better.

Here are the recipes so far. There's nothing mysterious about them. All you need is a wok, a hot burner with decent heat control, and lots of canola/rapeseed (or another high smoke point) oil. These are dishes every mom, most dads, and many children know how to make. But here they are in English, as dictated by my students, most of whom are the children of farmers. Try them. You will be amazed.

Fan Qie Ji Dan-Eggs fried with tomatoes (this is NOT scrambled eggs!)

Ingredients: eggs, tomatoes, scallions for garnish, oil, salt, MSG, sugar

2:1 ratio eggs to tomatoes.

1. Beat eggs
2. Chop tomato (any size or shape)
3. Chop scallions into small pieces
4. Heat oil until very hot (test temperature with a drop of egg; it should cook immediately and spatter. Use approximately ½ cup oil for a large dish
5. Add eggs, which should expand to fill the wok upon contact with the hot oil. Stir with chopsticks until eggs are cooked.
6. Add tomatoes and cook until juices have mostly evaporated
7. Add salt and MSG to taste (approx. 3 tsp for 8 eggs)
8. Add sugar to taste (approx. 4 tsp for 8 eggs)
9. Put in a dish and garnish with scallions.

Qing Jiao Rou Si-Green peppers fried with meat

Ingredients: pork, green pepper, carrot, vegetable oil, soy sauce, scallions, salt, MSG. 1:1:1 ratio of carrot, green pepper, and pork. Half as many scallions. Cilantro for garnish.

1. Chop carrot and green pepper into strips (julienne).
2. Chop scallions into small pieces.
3. Cut pork into small strips. Any cut of pork will do, but it should be lean.
4. Heat oil in wok until very hot but not smoking; approximately ¼ cup for a large dish.
5. Add scallions and pork to oil.
6. Add soy sauce (to taste)
7. When meat has browned, add carrot. Put lid on wok.
8. When carrot begins to soften, add green pepper.
9. When pepper begins to soften, add salt and MSG to taste.
10. Place in a dish and garnish with cilantro.

Hong(2) shao(1) qie(2)zi-Eggplant fried with tomatoes

1. Chop 2-3 medium eggplants: cut in half long way, criss-cross at an angle, then chop in bite-size pieces the short way
2. Chop 2 tomatoes: half them from the top, then thinly slice from the top (2 tomatoes)
3. Slice ½ cup green hot peppers, very thinly
4. Heat oil
5. Add peppers, 1 clove of sliced garlic, salt, and dried red chili (whole, or flakes)
6. Add tomatoes and a little MSG
7. Add eggplant and a little salt
8. Add cilantro stems and minced scallions
9. Garnish with scallions

Yang(2) cong(1) chao(3) rou(4)-Red onions fried with meat

1. Chop 2 small or 1 large red onion(s): half and then thinly slice (half rings)
2. Chop a few ounces of pork into small pieces
3. Heat oil
4. Add meat
5. Add ¼ cup thinly sliced hot green pepper (qing[1] jiao[1])
6. Add onion, salt, MSG to taste
7. When soft, add 1 tsp or sesame oil
8. Garnish with scallions and cilantro

Hou(3) Guo(3)-Hot Pot (A spicy soup fondue; you’ll have to look up the spice ingredients if you’re making it in the USA, but if you’re lazy: salt, red chili flakes, Sichuan numbing pepper, MSG is my best guess)

1. Chop a variety of items into bite-sized pieces. For greens, leave the pieces large because they cook down: potatoes, mushrooms, lettuce, cabbage, scallions, cilantro, any edible green, thinly sliced meat or other animal pieces(!), tofu (used hui doufu—ash tofu—store open in fridge, wash, add salt), bean sprouts, cured meats, substantial noodles, flowers (huang hua cai, e.g.)
2. Heat oil
3. Add spices or spice packet when hot
4. Add scallions chopped in large pieces
5. Add water (about 2-3 bowls full), stir and bring to a boil
6. Add potatoes and tofu
7. Add meat
8. Add mushrooms
9. Add bean sprouts
10. Add greens
11. Serve in a chafing bowl on an electric burner, ideally, or in a wok.

Bai(2) cai(4) chao(3) rou(4)-Green leafy vegetables (Chinese cabbage, bok choy, etc.) fried with meat

1. Half a Chinese cabbage the long way, then slice in ½ inch strips the short way
2. Heat oil, add 1 clove sliced garlic
3. Add thinly sliced pork and ¼ cup thinly sliced hot green pepper
4. Add cabbage
5. Add MSG and 1 T soy sauce and 1 t chili oil
6. Garnish with scallion and cilantro

Qing(1) jiao(1) tu(3)dou(4) si(1)-Green peppers fried with potatoes

1. Chop 2-3 potatoes: peel, slice long way, then julienne the long way
2.  Heat oil, 2 cloves sliced garlic and ¼ cup thinly sliced hot green pepper
3. Add potatoes, cook until softening, but firm
4. Add MSG and 2t salt
5. Add 1T soy sauce
6. Garnish with scallions and cilantro

Hong(2) Shao(1) Yü(2)-Fish with Red Chilies

Ingredients: River fish, like a carp (li(3) yü(2), mint, cilantro, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, spring onions, small fresh red chilies, oil, salt

Chop chilies in small rounds

Mince 2 cloves garlic

Mince half of a medium-sized ginger root

Chop1 bunch cilantro

Break apart one bunch mint

Wash fish, score skin

Heat a large amount of oil

Add whole fish. Cook for approximately 7 minutes, turning once, spooning hot oil over the fish

Remove cooked fish from wok, and some of the oil

Place fish on a large deep serving platter

Add chilies to hot oil, cook for a few minutes

Add 1-2 tsp salt

Add ginger and garlic, cook briefly

Add cilantro at last minute

Then pour mixture over the fish in the serving dish.

Garnish with mint and whole cilantro

Hong(2) Shao(1) Tu(2) Dou(4) Ji(1)-Chicken with Red Chili and Potatoes

Ingredients: 500g (1 jin) chicken pieces, soy sauce, salt, 1-2 potatoes, cilantro, spring onions, dried chilies, pickled red chilies (suan la jiao), garlic, Sichuan numbing pepper (hua jiao)

Wash and soak chicken pieces (with bones and skin), drain, add 1 tsp salt and soy sauce to taste

Chop potatoes into quarters then into thick slices along the width

Chop 1 bunch cilantro

Chop small bunch spring onions

Heat oil, add chicken pieces, cooking until water boils off (approx. 10 mins)

Remove chicken from oil, and remove some oil from wok

Add pickled red chilies, 2 cloves of sliced garlic, salt to taste, dried chilies and cook briefly

Return chicken to wok, along with potatoes

Add ¼ tsp numbing pepper and chopped cilantro

Chou(3) Bai(2) Cai(4)-Fried Leafy Green Vegetables

Ingredients: bok choy (or other substantial leafy green), dried red chilies, garlic, ginger, MSG, numbing pepper, soy sauce, cilantro, pork pieces (optional)

Heat oil

Add dried red chilies, 2 cloves sliced garlic, a few slices of ginger

Add bok choy (not chopped, but with thick base of each leaf sliced lengthwise to ensure even cooking), cook until wilted

Add ¼ tsp MSG, a little numbing pepper, and a splash of soy sauce

[Add pork pieces and cook until water is boiled off and beginning to brown]

Add chopped cilantro

Shu(1) Cai(4) Rou(4) Wan(2) Tang(1)-Lettuce and Meatball (preserved, pre-cooked meat-think coldcuts) Soup

Ingredients: 1-2 bunches green leaf lettuce, pre-cooked meatballs, egg-wrapped processed pork, or deep fried meat (same as used for hot pot; soup is delicious even without the meat), tofu (fluffy fried cubes, doufu guo), ginger, garlic, spring onions, salt, MSG, oil, sesame oil

Wash and separate whole lettuce leaves

Chop meat

Halve tofu cubes

Slice garlic and ginger

Chop spring onions

Heat oil

Add garlic, spring onions, and ginger

Add a large bowlful of water to the wok

Add 3 tsp salt

When water comes to a boil, add meat, which is pre-cooked

Add halved tofu cubes

Add more water if necessary to cover ingredients and bring to a boil

Add ¼ tsp MSG

Add whole lettuce leaves, boil until wilted

Add 1 tbsp sesame oil

Transfer into a large serving bowl