November 20, 2008 at 7:56 am (Favorites, Soups)
Tags: cilantro, egg, mushroom, Soups, tomato, vegetable broth
Tomatoes and eggs make a perfect match in Chinese cooking …good colors, texture, taste, etc. 
One of the most authentic homemade Chinese dishes is called tomatoes with scrambled egges [西红柿炒鸡蛋]. Likewise, they both often appear in dinner soups like this one I will show you today… ah, pictures first, hehe
Beautiful & Delicious!
These pictures are from a few weeks ago…well, been a bit busy lately. So I was in a mood for some soup at the end of the dinner and this came to mind as the most convenient choice. In no time, it was on the table – and I was heavenly satisfied
What you need:
- 1 fresh tomato (best to use cluster tomato, not rome tomato for better taste), diced
- 1 egg stirred
- cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1 can of Swanson vegetable broth
- a few slices of fresh ginger root
- maybe 2 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with cold water, well stirred
How to make the soup:
- In a sauce pan, drop a drizzle of oil
- When the pan gets hot, put in the ginger slices, stir – then tomatoes
- Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes to be softened, and the juice is out – pour half a can of vegetable broth, cover and bring to a boil
- Stir the mixture of corn starch and water very well before adding to the soup base
- Than add the stirred egg using one of the two ways: (1) drop the egg mixture into the pot through a chopstick; or (2) drop the egg mixture directly into the pot, but quickly stir the soup to create the “egg flowers”
- Let it soup simmer for a minute and turn the heat off before dropping in the chopped cilantros
- Yummy – enjoy! The taste of the soup comes from the ingredients, you may add salt/pepper to your own taste if it is too light for you…
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October 13, 2008 at 7:40 am (Breakfast, Main Dish, Snacks, Stories)
Tags: asparagus, banana, beans, beverage, black fungus, blueberry, Breakfast, cashew nut, cauliflower, Dinner, egg, Lunch, macadamia nut, mueslie, mushroom, noodles, nuts, peanut, pumkin seeds, rice, tomato, walnut, zucchini
This was my first day staying, working, and eating at home in a long time. It was such a great pleasure to enjoy homemade meals – and three of them!
Breakfast: Muesli
- Soyogurt (with real vanilla)
- Fresh blueberries
- Banana slices
- Pumpkin seeds
Lunch: Noodles
- Japanese buckwheat noodles
- Chili bean curd (famous brand 王致和 Wang Zhihe)
- A touch of rice vinegar (镇江香醋)
- Zucchini with mushrooms
- Stir-fried cauliflower
Snacks: Nuts and Juice
- Raw Spanish peanuts & walnuts, roasted salted cashew nuts & macadamia nuts
- 1 QT of Odwalla antioxidant vitamin C micronutrient fruit juice drink
Dinner: Rice with kidney beans
- Rice with kidney beans
- Tomato with scrambled eggs (the most common Chinese homemade dish; well, I think my version tastes just a little better than my dad’s, hehe)
- Asparagus and black fungus
Wow, my diet can’t get better than this. Maybe I should spend more time at home than in the PhD office!
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September 5, 2008 at 12:30 am (Main Dish, Recipes, Stories)
Tags: Main Dish, mushroom, pine nut, rice, vegetable broth
If my memory serves me right, I discovered rice pilaf about 5 years when I was living with an American lady. She works as a figure skating coach and was always busy. We often share food, so one day on shortage of supplies, I “borrowed” a box of her rice and mixed in a couple handy ingredients. I somehow have only cooked it once or twice after that, but every time I did, it turned out to be a quite quick and tasty meal! So this one absolutely goes with the idea of SEMI-HOMEMADE meals :-p
Ingredients:
- A store-bought box of rice pilaf (usually about 6-7 oz)
- A handful shiitake mushroom or similar kind (dark color preferred), cut in small pieces
- Some pine nuts
- A can of vegetable broth
- Chopped garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil ~ What Food Network Racheal Ray calls EVOO, and now me too
How to make it:
- In a 2 quart saucepan, put in 4-5 tbsp. EVOO to coat the bottom of the pan
- When the pan is hot, drop in the chopped fresh garlic, stir well, and then add shiitake mushroom
- Cook the mushroom for a minute and mix in the rice pilaf and seasoning that comes with it, stir well
- Pour 1 cup of vegetable broth and 1-1½ cups of water (note: no additional seasoning needed)
- Bring the mixture to a boil and drop in the pine nuts, stir well
- Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to low, let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes; then turn off the heat, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
Tah-dah! My rice pilaf - hmm yummy!
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August 21, 2008 at 9:44 am (Main Dish, Recipes)
Tags: green onion, Main Dish, mushroom, Recipes, soy sheet, sweet bean sauce, vegetarian pork shreds
My veggie version of the famous Beijing Silk Pork Shreds with Brown Sauce
Beijing Silk Port Shreds with Brown Sauce was one of my favorites when I was not a vegetarian yet. So once I became a veggie person, I invented my own version … It was not my best try this time (yesterday) but the idea is there…and I’d love to share…
Key ingredients:
- King oyster mushroom [杏鲍菇]
- Soy sheets [豆腐皮]
- sweet bean sauce [甜面酱]
Other ingredients: Fresh green onions, Vegetarian pork shreds (optional)
How to prepare:
- Slice the king oyster mushrooms into strips (about 1/4 inch wide, 1 inch long)
- Thinly slice the green onions to about 2 inches long
- Cut the soy sheet to about 3×3 inch squares, soak in boiled water for a couple of minutes, take out and dry, put them on a plate with plastic wrap (to prevent it from drying out)
- Open the can of sweet bean sauce
How to make the dish:
- Lay the thinly sliced green onions on a big plate
- In a cooking pan, put in some canola oil to cover the bottom. Once the oil is hot, add the king oyster mushroom shreds and the veggie pork shreds, stir well.
- Add the sweet bean sauce and mix well
- Take it out once the shreds are soft and shining with the brown sauce. Plate on top of the layer of green onions.
- Open the soy sheets to serve.
How to enjoy:
- The key is to use appropriate amount of oil and sweet bean sauce so the shreds would look shinny.
- I’ve been using a combo of veggie pork shreds with the king oyster mushroom shreds, but I guess it would be just fantastic if it was only with the king oyster mushroom shreds.
- When you eat, put some green onions and the mushroom shreds in the center of the soy sheet, and wrap it up like a spring roll, and then … bite in
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