Posts in Blog
Tourism Australia Food and Wine Event

On a recent rainy and wintry Tuesday, I joined a group of New York-area bloggers for a lunch at The Sunburnt Calf on the Upper West Side. The event was sponsored by Tourism Australia. Was there a better time to join in on an event focused on the sun-drenched continent and its food and wine? Of course, it's summer in Australia right now and I'm sure we all fantasized a great deal about eating lunch outdoors in 80-degree weather. Tourism Australia did put on quite a lunch to transport us, even just a little.

What I really wanted to learn more about was the various international and regional influences that made up Australian food. It's a country that is fiercely proud of its indigenous cuisine yet also celebrates international influences, including those of Britain, continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Asia is the closest, so I was especially interested in how Asian food and wine would be paired. (Chef Michael Moore mentioned during lunch that he loved experimenting with flavors such as lemongrass and galangal.)

 

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FreshDirect Giveaway

As a food writer and cooking teacher, I have to buy groceries 3 or 4 times a week. As a New Yorker, I often have to schlep those groceries home 3 or 4 times a week on the subway. Even with sturdy tote bags, hauling fresh produce, sauces, bottles of wine and olive oil, and anything else is an extreme pain, especially during rush hour.

Then about 2 years ago, I finally took the plunge and signed up for FreshDirect, after hearing good things from friends who use it religiously. I've been using it every week since. And one of the major reasons, other than saving me backaches, is that it seems designed to suit the schedules and tastes of busy city dwellers.

First, let's talk about schedules. I love the fact that I can get grocery delivery any time from 6:30am to 11:30pm. Grocery stores aren't open so early and so late. Even if I don't normally get up that early or want to accept deliveries that late, it's nice to know that those times are available, in case of emergency. (As someone who also caters small parties from time to time, there really are instances when you really do need ingredients delivered at odd hours!) I also live on the third floor of a walk-up building, and it's pretty wonderful to have those big boxes delivered right to my door.

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BlogDiana KuanGiveaways Comments
Chinese New Year Virtual Potluck + Winners!

Hello again! It took me a little longer than expected to put up this post, due to the influx of submissions at the eleventh hour, but here it is!

At the beginning of February, I organized a Chinese New Year Virtual Potluck as a fun way to both celebrate Chinese New Year and to get readers cooking from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook. Participants would receive a copy of the cookbook to keep or give away. In addition, they would be entered in a drawing for other great prizes, including a Le Creuset French oven, set of 6 Random House cookbooks, GrubKit recipe kits, and Edgeware graters.

The turnout was even better than expected:  41 of you wonderful bloggers cooked, photographed, and shared your thoughts on 7 dishes from  The Chinese Takeout Cookbook for Chinese New Year. I loved reading all your posts on shopping for Chinese ingredients, introducing your family to new year foods and traditions, making ingredient substitutions to suit your lifestyle, and even getting a little creative in reinterpreting the original recipes.

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BlogDiana KuanEvents, News Comments
Chinese New Year Virtual Potluck; Grand Prizes from Le Creuset & Random House

Happy early Chinese New Year!

This year I'm unable to make it home to Boston, but I'm still planning on celebrating in two ways: 1) Gathering a big group of friends for dim sum here in New York, and 2) hosting a Chinese New Year Virtual Potluck here with the online food community.

I've never done a big event like this here on this blog, so it's very exciting to announce. My goal, in addition to celebrating the release of my first cookbook, is to get as many bloggers as possible to make Chinese dishes this month (even if it seems a little intimidating!) I hope to make this an event for sharing and learning from each other about how to adapt Chinese cooking to suit your own lifestyle.

I've also teamed up with wonderful sponsors including — Le Creuset, Random House, GrubKit, and Edgeware  — to give something to everyone participating.

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BlogDiana KuanEvents, News Comments
Vinegar-Glazed Chicken

If you're a big fan of tangy chicken, give this vinegar-glazed chicken a try. I first made this Hunan dish about a year ago from Grace Young's Stir-frying to the Sky's Edge and found it positively addictive. I still come back to it again and again for its wonderful combination of smoky, tart, and spicy flavors. 

There's a big bottle of Chinese black vinegar on my counter that I've had for well over a year, surviving at least two apartment moves. I use it every week, from making dumpling dipping sauces to stir-frying dishes like kung pao chicken, but in a year (through intensive recipe testing, no less) it's only about two-thirds done. Bottles of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and other pantry staples have been replaced, but somehow this bottle of black vinegar seems bottomless.

I realized the other day that I haven't talk too much on this blog about Chinese black vinegar and its uses. If you've never had the chance to try it, and live near a big Chinese supermarket, I highly recommend you go to the vinegar aisle and buy yourself a bottle. The one to look for is called Chinkiang Black Vinegar from the Gold Plum brand label, and it looks like this is what it looks like:

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BlogDiana KuanChicken, Chinese, Hunan, Recipes, Spicy Comments
Kimchi Scallion Noodles, and Launch Party Recap

What a week! I had forgotten how good it feels to finally sit down.

Not only are we smack dab in the middle of a frantic holiday season, my cookbook was officially released on Tuesday! And in the days leading up to the book release party in Brooklyn, I was scrambling hard to get everything ready. There were arrangements to be made, groceries and supplies to buy, and plenty of food to make.  Fortunately, decorations were easy enough, after a trip to The Container Store and a paper/craft supply store.

I had the party at 61 Local, a fantastic bar in Carroll Gardens with a gorgeous wide open interior. And for food, I made a big batch of dumplings, Sichuan cucumber salad, and Chinese almond cookies, all recipes straight from the cookbook. For extra fun, there was a raffle for a copy of the book plus a Kung Pao Chicken recipe kit from GrubKit, founded by my friends Max and Barb. 

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BlogDiana KuanNoodles, Recipes, Spicy, Vegetarian Comments
Sweet and Sour Chicken

My cookbook is officially released next week! And it makes me wonder: where did the time go?

It seems like just yesterday I handed in my final manuscript, and now all of a sudden December 11th is just around the corner. There are still interviews to schedule, books to ship off, and a book launch party to plan. It's equal amounts exciting and nerve-racking. Sometimes I just want to take a deep breath and pour myself a large glass of wine. Other times I just want to escape to the kitchen and de-stress by cooking.

So it's ironic that the dish I chose to cook today is also a Chinese-American comfort food classic, like the dishes in The Chinese Takeout Cookbook (which does have a recipe for sweet and sour pork). I hadn't made crispy chicken in months, but just felt like doing it again today on a whim.

The process for making the chicken is very similar to the process for General Tso's Chicken, which is still the most popular recipe on this site. You coat the chicken with salt, cornstarch, and egg whites, then carefully fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes, with an optional 2nd frying to get the meat extra-crispy.  The tangy and sweet sauce with pineapple chunks takes only 2 minutes to cook down before it coats the chicken. It's like the best sweet and sour sauce you can get at a restaurant, except now you know the exact ingredients that go into it (no gluey preservatives here!)

 

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BlogDiana KuanChicken, Chinese, Recipes Comments
Turkey and Mushroom Dumplings

Thanksgiving kind of snuck up on us this year, didn't it? It seemed like only yesterday that we were carving pumpkins and planning Halloween costumes. Now it's time to prepare oneself for a massive turkey-centric feast.

Earlier this week, to get into the Thanksgiving mood, I decided to make a big batch of turkey and mushroom dumplings. And when I make dumplings, I like to make a good number. I use up an entire back of 50-or-so dumpling wrappers and a pound of meat. While I wrap them, I put on a good podcast or catch up on a week's worth of The Daily Show, and kind of zone out. The whole process is all very Zen.

While pork is often the default meat for Chinese dumplings, I find that turkey is a great option for somewhat lighter but still meaty dumplings. (They're also great if you're cooking for family or friends who don't eat pork.) I also throw in a healthy amount of chopped shiitake mushrooms, which has a great umami-ness that pairs well with the flavor of the turkey.

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BlogDiana KuanAppetizers, Chinese, Dumplings, Recipes, Turkey Comments
Round-Up: Easy Pumpkin Recipes

A few weekends ago I went pumpkin-picking and ended up bringing home a nice 10-pounder. I've been trying to think of a good way to cook it, so I decided to go through my archives to get re-inspired.

Here are some of my favorite easy and fun pumpkin recipes over the past few years. What have you made with pumpkins so far this season?

1. Pumpkin Hummus  (above) - One of my favorite ways to make hummus, using roasted pumpkins and pumpkin seed

s.

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BlogDiana KuanAppetizers, Pumpkin, Recipes, Vegetarian Comments
Sesame Beef and Broccoli

Ever since my annual check-up this past summer, I've been looking for ways to incorporate more iron into my diet. Fortunately, Chinese beef stir-fries are pretty healthy as far as red meat dishes go, because the meat is usually paired with vegetables and the sauces are flavorful yet light. (That is, if you make them at home instead of ordering from the local take-out.)

And of course, beef with broccoli is probably the most popular and beloved takeout dishes in this country. I mean, if you're a red meat eater, how can it not sound good? Succulent, tender strips of beef mixed with tender-crisp broccoli? I'd crave it any time. It's an easy one-dish entree (with rice on the side, of course) from which you can get a ton of nutrients. 

So here's a pumped-up take on the classic dish that includes fragrant sesame oil, a bit of Worcestershire sauce, and optional chili sauce for a little kick. (A note on Worcestershire sauce, since some of you have asked: yes, it is a common ingredient used in Chinese cooking, especially Cantonese. We've been using it for well over a century, since the British colonial days in Hong Kong, to enhance the meatiness in stir-fries and noodle dishes.) Try it out anytime you'd like to get something fast, healthy, and delicious on the table!

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BlogDiana KuanBeef, Chinese, Recipes Comments
Cookies from Around the World Recipe Kit!

Remember my Japanese green tea cookie post from two weeks ago that I was working on as part of an upcoming cookie recipe kit? Well, I'm happy to report that after extensive recipe testing (and arduous amounts of taste testing!) my friends at GrubKit and I finally launched our Cookies from Around the World kit.

The kit features ingredients for baking cookies from four countries around the world:

  • Italian Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti
  • Japanese Green Tea Shortbread Cookies
  • Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
  • German Gingerbread Cookies (Lebkuchen)

The cookies in the kit are both from traditional recipes and with inventive modern takes. All the specialty dry ingredients are included in the box, so no need to run out and purchase big packs of ingredients like matcha powder, vanilla beans, and crystallized ginger just for one baking project. We designed the kit with the holidays in mind, as an ideal gift for novice bakers, but you can also invite friends and family over for a cookie baking party or bake them one recipe at at time at your leisure.

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