I’ll start off by saying that I have greatly enjoyed the Games here in Beijing. But I do have a gripe that is shared by many other people.
While the events have been fun, the food inside every venue leaves much to be desired. Or should I say, the lack of food. I know that it’s common at many sporting and entertainment venues to restrict bringing in food, but it’s also common to have food available for purchase. But no. Hot dogs and sausage links listed on the the menu at every venue are almost always “sold out.” Sandwiches are nonexistent. The only things available are usually popcorn, Snickers, ice cream, and Tsingtao beer, which is what I have been mainly subsisting on. (You would think that with McDonald’s as a corporate sponsor, we could at least get some ultra-hydrogenated fries and sad cheeseburgers.) Granted, everything is reasonably priced, but when you’re on the verge of starvation in the middle of a 4-hour event, you would gladly overpay for a dinky club sandwich or frankfurter.
My recent poor eating habits prompted me to make a heathy vegetable dish today, the first time in over a week I have had time to cook at home. I decided to just stir-fry some snow peas with Sichuan preserved vegetable and dried shrimp, a non-spicy and slightly healthier alternative to my addictive Sichuan Dried-Fried Green Beans. The ingredient list is compact, the cooking times are short, but the stir-fry still comes out very flavorful.
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More Sichuan recipes to try:
Dan Dan Mian (Spicy Sichuan Noodles)
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Sichuan-Style Snow Peas
Adapted from Gourmet
Serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed
2 tablespoons Sichuan preserved vegetable, chopped
1 tablespoon dried shrimp, chopped
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Rinse snow peas and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel (otherwise, water droplets will cause oil to splatter.)
Heat oil over high heat in a wok. Stir-fry Sichuan preserved vegetable and shrimp until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add snow peas and toss to coat with oil.
Stir in rice wine and sugar and cook another 4 to 5 minutes. Salt to taste. Transfer to plate and serve.
This looks absolutely great. I could eat some of this right now.
And I’ve just found out that what I call mange tout are also snow peas…!
I’m always looking for something packed with flavor, healthy, and quick to make. This looks delicious.
This looks super healthy, and delicious~
This really looks good. How I wish I have a plate of this veggie in front of me now. Thanks for posting all the recipes. I’ve been following your blog for qutie some time.
Lizzie – I’m in favor of the British way of adopting French words for vegetables. Aubergine sounds so much better than eggplant.
When I was a kid I thought I didn’t like aubergine because they were called eggplants and I didn’t like eggs!
What a beautiful dish. And I bet it’s super delicious too.
yay! another super easy chinese dish i can make in the dorm. dc doesn’t have enough good chinese places to eat at.
Sichuan-Style Snow Peas is a great recipe and yet so easy to make.
try this with beans instead of snow peas. trust me