109.Chinese soup: Meat balls and Chinese leaves soup

Chinese soup with meat balls and leaves

Normally I would leave this kind of dish for the weekend, but since we are in Chinese new year time, every dish is a ‘weekend’ dish, no? Ha… Just spoil ourselves. And don’t worry about putting on weight, next month, I am thinking of sharing some of my Chinese ‘detox’ recipes. :))

The original version of this dish comes with meat balls and ‘little bok choy’, a type of northeast green leaves (see  Chinese leaves). It is called ‘Xiao bai cai chuan wan zi’, literal translation is little bok choy with meat balls ‘inserted’ in them. But since here in UK, I cannot find this particular type of leaves, (and the bok choy usually sold in the supermarkets is not suitable for this dish), I will use Chinese leaves instead.

The original dish with ‘little bok choy’ is normally prepared in spring or summer, because it is when this particular type of vegetables is on season. My version with Chinese leaves becomes a perfect winter recipe --- warming up your stomach, as well as taking in plenty of essential nutrients. Oh, saying that, I lately read an article discussing whether ‘we should eat more for winter’ --- the thing is I don’t think we particularly need to eat much more in winter, but we do need to have more ‘heavy’ and warm food to help us fight the cold, no? At least, I do, that is why my friends always say that I become a balloon in winter --- quickly ‘blown up’, even I did not eat that much. Ha…

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Hot and spicy pot (Ma La Tang) II

Chinese Ma La Tang

Continued from yesterday’s post…

When this dish got popular in China, its recipe spread to different regions. It seems, however, that different areas have adopted it differently, probably according to their own local taste. Just like outside China, all the Chinese cuisine has been adapted differently to the taste of each foreign country. :))

People in Northeast China say that the recipe for this hot and spicy pot is also slightly different to the original one. So, here is how I make it.

Well, saying that, the easiest way of making it is actually to buy the ‘sauce’ base from the Chinese supermarkets. They normally come in a big ‘sachet’, you just need to ‘squeeze’ it out, then boil it with water, and add in whatever the ingredients you like. You need to ask for ‘Ma La Tang’ soup base. If you do use them, I suggest you use half of the portion each time, or gradually add in, because it can be very very spicy!

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104. Fried fish ball with Chinese leaves salad

Fried fish balls with Chinese leaves

I still cannot believe that we are in the ‘new’ year already! A few years ago, then I was still struggling with my PhD, probably it was my first or second year, once I was talking to my supervisor, I could not remember why we started talking about time and years, he mentioned a book about the year 2012, the book was about what would happen to the world in 2012. I listened, and thought, ‘ok, it does not matter if I believe it or not, I still have a few years to think about it -- 2012 is still far.’ But, here we go, it has started!. Oh, in the end, I did not give a thought about it -- I forgot. :)

In China, over thirty years ago, there was a ‘plan’ for the country’s development, something like what people’s lives should be in a few years, and in 2000, what a ‘new’ world we were going to be in. I remember I used to talk to my cousin sister, who was exactly 12 years older than me, (as in Chinese 12 animal sign years, every 12 years is a cycle), she said, ‘by the year of 2000, I will be at age of thirty--… oh, my god, I will be getting old!’ And I was thinking, ‘then, I will not be a little girl anymore, but a young woman.’ It then came to my mind an image of a young women with a bit ‘curled’ hair, wearing high heels, and carrying a black working shoulder bag.

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97. Stewed Chinese style sauerkraut pickled Chinese leaves with frozen tofu (V)

Stewed Chinese leaves with tofu

Yesterday, at the German Christmas market in Verona, the smell of sauerkraut was everywhere. I swear my mouth was watering :)), and I really wished I could squeeze through the queuing crowd to grab a portion --- o, o, if only they serve without pork sausage.

Chinese "sauerkraut"

My love towards sauerkraut is all because of its similar taste to pickled Chinese leaves, which makes many northern Chinese ‘emotionally’ attached to. As I said in a previous post, when I found out that I could actually use sauerkraut as pickled Chinese leaves to cook those typical northeast Chinese winter dishes, I was over the moon, especially, you can get sauerkraut in the supermarkets anytime in the year, not like northern pickled Chinese leaves --- you have to wait until winter comes. :)

I used to eat sauerkraut with my dear friend Zhenya in Manchester, she is also a big fan, and she can tell even the slightest differences between sauerkraut made in different countries. She introduced it to me as kind of pickled salad thing, I remember she used to take a big portion of it from its jar for each of us, sometimes it was too sour, we had to almost wink our eyes, but it was really nice --- and it was a really nice time.

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Winter ingredient: Northeast pickled Chinese leaves ( Chinese style sauerkraut)

Image source:http://dongbeicai.abang.com/od/dbss/ig/suancai.-0RM/suancai.htm

I have got to face the fact that we are in winter now. I have been using ‘late autumn’ to refer to this time of the year, but it is winter now -- and I haven’t finished my autumn recipes yet! And now, I got to start my winter recipes, no matter how reluctant I am. The good thing is there are many tasty winter Chinese recipes. I am saying these dishes are for winter, one is because they are good to warm up your body, and give you enough energy to against the coldness, another reason is that some of the ingredients can only be found in winter -- well, probably not totally true, as nowadays you can get everything at anytime of the year. But I still feel it only right if have it in winter.

Anyway, to start with, I want to talk about one the most distinctive winter food --- pickled Chinese leaves (Napa cabbage). Its Chinese name is “Suan Cai”, means sour vegetable. I mentioned before, it tastes quite similar to sauerkraut, so when I could not get the real pickled Chinese leaves, I would use sauerkraut instead. In other regions in China, especially in Cantonese region, there is a pickled cabbage called “Suai Cai”, but the taste is still different. However, the actual thing, and the way of making it are totally different.

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Common ingredient: Chinese leaves

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Image source: http://www.js12345.net/goods_view.aspx?goods_id=E6E3A8DC0FED09FC

I know I have already talked a little bit about Chinese leaves in some of my previous recipes. Here, I hope I could give you the full picture, and clarify the common confusions between Chinese leaves and Pok choy.

The ones that you can find in most supermarkets, with layers of leaves, white (creamy colour) ‘hard’ parts and ‘soft’ leaves parts, which can be green or yellow, are called ‘Bai Cai’, or ‘da bai cai’ in Mandarin, as ‘big white vegetable’. The Mandarin name actually coincides with the Cantonese pronunciation ‘Bok choy’, but these are really different things -- well, actually not so different, same family of vegetable.

Bok choy is way smaller and ‘slimer', and it often has more green leaves and a smaller white part. The kind of Bok Choy used in Cantonese cuisine is not commonly found in Mainland China. (Below left you can see the mainland Chinese version of 'bok choy' /small Chinese leaves; on the right, you can see the Cantonese 'Bok choy'). If I am stressing this is because the recipes for these different types of leaves are quite different.

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83.Stewed Chinese leaves with tofu (V)

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Stewed Chinese leaves with tofu

Opened the blinds this morning, autumn has spread the whole yard, yellow and red leaves are covering the whole walls and the grass -- how beautiful! Although there was no sun, the red, yellow, orange and green (yes, there is still a little green colour left) colour are composing a beautiful autumn concert. I stayed by the window watching for a very long time, just did not want to move…

The only sadness is that after changing back from summer time, the day light time is getting shorter, quite sudden -- I thought I have prepared for the night arriving early, but still sudden, a little bit panic rose up from deep down of my heart. -- Another autumn, another winter, another Christmas, another year…

Autumn Chinese leaves

It is said that autumn is a harvest season, many fruits and vegetables are on the markets now. My mom told me on the phone that she was planning to buy autumn vegetables for storing them up for the coming winter. Although this is no longer a necessary thing to do in northeast China (there will still be millions types of vegetables available in the markets), my mom said that she still wanted to keep the old traditions; however, she would buy much much less than she used to many years ago- just a ‘symbolic’ buying.

And one type of vegetables she must buy is Bai cai / Chinese leaves.

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19. Stir fried Chinese leaves with vinegar and sugar

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-----tangcubaicai (糖醋白菜）

Sweet and sour chinese leaves

Sweet and sour Chinese leaves

Did I mention that ‘sweet and sour’ dishes in Northeast China are actually called ‘vinegar and sugar’? Ha… This is one of that ‘vinegar and sugar’ dishes, but with a spicy touch.

It is a very traditional dish in North Chinese cuisine -- have I said too many times of ‘traditional’ :) :)… but this is really another one, and special one.

Chinese leaves are called ‘bai cai’ in North China, which means ‘white vegetable’ (even if the lower part of the leaves is actually green).

Its pronunciation in Cantonese is ‘Pok choi’, but what they call ‘Pok choi’ is actually another kind of vegetable in North China. -- So complicated, what I am saying is that if you are in a restaurant in North China, don’t be confused when making an order. :)

‘Bai Cai’ is one of most popular ingredients in Northeast food, especially for winter dishes. It is originated in North, and normally harvest is in late autumn.

Because of the very cold winter, there used to be a lack of fresh vegetables in North China between Dec to Feb, so people came up with the idea of storing Chinese leaves: before real cold winter came, every household would buy hundreds of kilograms of Chinese leaves.

And before storing them away, they normally needed to be laid outside for a few days to get the first layer dried to void rottenness (and get rid of dried leaves only use the fresh inner leaves when cooking).

 I remember when I was little, my mum would put on ‘work sleeves’ and a small apron for me, so I could be there to help, I was very proud that I became a ‘big’ girl and a (hard working) helper. :) Some of these Chinese leaves then could be ‘pickled’(the taste and texture is very similar to pickled cabbage) , while others were to be cooked in stir fry, soup, fillings for bakeries… For making them more interesting in the dishes, people invented various cooking methods.

Nowadays, there are plenty of fresh vegetables in the markets. It is no longer necessary to ‘store’ Chinese leaves. So you can rarely see a family working together for laying them outside, but all the memories remain, Chinese leaves still have an emotional attachment for Northeast people.

But saying that, Chinese leaves in North China are much bigger, the leaves are thicker, only the core part is very very juicy, which is good for making salad. In England, Chinese leaves are mainly imported from Spain, they are more juicy, not good for long time boiling in soup, but very good for quick stir fry or salad.

The recipe: Stir fried sweet and sour Chinese leaves

This is one of the dishes with ‘Bai cai’, a bit sweet and sour, and a bit spicy. It is one of those quick dish, it can be made in a few minutes --- quick and healthy for a weekday’s dinner, no? :))

Ingredients

Chinese leaves (We normally get them in Sainsbury’s or Tesco, in Chinese supermarkets as well.)

Prawns or shrimps (optional)
Garlic, rice vinegar, white sugar, salt, oil, crushed chili, cooking wine, MSG or vegetable essence (optional)

Preparation

1) Tear only the outer layers of Chinese leaves (they are better than the core part for stir frying), wash and chop them into small pieces, shake off extra water.

2) Prepare a handful shrimps or prawns, but it is an option, if you like it vegan.

3) Chop 3 gloves garlic (or more) into slices.

Cooking

(The fire is relatively strong for this dish.)

1) In a heated wok, pour in (around) 5 tablespoons of oil.

2) When oil is hot, put in half or one teaspoon of crushed chili, depends on how spicy you like, or you can leave it out.

3) Then, put the sliced garlic in.

4) When the smell of the garlic comes out, put prawns or shrimps in, following by chopped Chinese leaves ‘Baicai’.

5) Then pour in around 2 teaspoons of cooking wine, stir well, then put 3/4 teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of sugar, 2 tablespoons of vinegar.

Stir fried Chinese leaves

6) Stir everything well, and let the seasoning settle with the leaves for 1 or 2 minutes, then put in half teaspoon of MSG or vegetable essence (optional) before removing the dish to a plate.

----  Have a good meal!!

The leaves are not supposed to be very soft,  but rather crunchy and juicy.  This dish is best with rice, or flat Chinese bread. :)