In traditional Chinese banquets in Malaysia, the most anticipated dish does not arrive at the beginning, but right before dessert. I am talking about Lap Mei Fan 腊味饭, a luxurious waxed meat rice served when the kitchen has truly pulled out all the stops. I grew up knowing that Lap Mei Fan is always the …
General Tso’s Chicken was the top-selling dish in our restaurant, and it has stayed there for many years for a reason. This isn’t a recipe we copied from a cookbook. It’s one that went through countless test batches, small adjustments in sauce ratios, frying methods, and marination time, until we arrived at a version that …
The kitchen has always been my playground, but tempura was one dish I admired from afar for years. After more than a decade working in restaurants, I finally decided to tackle one of my favorite Japanese snacks — tempura with that impossibly light, crisp coating you get at a good tempura bar. I won’t sugarcoat …
The kitchen is my playground, and I love experimenting with flavors and textures. Today, I’m sharing a recipe that takes tofu to the next level: crispy on the outside, deeply flavorful on the inside, infused with the rich, savory notes of Cantonese-style soy sauce braising. Unlike standard tofu recipes, this method uses a marination and …
If you walk into a Cantonese household on a Sunday afternoon, there is a high probability you’ll smell the deep, savory aroma of beef stew simmering on the stove. While the world is familiar with the famous “Daikon and Beef Brisket” pairing, my kitchen almost always smells like Cantonese Beef Stew with Potatoes. It’s the …
What Is Thai Vegetable Stir-Fry (Pad Pak Ruam)? Thai Vegetable Stir-Fry (Pad Pak Ruam) is a Thai home-style dish made by stir-frying mixed vegetables with garlic, fish sauce, and Golden Mountain sauce. It cooks in just 10–15 minutes, producing crisp-tender vegetables with a balanced savory, sweet, and slightly spicy flavor. Quick Answer: Thai Vegetable Stir-Fry …
Beef and cabbage stir-fry is one of those classic Chinese home-style dishes, a complete one-pan meal where the meat and vegetables are cooked together. Since I’m using a more affordable cut of beef, I’ll apply a classic Chinese cooking technique by using baking soda to tenderize the meat before marinating and stir-frying it. It’s an …
Mother-in-law’s Crispy Fried Chicken There is something truly magical about a recipe that has traveled through decades. My mother-in-law is 95 this year, and for as long as our family can remember, her old-school fried chicken was the centerpiece of every gathering. It’s a taste that lingers in our collective memory. Now that it’s our …
Cantonese Chicken and Onion Stir-Fry Onion and chicken stir-fry is a classic Cantonese home dish. It is simple to prepare, full of flavor, and that is why so many families enjoy cooking it at home. To make it truly perfect, though, there are a few important details we need to pay attention to. In this …
Have you ever experienced this? You pan-fry a chicken breast and end up with meat that is dry and tough. Even though I have been cooking for years and worked in restaurants, I have run into this disappointing result more times than I can count. After going through countless failures, I finally discovered a method …
Cumin Chicken – A Chinese-Indian Hybrid Dish Cumin chicken is something many of us have eaten before, whether it’s the Chinese version or the Indian one. But what if we stopped choosing sides for a moment and simply took the best bits from both kitchens? That’s exactly what I’m doing today, making cumin chicken with …