Japanese Braised Pork Belly

 Since we're now officially deep into winter, I'd like to re-share a recipe for Japanese pork belly, or buta no kakuni. Really, there are few things that are better on a cold day than a bubbling pot of braised pork belly and its aroma of of ginger, scallions, star anise, and sweetened soy sauce altogether. And because we're still in the midst of the holiday season, you have an excuse to indulge. Here is a revised version of the recipe, first published in April 2010.

At a dinner party earlier this week, a nutritionist from China told me point-blank the main problem with American diets is the overwhelming meat consumption. Meat was a bigger culprit than carbs or complex sugars, he said. Americans think nothing of eating a 22 oz. steak or a bucket of fried chicken in a single meal, with potato as a "vegetable" side. There's not moderation in this country, and that's why obesity is such a huge problem. I nodded and agreed, mentioning, among other things, the now notorious Double Down.

The next night, without thinking, I made a pound of pork belly for dinner.

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Apple-Cranberry Pie

When you find yourself baking the same pie three times in a two-week period, and serving it to over 30 friends, it's safe to assume this is one special pie.

But first, I really want to thank all of you who reached out, whether in person, over email, or here on the blog. The amount of support flooding in has been incredible. I'm really glad to be part of this blogging community; as one food blogging friend wrote, that it's kind of inevitable that "we’ve been blogging for so long, our personal lives bleed over to our posts about food." So thank you also for giving me a forum to not only share recipes and trade cooking tips but also write about the the other important things in life. I've been told, and it seems accurate, that you never heal from losing someone close, but maybe just continuing on with daily tasks with your head held high is a good step forward.

I've always thought baking to be therapeutic, but over the past couple of weeks it has become so much more. When I find myself unable to concentrate on work at the computer, or otherwise making a serious dent on the Kleenex box, I sometimes get up and gravitate toward the kitchen. And flip open the Joy of Cooking or New York Times Cookbook to the baking sections. Following exact instructions, making precise measurements, and kneading dough, with Johnny Cash or Postal Service or Springsteen or whoever playing in the background, all of that combined, has a potent uplifting effect. So too, does the smell is pie bubbling in the oven.

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BlogDiana KuanDessert, Pie, Recipes Comments
The Hardest Post to Write

Two days before Thanksgiving, my father passed away from cancer at the age of 60. It seems surreal to even type these words.

I've spent the past week trying to wrap my head around the whole situation, telling only a few close friends. I debated back and forth whether to write about it here. In the end, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do, given how big an influence he was on my life and career in cooking.

My dad taught me many things: how to walk, run, parallel park, adapt from culture to culture, make kick-ass scallion pancakes and even more kick-ass sushi. But maybe it was what he did day-to-day that made the most lasting impression. He made bold career choices dating back to the 1970s in China, taking baking and pastry classes in his spare time while working in a government-run factory, with dreams of opening his own bakery one day. Almost two decades later, he did just that. It lasted only two years, but he seemed to love the sense of freedom from running his own business, even for a short length of time. Although my dad's first choice was probably that I became an engineer or something similarly stable, he inadvertently taught me to choose a career doing something I loved.

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Apple Pie Ice Cream

I'm a New Englander at heart when it comes to ice cream. We not only eat it all year round, we also line up for it all year round. This includes outside, in the middle of winter.

For example, on sub-freezing January days in Boston, it's not uncommon to see lines about 15 or 20 people deep outside any J.P. Licks or Toscanini's (just to get inside, where the line continues), next to massive snowbanks on the sidewalk left over from a storm the day before. Who knows the reasoning behind this? Maybe extra body fat allows you to endure winter a little better.

So I have no qualms about making ice cream into the coldest, darkest months. I had started experimenting over the summer quite a bit, churning out eight batches in the first month after receiving my ice cream maker, including black sesame, mint, coconut, French vanilla, and an equal number of sorbets. But an experiment from last week, apple pie ice cream, proved to be the best of the bunch.

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Braised Chicken with Chestnuts

For the past few days, ever since daylight savings, I've been thinking about winters back in Massachusetts. When I was younger, around this time of year, the old Jordan Marsh department store in Boston (now a Macy's) would set up the "Enchanted Village", an almost-over-the-top holiday wonderland that took up a whole floor of the building and drew in hoards of visitors with its lavish window displays. There were mechanical teddy bears in Santa hats waving at you. Toy trains chugging over and under snow-capped plastic mountains in dizzying figure eights. Endless repetition of Jingle Bell Rock and other holiday standards. Parents and kids and babies in strollers coming from all directions. And I went back year after year, loving every single minute.

(To this day, I'm a huge sucker for Christmas displays, even though my Sunday school education and church-going ended somewhere around third grade.)

And en route from Jordan Marsh, next to the Salvation Army bell ringers, there would inevitably be a guy selling fresh roasted chestnuts. I'd share a bag with whoever I was with, either my mom or aunt or a friend. Munching on the chestnuts, I'd also start humming the opening lines of The Christmas Song to myself, even the nuts weren't actually roasted, as the song goes, over an open fire.

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BlogDiana KuanChicken, Chinese, Recipes, Sichuan Comments
Pumpkin Fried Rice

Well! How about that Halloween snow storm! I'm pretty disappointed in how fast autumn just flew by this year, especially since my hectic schedule these past couple of months with my book and trip to China left little time to fully enjoy my favorite season. There was no apple picking this year. No pumpkin carving. No lazy weekend days of making pies and breads and pandowdies.

Fortunately, then, for the Manhattan and Brooklyn farmer's markets. They may be much more crowded and expensive than, say, a roadside farmer's stand off a country road, but they still offer a whiff of all the niceness fall has to offer. Plus, the markets are outdoors year-round, which leads me to acknowledge that if the vendors can work outdoors for 8 to 10 hours straight, I too can get through these long months of cold weather (i.e. I'd be a total wimp to not venture outside  to pick up onions, or my dry-cleaning.)

I meant to post this before Halloween but didn't get a chance to until now. I had picked up a sugar pumpkin from the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket a few weeks ago and wanted to do something other than make soup. I had some leftover rice in the fridge and scallions that needed to be used up, so I decided to throw together a pumpkin fried rice.

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Stir-fried Collard Greens

It's been a quiet month here at Appetite for China. I must apologize. The past few weeks have been stressful, to say the least. I finally turned in my manuscript in late September (yay!), only to fly to China bright and early the following morning for a two-week stay. My dad, unfortunately, is in the hospital, and I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. If you've never met him, rest assured he's an incredible person, not to mention a wiz in the kitchen. He's the man responsible for teaching me, among life's many important lessons, how to make the best Cantonese roast pork ever and some equally drool-worthy scallion pancakes. I really hope he pulls through.

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Chinese Corn and Cabbage Soup

It's hard to get too much of summer corn. Every time I visit a farmer's market here in the city, there is always a crowd of people gathered around the corn bins selecting their perfect ears, even if it's late in the day and the sellers are packing up their trucks and vans. Even if I've had corn 3 or 4 times earlier in the week, all those overflowing bins become a huge magnet. Corn is one of the reasons I finally bought a virtually indestructible Lands End tote bag, since my other totes weren't cutting it anymore for hauling heavy grocery loads home via subway.

So what can you do with all this sweet corn other than roasting it whole, creaming it, sprinkling kernels on salads and pastas, and making corn bread? How about a Chinese soup?

If you're like me and kind of adore Chinese chicken and corn soup (homemade or take-out version), you'll probably also love this light soup made with corn, cabbage, mushrooms, and carrots. The cob goes right into the pot to flavor the vegetable or chicken broth, and the rest of the ingredients take 10 minutes or less to cook through.

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BlogDiana KuanCabbage, Chinese, Corn, Gluten-Free, Healthy, Recipes, Soup, Vegetarian Comments
Spicy Pickled Cucumbers

Home pickling can be incredibly fun and rewarding, but these days I've been way too busy to set aside time for the canning process. So when a craving hits, I've been making what I call instant pickles. They're great for a quick dinner appetizer, pot luck barbecue treat, or mid-afternoon computer break snack.

I first made these 2 years ago with fresh bird's eye chilis, but found that mincing up the chilis can be time consuming (and painful, if you wear contacts...the oil from the chilis doesn't seem to leave my hands, even after copious hand-washings and soaking in yogurt.)

Over time I discovered these pickles are just as good with Asian chili sauce, such as sambal oelek, and much, much faster. The hands-on process takes no more than 10 minutes, and you can either serve them right away or wait to allow the cucumbers to soak up more flavor.

If you're a fan of pickles straight from the jar, you'll love this recipe. If you're a fan of kimchi or other banchan, you'll also love this.

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Fu Run in Flushing

Cumin-crusted lamb makes me weak in the knees. I developed an obsession for it years ago when living in Beijing. From lunchtime through late night hours, it was easy to find street vendors selling cumin-crusted lamb kebabs, which they would cook up right in front of you on a charcoal grill. I also made a point of eating out often at Xinjiang restaurants (run by the minority Uighurs), where you could satisfy your lamb cravings with even bigger lamb kebabs on 18-inch metal skewers.

So when I saw Robyn's post on Fu Run last month and her photos of the restaurant's famous "Muslim lamb chops", the restaurant seemed like a good excuse to not cook for one lunch out of the week, and instead head out to Flushing. Fortunately, Kian from Red Cook was also eager to try it, so we made an afternoon of it.

Last summer one of my go-to cheap light meals was the liang pi noodles ("cold skin noodles") at Xian Famous Foods, spicy noodle bliss for $4 a plate. This spicy bean noodle salad was about 10 times better, which is saying a lot. These chewy glass noodles made with mung bean and tossed with peanuts, cabbage, cilantro, cucumbers, and an amazing chili sauce were so light and refreshing that we both wanted to lick the plate. Yes, spicy food that as actually cooling and refreshing is a rare feat, but this salad definitely fit those qualities.

 

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BlogDiana KuanNew York, Queens, Restaurants Comments