Mayonnaise is one of those grocery store staples that I just always keep on hand. I've never really been interested in trying to make my own from scratch. I know the theory, but I'm not particularly interested in trying to do it in practice. I've made a mayonnaise-like remoulade before, so I know I can do it. But, overall, I prefer the ease of buying it from the store.

Unfortunately, we ran out of mayo a couple days ago. TF and I were both sure that we had another jar in the pantry, but apparently we were wrong. It turns out that a lot of our go-to breakfasts use mayo these days. So, what's a hungry foodie to do? Time to remind myself of the details and give homemade mayo a go!

This whole process was a little nerve-racking. I knew that mayo was essentially just an emulsion of eggs and oil with some seasonings added. It's a very simple recipe ingredient-wise. The problem is the technique. If you add the oil too fast or don't beat it enough, you can end up with a "broken", soupy egg slurry rather than a flavourful, creamy spread. You can make emulsions like this with just a whisk and muscle power -- I've done it before -- but a blender or a food processor gives you more mixing with less effort. It's very important to beat/mix the mixture constantly and to add the oil very slowly. If you don't, the mixture won't thicken and form a proper emulsion and you'll end up with a soupy mess that's more like seasoned oil than anything resembling mayonnaise.

I knew this and I did add the oil very, very slowly. Even so, it seemed like my mixture was just getting thinner and thinner. I was already making contingency plans and thinking about how I was going to rescue this horribly broken mayo. I wondered if I should just stop now and fail over to my rescue plan. Luckily I decided to see it through. After adding oil in ~1mL increments for what felt like forever, the mixture finally started to thicken up. I think I'd added ~1/3 of the oil before it started to look like it might be thinking about being anything other than oil soup. Once it hit that point though, it came together really quickly. So, if your mayo looks like soup, don't immediately give up. Keep going and there's a chance it'll come together by the time you've reached the end of the process. (And if it doesn't you can always try to rescue it with an extra egg yolk. Beat an egg yolk and then very slowly beat the broken mayo into the yolk. Sometimes the extra emulsification power from the second yolk is enough to bring it together and rescue it.)

The recipe I used listed lemon juice as an optional ingredient at the end. I didn't want to disassemble a whole lemon just for the sake of a teaspoon of juice, so I left it out. While I am quite pleased with the results I achieved, I do think that the added brightness from a little bit of lemon juice would have been nice. If you happen to have a lemon handy, I would recommend adding it.

Mayonnaise

Slightly adapted from Inspired Taste

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon or Roman mustard
• 1 Tbsp. red or white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice (optional, but recommended)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt¹
• 1 c. neutral oil

Directions

1. Beat egg vigorously for 20-30 seconds (preferably in a blender or food processor).
2. Add mustard, vinegar, lemon juice (if using) and salt and beat for another 20-30 seconds.
3. While continuing to be vigorously, being adding oil very, very slowly. No more than 1mL at a time!
4. Once mayo begins to thicken (which should happen once you've added 1/4-1/3 of the oil), you can add the remaining oil slightly faster. Keep it slow and steady, but you can being to pour it in a thin stream rather than just a few drops/1mL at a time.
5. Once all the oil has been incorporated, give it a stir and beat vigorously for another 10-20 seconds.
6. Adjust seasoning to taste and beat again if necessary.

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¹ I only used 1/4 tsp. of salt this time. The results were good, but I think I'd be tempted to use a little more next time. ^Back

Mana'ousha (Za'atar Flatbread)

I've been itching to try this simple flatbread recipe for weeks now. I finally got the chance today. It ended up being a bit of a last-minute scramble for dinner, but it worked out well in the end. The flatbread, served along side a liver pilaf and some asparagus, made for a satisfying (if not terribly healthy) meal.

Mana'ousha

Slightly adapted from Our Syria by Itab Azzam and Dina Mousawi

Ingredients

• 5 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. za'atar
• 400g puff pastry
• 1 tomato, diced
• fresh mint leaves (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2. Add za'atar to olive oil and stir to combine.
3. Roll out your puff pastry to form a large rectangle of ~45cm by 30cm (18x12").
4. Transfer the pastry to the prepared baking sheet.
5. Pour the za'atar mixture over the pastry and use a pastry brush to evenly spread it over the entire surface, leaving a 1cm (1/2") border around the edge.
6. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with diced tomato and fresh mint leaves and serve.

Iç Pilavi ("Stuffed" Rice)

TF and I both like liver but, for me in particular, I get burnt out quickly. Liver and onions is great, but I only really want to eat it about once a year... if that. We have a few other liver dishes that we make occasionally: liver fried rice, Burmese curried liver, etc., but I'm always on the lookout for something new and tasty. This Turkish liver pilaf definitely fit the bill.

Apparently it's normally made with either chicken livers or lamb liver, but I figured that calf liver would also work pretty well. My version also has a lot more liver than it's technically meant to have. I put about double the normal quantity in. Mostly because I had it on hand in the freezer and have been looking for a good opportunity to use it up!

Personally, I quite enjoyed this dish, but I did find it a bit on the greasy side. I think next time I'd cut back on the ghee slightly. I'd also be inclined to add a few more currants. There were lots of nuts and liver, but the currants kind of got lost in the mix. I've updated the recipe to reflect these changes.

Aside from that, I think the only thing I'd change is serving it garnished with a few pomegranate arils. It's meant to be served with lemon wedges so that you can add a hit of tart lemon juice just before digging in. I liked the idea of adding something tart (especially since it helps cut through the grease a bit), but I felt like the pomegranate seeds made for an even better accent than the lemon juice. I think a small drizzle of pomegranate molasses might also work in a pinch, but fresh (or thawed frozen) arils seem best here.

Iç Pilavi

Slightly adapted from The Turkish Kitchen by Ghillie Başan

Ingredients

Pilaf

• 1/4 c. dried currants
• 2 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. pine nuts
• 3 Tbsp. slivered almonds
• 1 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1 3/4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 250-500g chicken, lamb, or calf liver, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 small bunch fresh dill, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Garnish

• 1 Tbsp. pine nuts
• extra dill
• fresh pomegranate arils and/or lemon wedges

Directions

1. Soak currants in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat. (Sauté medium if using InstantPot.)
3. Add onion and cook until softened.
4. Add pine nuts and almonds and cook until nuts begin to turn golden-brown.
5. Add drained currants, allspice, cinnamon, and rice and stir to combine.
6. Add stock and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. If using InstantPot, seal and pressure cook on "high" for 20 minutes. If you are not doing this in an InstantPot, your cooking time (and the amount of liquid required) will be different.
8. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat.
9. Add the liver and cook until browned, stirring/tossing occasionally.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Once the cook cycle on the InstantPot has finished, allow for a 10-minute natural pressure release, then release the rest of the pressure manually.
12. Fluff the rice and add the liver pieces to it.
13. For the garnish: toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden-brown.
14. Garnish pilaf with toasted pine nuts, extra dill, and fresh pomegranate arils and/or lemon wedges.
15. Serve with a vegetable side, salad, and/or additional dishes of your choice.

Refried (or Not) Beans

I would've sworn that I'd already written this recipe up, but I can't find it anywhere on the blog, so I guess I forgot. I got the recipe off of the BudgetByte$ blog. In her version, she doesn't actually fry the beans. She just seasons them, slow cooks them, and then mashes them with a little of the cooking water. I've done it this way before and it works great. I didn't think they'd be as good without the lard, but it worked really well! That said, if you really wanna go for broke, you can make them her way and then also fry them up with some lard and a bit of extra onion. Both ways produce excellent results.

Not Refried Beans

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

• 450g dried pinto beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeño¹, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, bruised
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 10-15 grinds black pepper
• 6 c. water
• 2-3 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine beans, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and water in a slow cooker or InstantPot. Do not add any salt yet!
2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours.
3. Drain beans, reserving 1 c. of the cooking water.
4. Mash beans, adding some of the reserved cooking water to achieve the desired consistency. Make the beans a little wetter than you want them because they will thicken as they cool.
5. Add salt to taste.

Refried Beans

Ingredients

• 450g dried pinto beans
• 2 onions, chopped and divided
• 1 fresh jalapeño¹, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, bruised
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 10-15 grinds black pepper
• 6 c. water
• 1/4 c. lard
• 2-3 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine beans, 1 onion, jalapeño, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and water in a slow cooker or InstantPot. Do not add any salt yet!
2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours.
3. Drain beans, reserving 1 c. of the cooking water.
4. Melt lard over medium heat. (Preferably in a large cast iron pan.
5. Add remaining onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown.
6. Add beans and reserved cooking water.
7. Mash beans and add salt to taste.
8. Cook until thickened but still slightly wetter than your ideal consistency. Beans will thicken as they cool.

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¹ For milder beans be sure to remove all the seeds and pith before chopping. For spicier beans leave the seeds and pith in. In a pinch you can substitute pickled jalapeño slices for the fresh, but fresh provides better flavour. ^Back

Sweet Hotteok

This is the classic hotteok: soft yeasted dough filled with a mixture of cinnamon sugar and chopped nuts. I chose almonds, pecans, and hazelnuts for my filling. The recipe author used walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Use whatever you prefer, but I do suggest you have at least a few almonds in there.

Hotteok

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Dough

• 6g instant yeast
• 220g warm water
• 30mL whole (3.25%) milk
• 30g sugar
• 300g hard (strong/bread/high grade) flour
• 4g coarse sea salt
• 15g unsalted butter, melted
• 20mL oil

Filling

• 5 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3g ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tbsp. flour
• 6 Tbsp. chopped nuts, whatever type(s) you prefer

Dicrections

Dough

1. Combine the yeast, warm water, milk, and sugar and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the flour and salt and set aside.
3. Once the yeast mixture is nice and foamy, stir in the melted butter and oil.
4. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.
5. Continue stirring and folding for five minutes.
6. Cover and set aside for ~1 hour. (Exact time will depend on room temperature, how warm the water was, etc.)
7. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Combine all filling ingredients, mix well, and set aside.

Assembly

1. Once dough is well-risen (it should just about double in size), heat a pan over medium heat.
2. Pour a generous amount of oil into the pan. Set out another bowl with more oil in it.
3. Dip your hands into the oil in the bowl and make sure they are well-coated.
4. Grab a chunk of the dough and tear it off.
5. Press it into a flat disc. (I do not recommend putting it down. Just do all the shaping in your well-oiled hands.)
6. Place a generous amount of the filling in the centre of the disc.
7. Grab the sides an stretch them up and over the filling.
8. Place the the stuffed dough in the pan and repeat with a few more pieces of dough until the pan is full.
9. Once the underside has browned, flip the hotteok over.
10. Press down firmly and continue cooking until the other side is browned.

My understanding is that tang su yuk is normally a sweet-and-sour crispy pork dish. It is popular in Korean and, I believe, arose from a sort of fusion of Chinese and Korean cooking. I've never had tang su yuk before, although I have had American Chinese versions of sweet-and-sour pork. This particular version definitely isn't the most traditional, but it is tasty and easy so it's a winner in my book! I like that it gives you a way to turn a bag of dumplings into a meal. It still may not be the most nutritionally balanced, but it adds a few veggies and rounds it out a little bit.

Dumpling Tang Su Yuk

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1 (500g) package frozen dumplings^1,2
• 6 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vinegar³
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. ketchup
• 150mL + 15mL (1 Tbsp.) water, divided
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium or large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 2-3 ribs celery, coarsely chopped/sliced
• 1/2 c. fresh or tinned pineapple, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. potato, tapioca, or cornstarch (cornflour)

Directions

1. Deep fry your dumplings. When starting with frozen dumplings, add the dumplings to the oil first and then start heating it. This allows the dumplings to heat and cook all the way through. If starting with fresh dumplings, heat up the oil first and then add the dumplings to the hot oil.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, and 150mL water in the pan and stirring to mix everything together.
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and pineapple (if using) and bring to a boil.
4. Mix the starch with the remaining 1 Tbsp. of water to make a slurry and stir the slurry into the sauce.
5. Cook until sauce reaches desired thickness.
6. Once dumplings are cooked, add them to the sauce.
7. Serve as is or over rice.

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¹ I know that "dumplings" can be a very broad term with a lot of variation. You could try this with a few different kinds of dumplings and see what works best. Personally, I recommend gyoza, 饺子 (jiao1zi), or "pot stickers" for this recipe, but I'm sure you could get delicious results with other kinds of dumplings as well. ^Back
2 You can easily keep this dish vegetarian by simply using vegetarian dumplings. ^Back
3 White vinegar is fine here, but I think cane vinegar or cider vinegar would be best if you have it. ^Back

Hotteok are a Korean street food. They're somewhere between a stuffed, fried bun and a pancake. The dough is yeasted and a bit sweet. The classic filling is apparently a mix of cinnamon sugar and chopped nuts. I would like to try that version sometime but, for right now, I wanted to make a savoury breakfast version. These vegetable hotteok are filled with seasoned glass noodles and minced vegetables and make for a filling and delicious breakfast or snack.

Vegetable Hotteok

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Dough

• 6g instant yeast
• 220g warm water
• 30mL whole (3.25%) milk
• 30g sugar
• 300g hard (strong/bread/high grade) flour
• 4g coarse sea salt
• 15g unsalted butter, melted
• 20mL oil

Filling

• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 medium carrot, minced
• 1/4 c. garlic chives, minced
• 1-2 green onions, minced
• 5 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 90g glass noodles¹
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. mirin
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Dicrections

Dough

1. Combine the yeast, warm water, milk, and sugar and set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the flour and salt and set aside.
3. Once the yeast mixture is nice and foamy, stir in the melted butter and oil.
4. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine.
5. Continue stirring and folding for five minutes.
6. Cover and set aside for ~1 hour. (Exact time will depend on room temperature, how warm the water was, etc.)
7. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Chop all your veggies very fine.
2. Add the dark soy sauce and glass noodles to the water and bring to a boil. Boil for ~5 minutes.
3. Drain noodles and toss with sesame oil.
4. Combine light soy sauce, oyster sauce, suger, mirin, and pepper to make the sauce.
5. Heat wok over medium-low heat and add noodles and sauce. (I also chose to mix in my vegetables at this point so that they'd cook a little bit with the sauce.
6. Cook until all liquid has either evaporated or been absorbed.
7. Use scissors to cut the noodles into short pieces.

Assembly

1. Once dough is well-risen (it should just about double in size), heat a pan over medium heat.
2. Pour a generous amount of oil into the pan. Set out another bowl with more oil in it.
3. Dip your hands into the oil in the bowl and make sure they are well-coated.
4. Grab a chunk of the dough and tear it off.
5. Press it into a flat disc. (I do not recommend putting it down. Just do all the shaping in your well-oiled hands.)
6. Place a generous amount of the noodle filling in the centre of the disc.
7. Grab the sides an stretch them up and over the filling.
8. Place the the stuffed dough in the pan and repeat with a few more pieces of dough until the pan is full.
9. Once the underside has browned, flip the hotteok over.
10. Press down firmly and continue cooking until the other side is browned.

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¹ Ideally you want Korean glass noodles for this. These are long, thin noodles made from sweet potato starch. I didn't have any Korean glass noodles, but I did have a ridiculous surplus of mung bean glass noodles, so I used them instead. The texture is a bit different, but I was still quite happy with the end result. And I think the mung bean noodles make it a bit more filling than the potato starch noodles would. As Aaron always says, "Use what you have!" ^Back

This was delicious! It falls a bit short of being a single-pot meal, although you could probably get away with preparing it in a large dutch oven and then baking it there. The entire family declared it to be a favourite, and while it takes a while to prepare it's quite easy to do.

Tuscan Butter Gnocchi

Delish

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 4 C kale or spinach, chopped
• 1 C low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 C heavy cream
• ½ C freshly grated parmesan
• 1 tbsp basil
• 3 tbsp parsley
• 1 kg gnocchi
• 1 C shredded mozzarella
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
4. Add cherry tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes begin to burst.
5. Add spinach or kale and cook until starting to wilt.
6. Stir in broth, cream, parmesan, basil, and parsley. Simmer until slightly reduced, ~3-5 minutes.
   
7. Add gnocchi and toss together.
8. Pour into a 9×13" baking pan and top evenly with mozzarella.
9. Bake until cooked through and mozzarella is melty, 30 minutes.
10. Optionally garnish with more herbs and lemon juice.

Chinese Steamed Cake (马拉糕)

Symbol and I made this one together, and it turned out pretty nice! Between the rising and the steaming it takes a while to make, but most of that time doesn't require active attention. The recipe as written calls for letting it rise in the bowl, then pouring it into the cake pan and letting it rise a second time; symbol suggests pouring it directly into the cake pan and letting it do the entire rise there, and I've written it up here accordingly.

It's tasty but a bit plain on its own; it goes well with sweetened condensed milk, or nutella.

Chinese Steamed Cake (马拉糕 mǎlā gāo)

The Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• ¼ C vegetable oil
• ¾ C brown sugar
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• ⅓ C evaporated milk, room temperature
• 1½ tbsp vanilla custard powder
• 1 C cake flour
• ⅛ tsp salt, ground
• 3½ tsp baking powder

Directions

1. Combine eggs, vegetable oil, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat on high with an electric mixer for five minutes.
2. Scrape the bottom of the bowl and mix in the vanilla, evaporated milk, and custard powder. Beat for another minute.
   
3. Sift in the remaining ingredients and fold the batter gently until incorporated.
4. Grease and flour an 8" or 9" round cake pan (or line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper).
   
5. Pour batter into the cake pan/bamboo steamer and let stand for 30 minutes.
6. Steam for 30 minutes (bamboo steamer) or 35 (cake pan), until it passes the toothpick test.
7. Eat!

Symbol made the noodles for this from scratch, and they really elevated the dish; that said, if you don't feel like making fresh pasta, I think it would turn out fine with store-bought too. The Kidlet, sadly, gave this one the thumbs down, apparently on the grounds that she only likes mushrooms one day of the year.

We were both dubious about the honey, but it really does add a lot; don't skimp on it.

Pasta with Mushrooms and Ricotta

My Saratoga Kitchen Table

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 lbs assorted mushrooms, quartered
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
  
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• salt and black pepper
• 1 lb pappardelle, fettuccini, or similar flat, noodly pasta
• 1 C ricotta
• ½ C toasted walnut pieces
• honey and parmesan, for serving
  

Directions

1. Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add mushrooms, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper; cook, covering briefly at the start, until mushrooms have released their liquid and cooked down, ~15 minutes.
3. Cook pasta al dente. Drain, reserving ½ C cooking water.
   
4. Combine pasta, water, ricotta, walnuts, and additional salt and pepper to taste with the mushrooms and toss to combine.
5. Drizzle generously with honey before serving, and top with freshly grated parmesan.
   

This one-pot recipe turned out pretty nice, and the Kidlet liked it as well! The beans add a bit of welcome heft to the recipe; we used gigantes plaki, but I think cannelini beans or butter beans would also work nice.

As written the recipe does not call for greens, but symbol thinks mixing in some kale or spinach towards the end would be nice, and I agree.

Smoky Tomato & Haloumi Bake

Happy Veggie Kitchen

Ingredients

• Olive oil
  
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• ¼-½ tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika, or 1 tsp sweet paprika + 1-2 drops liquid smoke
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ¼ tsp red wine vinegar
• ½ tsp brown sugar
• ¼ C vegetable stock
• 28oz (800g) tinned diced tomatoes
• 1 bunch kale or spinach, chopped
  
• 14oz (400g) white beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1lb (450g) haloumi, sliced into thin strips
• fresh parsley or  cilantro to garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 390°F.
   
2. Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and chili flakes and sautee until fragrant and starting to brown, ~1 minute.
4. Add the paprika and oregano and cook until fragrant, <30 seconds.
5. Add the vinegar, sugar, vegetable stock, and tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes.
   
6. Add the white beans and greens and stir together. Remove from heat.
7. Arrange the haloumi in a uniform layer atop the sauce, then bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
8. If you want the haloumi browned, stick is under the broiler for a bit.
9. Garnish and serve.

Tamagodon (Egg Rice)

I'm not sure if this is meant to be a breakfast dish, but it involves eggs and rice, so I decided that it was going to be a breakfast dish for me.

I think I'd cut back on the water in the sauce next time. I found it a bit runny for my taste. It was good otherwise though. TF found it to be a bit on the sweet side, but I thought it was a nice mix of sweet and savoury. I'm not sure if the sugar content in this version is authentic to the usual Japanese preparation or if it's there as a result of adjusting the recipe to Korean palates. Either way, I quite liked it!

Photo goes here.

Tamagodon

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. mirin
• 1-3 Tbsp. water
• pinch of bonito flakes (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. cooked rice
• 1 green onion, sliced

Directions

1. If you don't already have some cooked rice on hand, get it going now so that it's ready by the time the eggs are.
2. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown. Longer is better, but try for at least 5 minutes.
4. Add sugar (if using), soy sauce, mirin, water, and bonito flakes (if using) and bring to a boil.
5. Lightly mix the eggs. Do not beat or fully homogenize them. You want the yolks to be broken and a little muddled, but it should like white and yolk swirled together, not fulled combined.
6. Pour the muddled eggs into the pan, cover, and cook until eggs reach desired doneness.
7. Serve over hot rice and garnish with green onion.

I've done moo shu pork before, but this is the first time I've tried moo shu vegetables. My pancake technique still needs a lot of work, but the veggie filling came out great. And, honestly, if you don't feel like making the pancakes, it's still delicious served over rice with a bit of extra hoisin sauce.

Moo Shu Vegetables

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 3 1/2 Tbsp. oil, divided
• 1 1/2 c. julienned carrot
• 125g 5-spice dried tofu (五香豆腐干), julienned
• 6 fresh¹ shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp. water (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. julienned celery
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 leeks², julienned
• 1 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine
• 1 recipe Mandarin pancakes

Directions

1. Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, and white pepper and set aside.
2. Heat wok over high heat and add 1/2 Tbsp. of oil.
3. Add the carrots, stir-fry for 90 seconds, remove from pan and set aside.
4. Add another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil to the wok and stir-fry the tofu for 90 seconds. (It may stick a bit, just do the best you can.)
5. Remove to tofu from the wok and set it aside. (It can be combined with the carrots at this point.)
6. Add another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil along with the mushrooms.
7. At this point, I like to add a Tbsp. or two of water to the wok, cover it, and let the mushrooms steam for about a minute before continuing with the recipe. I find that this helps the mushrooms cook nicely -- I really hate undercooked mushrooms -- and also helps to lift any stuck-on tofu bits off the wok so they don't burn while you cook the rest of the ingredients. This step is optional. Do whatever works best for you.
8. Stir-fry the mushrooms, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes, then remove them from the wok. (They can also be combined with the carrots.)
9. Add another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil to the wok and cook the celery for 90 seconds. Remove from wok and set aside with the other cooked ingredients.
10. Add another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil to the wok and stir-fry the bell pepper for 90 seconds. Once cooked, it can also go with the other cooked ingredients.
11. Add the last 1 Tbsp. of oil to the wok along with the garlic and leeks and cook until the leeks have wilted (~2 minutes).
12. Return all the cooked ingredients to the wok and stir to combine.
13. Drizzle the Shaoxing wine around the edges of the wok and pour in the sauce.
14. Stir-fry for ~1 minute.
15. Serve with Mandarin pancakes (or rice) and extra hoisin sauce.

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¹ I didn't have any fresh shiitakes on hand, so I just used cremini mushrooms instead. I think that reconstituting dried shiitakes would also work well, although that would give a different texture. ^Back
2 The original recipe only calls for one leek, but my leeks were pretty small. I think it would be fine with only one small leek, but two is better! ^Back

I think it's going to take me a few more attempts to get the knack for making these. I found they had a tendency to curl up and crease as I was trying to roll them out. This made them very difficult (usually impossible) to separate once cooked. I also had trouble dailing in the proper thickness and getting the sizes even. They were still good, just not very neat or particularly presentable. I think I could improve my technique with a bit more practice though.

Mandarin Pancakes

From Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2/3 c. boiling water
• oil, for brushing

Directions

1. Combine the flour and salt and mix well.
2. Pour in the boiling water and mix -- with chopsticks or a spatula! -- to form a dough.
3. Once cool enough to handle, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.
4. Cover and allow to rest (at room temperature) for at least 1 hour.
5. Roll into a cylinder and divide into 12 equal portions.
6. Shape each portion into a ball and then flatten them into discs.
7. Brush the tops and sides of 6 of the discs with oil.
8. Place an un-oiled disc on top of each of the oiled discs.
9. Use an oiled rolling pin to roll each two-disc stack to a diameter of ~18cm (7").
10. Heat wok over medium-low heat.
11. Place a pancake (still composed of two discs rolled together) into the wok and cook for ~45 seconds. (Bubbles should start forming between the layers.)
12. Flip the pancake over and cook for another 30-45 seconds. (The bubbles should continue getting larger.)
13. Remove from wok and let cool for ~30 seconds, then peel the two layers apart.
14. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining pancakes.

Steaming is a very popular method of cooking in southern China. This is originally a Cantonese dish. The steaming gives the chicken a silky texture and produces a thin, flavourful sauce.

I chose to add a bit of baby Shanghai bok choy to give this dish some veg. I also opted to use tempeh instead of chicken. In all honesty, I think chicken probably would've been better, but it was still good with the tempeh, just not as good as I think it could have been.

To make up for not having the chicken, I swapped out the vegetable oil for schmaltz and added a bit of sweet paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. I also traded out the salt for bouillon powder. Additionally, I used way more sausages then the original recipe called for (but only about half as much tempeh).

The recipe calls for using a pie plate for the steaming. This worked okay, but my pie plate was very, very full. I think I'd probably try to steam it in a large glass bowl next time. (Or just make a half batch so that the pie plate isn't quite so overstuffed.)

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage

Adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 10 dried shiitake (black Chinese) mushrooms
• 450g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (or tempeh), cut into chunks
• 1/3 c. water (or mushroom soaking water)
• 1 Tbsp. oil (or schmaltz)
• 1/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 1 Tbsp. (vegetarian) oyster sauce
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. chicken or vegetable bouillon powder
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. grated ginger (or 1 tsp. ginger paste)
• 1 scallion, chopped, white and green parts separated
• 1/4 tsp. sweet or smoked paprika (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce¹ (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. tapioca starch (or cornstarch/cornflour)
• 2-10 Chinese sausages², thinly sliced on bias
• 6-8 baby Shanghai bok choy, rinsed and chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least two hours.
2. Drain, rinse, and thinly slice the mushrooms.
3. Combine chicken, sliced mushrooms, water, oil (or schmaltz), sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, sugar, bouillion powder, white pepper, ginger, and the white parts of the scallion and stir to combine.
4. Also add paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and soy sauce (if using).
5. Cover and chill for at least two hours or as long as overnight.
6. Add the tapioca starch (or cornstarch) and mix well.
7. Add water to your steamer/wok and bring to a rolling boil.
8. Transfer the chicken mixture to a pie plate or large heat-proof bowl.
9. Place the sliced sausages on top.
10. Place the bok choy on top of this (if using).
11. Place the bowl/pie plate in the steamer and steam over medium heat for 10 minutes.
12. Turn off the heat and leave the steamer to sit, covered, for another 2-3 minutes.
13. Sprinkle with the green parts of the scallion and serve over rice.

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¹ The original recipe didn't call for any soy sauce and I didn't use any. That said, upon tasting it, I felt like I probably would have benefitted from a small amount of soy sauce in the marinade. I'll try it this way next time and see how it comes out. ^Back
2 I know this is a huge range. The original recipe calls for 1-2 links but notes that sausage sizes can vary greatly. My sausages were extremely small. I also really like sausages. And I had less tempeh (my stand-in for chicken) than the recipe called for, so I figured I'd make it up with extra sausages. I liked my sausage-heavy version. I realize that this may not be true to the original recipe, but it was delicious! Go for more sausages if that's your jam or less if you'd like something a little more traditional. ^Back

Syrniki (Breakfast Cheesecakes)

Syrniki are a Russian breakfast food. They're a bit like pancakes and a bit like mini cheesecakes but very different from either. They're composed almost entirely of "farmer's chees" with just enough flour and eggs to hold them together. A little sugar and a few raisins are added for sweetness, but they're neither as sweet nor as rich as a typical North American cheesecake.

It can be a bit tricky to get the consistency for the dough just right. The cheese needs to be soft and moldable without being excessively wet. (I think mine was probably still ever so slightly too wet when I made my syrniki.) Helen (the YouTuber who posted the recipe) suggests making your own cheese and pressing it for just a few minutes to achieve the idea flavour and texture.

Russian farmer's cheese is very similar to -- or possibly the same as, depending on who you ask -- quark. So if you don't feel like making your own cheese, quark would probably be the best alternative. Just make sure you get one of the drier varieties as some of them can be quite wet. Ricotta will also work as long as you're able to drain it and dry it out a bit. The problem is that many North American ricottas have stabilizers added that make them impossible to drain. If you can find a ricotta that hasn't been homogenized and stabilized, then that will likely also work well as long as you drain it and dry it out a bit first.

Syrniki

Slightly adapted from Helen Rennie

Ingredients (by mass)

• 350g well-drained/dried farmer's cheese or quark
• 2 large egg yolks + enough egg white to total 50g
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 45g sugar
• 35g flour¹
• 35g raisins²
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. oil

Ingredients (by baker's percentages)

• 100% cheese
• 14% egg, 10% yolk + 4% white³
• vanilla extract, to taste
• 0.5% salt
• 13% sugar
• 10% flour
• 10% raisins
• 2:1 mix of butter:oil, for frying

Directions

1. Check the moisture content of your cheese. It should be soft and moldable. It should hold its shape and leave very little residue on your hands when manipulated. No residue means it's too dry. More than a tiny bit of residue means it's still too wet.
2. If the cheese is too wet, drain/press it some more. (Paper towels can help with drawing out excess moisture.) Cheese needs to be weighed after draining/drying/pressing for the recipe to be accurate.
3. If the cheese is not already cold, chill it now.
4. Once the cheese is nice and cold, add the egg yolks. Make sure you take note of their mass/weight!
5. Beat the egg whites for a few seconds to loosen them then, using a spoon, add enough whites to the mixture to make 50g of egg total. So your whites + yolks should add up to 50g. Or whites + yolks + cheese should add up to 400g, if you prefer.
6. If your cheese was overly dry, add an extra 15g of egg white.
7. Add the salt and the sugar and mix everything together with a fork or a potato masher.
8. Once ingredients have been thoroughly combined, stir in the flour.
9. Now stir in the raisins.
10. On a well-floured surface, turn out the dough and shape it into a log ~24cm (9.5") long. Be generous with the flour! You don't want to mix too much flour into the dough, but lots of flour on the outside makes for a good crust.
11. Cut the log into discs about 3cm thick.
12. Coat the top and bottom in flour, smooth the sides, and compress the discs slightly to form smooth, flour-coated pucks.
13. As you complete each one, place it on a well-floured baking sheet or paper while you complete the rest of the syrniki.
14. Melt the butter and oil over medium heat.
15. Reduce heat to low, add as many syrniki as will comfortably fit in the pan, cover, and cook, without disturbing, for ~5 minutes.
16. Uncover, flip the syrniki, wipe the condensation of the lid of the pan, and cover once more. Cook for another 5 minutes.
17. Cook any remaining syrniki in the same way, adding butter and oil to the pan as necessary.
18. Serve with sour cream and cherry jam (or pie filling) for a traditional option. I think crème fraîche and honey would also be excellent with these.

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¹ I used all-purpose flour to make my syrniki but, considering all the dire warnings about not overmixing, I think I'd probably make them with soft (cake/plain/standard) flour in the future. ^Back
2 I like sultanas or golden raisins for this, but use whatever kind of raisins you have/prefer. ^Back
3 Aim for as close to 10% egg yolks as possible. A little under or a little over is okay. You don't need to get into using fractional egg yolks. Once you've added as many yolks as you need, add egg whites to bring the total mass of egg (yolk + white) up to 14%. So, if you have 500g of cheese, you'd need 70g of egg. Add egg yolks until you get to ~50g (+/- 10g), then add egg whites to make up the remainder of the 70g needed. ^Back

Farmer's Cheese (творог)

I recently stumbled across a recipe for syrniki. They are essentially mini pan-fried breakfast cheesecakes. They're one of those simple recipes that relies on getting all the details just right. You only need cheese, eggs, sugar, flour, and a bit of vanilla to make them, but too much moisture or too much flour will throw the consistency off and result in cakes that either fall apart or end up distressingly chewey and tough.

One of the things that makes this recipe so tricky is that different cheeses will have different moisture contents and it can be difficult to get the moisture just right. Cheeses with stabilizers added can't really be drained to reduce the moisture either, so adjusting it to the necessary level can be nearly impossible. One YouTuber's solution to this is to make her own cheese. This way you can control the exact consistency and moisture content. Although it does add a bit more time and effort.

This was my first time culturing a cheese with kefir. Most of the cultured cheeses I've made have been inoculated with either buttermilk or yogurt depending on whether I was looking for a mesophilic or thermophilic culture. For a few I've used commercial cheesemaking cultures. Helen (the YouTuber who posted the recipe) recommends using kefir + whole milk and then incubating it at ~30°C for 9 hours. I was happy with the results this produced, but I'd be curious to try it with either a longer incubation time or a higher temperature. I felt like the curd wasn't quite as firm as it should have been. And, given that a lot of the cultures in the kefir I had were thermophilic, I feel like incubating it at 30°C might have been sub-optimal. The low-temperature method certainly works. I just wonder if a higher temperature might have given a slightly better result.

Farmer's Cheese

Slightly adapted from Helen Rennie

Ingredients

• 2L whole (3.25%) milk
• 2 c. plain kefir

Directions

1. Shake the kefir and stir it into the milk.
2. Incubate at 30°C (90°F) for 9-12 hours¹. (And InstantPot works well for this. You can use the yogurt setting.)
3. Once the milk has thickened and formed a soft curd, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
4. Cover and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 50-60 minutes.
5. Line a colander with 3-4 layers of cheesecloth or one layer of butter muslin and drain the curds.
6. Lightly cover the draining curds so the surface doesn't dry out and allow them to continue draining overnight.
7. By the next morning, your cheese should be ready to use!

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¹ I actually think that 45°C (113°F) would be a better incubation temperature for this cheese, but I'm not sure how long it would need at that temperature. I'd guess around 4-6 hours, but I'd need to try it once or twice to dail in the timing. If I were doing this at the lower temperature 30°C incubation again, I'd probably leave it for the full 12 hours. Nine hours was okay, but I think it could've used more time. ^Back

Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐) is a well-know, popular dish from Sichuan province. It's fully of spicy umami goodness. This is not that dish, but it's definitely in the same family. If you like mapo tofu, but you'd like something that's a bit quicker to make and contains even more garlic, then this is the dish for you!

Like mapo tofu, this recipe calls for a small amount of ground meat. I wanted to keep things vegetarian, so I replaced the meat with some minced black pearl oyster mushrooms. The author of the original recipe notes that either oyster or king oyster mushrooms would likely work well for this purpose.

Spicy Garlic Tofu

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 10-12 cloves garlic, sliced
• 120g oyster mushrooms, minced
• 1 small onion, quartered and sliced
• 4-6 Tbsp. water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 1 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 1 Tbsp. spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱)
• 1 1/2 c. vegetable stock
• 1/4 tsp. white peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 450g extra firm tofu, cut into 2cm cubes (or 1 recipe extra-delicious tofu)
• 1 scallion, chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add a bit of water, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, if the wok seems excessively dry. This shouldn't be needed if using ground meat, but will likely be necessary with the mushroom version as they'll soak up all the oil.
4. Add onion, increase heat to high, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add Shaoxing wine, hoisin sauce, and bean paste and cook for 30-60 seconds.
6. Stir in vegetable stock, pepper, sugar, and sesame oil and bring to a boil.
7. Combine cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. of the water to make a slurry and stir it into the wok.
8. Once sauce has reached desired consistency, stir in the tofu and cook until heated through.
9. Sprinkle with scallion and serve over rice.

It takes a bit of time to get your eight treasures ready but, once you've got all the prep out of the way, it goes really fast. I appreciate the use of garlic as a vegetable rather than a seasoning here. And I think the use of Szechuan spicy bean paste and black bean Laoganma works very nicely too.

I made a few substitutions for my version. I swapped out the edamame for sweet peas. And I used rehydrated dried mushrooms instead of pork. I kept the peanuts in, but I'd be tempted to try it with cashews next time. I think I'd prefer their slightly softer texture.

Chinese Eight Treasure Stir-Fry

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1 c. cubed spiced dried tofu (五香豆腐干)
• 1 c. diced carrot
• 3/4 c. dried shiitake (Chinese black mushrooms), rehydrated and quartered
• 2 bulbs/heads of garlic, large cloves cut in half
• 1/2 c. dried shrimp, rinsed
• 1 c. raw peanuts
• 1 c. diced pepper (hot or sweet according to your preference)
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2 Tbsp. Shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)
• 2 Tbsp. Szechuan spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. black bean Laoganma
• 3 Tbsp. oil, divided

Directions

1. Prep all your treasures and get them ready to go by the wok.
2. Combine wine, bean paste, sugar, sesame oil, and Laoganma to make a sauce.
3. Heat wok over medium heat.
4. Add 1/2 Tbsp. of oil and swirl to coat the wok.
5. Add tofu and stir-fry for ~2 minutes.
6. Remove from wok and set aside.
7. Add another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil and the carrots.
8. Stir-fry for ~2 minutes.
9. Remove from wok at set aside. (You can combine it with the tofu at this point if you like.)
10. Add another 1/2 Tbsp. of oil and stir-fry the mushrooms for 2 minutes.
11. Remove from wok and set aside. (The mushrooms can also go with the carrots and tofu.)
12. Add 1 Tbsp. of oil to the wok and stir-fry the garlic for ~1 minute.
13. Add the (rinsed) shrimp and stir-fry for a few seconds.
14. Add the peanuts and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
15. Add the (bell or hot) pepper and stir-fry for ~1 minute.
16. Add the peas and stir to combine.
17. Return the cooked ingredients (tofu, carrot, and mushrooms) to the wok and stir to combine.
18. Add the sauce and continue to stir-fry until most of the liquid has evaporated.
19. Serve over rice.

My dinner plans fell through the other day, so I had to come up with an emergency back-up plan on short notice. Since Woks of Life is apparently my new favourite "cookbook", I turned to them for ideas. I was looking for something fish-y that would come together relatively quickly and easily and this salmon recipe seemed to fit the bill.

Sadly I didn't have any skin-on salmon to use for this. I'm not entirely sure it was even salmon; I think it might've been rainbow trout. Obviously this means I wasn't able to replicate the crispy skin component of the recipe, but I think it worked out well otherwise. And the Kidlet loved it!

Scallion-Ginger Salmon

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. oil, divided
• 450g salmon filets, preferably with skin on
• 1/2 c. water
• 3 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/4 c. julienned ginger
• 3 scallions, julienned
• 1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. Place a heavy (preferably cast iron) pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add 2 Tbsp. oil.
3. Place salmon (skin-side down if skin-on) in the pan and cook for 4-7 minutes (depends on thickness of your filets).
4. Flip and cook for another 4-7 minutes on the other side. Don't fuss with them, just let them brown.
5. Meanwhile, combine the water, soy sauce, suar, and sesame oil and set aside.
6. Once the salmon is cooked through, transfer it to a plate.
7. Add the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil to the pan.
8. Add the ginger and fry until crisp.
9. Add the scallions and fry until wilted.
10. Stir in the sauce mixture and bring to a boil.
11. Remove from heat.
12. To serve, place salmon over rice and top with sauce.