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Healthy Japanese

Hijiki Seaweed and Carrots

Every so often you find that your cooking is in a rut and that you regurgitate the same recipes again and again. If you need a change of pace or are looking for healthier food alternatives I would, without a doubt, recommend Japanese food.

There is no sense in me going on about its health benefits. The beauty of Japanese women speaks for itself. Their delicious ultra healthy diet bestows them with lustrous hair, perfect skin and thin frames. In Asian hotels I do try and catch a glimpse of what they eat for breakfast: miso soup, fish or omelettes and am quick to hide my naughty pain-au-chocolat and bacon.

Dalian has a population of about 6,000 Japanese people so you are always bound to find good Japanese restaurants and ingredients. Jiu Guang has a great selection of Japanese style meats and ingredients. It’s pricey, but worth it unless you are an ace at meat chopping and slicing.

My Japanese pantry contains the following: miso paste of various colors and flavors, sake, mirin, wasabi, pickled ginger, soba, tofu, ichimi togarashi and seaweeds like hijiki and wakame.

With great speed and little equipment you can prepare most Japanese dishes. A bowl of miso with clams or tofu and seaweed is never more than 10 minutes away. Chicken teriyaki, a dish adored by children the world over, can be made in a flash.

In Japan, fish is revered and eaten in many ways from baked in salt to sushi. Rice, like in China, is a staple and vegetables accompany every meal. What makes Japan distinct is an emphasis on aesthetic harmony that compared to other countries is a critical part of food culture. The food is presented in a myriad of plates in all shapes, colors and sizes. Meals are also balanced by containing the five flavors: sour, salty, sweet, bitter and spicy. If you fall in love with Japanese food like me do rush to the top of floor of theTea Market and get yourself cheap Japanese bowls and dishes from the dusty and messy restaurant supply store there.

Japanese cold dishes are easy, beautiful and can be made ahead.

3 Salads

Tofu with bonito flakes and green onion

Ingredients

  • 1 block of silken tofu
  • 1 green onion thinly sliced
  • ½ cup of bonito flakes
  • 2 tsp. grated ginger
  • soy sauce

Cut the tofu into 4 portions or smaller if you desire.

Put in individual plates and sprinkle with the ginger, green onion and bonito flakes.

Drizzle with the soy sauce.

Hijiki with carrots

  • 1 cup of dried hijiki
  • 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
  • 2 small carrots, julienned
  • 1 cup of dashi (bonito stock)
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tsp sugar

Soak the hijiki for about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse. In a wok add vegetable oil and stir fry hijiki until soft. Add carrots and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Add bonito stock and simmer until carrots are tender for about 10 minutes depending on size of carrots. Add mirin, sugar and soy sauce.

Healthy Japan

Spinach with sesame paste

Ingredients

  • 300 grs of spinach
  • 3 tablespoons of sesame paste
  • ½ tsp of sugar
  • 2 tbsp of dash (bonito stock)
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds

Bring salted water to a boil and add the spinach. Boil for a minute. Rinse with cold water and squeeze firmly and cut into small sections. Mix sesame paste, sugar, dash and soy sauce to make dressing. Mix with spinach and serve. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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Ceviche

Ceviche

Peru in South America is the homeland of genuine fusion food. Without any artifice, the country’s foods are a result of a history in which extensive Chinese, Japanese, native Indian, Italian and Spanish influence have given birth to one of the most original cuisines in the world. There are abundant Chinese restaurants called “chifa” from the Chinese chi fan, “criollo” ones with traditional foods, Japanese fusion and indigenous foods ones. High-end Peruvian restaurants are opening in all major cities and Gaston Acurio, one of the country’s legendary chefs is quickly becoming world-renowned. Visiting Peru is the food adventure of a lifetime and you can also include a trip to Machu Picchu, the sacred site of the Incas, or fly over the Nazca Lines, a series of giant designs carved on the soil.

Ceviche is Peru’s national dish. Four ingredients are all you need to make the basic version of this dish: fish, lime juice, onion and salt. This version uses cooked seafood but the majority of ceviche recipes are made with raw fish.

Ceviche

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 boiled medium sweet potatoes
  • 1 boiled or steamed corn on the cob
  • 250 g ounces squid, cut into rings, tentacles chopped
  • 250 g peeled shrimp
  • 250 g scallops
  • 1 red onion, medium
  • 1 green chili or similar
  • 6 limes, juiced*
  • salt

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add salt. Cook the squid by putting in the water and cooking it for one minute approximately. Take out and put aside.

Cook the shrimp using the same method as above. Take out and put aside to cool.

Next cook the scallops. Take out and put aside.

Slice the onion thinly and wash with salt**. Chop the chili. Mix the seafood with the lime juice, the onion, the chili and the salt together and add some ice cubes to refresh.

Serve decorated with the sweet potato slices and the corn.

*you can use lemons instead if limes are unavailable.

**to wash the onion put sliced onion on colander and sprinkle with salt.

Wash, rinse and drain.

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Articles China Recipes

Chinese Dumplings and Aunties

Jiaozi

Bar going to catering college, there is no better way to learn how to cook Chinese food than from an ayi, which literally translates as auntie, is a maid or a nanny. Chinese has an endearing array of terms to refer to people in a courteous manner. For example, if a little girl meets a girl who is older she calls her jie jie (big sister) and vice versa older girls call younger girls mei mei. Furthermore most children call their elders respectfully ayi and shushu (uncle).

When expat families move to China, most are looking for babysitters but realize those services are not offered in China where for every child there are normally 6 adults in his/her family. Who a needs a babysitter with 4 readily available grandparents? There is no word for babysitter in China that is why when you ask for one you might get a high chair or baby chair instead! You can find however nannies and that is what some ayis are.

I grew up with ayis of sorts during my childhood in Latin America since my mother had zero interest in cooking and household chores but loved to eat well.

I grew up watching our “ayis” making local foods in our kitchen and that is what undoubtedly sparked my passion for food. By the time I was a teenager I knew all the local dishes and ingredients and our fridge had even stored iguanas that my mother used as an ointment on scars following local customs.

Since our move to China entailed small children and a strong determination to take language classes, we decided to get an ayi. Little did we know how important this would be helping us settle in Dalian. Not only is our ayi a nanny, she is our Chinese teacher, chef, babysitter and our go-to person to understand where to get things and how much to pay.

But for me she has opened a door to the world of Chinese home cooking. As a cooking teacher with a keen interest in ethnic foods this has proved invaluable since home cooking is not always easy to learn, as an expat. Not all ayis are gifted cooks but some especially women in their late 40s and 50s are. If you have an ayi and an interest in Chinese food here are some things you can do:

  • Go to the local market with her and buy some unusual vegetables that she can cook for you.
  • Go to see street food stalls and then ask her to recreate some of the recipes.
  • Buy some Chinese cookbooks and ask her to make some recipes.
  • Ask her to make jiaozi with your children.
  • Buy some unsual herb or root of Chinese medicine and then ask her to cook it for you.
  • Ask her for recommendations for Chinese food for children. These have become staples in my kitchen.

I know not everyone needs an ayi or even wants one but for those of us with families intent on learning about Chinese food and culture it is a great option. Even if you don’t have one, ask someone else’s ayi or a Chinese friend to come and show you how to make jiaozi one afternoon.

Cooked Jiaozi

Fast Chive, Pork and Shrimp Jiaozi

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 100 g of pork
  • 100 g of shrimp
  • handful of chinese chives (jiu cai)
  • salt
  • 2 tbsp. of vegetable oil.
  • 36 store-bought jiaozi wrappers*

Chinese Dumplings

To Serve

  • Chinkiang black vinegar
  • Soy sauce
  • Chili oil
  • Garlic paste

Peel the shrimp and chop until ground with a cleaver or knife.

Chop chives. Mix chives, shrimp and pork. Add salt and oil. Mix well.

Put a large of pot of water to boil. Prepare a little bowl of cold water to seal the edges of the jiaozi.

Put jiaozi wrapper in your hand and fill with about 1 tbsp. of the pork, shrimp mixture pressing down. Dip finger in water and run it around edges of the wrapper.

Then seal the wrapper trying to get all the air out. You can also do some pleats to close. Don’t worry about the appearance as long as they are tightly closed!

Dust a tray with flour. Put on tray as you make them.

Drop some of the jiaozi in the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. As you are cooking them if the water comes to a boil add a cup of cold water so they don’t fall apart. Do this each time the water comes to a boil. Remove with slotted spoon and repeat with rest of jiaozi. Serve with sauces and garlic and enjoy!

*most supermarkets sell jiaozi wrappers. They are made in-store together with fresh noodles.

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Articles Recipes Spain

Spanish Tapas in China

Tapas

I set myself the challenge to recreate a tapas meal using only Chinese ingredients except for a tin of anchovy filled olives and chocolate and shopping at only one supermarket, Carrefour. I had just cooked a dinner for charity at the Shangri La Presidential suite and I wanted something simple that did not involve ordering food from Beijing or running around Metro, Ikea and Sam’s Club or fantasizing about unavailable gourmet products when building a menu. I thought “Make it work”! Don’t stop yourself from making a fun dinner, just substitute for local ingredients.

I started by making “revoltillo” the uber-popular snack that includes sunflower seeds, dried broad beans, dried corn and dried garbanzo beans that is the cheapest tapa one can get. I mixed sunflower seeds, dried broad beans and toasted peanuts and it worked quite well. You can add more things to the mix if you please. Spaniards love sunflower seeds just as much as Chinese people do!

The tortilla or Spanish potato omelet I replaced with a ready-made fried potato cake.

I included two recipes that you can cook in a flash: the Catalan spinach and the garlic shrimp. The spinach (normally served alongside fish) I served on toasted bread and replaced the pine nuts with peanuts.

The tomato skewers were made with smoked tofu and tomato instead of expensive cheese. The 5-minute garlic shrimp recipe I did not modify since you can get all the ingredients easily here. And finally the “piece de resistance”, I fried frozen you tiao (you can also buy them ready-cooked) and served them dusted with icing sugar and a chocolate sauce.

For your party lay out all the tapas at once and give everyone little plates. Get some nice beer or wine and play some Gyspsy Kings on the background. Get colorful plates (you can get cheap ones from the Japanese restaurant supply shop at Dalian Kitchenware City or the Korean Market) and some cocktail napkins.

churros

Tapas

[row][onehalf animation=”animationType”]Olives
1 tin of anchovy filled olives
Place in a bowl
[/onehalf][onehalf animation=”animationType”]Revoltillo
1 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of toasted or fried peanuts
1 cup of broad beans toasted
Mix together and place in a bowl
[/onehalf][/row]
[row][onehalf animation=”animationType”]“Spanish Omelette”
1 potato cake from Carrefour
Cut and place on a plate
[/onehalf][onehalf animation=”animationType”]Tomato and tofu skewers
15 toothpicks
15 cherry tomatoes
1 packet of smoked tofu, cut in small pieces similar in size to tomatoes
Cilantro
Place tofu first, then tomato and then cilantro on a toothpick. Repeat until you have 15.
[/onehalf][/row]
[row][onehalf animation=”animationType”]Garlic shrimp
3 tbsp of oil
6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
500 grs of fresh shrimp, peeled
3 tbsp of chopped parsley
salt to taste
In a wok heat oil and add garlic and shrimp. Stir fry until just cooked through.
Scatter with parsley and season with salt.
[/onehalf][onehalf animation=”animationType”]Catalan Spinach
1/2 baguette sliced and toasted
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 bunch of spinach, washed, stems cut and chopped
5 tbsp of raisins
5 tbsp of chopped peanuts
salt to taste
In a wok, heat up the oil and add the garlic. Stir fry until cooked and add the spinach with the raisins and peanuts. Cook until wilted. Season with salt. Serve on slices of bread.
[/onehalf][/row]
[row][onehalf animation=”animationType”]“Spanish Churros” with Chocolate
1 frozen pack of you tiao
½ cup of milk
140 grs. of 70% chocolate, chopped
icing sugar for dusting
Put milk in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add chocolate, turn off heat and let it melt. Whisk. Put in a little bowl.
Fry the you tiao, take out and place on paper towels to drain.
Cut into bite size pieces and dust with icing sugar. Serve with chocolate sauce for dipping
[/onehalf][/row]

Thanks to our guest food stylist and photographer Shirley Gao, and prop stylist Karen Brown!

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Bahn Mi

Vietnamese food is light, crisp and colorful. It is unique but has a strong Chinese influence and tropical, Indian and French touches. Think of rice paper rolls, fish sauce, savory caramel sauce, Vietnamese coffee, raw herbs, and charcuterie.

Universally known dishes are pho, a chicken or beef soup with rice noodles, lime and herbs and bahn mi, a sandwich that encompasses part of the colonial history by using French baguette and pate. Unbelievably healthy this cuisine does not rely on oils or heavy sauces. Nevertheless, there is one caveat: you need to learn how to use the seasonings that accompany the dishes. Tyler Cowen writer of “An Economist eats his Lunch” explains that Vietnamese food is not as successful overseas as other Asian food like Chinese or Thai, because people don’t learn how to use these sauces and condiments correctly. This is very different from Chinese where food comes already seasoned, so you have been forewarned.

Bahn Mi is a great introduction to Vietnamese food because it’s easy and all the ingredients are available. When making this sandwich, be resourceful. Your filling can be almost anything, some roasted duck or chicken from the supermarket, smoked tofu or leftover meatballs.

Bahn Mi

Bahn Mi

  • 1 small baguette (not too crispy)
  • 2 tbsp. of mayonnaise or butter
  • 1 tbsp. of sriracha (optional)
  • a couple drops of soy sauce/ hoisin/ salt
  • 4 slices of green chili
  • 6 cucumber slices
  • ¼ cup Daikon and carrot pickle (recipe below)
  • 3 tbsp. of chopped cilantro
  • 90 g of store-bought roast butter chicken, smoked tofu, or roasted duck cut in bite size pieces.

You might need to crisp your bread in the toaster oven. Let it cool. Cut the bread in two lengthwise. With your fingers remove some bread from the inside to make room for the filling. Spread the mayonnaise or butter and add the sriracha and sprinkle a little soy sauce/ hoisin. Start at the bottom and lay the chicken, or your chosen filling. Add the pickle, chili, cucumber and cilantro. Close the bread and slice in half crosswise. Enjoy!

Daikon and carrot pickle

  • 1 medium daikon
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 300 ml of white vinegar (you can use rice vinegar also)

Peel and cut the daikon into matchsticks or use a mandolin.

Put in a bowl and add the salt and 2 tsp. of sugar. Massage the salt and sugar in for a couple of minutes.

Using a colander, wash with water and press to get rid of excess water. Transfer to a big container. Mix the remaining sugar with vinegar until dissolved. Pour over carrots and daikon cover and use after 1 hour. Can be left in the fridge for 2 weeks.