Beef and Broccoli

I've been super busy with work lately, and haven't really had time to cook elaborate fancy-pants meals. But lucky for you, that means this recipe will be really simple. Yay. I've been making a lot of beef and broccoli because it is seriously the easiest thing in the world to make. The only think that might be hard is getting the Oyster sauce if you don't have access to an Asian grocer.

Chinese Beef Belly (Ngow Nam)

(Click on photos for larger images)

I was talking to my Chinese friend, Carrie, the other day, and she said that she really wanted to make ngow nam and her mom has a recipe. After she mentioned this to me, I was obsessed with making ngow nam. Ngow means cow, and nam means belly in Cantonese. Basically it's stewed/braised beef brisket with diakons and a very complex flavor that I can't describe. This dish may not be for everyone, but I know that if you're Chinese, you probably like it. Not very many restaurants serve this dish because it takes a while to make. It also includes lots of ingredients (that you can only find at a well stocked Asian grocery store).

Cantonese Soy Sauce Chicken

I don't think they serve this dish at many Chinese restaurants in America because this is just too... Chinese? I just know that this stuff is delicious and we used to eat it infrequently as a kid. I'm not sure why, but that was how it was. If you have access to a well stocked Asian grocery, you should be able to find bottled soy sauce chicken marinade similar to this. That's similar to a soy sauce chicken marinade as far as I can tell, and that stuff is delicious.

Glutinous Rice Balls

What is a glutinous rice ball? It's a chewy ball of dough that's filled with sweet sweet awesomeness. In Chinese they're called Tong Yuen (Cantonese) or I guess Tang Yuan (Mandarin). "Tong" means soup and "yuen" means round. You can read about them in this Wikipedia page.

Pork Lettuce Wraps

Pork. Pork pork pork pork. I don't think I eat much pork. Oh wait, yes I do. I eat a lot of the Chopping Block's Lemongrass Pork Chops, bacon, some barbecue pork, some roast pork and .... more bacon. But you see, there's not a whole lot of ground pork in the mix. To be honest, I bought the ground pork to make some fish paste & pork patties. Sounds gross? Eh. I can't tell you because I decided to make this dish instead.

Beef Stir-Fry with Green Beans

So I had a lot of vegetables left over from some previous meals that I had to get rid of. The perfect way to get rid of vegetables is stir-fry; I'm sure Drea would agree. So this is just one of those random-let's-throw-everything-in kind of meal post.

Chicken & Shrimp Lo Mein

When my friend, Iva's, mom came to visit her, I was invited back for dinner! Yay! So her mom made a seafood lo-mein, and she got all her ingredients from Whole Foods, so there's no need for an exotic trip to the asian grocery store. Her mom's was way better than mine, but I've only attempted this dish a couple of times. Her dish was a little saucy, and she used corn starch (a staple in a Chinese kitchen), which I don't have with me in Pittsburgh and I was too lazy (and cheap) to buy some.

Tofu, Mushrooms, and Bamboo

I went over to Iva's while her mom was visiting, and her mom made a similar dish for us (among other tasty dishes). So this is my take on her tofu dish. I was snoopy enough to ask her what she put in it.

Almond Sponge Cake

Hi Kids! I'm going to let you in on another Lam secret family recipe: almond sponge cake. This is my aunt's specialty, and I've been eating it since I can remember. It's one of my favoritest cakes in the whole entire world, and she always brings me an entire cake when I go home! I love my aunt (and her cake) to death! So I've decided to share the joy; I hope you like it!

Honey Walnut Prawns

I was talking to The Chopping Block the other day, and somehow she challenged me to make Honey Walnut Prawns. So I am seeing her challenge! ... But note that I also tagged this as a "misadventure."

Szechuan-Style Tofu

Although it seems like we only make savory dishes with meat in them, we're actually very vegetarian dish friendly! To prove that to you, I made a tofu dish. To be honest, the only time I've ever eaten Szechuan-Style Tofu was in the college dining halls, and um... I loved it. Of course, one of my roommates thought I was insane because dining hall food is notoriously bad... with the exception of their Szechuan Tofu? :)