Chinese Cooking and Recipes

Date: September 2002
Newsletter No. 1

Friends,
Cooking can be fun and entertaining. It can also relief stress because you will be overwhelmed with myriad of wonderful taste and aroma; your mind and hands will be occupied with cooking, pushing aside all your worries and concerns.

Since I immigrated to Calgary 17 years ago, I have been in the restaurant business. Over the years, I have made many good friends who have been very supportive of me and HomeFood Inn and to whom I would like to, through this message, offer my most sincere thanks. Since you are all aficionado of Chinese food, I'd thought one good way to express my appreciation is to provide the recipes of dishes, which have been among the favorites in our restaurant.

We will start with a very simple dish, namely BBQ pork fried rice. You will need nothing fancy or special, just your typical kitchen utensils. The ingredients should be freely available in most super-stores. Don't be afraid to experiment, to make changes and substitutions. After all, many new dishes were first developed this way. Add stir-fried chicken, beef or shrimps instead of BBQ pork will provide a different favor. Add some green-peas and carrots.  This will make the dish more visually attractive. Share with me your discoveries and you will get a prize.

Invite your friends, your parents and your relatives to dinner. Ask them to join in the preparation and cooking. You will find the moments of sharing bring great satisfaction and joy.

Hope you will find this enjoyable. Next time, I will send recipes of some popular noodle dishes.

 BBQ Pork Fried Rice (4 Servings)

Ingredients

• Steamed rice: 4 bowls
• Chinese BBQ pork (chopped into small chunks): 250 grams
• 3 eggs (slightly beaten and seasoned with salt & pepper)
• Ground pepper: ½ tablespoon
• Salt: ½ tablespoon
• Cooking oil
• Scallions (finally chopped): 2-3
• Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
• Ginger (optional, grated): 1 tablespoon
• 1/2 cup of green beans and diced carrots
  
  Note: Cooked rice must be dry. Rice left over in refrigerator overnight is ideal. Freshly cooked rice should be dried in oven for 15 minutes at moderate heat before use.

Rice Cooking

1. For each cup of long-grain rice, use 2 ½ cups of water. Bring to a boil for a few minutes, lower the heat and cook until the water has been absorbed. Remove for heat and allow the rice to rest for a few minutes before serving. For fried rice see the instruction above.

Preparation

1. Add about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to a frying pan or wok and bring to moderate heat.
2. Pour the beaten eggs into frying pan; spread egg evenly to form a pancake.
3. When it is no longer moist, remove from pan, roll into a tube form for slicing into thin strips.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat more oil in the pan and sauté the ginger for 1 minute.
2. Add the cooked rice and salt and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the egg strips, scallions, and BBQ pork. Mix and warm thoroughly.
4. Add soy sauce. Mix and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Winnie Sit of Home Food Inn Restaurant.
Home of Gourmet Chinese Cooking and Daily Deluxe Buffet.