• Home
  • About
  • Recipe Archive
  • Cooking Classes
  • Cookbook
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Plate & Pencil
Menu

Appetite for China

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number

Appetite for China

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Archive
  • Cooking Classes
  • Cookbook
  • Press
  • Contact
  • Plate & Pencil

Silk Road Ginger and Carrot Stir-fry

September 17, 2008 Diana Kuan
silk-road-stirfry-3_0.jpg

The latest photographic tome by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid is anything but a traditional cookbook. Part travelogue, part recipe collection, and part ethnographic treatise, Beyond the Great Wall takes an in-depth look at the foods of China's non-Han minorities.

As always, their photos are amazing, making me want to hop on the next plane to Kashgar, just to start. And the recipes, even with exotic-sounding names like Tajik nan and Kazakh pulao, seem surprisingly comfort-food-ish. There are also instructions for momos, those spectacular little dumplings from that famous and newsworthy province in the southwest. Most of the recipes are quite easy, thanks to the authors' substituting a few unorthodox ingredients for more familiar ones (a yak bone broth becomes oxtail broth, etc.)

I decided to begin with a ginger and carrot stir-fry from the Miao minority in Guizhou province. The important part to note is that the namesake ingredients are julienned. Mandolines would help, but if you want a rugged challenge and have strong hands, slicing everything with a cleaver also works. The original recipe also called for pork strips, but I decided to substitute with my local market's bean curd skin, which hooked me by being pre-shredded.

I ate the finished dish with rice, but I'm thinking next time to scoop this on top of a nice plate of stir-fried noodles.

__________________________________________________________

Silk Road Ginger and Carrot Stir-fry

Serves 4

  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
  • 2 large pieces ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks (about 1 cup's worth)
  • 6 or 7 dried red chiles
  • 2/3 pound carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks (about 1 3/4 cups' worth)
  • 1 cup shredded bean curd skin (optional)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 10 to 12 Sichuan peppercorns, lightly crushed or
  • 1 tablespoon ground Sichuan pepper
  • Salt to taste
  1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat and swirl to coat. Add the garlic, ginger, and chillis and stir-fry just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the carrots and stir-fry for 1 minute.
  2. Add the water and soy sauce, then cover with a lid. Allow the water to almost fully evaporate, then stir in the Sichuan pepper. Cook for another 1 minute, then salt to taste. The salad may be served hot or warm.

Adapted from Beyond the Great Wall by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid 

In Recipes Tags Chinese Vegetarian, Guizhou, Recipes
← Eggplant, Cumin, and Black Bean SaladSerious Eating, Twittering, and Cooking →
My newly released cookbook, Red Hot Kitchen!    Amazon    /    Barnes & Noble    /    BAM    /    IndieBound

My newly released cookbook, Red Hot Kitchen! Amazon / Barnes & Noble / BAM / IndieBound

Upcoming Classes in NYC

  • Feb 20 - Asian Chili Sauces! A Lecture and Tasting @ Brooklyn Brainery

  • Mar 8 - Dumplings & Wontons @ Brooklyn Brainery

  • Mar 13 - Vegan Chinese Cooking @ Brooklyn Brainery

Looking for a private cooking class or corporate cooking class? Contact me!

The Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Quick and Easy Dishes to Prepare at Home
By Diana Kuan


Subscribe to my RSS feed

Let's connect on Instagram!

If you just made a big batch of XO sauce from Red Hot Kitchen (or bought a jar somewhere), consider just putting some over plain rice. Such a quick meal and so insanely good! ๐Ÿ˜‹ (Like #kimchifriedrice but even better)
For the @bostonglobe review this week @sheryljulian also tested the Korean Chilled Spicy Noodles (Bibim Guksu) and Crispy Tofu with Sweet Chili Peanut Sauce from my cookbook. Love the light and food styling! (Photos ๐Ÿ“ท: @sheryljulian) ๐Ÿœ๐Ÿฅ’๐Ÿฅš๐ŸŒถ๐Ÿฅœ
My book was reviewed in The Boston Globe today, with the Sriracha Shakshuka recipe excerpted! Thank you @bostonglobefood & @sheryljulian for the coverage ๐Ÿณ ๐ŸŒถ
I used to only eat tatsoi in stir-fries and soups, but began using it in salads a couple of years ago. This salad is in Red Hot Kitchenโ€™s Sweet Chili Sauce chapter and features a blood orange and sweet chili sauce dressing. (Using colorful food to brighten up winter!) ๐Ÿฅ— ๐ŸŠ ๐ŸŒถ
"Where can I find the best soup dumplings in New York?" I get this question all the time in classes and sometimes at book events too! If Flushing is too far away, I ๐Ÿ’ฏ% recommend Yaso Tangbao (locations in BK & Manhattan). Soooo good, without any of those pesky long lines. ๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐ŸฅŸ ๐Ÿ’› (First posted this at @nydumplingproject)
Thank you @ediblebrooklyn & @alicialapirata for the interview and for spreading the love for XO sauce! Head to @ediblebrooklyn for my vegan version of XO. ๐ŸŒถ ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿณ
The lovely Hetty McKinnon from @arthurstreetkitchen adapted my Mapo Tofu Ramen recipe from Red Hot Kitchen. This is her vegan version using black rice noodles (the making of it is in her IG Stories). โค๏ธ๐ŸŒถโค๏ธ Love the beautiful colors in this bowl! (๐Ÿ“ท: @arthurstreetkitchen)
Cauliflower steaks with red curry peanut sauce - from the Thai red curry paste chapter of Red Hot Kitchen. A highly recommended easy side dish for weeknights! ๐Ÿฅœ ๐ŸŒถ
Such a wonderful turnout for Red Hot Kitchenโ€™s official launch event at @booksaremagicbk ! Had a really fun Q&A with @taste editor-in-chief @mattrodbard on cooking with Asian hot sauces. Local bookstores are the best. ๐Ÿฅฐ ๐Ÿ“š A huge thank you to @booksaremagicbk for hosting and to everyone who came out! (๐Ÿ“ท: @veronicanotvictoria @deboky @jenmess)
Salon also just shared the XO sauce stir-fried rice cakes from #redhotkitchencookbook plus the video of XO sauce making at their studio. These rice cakes are absolutely delicious, especially if youโ€™re into thick chewy noodles! @salonofficial @avery_books