So the holiday season is over, it’s snowing for the 20th time this month, and the road to spring looks long and arduous. You want to be some place warm. Like Tahiti, or Oahu. But there’s that cost thing. If only there were a place in New York where you could go and pretend to [...]
Tag Archives | Appetizers
Chicken and Apple Dumplings
Ever gone apple-picking on a 90-degree day? Last weekend probably had the last of such summery temperatures until next June. But instead of lounging on the beach, I was at the apple orchard helping to pick about 30 pounds of crisp, earlyish-in-the-season apples. Signs of fall weren’t completely missing: on the drive up the Hudson [...]
Recipe: Pork and Shrimp Shumai
I love owning a bamboo steamer, if for no other reason that to display around the kitchen. It’s not only a conversation starter whenever new guests visit but also a handy tool for food photography. (Gotta play up the Asian theme sometimes.) Plus, a set of basket and lid usually costs less than $10 in [...]
Taro and Pumpkin Tofu Puffs
Before my parents retired, they spent at least 15 years each in the food industry, working for hotel restaurants and Chinese bakeries. Every 12- to 14-hour shift would leave them exhausted, and understandably, my father had little desire to step foot in our own kitchen. My mother, on the other hand, sought refuge in front [...]
Pumpkin Hummus
When I lived in the US, I was addicted to hummus. I would go through a tub a week, eating it with pita, raw vegetables, and (secret’s out!) even plain rice if the cupboards were empty. I would make long treks from West Harlem to Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn just for hummus and pita from [...]
Gobi Manchurian – Indian-Chinese Cauliflower Fritters
I was first introduced to Indian Chinese food a few years ago in Hong Kong, at a restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui whose name now escapes me. My first thought was, “This is Chinese food?” My second thought was, “How ironic.” The cuisine of China, brought over to India by Chinese immigrants many generations ago [...]
Chinese Hot and Sour Soup
I meant for this to be my dinner appetizer, but I spooned so much into my bowl that it became a meal. Hot and sour soup didn’t appear in my childhood of Cantonese home dinners. It did, however, appear in my Chinese-American childhood, as a Sichuan/Northern Chinese dish that became bastardized for the greasy take-out [...]
Shandong-Style Asparagus
It’s the mid-June, meaning asparagus season is coming to a close. I have been seeing less and less of my favorite stalky vegetable at the markets, and what’s left tends to be expensive. So I thought I would celebrate the end of the season with a recipe for Shandong-style asparagus. Make this while you still [...]
