Tag: chinese

Chinese

Wonton Soup

I’ve had heard on more than one occasion that wonton, as the characters 云吞 would suggest, means “swallowing cloud” and was named so for its delicate, slippery texture and ethereal lightness. This is, however, a mistranslation from Cantonese to Mandarin. Nevertheless, it’s extremely common. Even my wonton wrapper package reads “云吞”. The correct characters, which […]

Chinese

Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Whatever you do, just don’t make it like the Culinary Institute of America, as demonstrated by Chinese Food Demystified in this video, and call it mapo tofu. I’m sure it’s a tasty stir, but mapo tofu it ain’t. I’m not sure either about the chile oil. Some people like Lady and Pups go hard on […]

Chinese

Mussels with Fermented Black Beans(豆汁)

I used to purchase Chinese fermented black beans (豆汁) in the sauce form, but because the few times I had purchased them whole I was disappointed with the flavor. I decided to give them another try. When I couldn’t find them at one of our local Asian markets, I asked the shop owner where they […]

Xi'an Hot and Sour Dumpling Soup
Chinese, Soup

Hot and Sour Dumpling Soup

This bowl of soup was nine months in the making. I was all set to make this in March last year when lockdown began. I first made beef filling, but then there was not a gram of flour to be found to make the wrappers due to panic buying. I finally found flour in October, […]