Pork and Peach Stir Fry

Spicy chili crisp adds zip to this quick, healthy summer dish

It’s peak peach where we live. So while the local supply lasts, we’re using fresh peaches as often as we can. That means plenty of desserts, yeah. But peaches also shine in savory dishes.

Like this stir fry. Peaches pair particularly well with pork. When you add chili crisp? It makes a delightfully spicy dinner. And one that’s quick, so you can make it anytime.

Cause even weeknights should be special, no? 

Smacked (Smashed) Cucumber Salad

Spicy chili crisp livens up this classic Chinese side (or first course)

Cukes! Is there a better veggie for beating summer’s heat?

For a quick pickled version, try them in this Sichuan dish. It combines cudgeled cukes with tangy extras. It’s terrific with Chinese food, of course. But it works just as well with traditional cookout fare. So skip the coleslaw and serve this as a side with pulled pork or barbecued ribs. Or hamburgers and hot dogs.

Smashing good stuff. 

Asparagus and Pork Stir-Fry

A tangy dish with ginger, garlic, and fermented black beans

Peak asparagus season is short, so we like to take full advantage of it. Hence today’s dish, where asparagus has the starring role in stir-fry.

We combine it with pork in this recipe, but you could substitute chicken or beef. Shrimp would work too. Or you could even use tofu if you want to go meatless.

But whatever you do, don’t forget the asparagus.

Asian-Spiced Chicken Noodle Soup

Rev up this traditional favorite with ginger, garlic, and jalapeño

We’re trudging through cold-and-flu season in our part of the world. Time for chicken noodle soup (a/k/a liquid penicillin).

You could buy canned soup, of course (and the leading brand’s logo is museum quality when painted by Andy Warhol). But homemade is so much better, especially when you add an Asian angle.

This soup is so good you may look forward to getting sick. And creating your own work of art.

Hot and Sour Soup

This Healthy and Comforting Dish Delivers Big Flavor

You probably know Hot and Sour soup.  This stock-based medley of mushrooms, protein (often pork, chicken, or tofu), and tangy flavorings is a staple at Chinese restaurants.  With spicy high notes that contrast pleasingly with sour bass notes, Hot and Sour plays a symphony on your tongue. 

It’s one of my favorite soups, so I used to order it almost every time we went out for Chinese food.  It took me a while to realize that I could prepare it at home.  Once I really looked at recipes, though, I finally discovered how easy it is to make Hot and Sour Soup.  It does require some special ingredients, but many supermarkets (and all Asian markets) carry them.  And because you can make the soup the way you like it, your version is bound to be more pleasing than any restaurant’s.

So I hope that, like me, you’ll find this recipe a win-win:  You’ll add a great soup to your cooking repertoire.  And next time you visit a Chinese restaurant, you’ll feel free to explore some of those other soups on the menu.  You know, the one’s you’ve always ignored because you just had to have Hot and Sour!

Singapore Noodles

This Restaurant Favorite is Easy to Make

You’ll find Singapore Noodles at Chinese restaurants around the world.  This dish offers a spicy blend of noodles and curry, along with veggies and often shrimp, pork, and chicken.  I can never resist ordering it when I see it on a menu.

If you’re like many of us in the US, though, you’d never dream of making Singapore Noodles (or any other Chinese dish) at home.  The ingredients may seem unfamiliar, and some of the cooking techniques can be terra incognita.  But there’s really no mystery to it — after all, millions of Chinese folks cook at home every day!  

Chinese New Year is just a few weeks away.  (It begins on Sunday, February 10.  We’ll be entering the year of the snake).  So isn’t it time to learn a dish or two, and celebrate in style? 

Almost everyone likes Singapore Noodles — we’re talking pasta, after all.  And it’s a fairly easy dish to make (less complicated than spaghetti and meat balls).  Best of all, the ingredients will already be familiar to you. 

Chinese lore says having a snake in the house is a good omen — it means your family will never starve.  I’m not sure about that, but I do know this:  Learn to make Singapore Noodles, and you’ll never need to eat from those little white cartons again.

Red-Braised Beef with Sweet Potatoes

This Chinese Classic Is Easier to Make than Beef Stew

Red-braising, also called red-cooking — or in Chinese, hong shoo — is a common cooking method throughout much of China.  It’s similar to a western-style braise, but much quicker because the meat isn’t browned first.  And for most people it’s easier to master than stir fry (the best-known Chinese cooking technique). 

A bit of chopping, a quick sauté of an ingredient or two, then add liquid and braise on the back of the stove or in the oven until done.  It’s a dish that practically cooks itself.

And the flavor?  Exquisite.