Notes about Recipes in this book

• Ningbo soy sauce greens (Ning bo kao cai)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    The stems were delicious but the leaves were extremely salty. But the shrunken bok choy were beautiful so I would try again with a lower-salt soy sauce.

  • HarlanH on February 25, 2018

    Agree with Krista on this.

• Nanjing New Year's salad (Jin ling su shen jin)

  • krista_jo on March 28, 2017

    I committed the cardinal sin of not reading the recipe through all the way and, having laboriously chopped all of the vegetables, almost cried when I saw that I was going to have to cook them all separately. It's a good salad, full of different flavours and contrasts and colours. But it's a high ratio of effort for the payoff. It reminds me a lot, in appearance, flavour, and cooking method, of the Korean noodle dish japchae. (I would perhaps reduce the sugar next time.) This made a mountain of vegetables, probably sufficient for 5 people as a side dish with 2-3 other dishes.

• Hand-torn mushrooms (Shou si jun gu)

  • krista_jo on March 28, 2017

    French-fried mushrooms! How did the West never think of these? These are very, very good. The oyster mushrooms ended up wonderfully crispy; the King oyster mushrooms were somewhat chewy (I did cook them separately), next time I might use all oyster mushrooms. The scallion-infused oil was very aromatic and added to the flavour, but I am torn about pouring so much oil on top of already deep-fried food (making it less crispy to boot)! Next time I might simply sprinkle chopped scallions on top.

  • clcorbi on November 29, 2016

    Wow, these are just addictively good. You sliver the mushrooms into thin pieces and then deep-fry them twice (I'm not sure why you couldn't just deep-fry them once for a longer amount of time, but I didn't want to second guess Ms. Dunlop). Then, heat up a smaller quantity of oil until it smokes, and pour it over a pile of thinly sliced scallions. This releases their flavor and imbues the oil with a delicious oniony taste. You then toss the fried mushrooms--which are now tiny and crisp--with the infused oil, plus equal parts salt and sugar. We ate these hot, while they were still very crisp, but I snuck another later in the evening and it was still delicious at room temp (albeit a bit more soft). This delicious little appetizer would make a worthy addition to any Chinese meal. They stole the show for us.

• Hangzhou Buddhist "roast goose" (Su shao'e)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Made the stuffed version. Thought I understood the instructions but Must have done something wrong - the tofu was too chewy to eat.

  • MelMM on January 31, 2019

    12-25-2017 I've made this several times, and it always comes out great. It is important to buy the frozen tofu skins, and not the dehydrated ones. I've played around using different fillings, and different gravy, adapting it to fit an American Thanksgiving or Christmas menu. But I always follow the technique in this recipe, and it is perfect every time.

  • kitchen_chick on October 15, 2018

    I made the stuffed "roast duck" version. I've bought these pre-made in Asian grocery stores before, so I had an idea of what it is supposed to be like. That said, I found the recipe itself very tricky. My tofu sheets were not the same size and they were exceptionally fragile. There was no way I was going to be able to trim them in the described shape. Given their state, I pre-soaked them as I would other tofu skin products (hot water in a pan until very pliable) then made some decently wrapped "burrito" like logs. I only managed to half-fry them as they were starting to fall apart when I tried to flip them. Because I soaked them in water I had plenty of flavoring broth left over, so I brought the broth to a boil and added some potato starch slurry to thicken it a bit and poured that over the tofu. I gave it four stars for flavor as I adore tofu skins, but between the prep work, the steaming, and the frying this is not an easy dish for a weeknight.

• Cool steamed aubergine with a garlicky dressing (Liang ban qie zi)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Easy and delicious. The hot oil gives it a nice smoky flavour.

  • Apollonia on December 31, 2021

    Lovely dish. Steamed eggplant has such a great texture, and the hot oil technique is perfect here.

  • Foodycat on February 25, 2020

    Delicious! Really silky and fragrant. I have a very savoury palate and I also didn't see any need for extra salt.

  • JLDuck on October 04, 2018

    Very easy and delicious. I found that the addition of soy sauce precluded the need for salt.

  • sosayi on July 12, 2018

    Agreed with krista_jo that it's very easy and delicious. I loved the coolness on a hot summer day, too. Only change I'd make is to add more soy or some salt. I added some to my plate and that perked it right up! It might have been just my soy sauce, but something to watch for.

• Mashed broad beans with snow vegetable (Dou ban su)

  • krista_jo on August 20, 2018

    Truly subtly delicious. Fresh fava beans are a must for this recipe.

• Eight-treasure spicy relish (Ba bao la jiang)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    A really excellent blend of flavoury and textures. Not very spicy at all, however, despite the name.

• Clear-simmered lion's head meatballs (Qing dun shi zi tou)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    I think this is one of those textural dishes that I didn't really "get". I did hand-chop the meat. Very soft, very fatty. Would probable be best served as a couple of bites paired with other crisp, acidic foods.

• Shaoxing "small stir-fry" (Shao xing xiao chao)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Greater than the sum of its parts.

• Eight-treasure stuffed calabash duck (Ba bao hu lu ya)

  • krista_jo on September 14, 2019

    I made this! Here is what I did/learned. It wasn’t hugely difficult, and was very much worth the effort. Do it! -Mushrooms: soaked overnight in room temp water rather than short soak in boiling water — results are better. -Ready-to-use lotus seeds: could not find these; soaked some dried lotus seeds overnight. Soaked, 23 seeds is about 50 grams. -Rice: I used short-grain glutinous rice. Boning the duck: I watched several youtube videos of boning chickens, this was hugely helpful. (method is sometimes called “tunnel boning”) I set aside an hour and didn’t feel rushed. I didn’t use the scissors as much as Dunlop; I scraped the flesh from the bone using the blade of the knife, then cut around the joints and resumed scraping the next bone (per Jacques Pepin method). Found no glands. Tore the skin in one place but sewed it up and it looked fine when cooked. [cont’d]

  • krista_jo on September 14, 2019

    [cont’d from prev note] Trussing: salt the duck while it’s still inside out. I didn’t have cotton thread (polyester might melt) so I separated the plies in my kitchen string and that worked. Take care to stuff the duck evenly so that it is symmetrical after you tie the calabash string. I managed to do that but I should have tied the string tighter as the duck shrank quite a bit in cooking. Frying: The wings stuck out and I would maybe truss them for frying next time. When I added the duck the oil came quite high up the sides of the wok, use caution! Most importantly: the bottom of the duck will touch the bottom of the wok, so while the rest of the duck is getting nice and brown the bottom will be turning black. I burned it slightly, I would estimate 2 minutes max frying before turning it over. Poaching: Dunlop refers to a ‘saucepan’ but my 7-qt Le Creuset was the only pot big enough. This required about 3 kettles worth of water. [cont’d]

  • krista_jo on September 14, 2019

    [cont’d from prev note] Garnish: Cut the crosses deep and narrow. The peppers fell out in cooking and I had to re-insert them, but it was worth it for the colour pop. Sauce: If serving more than two I would make more sauce from the poaching liquid (but I would also degrease it first). Serving: This was spectacular to look at, easy to carve, and spectacularly good to eat. The duck flesh was tender and the filling was amazingly savoury. Two of us gobbled must of it up for a special dinner (if serving a crowd I’d make many additional dishes.) In the end, this didn’t require special technique, just advance planning, other than boning the duck. You could probably bone it the easier way by slicing all the way through and then sewing all the way up, but sewing was my least favourite part of the whole process, so that wouldn’t be my preference. I thought it would be good, but I was surprised at just how good it was. I will make it again for sure!

• Shanghai golden egg dumplings with Chinese cabbage (Shang hai dan jiao)

  • krista_jo on February 15, 2021

    This was surprisingly easy to make, spectacular-looking, and satisfying. Do do do make a good homemade stock first (we made a double chicken stock) as there is very little seasoning. The eggs don't stretch so fold them over the filling carefully and press down the edges only.

• Clear-steamed sea bass (Qing zheng xian yu)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Quite subtle. Harder than it looks to attractively arrange the ingredients on top (and keep in mind the ham will shrink when heated).

• Steamed sea bass with snow vegetable (Xue cai zheng lu yu)

  • krista_jo on January 31, 2017

    Very easy and quite tasty. Make sure to use a fish whose skin you'd want to eat.

• Ningbo omelet with dried shrimp and Chinese chives (Jiu cai xia pi ta dan)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Not bad but I prefer stir-fried eggs with tomatoes. Might reduce the amount of chives next time.

  • clcorbi on March 02, 2017

    Simple and good! I used scallions rather than chives, as usual. I used a full-sized skillet for a half-recipe, and next time I think I'd use a small skillet instead to end up with a bit of a taller omelet, like in the picture. Over some white rice this made a really nice, extremely fast lunch.

• Stir-fried shrimp with Dragon Well tea (Long jing xia ren)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    The tea was tasty but there seemed to be too much starch.

• Stir-fried choy sum with wheat gluten (Mian jin cai xin)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Tasty! Be sure to evenly soak all sides of the gluten puffs.

  • JLDuck on February 12, 2023

    Tasty and easy. Yes make sure those puffs are properly baked.

• Green bok choy with dried shrimp (Kai yang chao cai)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Simple, good

  • PinchOfSalt on September 15, 2022

    Take care not to overcook the shrimp. I did and they became tan-colored, very fibrous and chewy. (I had soaked them for over an hour.)

  • Rinshin on November 15, 2016

    I always have on hand varieties of dried shrimp, scallops, and anchovies to add quick, savory, umami kick to recipes and this recipe was no exception. Excellent taste with minimal ingredients and so quick to make. After heating the rehydrated shrimp (I used sake) in a wok with some oil until fragrant only 2-3 min cooking of bok choy and small amount of stock with cover on. That's it! Will be repeating this for our Thanksgiving dinner.

  • clcorbi on November 29, 2016

    I would further reiterate the comments that this is simple and delicious. We used cornstarch rather than potato starch with no ill effect. We both really enjoyed how the bok choy sort of became infused with the shrimp flavor. Another plus: this took only about 5 minutes to cook.

  • rionafaith on November 11, 2016

    Simple but delicious. I did use the optional potato starch slurry at the end to finish the sauce, and I think it added a nice touch. I could probably eat the whole batch of this over some rice as a main (it doesn't make a ton), but it was also the perfect portion for two of us as a side. Will absolutely make again.

  • sosayi on July 12, 2018

    Incredibly quick and easy. Agree with clcorbi that the bok choy gets infused with the shrimp flavor. I forgot to add the potato starch slurry and felt it tasted great without it, btw.

• Stir-fried cabbage with dried shrimp (Bao xin cai chao xia pi)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    A weekly standby! Cheap, easy, tasty.

  • jenniebakes on November 01, 2018

    This is delicious. It looks so simple you wonder how good it could really be, but the dried shrimp give a complex flavor. Definitely a repeater recipe here!

• Stir-fried lettuce

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Your friends will be surprised that it's just lettuce, oil and salt!

• Lotus pond stir-fry (He tang xiao chao)

  • krista_jo on January 31, 2017

    This was surprisingly good! The ingredients were each crunchy but differently so. And, wonder of wonders, I microwaved the leftovers the next day and they REMAINED crunchy. I also liked the white-on-white with a bit of celery for contrast.

  • kitchen_chick on June 01, 2021

    I love lily bulbs and fresh lotus and definitely recommend making this. We added some carrot for color as suggested by the recipe. It's a subtle dish flavor-wise and quite lovely in appearance and textures. I agree with krista_jo that it was still crunchy the next day.

  • Stephenn31 on January 23, 2023

    Deliciously crunchy. There’s not a lot of flavour but the crunch and textures are great

• Bok choy broth with pickle (Zha cai qing cai tang)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Easy but boring. The pickle flavoury the broth but loses flavour of its own in so doing.

• Simple egg-flower soup (Hu lu gua dan hua tang)

  • krista_jo on February 11, 2019

    Good stock is a must for this because the eggs and the squash add zero flavour.

• Mrs. Song's thick fish soup (Song sao yu geng)

  • krista_jo on December 03, 2016

    A little involved but well worth the effort! We both went back for seconds. A really great combination of tastes and textures. It's a little misleading to call it "fish soup" -- it tastes mushroomy and chickeny and hammy too!

• Stir-fried rice cake with scrambled egg and dried shrimp (Qing cai chao nian gao)

  • krista_jo on February 04, 2017

    A good, simple, quick, pantry-cupboard sort of dish (if you have rice cakes in the freezer and bok choy in the fridge). Not spectacular, however.

• Shanghai noodles with dried shrimp and spring onion oil (Kai yang cong you mian)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Really good! The scallions and shrimp add great flavour and texture. I added some leftover fish and the noodles just sang.

  • clcorbi on December 26, 2016

    Oh my goodness, these noodles are delicious. I ate alone this evening so I halved the recipe, and the prep just flew by. I used normal soy sauce rather than light, so I decreased my quantity by half a teaspoon and it tasted just right. I used the full amount of oil called for, and although it is essential to have a good amount of oil to spread the delicious infused scallion/shrimp flavor, I think I could get away with using a little less next time. These noodles were so delicious that I wished I had made the full recipe--I could definitely have finished them all. I will be making this again as it is quick, pantry-friendly, and absolutely full of flavor.

  • clcorbi on June 17, 2017

    I still love these noodles and make them all the time. I made a half-recipe for myself as a late-night snack last night, and decreased the cooking oil by 1T, which was just right for me. I only realized after I had started cooking that I was out of scallions, so I desperately subbed some sliced garlic. And you know what? It wasn't quite as tasty, of course, but the result was still pretty delicious.

• Shanghai potsticker buns (Sheng jian man tou)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Well worth the effort! Crispy! Soft! Hot! Umami! A showstopper.

• Dragon Well tea (Long jing cha)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Found this tea at a Chinese pharmacy -- it's my new favourite and worth seeking out. I can drink it all afternoon.

  • DragonWell on February 03, 2017

    Dragon Well is also my favorite tea! I buy my everyday drinking quality from a good spice company that you may want to check out: http://www.atlanticspice.com/Dragon-Well-4-Green-Tea--8-oz_p_383.html

• Everyday stock (Xian tang)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Does what it says on the tin.

• Traditional jellied stock (Pi dong 2)

  • krista_jo on October 16, 2016

    Surprisingly easy!

• Stir-fried pea shoots

  • lorloff on February 26, 2022

    I bought fresh thin pea shoots from the farmers market and this preparation made them sing. See also Grace Young recipe. Both terrific.

• Stir-fried celtuce (Qing chao wo sun)

  • mziech on February 27, 2017

    easy recipe. brings out the subtle flavor of the celtuce

• Shanghai fried rice with salt pork and green bok choy (Xian rou cai fan)

  • HarlanH on August 16, 2020

    Made this with Chinese ham (the sort that comes shrink-wrapped and is shelf-stable until opened), lard, and a mixture of Basmati and white sushi rice, and it was *great*.

  • clcorbi on December 17, 2018

    Agree that the recipe as written is bland. I also wish I would have allowed the bacon to crisp up, although the instructions specifically said not to do that. Not a fried rice recipe I need to repeat.

  • Smokeydoke on November 24, 2016

    A basic fried rice, a bit bland. I doubled the pork so Mr. Smokey would eat it.

• Slivered pork with flowering chives (Jiu cai hua chao rou si)

  • Delys77 on December 17, 2021

    I agree, super adaptable and easy but nothing to write home about. We did it with pork and green beans. I will say the quantity is quite small. I know this book is all about pairing several dishes family style, but for us for 4 people I had about 400 grams of pork and about 40 grams of green beans. Good balance for us.

  • clcorbi on December 04, 2016

    Dunlop notes in the recipe header that this dish can be used as a loose template for all sorts of stir-fries, subbing out different meats and vegetables as needed. So, I took her up on it and substituted chicken for the pork, and carrots for the flowering chives. This is a quick, easy stirfry that is mildly flavored, but still tasty. I skimped on the ginger, which was a mistake. Next time I'd throw in a bigger handful of ginger slivers. A thorough salting plus the dash of sesame oil at the end really makes the flavor here. This dish was not really impressive enough for a weekend dinner, but would certainly make a solid weeknight meal, and it's both fast and adaptable.

• Chicken with young ginger (Nen jiang chao zi ji)

  • Delys77 on January 26, 2022

    We served this with rice and a vegetable side. I doubled the recipe and cooked in two batches and we ended up with 5 portions for us. It is quite delicate but that is a nice change, not everything has to be so in your face flavour wise. Much like Rionafaith, I used the nicest ginger I could find but I doubt it ws particularly young. I quite liked the flavour and the only change I would likely make is to actually go a bit heavier on the white pepper and do more green onion (white part). I also think the a nice stock is necessary for the sauce. Given that it is the bulk of the sauce, I found using water likely hindered the final result and a rich stock with a bit of body to it would for sure improve an already good dish.

  • JLDuck on October 04, 2018

    I loved the delicacy of the flavours and it is incredibly easy to make. My husband found it too bland and, to my dismay, added chilli sauce. Each to their own, however if you want strong flavours this recipe may not be the answer.

  • rionafaith on November 12, 2016

    Quick and easy. I only had about a 1.5 oz piece of ginger on hand, so I'm sure it would be better with the full amount, but it was still good... and I'm not sure my ginger was really "young" as all the stuff in chinatown here looks pretty similar in terms of freshness, but still, good. The sauce was great and thickened up nicely, I wish there was more of it! Makes a rather small portion -- it was enough for two of us over rice with plenty of bok choy on the side, but no leftovers. I might make this to serve just myself with slightly less chicken but the whole amount of sauce.

• Cucumber with sweet fermented sauce dip

  • hyperbowler on December 14, 2016

    The cucumber tianmianjiang combo is reminiscent of Peking duck or zha Jiang mian. An assertive radish works even better with this sauce than a cucumber.

• Shanghai red-braised pork with eggs (Shang hai hong shao rou)

  • chawkins on November 03, 2016

    Excellent! The pork belly pieces were truly melt in your mouth tender and the eggs were very flavorful, the slits cut on the eggs really let the braising liquid penetrate into them well. However, my dish did not look as pretty as pictured, it was not as dark even though I used double dark soy.

  • JLDuck on September 26, 2022

    Absolutely delicious. I agree that the overnight step is essential for allowing you to remove a significant amount of fat. I suspect the colour in the photo is caused by lighting (or a cheat).

  • clcorbi on December 11, 2016

    This was delicious! As the below comment noted, the braising liquid is not at all as dark as the picture (I also used dark soy sauce), but it is very flavorful. I made this dish all in one day, braising it in the morning and then letting it refrigerate for a few hours. So much fat came out of the braising liquid that I am glad I didn't skip the refrigeration step. After reducing the sauce, I added about a teaspoon of corn starch because it still wasn't as thick as I wanted. I loved the technique of boiling the pork belly before slicing it--it was SO easy to slice as a result and I didn't have to handle raw meat! Next time I think I would try the pork-only variation of this dish. H liked the braised eggs a bit more than I did, but we both felt they became too mushy after so much simmering. Normally I love eggs in any form so I was surprised that I didn't love them here, but I did appreciate how pretty they looked, all covered in slits.

• Dongpo pork (Dong po rou)

  • JLDuck on March 30, 2019

    A very tasty recipe. Definitely worth the time. First cooked March 2019.

• Juicy shiitake mushrooms (Lu wei xiao xiang gu)

  • JLDuck on June 10, 2019

    An excellent addition to a Chinese meal. The toasted pine nuts add interest to the dish. I used the mushroom soaking water rather than chicken stock.

  • Lzeleny on January 27, 2019

    Very flavorful, and a favorite addition to radishes and cucumber recipes from this section. The ingredients are all pantry standards now for me, so I can easily make this snack for guests.

• Stewed chicken with chestnuts (Ban li shao ji)

  • JLDuck on November 12, 2019

    An easy recipe comprising of delicate flavours. I used cooking oil rather than the optional lard.

• Stir-fried broad beans with Chinese chives

  • JLDuck on March 29, 2021

    A pleasant and simple accompaniment

• Spinach soup with silken bean curd and pork (Bo cai rou si dou fu geng)

  • love2chow on July 04, 2019

    This is a delicious soup that has even my husband going back for seconds. I skip the pork, and simply add little cubes of ham or pancetta for color before serving.

• Leftover rice omelet sweet version (Mi fan ji dan bing)

  • kitchen_chick on January 27, 2021

    Excellent fast breakfast or snack. It’s subtly sweet. Just a hint.

• Stir-fried rice cake with fresh clams (Ge li chao nian gao)

  • metacritic on September 28, 2021

    Fresh, briny, light and savory. Very, very good. My kids - clam lovers - loved this even more than I did. Will make again.

• Shanghai stir-fried chunky noodles (Shang hai cu chao mian)

  • metacritic on June 19, 2021

    Really loved this as did the family. I use very high quality, brewed soy-sauces and think that made all the difference. Spouse asked me to put this into frequent circulation, a rare request.

  • sosayi on February 18, 2021

    Thoroughly enjoyed by the whole fam, including, thank goodness, the two small ones. I did increase the amount of meat (x3, and the marinade, too), since that's what I had on hand, and would do so again. Maybe because of that, I needed a bit more soy sauce at the end. Will repeat for sure.

  • Stephenn31 on February 27, 2023

    Delicious and easy. I parboiled the bok choi stems with the noodles for extra veg

• Soupy rice with chopped greens (Cai pao fan)

  • clcorbi on November 20, 2016

    Made for lunch today to use up leftovers. Very simple and homey. We doctored our bowls with rice vinegar (would have preferred black vinegar but I currently have none), and Sriracha. This soup needs plenty of salt. A good way to use up leftover rice!

• Vegetarian "eels" in a sweet-and-sour sauce (Xiang you shan si)

  • clcorbi on January 10, 2017

    This stirfry was so intriguing to me that I finally had to give it a go, and I'm glad I did, but the recipe needs modifications next time. First--I was hesitant about only using 9 dried mushrooms, thinking we would end up with almost no food, and I was right. I wish I had used twice as many--we had SO much extra sauce! I had no bell pepper, so I subbed a handful of thinly sliced celery--I should have added a couple of handfuls to bulk up this dish, as the sauce was just totally overpowering. Second--next time I'd cut back the sugar in the sauce. I think the intended effect here was "sweet and sour", but the sauce veered way too far towards the sweet side of the spectrum. The "eels" do have an interesting, chewy texture that is reminiscent of meat, so I am glad I tried this, but wouldn't make again without these changes.

• Hangzhou sweet-and-sour pork (Tang cu li ji)

  • clcorbi on December 04, 2016

    I struggled a bit with this recipe--I didn't have enough frying oil to totally submerge the pork pieces, and as a result, most of the pork's breading batter stuck to the bottom of the pan and came off. Despite this initial disaster, the final dish was quite good--the sauce thickened up nicely because of all the starch (we used corn starch rather than potato), and once the pork was all blanketed in the gorgeous dark sauce, you couldn't tell that the breading had come off. We really enjoyed the end result, but this dish is RICH. A lot of plain rice is needed to offset the sweet-and-sour flavor. If I make this again, I'd skip the batter frying step entirely and just marinate the pork in some shaoxing wine and salt before stir-frying it and coating in the sauce. The sauce is already so rich and delicious that batter-frying the pork seems like gilding the lily.

  • jenniebakes on November 23, 2018

    We loved this dish. I deep fried in a wok and made another deep fried dish alongside to feel less like I was heedlessly wasting oil, and a few cups was enough. However, I may have left the pork in too long for one of the steps as at the end it was slightly overcooked; I would probably do less time in the first trip through the oil as it seems most likely that's where I messed up. The sauce itself is just amazing - I can't stop thinking about it several days later. Like the other reviewer, we plan to make this again without the deep-frying step to make something a little easier and less over the top for a weeknight. We will make it again as written sometime for a celebration meal, though.

• Spicy Chinese cabbage (La bai cai)

  • clcorbi on December 04, 2016

    This was so simple to make but surprisingly good! The cabbage develops a spicy flavor that is just perfect, not too intense but still flavorful. After the cabbage is salted, tossed with some Sichuan peppercorns and pressed in its own juices for a few hours, you drop some dried, sliced chiles into hot oil, then toss the cabbage into the infused oil and serve. We were only able to let the cabbage press for a few hours before cooking it--I would love to try this dish again and let the cabbage go overnight. Next time I will also try the variation that uses chankiang vinegar and sesame oil.

  • sosayi on April 24, 2018

    Good, simple cabbage recipe. I did the black vinegar and sesame oil variation, which I enjoyed a lot, although we did need to add a touch more of the vinegar than called for in the recipe (for our tastes). It had a goldilocks heat level, just enough to warm your mouth without making you sweat.

• Sweet-and-sour radishes (Tang cu xia luo bo)

  • clcorbi on December 11, 2016

    Another easy, fresh vegetable appetizer from this book. I didn't read the instructions carefully, and so failed to allot the several hours needed to properly salt the radishes--they salted for maybe 40 minutes total. The final dish was still very flavorful so I don't think the radishes suffered too badly.

  • rionafaith on January 31, 2017

    Very tasty! I did not have superfine sugar so I used regular and it was totally okay, just took a little longer to dissolve. Keep in mind that while this is a very simple dish to throw together, the radishes do need to sit for a couple hours after salting.

  • Lzeleny on January 27, 2019

    Perfect alongside the quick cucumbers and also the shiitake mushrooms. I’ve made with both regular and superfine sugar....it may be all in my head, but I think the superfine is always better. I’ve also played with the time, and do recommend following the instructions for the best flavor. The technique for lightly cracking can be confusing, I’ve cut into half’s and quarters with good results.

  • CheesyKranskyLove on October 03, 2022

    My radishes were on the small side so I had a lot of marinade left over. It was a simple appetiser but otherwise not memorable

• Quick cucumber salad (Liang ban huang gua)

  • clcorbi on December 04, 2016

    Very simple to make, and we were able to let the salad sit for about 40 minutes before eating it which allowed time for the flavors to develop. We used a pretty large cucumber and still found that there was a lot of excess dressing--next time I would probably use two medium cucumbers instead of one large one. This made a nice, easy side.

  • rionafaith on November 11, 2016

    Similar to the "Smacked cucumber in garlicky sauce" on p. 34 of Every Grain of Rice, but with slightly different ingredient quantities (a little more garlic, a lot more sugar and Chinkiang vinegar here) and no chilli oil. I think I slightly prefer the other one more as I like the spiciness, but I love the sweet and sour vinegary-ness of this one too. Might try using this recipe but with a Tbsp or so of chilli oil added for the perfect combination between the two.

  • Lzeleny on January 27, 2019

    Very good, I now make often for a quick snack before a larger meal. The Chinkiang vinegar is key.

  • excurvatus on December 14, 2019

    I was worried about this with the sugar involved. It's so good. I'm going to make it again, and again, and again whenever I need a green, cooling side to go with all that Sichuanese cooking!

• Golden scrambled eggs with shrimp (Xia ren chao dan)

  • clcorbi on February 06, 2017

    Per Smokeydoke's recommendation, we tried this dish out for dinner tonight, and can confirm that it is both simple and delicious! My boyfriend cooked tonight and said that peeling the shrimp took longer than any of the actual cooking. This was so good over white rice and, even though the flavor is simple, it's really very tasty. A nice back pocket weeknight meal for sure.

  • Smokeydoke on November 24, 2016

    Delicious in its simplicity. Not much more than shrimp and scrambled eggs, but the combination is addicting. My favorite dish from the book so far.

• Scalded bean curd slivers (Tang gan si)

  • clcorbi on July 30, 2018

    I followed the directions faithfully, but found the final dish to be very bland. It's rare to find a Dunlop recipe I don't like, so this was surprising.

• Slippery cucumber salad

  • rionafaith on January 31, 2017

    This is more a technique/variation than a real recipe. Fuchsia did not mention needing to smack and split the cucumber for this salad so I didn't bother and only sliced it into 1/8" rounds. I used the above quick cucumber salad recipe as a guideline for the garlic and sugar quantities, and I didn't have any pickled chili so I just added a splash of Chinkiang vinegar for some acid. I think I prefer the more complex flavors of some of Fuchsia's other cucumber salad recipes, as this one is VERY simple, but it's nice too!

• Stir-fried sweet potato noodles (Ji xi chao fen si)

  • sosayi on April 24, 2018

    I started out thinking this recipe was a touch bland, but quickly changed my mind. It's a subtle umami-rich flavor that grows as you eat the dish. It balanced out a spicier cabbage dish nicely and I'd pair with a similar crunch/spicy dish again. A repeat for sure. I did substitute a lean pork loin for the pork belly due to my husband's preference. I can see how it would be even more rich and unctuous with the belly, which would be delicious, too.

• Everyday pork buns

  • sosayi on October 29, 2018

    I used the filling in a basic baked bun recipe, so the review is only for the filling and not the dough. Filling had decent flavor, but wasn't all that exciting. Good, but not great. Next time, I think I'd rather spend a little more time on a more involved filling, if I'm already spending time on making the buns themselves.

• Spicy stir-fried bean curd with pickles (Jia chang xiao chao huang)

  • sosayi on July 12, 2018

    We all, including the small person and the other big person that dislikes mushrooms, really enjoyed this dish. So.... this is a definite repeat for us. Changes I made: I left the chiles out (and just had some chile oil on the side); used pickled mustard greens in place of Chinese snow vegetable; and used cremini mushrooms in place of king oyster mushrooms. The pickles really added a great funky note to the dish.

• Celtuce salad with spring onion oil (Cong you wo sun)

  • Jardimc on March 03, 2023

    Simple and outstanding! Refreshing flavour, and beautiful to look at.

• Food52

  The 2017 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks, First Round: Land of Fish and Rice vs. Dorie's Cookies

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• Leite's Culinaria

  ...each recipe contains clear instructions and the background of the dish and the area or chef from where it hails. The book also includes a comprehensive glossary of terms and ingredients...

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• Leite's Culinaria

  ...explores the cooking and history of the provinces surrounding the Lower Yangtze River in Southern China...the cooking from this area is light, balanced, fresh, and elegant...

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