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Recipes that include rock candy

Red-Cooked Pork Belly and Baby Cuttlefish

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Very early readers may remember that I was a professional figure skater in my early life. (Lon too! I swear. Isn’t that crazy?) In my early 20s, I joined a hip-hop and breaking crew. My 30s seem to be shaping into my partner dancing era. I am in love with Argentine Tango and I also enjoy some salsa, bachata, cha and cha, and hustle. Just last night, I went to a workshop for BachaTango and it was wild! You dance on the count for Bachata with Tango moves thrown in. In the beginning, it was a little bit of a mind game for me not to switch to one or the other but once I got the hang of it, it was super fun. It seems to be growing in popularity in Europe and I hope I see more of it here.

BachaTango reminded me of this lovely Red-Cooked Pork Belly and Baby Cuttlefish dish because it fuses two elements, a surf & turf of Chinese sorts. Red-Cooking is a classic Chinese cooking method. In a very basic sense, it’s a sauce base of soy sauce and rock candy. How can that go wrong, right? Nearly anything can be red-cooked if you ask a Chinese person. We’ve done a Red-Cooked Picnic Shoulder in the past, a traditional dish called Tee Pong, and we’ve even done a Red-Braised Pork Belly on FoodMayhem. Don’t be surprised if you see more in the future! Here, we’re Red-Cooking rich little chunks of pork belly with plump baby cuttlefish. Double the textures, double the fun!

Red-Cooked Pork Belly & Cuttlefish 3

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Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sweet & Sour dishes are commonly known Chinese dishes. They’re probably even in the top 5 most popular. Yet, what I’ve seen at “fake” Chinese take-outs rarely resembles what I know of as Sweet & Sour. They’re often neon orange ( I don’t even know where that color comes from), taste like pure fried batter without meat, sweeter than a lollipop, or all three atrocities.

I’m not claiming that the real thing is healthy. It’s not. These spare ribs are deep-fried. There is still a lot of sugar, though I have to believe less than whatever “they” put. Plus, I know I’m still using meat. It is delicious, in addictive little chunks that work well as finger food at parties. Of course, Sweet & Sour Ribs goes over well with the kids too.

Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs 2

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Tee Pong: Red Cooked Picnic Shoulder

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I spent Monday at mom’s house again and we decided, well I decided, that I wanted to learn my grandfather’s two favorite dishes. My grandpa, on my dad’s side, lived till he was 96! I remember what a bad example that set for us kids. He never ate veggies and yet he was as healthy as a pup, taking walks every day. Well, his walks were to Baskin Robbins.

Besides the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cone each day, his favorite dish was Tee Pong. It’s a Red-Cooked or Red-Braised Picnic Shoulder, and it’s all about the skin and fat. Brace yourself. The fat and skin can be more than an inch thick, and that’s the part my grandpa wanted to eat, sometimes leaving the meat behind.

Red Cooked Tee Pong (picnic shoulder)

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Soy Sauce Chicken

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Have you been to a Chinese restaurant with a variety of meats dangling in the window? (If not, read this later and run to Chinatown now!) It’s usually roast pork, crackling pork, roast duck, ginger (white) chicken, and soy sauce chicken. Sometimes, there’s pork intestines or other innards. You can buy any by the pound or have the classic workmen’s lunch: San Bao Fan. The rough translation would be Three Specialties (Treasures) Rice, a choice of 3 of the meats over rice. There’s usually a vegetable included and sometimes a stewed egg.

Soy Sauce Chicken with Baby Chinese Broccoli 3

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Zong Zi – Part 2: Recipe

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

For a little background information on Zong Zi, see part 1.

Like I mentioned, this is the way my mom makes Zong Zi, and it’s just fabulous. I did my best to document her process but she doesn’t have measuring spoons and stuff so a lot of these quantities are estimates. Before you start, realize that this is pretty work intensive and that you’ll need to start planning the night before. You’ll see that it’s worth it though because you can make a lot and it stores well in the refrigerator (or freezer), and heats up in the microwave nicely (just cover with wet paper towel).

*On 6/15/10, I added another Zong Zi recipe to FoodMayhem. It’s a Red Bean Zong Zi, with video to show the hard part, assembly.

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Tangy Chinese Sauce

Friday, March 27, 2009

Jessica picked up some of the fluffy fish balls with pork centers, as well as cuttlefish balls, during a recent trip to Flushing. She had the idea to eat them with a spicy sauce. I took it upon myself to fulfill that desire. Well, even though there’s a good amount of spice in this sauce, it came out more tangy because the vinegar and sugar really balanced the heat. It is delicious.

Fish Ball Dipped in Yummy Sauce

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Red Braised Pork Belly

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Red Braised or Red Cooked is the quintessential Chinese Home-style Cooking Method. I grew up on Red Cooked Pork, Beef, Fish, Tofu, etc. Everyone loves it and it’s really quite simple to make.

Red Braised Pork Belly

  • 2.2 ounces rock sugar
  • 1 3/4 pound pork belly
  • 2 cup soy sauce
  • 3 1/2 cups water, divided
  • 3/4″ cross section ginger, smashed
  • 2 scallions, cut in half

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