College Food Series: 碎肉玉米炒辣椒 (Spicy Ground Pork and Corns)

You know......I always find it hard to translate the dishes' names to English......

but anyway, here we go:

Ingredients:

1. corns: 1 can (non creamy)

2. ground pork: 1/4 lb (marinated with salt, sesame oil, a little rice wine, and some corn starch)

3. chill peppers (I like the red ones, they add good color to the dish, but if it's not spicy enough throw in some green, little ones. Oh they are good.)

Procedures:

1. after marinating the meat for around 15 minutes, throw in some oil into a heated cooking pan.

2. throw in the chill peppers and let it cook for about 2 minutes (or until the smell comes out)

3. throw in the meat and cook until it's cooked.

p.s. if you think it's not salty enough, add some salt. DO NOT USE SOY SAUCE. It's going to destroy the color.

4. throw in the corns and cook for 3 to 5 minutes

5. eat!!!!!

It is another great dish to go with rice, and it's awesome for lunch box as well. It's easy, tasty, and fast. Such a good dish huh? :)

College Food Series: 麻婆豆腐 (Ma Po Tofu)

I decide to start this series just because I love food. Haha, it's also a guide of how I successfully made it so I can check back in the future. So here we go

Ma Po Tofu

ingredient:

Tofu: 1 piece

The sauce pack: 1 pack

pepper corn oil: a little

ground pork: 1/4 lb

I use the sauce pack to save some time. After all we the college students don't have that much time on cooking, right?

You can get this in the Chinese grocery stores such as Ranch 99. It's around 2 bucks so it's acceptable.

Procedures:

1. boil a pot of water. We will use it later.

2. heat up another pot (or a pan or whatever you use to cook) and put in some oil.

3. cut the tofu into small cubes (the smaller, the easier the flavor goes in but also the easier it breaks, so it's up to you how big you want it to be).

4. cook the ground pork until it's fully cooked.

5. add the sauce into the pot and stir slowly.

6. meanwhile, put the tofu into the boiled water for about 30 seconds. This is an important step. You might not be able to tell the difference because this dish has a strong flavor, but for other dishes you can taste the "soil" taste in the tofu.

7. put the tofu into the pot and stir slowly. Cook it for about 5 mins.

8. add in some peppercorn oil to give it a good smell :)

9. if it's too watery, make some corn starch water (corn starch + water...DUH!! make sure you use cold water though) and put it in gently.

10. wait until it's saucy but not watery, turn off the fire.

11. eat!!!

It's a great dish with rice. I bet you can eat more than usual with this dish, so dig in!!

Xiao Long Bao (Little Steamed Buns) [小籠包]

Most of the time when people talk about it, they would think the steamed buns from Shanghai. True, Shanghai's steamed bun is super popular, but it might not be the best in my opinion, or I just haven't had the really good ones from Shanghai yet.

I'm gonna talk about the xiao long bao from this really famous store in Taiwan, Din Tai Fong (鼎泰豐). In Taiwan, Din Tai Fong is like another name for xiao long bao, their most famous dish. Many tourists from China, Korea, and Japan request to go there when they go to Taipei. This is one of their must-go places in Taiwan. Yes, it's that popular.

You might ask: it doesn't look that special from this picture, so what is the secret that draws all the customers?

Well, it might not look special because you cannot really see what's inside from this picture, or I simply suck at taking photos :p.

What makes this xiao long bao so special, so different from other places? First, it has really thin skin. The skin is so thin that you can break it easily. If you are not a good chopsticks user, it is recommended that you use other utensils to support when you get the xiao long bao. Since the skin is so thin, you can taste the flavor inside easily. When you take a bite, it is not noticeable that the skin is there. To exaggerate a bit, it feels like the skin would melt in your mouth.

Second, there is a secret sauce used to make it. Apparently no one really knows what's the ratio of the sauce used except the owners and the key officers. This sauce brings out the flavor. It extracts the best part of the meat and creates a perfect balance when eating it with ginger and vinegar. This sauce plays an important part of the dish.

Third, the visual effect. Visual? You say? Yes! When you enter the restaurant (the oldest one), you will see the entire kitchen and all the chefs and workers in it. You can see the entire process of making the xiao long bao. You will be amazed of how fast they can make it. All the chefs are REALLY skilled, and they are not afraid to show you what they've got. This really brings up your appetite.

Fourth, the waiters and waitresses. If a restaurant is well known internationally, the all the workers there must have really good manner. Workers at Din Tai Fong definitely have it. You will be surprised how nice they can be. For example, some workers have to carry like 5 or 6 serves of xiao long bao (the wooden container shown in the picture), it would make sense if they want to serve them asap. however, they will still let you pass first when the path is too narrow. To me, I would let them go first and would expect them to pass. Instead they insist that I shouldd go first. I do not see workers from other restaurant, especially carrying so much stuff, do the same. Interesting fact: all waiters and waitresses have to be able to speak Japanese because there are sooooooo many japanese tourists who go there.

last but not least, the restaurant itself. The restaurant is bright, nice looking, and, most importantly, very clean. I heard that tehy spend hours cleaning everyday to make sure that the restaurant stays "appetite". I mean, no one would want to eat at a dirty restaurant right? Knowing that this building is much older than me, other restaurants might already have dirty walls, broken tables or chairs, or cracked plates or whatever already (yes, some restaurants do use the plates if they are only cracked a little on the sides, but I don't see it at Din Tai Fong), but all the above are not seen in this restaurant.

I'm pretty sure that's not all why this restaurant is awesome. If you have a chance to go, try it yourself and maybe leave a comment here to tell everyone how you feel about this place. For those who are in LA, there is one there. I'm not sure if it tastes the same, but hey at least you guys have it. It better than nothing isn't it? :)

p.s. some pix from internet. the sign is not from the original restaurant

麻辣鴨血臭豆腐 (Spicy Duck Blood with Stinky Tofu)

Spicy Duck Blood with Stinky Tofu is a famous Taiwanese cuisine. Many Taiwanese love this dish to death. Okay this may be exaggerating a little bit, but n one can deny that it tastes really good.

This dish, however, requires some courage to eat. Why? You may ask. Well, apparently many cannot come over with the smell, the name, or even the taste. First, it has stinky tofu inside. For a lot of people, stinky tofu really stinks, and they are against eating it because they think it smells like rotten food (but some of them can eat nattoo for some reason......) Some people cannot stand the name. To them, duck blood sounds really disgusting already, and there's still stinky tofu. Some people can't stand the spice. This dish is supposed to be spicy for it to be good, but some people think it's way too spicy.

Well, if you think you can stand all three of the above, congratulation, you've found a really delicious Taiwanese dish.

The tofu is soaked in the soup for a long time, so the flavor is in it for sure. Also, since it has holes everywhere in the tofu, it acts like a sponge that sucks all the soup and flavor into it. Every bite gives you the full of taste. Once you try it, you'll actually love the smell of it. You know that once you smell it, you can find it somewhere close.

To me, the duck blood has a silky texture, and it's really soft and smooth. Once it's boiled in the soup for a long time, the flavor also goes into it. Therefore the combination of tofu, duck blood, and the soup is the best. It is really delicious.

If anyone has a chance to go to Taiwan, welcome to give it a try. I'm sure you won't regret. Oh yea, this dish has another name: 臭臭鍋 (cho cho guo, or stinky wok).