101. Healthy recipe: Chinese lamb and radish soup

Chinese lamb and radish soup

As I said yesterday, if you don’t want to make dumplings for winter solstice day, let’s make a healthy lamb soup. :)) It is another most popular dish for entering winter.

According to the news,  these days, because of the winter solstice day in China, lamb has become a most popular food and the price of lamb has rapidly increased. --- So, it seems many people are celebrating with lamb this year.

This lamb and radish soup is popular not only because of its taste, it is also famous for its health benefits. Probably you are familiar with the reputation of ‘healthy soups’ in China, most of them are from Cantonese cuisine with many herbs, but the recipes of ‘healthy soup’ in Northern China are a totally different story. This is probably why you rarely come across this kind of dish in any Chinese restaurants outside China, as most of them serve Cantonese or southern Chinese cuisine.

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96. Chinese lamb recipe: Dry cooked crispy lamb -- Shao yangrou

Chinese shao yang rou

Hey! Say something cheerful -- I had my first ever Christmas turkey last night! I never had Christmas turkey before, as I said that when my friend Zhenya used to cook me Christmas dinner, she knew that I was never a fan of turkey, or any kinds of meat, she always cooked alternatives for me. But last time, our neighbours invited us for Christmas dinner, (we normally do it as neighbours’ celebration before we all go away for holidays), and my friend decided to make traditional English Christmas dinner, so he cooked turkey along with all of the other traditional roasted vegetables. I didn’t want to say no -- he had been passionately cooking for hours, and proudly presenting his national food, so I finished the piece of turkey in my plate, guess what -- it turned out really good!

We had a such good time, and laughed too much. :)

However, the sad thing is, soon, probably in a few months time, all of our neighbour friends will be moving away, and this might be the last Christmas dinner we celebrated together. :( … I know, you are going to say this is life, but I really don’t like this sad moment, since I came to UK, I made friends, and had to say good-bye to friends too many times…


Anyway, today I hope you enjoy the weekend, and this ‘weekend’ dish. :))

Again, this is a ‘weekend’ dish because it takes longer time to cook --- with three different steps. It is very presentable for if you have guests.

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A liver recipe: Stir fried liver with green pepper and carrots

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Chinese stir fried liver

As I have mentioned before, I have never been a big fan of meat or organ meat, but liver is an exception, the only exception. Not only that, there are only two ways of cooking liver that I would happily eat -- liver salad and this stir fried liver pieces.

I don’t know how I started liking it, I guess when my parents cooked it, they never told me what it was on the first place; and I just like the texture, I mean had they told me, I probably would have never touched it, like all the other things. :)) But, then, gradually, I learned about liver’s benefit, and among others, the one that is good for eyes was particularly persuasive to me. :))

In China, pork and chicken liver are the most popular kinds of liver in restaurants as well as at home. However, because of my Hui ethnic group origin, I can only eat liver dishes in ‘Hui’ restaurants, and there lamb liver and ox liver are commonly used.  But the methods of cooking are very similar, the only difference in case of this dish would be the choice of vegetables. Many ‘Hui’ liver recipes use green pepper and carrot; however, there is no restriction on what to combine liver with though.

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64.Stir fried spring onion with lamb slice

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葱爆羊肉 （Cong bao yang rou)

Having said I am not a big fan of meat, this lamb dish is one of the very few I really like. - Confused by my statements of what kind of food I like? -- I am confused by myself as well. When I try to put down my food preference, for example, when I am taking a long haul flight, it is really difficult, like my husband says, ‘difficult to generalize the food for her - meat is ok, but no chicken or pork, vegetarian is good, but if there are cheese and cream, then no.’
- It is confusing, I know, my picky Chinese food upbringing. :)

Lamb in Chinese Ethnic Cuisine

Lamb, as I mentioned in anther post, is very important in my ethnic group’s traditional cuisine. Growing up with lamb, I can take lamb dishes cooked in many different ways, even if they have strong ‘lamb’ smell. But this dish is really ideal for me, tender - does not even have to feel the texture of ‘meat’; flavored (with spring onion, chilli and cumin) can just mask all the ‘lamb’ smell. It takes little time to cook (apart from the preparation), and is a very presentable dish for weekday dinner as well as a treat for guests. :)


This dish is called ‘Cong bao yang rou’ in Chinese - as spring onion stir fry lamb. Well, not totally exact, ‘Bao’ is one of the ways of cooking when stir frying. It is to cook quickly on very strong fire with very hot wok.

The way spring onion is used in this recipe is quite unusual; spring onion acts as part of the ‘main’ ingredients, (I prefer to use ‘Chinese big spring onion’ (Pic below left) or even leeks). So the lamb is heavily influenced by its taste. Last weekend, we bought some ‘long’ spring onion, which is very rare to find in the normal supermarkets, so I thought it was good to cook this dish. The meat from the back legs of lamb is the most suitable one.

                            Image source:www.dacongwang.com

The recipe: Stir fried spring onion with lamb slice

There are actually many ways of making this dish. One could mix the meat with seasonings first, or stir fry directly. One could stir fry the spring onion first, then add in lamb or stir fry lamb first then spring onion.

In this case, I decided to stir fry the lamb first, because the spring onion is not good to be stir fried for too long, it will loose the freshness which is quite essential in this recipe. But if I use leeks, I would normally stir fry the leeks first, then the lamb.)


Here you go.

Ingredients:

Lamb (from the leg), spring onion or leeks

Crushed chilli, salt, oil, cumin seeds, vinegar, sugar, cooking wine, light soy sauce, garlic and ginger.

Preparing:

1)Slice the lamb meat as thin as possible.

2) In a mix bowl, mix sliced meat with a teaspoon of cumin seeds, a few drops of vinegar and light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 teaspoon of crushed chilli. Leave the mixture for around 1 hour.

Adding seasonings to the lamb

3)Chop around 3 gloves garlic, and a piece of ginger into strips.

4)Chop around 2 or 3 spring onions diagonally into long strips possible.

Chopping spring onions

Cooking:

1) In a heated wok, (the fire is very strong), pour in around 3 tablespoons of oil, and add in chopped garlic and ginger strips, then 1 teaspoon of cooking wine.

Stir frying the garlic

2) The smell of the garlic, ginger and wine comes out, add in the lamb slice, stir fry quickly.

3) When the colour of the lamb slice turns into ‘white’, add in chopped spring onion.

4) Add in a bit more salt and cumin seed ONLY IF it is needed (if you think the taste is not strong enough).

----- Done!

Chinese stir fried lamb with spring onion

It does need to be eaten while it is still hot, so you don’t get much of ‘lamb’ smell, and the meat is still very tender. Oh, don’t fry too long, otherwise, the meat might be harder, so chopping it thin is very important.

I think it is good to go with plain boiled rice, so you can have a better taste of lamb. :)

40. A Chinese islamic recipe: Oven grilled lamb leg

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烤羊腿

As promised, here is the recipe for Chinese grilled lamb , which I made for yesterday’s friends gathering.

A few friends have been asking already for some time how I prepare the lamb . Normally for small gatherings, I only make a few lamb chops or leg fillet; however, this time was one of those big gatherings where everyone would bring some food, (the host already prepared a lot), and I decided to prepare a medium size lamb leg .

Lamb and Chinese Ethnic Groups

This way of cooking lamb legs is not originally from the Northeast of China. I learnt it many years ago from somebody who came from Xinjiang , the beautiful and extensive province in the North West of China. (Xinjiang is comparable in size to Western Europe and borders many countries in central asia, such as Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhastan, and even India !)

In Xinjiang province, the majority of the population belongs to the Weiwu’er ethnic group , and lamb dishes are their speciality. I already mentioned that lamb is very important in the custom of Weiwu'er or Hui ethnic groups . For example, if you walk down the street in my city in the evening, there are many small stalls selling grilled lamb on a stick , and most of the sellers are from Xinjiang.

Lamb has become a very popular dish in the whole of China because of their influence. In fact, here is a popular chain of Islamic restaurants called "one cow" (although their specialty is to prepare a whole small lamb for their customers).

However, home grilled lamb leg in Northeast China is not common, mainly (probably) because Chinese home kitchens are traditionally not equipped with built in oven and grill, and selling a whole lamb leg is also not a common thing in the markets or butchers. Also, in Xinjiang the lamb is grilled directly over the fire flame!!

Chinese Grilled Lamb Leg

I am very glad that I learnt this way of cooking lamb, I often use the similar method to cook lamb pieces, chops, fillet, mince balls, etc. It is very different to usual Chinese stir frying or lamb in soup , but it is quite easy to make, and the time for preparation is very convenient, after that, it can just be left in the oven, then you can get on with making other dishes --- so it is definitely a dish recommended for having guests and you having to cook quite a few dishes -- it is very presentable , tasty, and time saving.

I think in some Western countries lamb legs are also grilled with potatoes and onions. However, the seasonings are very different.

I don’t really cook it often, almost forgot all the details of the recipe, but the main thing I did not forget, well, it is a very necessary ingredient, is cumin seeds . Most of the famous Chinese lamb dishes are with cumin. Others, I just followed my instinct.:) Hope my friends liked it yesterday.

The Recipe

I think there are only two things you need to pay attention to: one is the seasonings, the other one is the grilling time.

If you are in China, in most of the supermarkets, you can get ready-to-use grill seasonings. The most popular brand is "Wang shou yi" - a Islamic recipe seasoning which mainly consists of ground cumin, dried chilli, salt, sugar. Sometime, I would bring some back, but most of the time, I have to make it up myself.

As for grilling time, it needs to be long enough for the meat to be done, and all the seasonings go into it, at the same time, it should not get too dry, so the best way to avoid it is to slow cook it in the oven at lower temperature. (I have made it a bit dry yesterday, all our friends just being nice.:))

Here you go. (I forgot to take the last picture after it was done, since got to run to friend’s place… sorry, next time)

Ingredients

Lamb leg, potato, onion.

Spring onion, ginger, ground cumin, ground ginger, cumin seeds, salt, oil, light soy sauce, sugar, ground chilli, rice vinegar, sesame oil

Preparation

1) Slice the surface of lamb leg, "making some cuts", so the seasonings could go in easily.

2) Cut potato and onions into cubes.

3) Chop a good piece of ginger and 2 spring onions into small pieces.

4) Evenly spread chopped ginger and spring onion, around 6 -8 tablespoons of oil, 1 tablespoon of ground cumin, probably 1/2 tablespoon of ground ginger, 3 (or more) tablespoons of cumin seeds, 2 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of white sugar, 1 tablespoon of ground chilli, a few drops (only) of rice vinegar, and around 3 tablespoons of sesame oil on the lamb leg, make sure both sides have plenty of seasonings.

5) Put chopped potato and onions in the tray, and mix well with the same seasonings.

6) Leave the seasoned lamb leg for couple of hours (or longer).

Oven Cooking the Lamb Leg

Place the lamb leg tray into the oven, and set oven at 150 degrees, for 40 minutes, then lower down to 100 for further 1 hour. ( I use electric oven) Sometimes, if I am in rush, I just set the oven to 200 degrees for 45 minutes, it is still good, but the very inner layer could have less taste.

It is good to go with beer or wine of your choice. As for stable food, well, I guess lamb can really fill your stomach up, but if you like, with yesterday’s recipe raising flour bread (fa mian bing) is also not a bad combination.

There is another way of making it -- to soak the lamb leg in seasoned sauce over night (for example), then grill it for around 2 hours at low heat, and dip in the mixed seasonings when eating. Equally good. :)

32. Chinese lamb pieces on toothpicks (Ya qian rou)

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牙签肉

How is the weather where you are? After a night of pouring rain in Oxford, the sun shining through the window again this morning, lighting up the bedroom, and shining through my eye lids --- I woke up -- in the warm, yellow coloured sun light --- just love the day starting like this!!


I miss the mornings waken up by the sun like this. In Northeast China, four seasons are very distinguishable, and the start of every season has been marked in Chinese calendar since ancient times. (It is actually marked 24 days to distinguish the typical weather in different seasons, as well as the start of the season). Although, in winter, it could reach -30 degrees in my city, in summer, it could reach almost +40 degrees, and is sunny most of the time through out the year.


Somehow, I always remember in the summer morning, the sun came through the window and the curtain around 5am, woke me up, I was a bit sweaty, but warm and happy. Hearing me waking up, my auntie, who was then at ours helping take care of the family, would came to me, gave me a big morning hug, wiped the sweat from my forehead and asked me what I wanted for breakfast.


Unconsciously, this scene has been embedded in the very deep memory, and whenever mornings like this, I could not help -- it came to me vividly.

Hope it’s going to be warm today, coz today’s dish is good to go with a pint of beer in the sun --- lamb on toothpicks ‘Ya qian rou’ in Chinese.

It is a very typical dish from my ethnic group , and I learned it from my uncle. I don’t think I have mentioned how important lamb is in my ethnic group. It is not only considered as a very traditional delicious food, but also, (more importantly) it shows extreme respect if it is included in the ‘memorial’ service meals. (I will blog about this cultural tradition another day).

Although it can be beef or chicken, it is traditionally a lamb dish .

It is not difficult to make at all, but putting the small pieces of lamb on the each toothpick can consume some time. -- So, for your weekend treat! And it is not just ‘homey’ dish, it is absolutely great for guests!

The recipe: Chinese lamb (Ya qian rou)

Ingredients

Lamb (The meat from the leg with a little bit fat is the best for this dish). I used 250gm of lamb, (I think).

Salt, oil, sugar, ground chilli (We did not have ground chilli at home when this was cooked, so I used crushed chilli), ground cumin, cumin seeds, ground sichuan peppercorn ( or the water with it soaked in, it is good to get rid of the ‘smell’ from the lamb), sesame oil, light soy sauce.

You also need some good quality toothpicks, they are better to be strong and smooth. I bought it from Boots a while ago, they are very chippy and very easy to break, not recommended, at least not good for this dish -- lesson learned. :)

Preparation

1) Chop the lamb into around 2cm length thin pieces.

2) Mix 1 full teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoon of oil, 1 teaspoon of white sugar, 2/3 teaspoon of ground chilli, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of ground sichuan peppercorn, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce with lamb pieces.

3) Mix all the seasonings well with lamb.

4) Put each piece (or two if the piece is too small) on each toothpick, cover and leave it for 30 mins or more.

Frying the lamb

In a wok, pour in oil, when the oil is very heated up, put the lamb pieces on the toothpicks in, frying around 5 minutes, if you like to be a little dry, fry a bit longer, (but not too long though, as it could be difficult to 'bite' the meat off the toothpicks), otherwise, take it out, place on the plate, and

---- Serve!

Eat hot! -- with boiled rice or beer! You don’t need to prepare chopsticks or folks, go with hands while holding the beer glass. :))

28. Chinese spicy Lamb pot

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Chinese spicy lamb pot

What a lovely day! In summer, because of the warm weather, I often lose my desire for food (or cooked food more precisely, coz salad / ’liang cai’ is always great).  How about you?

I like to have something with a very strong heavy taste to help with my appetite, and ... spicy is good. :))

---- So I came up with this dish, and I am super proud of myself -- I ‘designed’ it, well,  it is said that ‘we all stand on the shoulders’ of giants’ -- je je, I am definitely the one standing on the ‘shoulders’ of great chefs when this was cooked, no excuse.:))

Since a good friend told us about a shop where we can get the ‘thinest sliced lamb’, we kept on going back to buy it. This kind of sliced lamb is originally meant for Chinese hot-pot: it is so thin that after dipping into boiling soup for a few seconds, it is ready to eat. But this time I didn’t prepare a big table of hot-pot ingredients for ‘eating while cooking’, then thought I could ‘pre-cook’ the hotpot in a sauce pan on the cooker. Since we didn’t have ‘ready-to-use’ hot pot base, I made it into a spicy soup base with all the ingredients we had at hand.

Spicy Lamb pot

The result was a bit like a typical sichuan dish, which is often called ‘ boiled spicy lamb’ in restaurants, but not as spicy (and the ingredients are also different).

It really came out as a  surprise, I mean a nice surprise -- if you like lamb, this is really great.

The lamb in this dish doesn't have a strong  smell, and the dish is also not very oily. Instead, it is quite fresh and light, especially with the vegetable leaves, and touch of lamb taste in Fensi, and in the end, the coriander just brings the freshness to the maximum --- sorry, where is my Chinese modesty :))

It is a ‘soup based’ dish, if you have read the post on ‘Chinese soup’, you will understand. The meat and vegetables are good to eat just like those in stir-fried dishes, and the soup is great for ‘drinking’ as well.

It is cooked in two steps. First, ‘stir-fry’ the lamb to get rid of the extra fat and ‘lamb’ smell. Second,  boil it in the soup with other ingredients. So it probably takes around 20 minutes, it is really presentable when you have guests over.

Here you go how I did it.

The recipe: Chinese spicy lamb pot

Ingredients

Sliced lamb, (These lamb pieces we got them as frozen from the Chinese supermarket, but if you like, you can buy a piece and chop into thin slices, it is good to have some ‘fat’ on the lamb, it enhance the taste).

Chinese leaves, (mung bean) Fen si, spring onion, garlic, ginger, dried red chilli, coriander, anise star, sichuan peppercorn, salt, goji berries (optional), oil and cooking wine

Preparation

1) Preparing the lamb. If you bought a big piece of lamb, then chop it into thin slice. For chopping it thin, the trick is to freeze the piece first, then leave in room temperature for 20 minutes, then chop. If you are like me bought ‘ready-to-make’ one, just defrost it.

2) Chop 1 spring onion, a piece of ginger and around 4 garlic gloves into slices.

3) Chop some Chinese leaves into

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