Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf

Ingredients:
2 cups of long grain sweet rice
uncooked1/2 cup shiitake mushroom
cut into thin strips1/4 lb. of lean pork
1/4 cup of soaked dried shrimp
1/4 cup of chopped shallot
2 tbsps of cooking oil
1/4 tsp of salt
4 tbsps of soy sauce

Method:
Brown shallots in oil or use pre-fried shallot bits. Cook two cups of rice with two cups of water in a rice cooker. When rice is ready, stir fry pork till done. Add mushrooms, shrimps and shallots, stir some more. Add soy sauce, add rice and salt. Mix well till all rice grains are coated with brown color. Serve warm.

It tastes good as is. However, if you want to be real fancy, you can buy lotus leaf from Chinese stores and wrap the rice and filling in the lotus leaf. The lotus leaf must be washed and soaked before you wrap your fillings. You can make as big or as little as your heart desires, just trim the lotus leaf to size.

Taiwanese Meat Soup (Ro Geng)

In Mandarin, this is called "Ro Geng". In Taiwanese language, this is called "Bah Geng". My roommates from Taiwan used to make this soup in a pot and I can smell the soup even when my doors were closed.


I used the following recipe as my reference:

http://www.chezpei.com/2006/08/ro-geng.html

This recipe is interesting in that it doesn't involve any complicated techniques or particularly exotic ingredients, but the prep work can kill you if you don't plan ahead and expect to be in the kitchen for a long time. This recipe will make a large pot (six quart pot, not filled all the way to the top) of ro geng, which was perfect for dinner for three and leftovers the next day.



Ingredients:
Pork butt (shoulder), about 1 lb
Fish paste, about 1/2 lb
two 32 fl oz. chicken stock + enough water to cover the vegetable
a small napa cabbage, or half a large one
ten shitake mushrooms, fresh or soaked overnight in water
2-3 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked in water
three carrots
one 16 oz. can of slivered bamboo (not whole, not sliced--slivered!)
one package fresh enoki mushrooms, or canned if you can't find fresh
one package wood ear mushrooms if you can find them and if you like them
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup black vineger
dash of white pepper
dash of sesame oil
1/4 cup cornstarch mix with 1/4 cup cold water
fresh cilantro

Method:
This dish is as much about texture as flavor. Cut the meat against the grain into three inch long slices. Because pork butt has so many sections, you're going to have to turn the meat a lot and constantly check that you're cutting against the grain. It helps if the meat is slightly frozen. Just be sure to trim all the biggest chunks of fat and throw them away. This is probably the toughest part of the recipe to get right.

Cut napa cabbage in half horizontally (that is, separate the top leafy part from the bottom white part). Stack the two halves, and cut into finger-thick strips the other way.

Cut the carrots into long thin strips similar size to the slivered bamboo strips.

Slice the shitake and wood ear thinly.

Cut the dirty part off the enoki and separate them lightly.

Chop cilantro. Whether you include the stems is up to you. I like to leave just a little stem for crunch.

Add chicken stock to a pot of water (about a gallon total). Of course if you have homemade chicken or pork stock you can use that. Bring to a rapid boil.

Meanwhile, mix the pork slices and fish paste until all the pork is evenly coated.

When the water comes to a boil, start dropping the coated pork in one slice at a time. Be sure not to let the pork drop in the water in clumps.

Turn down the flame to a simmer and add the dried shrimp.

After 10 minutes of slow simmer, add the napa, bamboo, mushrooms, and carrots. Stir well and bring to a simmer.

Add soy sauce, black vinegar, and a teaspoon of salt. Taste, and add more if needed.

Cover and let everything cook together at a bare simmer for half an hour or until the vegetables are soft.

Mix cornstarch with cold water and mix well. It should be the consistency of whole milk. Make sure there are no lumps. Bring the soup to a light boil. While stirring, add half the cornstarch mixture in a thin stream. Stir well so you don't get big clumps. Let the soup simmer so it thickens up. You're going for a gooey consistency kind of like gravy, but thinner than clam chowder out of a can. Add more cornstarch mixture if needed.

Add a dash of sesame oil and white pepper upon serving. This stew is good the next day or straight out of the pot.

Taiwanese Oyster Omelet (Oh Ah Chian)

This is my husband's favorite dish. I found this dish from the following link:
http://passionateeater.blogspot.com/2006/07/working-eater-series-taiwanese-oyster.html


Ingredients:
10 oz jar of refrigerated shucked oysters, drained and roughly chopped
1/4 cup powdered sweet potato starch
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce (can substitute 1 tbsp of sriracha thoroughly mixed with 1 tbsp of ketchup)
3 large eggs, scrambled
2 tbsp of vegetable oil (divided)
1 cup of cooked chrysanthemum greens, stir-fried with 2 cloves of chopped garlic (can substitute mustard greens or spinach for the chrysanthemum greens)

Method:
Combine the sweet potato starch, water, and oysters until thoroughly blended. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok or large skillet until shimmering, and pour the starch batter in the skillet and allow it to cook and set until it begins to turn translucent. Flip the sweet potato starch pancake until it becomes translucent throughout. (You may have to break the sticky pancake up into more manageable patches, and individually flip each patch.) The pancake should have a gluey texture, almost like mochi. Now, take the cooked pancake off the heat, and reserve.

Using the same pan (first, make sure that the surface is clean and unblemished with leftover potato starch bits), add the remaining tbsp of oil, and heat until shimmering. Swirl the scrambled egg mixture into the heated pan. Being careful not to break the egg omelet, heat it until it is set, and carefully flip it, using a wide-brimmed spatula if necessary.

There are two ways to serve the omelet. You can either spread the bed of greens and cooked potato starch mixture on one-half of the omelet (while it is still in the pan) and flip it onto a plate, or put the greens and potato starch mixture directly on the plate, and put the full, circular omelet on top. Either way, spread the hot sauce on the surface of the scrambled omelet, and enjoy!

Taiwanese Pork Chop (Pai Ku Fan)

"This pork chop recipe has a great flavor using Chinese five-spice powder. If you can find sweet potato powder, use it instead of cornstarch. Serve this with plain white rice and a simple vegetable side."

http://pork.allrecipes.com/az/83792.asp

INGREDIENTS:
4 (3/4 inch) thick bone-in pork chops
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon white wine
1/2 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
vegetable oil
vegetable oil for frying
cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:
With a sharp knife, make several small slits near the edges of the pork chops to keep them from curling when fried.
Into a large resealable plastic bag, add the soy sauce, garlic, sugar, white wine, and five-spice powder. Place chops into the bag, and close the seal tightly. Carefully massage the marinade into chops, coating well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over every so often.
In a large skillet, heat enough vegetable oil to fill the skillet to a depth of about 1/2 inch. Remove chops from resealable bag without wiping off marinade. Lightly sprinkle cornstarch on both sides of the chops.
Carefully add chops to skillet; cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides and cooked through.

Taiwanese Ground Pork Rice (Ro Chao Fan)

I had this dish at Taiwanese Restaurants and fell in love with it. Young and old will enjoy this dish. I found the recipe on this link: http://www.recipezaar.com/95047

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
4 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (3 ounce) package fried shallots (can be found at any Oriental grocery store)
2 cups water
1/3-1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon msg (optional)
steam rice

Method:
Brown pork in skillet until cooked; drain off oil and set aside.
Add vegetable oil in a pot over medium-high heat.
Saute garlic for 1 minute.
Add pork and shallots, stir a few times.
Add water and the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
Uncover and cook for 15 more minutes.
Serve over steamed rice.

Taiwanese Sandwich

I made this sandwich the night before for my kids' and husband lunch. The next afternoon (after lunch) my husband called and complemented me on the sandwich. He said it was better than what he had growing up in Taiwan. My 2 daughters (ages 8 and 6)who are picky eaters by nature also finished their lunch. So tonight, I made some more and decided to share this simple recipe with you.

Ingredients:
white or wheat bread
mayonaise
cucumber
ham
2 eggs

Steps:
Beat eggs*. Heat a non stick pan and make a egg pancake.
Spread mayonaise on 4 slices of bread.
First layer cucumber. Second layer ham. Third layer egg pancake.
Cut the sandwich diagonally and wrap in plastic wrap**.

note*: I seasoned the egg with a little sugar and salt.
note**: To make it look like the real thing, I cut the edges and put one half of the sandwich into a custom plastic wrap. Uwajimaya sells these wrap. They are $3.50 for 10.