Candied Pecans and Walnuts

中文菜谱： 琥珀桃仁

Candied pecans or walnuts are very popular in China.  They can be served as appetizer, side dish or dessert.  Most of time, they are also a great snack to go with coffee or tea. 

They are sweet, crunchy, and super nutritious.  Who doesn’t love them? O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients：

1 cup raw walnuts / pecans
1/3 firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
toasted white sesame seeds

Directions：

Some people prefer pecans, and a lot of people prefer walnuts.  As for myself, I use more pecans then walnuts because pecans have a more delicate texture and flavor than walnuts.

Preheat a toaster oven to 375F/ 190C  

Bake the pecans / walnuts in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Please do remember to adjust the baking time accordingly because every toaster oven is different from one another.  Pecans and walnuts are so easily to be over baked.  Keep a close eye on them when baking.  Remove from oven when they turn slightly golden brown.  They will continue to cook even after being taken out the oven. 

Light or medium color brown sugar will be fine.  Don’t use the dark brown sugar.  Otherwise, the color would be too dark.

While the pecans/ walnuts are baking in the oven, prepare the syrup. 

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Add brown sugar and water. 

Brown sugar melts quickly and the syrup will very soon become bubbly.

Keep cooking the syrup until it darkens a little bit.  Bubbles get bigger too. 

There is a trick to test if the syrup is ready.  Drop a couple drops of syrup into a cup of cold water.  if it turns  hard and firm, the syrup is done.  If not, just keep cooking for a bit longer. 

Add toasted pecans/ walnuts into the syrup, along with some roasted white sesame seeds. 

With a spoon, gently toss everything together.  

Line up a plate or cast iron pan with parchment paper.  Spoon the pecan / walnut mixtures onto the parchment paper.   Spread them as evenly as possible. 

You have to do it very fast and quickly, because the candy syrup will begin to harden once removed from heat.

Wait for the candied pecans/ walnuts to completely cool down to room temperature.  They will be super crunchy and tasty. 

Mini Goledn Egg Dumplings with Pork Filling

中文菜谱：迷你黄金蛋饺 & 2019年夜饭

Febrary 4th is the date for traditional Chinese New Year in 2019.  On this day, most Chinese families get together from all over the places to celebrate the beginning of a new year.  It is kind of like Thanksgiving in America, but longer and more festival. 

On the last evening of lunar year, it is also a tradition to make serve a marvelous feast which could take up to weeks’ preparation.  

Now since we are living in the United States, we still celebrate Chinese New Year, just on a smaller scale.  I still make some traditional Chinese food on this day.  Egg dumplings are one of them.

Egg dumplings are a must for New Year’s feast.  The beautiful golden color resembles gold and more money incoming in the New Year.  The shape of flower means good luck and blessing in the New Year too. 

Ingredients：

180 g ground pork
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 to 2 teaspoons rice cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock/ water
5 large eggs
salt to taste
vegetable oil for cooking

Directions ：

Add ground pork to a medium bowl, along with ground ginger, rice cooking wine, oyster sauce, soy sauce, ground white pepper, and salt.  Whisk clock-wise with a pair of chopsticks.

While whisking, add a tablespoon chicken stock/ water.  Whisk until the liquid is absorbed before adding more.

Add a pinch of salt to the eggs and beat them until smooth.

I use a cast iron pancake puff pan to make egg dumplings.  It is super efficient because I can make 7 of them at a time. 

Heat the pan over medium low heat.  Spray with oil.  Add a couple teaspoons of beaten eggs to each hole.  Swirl around a little bit.

Add teaspoon ground pork filling to each of them.

Fold them over.

Once egg dumplings can hold their half moon shape, remove from pan. 

Repeat the process until all done.

Assemble all egg dumplings in a plate like a big flower. 

Add to a steamer.  Steam dumplings over high heat for about 6 minutes.   The steaming time may vary with dumplings’ sizes and shapes.

They can be served hot or cold.  Aren’t they pretty?

The rest of our New Year feast also includes boiled free range chicken with dipping sauces.

med bass with ginger and oyster sauce

Purple daikon salad

Cucumber salad

Spinach and tofu salad

Steamed sweet rice with nuts and red beans paste

Braised Duck Necks in Spicy Soy Sauce

中文菜谱： 辣卤鸭脖

For the foodies who have culinary adventurous spirits, I recommend soy sauce braised duck necks as a meaty, healthy and very satisfying snack when watching Super Bowl on this coming Sunday.  For those who think it is too bizarre, all I can say is that you have no idea what you are missing O(∩_∩)O~  

A lot of Asian countries have long history of eating ducks.  I mean like all parts of ducks.  When food was scarce, nothing edible would go waste.  At first, people eat duck necks because they couldn’t afford expensive meat.  And now people are still eating it because of it is so tasty and flavorful.

Ingredients：

2 lbs duck necks (sold in Asian grocery stores)  
3 to 4 tablespoons Pixian chili paste
a handful dried chili peppers
1/4 to 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 to 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
3 to 4 star anises
1 small piece cinnamon bark
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corns
3 to 4  pieces dried sand ginger
5 to 6 cloves
1 black cardamom pod
2 cloves of garlic
1 small piece of fresh ginger root, sliced
salt to taste  
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil for cooking
water
1 cup of *“old soy sauce” (opitonal)

(* old soy sauce is the remaining braised sauce that has been boiled, drained and preserved in freezer.  Add old soy sauce to the broth can enrich its flavor, improve the braised meat texture and give everything a better taste.  Think about the old dough used in the bakery.  They pretty much work the same way. *)

Directions：

Gather all the needed spices in a small plate.  Don’t they look pretty together?

Clean and rinse duck necks under running water.  Trim any extra surrounding fat or tissues.

Blanch duck necks in boiling water for about 5 minutes.

Rinse them with hot water.  Set aside.

Heat a cast iron wok over medium heat.  Add vegetable oil along with all the spices.

Sautee for several minutes until you can smell intense aroma from the spices.

Add Pixian chili paste.

Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sugar, and old soy sauce.  Continue to sauté for a couple minutes.

Add water.  Turn up the heat to high.  When it comes to boil, add duck necks.

Wait for the broth to boil again.  Cover with lid and reduce the heat to simmer for about 1 hour.  Extend the simmering time if you prefer softer meat texture. 

15 minutes before simmering time is up, do a quick sample taste.  Add salt to taste.  

When the hour is up, turn off the heat.  For maximum flavor, leave the duck necks soaking in broth for another hour or so.

When the duck necks cool down, dice them with a sharp cleaver. 

They are best when served cold beer together! O(∩_∩)O~

Chocolate Soufflé Cookies

中文菜谱： 巧克力舒芙蕾饼干

These chocolate soufflé cookies are pretty much my favorite cookies.  They are so simple, made with just a few ingredients and yet have such deep rich delicate flavors.  It is like eating brownies, chocolate macaroons and cookies all at the same time.  Isn’t that amazing?

A big plus benefit for these cookies is that they don’t require any flour, which means they are gluten free! 

If you frequent a coffee shop or bakery, you might have noticed there are always “flourless chocolate cookies” displayed on the shelves, which look so fancy and delicate, and of course, so expensive too. 

Yep, they are the chocolate soufflé cookies we are making here today.  Let’s get started!

The recipe is adapted from：https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/chocolate-souffle-cookies.  Many thanks and appreciation to the original author!

Ingredients ：

1 cup dark chocolate chips/ pieces
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg whites
a few drops of lemon juice / white vinegar
3/4 cup finely chopped walnut

****Tip：Chocolate is the most important ingredient in this recipe.  Chocolate determines the finished cookies’ flavor and texture.  The better quality the chocolate is, the better taste the cookies will be. 

I use 90% cacao chocolate.  If you prefer sweeter taste, 70% to 80% will be great too.  ****

Directions：

Preheat the oven to 350F/ 176C

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.  It might seem lumpy at first.

In a few minutes, the chocolate will become silky and smooth.

With a sharp knife, finely chop the walnut.

Add a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar to the egg whites.  With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites at low speed for a couple minutes.  Add 1/3 of the sugar, continue to whisk at medium speed for a minute.  Repeat the process until all the sugar is added and egg white is stiff.

With a silicone spatula, fold the chopped walnuts into chocolate mixture.

Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites.

It might be a bit dry and hard at first. 

This is what it looks like after I fold in the first 1/3 egg whites.

Add another 1/3 egg whites, and fold in very gently.

Continue folding the remaining egg whites, along with vanilla extract. 

The batter should be smooth and shiny.

Transfer the batter to a large piping bag.

Pipe the cookie dough to a cookie pan lined with silicone baking mat.  Each drop of cookie dough is about 3 tablespoons and 1 1/2 inches apart from each other.

Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Wait for the cookies to cool on the cookie pan.  Carefully remove them with a spatula.

And now go make yourself a fresh pot of black coffee and enjoy these heavenly chocolate soufflé cookies!  O(∩_∩)O~

Merry 2018 Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!