A Cooking Lesson in China (and a Ma Po Tofu Recipe)

One of the many highlights of my recent trip to China was a cooking lesson that was arranged for the small group I was traveling with. It was held at the Shanghai National Vocational School, which trains local residents for work in commercial kitchens.

We had spent the morning exploring some of Shanghai’s many markets – some quaint and outdoor (such as the Antiquities Market), others in modern multi-level buildings featuring fabrics (and custom tailoring), knock-off purses and strands upon strands of the most amazing fresh water pearls.

We were hungry not just for lunch (which we would end up having to make for ourselves) but for a connection to a China that wasn’t just created or preserved for tourists. The National Vocational School would prove ideal on both accounts.

Our visit there began with being ushered into a conference room and being outfitted with chef’s jackets and paper toques. We found out that we were just as much of a sight to the school’s staff and students as they were to us. Curious students and staff kept peeking in and taking photos of us. We later found out that we were the first English-speaking group that had ever arranged a class such as this.

This was not a slick, demonstration kitchen. This was a real, working commercial kitchen with what I swear was fire-breathing woks. We would each be making three dishes that day – Ma Po Tofu (or spicy tofu with ground pork), Sweet and Sour Pork (which I thought was something they thought we’d like) and Beijing Dumplings (kind of like a boiled pot sticker.) Most of the prep work was already done for us. Ms. Chen, the school administrator, and Chef Jing would demonstrate a dish with our translator, FunFun, interpreting, explaining, questioning and trying to figure out quantities for us. (That's FunFun on the left with Ms. Chen.)

Then it was our turn. We each bellied up to an enormous wok set over a ring of fire. The woks were so hot that minced garlic left unattended would be burnt black and acrid in seconds. I asked for a potholder and was handed a folded up, thin dish towel. The floor was slick with grease. This was not cooking for the timid.

We plunged in. Soon the clanging of our thick metal scoop-shaped ladles was ringing through the kitchen, adding to the roar of the industrial strength exhaust fans. As we swished oil, plopped in ingredients and stir-fried in our woks, the school’s staff would hover over us, adding a little more of this or gesturing for us to add that, right now. If we didn’t move fast enough, an impatient Chef Jing would take over and with a few deft moves finish a dish. Ms. Chen would come around and look at our finished dishes, nod approvingly and loving ladle on a more than a little oil on top, making each glisten and me wonder exactly how much weight I would be gaining this trip. (That's Chef Jing in the vocational school kitchen.)

After we had finished making each dish, we would troop into the dining room where we would pick up our chopsticks and consume what we had just produced. I couldn’t get enough of it all, and I don’t mean just the food.

There were no recipe handouts. I tried to take notes and get an idea of quantities (exactly how much was one ladle full of oil), but knew I’d have to make these dishes at home to be able to really describe to others how to create them. But that’s okay; there is no way I could ever perfectly reproduce that day. I’m missing some crucial ingredients – Chef Jing’s practiced moves, Ms. Chen’s ladlefuls of oil, and FunFun’s valiant attempts to explain it all.

(I will be posting the other recipes we made that day as I adapt them. To view them as well as other posts on Blog Appetit Goes to China, please click here.)

Ma Po Tofu (Pockmarked or Old Grandmother’s Spicy Tofu)
Serves 1-2 or 3-4 as part of a multi-dish meal

I like my Ma Po on the spicy side, so feel free to use a bit less of the “hot” stuff. The dish has a wonderful play between spicy and the sweet and sour. Other versions I’ve seen leave out the sugar, the vinegar or both. They may be Shanghai adaptations to the classic Sichuan recipe. (Shanghai cuisine is said to be sweeter than elsewhere in China.)

8 ounces medium or regular tofu, rinsed, cut into ½” cubes (see notes)
1/3 cup of vegetable oil such as peanut, canola, grapeseed or corn (able to withstand high heat cooking) or enough to coat the wok evenly.
6 ounces chopped or minced pork or dark-meat chicken (see notes)
1 tablespoon each fresh minced ginger, chopped garlic and chopped green onion (scallion), plus additional chopped green onion for garnish (optional)
1 tablespoon of chili bean paste (At home I used the kind with fermented black soy beans, but any kind will work), or more or less to taste. (see notes)
½ cup of water
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of (unseasoned) rice vinegar (I used Chinese black rice vinegar, you can use plain rice vinegar or cider vinegar if that is not available.)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of cornstarch stirred into 1 teaspoon of water
½ teaspoon ground brown Sichuan pepper

Heat a few inches of water in a wok and bring to boil. Slip in the tofu cubes and boil for about a minute or until the cubes have become to soften and look creamier in texture. They should still retain their shape, however.

Remove and drain tofu. Pour water out of wok. Dry well and heat. When the wok is hot, add oil to coat, swirling pan around to make sure it is well covered. Add ginger, garlic and green onion, stir frying until light brown and the aromas are released. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the minced meat and stir fry for about one minute. Add the chili bean paste, stir fry for a few seconds, then add the water and the bean curd cubes. Bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, being careful not to break the tofu cubes. Add the salt, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. Stir to combine then add in the cornstarch mixture, stirring carefully to mix thoroughly without breaking up the tofu until the sauce has thickened. Remove to serving dish. Sprinkle with ground Sichuan pepper and garnish with chopped green onions.

Notes:
The recipe at the school used ground pork. I’ve replaced it here with minced, boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I minced the chicken with a cleaver. You could certainly grind it in a food processor or buy ground chicken or turkey, just be sure you are not using white meat poultry. You could also use ground pork. One recipe I have from China uses minced beef. I imagine a vegetarian ground meat substitute might also work.

If you can’t find medium or regular tofu, use firm (not extra firm) and boil it a little more until it is soft and creamy looking.

If chili bean paste is not available, you could use 1 tablespoon of fermented black beans (which look dried and are sold in a plastic bag and are not in a sauce) and 1 teaspoon or so of crushed red hot chili pepper flakes.


(The photo above shows the dish made during the cooking lesson. My version is a little less soupy.)

Purim Tonight!

Purim, the feast of Esther, begins at sundown tonight. Want some info on the holiday and how to celebrate it? Check this out. Want to know what to eat? Read some adapted excerpts from an article I wrote for the Temple Beth Abraham Omer below.

The Foods of Purim: The Whole Megillah (FYI -- the Megillah is used to mean the whole story in Jewish "slang" and refers to the Book of Esther which is where the story is told.)

The most popular foods of Purim are probably hamanstachen (the link above has a recipe), the Ashkenazi cookie symbolizing Haman’s tri-cornered hat and the other pastries associated with the evil vizier. But that’s not the whole “megillah;” there are many foods that add to a Purim celebration.

Some say the meal should be vegetarian or dairy or at least include beans since Esther is said to have eschewed meat for legumes during her time in Ashaheurus’ court. Others include fish or dishes with chicken, lamb, and other meats. Based on these diverse customs, here are some ideas for your own Purim feast:

Serve kreplach. This meat-stuffed noodle is traditional for Purim because of its shape reminiscent of Haman’s ear and/or hat. Or try a modern twist – tortellini, it has the right shape and is readily available.

Try serving a dish that is not what it seems to be. Dressing up and disguise are part of Purim, so try vegetarian chopped liver or spaghetti squash instead of pasta and/or vegetarian “meatballs.”

Go sweet and sour. Sweet and sour foods suit the nature of the holiday, reminding us of the bitterness of Haman’s actions and the redemption that followed. Try sweet and sour meatballs or sweet and sour lentils.

Bake challah in triangular loaves to represent Haman’s ears. Use some of it to make French toast, known as Queen Esther’s Toast or Purim Fritters, once a popular way to celebrate Purim.

Drink up. Rabbis have said that one should drink on Purim until one can’t distinguish the difference between “blessed is Mordecai” and “cursed is Haman.” Go with the flow. Splash some vodka or tequila into your chicken marinade. Add wine to your beef or fish recipes. Want to give it a try? My Limoncello Tuna recipe here.

See my previous write up of Purim here.

Want to get recipes for the dishes mentioned above? Check out Temple Beth Abraham's cookbook From Everyday to Holiday. It is available for $25 including U.S. postage from the TBA office. Call 510.832.0936 to order.
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About the photo: A quick snap of Temple Beth Abraham's Purim Celebration featuring the Purim Rock 'n Roll Band.

China -- A Sense of Place

I didn’t take a slow boat to China, it was a non-stop jet, and when I landed I found that many of my preconceived notions about what I’d find and what China would be like were just as outdated as that old steamboat.

It was altogether an amazing experience, especially for someone who grew up in an age when China was a forbidden and forbidding destination. Every so often I’d have to stop and just blurt out “I’m in China. I’m really in China.”

Sometimes that would happen when I was experiencing places I had only read about – the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors museum, the Forbidden City. Sometimes it was when I was surprised by sites and scenes I hadn’t known about or hadn’t know what to expect such as the old neighborhoods along the canals in Suzhou; the Muslim district in Xi An; the night market, the Lama Monastery, Prince Gong’s garden and the old neighborhoods in Beijing. It was the sight of seniors everywhere practicing tai chi and folk dance in the morning, taking their birds in their cages for an airing in the afternoon, working out in open air gyms in Beijing, and overflowing the long corridor of the Temple of Heaven performing for their friends and passersby.

Sometimes it was when the cities I visited could have been major cosmopolitan capitals almost anywhere with skyscrapers, trendy high-end shops, Starbucks and Mercedes. (There were also KFCs, McDonald’s and occasional Subway fast food restaurants.) I have to admit, at those times I said "I'm in China" almost in disbelief.

But just when China (I was mostly in very urbanized China) began to seem just like it could be anywhere, something would happen or I would catch a glimpse of something and, bam, my sense of where I was in the world would be switched on by observances small and large.

A few times it was by babies toddling around swathed in thick quilted jackets and pants with the back of the pants slit for easy access. Other times it was by street food stands with smoky charcoal braziers offering the familiar, the identifiable and the I-can’t-believe-they-eat that, all cooked and served on skewers to munch on while you strolled with friends. Sometimes it was a bicycle or motor scooter loaded down with people or goods or the occasional stray vendor with a scale in his hand peddling piles of fruit or vegetables from bamboo trays suspended from a pole across his back. Or a line of rickshaws parked for the night in a shadowy street that evoked a movie set from the 1930s. Or the huge plastic thermoses of hot water with cork bungs that every worker everywhere I went seemed to keep handy to refill their tea mug.

There was so much more that I saw, experienced (and, of course, ate), and while China enriched, entranced, entertained and enlightened me it also left me wondering. Recent news reports have complicated my feelings, but have not dimmed my enthusiasm for the people, places and activities I encountered during my visit.

Please watch for my reports on my trip to China here in Blog Appetit. Some will be food oriented, with recipes on occasion. Others might be about what moved me or made me think or react. I look forward to sharing my adventure with you.

About the photo: A snack street in Shanghai

Something's Fishy and I'm Home ...

... and full of stories, photos, experiences and, of course, Chinese food.

I hope to download the 1,500 plus photos I took in the two weeks I was away this weekend. (It could take all weekend, that's a 4GB card and half a 2gb one, too! The pix with this post actually comes from my trip to Vietnam in 2005.)

Watch this blog for assorted write ups, recipe adaptations and more (I'll probably start with my Shanghai cooking school experience and recipes for what we cooked there.) More to come.

Xi Xi for your patience while I recover from jet lag, catch up in the office and brew myself some more green tea.

To keep you cooking until I post my new recipes here's one I have used and honed throughout the years, inspired by one written by the late Barbara Tropp in her classic The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking.

Fish Steamed with Ginger, Garlic and Black Beans
Serves 4

1 Tbs Chinese rice wine OR dry sherry
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese or Japanese sesame oil
1 Tbs minced fresh garlic
¼ tsp dried hot red pepper flakes OR a half of one small hot chili, seeded and minced
4 fish steaks, about 1 - 1.5 pounds total, cut about ¾” thick – try salmon or halibut, any stray bones or scales removed
1 Tbs salted Chinese black beans (sometimes called fermented black beans)
2 Tbs fine shreds of ginger peeled
½ of a large red bell pepper, cut into thin matchstick pieces or shreds
¼ cup chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl combine wine, oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Rip off 8 long strips of aluminum foil and double them up with shiny side facing up. In the middle of each put a fish steak. Stir the wine and soy sauce mixture and dribble one fourth of the wine and soy mixture over each fish portion. Scatter each steak with one fourth of the black beans, ginger shreds, red bell peppers and green onions.

Fold the foil around each piece of fish to make a sealed packet, crimping the ends so no liquid can escape. Place the packets on a baking tray and cook in the oven until the fish is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve hot, room temperature or cold. Remember if not serving right away that the fish will keep cooking in the foil packets.

China Bound

I'm on the road to China -- or more precisely Shanghai, Xi An and Beijing.
I'll update from the road if I can, but promise lots of goodies when I return.

Red Hot Ice for Valentine's Day

Everyone associates Valentine's Day treats and desserts with chocolate. I know I do. But if you would like to find a way to celebrate with your sweetheart that's also heart healthy, try this non-fat, bright red, low-calorie sorbet. (You can make this even if you don't have an ice cream maker. See directions below.)

Red Hot Ice

Makes about 8 1/2 cup servings

4 cups brewed herbal tea -- use any flavor that brews up bright red, I used a hibiscus tea similar to Celestial Seasoning's Red Zinger.

2 tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice (if using a fruit flavored tea)

Honey or agave nectar

Mint, choppped (optional)

While the tea is hot, stir in lemon or lime juice (if using) and sweetener to taste. Add a bit more sweetener than you normally would since the finished sorbet's coldness will dull its sweeteness. Chill well.

Pour cold mixture into ice cream machine and process until done, about 20 minutes. There is a chance that your sorbet will still be a bit soupy. If so, put the sorbert into a wide plastic or metal container or pan, cover and freeze. Remove from the freezer every half hour or so and rake the frozen ice with a fork to break the ice up, stir and replace until frozen to desired consistency. If you don't have an ice cream maker, do this from the start to make the sorbet. When ready to serve, allow to soften a bit at room temperature before scooping. If the ice is too hard or you are in a hurry, place the ice in food processor and whirl for a few seconds until desired consistency is reached. Sprinkle with chopped mint before serving.

Really need some chocolate on your Valentine's Day dessert? Try drizzling a little gourmet chocolate sauce or melted dark chocolate on top.

Every Valentine Needs Charles (Chocolates) In Charge

Click on over to Sugar Savvy to read my Valentine to Charles Chocolates' Valentine's Day assortment. To put it simply this is some of the best chocolate candy I've ever eaten as well as some of the prettiest. It's almost like it's candy AND bling in one!

Check it out.

Lots of Links on the Side(bar)

A relatively new feature on my side bar (towards the bottom, I'll wait while you scroll down to check it out) is the Foodie Blog Roll.

It is a way for dedicated food bloggers to link to one another and spread the joy. I hope you will take a few minutes and explore some of the food blogs that participate in the blog roll.

This Just In

I'm back from Las Vegas. My husband and I are reps for several manufacturers and it was great to see the numbers of buyers that attended our industry's semi-annual market in Lost Wages. At one point in one (very large) showroom I looked up and I literally could not see the floor for the buyers. Let's hope it bodes well for the economy.

While in Vegas, Mr. Blog Appetit and I played blackjack for about a half hour on $20 total, which I thought was pretty amazing. We ate in one of the worst restaurants I've ever eaten at anywhere (a Southern comfort spot in Harrah's where even the chicken soup was inedible), saw a show (comedian Rita Rudner) at Harrah's which is why we were eating there to begin with. (By the way, she was very entertaining, but on the way home I watched a video of her in the airport where she was doing choice bits from her act. My new tip for freebies in Vegas -- watch all the comedians on the airport videos.) , had way too much steak and lots of seafood. Vegas will get it's own write up soon.

What have I been cooking? Well, this past week I've been under the weather and a scrambled egg and microwaved water has been about it. The week before that I was in Vegas. Before that, however, do I have dishes to dish -- from goulash to doro wat. And a new piece of kitchen equipment to rhapsodize about (A Rhapsody in Blue). Watch this space.

On the Road to China. I'm off in less than two weeks to China, including a cooking class in Shanghai, a meal in a local home near Beijing and more. I usually don't post while I'm on the road, but I will be taking pictures and notes, so more on China when I return in March.

How Sweet it Was -- Local See's Candies Store Closes Unexpectedly. It was one of the last "neighborhood" style stores I knew of around here, the rest are in malls. One of the oldest stores in the See's chain, it had a quaint art deco charm. The signage and candy maybe gone and the for lease sign up, but I bet the place still smells of chocolate. The community staged on uprising when the store's closing was proposed four years ago and the location was kept open. This time there was no warning, just a sign in the window one morning. Also, I noticed the See's in my mall of choice has moved to a more out-of-the way, smaller location. I guess even See's Candies needs to tighten its belt in this business climate despite being owned by Berkshire-Hathaway. Memo to Warren Buffett -- Save My See's! (For more on See's Candies including links to my reviews and calorie counts, click here.)

Lunar New Year at the Grocery Store