What Do I Want You To Know Before You Read My Recipes?

Featured / CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

When I cook, I don’t always follow the recipes. Well, maybe the first time I will. Then after that I will adjust the cooking to how I want it to be. I always tell my friends cook however they want, after all they’re the ones eating the food. Here I am showing you the most frequently used spices/sauces for my cooking. Also the measuring cups and spoons.

1 cup =240ml

1 tbsp =15ml

1teasp =5ml

我做飯時不一定照搬食譜。好吧，也許第一次会。之後，我會按我想要的調整。我總是告訴我的朋友們做飯要按你的喜好对烹煮方式和食材食进行調整，畢竟要吃的人是你自己。我這裡顯示的是我最常使用的调味料/醬料。此外还有我用的杯子和勺子。
1 杯 = 240 毫升
1 湯匙 = 15 毫升
1茶勺 = 5 毫升
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Letter Cake/字母蛋糕

/ CaiQinChen / 2 Comments

I’ve been wanting to make a number cake for such a long time. But I don’t like the idea of using cookies for base. I believe a lot of people have the same thought when it comes to cutting the cake. It is cookie, how do you cut it without breaking it? how do you cut it evenly? So, the thought of making one faded after a while until recently I saw another beautiful one. I started think really hard and I decided to make a cake base instead of cookie base.

I wanted to make a letter cake for my birthday 2 weeks ago, but my birthday day is my all I can eat junk food day so I didn’t have extra stomach for cake. And this week I finally decided to make one because today is my Chinese Lunar birthday. The fun part is decorating. I should have bought some fresh flower to make it better looking.

This cake is easier than it seems. I use below cake recipe for base, and I made 1.5 times as much of batter for my letter cake( depends on how big you want to make your cake, adjust accordingly):

https://caiqinchen.com/2017/06/07/sponge-cake%e6%b5%b7%e7%bb%b5%e8%9b%8b%e7%b3%95/

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The Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Frosting:

12 oz. cream cheese

1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar

1.5 cups heavy cream

1.5 tsp Vanilla extra

Add cream cheese and sugar together and mix them with a electronic mixer until creamy.

Add vanilla extra and heavy cream and continue to mix until firm about 4 minutes.

Assembly:

  1.  placing one layer of the letter onto a cake platter. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip, pipe the whipped cream frosting over the cake in dollops. You can choose to evenly spread the frosting too, I don’t have a round tip, so I used one that is similar.
  2. Place the second layer of the letter cake on top of frosting. Pipe some more frosting on top in dollops.
  3. Finally, decorate the cake with your desired toppings. I used fresh fruit, M&M, chocolate, fake macarons that are made of marzipan,  I also use marzipan to make some fruits.

Tips:

If you are making a number cake, this recipe is good, if you are making double digits, make sure you double everything.

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我一直想做一个数字蛋糕。但我不喜欢用饼干做底。当要切蛋糕的时候我相信很多人都有同样的想法。它是饼干 你怎么切它而不会碎呢？你怎么可以切得均匀呢？后来我也就忘记了要去做，直到最近我看到了另一个漂亮的数字蛋糕。我就很努力的想要怎么做，后来我决定做一个蛋糕底的。

2周前 我想为我自己的生日做一个字母蛋糕, 但我的生日那天是我吃垃圾食品的时候, 所以我没有额外的胃容量来装蛋糕了。这个星期我终于决定做一个因为今天是我的农历生日。做这个蛋糕最有趣的部分是装饰。我应该买些鲜花让它看起来更漂亮。

这个蛋糕比看起来容易。我用下面的蛋糕食谱做的基底, 我做了1.5 倍的面糊 (取决于你的蛋糕大小相应 调整):

https://caiqinchen.com/2017/06/07/sponge-cake%e6%b5%b7%e7%bb%b5%e8%9b%8b%e7%b3%95/

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奶油乳酪奶油霜:

12盎司奶油乳酪

1/2 到2/3 杯糖

1.5 杯动物奶油

1.5 茶匙香草精

加奶油奶酪和糖在一大盆里，用电子搅拌器搅拌在一起, 直到奶油变软。

添加香草精和奶油, 并继续混合, 直到硬挺约4分钟。

装配：

把一层字母基底放在蛋糕盘上。用一个装着大圆尖挤奶油嘴的糕点袋里装上奶油霜。你可以选择均匀的涂抹奶油霜在基底上, 我没有圆尖的奶油嘴, 所以我用了一个类似的。把奶油均匀的挤在第一层的基底上。
将字母蛋糕的第二层放在挤好奶油霜的第一层上。再在第二层上挤奶油霜。
最后, 用你想要的配料装饰蛋糕。我用了新鲜水果, M&M巧克力, 巧克力, 由杏仁糖制成的假马卡龙 , 我也用杏仁糖做一些水果。

技巧：

如果你是做一个数字蛋糕, 这个食谱也可以了, 如果你是做两位数的, 那你材料要加一倍的量了。

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Mushroom Shrimp Cups/蘑菇釀虾

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

This is a very light and healthy dish for summer time when you don’t feel like to eat anything. It is also very easy to prepare.

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Shrimp 200 g

White Mushroom (jumbo size) 8 pieces

Ginger 1tsp

Corn starch 3 tbsps

Egg white 1/2

Chinese celery 1/3 cup

Cut the stem off the mushrooms.

Add Shrimp, ginger, corn starch, egg white, Celery, 1/3tsp salt, a few pinches white pepper, 1tbsp rice wine to the food processor and press until everything is well combined.

Scoop the shrimp paste and fill into the mushroom cups. Smooth the top with wet fingers.

Steam the mushroom over the boiling water for about 8-10 minutes.

Pour the juice in the bottom of the plate back to a sauce pan, add some broth if there is not enough of it. Add pinch of salt and chicken bouillon to taste, when it comes to boil add some starch water to thicken it up.

Pour the sauce over the mushroom.

Tips:

If you want richer flavor, you can use fresh shiitake mushroom instead of the white one.

Also you can use whiting fish, or chicken breast to substitute the shrimp.

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虾200克

白蘑菇 (特大号) 8 只

姜1茶匙

玉米淀粉3汤匙

蛋清1/2个

中国芹菜1/3 杯

把蘑菇的茎切下来。

加虾, 姜, 玉米淀粉, 蛋清, 芹菜, 1/3 茶匙盐, 几捏白胡椒粉, 1 汤匙米酒到食品搅拌机里搅拌到所有的食材都变成黏糊状。

舀一些虾浆填入蘑菇杯里。用湿的手指平滑顶部。

将蘑菇隔沸水蒸上大约8-10 分钟。

将盘子底部的汤汁倒入锅里, 如果没有足够的汤水就加一些鸡汤。加入少许盐和鸡精调味, 煮开后加一些淀粉水勾个薄芡。

把酱汁倒在蘑菇上。

小贴士：

如果你想要更丰富的口味, 你可以用新鲜的香菇代替白蘑菇。

你也可以用鱼或鸡胸肉来代替虾。

Cold Rice Soup/冰饭

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

This is a very famous cold dessert from my home town. Compare to other desserts, this is relatively healthy. In a summer time like this, this is just beyond delicious!

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Sticky rice 2 cups

Raisin 1/3 cup

Water melon 1 cup

Papaya 1 cup

Crispy peanut 1/3 cup

Cold water 1-2 quarts

Sugar 1/2-2/3 cup

Banana extract 1-2tsps

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Soak rice in water for 2-3 hours

Steam rice over boiling water for 15 minutes

Let cool then refrigerate for a few hours or until rice are harden.

Cut fruits into smaller pieces.

Add sugar, banana extra to the cold water and stir to dissolve the sugar.

Add rice and everything else to the cold flavored water.

Tips:

You can use any kind of tropical fruits you want. If you don’t have banana extra,  use any other kind of extract you prefer. I tried maple bourbon pecan and it was pretty good too.

You can use honey or syrup instead of sugar.

Adjust the amount of water and everything else to your own preferences.

糯米 2 杯

葡萄干1/3 杯

西瓜 1 杯

木瓜1杯

酥花生1/3 杯

冰水 1-2夸脱

糖1/2-2/3 杯

香蕉精1-2茶匙

做法：

米泡水2-3 小时

隔滚水蒸15分钟

糯米饭凉了以后冷藏几个小时到米变硬

水果切小块

香精，糖加入冰水里。搅拌到糖融化

将所有的食材加入到调过味的冰水里。

小贴士：

家里如果没有香蕉精可以用其他的香精替代。也可用蜂蜜和蜜糖替代白糖。

用料可以根据自己喜欢来调整。

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Flavored Mochi/糯米糍

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

Since last time I made mochi, I always wanted to do it with different flavors. So this time I made some red bean paste as filling and made 3 different flavors: green tea, peanut meal and coco. They are all really good!!!

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Here is the recipes for red bean paste filling:

Red bean 225g

Water 2 cups

Sugar 250g

Vegetable oil 45g

Glutinous rice flour 15g + 3tbsps water (mix well)

Salt 1/3 tsp.

Soak the red bean in water overnight.

Cook the red bean and water in a pressure cooker for 15 minutes.

After the bean is cooled, pour half of it to a blender and blend until smooth.

Cook the bean paste in a cooking pan with the rest of ingredients until it is in thick paste condition, about 20-30 minutes. when it is ready, the bean paste will become whole big piece and not stick to the edge of the cooking pan.

The other half just use a potato smasher to smash it a little. then mix it with the other half that is already in paste form. I like some different texture in the filling, so I want some chunk red bean mix in it.

Here is the link to how to make mochi

https://caiqinchen.com/2018/06/27/peanut-mochi-%e8%8a%b1%e7%94%9f%e7%b3%af%e7%b1%b3%e7%b3%8d/

Make small size red bean paste balls.

Divide the flour dough into even size balls too.

Wrap the red bean paste inside the flour dough then cook in boiling water.

Wrap the cooked balls with the green tea powder, coco powder or peanut meal. ( don’t wrap them with too much of coco powder or green tea powder, they can be bitter)

Tips:

Mochi dough is very sticky, so it is extremely hard to shape them. It is very important to get a pair of gloves when you are working on them. Also add some Cooking oil to the dough will help to make the work easier too.

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Purslane Pork Buns/马齿苋肉包

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

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I  just recently discovered this amazing vegetable: purslane. I don’t know if this is familiar to everyone, but I do see Mexican people are eating it. I went to farmer’s market yesterday and I saw they sold it for $2 a big bunch. I bought 2 bunches home and decided to use some of them to make steam buns. This vegetable has a hint of sour taste in it, and it is perfect for summer.

Here is the link for how to make the bun dough:

https://caiqinchen.com/2017/09/24/steam-buns%e5%8c%85%e5%ad%90/

Stuffing:

Purslane 500 g

Pork belly 200 g

Soy paste 1 tbsp

Soy sauce 2 tbsps

Sugar 1.5 tbsps

Cooking wine 1.5 tbsps

Chicken bouillon 1 tsp

Sesame oil 1/2 tbsp

Dice the pork into small pieces, add the soy paste, chicken bouillon and cooking wine to it and marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Precook purslane in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then rinse it with cold water. Squeeze as much water out of the vegetable as possible.

Chop the vegetable really fine. Add it to the pork, then add the rest of sauce/spices. Mix everything together.

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我最近才发现了这种神奇的蔬菜: 马齿苋。我不知道是不是每个人都熟悉它, 但我有看到墨西哥人卖它。昨天我去了趟农贸市场, 我看到他们卖2美元一大捆。我买了2捆回家, 决定用一些来做蒸包子。这种蔬菜带一种酸的味道, 夏天吃很完美。

下面是如何制作包子面团和包包子的链接:

https://caiqinchen.com/2017/09/24/steam-buns%e5%8c%85%e5%ad%90/

馅料：

猪肉200克

酱油膏1汤匙

酱油2汤匙

糖1.5 汤匙

料酒1.5汤匙

鸡精1茶匙

马齿苋500克

芝麻油 1/2 汤匙

将猪肉切成小块, 加入酱油、鸡精和料酒腌至少30分钟。

在滚水中 煮马齿苋2-3 分钟, 然后用冷水冲洗。尽可能的把蔬菜里的水挤出来。

把蔬菜切细后加到猪肉里, 然后加入其余的酱油/香料。搅拌在一起。

Anka Flavor Fried Salmon Fish/炸红糟三文鱼

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

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One pound salmon

3 tbsps Anka sauce

Cut salmon into strips, then marinate it with anka sauce, 1/2tsp salt, a few pinches of white pepper powder for 1hour。

Wrap the salmon with a thin layer of corn starch. let sit for 15 minutes.

Deep fried the fish in hot oil for about 3-4 minutes depend on how big you cut the fish.

Use a kitchen paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

You can squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the fish when serve.

三文鱼一磅

红糟3汤匙

三文鱼切成条，加入红糟，1/2茶匙盐，一点白胡椒粉拌匀腌1个钟头。

三文鱼裹上一层淀粉，然后放一边15分钟。

在热油中炸3-4分钟 看你的鱼切的大小。

捞出后用厨纸吸取多余的油。

吃的时候可以挤一点柠檬汁在鱼上。

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Different Flavor Pancakes/不同口味煎饼

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 ½ cups buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons non sweeten coco powder
  • 2 tablespoons green tea powder

Direction:

  • Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt together in a bowl. Divide them into 3 even portions.
  • Mix buttermilk,eggs and melted butter together. Divide them into 3 even portions.
  • Add coco powder to one of the flour mixtures and mix them together. Do the same to the green tea powder with another flour mixture.
  • Add buttermilk mixture to the flour mixtures separately for each flavor. Do not over mixed.
  • Heat a large nonstick griddle or skillet,  Brush a little bit of oil to the skillet. Turn heat up to medium–low and make 4 pancakes for each flavor.
  • Flip pancakes after bubbles rise to surface and bottoms lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Cook until the other sides are lightly browned too.

If you want to make sure they are still nice warm by the time you finish them all, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Remove pancakes to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet, and keep them in the oven until all the pancakes are done.

I love the green tea flavor, this recipe makes really fluffy pancakes. If you like pancakes like me, you should really try this out.

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2杯普通面粉
3汤匙糖
1½茶匙泡打粉
1½茶匙小苏打粉
1¼茶匙盐
2½杯白脱牛奶
2个蛋
3汤匙无盐黄油, 融化
2汤匙不甜可可粉
2汤匙绿茶粉

方向：

把面粉, 糖, 泡打粉, 苏打粉和盐搅拌在一个碗里。把它们分成3个等分。
将白脱牛奶、鸡蛋和融化的黄油混合在一起。把它们也分成3个等分。
加可可粉到其中的一个面粉混合物中, 并混合在一起。同样的把绿茶粉加到另一份的面粉混合物中。
分别在每个面粉混合物中加入白脱牛奶混合物。不要过度搅拌。
加热一个大的不粘锅或煎锅, 刷一点点油在锅面上。把火开到中小火， 每种口味可以做4个煎饼。
当你看到煎饼上面冒气泡和底部变微金色时, 约2-3 分钟。拿个大铲子翻面，煎到另一边也是微金色为止。

如果你想确保当你做完所有的饼他们都还热的话 , 预热烤箱到325华氏度。把煎饼放在一个烤盘里然后放在烤箱里, 直到饼全部做成。

我很喜欢绿茶的味道, 这个食谱做出来的煎饼非常蓬松好吃。如果你和我一样喜欢煎饼, 你真该尝试一下这个食谱。

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Wonton With Chili Sauce/红油抄手

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

I make wontons quite often because it is easy and can be stored in the freezer for later when I don’t feel like to cook anything or when I am all out of idea what to eat. I used to work in Chinese restaurant for years, so making wonton is something easy for me. I can make 50 wontons in 10 minutes. It is getting hot recently, and I don’t feel like to eat wonton soup anymore so I make this wonton with chili sauce for summer time.

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It is same way of wrapping wontons and cook the wontons in the boiling water just like when we make wonton soup. But after they are cooked, use a strainer to get them out of boiling water then add the chili sauce.

https://caiqinchen.com/2016/03/27/%e4%ba%91%e5%90%9ewonton/

Here is how to make the sauce:

Light soy sauce 1tbsp

Balsamic vinegar 1tbsp

Water 2 tbsps

Sugar 1tsp

Chicken bouillon 1/3 tsps

Hot oil 1-2 tsps

Mix everything above together and it is the sauce for wontons. It is for one serving about 12-15 wontons.

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这是同样的方法包装馄饨和煮馄饨。但在煮熟后, 用漏勺把它们从沸水中捞出, 然后加入红油酱汁。

https://caiqinchen.com/2016/03/27/%e4%ba%91%e5%90%9ewonton/

下面是如何制作红油酱汁:

生抽1汤匙

香醋1汤匙

水2汤匙

糖1茶匙

鸡精 1/3 茶匙

红油 1-2 茶匙

把上面的东西混合在一起, 这是馄饨的调味汁。这是一份的量大约12-15 馄饨。

Bone In Rib-Eye Steak/战斧牛扒

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

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3 servings, $12 per serving (Steak only)

I went to Costco yesterday and saw this bone in rib-eye steak, I couldn’t resist the temptation, so I bought it home for today’s lunch. It was so tender and flavorful!!! I also made mashed potato and saute Chinese cauliflower, perfect Sunday lunch!

Bone in rib-eye steak 2.5 pounds

Rosemary 3 springs

Oil 2 tbsps

Butter 1-2 tbsps

One medium size onion (thin sliced)

Two shallot (thin sliced)

Marinate stead with fresh grounded pepper and Kosher salt. Make sure use enough salt and pepper because the steak is huge and thick. I used about 1 tbsp salt. Marinate the steak for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425F

Add oil and butter to a skillet and heat it up when it is really hot, add steak to the skillet and pan fry each side for about 2 minutes. (I even pan fry the sides too. )

Add rosemary and onion to the sides of  the steak when the steak is pan frying in the oil.

Roast steak  and the onion in the preheated oven for 13-15 per side.

Rest the steak for 10-15 minutes before serving.

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3份, 每份12美元 (仅限牛排)

昨天我去了好市多, 看到这块带骨头的肋眼牛排, 我忍不住诱惑买了回来做今天的午餐。很多汁美味!!! 我还做了土豆泥和炒中国花椰菜, 完美的星期日午餐!

带骨肋眼牛排2.5 磅

迷迭香3条

油2汤匙

黄油1-2 汤匙

一粒中型洋葱 (切薄片)

两只葱 (切薄片)

用新鲜的黑胡椒和海盐腌牛排。一定要用足够的盐和胡椒粉因为牛排又大又厚。我用了大约1汤匙盐。将牛排腌至少1小时。

烤箱预热至425F

把油和黄油加到煎锅里, 当它很热的时候把牛排加到煎锅里, 每边煎2分钟。(我甚至把两边的边都煎了。）

当牛排在油煎的时候, 在牛排的两侧加入迷迭香和洋葱。

在预热的烤箱里烤牛排和洋葱13-15分钟每一面（要翻面）。

在上菜前先把牛排先放10-15 分钟再切。

Peanut Mochi/花生糯米糍

/ CaiQinChen / Leave a comment

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I hadn’t eaten mochi for so many years. I believe for all those past 20 something years, this was my second time. The first time was in a Chinese restaurant and they gave us mochi as free dessert, but it wasn’t anything near good at all, I didn’t like it. As a little kid back in China, something made of sweet sticky rice was never my kind of food. I don’t know why I wanted to make this so bad this time, and it turned to to be so good and I ate almost all of them. Surprising!!! This is not Japanese style mochi, it is Fujianese mochi.

Ingredient:

Regular rice flour 1/3 cup

Glutinous rice flour 1 cup

Sugar 3tbsps

Peanut meal 1/2 cup

Water 1/2 cup

Direction:

Mix peanut and sugar together.

Mix 2 flours together, add water and mix until dough formed.

Roll the dough into thin long strip and cut it evenly to 16 to 20 pieces.

Roll each piece of dough round then cook them in boiling water for about 7-8 minutes until they all float to the top of the water.

Use a strainer to get all the balls out of water then drop them to the peanut sugar mix.

Roll the balls and make sure each piece wrap with enough peanut meal.

Tips:

You can add or subtract the sugar according to your own preferences. You can even adjust the proportion of  rice flours too, If you like the mochi softer, use more glutinous rice. If you like other flavors, you can use sesame meal, almond meal instead.

我很多年没吃糯米糍了。我相信在过去的20年里, 这是我的第二次吃。第一次是在中国餐馆, 他们给了我们糯米糍作为免费甜点, 但一点也不好吃。小时候在中国用糯米做的东西从来就不是我的菜。我不知道为什么这次我这么想做，而且好吃到我几乎一口气吃完了。令人 惊讶！！！这不是日式糯米糍, 这是福州人的做法。

成分：

普通粘米粉1/3 杯

糯米粉1杯

糖3汤匙

花生粉1/2 杯

水1/2 杯

做法：

把花生和糖混合在一起。

将2种粉混合在一起, 加入水和到粉团形成。

将粉团揉成长条, 均匀切成16到20个。

把每块粉团搓圆, 然后在沸水中煮7-8 分钟, 直到它们都浮到水上。

用漏勺把所有的球从水中取出, 然后把它们放到花生糖的混合物里。

滚一滚粉团，并确保每个都粘上足够的花生粉。

小贴士：

你可以根据自己的喜好添加或减去糖的量。你甚至可以调整米粉的比例, 如果你喜欢更软一点可以用多一点的糯米粉。如果你喜欢其他口味, 你可以用芝麻粉, 杏仁粉代替花生粉。