Red Bean Tang Yuan in Red Bean & Black Glutinous Rice Soup 紅豆湯圓與紫米紅豆湯

Growing up in Taiwan, I naturally ate a lot of tang yuan (glutenous rice balls or sticky rice balls). Traditionally, we eat them on both the Winter Solstice Festival (Dong Zhi) and the Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao). There are two kinds of tang yuan: smaller balls without filling and lager ones with filling. At home, my mom would either make it herself or buy them freshly made from the farmers market. After moving to New York alone, I would buy the frozen packages in Asian markets. Of course it wasn't ideal, but it was good enough to fulfill my craving and my homesickness during the holidays, until one day, I saw my roommate making some homemade tang yuan, and it made me very curious. She was always a good homemaker and she loved making everything herself. I, on the other hand, wasn't such a good cook at the time, and thought that it would be good to learn how to make them from her.

Pumpkin Brown Rice and Millet Congee with Shan Yao 南瓜山藥糙米與小米粥

Before the western style bakeries and American cereal boxes got popular, congee was definitely one of the breakfast staples in Taiwan. Not only did I grow up having it for breakfast regularly, but whenever my tummy was not well or when I got a cold, my mom would also make it for me. It can soothe the stomach and is easy to digest. Moreover, you can make it in your rice cooker without having to do much work! In fact, the congee recipe I made last year - Chinese Cabbage, Tomato, and Shiitake Congee, was something I made throughout a terrible flu! Since it's the cold season, I decided to do a new type of congee whose key ingredients are pumpkin and shan yao (山藥). Shan Yao is also called huai shan (淮山). It's a type of wild Chinese yam, that is very nourishing. It can be used to aide digestion, relieve a cough, boost the immune system, lower high blood pressure, and tonify the kidneys, among other things. In this recipe, I used puréed pumpkin, instead of pumpkin pieces, which gives a thick and creamy texture, as well as a beautiful orange fall colour! Make this congee when you're feeling a bit under the weather or when you need an easy, warming nutritious bowl!

Japanese Cucumber & Radish Sunomono with Fava Beans and Wakame 日式涼拌小黃瓜沙拉佐蠶豆與海帶芽

This is a salad that I actually have been meaning to share with you for a long time! Thanks to my dear friend, who gave me these beautiful Japanese Koransha ceramic dishes last year, which gave me the idea to use them and write this recipe. It's one of my favourites and is something I make very often during the summertime. It's basically inspired by the traditional Japanese sunomono, which is often made with cucumbers or cucumber and wakame in vinegar and soy sauce. You can find it in most Japanese restaurants. It's actually quite easy to make at home, and it's the perfect appetizer or accompaniment for any Asian food. In this recipe, I added some radishes and fava beans, which contain a good amount of protein, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants to make this traditional dish even more nutritious. The dressing is slightly tangy and sweet, and with the different textures of the vegetables, everything just ties together nicely!

Black Sesame-Oat Porridge 燕麥芝麻糊

This porridge is actually based on a traditional Chinese sweet dessert porridge that is normally a mixture of blended black sesame seeds and rice. Here, I'm using oats instead of rice, and I make it less sweet than the traditional one. Black sesame seeds are extremely nourishing, and contain a great amount of protein, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, and more. By blending the two together with a little bit of soy milk, you get this really creamy and thick texture with a rich sesame flavour, just like the traditional one, plus more health benefits from the oats, walnuts, and goji berries!

 

Stir Fried Veggie Beef and Green Peppers in Taiwanese Shacha Sauce 沙茶青椒素牛肉

It's hard to imagine I'd write a recipe using green bell peppers since I've refused to eat them most of my life! Mom used to make this dish (with real beef or pork sometimes), and I would always pick out the peppers. In fact, I hated any peppers. So how did I learn to like it? To be honest, I don't quite understand it myself! (?・・)σ I was watching a Japanese drama, which happened to be about food several years ago (are you surprised???). In one of the episodes, someone cooked a pork stuffed green pepper dish, which looked very delicious to me, and that was it! From then on, I decided that I like green peppers. Actually, I'll even correct myself, and say that I now LOVE green bell peppers! Isn't it funny how your mind can just change like that one day?

Chicken-Taro Meatballs and Tofu Hot Pot 香芋雞肉丸油豆腐粉絲煲

Lately, I've been missing the Chinese hot pot. My mom often made it for the Chinese New Year or on cold days. Unfortunately I can't have it at home because I don't own a portable stove for the table (due to not having enough storage space). I decided that I'd make a hot pot dish that is similar to the traditional one I grew up with, but is done on the stove, and with fewer ingredients. Instead of the fish balls (which are very difficult to find here without all the msg and chemicals) or thin slices of hot pot meats, I made these really yummy and unique taro-chicken meatballs to replace the fish balls, and it still has the cellophane noodles and the tofu I love, plus three other ingredients (because six is the lucky number for Chinese!). Everything is cooked in the same broth like the traditional hot pot, so in the end, all the flavours come together. I didn't even have to season the broth much at all! It was sweet and flavourful all by itself! I hope you make this during the Chinese New Year, and I wish you all a happy and peaceful sheep year!

Chicken-Taro Meatballs 香芋雞肉丸

Edamame and Soba Noodle Bowl with Dulse and Nori 毛豆與海苔蕎麥麵

This was another very quick and easy dish that I whipped up during my terrible flu. It's simple, but still rich in vitamins C, B, K, protein, amino acids, and minerals, which gave me the energy I needed to fight the flu. It took me literally just 10 minutes to make it, with almost no preparation at all. It's super light, delicious, and would make a perfect quick lunch for anyone who doesn't have time. If you have an extra few minutes, steam some vegetables to serve with the noodles, which would make your meal even healthier! So keep some frozen shelled edamame, buckwheat noodles and dried sea vegetables in your house. You never know when they'll come in handy!

Cabbage, Tomato And Shiitake Congee 高麗菜蕃茄香菇粥

If you don't have a rice cooker at home, I urge you to invest in one. My Japanese rice cooker practically saved my life while we had our terrible flu! I'm sure you all know how difficult it is to get up when you're sick, not to mention having to cook! But because of my rice cooker, I didn't have to spend much time or energy. All I had to do was to throw all the ingredients in the rice cooker, and let it do its job. How easy is that! This recipe is the perfect dish for emergency situations or when you just don't have tim to prepare a meal. It's light, delicious, and warming, plus it offers you plenty of vitamins A, C, K, minerals and antioxidants! Next time you're feeling under the weather, make this congee and it'll make you feel better!

Simple Pickled Butternut Squash 涼拌冬南瓜絲

In Taiwan, I grew up eating a lot of pickles as condiments or as appetizers, especially in the summer, since most pickles are refreshing and cooling. Unlike the western style of pickle, they're not always pickled in vinegar, nor are they always made over a long period of time. In fact, most of my mom's pickles were made within just thirty minutes to an hour. The pickles that you see most often in Taiwan are cucumbers, cabbages and radishes. My mom loves making different types of pickled cucumbers; sometimes she makes them with sea salt, sometimes with salted plums, both of which I love!

Chicken Over Rice Taiwanese style 雞肉飯

So here I am, after three months in Taiwan, I'm finally back! I know it's been too long to be away from the blogging world. I tried here and there to post something in between, but alas, no recipes. I can't tell you how much I missed writing and taking photos for my recipes, but I had no choice; I had to return home for some important family matters. It was a difficult time for all of us, and while there, I went through many different emotions: there was sorrow, relief, joy, tension, grief. It's hard to describe, it changed everyday. Thankfully, those emotions are slowly diminishing… Having gone through it, it's now time to go forward.

Butternut Squash and Turkey Dumplings 南瓜火雞水餃

 

Having lived in the West for more than half of my life, strangely, Chinese New Year seems less and less significant for me these days, not to mention that I'm already not someone who's very accustomed to celebrating holidays. Also, you don't get days off like they do in Taiwan (somewhere around 6-8 days). Here, I feel lucky if the Chinese New Year's Eve is on the weekend!

As I was growing up, my parents used to take us back to their families' homes in the southern part of Taiwan every Chinese New Year. It's the tradition for family to get together on this major holiday. We would first worship and give offerings to our ancestors to ask for their blessings and protection for the New Year. Then, all the women would be in the kitchen preparing for the feast, while the men talked and the kids played. Frankly, because of all the firecrackers that used to scare me, I never really cared much about the Chinese New Year, except that I was happy to get the days off and to get to eat a lot of delicious food.

Homemade Whole Wheat Dumpling Wrappers 全麥水餃皮

 

Despite that my mom always made her own dumplings when I was growing up, she has actually never tried to make her own dumpling wrappers. Can't say that I blame her, since in Taiwan you can easily buy very good homemade dumpling wrappers from farmer's markets. They're fresh, soft, and chewy. I used to love the feel of it when I helped my mom make dumplings.

Nowadays, you can buy dumpling wrappers almost anywhere, even in a small place like Quebec! But homemade ones like the one my mom buys? Nope, not unless you live in Asia. A traditional dumpling wrapper should be made with just flour, water and salt. Sadly, if you look at the store bought ones, some of them have preservatives or other chemicals added. 

Three-Cup Chicken with King Oyster Mushrooms Taiwanese Style 三杯杏鮑菇雞

Three-Cup Chicken is perhaps one of the signature dishes of Taiwanese cuisine. It was a typical dish on our dinner table, and my all-time favourite from my mom!! I don't know any Taiwanese person who doesn't like this dish. With lots of ginger, rice wine, and dark sesame oil, it is supposed to be very warming for the body, and therefore is a must in the fall and winter. The dish gets it's name from the three key ingredients: 1 cup dark sesame oil, 1 cup soy sauce, and 1 cup rice cooking wine.