three dishes

 1. beef smoked sausage with spinach and carrots

with boiled quail eggs on the side.

2. napa cabbage with turkey breast

 3. vegetable medley

including beef smoked sausage, amaranth greens, frozen veggies mix, garlic

Indian lettuce with chicken in black bean sauce

I have been eating out often lately. For dinner tonight after the gym, I cooked indian lettuce with chicken in black bean sauce. I have some leftover rice and century eggs. I have been eating too much acidic food and century eggs, according to my own experience, are perfect for balancing your body pH level. It is very basic (pH>9). Cost: $3.5 (indian lettuce: $2, roasted chicken pieces $1.5)

COOKING
To heated oil in a wok, add garlic and fermented black beans. Add indian lettuce, chicken pieces and cook till tender.

NUTRITION
Indian lettuce is similar to lettuce but has higher nutritional value.

TASTE
Indian lettuce is a bit bitter.

seaweed with pork

Here is a combination of the dishes I cooked in the past few days.

1. Stir-fried pork with seaweed

2. Sauteed Greenbeans with garlic and dried shrimp

3. Stir-fried chicken and mushroom

4. Stir-fried rice and boiled quail eggs

chicken dishes

I bought a whole chicken and it took me a while to process it. I made two dishes out of it.

1. Chicken and carrots in fermented tofu sauce. Cost: $3.2 (chicken $2.5, carrots $0.5, fermented tofu: $0.2)

COOKING
I followed a recipe for this one. Fermented tofu sauce is very pungent. It is an acquired taste just like cheese. Marinate the chicken pieces in fermented tofu sauce, rice wine and a pinch of salt for 10 min. In a big bowl, put ginger and green onion piece at the bottom and lay the chicken pieces on top. Steam it all till the chicken is 80% done. Decant the juice and add a pinch of sugar. Stir-fry the chicken till done. Add the juice back plus the ground carrots. Cook for 5 min and serve.

TASTE
Very strong fermented tofu sauce smell.

NUTRITION
Proteins from the chicken, carotene from the carrots.

2. Chicken soup with corn cob and mushroom. Cost $4 (chicken $1.5, corn cob $0.5, mushroom $2)



COOKING
Cook chicken pieces with ginger in pressure cooker on high pressure for 18 min. Add mushroom, corn cob and salt. Cook on low pressure for 15 min.

TASTE
The corn flavor mixed with chicken. Delicious.

NUTRITION
Proteins from the chicken, minerals from the mushroom, carbohydrates and fibers from the corn. A very complete meal.

pork stir-fries

Two dishes for lunch:
1. Frozen tofu with ground pork and shiitake mushroom. Cost: $6.3 (ground pork $2.5, tofu $1.8, shiitake mushroom $2)

Here is how to freeze tofu. This gives tofu very chewy texture.
COOKING
1. Brown ground pork in soy sauce and drain fat. Cut defrosted tofu into cubes. Slice shiitake mushrooms and longhorn peppers.
2. Stir-fry tofu to slightly yellow. Add ground pork and mushroom.

TASTE
The shiitake mushroom has very strong aroma that dominates the dish.

NUTRITION
Tofu and pork contains proteins and shiitake mushrooms contain minerals.

2. Stir-fried pork with mustard greens. Cost $2 (Pork $1, mustard greens $1)

It is very similar to the dish I cooked on 06-24.

Stir-fried garlic chive flowers with eggs

06-28-12 Garlic chiveflowers, eggs, minced clam stir-fry  Cost: $3.85 (garlic chive flowers $1.80, 3 eggs $0.3, canned minced clams $1.75)

COOKING
Chop garlic chive flowers, beat eggs in salted clam juice. Stir-fry eggs and set aside. Stir-fry garlic chive flowers and add minced clams. Add eggs back and cook till garlic chives are tender.

NUTRITION
Garlic chive flowers are common food in China. They have strong garlicky smell that stimulates appetite. According to About.com, they are high in dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, carotene and calcium. It is considered "herbal viagra" in Chinese traditional medicine. Eggs provide additional proteins. Clams are thought to be aphrodisiac too. Oops, too much "yang" in the dish.

TASTE
Garlicky, salty and pungent.

CHINESE
Talking about "yin" and "yang", I am going to introduce these two characters "阴" (sound: in) and "阳" (sound: young). As you can see, they share the same component on the left--"阝". This component meant small hill as you can see it resembles one. Since it also looks like an ear (耳，in my previous post), it is commonly called the ear component. Most Chinese characters are made of basic components just like English alphabets. The picture shows you what the right-side components mean.

So the two characters 阴 and 阳 are like mini-pictures. Upon the hill, you see the moon, you feel cool and calm. You feel the "yin". But if you see the sun, you feel hot and energetic. You feel the "yang". 阴 and 阳 are also symbolic of female and male respectively. A quiz for you.What does this character mean "明" as you can see it's the sun and the moon put together.

Imagine the ancient times, the sun and the moon are the only light sources for humans. Putting them together, it gives us light. So this character "明" (sound: Ming) means bright.

Beef and Batata root stew

What's for dinner tonight? (06-25-2012)

Beef and batata root stew. Cost: $3.83 (Beef $2.33, Batata root $1, shiitake mushroom $0.5)

COOKING
Cube beef and batata root. Marinate with meat tenderizer for 10 min. Slice longhorn green peppers, garlic and ginger. Add them to heated oil. Stir in cubed beef. Season with salt, soy sauce, rice wine and vinegar. Cook till brown. Slice up shiitake mushroom. Add them together with batata root and some water to electric pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 15 min followed by 10 min at low pressure.

NUTRITION
Beef provides protein. This is my first time trying batata root. It smelt like yam. It is high in fiber. The shiitake mushroom contains minerals I need.

TASTE
It is salty, sweet and sour. I'm dipping bread in it. It is YUMMYYYYYY.

First post

This blog is about the "Chinese" food I cook and eat everyday. I am a chemist who does not have any cooking background but likes to experiment with things. My food is mostly simple and economical stir-fries. As a health-conscious scientist, I make sure the food I cook contains essential daily nutriants. I sometimes digress to topics on Chinese culture. Hope you like my blog. Now here is what I made today. 

Two dishes for lunch (06-24-12): Cost $4.5 (pork $2.5, mustard greens $1, black fungus $0.5, tofu skin $0.5)

Stir-fried pork with mustard greens and black fungus

COOKING
1. Slice pork. Blanch sliced pork. Cut up mustard greens. Soak dried and sliced black fungus for an hour.
2. Heat oil in wok and stir fry pork slices in soy sauce. Add mustard greens and finally black fungus strips.

TASTE
It is a combination of pungent mustard smell and aroma of the soy sauce. The black fungus addes to the texture of the dish.

NUTRITION
Pork is my protein source. Due to the limited amount, protein shake is needed later during the day. Mustard greens are rich in vitamin A, vitamin K and many other essential trace elements such as cadmium, selenium, chromium, ion and zinc. They definitely contain lots of fiber. Black fungus, also known as the "wood ear", is considered "blood cleanser" as it may reduce LDL cholesterol and aortic plaque. Some people may be turned off by its color and its name. It is actually no different than any mushroom you eat. Add a little bit to your diet to benefit your blood health.

CHINESE
 "Wood ear" in Chinese is 木耳 (sound: Moo-Err). The two Chinese characters are good examples of this ancient language, which is based on pictorial symbols resembling what they signify. Think about how would you draw "wood" or "tree"? how would you draw "ear"? Here is the evolution of the characters from drawings:

Stir-fried pork with Tofu skin