I’m leaving on a trip to China in a few days, so to get reacquainted with the local cuisine I revisited an old classic and my favourite Chinese dish, Kung Pao Chicken. There are several variations, but the most authentic version I’ve come across is in Fuchsia Dunlop’s Sichuan cookbook “Land of Plenty.” To make authentic Kung Pao, you’ll need to hit up a Chinese grocery store, mainly because it would be difficult to find Sichuan peppercorns and Heaven-facing Chilis in a conventional grocery store. If you can only make it to the Asian section of a Loblaws, then just forget about the Sichuan peppercorns and swap out the Heaven-Facing chilies for normal dried chilies. Also, if you don’t have any cooking wine, just use any alcohol. The rest of the stuff you should find in most big grocers.

The below serves two.

1. Put about 2/3 of a cup of unsalted peanuts in the oven at about 350 while you’re cooking everything else. Then, cube two chicken breasts, between 1/2 inch and 1 inch pieces. Put in a bowl, and add the following marinade and give it about 20 minutes or so.

-Salt, a pinch
-Light Soy Sauce, 2 tsp.
-Cooking Wine, 1 tsp. (or any alcohol)
-Cornstarch, 2 tsp.
-Water, 1 tsp.

2. While the chicken is marinating, make the sauce by mixing the following ingredients together in a bowl:

-Sugar, 3 tsp.
-Cornstarch, 1 tsp.
-Dark Soy Sauce, 1 tsp.
-Light Soy Sauce, 1 tsp.
-Chinkiang Vinegar, 3 tsp.
-Sesame Oil, 1 tsp.
-Water, 1 tbsp.

3. Put the heat to high, and then add peanut oil to a wok. Once it’s nice and hot, add the following:

-Sichuan peppercorns, 1 tsp.
-Dried red Chilies, dozen or so (remove the seeds unless you like it painfully spicy)

4. Add the marinated chicken, and cook until it’s heated through. Then add:

-Scallions, 5 of the white part cut into a small dice
-Garlic, 4 cloves minced
-Ginger, equal amount to the garlic

5. Add the sauce and mix up until evenly coated. Take the peanuts out of the oven and mix into the dish. Serve immediately.

Like anything in life, the same thing over and over gets boring, so here are a few easy modifications, keeping in the spirit of making it quick and relatively healthy. It should still take about 3 minutes or less.

Egg Whites w/Paul Newman Mango Salsa, Baked Beans and Beets

You can prepare beets ahead of time by boiling them, cutting them up and putting them in tupperware, and then eating as needed. You can also buy them jarred and pickled. I prefer the former but will usually keep a jar on hand for when I’m lazy. I personally don’t heat them, but I don’t see why you couldn’t.

Baked beans are a good source of protein, fibre, iron and calcium, and the tomato sauce in canned beans is a decent source of lycopene. I will usually eat half a can of baked beans, but you can eat whatever amount you want, maybe even a 1/4 can or less if you’re a girl or want to control your portions. The downside to canned baked beans is that they are pretty high in sodium, so if you have hypertension or too much of your diet comes from canned stuff already, you might want to limit yourself here and take the time to buy them dry and cook them yourself in batches. Any type works.

Of course, the salsa can be substituted for any kind. I’m a big fan of the Paul Newman salsas, there are three or four of them, and make a nice alternative to the cheaper el-Paso type ones that are kind of runny and flavourless in comparison. You can also try your hand at making your own salsa.

Egg Whites, Salsa, Baked Beans and Beets

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Season fish with salt and pepper. In a small pan that just suits the size of the fillets (I had two), sprinkle chopped mushrooms and place the fillets on top. Pour over 1/2 cup of white wine (I used a bottle of Viognier white from the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Great value at $13 at the LCBO).
2. Bake until fish is firm, maybe 5 minutes but as much as 10 minutes. Transfer the fish to a plate.
3. Transfer the pan to the stove top and whisk in a few egg yolks over medium heat until the mixture stiffens. Remove from the heat and add about 4ish tablespoons of clarified butter (Ghee works, if you don’t have this stocked in your cupboard go and buy some immediately). Season with salt and pour over the fish. Serve.

I got a version of this recipe from the Sauces book by James Peterson, and then made some modifications to suit my level of motivation and what was in my fridge.

If anyone complains that this sauce will stop your heart, just tell them that you only live once. And please pass me the wine.

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille.

In theory, it’s a simple stew created by Marseille fisherman using fish that were too bony to serve in restaurants. In practice, it’s an expensive main course in most French Bistros, probably due to the level of complexity and cost in making it, especially in landlocked areas where fish is more expensive. Although the odds of you making this at home are slim, the next time you’re at a French restaurant, skip the Steak tartare and give this a shot instead.

Although purists will claim that a true Bouillabaisse can’t be made too far from the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and I’m using a fish from the Gulf of Mexico, this is a pretty faithful version of the classic fish stew.

Oh, Snap! (makes four servings)

Prepping the Fish

After you debone the fish (or if the fishmonger is kind enough to do it for you, ask him to put the bones and head in a bag and to save for you), cover them in cold water for 30-45 minutes, changing the water at least twice. This is an important step before making the broth.

Fish Broth

1. After putting 1.5 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot, add the following and stir occasionally for 10 minutes:

-Garlic, 4 cloves chopped
-Fennel Bulb, 1/2 chopped (or 1/2 tsp of fennel seed)
-Onion, 1 coarsely chopped
-Marjoram, 2/3 tsp dried or 4 fresh sprigs
-Orange Zest, from 1/2 orange

2. Add the bones, cook for another 10 minutes, then add enough water to cover, approximately 4 cups

3. After 30 minutes, strain through a medium strainer and reserve the liquid (the fish broth)

Soup Base

4. Cook in olive oil on low heat, not letting them brown, for about 10 minutes:

-Leeks, 2 finely chopped

5. Add the following, and cook for 10 more minutes:

-Tomatoes, 5 peeled, seeded, and chopped
-Pernod/Ricard liquor, 1/8 cup
-The fish broth

Finishing

6. Lay out the fillets of Red Snapper and about 1/2 pound of scallops in a pan

7. Ladle enough of the soup base over the fish and scallops until they are covered

8. Add a pinch of saffron and 1/3 cup of garlic mayonnaise (aioli) into a bowl, and slowly add the poaching liquid that cooked the fish, until well blended. Return entire mixture back to the soup and mix well.

9. Put the fish into bowls. Ladle the soup mixture over top, and serve immediately.

Not much of a baker, I’m not qualified to dispense advice on how to make pies. However, I can say that making pie crust from scratch using a basic Pate Brisee recipe is relatively easy, cheap and delicious. It’s a simple 3-2-1 ratio of flour, fat (butter is best), and ice water. I baked this at 425 for an hour, and didn’t bake the crust before hand (called “blind baking”), and it worked out pretty good. Don’t hate on my latticework on the top, it was my first time.

The filling was just chopped rhubarb and some cherries, combined with about a cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of tapioca starch, and some ground cinnamon. I let it macerate for about 30 minutes before baking.

1) Buy a red snapper, or red snapper-like fish from your local fishmonger, gutted, scaled and cleaned.

2) Put the following into a small food processor and puree for a couple minutes to make Pesto:

-Cilantro, about 3/4 cup
-Mint leaves, 1/4 cup
-Garlic, 5 cloves
-Jalapeno, 1 or 2
-lemongrass, 1 stalk-ish
-Ginger, 3 teaspoons
-Fish Sauce, 2 tsp
-Lime, 1 zest (and the juice if you want)
-Peanut oil, 1/4 cup

Feel free to mix and match any of these ingredients – they can easily be substituted. Also, if you have the foresight, make and then put in the fridge for an hour or so beforehand to let the flavours really soak into the fish.

3)Put the Pesto into the cavity of the fish, and then Bind it with some string. Then wrap it in some parchment paper or tinfoil. Bake for about 35-40 minutes in the oven at 400F.

4) Serve immediately. Goes well with Reisling.

Easy Pulled Pork in a Slow Cooker

Day One

Thinly slice a couple onions and line them along the bottom of a slow cooker. Then place the pork shoulder on top, add a few cups of water, and cook on low overnight.

Day Two (or eight hours-ish later)

Remove the shoulder from the pot, and chop it up. Remove the water from the pot, saving the onion. Place the chopped pork, the onions, and a jar of your favourite BBQ sauce and mix together. Heat on low for another 4-5 hours. you can also add another couple chopped onions in there for more flavour.

That’s it. It’s that easy. Happy Eating!

Whenever you cook Sichuan dishes, it’s basically 100% active time. You prep, then you stir-fry, then you eat. I didn’t time it exactly, but this dish took about 3/4 of the length through Ryan Adam’s album Demolition, which I hadn’t heard in a while, so that was a nice added treat.

Kung Pao Shrimp

1) Peel and devain about a dozen large tiger shrimp, and reserve in a medium size bowl. Authentic Chinese shrimp dishes leave the shell on, but you will likely find this unappealing.

2) Mix the following marinade into a small bowl, then pour in with the shrimp and sit for about 20 minutes:

Marinade:

salt, 1/2 tsp
light soy sauce, 2 tsp
rice wine (or sherry), 1 tsp
potato flour (or corn starch), 2 tsp
water, 1 tbsp

Sauce

3) Mix into a bowl and set aside:

sugar, 2 tbsp
potato flour (or corn starch), 1 tsp
light soy sauce, 2 tsp
black chinese vinegar (Chinkiang vinegar), 3 tsp
chicken stock or water, 1 tbsp

4) thinly slice the following, and set aside:

Garlic, 3 cloves
Ginger, the same quantity as the cloves
Scallions (green onions), the white part only, 5 or 6 of them

Don’t start cooking until you have all the ingredients prepped and placed in bowls.

Now you’re ready to start cooking…

5) put about 2 tbsp of oil (peanut, canola, or vegetable) in a wok and on high heat, then add both:

-a handful of “facing heaven” chilis, split in half and deseeded. you might want to wear gloves for this, and if you don’t make sure you don’t touch your eyes or any part of your body until you have thoroughly gotten the residue off your hands. I have made this painful mistake on more than one occasion.
-sichuan peppercorns (or “flower peppers”), 1 tsp

6) after the chilis and peppercorns are crisp (don’t burn them, and don’t be scared to remove the wok from the heat if you are worried they will), about 30 seconds, add, and constantly stir for about 3-4 minutes until the shrimp is cooked through:

-the marinaded shrimp
-garlic, ginger, and scallions

7) Give the sauce a quick stir to break up the starch formed on the bottom, and add to the wok

7)when the sauce becomes thick, add:

roasted peanuts, 3/4 cup.

8 ) serve immediately.

I also made another Sichuan vegetable dish “dry-fried green beans” (see photo), but one recipe is enough for today.

The Wine

I personally find VQA Gewurztraminer wines to be less peppery and sweet than their Alsatian counterparts, so I’ve gone with a Hillebrand wine that is nice, and afforable at 11-something from the LCBO.

Before you go to bed, drop the amount you want in boiling water, then turn off the stove and let sit overnight, covered. The next morning, they should be mostly cooked through. Turn on the heat again and cook for about 5-8 minutes longer, then they’re done. I usually turn the stove on and make coffee right before I hop in the shower, so both are ready when I’m out and dressed.

Remember steel cut oats are about 4-1 ratio wet to dry. I will usually eat 2 cups in the morning, which means I put about 1/2 cup dry with 2 cups of water (see pictures).

I buy them for $1/pound at a store in Kensington Market, Toronto, and most grocery stores will have them as well.

Steel cut oats also work nicely with some fruit mixed in, like bananas or berries.

If you’re a first time visitor, Elias Makhoul, the owner, will give you a piece for free.