Easy, quick Hakka recipes for the family

Posted on June 3, 2019 by lla

Stir-fry seasoned ground pork with chunks of tofu and season with soy sauce for quick kid-friendly meal.

On my Facebook page I received a request for easy, fast, family friendly Hakka recipes from someone who owned The Hakka Cookbook. She had children and didn’t have time to find the easiest recipes. Over the years, I have pointed out a number of quick choices in this blog. Here’s one of the most kid-friendly meals that will not tax the most stressed cook.

Stir-fried Tofu and Pork Hash (page 123 in The Hakka Cookbook) takes the flavors of the Hakka classic, Stuffed Tofu (nyiong tiu fu in Hakka), and deconstructs the elements into a quick and easy stir-fry worthy of a weeknight family dinner. It’s so easy you almost don’t need a recipe. Just season some ground pork like you would when making stuffed tofu. Drain and crumble tofu into big chunks. Stir-fry the meat until browned and crumbly, add tofu, and soy sauce to taste. Cook until hot. Garnish with sliced green onions.

Serve with Stir-fried Iceberg Lettuce and Garlic (page 27) or Chinese Broccoli with Sweet Rice Wine (page 230), or your favorite stir-fried greens. Add hot cooked rice and you have a quick, satisfying, and nutritious dinner for 3 or 4. The mild flavors will please young diners but are savory enough to satisfy adult tastes.

Hakka influences Chaoshan cuisine

Posted on March 13, 2019 by lla

As the Hakka scattered throughout the world, they influenced local cuisines of their new homes. This became evident as I viewed the new beautifully filmed Chinese documentary series “Flavorful Origins” on Netflix. Season one focuses on Chaoshan (Teoswa), a coastal region in the eastern part of Guangdong province about 200 miles north of Hong Kong. Major cities in the region are Shantou, Chaozhou, and Jieyang. People who live there are also known as Teochew or Chiu Chow. As I viewed the series I saw how the Hakka influence Chaoshan cuisine. It’s no surprise because Hakka regions, Meizhou and Fujian lie nearby. In the Hakka diaspora, we find that neighbors often borrowed from each other.

In season 1, episode 10 we see the Hakka in Chaoshan introduced Lei Cha (aka Lui Cha). The locals embraced it and some created their own versions. Most grind sesame seeds, peanuts, and fresh green herbs such as mint, fennel, and dried tea leaves with a mortar and pestle to make a paste. Then they stir in hot water to create a green herbaceous tea. Some mix in a stir-fried mixture of fresh tea leaves and vegetables. Others might add a mixture of stir-fried peanuts and greens and popped rice. The choice of herbs and spices may vary.

I’ve only eaten lei cha in Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. Each version differed depending on the cook and the region. Some were savory, others sweet. Find these recipes in The Hakka Cookbook (pages 99 and 119).

Look for other Hakka influences in this series directed by Chen Xiaoqing. It is narrated in Mandarin but there are English subtitles (have the pause button ready because the captions disappear from the screen very quickly). Or change your audio settings to English, if needed. The educational and luscious episodes run for less than 15 minutes. Savor this beautiful food documentary.

Healthy foods for Chinese New Year

Posted on February 11, 2019 by lla

Savory Pounded Tea Rice

Today is the 7th day of the Lunar New Year. According to ChineseAmericanFamily.com The seventh day commemorates Nu Wa, the ancient goddess who is believed to have created mankind from yellow clay. On this day, Chinese people eat healthy foods with auspicious meanings. For the Hakka, that dish might be lui cha (aka lei cha, thunder tea). Several variations exist from savory to sweet.

This dish claims to cure almost any health issue. This cure-all reputation originated almost 2000 years ago when in a crucial battle, a general ordered a Hakka doctor to treat his plaque-stricken troops. The doctor prescribed a tea made from pounded seeds, nuts, and tea leaves. When the sick troops drank the tea they miraculously recovered.

Vegetable Tea

In The Hakka Cookbook, you’ll find recipes for the Savory Pounded Tea Rice from Malaysia on page 119 and Pounded Tea with Sweets from Taiwan on page 99. Loh Sye Moi from Malaysia serves a simpler related soup-like dish she calls Vegetable Tea (page 113). Although it does not include tea leaves, it includes many vegetables and toasted seeds and nuts.

Many of the ingredients in these dishes have auspicious meanings. Green vegetables symbolize close family ties. Peanuts promote health, long life, prosperity, continuous growth, wealth and good fortune, stability. Seeds symbolize fertility. Walnuts promise happiness for the whole family.

On this day consider celebrating humans by eating foods that promote your good health. May the Year of the Pig bring you good health, prosperity, and abundance!

Foods for Chinese New Year

Posted on February 7, 2019 by lla

Photo by Dabin Lo

Thanks to everyone who braved the rain Monday night and showed up for my event at the Menlo Park Library. We had a good turnout. Everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation. It was especially rewarding for me to meet some fellow Hakka in the audience.

I gave a short introduction on the Hakka history and cuisine, followed by slides of traditions and foods for Chinese New Year. I ended by cooking three recipes from The Hakka Cookbook that might fit into a New Year dinner.

Here is one of the recipes I demonstrated. It is in The Hakka Cookbook but I increased the quantities slightly here so there would be more for tasting. This recipe was featured in the New York Times Magazine several years ago.

Photo by Dabin Lo

Stir-fried Pork and Pineapple (The Hakka Cookbook, p. 92)

This stir-fry from Taiwan is reminiscent of a lighter and fresher version of sweet and sour pork. Auspicious ingredients include crunchy black fungus that represents longevity. Pineapple symbolizes wealth, luck, excellent fortune, and luck in gambling. Pork offers strength, wealth, and abundant blessings.

Makes 3 servings as a main dish or 5 to 6 servings as part of a multicourse meal

Pork

12 ounces boneless pork shoulder, leg, or loin, trimmed of fat

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sauce

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

Stir-fry

12 pieces dried black fungus, such as cloud ears, each about 1 inch wide

5 green onions, including green tops, ends trimmed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons thinly slivered fresh ginger

12 ounces fresh pineapple, cut into 3/4-inch chunks (about 1 1/2 cups)

6 to 10 thin rings fresh chile (preferably red) such as jalapeno or Fresno (remove seeds, if you prefer less spicy heat)

1. For the pork: Thinly slice pork into strips about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. In a small bowl, mix the pork with the soy sauce, oil, and cornstarch.

2. For the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and salt.

3. For the stir-fry: Rinse the fungus. Soak the fungus in hot water until soft, 5 to 15 minutes, drain. Pinch out and discard any hard knobby centers. Cut the fungus into 1-inch pieces. Cut the green onions into 2-inch lengths. Cut thick ends in half lengthwise.

4. Set a 14-inch wok or 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, after about 1 minute. Add the oil and rotate the pan to spread. Add the ginger and pork; stir-fry until meat is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the pineapple, black fungus, sauce mixture, green onions, and chile. Stir-fry until the pineapple is hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to serving dish.

Photo by Dabin Lo

Chinese New Year Foods and Traditions

Posted on January 20, 2019 by lla

Welcome to the Year of the Pig! Happy Chinese New Year! Khiung Hee Fat Choy! ????!

Join me as we usher in the lunar new year on Monday night, February 4 at the Menlo Park Library. Through photos and food, I will share Chinese New Year foods and traditions. Also learn about my history and the story of China’s guest families known as the Hakka. Cooking demo and tastings included.

Chinese celebrate this period of renewal for 15 days with family reunions, festive banquets, symbolic decorations, red envelopes filled with money, and good wishes. Come and explore this joyful time. I look forward to seeing you. Bring your copy of The Hakka Cookbook for signing. A few copies will be available for purchase.

Chinese New Year: Foods and Traditions

February 4, Monday, 6 to 7:30 pm

Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St., Menlo Park, CA 94025

Contact: John Weaver jnweaver@menlopark.org 650-330-2501

Adults and teens only

Free, advance registration not needed

Asian steamers, a gift for the cook

Posted on December 5, 2018 by lla

Looking for ideas for holiday gifts? Consider giving an Asian steamer as a gift for the cook on your list. The steamer works for any cuisine, but assumes a major role in Asian cooking because it is so easy and healthy.

Foods cook gently in a moist environment, preserving succulence and nutrients. Unlike Western steaming which commonly translates to steaming vegetables on a wobbly rack over water, Chinese often steam composed dishes with seasonings in a wide shallow bowl or Pyrex pie plate. The dish collects the flavorful juices. So a steamer needs to be wide enough to accommodate the dish and elevate it high enough so the water does not flow into the dish. Sure, you can set up a make shift steamer using a deep wide pan, lid, rack, and empty cans to elevate the rack, but if you steam often it’s much easier with an Asian steamer.

There are several different styles. If kitchen storage is tight, consider bamboo basket-like steamers with bamboo lids that reduce condensation. Nestle the bamboo steamers into a large wide wok. The sloping sides of a wok hold the steamer basket/rack above the water. Choose a 11- to 12-inch steamer wide enough to accommodate at least a 9-inch wide dish. The bamboo steamers can be stacked, so several dishes can be cooked at the same time. Buy as sets or individual racks.

Bamboo steamer with adapter at the Wok shop http://www.wokshop.com/store/detail.php?show=482

If you don’t have a wok, consider this option at the Wok Shop in San Francisco. They sell an aluminum adapter for $7.95 (does not include pot or bamboo steamers). The adapter, a donut-shaped ring, fits over the rim of a pan and the bamboo steamers sits on the adapter, allowing you to steam using an ordinary pan you may already have at home. The adapter fits 8, 10, and 12-inch bamboo steamers.

Fish and rice steam together in a tiered steamer.

I often use a 3-tier aluminum steamer. Mine, pictured above, is about 30 years old. Similar models are also available in stainless steel. The bottom pan holds water, the top two tiers are the steaming racks. They are sturdier than the bamboo versions but need more storage space in the kitchen. I often cook different foods in each tier. After steaming, I lift off the top tiers and quickly blanch vegetables in the boiling water in the bottom. You can cook a whole meal in a multi-layer steamer; see this steamed fish dinner that I cook almost once a week.

Look for other steamed dishes in this blog such as Steamed Minced Pork and Eggs, Mom’s Black Bean Pork Spareribs, and Steamed Stuffed Tofu. There are many other steamed dishes in The Hakka Cookbook.

I find the Wok Shop in San Francisco a great source for Asian cooking equipment. Stop by the store if you are San Francisco Chinatown or shop online.

Hakka stuffed chicken for Thanksgiving

Posted on November 5, 2018 by lla

As Thanksgiving approaches I’m reminded of Chef Jin Hua Li’s Chicken stuffed with Preserved Mustard Greens at the Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco.

He stuffs a whole chicken with a mixture of preserved mustard greens, mushrooms, and pork. Then he browns and braises the whole bird in broth until tender. After removing the chicken from the pan, he boils the broth to reduce and concentrate flavors, then lightly thickens the savory liquid to create a sauce. He created this festive dish for Chinese New Years but it also reminds me of a Hakka variation of Thanksgiving turkey and gravy.

The flavors and ingredients have roots in Hakka cuisine. Preserved mustard greens (moi choi, mei cai) contribute a distinctive salty-sweet pungency to the dish. These same dry greens are used in the Hakka classic, pork belly with preserved mustard greens. Chef Li mixes this preserved vegetable with pork and mushrooms to create a savory stuffing.

If you’re having a small Thanksgiving dinner, consider making this Hakka Stuffed Chicken in lieu of turkey. My recipe adapted from Chef Li’s version is on page 233 of The Hakka Cookbook. Or if you live in San Francisco, order Chicken with Preserved Greens from Hakka Restaurant 415. 876. 6898 (one day advance notice).

Hakka stir-fry with pickled mustard greens

Posted on September 4, 2018 by lla

Most 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

Posted on June 26, 2018 by lla

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.

Eating Hakka food in a Fujian tulou

Posted on May 23, 2018 by lla

What is it like living in a Hakka village? On our recent trip to China, we spent one day and night living in a Hakka tulou and eating Hakka food for a true Hakka experience. We slept in the 138 year-old Tulou Fuyulou in Fujian province. We ate all our meals here–home-style fare with satisfying simplicity.

Our Hakka Meals

For lunch, simple stir-fry dishes appeared on the table such as tomatoes with eggs, eggplant with bits of pork, chicken with mushrooms, and beef with green peppers. The soup paired local bamboo shoots with mustard greens and sliced pork. We loved the dumplings stuffed with bamboo shoots and mushrooms. The host said the chewy dumpling dough contained mashed cooked taro and tapioca starch. The Hakka classic steamed pork belly with preserved mustard greens (kiu ngiuk moi choi) arrived last. My favorite dish was the eggplant which resembles the recipe for Braised Eggplant, Pork, and Mushrooms in The Hakka Cookbook (page 93).

After a few hours exploring the village, we returned to eat dinner. The chef allowed us to watch him in the kitchen as he and his staff cooked our dinner. He dipped small whole smelt into a batter and deep-fried the tiny fish until crisp, just like my mother did in California. For the soup, the cook heated frozen precooked beef balls in a light broth or water. She poured the boiling hot broth and meatballs over chopped celery, green onion, and a small handful of chopped fresh squid in a large serving bowl. The boiling liquid instantly cooked the raw ingredients.

To prepare Ginger Duck, the chef chopped half a steamed duck into bite-sized pieces and stir-fried the duck with garlic, lots of sliced fresh ginger, and green onion. He added a little light and dark soy sauce, and a generous splash of water. A drizzle of cornstarch slurry to the cooking liquid lightly thickened the sauce as it came to a boil.

A couple of stir-fries followed. Soy sauce lightly seasoned potato sticks with pork strips. Blanched bamboo shoots, pickled mustard greens, and green onion cooked together for simple vegetable. Local greens with slightly bitter leaves wilted briefly in water, then a beaten egg was drizzled in the liquid, to create egg flower-like swirls. We sipped the local sweet rice wine to end another satisfying meal of Chinese comfort food eaten at a Hakka tulou.