Announcement message

Previous projects:
1. Exploring Taipei's eats during my last Taipei trip
2. The "One new dish a day!" project and my review.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

鳳梨苦瓜湯 Pineapple and bitter melon soup

This dish was inspired by a very popular Taiwanese dish "chicken soup with pineapple and bitter melon 鳳梨苦瓜雞湯".  I think the soup without the chicken tastes as delicious as with the chicken, if not more.
鳳梨苦瓜湯 Pineapple and bitter melon soup
Ingredients:
  1. Pineapple, cut into chunks, 1 cup
  2. Bitter melon, cut into chunks, 1 cup
  3. Miso, 2 tablespoons
  4. Water, 4 cups
Directions:
  1. Put all ingredients in a pot;
  2. Bring the mixture to a boil;
  3. Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

龍翔園(2)

每次請親友在龍翔園進餐,都是賓主盡歡,一流的菜讓賓客吃得滿意萬分,直問為什麼之前不知道有這麼一家好餐館,主人摸著荷包也高興萬分.

蟹黃豆腐
蟹黃豆腐
請點此連接看我們點過的其他菜
請點此連接看我上次貼的龍翔園

地址: 台北市四維路十號B1
電話: (02) 2705-2899

Thursday, March 17, 2011

A foolproof vegetable: Sponge gourd 不可能出錯的絲瓜

The sponge gourd (絲瓜 ), the fruit of luffa (or loofah), a kind of tropical and subtropical vines, is a very popular vegetable in Taiwan. The sponge gourd, by itself, can be stir-fried, steamed or cooked in a little bit of water; and then made to taste by adding some ginger, salt and sugar. It is very delicious and also extremely easy to make. It is always a popular dish when I entertain guests at home.

Recently I explored cooking the sponge gourd with other ingredients. I tried two ways - a vegetarian version and a non-vegetarian version. Both versions turned out extremely delicious. As a result, I love the sponge gourd even more since it proved to be a foolproof vegetable for any chef!

(素食)杏鮑菇麵筋煮絲瓜 (Vegetarian version) Sponge gourd cooked with oyster mushrooms and fried seitan
DSC00541
I cooked the seitan, the oyster mushrooms and the sponge gourd, with the latter two cut into chunks, in a little bit of water; covered the pot; and let it cook until all ingredients became soft. Finally I added some ginger, sugar and salt to taste and thickened the liquid with some corn starch.

蛤蜊金針煮絲瓜 Sponge gourd cooked with daylily and clams, mimicking a dish from "龍翔園"
DSC01540
I cooked the daylily in a little bit of water (as little as possible) for about 3-5 minutes. Then I added some ginger, the clams and the sponge gourd, cut into chunks; covered the pot; and let it cook until the shells of the clams opened and the sponge gourd became soft, about another 5 minutes. Finally I added some wine, sugar and salt to taste and thickened the liquid with some corn starch.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Basil-flavored Tofu 三杯豆腐

DSC01379
I cooked the tofu in soy sauce, some sesame oil and a little bit of sugar with basil leaves on top until the tofu was well soaked in the sauce and became tasty, about 15 minutes. I think any kind of tofu may be used here. In the dish shown in the picture above, I used both fried tofu and smelly tofu. It was very delicious!