I Feel Like Chinese Tonight: Char siu eggplant, improvised
I didn’t cook for a really long time. In Hanoi, where we lived for a year and a half, where I was housewife for a while, then back to teaching, I rarely cooked, rarely baked, rarely ventured into our minimalist…
Made in Jiānádà: Suzhou Porky Mooncakes
Hello. I’ve been away for a while, haven’t I? It’s been a very hot, busy summer, much of it nowhere near a kitchen to call my own. We were in Morocco for a month, which was lovely in spite of…
Made in Jiānádà: Homestyle porky Eggplant (家常茄子)
Eggplant (茄子 or qiézi) was one of the first words I learned in Mandarin back in early 2009, partly because we ordered it so often that it inevitably had to stick in my head, and partly because it sounded like a…
Made in Jiānádà: Pork and Green Beans, China-Style
I’m not actually anywhere near my kitchen right now. In fact, I’m out in the wilds of Vancouver Island with my family, camping outside the gates of the Island Music Fest. My laptop is being powered by one of my…
Made in Jiānádà: Lanzhou Lāmiàn (broth!)
This is part 2 in my noodle series. Part 1 (the hand pulled noodles) is here. This is quite possibly the best broth in the whole universe. Except, perhaps, for a fine Tom Yam with all the bark and twigs…
Made in Jiānádà: Garlic Shoots and Smoky Bacon
Welcome to Part 2 in my series of as yet undetermined length on cooking Chinese food in Canada! Part 1 is here. We’re still on safe, neutral territory here- no bear paw, no jellyfish, no shark fin soup in my…
Made in Jiānádà: Garlicky Chinese cucumber salad
Er, hello. It’s been a while. You may remember me as the person who used Xinjiang noodle dough to make pretty much everything. I’ve been, one might say, busy. I got a new job about two months ago. I can’t…
Lavash crackers qui rit (and crockpot hummus)
Oh. Hello. You might remember me from such diverse posts as Xinjiang Noodle Dough Tacos and Xinjiang Noodle Dough Pierogies. I’ve been slightly out of commission recently, what with suddenly having 5 jobs and all. I must say, it sure…
Adventures With Sauerkraut in Shanghai
You know what we have a lot of in Shanghai in mid-winter (aside from rain, rain, zero visibility, unheated buildings and, er, rain)? Cabbages. We have a lot of cabbages. All sorts of cabbages. Aside from the usual assortment of…
The Lazy Laowai’s Guide to Toaster Oven Focaccia
As you’ve probably noticed by now, I have a thing for unleavened bread, especially unleavened bread made in the wok using a highly unlikely Uyghur noodle dough recipe. I’ve turned that into chapatis, tortillas, pierogies, spaghetti, medieval dumplings and ravioli.…
