orecchiette bolognese

ingredients:

ground beef
ground pork
bacon
garlic
shallots
onions
carrots
sweet basil
red wine
heavy cream
canned san marzano tomatoes
tomato paste
red pepper flakes
dried oregano
nutmeg
salt and freshly cracked black pepper
orecchiette

directions:

1.  prepare the mise en place.  finely mince the shallots, garlic, onion, carrot, and bacon.

2.  mix the ground beef and pork together.

3.  slowly render bacon bits in pot.  after bacon fat has rendered, turn heat on high and saute the ground meat.

4.  when meat is nicely browned, add in the carrots, garlic, shallot, onion, a pinch of chili flakes, some dried oregano, and season with salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

5.   after a few minutes, add in some red wine and the tomatoes.

6.  simmer the sauce on medium heat for 10-15 minutes.  then add a pinch of nutmeg, a splash of red wine, a dash of heavy cream, and the basil.

7.  while the sauce is reducing, cook the orechiette in salted water.

8.  drain the orecchiette and spoon into a big serving bowl.  top with the meat sauce, garnish with more basil and serve immediately.  (freshly grated parmesan optional)

rou zhou fan, swan tsai, gai lan

ingredients:

rou zhou- taiwan style minced pork (see recipe below in "tainan dan zhi mien" recipe)
swan tsai- pickled mustard green
garlic
red chili
soy sauce
sugar
gai lan- chinese broccoli
jasmine rice

directions:

1. cook jasmine rice. heat up salted water in a pot for blanching gai lan. trim, shave ends of gai lan.

2.  soak the pickled mustard green in ice water for 2 hours. (without soaking it will be super sour) after
soaking finely mince mustard green.  mince garlic and slice some red chilis.

3.  saute garlic and red chilis in some canola oil, add in minced mustard green, a dash of soy sauce, and
sugar to taste.  set aside.

4.  blanch gai lan, and put on a plate.  add about a bowlful of rice next to the gai lan and spoon
minced pork over rice. garnish with the sauteed mustard green on side.  serve immediately.

tainan dan zhi mien

 


ingredients:

taiwan style minced pork (ingredients/directions see below)
shrimp
shirmp shells
pork soup bones
egg noodles
bean sprouts
chinese green chives
cilantro
garlic
black vinegar
hon-dashi
white pepper
salt

directions:

1.  make taiwan style minced pork.

ingredients :
   
pork belly, diced into small pieces by hand- food processor won't give you the same results.
ground pork
fried shallots (preferably the kind bought from taiwan street stalls- when you visit there, bring some back!)
soy sauce
rock sugar

directions:
  
heat oil in a pot and saute fried shallots.  if you don't have fried shallots, saute fresh shallots till browned and super fragrant.  add pork belly and saute for a bit then add ground pork. add soy sauce till
meat is browned and then add three times the amount of water. season to taste with rock sugar and let it
stew for awhile on low heat.

2.  boil pork bones for stock.  boil shrimp shells for shrimp stock.  make the shrimp stock super concentrated.  season pork stock the salt and hon-dashi.

3.   mise en place preparation:  mince garlic, cilantro, and cut chinese green chive into 1-2 inch pieces. cook shrimp and peel off the shells.

4.  cook noodles.  while noodles are cooking, put a bit of the minced garlic in the bottom of a bowl.  splash some black vinegar over garlic and top it with some white pepper.  using tongs, put noodles in bowl on top of the garlic mixture. blanch bean sprouts and chinese green chives in noodle water. ladle pork stock over noodles, add a bit of the shrimp stock in the bowl then spoon taiwan minced pork on top. add the blanched bean sprouts and chives, top with the cooked shrimp, and garnish with cilantro.  serve immediately.