Category Archives: Ingredients

Bitter melon soup, a Hakka classic

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Summer brings bitter melon (foo gwa). We can find them at the Hmong’s stand at our farmers market. Their appearance prompts curious questions. They don’t look much like melons, their shape is more like a slender gourd or a plump cucumber. Their shiny bumpy skin is furrowed with deep wrinkles and their interior is filled with a white pithy mesh of seeds. Like their name implies, they are bitter. Although Hakka and many Asians love their strong numbing bite, it’s an acquired taste for many. Although I love bitter in many forms, I’ve find most times they are simply too bitter for me.


My father loved them so much that when he retired, he grew them in his garden. His recipe for the Hakka classic, stuffed bitter melon soup is on page 24 of The Hakka Cookbook.


My husband also loves bitter melon. Last weekend we bought two bitter melons at the market. I’m making his favorite, stuffed bitter melon soup tonight. I will use all pork for the filling, You can vary the filling to your taste. Many add some minced shrimp or fish to lighten it. I like to season the pork with some minced ginger, garlic, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, salt, and pepper. Add some cornstarch to help bind it together. Slice the gourd crosswise into thick rings and scoop out the seeds. Pack the meat mixture into the bitter melon rings. then slide them into the simmering broth. Simmer the soup until the melon is tender. Tonight, I had some filling leftover so I dropped spoonfuls of the mixture into the broth. I also added some sliced carrots and celery to the soup because I had some in the refrigerator. Success! He ate three bowls.


Feeling adventurous? Give bitter melons a try.

Braised mushrooms from Luodai

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Braised Mountain Mushrooms at Guangdong Guild in Luodai

In October 2005, I spent a day in Luodai, a picturesque Hakka suburb of Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province. I was there collecting information and recipes for my Hakka cookbook. This town houses many guilds from different provinces in China. The guilds function as social halls with restaurants, tea houses, and meeting rooms. Donations from Hakka from these provinces built these guilds. We eat two Hakka banquets, one at the Jiangxi Guild, and a second one at the Guangdong Guild.

History of the Guangdong Guild in Luodai


One ingredient that appeared in several dishes in both banquets were mushrooms. Mushrooms grow in the mountains nearby. We saw many mushrooms for sale in town. One dish that was served at both banquets was braised mushrooms. It was a relatively straightforward dish that emphasized the pure, earthy mushroom essence. The mushrooms were simply braised in broth, with garlic, ginger, and leek. It’s an easy dish for the home cook. This is a description on how to make the dish. For a more detailed recipe, see The Hakka Cookbook, page 70.


Braised Mountain Mushrooms


Clean about 12 ounces fresh mushrooms (use one or several types). Discard stems from shiitake. Slice the mushrooms about 1/2-inch thick. If pieces are large, cut mushroom slices in 2- 3-inch lengths. Clean1 leek or 2 or 3 green onions, and thinly slice. Cut 2 or 3 large garlic cloves and a1-inch piece of fresh ginger into thin slices.


In a large wok or frying pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Add leek, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until leek is limp, about 30 seconds, then add mushrooms. Stir-fry until mushrooms are lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth, 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine (shaoxing) or dry sherry, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring often until mushrooms are limp, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons water with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add to pan. Stir until the sauce boils. Transfer to serving dish. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Gifts for the aspiring Chinese chef

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A cooking kit for the aspiring Chinese chef: The Hakka Cookbook packed in a Chinese steamer basket with ingredients such as Tianjin preserved vegetables, bean sauce, and Chinese rice wine (shaoxing).

Looking for the perfect gift for your aspiring Chinese chef?  If you have someone on your list who wants to learn to cook Chinese food, here are some suggestions for the novice to the more experienced cook. Of course, I would give The Hakka Cookbook with over 140 recipes for Chinese comfort food to special occasion festival dishes. It also includes directions on how to use tools and equipment and a glossary of Chinese pantry ingredients. You can order The Hakka Cookbook from your local bookstore or buy online from many sources, depending on the country you are shopping from.

For a cooking kit, package the book with cooking tools or ingredients. Here are some suggestions.

1. Wok. This is the ultimate all-purpose pan in the Chinese kitchen. Use the wok to stir-fry, deep-fry, braise, boil, and steam. For Western kitchens I would choose a 14-inch flat-bottom wok made from rolled steel or enamel-clad cast iron. Check with the Wok Shop. They will find the right wok for you and your stove. These hard working pans are bargain-priced compared to most Western high quality pans.  Also buy a wok spatula to make stir-frying easier and a wok lid. This versatile bowl-shaped pan can also be used for Western dishes. I use mine to make spaghetti sauce and popcorn.

2. Chinese cleaver. This is the equivalent of the French chef’s knife. It’s an all-purpose knife with the advantage of a wide blade that’s handy for crushing garlic and scooping up cut vegetables.

I’ve used this metal multi-layer Chinese steamer for over 20 years. I can cook two dishes at the same time. The base is also handy for cooking vegetables and noodles.

3. Chinese  metal steamer or bamboo steamer. These steamers can accommodate wide dishes often used to hold a whole fish, meats, and beaten eggs. Choose one about 11 to 12 inches wide. Basket steamers can be stacked and fit inside a wok. If you steam often, consider a metal multi-layer steamer you can cook several dishes at a time. Steaming is an easy and healthful way to cook. The Wok Shop as well as many Asian supermarkets sell these steamers. Also look for them online.

4. Staples of the Chinese pantry. Present an assortment of key seasonings, especially those that are not readily available in the supermarket, such as dark soy sauce, Chinese rice wine (shaoxing), fermented black beans or black bean and garlic sauce, ground bean sauce, Tianjin preserved vegetables, dried black fungus, and dried tangerine peel. Look at The Hakka Pantry starting on page 247 in The Hakka Cookbook for suggestions, descriptions, Chinese names, and shopping guidance. Or add one of our sauces, JADE Sichuan Peanut Sauce, that is ready to eat without cooking for a table sauce, salad dressing, or stir-fry sauce.

Chinese clay pot

5. Chinese clay pot.  For the cook who has the basic equipment, consider giving a clay pot (also known as sand pot). Braise stews, simmer soups, and cook rice in these rustic pots that enhance the natural flavors of the ingredients. They also serve as handsome serving dishes. Buy these pots at an Asian cookware store such as the Wok Shop or online.

Ways to use lotus root

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fresh lotus root

Fresh lotus root looks a bit scruffy on the outside. This rhizome of the lotus plant resembles a string of fat, ivory-colored sausages. To reveal its beauty, peel and thinly slice the root crosswise to see it blossom into lacy snowflakes. When lightly cooked, they’re crisp and slightly sweet and crunchy. When thicker chunks simmer in broth or stew, they take on a starchy quality somewhat like a slightly sweet firm potato.

Thinly sliced fresh lotus root

I lightly blanch the thin slices in boiling water, then rinse and drain them. I cook half using the recipe for Stir-fried Lotus Root and Pork in The Hakka Cookbook (page 79). It’s easy and satisfying. In this simple dish, stir-fry soy sauce-marinated thinly sliced pork with lots of green onions, a few slices of chile, and garlic. Add the the blanched slices of lotus root and a sauce mixture of water, soy sauce, Chinese rice wine, cornstarch, and bean sauce or hoisin sauce. Eat with rice.

Stir-fried lotus root with pork

For easy pickles, I immerse the blanched thin slices of lotus root in a mixture of vinegar, sugar, water, and salt. I use the recipe for Pickled Carrots an Radishes (page 60) in The Hakka Cookbook as a guideline for the pickling liquid. Add a few slices of ginger or chiles, if you like. Chill the pickles at least 2 days or up to 2 weeks. They’re deliciously crisp, tangy and sweet. Enjoy!

Hakka chicken wings, savory and peppery

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Hakka braised chicken wings in bean sauce
These chicken wings braise in an umami-rich bean sauce, punctuated with black pepper.

With chicken wings in the freezer, I turned to a recipe in The Hakka Cookbook, Braised Chicken Wings in Bean Sauce. I love this recipe because it takes little effort but yields a big payoff. My Hakka friend, Fah Liong, taught me how to make these Hakka chicken wings. Dark salty fermented bean sauce permeates the soft, silky chicken flesh and resulting sauce with intense savoriness. A generous measure of freshly ground pepper adds a spicy kick.

Bean Sauce

Look for bean sauce in Asian markets. If you can’t find the Chinese bean sauce (aka known as bean sauce or ground bean sauce) use the more available hoisin sauce but omit the sugar. Bean sauce is the base for the sweeter, more seasoned hoisin.

To cook, simply brown about 2 pounds meaty chicken wing sections in oil, then add 2 tablespoons minced garlic. Add 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons ground bean sauce, 1 tablespoon each soy sauce and sugar, and about 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cover and simmer until wings are tender when pierced, 35 to 45 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the wings to a serving dish. Skim fat off pan juices, and if sauce tastes watery, boil, uncovered, to concentrate flavor and reduce to about 1 cup. Pour over wings. For more details, see page 203 in The Hakka Cookbook. Serve with rice and stir-fried greens. Enjoy!

Chinese potato stew

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Ingredients for Chinese five-spice potato stew: arrowhead, Chinese bacon, and green onions
Fresh arrowhead and dark strips of Chinese bacon simmer together to make a fragrant, dark stew.

Khiung Hee Fat Choy! Happy Year of the Ox! For our Chinese New Year’s family feast, I cooked Five-Spice Potatoes and Chinese Bacon from The Hakka Cookbook. This Chinese potato stew comes from childhood memories of Popo, my grandmother and a master forager and cook.


Long ago on a drive through the flat rice fields near Oroville, California, Popo suddenly shouted to my father to stop the car. She had seen a stand of plants growing in an irrigation ditch along the road. Sensing wild potatoes grew underneath, she directed us to plunge our hands through the cold water into the muddy silt. We found plump bulbs attached to the stems and pulled them out.


That night Popo cooked the wild potatoes, better known as arrowhead (ci gu), with Chinese bacon to make a dark fragrant stew. The sweet spicy perfume of five-spice powder and smoky bacon filled the kitchen and our memories of that day.

Chinese five-spice potato stew
Five-Spice Potatoes and Chinese Bacon

That was the only time I remember Popo using arrowhead for the Chinese potato stew. Often, she simply substituted thin-skinned potatoes from the supermarket. Look for arrowhead in Asian markets. Make sure the bulbs are firm and fresh. Or use potatoes as my grandmother did. Chinese bacon, dried soy sauce and five-spice marinated strips of pork belly, also contribute to the dark, fragrance of the stew. You’ll also find the dried smoked pork belly in Asian markets.


Her stew was relatively easy to cook. Simply slice the bacon, lightly brown, and add garlic and ginger. Add water, a little dark soy sauce, sugar, and five-spice powder and simmer, covered, until the bacon is almost tender. Then add peeled and sliced arrowhead and cover and simmer until tender. Serve with hot rice and enjoy.

For a detailed recipe, see page 19 of The Hakka Cookbook.

Hakka noodle bowl

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Hakka Ginger Chicken Noodle Bowl is easy, healthy, and zesty.

Many Hakka dishes have the reputation for being heavy, fatty, dark, and salty. This new Hakka Noodle Bowl, defies that stereotype. I combined the two easiest and shortest recipes in The Hakka Cookbook, to create a zesty, colorful, noodle bowl that appeals to today’s taste for lighter, healthier food.


Start with Steeped Chicken Breasts (page 22 of The Hakka Cookbook). The lean chicken gently cooks in the residual heat of boiling water. Cool and tear the moist meat into coarse shreds. You can also use leftover cooked chicken or meat from a purchased rotisserie bird.


The zesty Fresh Ginger-Onion Sauce (page 66) brightly seasons the chicken and noodles. This sauce combines lots of fresh minced fresh ginger, green onion, and garlic. Pour boiling hot oil over the mixture to lightly temper the pungency. The sauce is often served with salt-baked, steamed, or poached chicken, but I find it also adds a vibrant lively flavor to noodles, seafood, and vegetables.


Cook your noodle of choice–I like Chinese wheat noodles or soba. Mix noodles with the ginger sauce and soy sauce to taste. Place in large bowls. Top noodles with mounds of cooked shredded chicken and slivered vegetables. Offer extra ginger sauce to add to taste. Enjoy–you will love this fresh, light noodle bowl.

Hakka Ginger Chicken Noodle Bowl

You can scale this recipe up or down. The chicken and sauce can be prepared a day ahead, cover and chill. Use leftover Ginger-Onion Sauce on salads, noodles, seafood, and vegetables.

Makes 2 or 3 main dish servings

6 ounces dry Chinese wheat noodles or Japanese soba
Fresh Ginger-Onion Sauce (page 66 of The Hakka Cookbook, makes about 3/4 cup)
Soy sauce
1 1/2 to 2 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken (Steeped Chicken Breasts, page 22 of The Hakka Cookbook)
Salt to taste
2 to 3 cups slivered or thinly sliced vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, jicama, radishes, cherry tomatoes, cabbage, red bell pepper, red onion (choose 3 to 6)
Cilantro leaves for garnish
Chile sauce (optional)

1. Cook noodles in boiling water as directed on package. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Drain.

2. In a large bowl mix noodles with 3 to 4 tablespoons Ginger-Onion Sauce and 2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste. Place noodles in 2 or 3 large serving bowls.

3. Mix chicken with about 3 tablespoons Ginger-Onion Sauce, 2 to 3 teaspoons soy sauce, and salt to taste. Mound equal portions of chicken on each bowl of noodles. Arrange mounds of vegetables on noodles. Drizzle vegetables with a little of the Ginger-Onion Sauce, offer remaining sauce to add to taste. Garnish bowls with cilantro. If desired, offer chile sauce and soy sauce to add to taste. Mix lightly to eat.

Chinese feast at Zhong Shan Restaurant

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Last week, we dined again at Chef Jin Hua Li’s new business, Zhong Shan Restaurant on Taraval Street in San Francisco. Like his previous restaurant, he features Hakka cuisine. At our last meal at Zhong Shan, we tried many of the new dishes. At this feast we couldn’t resist ordering some of our old favorites from his Hakka Restaurant that he previously owned. Luckily, these dishes appear on the Zhong Shan menu, too.


We ordered the Steamed Pork Stomach with Chicken Soup and the Stuffed Duck in Lotus Leaf. Both of these labor intensive dishes require advance notice and are well worth planning ahead.

  • Steamed Pork Stomach with Chicken Soup


For the soup, he stuffs a pork stomach with a whole chicken filled with chicken feet, white peppercorns, and dried longans. The football-shaped stomach steams for 5 to 6 hours to create a complex broth imbued with the chicken essence, a slight peppery spiciness, and a faint sweetness. The server brought the stomach and broth in a huge white tureen. She lifted out the stomach, cut it open with scissors, and cut the stomach and chicken into smaller pieces. The golden clear broth was ladled into small bowls to sip. Bite-sized pieces of chicken and stomach were offered to eat with a dip of soy sauce.

  • Lotus leaf encases stuffed duck
  • Duck filled with Glutinous Rice Stuffing


In the Stuffed Duck in Lotus Leaf, glutinous rice laced with Chinese delicacies such as sausage, chestnuts, and dates fills a whole duck. The duck is browned, then wrapped in lotus leaves and steamed until the duck almost falls apart with succulent tenderness.

  • Braised Fried Tofu and Fish Fillet in Clay Pot
  • Minced Pork and String Beans with Olive


We tried a couple of new dishes. Braised Fried Tofu and Fish Fillet in Clay Pot will join my list of favorites. The delicately sauced tofu and fish simply melted in our mouths.
We also liked the simple stir-fry of Minced Pork and String Beans with Olive. What was the olive? The olive looked like small bits of dark leaves. Checking on the internet I find that the Chinese olive vegetable is a dark condiment of cooked Chinese mustard greens, minced green olives, spices, soy, and oil. Use it as a seasoning to add deep earthy, savory flavor.

Braised Spareribs

Chef Li sent us a new offering on his menu, Braised Spareribs. Not sure what the official name is, but we found the moist, tender, pork ribs cloaked in a dark, savory sauce to be a winner.

  • Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green
  • House Special Basil Eggplant
  • Hong Kong Style Spicy Clams
  • Sauteed garlic pea sprouts

Must-have favorites rounded out our menu. Chef Li makes the best Chinese Bacon with Preserved Green. I love the House Special Basil Eggplant with its soft, seductive silkiness. The Hong Kong Spicy Clams are deep-fried to crust the exterior, then stir-fried with chiles and garlic. The bright green Sautéed Garlic Pea Sprouts brought a fresh note and balance to our feast. We all agreed, it was an incredible meal at a bargain price!

  • Zhong Shan Restaurant
  • Hakka Cuisine
  • 2237 Taraval Street (between 32nd and 33rd Avenues)
  • San Francisco, CA 94116
  • (415) 592 8938
Zhong Shan Restaurant Exterior


Hakka stir-fry with pickled mustard greens

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Hakka chicken stir-fry with pickled mustard greensMost nights when I cook dinner, it’s usually an ad-lib effort based on what’s in the refrigerator. Last night I had some leftover raw chicken breast strips coated with a little cornstarch, wine, soy sauce, salt, and oil. There was also a week-old red bell pepper, a stray celery stalk, and some green onion. I thumbed through The Hakka Cookbook and found Stir-fried Chicken and Salted Mustard Greens on page 162. Bingo! I had all the ingredients plus some extras and the all-important pickled mustard greens, beloved by the Hakka.

Basically, it is a chicken stir-fry with the addition of salted or pickled mustard greens and red bell pepper for color. The recipe includes a sauce mixture with a little sugar and vinegar that gives the finished dish a slight sweet-sour tang. I stir-fried the chicken with ginger and garlic, then added the vegetables. At the end, I added a tiny bit of water and skipped the sauce since I used pickled mustard greens which were already a bit sweet and tangy. Here are my results. Quick, easy, and delicious.

Long beans and pork stir-fry

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Popo (grandmother) loved to garden. One of my favorite vegetables was her Chinese long beans that measured almost two feet long.

Last weekend at the farmers’ market long beans (aka yard long beans) were back in season. This variety is related to black-eyed peas or cowpeas so they have a heartier bean flavor than common crunchier green beans. I bought a bundle of the slender dark green beans (they can also be light green) and cooked them as Popo (grandmother) would in this easy stir-fry with pork and a dark savory bean sauce.

Look for the ground bean sauce in Asian markets. Other names for it are bean sauce, brown bean sauce, yellow bean sauce, bean paste, mo chi jiang, meen see, mo see chiang) This thick, pasty sauce is made from ground fermented soybeans. It has a salty, pronounced fermented bean flavor, akin to soy sauce. For an alternative, you could use hoisin sauce which is a sweetened spiced version of bean sauce. Eliminate the sugar in the sauce, if used.

Stir-fried Long Beans and Pork (page 21 of The Hakka Cookbook)

Makes 2 servings as a main dish or 4 servings as part of a multicourse meal

Sauce:

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (shaoxing) or dry sherry

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

 

Stir-fry:

8 ounces long beans

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 to 8 ounces ground pork

1 tablespoon ground bean sauce

1/2 cup water, or as needed

 

1. For the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the water, wine, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch.

2. For the stir-fry: Trim off the stem ends from the beans and cut the beans into 1/2-inch lengths.

3. Set a 14-inch wok or 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil and rotate pan to spread. Add the onion and garlic; stir-fry until the onion is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add the pork and stir-fry until the meat is browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the bean sauce to coat the pork. Add the water and beans. Cover and cook until beans are barely tender to the bite, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the sauce mixture and add to the pan. Stir-fry until the sauce boils and thickens, about 30 seconds. With a frying pan, the sauce may be thicker. If needed, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons water to thin sauce. Transfer to a serving dish.