Category: Soul Food
An Easy “Egg”cellent Dish (Stir-Fried Tomato and Eggs)

An Easy “Egg”cellent Dish (Stir-Fried Tomato and Eggs)

By | | Comments 2 comments

I grew up running the streets of Chinatown.  My parents had a mom-and-pop business right in the heart of Chinatown on Grant Ave. (Yep, Grant Ave…San Francisco…California…USA made quasi-famous by the musical Flower Drum Song).  There are a gazillion restaurants to eat at or take out, but the trick is knowing where to go for the best of whatever you crave.  The best egg tarts? Golden Gate Bakery. BBQ Pork Buns and dim sum? Yung Kee (sadly gone now), or Good Luck Dim Sum.  Best stuffed rice noodles? Sam Wo. Best fried chicken Wings?  Golden Daisy or Capitol Restaurant.  Call me for the 411.

Down Home, My Home, Chinatown

My favorite down-home dishes were and are found in the quirky little hole-in-the-wall places.  Many of these joints are a fusion of Asian and American food-you will find beef stew, apple pie, stir-fried beef with bitter greens, and wonton soup all on the same menu.  I love going to Kam Po next to the Broadway Tunnel where rice plates are a mainstay.  A mountain of rice covered with crispy roast duck or soy sauce chicken with a side of stir-fried garlicky greens, my go-to quick meal.

A couple of weeks ago I was perusing the NYT cooking site and a recipe for stir-fried tomatoes and eggs by Francis Lam caught my eye.  This immediately transported me back to my days in Chinatown.  This Cantonese soul food dish is quick, simple, and perfect after a long day at work and slow commute home.

As soon as you walk in the door make a pot of rice.  This will be the rate-limiting step of the entire meal.  In fact, you will have a couple of minutes to kick back and relax before starting on the eggs.  Yes, it’s that easy.

A little music to cook by, Grant Ave. from Flower Drum Song- Pat Suzuki and Ensemble

Quick stir fry, do not overcook, keep em’ runny! Eggs will be added to the tomato mixture.

The eggs are flavored with sesame oil and salt and then whisked lightly so that there are still streaks of egg white left. For fluffier (technical term) uniform color eggs, whisk them thoroughly.  Scramble eggs quickly until barely set and remove from heat and pour into a dish.  Stir fry the tomatoes to the desired doneness.  Add the eggs to the tomatoes and cook just long enough to stir the tomatoes and eggs together.

That’s It.

A word of caution, I am THAT person who orders scrambled eggs, very soft and runny.  In fact, the runnier the better, so cook the eggs to your taste.  Scoop steaming hot rice into a bowl or on a plate, top with the tomato-egg mixture and garnish with green onions.  Turn on the tube, plop yourself down on the couch and watch your favorite reruns while you gobble up your eggs and rice.  You deserve it, there’s nothing better.

If you need protein, throw in bite-sized pieces of chicken, beef, or shrimp while cooking the green onions. I had a bit of ground beef left, so in it went.  Don’t have green onions?  Use thinly sliced yellow or red onions.

Print Pin

Stir Fried Eggs and Tomatoes

Down home Cantonese Dish
Course Main Course, One dish meals
Cuisine Asian
Keyword egg, scrambled, tomatoes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

From New York Times Cooking Francis Lam

  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Eggs

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
  • 2-3 scallions sliced, reserve 1/3 of green portion for garnish

Tomatoes

  • 1 pound beefsteak tomatoes in season, any juicy tomato would work or 1 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice-DON'T EVEN-its here because its in the original recipe-bleah
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger from about 1/4-inch nub

Sauce

  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon sugar can subtitute light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons ketchup YES, ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons water or stock (chicken or veggie stock will work)

To Serve

  • Steamed rice for serving

Instructions

  • In a bowl, beat the eggs with 1 teaspoon salt, sesame oil and rice wine or sherry.
  • In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until well combined, then stir in the sugar (can substitute brown sugar) and ketchup.
  • Core and cut tomatoes into 1/2-inch wide wedges.
  • Heat a wide nonstick skillet over high heat with 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the oil shimmers, add most of the scallions, saving some to garnish. If adding protein or another vegetable, add now. Cook, stirring, until very aromatic, about 20 seconds.
  • Add the eggs, and cook, stirring well with a spatula or chopsticks, until just set but still runny, about 45 seconds.
  • Remove eggs to a plate and wipe out the pan.
  • Reheat the pan over high heat with the remaining tablespoon of oil. When it is hot, add the ginger and cook until aromatic, about 15 seconds. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste; cook, stirring occasionally, until the flesh has softened but still has some shape and the juices have begun to form a sauce, 2-3 minutes. (If using canned tomatoes, add the juice as well and cook about 4 minutes, to reduce it to a saucelike consistency.)
  • Reduce the heat to medium. Give the cornstarch-ketchup mixture a stir in its bowl, then stir it into the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce returns to a boil and thickens. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, sugar or more ketchup — you want a savory, tart-sweet sauce. Stir the eggs in the bowl to cut up the curds a bit, then return them to the pan. Cook, stirring, for a few seconds to finish cooking the eggs and to combine. Top with the reserved scallions, and serve with steamed rice.
Dad’s Fried Rice With a Little Tweak

Dad’s Fried Rice With a Little Tweak

By | | Comments 1 comment

Having recently posted a fried rice recipe (Kim Chee Fried Rice-Koreatown), this comes a bit sooner than expected, but a couple of things prompted this post.  The rain is back with a vengeance so I have been holed up at home with Sammy.  The perfect time to scrounge around the fridge and use whatever we have for dinner.

I found leftover rice, onions, eggs, a bell pepper, and some Chinese sausage…yum, all the fixins for fried rice.  It’s easy, delish, down-home food. To top it off, my brother’s family spent the holidays in Hawaii and brought me back SPAM per my request.  I know you’re thinking-we have SPAM here, duh.  Yes, but Hawaii is the Spam capital of the world. We have regular, lite, and less salt, but head to any supermarket on the Islands and you will find a dizzying array of SPAM.

Welcome to Spam-a-lot

There’s Tocino SPAM, Portuguese Sausage SPAM, Garlic SPAM, Teriyaki SPAM, Black Pepper SPAM, Jalapeno SPAM, and the list’s keep going.  Who knew?  My niece grabbed a can of Tocino (Filipino) Spam which just happens to be my favorite. It’s sweet and salty and perfect for fried rice.  Fire up that wok, baby.

So this is a rift on my Dad’s Fried Rice.  He would always use Chinese BBQ Pork but sweet Chinese sausage and SPAM (yes!) are a good stand-in.  The beauty of fried rice is you can put whatever you like in and make it your own.  The foundation of course starts with rice, preferably day-old rice (drier), aromatics such as minced ginger, onions, scallions, seasonings-salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, eggs, and some sort of protein bbq pork, spam, bacon, shrimp, your choice.  My Dad always added peas and shredded lettuce in his for color and probably to sneak some vegetables in.  Bell peppers, leeks, diced carrots are also great additions.

Go crazy and make your own signature fried rice, the sky’s (and what’s in your fridge) the limit.

Print

Dad’s Fried Rice Gets an Island Makeover

A delicious island version of fried rice, chinese sausage and Spam, proteins contributing flavor and texture!
Course dinner, lunch, One dish meals, Side Dish
Cuisine Asian-American
Keyword downhome, fried rice, homemade, lop cheung, rice, spam
Prep Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2-3 cups cooked day old rice long grain preferred, but short grain will work
  • 1 T vegetable oil
  • 1/2 onion finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup diced red or green bell pepper*
  • 1/2 cup diced carrot*
  • 2-3 slices fresh ginger minced, 1 clove garlic minced (optional)
  • 1/2 cup diced Chinese bbq pork or SPAM
  • 1 Chinese sausage lop cheung and 2 slices of spam, diced
  • 2 eggs slightly scrambled
  • 1/2 cup green peas
  • 1-2 green onions coarsely minced
  • 1/2 cup shredded lettuce iceberg or romaine

Seasonings

  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 T oyster sauce
  • 1/4 t sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil optional

Instructions

  • Heat a large saute' pan or wok and add the 1 T of oil to pan. Add onions, bell pepper (and any raw vegetable you like such as diced carrots or bell peppers) to the pan.
  • Saute' until vegetables are soft approximately 5 minutes. Add Chinese sausage and SPAM and continue to saute until sausage is heated through and SPAM is brown and with crispy edges.. Remove from pan to bowl and reserve.
  • To the same pan add 1 T oil. When shimmering add ginger and garlic (optional) and saute' until fragrant (15-30 seconds)
  • Add rice to pan, breaking up the clumps as you stir fry the rice and ginger. When the rice is coated with the oil, move rice to the perimeter of pan creating a well in the center. Pour eggs into center of pan and scramble. As soon as the egg is slightly set mix into rice, do not overcook the egg.
  • Toss vegetable mixture back into the pan along with the peas. Stir to incorporate and heat through.
  • Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil is using, and pepper. Taste, use salt if necessary.
  • Just before removing from pan add shredded lettuce and green onions
  • Garnish with green onions or cilantro if desired.
  • Serve immediately.
Anatomy of a Breakfast Bowl (Char Siu & Egg Over Rice)

Anatomy of a Breakfast Bowl (Char Siu & Egg Over Rice)

By | | Comments 1 comment

I love Sunday morning breakfast. Instead of the rushed quick bite Monday through Friday grind, weekend breakfasts are leisurely and quite the production.Waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and homemade buttermilk biscuits or if we are feeling ambitious, puffy French omelets.  Just brewed coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice round out the meal, or mimosas for special occasions, ahhhhh the good life.  Often, our Sunday breakfasts will have an Asian vibe.

During football season you will always find a big pot of congee sitting on the stove. Congee or jook is a delicious savory rice soup and is great for breakfast or halftime.  The soup starts with chicken stock flavored with ginger and scallions. Add rice and simmer until the kernels have softened to an almost creamy consistency.  Hot steaming bowls are brought to the table where everyone adds their own toppings. Shredded chicken, green onions, pickles, lettuce, and cilantro.  To go along with the jook, Chinese donuts–deep-fried pillows of yumminess that give beignets a run for their money.

DSC04127

Hands-down, a favorite breakfast for my kids is homemade Chinese bbq pork (char siu) served with eggs–barely scrambled or sunny side up (keep that yolk runny) on top of a bowl of steamed white rice.  I found a new recipe for char siu on Burp Appetit’ that looked and sounded mouthwateringly good. Naturally, I had to try it. Instead of oven roasting, it calls for braising the pork in a sweet, salty sauce which includes hoisin paste and 5 spice powder.  By braising, we don’t need marinading which shortens the cooking time. Best of all, it’s delicious! With a batch of char siu made, this past Sunday’s breakfast was a no-brainer, Char siu, eggs, and rice. Yep living life one bowl at a time.

Char Siu and Egg over Rice:  Anatomy of a Breakfast Bowl

The perfectly cooked egg by Jamie

Kid tested and approved by Jordan

Hi Claire 🙂

Print

Char Siu, Chinese BBQ Pork (Braised method)

Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian
Keyword barbecue pork, char siu, Rice Bowl
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

~1-1.25 pound pork belly without skin, or pork neck or cheek meat cut into strips (3)

Marinade/Sauce

  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 2 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoon Hoisin sauce for a less sweet version, sub oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
  • 1/2 -1 tsp 5-spice powder

To cook:

  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • 1 cup water

Instructions

Method:

  • 1. Heat wok on medium heat. When the wok is hot enough, pour 2 tbsp vegetable oil into the wok.
  • 2. Place the pork belly strips into the wok and brown both sides for about 3-4 minutes. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients into the wok. Stir and ensure the pork strips are coated well with the sauce.
  • 3. Turn the heat to low and gently simmer for 40 minutes or until pork is tender. Turn the pork every 10 minutes to ensure both sides are evenly cooked.
  • 4. By 30 minutes, the sauce will be reduced by half and start turning sticky. Once the pork belly is tender to touch, remove from the wok. Then pour the sauce into a clean bowl and reserve that to dress your steamed rice. Leave a tbsp of sauce/oil in the wok.
  • 5. Heat the wok on medium heat and return the pork belly back into the wok. Sear the meat on both sides for about 2-3 minutes each side until they are charred to your liking.
  • 6. Remove and glaze with honey. Then, slice the pork belly. Serve with warm steamed rice, noodles or bao.
Want Wontons? Hanging with Mom (雲吞)

Want Wontons? Hanging with Mom (雲吞)

By | | Comments 0 Comment

My mom came down and spent the week with us recently.  She is 93 years old and still lives in San Francisco in the same house I grew up in.  Her memory has faltered and her cognitive skills have diminished but she soldiers on.   I am thankful that she is still with us and grateful for the moments we have together.  It is now our turn to take care of her, everything comes full circle.

When she visits we talk about family.  She remembers snippets of when she was younger, she laughs at my exasperation with my kids.  She doesn’t cook much anymore but she likes to make wontons for the kids when she visits.  When I was in college she would make trays of wontons, freeze and pack them, ready for me to take back to Berkeley after a weekend visit.  When the kids were small she would make wontons for them during her babysitting stints,

We used medium wrappers for this batch but I generally use thin wrappers which are good for won ton soup and fried won tons.

Tons of Advice on Wontons

We head to the Asian market to shop for freshwater chestnuts (no canned stuff for her), pork (not pre-ground, too mushy), mushrooms, wrappers, and shrimp (raw & unpeeled).  Back at home, she insists on making the filling as she has for so many years, chopping the pork and shrimp by hand and incorporating the seasonings with her Chinese cleaver.  We reserve some of the filling for mini stuffed omelets called Gai Dan Kok (kid favorite) and then we sit, talk, and fold won tons.  We fill as many trays as we have of wrappers or filling, and store them in the freezer.  When the kids come home she will boil up a batch or fry egg dumplings for them.  These are the moments I will treasure.

DSC03240

Mom makes classic pork and shrimp filling for her wontons.  It is my go-to filling for not just wontons but for egg dumplings and steamed stuffed squash.  It’s delicious.  The shrimp can be chopped with the pork and blended with it or cut into 1/2 inch pieces and a couple of pieces placed in each wonton as shown in the video below. Soaking the shrimp in potassium carbonate firms up the shrimp giving the wonton a nice bite.  You could probably forego this step.  I added 1 tsp Ponzu (or you could use soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon) and 1/2 tsp sesame seed oil to the shrimp for flavor.

The Fried Way

These wontons can also be fried.  Heat oil in a large pot to 350-375 degrees.  Fry in at least 2 inches of oil in the pot.  Cook in batches of 6-8 won tons.  Fry to golden brown and remove to a paper towel-lined pan to drain off excess oil.  Serve with a sweet and sour sauce or ketchup.

Print

Wontons

Every culture has a dumpling, our family enjoys won tons in soup or fried as an appetizer. A classic! This is me mom's recipe for wontons, our favorite.
Course Appetizer, Soup
Cuisine Asian, Asian-American
Keyword dumplings, soup, won ton
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

Pork & Shrimp Filling

  • 3/4 lb ground pork
  • 4-6 water chestnuts peeled and coarsely chopped fresh or canned (rinse before using)
  • 3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in warm water to soften (15-20 min) drained and coarsely chopped
  • 2 stalks of green onions coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 inch knob of fresh ginger peeled and minced
  • 1/4 pound fresh shrimp peeled and deveined and roughly diced
  • 1 T cilantro leaves finely chopped optional

The Flavorings

  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 T oyster sauce
  • 1 T rice wine or sherry
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil optional

That's a Wrap

  • 1 pkg won ton wrappers Hong Kong Style are extra thin, I use thin wonton wrappers by New Hong Kong Noodle Company of San Francisco

Instructions

Filling

  • Start with Pork shoulder or Pork Butt. Hand-chop or coarse grind in food processor. When buying pork, look for coarse ground.
  • Place ground pork and filling ingredients except shrimp* in a medium-sized bowl. *You can finely chop the shrimp and add it to the filling or reserve the shrimp cut into 1/2 inch pieces to be added when folding each wonton.
  • Add seasonings. Using chopsticks or a spoon, stir the mixture in one direction until the ingredients are well combined.

Wrapping

  • See video of my mom wrapping wontons!
  • Have ready wrappers, filling and small bowl of water or egg wash to seal won tons
  • Choose any won ton wrapper you like. My preference is Thin wrappers from New Hong Kong Noodle Factory. Wrappers come in different thicknesses. Avoid thick wrappers if you are making wontons for soup or deep-frying. Thick ones work well for Potstickers-a combination of frying and steaming when more filling is used.
  • Wontons can be folded in a variety of ways including simply folding like a triangle or square. Trick is to eliminate air bubbles and use water or egg wash to seal the edges.
  • Use about 1 generous teaspoon of filling per wonton.
  • Meanwhile, fill a large stockpot with water at least 2/3-3/4 full. Bring to boil over high heat. Drop folded wontons into the boiling water. Keep water at a nice boil not on a crazy high boil. The wontons will float to the surface as they cook, an indication they are ready. Let boil for about 3-4 minutes total, about 1 min after they float to the top. Remove with strainer, drain and serve in soup*
  • * Chicken Soup is perfect. If you use commercial chicken broth, use low sodium and season yourself. Add a slice of fresh ginger or shallots as you are heating. Season with soy sauce.
  • All the rage now seems to be serving wontons without soup, slathered in Chili Crisp Oil and a splash of vinegar. You could easily sub the soup and use a chili oil for the wontons. See notes for sauce.
  • If you have extra filling left after folding wontons, you can use it for gai don gok (mini egg dumplings or as a filling for squash.

Notes

From Red House Spice, Chili Sauce for Wontons in lieu of soup. 
Mix together, drizzle just cooked wontons with sauce.  Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions. Add a touch of Chinese Sesame Paste if you like ~1 teaspoon.

Watch Mom Fold Wontons!
Simple Minced Pork,So Easy Your Kids Could Make This. Mine Can!

Simple Minced Pork,So Easy Your Kids Could Make This. Mine Can!

By | | Comments 2 comments

When I went off to college and moved into an apartment, I would call my Dad (he was the chef in our family) for advice on cooking.  “Dad, what kind of meat do I use for stir fries?  I learned the hard way that beef chuck was not the right choice.  How do I make corn soup, steamed pork patty? Invariably, I wanted to learn how to make dishes I had grown up eating, food that reminded me of home and family.

DSC02049

Everything comes full circle, now my kids are calling me for recipes and tips on how to make the dishes they love.  Fortunately, many of the dishes are simple and quick, perfect for a student’s lifestyle not to mention for families always on the go.   This is one such dish, its easy, versatile and inexpensive, ok, cheap.  Adapted from Chubby Hubby, “Simple Minced Pork”  is the Asian version of Sloppy Joes.  You can serve it over rice or noodles, you can make it with ground turkey or chicken instead of pork or use any kind of mushroom, like creminis instead of shiitake…it’s really up to you.  If your going low carb, use it as filling for a wrap made with lettuce or serve it over zucchini noodles (Check out White on Rice blog for noodles) the sky is the limit!

Print Pin

Simple Minced Pork

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 400 g ground pork or chicken or turkey
  • 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms stalks removed, finely chopped or use creminis
  • 4 green onions finely chopped
  • 1/2 of a small yellow onion minced
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons sake
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1-2 T chicken stock or broth

Instructions

  • Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add yellow onion to pan, fry until onion softens and looks translucent. Add mushrooms, ginger and ground pork. Lower heat to medium. Add sake, mirin, soy sauce and chicken broth. As mixture cooks, break up the pork as much as possible. Stir-fry to reduce sauce and brown meat. Add green onions and cook for additional minute. Stir well and serve over rice (brown or white) or noodles.
  • For a more substantial meal, serve with a poached egg or a Japanese style hard boiled egg.
  • Goes well with Asian noodles with similar thickness to linguine or fettucine.