Shredded Bean Curd Salad 涼拌乾絲

from Vol II of PM’s CC. A little spicy, a little sesame-y, with crunchy carrots and celery and the smooth squish of tofu noodles, this chilled “salad” makes a lovely appetizer.

涼拌 liang2ban4 — cold tossed, as in a salad

乾絲 gan1si1 — bean curd strips, aka tofu noodles. I love these and would happily eat them every week, either in this salad or stir-fried to near crispiness with barely warmed celery and a dash of sesame oil.

Yes, that's an old Nutella jar, and yes, it contains chili oil. Got a problem with that?

Well, well, well. MSG makes its first appearance on this blog! On the bright side, there’s no deep frying, or even stir frying for that matter. Cleanup really doesn’t get any easier. Just blanching: blanch tofu noodles, blanch celery, salt the carrots, and mix with seasonings.

Actually, PM has a couple notes on this recipe (enlighten us, O Great One!). (1) if you can’t scavenge up some tofu noodles, you’re invited to take a block of tofu, weight it with a chopping board + heavy objects for 1 hour, and cut your very own bean curd strips (yikes!). (2) this is a family dish, but can be used as one of the appetizers. So families aren’t allowed to eat appetizers? Interesting.

I’d been intending to make this last Sunday. The carrot had been procured, and one of my two roommates (both were gone for the weekend) had left a large bunch of celery unattended in the fridge. PM calls for 1/2 celery, whatever that means. I’m thinking she means Chinese celery, which I had seen at the Asian grocery (but didn’t get any, since I was already plotting to “borrow” a couple stalks of the abandoned celery). Chinese celery has thinner stalks, which is why PM didn’t feel the need to tell us to julienne them. Regular celery would need to be cut into a 1″ long julienne.

Lo and behold, I was busy on Sunday, and by the time I got my act together on Monday, the celery was gone (!!!). What tragedy. I had to buy my own bunch just for 2 stalks (shakes fist).

The tofu noodles I found all came in 8 oz packs, which I don’t think is a problem for this recipe. Since the marinated carrots were already salted, I didn’t end up adding any additional NaCl. Or MSG (take that, PM!). As for the chili oil, 1 Tb was just enough to add a little kick without overwhelming the sesame flavor. You may want to use more, or less, depending on personal preference; I’d say, however, that its presence is integral to the dish.

Total time spent: 15 mins

Difficulty level: requires rudimentary chopping skillz and mad boiling skillz

Why is this photo so blurry?! Someone please give me a nice camera for my birthday.

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Stewed Beef in Casserole 紅燒牛腩

from Vol II of PM’s CC. A basic homestyle stewed beef dish, it’s perfect for family dinners on cold winter nights. The delicate flavor of anise permeates the meat, and the soft daikons melt in your mouth and warm your tummy.

紅燒 hong2shao1 — red cooked. Cooking technique that involves stewing with soy sauce and sugar.

牛腩 niou2nan2 — PM translates this as beef brisket. Googling picks up “sirloin” and “tenderloin”. Asian grocery called it beef rough flank.

Here’s the cast of characters.

The process is pretty simple: boil the beef, cut it up, stew it again with spices, transfer to new pot with vegetables, stew some more. No deep frying! No cornstarch! No lard! No MSG! No gratuitous teaspoons of salt! Can it really be a PM recipe?

I used half as much meat and twice as much white radish as PM suggests. I like to pick the hard ones…give it a good thwack with your fingers and listen for a nice sound.

And what is that weirdo white stuff on the meat? I didn’t know, so I left it on when I boiled the beef for the first time…big mistake. It poofed up and got all rubbery and uncuttable. I had to cut it all off before slicing the meat, and of course I didn’t wait for it to cool down, so I’m typing with toasted fingertips now.

I didn’t have a second casserole, instead of putting everything in a nicer pot I just tossed in the radishes and stewed them uncovered to reduce the sauce, stirring every 20 minutes or so. PM has a final step of splashing hot oil over everything, but in the interest of keeping my thighs slim I skipped that. Then I scooped some over brown rice for lunch.

Total time spent: 3 1/2 hours (1/2 hour active, 3 hours watching Law & Order)

Difficulty level: eeeeeasy!

after all that grueling work...

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