The Braised Pork is the most popular dish in China. Almost everyone knows it and has eaten it, either home-cooked or in restaurants. There are different versions in different places and everyone claims that theirs is the authentic one.

It was said that the dish was originally created by a great Chinese poet in the 11th century called Su Shi. Whether it is true I cannot tell, but he certainly helped making the dish famous and popular through China. Su Shi was a scholar-official in Song Dynasty. He was constantly on exile due to his disagreement with the emperor or premiers.  At his time, the pork was poor people’s food and very cheep. The officials and rich people thought pigs dirty so rarely ate the meat. Since he was on exile and had no privilege nor money for the lamb, he had no way but ate the pork. He recorded his recipe in a poem which was circulated around and passed on to today. In the places where he had lived, many people may not know his name or his poems but definitely heard the dish.

How to cook the braised pork then? Like other cuisines, the first step is to choose the proper ingredients. Almost all recipes will tell you that for a genuine braised pork, the pork belly with skin should be used. For people who don’t like fat or skin, the neck meat or the spareribs meat (without bones) are good alternatives. If you can get Iberian pork, that would be the best!

Now comes to the preparation. Cut the meat into 3-4cm squares and soak them in cold water with some Chinese cooking wine for about 20 minutes. Remove the pork from the water and put it into a clay pot, add again the cold water, 2-3 spoon cooking wine, 1 tea spoon vinegar (don’t use white vinegar!) and boil for 10 minutes. During this period remove any froth which comes out of boiling. Then turn the heat to medium level, cover the port and keep boiling for another 20 minutes. Then lower the heat at a gentle simmer level to braise for at least one hour. Now move everything to an iron wok and continue cooking. It’s the time to add soy sauce. Use the medium-low heat to cook for 30 - 40 minutes. When the sauce gets thickening, add the sugar, keep cooking in high heat until the sauce becomes very dense and wraps each square of the pork. It’s done!

Some small tips:

1. There are several Chinese cooking wines. Shaoxing Yellow Wine suits the braised pork best. If you can get “Hua Diao” wine, that’s even better as it will add richer flavor to the dish.

2. You can use regular sugar. But it’s better to best the rock sugar because it is sweeter, purer and transparent.

3. I would suggest to mix the dark (for the color) and light soy sauce (for the savory). The ratio depends on the saltiness you prefer.

4. It’s the best to eat the braised pork with steamed rice or steamed bun!

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016046-pork-and-shrimp-won-tons


Winter does not retreat. Here’s what I want: a table by a fogged-up window, with fat won tons, drizzled with hot pepper oil and stinking of garlic and ginger, bobbing in a huge bowl of steamy broth. Where? Why, at home — where else?

It’s not hard to have won tons or dumplings at home. You buy a bag of 60 frozen ones for a few bucks and boil them at home. I wouldn’t really call it cheating; you could do much worse. They are relatively healthy, convenient, cheap and a better choice than many other frozen options.

But what if you could get all that and have it freshly made (you control the ingredients and the seasonings) and have the taste be about a thousand times better?

You can. Making won tons is so easy, it almost feels like cheating. You buy the won ton skins in a package at the store. They are rolled to the perfect thickness, cut to the perfect size and have the perfect moisture content. Even the most fanatical cook will agree that store-bought won ton skins and phyllo dough are better.

Red pepper oil, in my opinion, should always be on hand.

Recipe: Pork and Shrimp Won Tons

TOTAL TIME

1 hour, plus at least 30 minutes chilling

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound ground pork, not too lean

1/2 pound fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined and roughly chopped in 1/4-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon sweet rice wine, such as Shaoxing rice wine (or use sherry)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon spicy Chinese bean paste, also called chili bean sauce (or use chile paste)

2 serrano chiles, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped Chinese garlic chives (or use 3/4 cup chopped scallions, green and white parts)

36 wonton skins, about 3 by 3 inches, available at Asian markets and many grocery stores

1 small egg, beaten

Cornstarch for dusting

8 ounces baby spinach leaves

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

8 cups good chicken broth, hot, salted to taste

Red pepper oil (optional), see note

PREPARATION

Put pork and shrimp in a chilled mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix briefly with chopsticks, wet hands or wooden spoons. Add rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, bean paste, serrano chiles and garlic chives. Mix well to incorporate. Pan-fry a small flat patty in a small amount of oil to check seasoning; taste and adjust. Transfer mixture to a small container, cover and chill at least 30 minutes, or longer if you have time, up to 24 hours.

To prepare wontons, remove a few wonton skins from package and lay them on dry work surface. Put 1 teaspoon filling in the center of each square skin. Paint edges of square lightly with egg. Gently fold one side over the other, pinching edges together. You should a have a folded rectangle. Now pull the lower corners in toward each other and pinch together to make the traditional curved wonton shape. Place wontons 1 inch apart on a baking sheet or platter. Dust lightly with cornstarch and refrigerate, uncovered, until ready to cook.

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, put a small handful of spinach leaves and about 2 tablespoons cilantro in each person’s deep wide soup bowl. When water is boiling, drop about 10 wontons into pot and cook for 2 minutes. Remove with wire bamboo spider (or a large fine-meshed sieve with a handle) and divide among bowls. Repeat with remaining wontons. Pour about 11/2 cups hot broth over each serving. Drizzle with red pepper oil if desired.

YIELD: About 30 wontons, 3 to 6 portions, depending on serving size

NOTE: To make red pepper oil, heat 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a saucepan until quite warm. Turn off heat and add 4 red Chinese chiles, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil. Let cool. Store at cool room temperature.

It is said that this ancient recipe was invented 4000 years ago by a legendary man who healthily lived to 800 years old. The taste of mingled fish and lamb had attributed to the Chinese word鲜, the combination of two Chinese words - fish and sheep, which represents the highest level of the taste from a dish.

Ingredients (for 4-5 people):

• 500g lamb
  
• 1 fish (any white fish of 500g in whole. I used dorade royale)
  
• 2/3 slices of ginger
  
• 1/2 tea spoon salt
  
• 1 tea spoon sugar
  
• 2 spoon Chinese rice wine
  
• 20g Chinese coriander
  

Preparation:

• clean the fish, take some meat out and cut it into small pieces for later use
  
• reserve some pieces of fine meat for later use, then cut the rest of the lamb into roughly 5cm cubes
  

Cooking:

1. pour 1 liter water in a clay pot and boil it
   
2. at the same time poach the lamb in water till it's cooked (blood is gone), then take them out and wash them with warm water
   
3. put the poached lamb into clay pot, add ginger, Chinese rice wine and sugar; cook with big fire till it's boiled, turn to small fire and let it simmer for 2 hours
   
4. drill the soup clear and pour back to the clay pot on big fire
   
5. when it boils again, put the lamb and fish meat in, and wait for boiling, then add salt and coriander. turn off the fire and it's ready to serve
   

Notes:

Although it's ok to use steel pot, I strongly suggest using clay pot because the soup tastes better.
For seasonings, the quantity given is an indication only. As everyone has different taste, please adjust according to one's personal preference. 

According to traditional Chinese medicine, lamb is by nature a warm but not dry food. It can supplement Yang and reduce the coldness in the body, and nourish energy and blood. Therefore, it's very good to eat lamb in the winter. 

There are many ways to cook lamb. The lamb and white radish soup is simple to cook but delicious and nutritious to eat.

Ingredients

• 200g quality lamb meat
  
• 250g white radish
  
• 1 small piece of ginger
  
• 5-6 of dry scallops
  
• 2-3 of Chinese coriander
  
• 1 tea spoon of sugar
  
• 1/4 tea spoon of salt and pepper powder
  
• 1 spoon of Chinese cooking wine
  
• 1/2 liter water
  

Preparation method

• Cut lamb to 3cm cubes, then boil them till blood is gone and wash them with warm water
  
• Cut white radish to 3cm cubes
  
• Put lamb, radish, ginger, dry scallops, Chinese cooking wine, sugar and water into a clay pot, when it boiled, turn to low heat and cook for 2 hours; add salt and pepper and it's ready
  

The soup is clear and tasty.


按中医的说法，羊肉味甘而不腻，性温而不燥，具有补肾壮阳、暖中祛寒、温补气血、开胃健脾的功效，所以冬天吃羊肉，既能抵御风寒，又可滋补身体，是吃羊肉的最佳季节。

羊肉有很多种吃法，这道汤简单易做，好吃养生。
 
主料：羊肉200克，白萝卜250克
调料：姜一小块拍松，干贝5-6粒，香菜2-3根切碎，盐、料酒、白糖、胡椒粉（黑白均可）少许

做法：

1. 羊肉切小快汆水去血沫
   
2. 白萝卜去皮切滚刀块
   
3. 取一小砂锅，把羊肉、白萝卜、姜、干贝、糖、料酒都放进去，加满水，大火烧开后转小火慢煮2小时，加盐再煮15分钟，撒胡椒粉，放入香菜末，关火。
   

特点：清淡鲜美