I made a steamed pork cake with salted fish for lunch. Followed this recipe (halved it):
I didn’t have any Cantonese salted fish on hand so I just used anchovy fillets.
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Anchovies! I’ve never thought of that! I’ve the possibility to find native salted cod here.
I think one can try salty shrimp paste as well, to replace salted fish.
https://www.amazon.com/Lee-Kum-Kee-Shrimp-Sauce/dp/B0000CNU5Q
Yeah it worked pretty well, both are salty and fishy I guess. The shrimp paste could work too. Is the salted cod like bacalhau? That might work though I think it may be less salty than the Cantonese salted fish.
Yes, the French morue is like portuguese bacalhau, salted cod: dried (either by sun or electrically nowadays) and salted.
Looks like there are several varieties in the Cantonese salted fish. Fermented and non fermented ones.
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Steamed salted fish and pork cake was one of my dad’s favorite dishes. I’m sure he would have been game for trying the anchovies version. Too bad I never thought of making that for him. 
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Last night was mushroom rice , with shiitake mushrooms, oyster sauce, soy sauce and star anise. Served with a fried egg.
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I’ve been cooking along but procrastinated on posting for some odd reason.
I like WoksOfLife, RedHouseSpice, and ChinaSichuanFood as references. Plus some Indian Chinese sources.
So, in no particular order, a quarter’s worth of Chinese (and -inspired) meals. (Lots of photos if you click right/left, I just didn’t want to make a long post longer without a gallery.)
1) Kung Pao Chicken Wings - marinated (sous vide to speed up) and then finished with aromatics. Vegetarian meatballs (Beyond) in the same prep. Sides of sautéed mixed mushrooms (king oyster, crimini, fresh shiitake) - soy, sesame oil, black vinegar, broccolini in garlic sauce, and snap peas with ginger.
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2) Indian Chinese Manchurian sauce for chicken meatballs, veg (beyond) meatballs, and tofu. Vegetables were mushrooms with ginger and scallions, broccoli with garlic (Din Tai Fung style, light white sauce), and blistered green beans.
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3) Kung Pao Chicken (Woks of Life), plus the usual suspects for vegetables.
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4) Chili oil shrimp, salt & pepper roasted tofu, and an attempt at har gow (ChinaSichuanFood) with the wrong kind of rice flour 
. The usual vegetable sides.
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5) Char Siu Pork! My second pandemic attempt - both were good, but I liked this one better because the grocery store messed up and gave me mostly belly instead of shoulder. Looked up a few recipes including WOL and CSF and then did a blend.
Pork was cooked sous vide, finished in a hot cast iron pan rather than the oven. Juices removed, defatted, and thickened, served as sauce on the side.
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6) More Indian Chinese - the ubiquitous Hakka Noodles. I improvised by using spaghetti (the original are rectangular-ish, with a thickness between capellini and linguini). Lots of aromatics, some cabbage and carrot, and a bit of red pepper / capsicum. Finished with cilantro.
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I realize the Quarter is over, but I want to share this recipe . I used frozen vacuum packed Cdn crabmeat, some leftover egg whites with an egg. I cut back on the fish sauce/soy, due to sodium issues.
It worked out great.
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This looks and sounds delicious!
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I’m sorry to be late with this link/resource.
“Flavor and Fortune: Dedicated to the Art and Science of Chinese Cuisine” was published for 26 years; there were 101 issues.
It looks like everything is still available through the website (some issues as PDFs). Makes for fascinating reading - and there are some great looking recipes!
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This is a little late for winter cuisine of the month but I just made it last night. This is Bak Kwa, a popular Chinese holiday snack .
This is typically made with pork but I am making it with turkey and elk . My son likes elk meat and I since I am allergic to red meat bec of alpha gal, syndrome, I am also making some with ground turkey.
I followed this recipe from U Tube. prior to broiling, I brushed honey on one side and on the otters side , 4 year old aged Hon Mirin ( Issi Souden) made by Isigawara, purchased from THE JAPAN STORE that has 14% alcohol. Hon Mirin is not available in the US,
First stage was easy but the second stage of 450 degrees is not ho
t enough so I had to broil the Bak Kwa using my small Wolfe Countertop Gourmet oven as my 45 year old Vulcan range does not have a broiler. (Salamander was recommended but we opt to use a portable propane broiler which I no longer feel comfortable using because the salamander would not have allowed me to have a spice rack on top of the Vulcan) So, it took time using the countertop oven, small tray as opposed to the large trays in the range as it took around 4-5 min each side to get it to the stage I like.
Here are pictures of the 2 trays of ground turkey, and 1 tray of ground elk prior to baking, The finished product, the elk is the darker tray and in the long ceramic tray whereas the turkey is in the square tray with foil.
I woke up at 4:00am, hungry and had a few slices of the turkey Bak Kwa. It was. yummy!
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Looks delicious! Thanks for the tips. I saw they were quite thick. Looking forward to make them again!
I think pork was better than turkey . I am not sure of the elk as I cannot taste that. I only have one pound of elk as they are how they are packaged. The turkey came in 3 lbs packaging, Last time when I made pork Kak Kwa, my son asked me to dehydrate them in the dehydrator for a short while so they can keep longer. I did not do so this time around.
Do you have preference for fatter meat?
You’ve made a lot, how long can you store them?
Oh, that is not a lot as my son eats every 2- 3. hours. He is out sleeping in the boat this weekend with at least 4-5 friends( I see 3 cars in the parking lot ) and when they return this evening, they will probably at them up as they often stay over til late and sometimes sleep over. Last time,when I dehydrated the pork Bak Kwa, I had enough to last me a week in fridge.
I normally do not like fat. When I cook chicken , I spend a lot of time cutting out the fatty part esp that of ht thighs . As for pork, I do like a small piece of fat when I prepare sate babe ( that is the Indonesian BBQ pork on a stick with lots of garlic, hoisin sauce , sesame oil etc and pineapple juice) as burnt pork on the grill is delicious but my. son does not like that. That was the favorite part of my husband (rip).
I tend to cut out all the fat and I marinade with sesame oil and EVOO or evened coconut oil ,
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I had to look this up - it sounds delicious!
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One of the Asian vegetables I can buy here is daikon. Normally I buy it whenever I need some danmuji for kimbap, and when I can’t get it I pickle beets instead.
Lately they’ve been stocking the daikon again, and I’ve been using it more. From Korean beef and radish soup to Cantonese braised beef brisket with daikon and lately variations of Chinese radish pancakes (luo bo si bing). This particular batch featured blanched shredded daikon, ground pork, and seasonings like ginger and soy sauce.
With the same dough and filling, I made essentially two different versions of these. The first were made with a very lightly greased pan and pressed pretty flat. The result is a lightly crisp but soft and chewy, pita-like pancake. The second were flattened less and cooked in more oil for a crispier, puffier result. I can’t decide which I like better, though my mom immediately insisted she liked the second kind better based on appearance before she’d even tried them 
. Both are completely delicious and I’m looking forward to continuing to make variations of these (baked in the oven, different add-ins and seasonings). These use up a ton of radish, so I can keep giving the supermarket that stocks it a reason to keep up the supply.
If I could get small head-on shrimp, I’d be making radish puffs, which I absolutely love. I’m thinking of trying bacon as an obviously different but also salty and savory substitute.
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Would love to see a recipe if you have one! Always looking for new ways to use Daikon.
