Inspired by Angie, here’s a list of all of my mom’s Chinese recipes that I’m trying while staying home. Same disclaimer applies, except I’m a 2nd generation dumbass whose mom stands beside me cringing. Bonus disclaimer: These are lazy recipes optimized for simplicity and speed. https://twitter.com/angiechen__/status/1249419662024007680

I’ve previously tweeted about 武汉热干面 (Wuhan hot dry noodles)... https://twitter.com/davidcying/status/1244422680289226754

...and 红烧肉 (Red braised pork): https://twitter.com/davidcying/status/1251316904590888961

Today’s dish is 麻婆豆腐 (mapo tofu). To make this, you’ll need garlic, ginger, spicy paste (I’m using Chinese but Korean will also do), ground meat, soy sauce, soft tofu, corn starch, and Sichuan peppercorns.

First heat the garlic, ginger, and spicy paste with cooking oil until it sizzles. Then add ground meat and use a spatula to cut into small pieces. Add soy sauce and wait until the meat is mostly browned before adding tofu, corn starch, and peppercorns.

Wait until the entire thing has been bubbling for a solid minute before finishing. Sorry for the lack of portion sizes and timing; my mom doesn’t do that, and she’s been training me to have similar instincts.

豆干 (dougan): Garlic, dougan, hot pepper flakes, soy sauce, celery, king trumpet mushrooms, and Sichuan peppercorn oil.

Heat garlic and cooking oil in pan until sizzling. Then add thinly sliced dougan and wait until it is slightly brown and sizzling too. Add hot pepper flakes and soy sauce and coat evenly. Add thinly cut celery and sliced mushrooms. Wait at least 3 minutes on med high heat before

adding salt and peppercorn oil to finish. Test completion by sampling a slice of celery.

蛋炒饭 (egg fried rice): 3 eggs, cooked white rice, cooked ground meat (see mapo tofu recipe), frozen peas and corn (frozen carrots are good too), salt, pepper, dark soy sauce, and green onions.

Beat eggs and put them into the pan. Once it's somewhat solidified, add rice and ground meat, then mix and break any clumps of rice or meat. Once the rice has softened enough to break down, add frozen peas and corn, then season with salt and pepper. Once peas and corn are

almost done cooking, add dark soy sauce and chopped green onions for color and flavor.

Forgot to tweet this yesterday: 饺子汤(dumpling soup) with random ingredients: Dumplings, broccoli, celery, meatballs, and spicy Vietnamese soup base.

Add dumplings to bubbling pot of water and stir until the dumplings float. Then add chopped broccoli and celery, followed by meatballs. Wait until the pot is boiling again before adding soup base, then let it boil for a bit before serving.

It’s not Chinese, but Mom came up with the idea, so I’m posting it anyway: Avocado and egg sandwich with artisan bread rolls, pesto sauce, and Trader Joe’s Everything But The Bagel seasoning. Making this should be pretty self explanatory.

Mom: Just take the remaining meat, vegetables, mushrooms, and tofu out of the fridge and do as I say.
30 minutes later:

There really isn’t a name or recipe for this, but the principle of meat+aromatics->vegetables->tofu->water->soup base+seasoning can be cross applied to a lot of dishes. One of the things I admire the most about my mom’s cooking is its modularity, which makes it flexible.

Today, @angiechen__ and I will both be sharing how we make 牛肉面 (beef noodle soup)! I’m using pickled mustard, green onions, Sichuan peppercorns, dried hot peppers, star anise, bay leafs, beef shank, fresh spring noodles, and you cai (bak choy is good too).

First, soak the pickled mustard before chopping it up into smaller pieces. I have a lot more than needed because I’ll be refrigerating some for later. Then add sliced green onions, Sichuan peppercorns, broken hot peppers, star anise, and bay leafs to a pressure cooker pot.

After that, boil the beef shank in a pot of water until it turns brown. Drain the pot and slice the shank into medium sized chunks. Add it to the pressure cooker pot and add water and soy sauce. Place in the cooker and set it to the stew setting or equivalent.

For the pickled mustard, pan fry it with cooking oil, hot sesame oil, and a tablespoon of sugar. I’m not doing a good job in the picture, but flatten the mustard across the pan in a consistent layer. Once it’s sizzling for a few minutes, turn off the stove and cover the pan.

Follow Angie's thread too! https://twitter.com/angiechen__/status/1254547196059348992

Now that it’s closer to dinner, the final steps are to boil the vegetables and noodles. First dunk the you cai into a pot of boiling water until it’s cooked, then use that water for the noodles. The order is crucial because the noodles will absorb water and leave starchy residue.

To serve, place the cooked noodles in a bowl, followed by vegetables, meat, and soup. You now have林家懒惰牛肉面 (Lin family lazy beef noodle soup) to enjoy!

No name combo: Garlic, ground meat, 牛肉面 sauce (see previous recipe), A cai (apparently it’s called celtuce in English?), spring noodles, spicy garlic chili oil, and pickled mustard (see previous recipe again).

Heat the ground meat and 牛肉面 sauce in a pan, and place in bowls after. Use the pan next to cook cut A cai with cooking oil, salt, and garlic while simultaneously cooking a pot of water for the noodles. The A cai will be done when it looks something like this:

Image source (it’s also a good recipe if you can read it or run it through Google Translate): http://283liya.blogspot.com/2014/11/a.html 

Boil the noodles for a couple minutes, but not too long if you want them to remain nice and QQ (chewy). Add the noodles to the brown and mix with the ground meat and spicy garlic chili oil. Add the A cai and pickled mustard on top.

I forgot to take pictures, but I made pan-fried beef with bell peppers and spinach for dinner. First marinate beef (or really any meat) with soy sauce. Then mince garlic and green onions, with the white roots minced separately from the green stems.

First pan fry the garlic and roots and add the meat evenly across the pan once the aromatics are sizzling and can be smelled. After a couple minutes, flip the meat over. After another couple minutes, move the meat to the center and place sliced bell peppers around.

Once those have sizzled for a while, add spinach on top. Cover the pan with a lid, and wait until the spinach looks cooked and has shrunk quite a bit. Then add the green onion stems and mix everything before turning off the heat and serving.

This exemplifies the basic formula of Chinese pan frying:

Aromatics (garlic/any type of onions)->add meat->flip meat->hard vegetables->soft leafy vegetables.

Once you know this, you can mix+match infinitely.

Random pancake combo: Flour, ground meat, onions, green onions, and zucchini. Shred the onions, green onions, and zucchini and mix with flour and ground meat. Lay out the mix in a pan with heated oil. Flatten the mix and then flip every few minutes until it’s sufficiently crispy.

Make sure to serve with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar!

Roasted potatoes, stir-fried vegetables, and tofu soup: Slice potatoes and marinate with salt, pepper, meat rub, and olive oil. Put in toaster oven for 35 minutes: 30 at 350 degrees F, and 5 minutes at broil setting to brown. Stir-fry vegetables as described upthread.

For tofu soup, heat garlic and shallots until sizzling, then add chicken stock and soft tofu. Maintain medium high heat, and add spicy Korean instant ramen spice packet and kimchi for color and flavor. Optional and not shown: add a whole egg, meatballs, sliced meat, or ramen.

Curry: Slice potatoes, carrots, and chicken thighs into same-sized pieces. Sizzle with garlic until the chicken is ~80% browned, then add chicken stock and water. Leave at medium-high heat until boiling, then cover and let sit at medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, add curry spice cubes, sliced cauliflower, sliced bell peppers, and water. Cover and cook at medium-high heat for another 10 minutes (or until the cauliflower is soft).

土豆丝 with carrots and meat: Stir fry garlic and meat (I’m using pork, which matches the best IME) in a pan at medium high heat until the meat is mostly cooked. Then add shredded potatoes, carrots, and a little bit of water before mixing, covering, and waiting a couple minutes.

Serve with sesame oil, hot pepper flakes, and ground Sichuan peppercorns.

Today my parents and I made 葱油饼 (green onion pancakes). Unfortunately I can’t share a recipe to because it didn’t taste very good. Our flour-water ratio was off, which is partially why it looks a lot puffier and less flat and crispy than it should.