The Food of Asia. Kong Foong Ling
• Sliced fresh fruit.
Alternatively, you could offer:
• Pork-Stuffed Steamed Beancurd (page 36);
• Beef with Black Pepper (page 41);
• Red Bean Soup (page 46).
Dinner parties
For a dinner party that is guaranteed to impress, present a selection of appetizers and two main dishes served with noodles instead of rice, such as.
• Marinated Sliced Beef (page 36), Carrot and Radish Rolls (page 38) and Seafood in Beancurd Skin (page 36);
• Teochew Steamed Pomfret (page 42) or the classy Shrimp-stuffed Lychees (page 43) and Chicken with Dried Chilies (page 45);
• Fried Noodles Xiamen Style (page 39);
• White Fungus with Melon Balls (page 46).
One-pot meals
Many of the noodle soup dishes here are meals-in-a-bowl, and make an ideal lunch or supper. In China, dishes such as the following are often eaten for breakfast and in-between meals:
• Hot and Spicy Hawker Noodles (page 38);
• Cold Chengdu Noodles (page 39).
A melting pot menu
For a festive culinary tour around Asia:
• Shark's Fin Soup (page 38) from China;
• the ubiquitous but always delicious Chicken Rice from Malaysia/Singapore (page 128);
• Kale with Crispy Pork (page 164) from Thailand served with rice;
• Almond Jelly (from Malaysia/ Singapore) in individual servings (page 134).
THE ESSENTIAL FLAVORS OF CHINESE COOKING
Indispensable to the Chinese pantry are garlic, ginger, and scallions. A good supply of fresh jasmine rice and dried egg noodles is also a must. Flavorings you'll need include soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, and chili sauce. Bamboo shoots and bean curd are a common addition to everything from stir-fries to one-pot braises. Rock sugar is frequently used in red-braised dishes. Sesame paste is mixed into dipping sauces, and Sichuan peppercorns add a subtle heat to dishes.
Some of these appetizers would make very good starters to a formal dinner. Some, like the Seafood in Beancurd Skin and Pork-stuffed Steamed Beancurd, can be served as part of a main meal—just adjust the quantities of the ingredients accordingly.
Nu Er Hong Niu Rou
Marinated Sliced Beef
Red rice is available from Chinese medicine or specialty food shops.
1 x 13 oz (400 g) piece beef topside
Water as required
2 teaspoons red rice (optional)
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons salt
4 bay leaves
Put the beef in a pan with sufficient water to cover. Add all other ingredients and simmer, covered, until the beef is tender. Turn the meat from time to time and add a little more water if it threatens to dry up. Allow to cool. To serve, slice the beef thinly and arrange on a plate. Serve with a dipping sauce.
Chao Lian Xia Xie Jiao
Seafood in Beancurd Skin
7 oz (200 g) peeled shrimp
3½ oz (100 g) crabmeat, fresh or canned
2 water chestnuts, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 large sheets of dried beancurd skin
1 teaspoon cornstarch blended with water
Oil for deep-frying
Blend the shrimp and crabmeat in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add water chestnuts, cilantro, and salt and process for a few more seconds.
Wipe the beancurd skin with a damp cloth to make it pliable, cut into 5-in (13-cm) squares. Put in a heaped spoonful of filling and spread across. Smear the far end of the beancurd skin with cornstarch paste, then fold over the sides of the skin and roll up to seal the filling in firmly.
Deep-fry in hot oil until crisp and golden. Cut rolls into bitesized pieces before serving.
Dou Fu Rou Jiang Zha
Pork-stuffed Steamed Beancurd
1 lb (500 g) beancurd
3 teaspoons cornstarch
3½ oz (100 g) finely minced lean pork
3 dried black mushrooms, soaked and finely chopped
2 teaspoons chicken stock powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine
1½ cups leafy greens (spinach, Napa cabbage or bok choy), blanched
½ cup (125 ml) chicken stock
Cut the beancurd into squares about 3 x 1V2 in (8 x 4 cm) thick squares. Use a teaspoon to scoop out some of the bean curd from the center to make a hole for the pork filling. Combine 1 teaspoon cornstarch with all other ingredients, except leafy greens and stock, mixing well. Stuff this into the beancurd and steam over high heat for 4 minutes.
While the beancurd is steaming, cook the greens in chicken stock. Drain, keeping the stock. Arrange greens on a plate. Blend remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch with water and thicken the stock. Pour over vegetables, arrange the cooked beancurd on top and serve.
HELPFUL HINT
For the stuffing, minced chicken or beef works as well as pork. For a vegetarian variation, use soaked, chopped vermicelli.
Ma La Lian Ou
Lotus Root Salad
The lotus has special associations for Buddhists, for it is said that Gautama Buddha likened man striving to achieve goodness to an exquisite lotus bloom rising unsullied from the muddy bottom of a lake!
6-8 in (15-20 cm) lotus root
1 tablespoon white rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Salt to taste
Peel the lotus root and cut cross-wise into ¼-in-(½-cm-) thick slices. Heat a pan of water until boiling, then drop in the lotus root slices and blanch for about 5 seconds. Drain and rinse in cold water.
Toss the lotus root slices in a bowl with the vinegar, then arrange on a plate. Sprinkle with sugar and salt to taste and serve immediately.