PaiGu

I’m deeply apologetic that I haven’t updated in so long. There were exams, and then there were more exams, and when I was done exams, I went to my parent’s place in Toronto, which is where I am now. Unfortunately, I was in such a rush to leave that I forgot my camera!! So although there has been plenty of good food had by all in the last two weeks, I haven’t been able to take any pictures!!

Whenever I stay with my parents, I become the head chef. For the most part, I make all the meals, and even though my dad still sometimes helps, he’s more of a sous chef. My dad, by the way, is an awesome cook. He’s never had any training, he’s never read any recipe books, he just has a knack for it. Maybe that’s why cooking comes naturally to me, too. But the weird thing is, he has yet to impart any of his cooking knowledge to me. I developed my cooking skills almost entirely independent of him, and it’s only when I occasionally come back and cook that he can comment on certain aspects, like how hot the pot is or how I should slice the veggies. To the extent that we use the same ingredients (since I am working from his pantry¹), the flavour of our dishes are similar. But “my taste” is still rather distinctive from his. I don’t like using salt, I never use MSG or any artificial substitute if I can help it (i.e. onion powder, garlic powder, stocks), I try to use a minimal amount of soy sauce, and I usually add sugar in a lot of my soy sauce dishes. I like using fish and oyster sauce, and I’m impartial to ginger (which he almost always adds). Of course, ginger is an important ingredient, especially in meat dishes, but I only use it when I have to, and in trace amounts.

All this culminated in a week-long marathon of “healthy” dishes (by his standard, not mine), such as:

• Spicy eggplant
• String beans and garlic
• Pork loin, bell peppers, and onion
• Pork loin, celery, and onion with marinated firm tofu

I’m going to post the recipe for pork, bell peppers, and onion because it was my most creative one (you’ll know why once you see the recipe), but I have some hints and tips for the other dishes. Unfortunately, there are no pictures, so I’ll just be using the closest ones I can find on the Internet.

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1. But then again, most ingredients are typical of Asian dishes anyway. [↩]

Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐) is really a classic dish of the Sichuan (Szechuan) province of China. It is also one of the first Sichuan dishes I ever had, introducing me to a type of Chinese cuisine that I would fall in love with years later.

Now it must be noted that Ma Po tofu is not easy to make right. The tofu used in this dish is somewhat firm, but not extra firm (fried or marinated) tofu, so it can very easily lose its shape. For an amateur without a real wok, this was a challenge for me. But I think, judging by the picture, I succeeded.

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Procrastinating by spending hours in the kitchen instead of the library is a great way to fail school.

Anyway, I bought some chicken giblets¹ the other day and I’ve been really looking forward to cooking them. If you’ve never had giblets and are a little grossed out by them – don’t worry! They don’t taste strange, they’re just extremely chewy. So if you like tendons, you’re sure to like giblets (gizzards are my favourite)!

Now this recipe is an original so don’t go thinking I’m just copying and pasting some disgusting chicken innards recipe on here. When I read up on gizzards, I realized that they have to be cooked for a long time. You know what else is simmered for a long time? Tea eggs! One of my favourite street-vendor-foods (and extremely easy to make), tea eggs are simmered in a pot with soy sauce, star anise (or five spice powder), and green tea. Hence, that is how I decided to infuse flavour into my gizzards! I call this dish “Dragon Gills” (because all Chinese dishes have crazy names).

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1. Technically, giblets are gizzard, heart, and liver, but there was no liver in mine. [↩]