Ingredients

• Flour 250 g
• Milk 130-140 ml
• Yeast 3g
• Sugar 30g
• Salt  1g
• If using water, 125 ml.
• If desired for use in the decorative flower ball, green onion, sesame oil, salt and ground pepper
• If desired for use in flavoring the mantou, black sesame powder or raisins to taste

Instructions

1. Warm milk until it reaches 40 degrees C (104 degrees F). Typically you can accomplish this by microwaving it for about 30 seconds.
2. Add yeast to the milk, stir a little and let it stand for 5 minutes.
3. Mix flour with sugar and salt. Pour in milk mixture, then mix and knead into a dough. At this stage, if desired, you can add black sesame powder to taste to make a batch of sesame-flavored mantou.
4. Let dough rise until it double sizes. This takes about an hour.
5. Knead the dough and gently roll it out to expel the air in the dough.
6. Shape the dough into a rectangle and spread water onto its surface. At this point, if you’d like to make a mantou with a sweet flavor, you can add raisins.
7. Roll the dough up into a long cylindrical snake, then cut off the head and tail of the dough snake to make the ends even. You can combine these and shape into a ball. Alternatively, if desired, the head and tail pieces can be set aside to form a decorative ball or flower shape as described (instructions below).
8. Cut the remaining dough cylinder into 6 equally-sized pieces.
9. Place all 7 pieces of dough onto the steamer rack of a rice cooker and let the dough rise again for 40-50 minutes.
10. Steam the buns in a steamer for 12 minutes or, if you don’t have a steamer, on a raised rack in a covered pot with a small amount of water at the bottom brought to boil.
11. Let the mantou rest for five minutes after the steaming process has finished.
12. Enjoy your soft and fluffy mantou now!

Decorative Mantou Centerpiece Instructions

1. Combine the head and tail of the dough snake and shape into another long cylindrical snake.
2. Roll out the snake horizontally to flatten it out.
3. Brush dough lightly with sesame oil, sprinkle ground black pepper, salt and chopped green onion down the center of the snake, then fold the snake in half.
4. Use a table knife to score, or cut slits, down the body of the snake as pictured.
5. Roll the snake from tail to head. This forms a decorative flower ball 花 捲

Pork pottage, known also as Rou-Geng, is a traditional Taiwanese delicacy that can often be found at Taiwanese night markets or daytime bazaars. Usually there are two versions of Rou-Geng: one that uses sweet potato powder and another that uses fish paste. In this recipe, we create Taiwanese pork pottage with sweet potato powder instead of fish paste, since sweet potato powder is an easier ingredient to find at American supermarkets.

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Ingredients

• 2 or 3 cups daikon cubes (1 cm size cubes)
• 1 ½ cup pork strips
• 5 or 6 pieces dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water until soft, then cut into strips
• 6 cups water (or 1 can of chicken broth + 4 cups of water)
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• ¼ tsp. sesame oil
• ½ cup sweet potato powder
• Some chopped cilantro
• Tapioca water (3 Tbsp. tapioca powder + ¾ cup water)

Ingredients For Soup Seasoning

• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 4 or 5 tsp. black vinegar, to taste
• ½ tsp white ground pepper
• ½ tsp salt (or ¼ tsp salt if using chicken broth)
• 1 ½ tsp sugar
• 2 tsp barbecue sauce
• ¼ cup fried shallot

Instructions

1. Marinate pork strips with 1 Tbsp. of soy sauce and ¼ tsp of sesame oil for 30 minutes. Add sweet potato powder to coat around pork strips.
2. Place daikon cubes, mushroom strips and water into a pot, and cook over medium-high temperature until daikon turns soft. It takes about 10 minutes. Add soup seasonings into pot, and then pour in tapioca water, stir constantly while pouring.
3. Turn the heat to medium-low. Put pork strips into the pottage, cook until the pork strips float on the top and bring the soup to a boil.
4. Serve pottage with deep bowl and garnish with cilantro.

Tips

This recipe can made with other vegetables, such as bamboo strips or cabbage strips. You can also use fish paste to coat the pork strips instead of sweet potato powder. Some people like adding noodle to the pottage and then serving the dish as a meal.

Taiwanese fried chicken is a crisp, spicy and juicy meat that is featured in restaurants as well as sold at street food stalls all around Taiwan.  The island’s unique take on Colonel Sanders has recently come into the spotlight in the United States as Asian-American street food vendors, including popular Bian Dang in New York City, have added it to their menus. Each chef may bring his or her own combination of Asian spices to this dish; this version is spiced with white pepper, sesame oil and black vinegar.

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Ingredients:

• One piece of boneless chicken breast, cut into large strips
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp corn starch or tapioca starch
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup water

Ingredients for the marinade:

• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp black vinegar
• ¼ tsp white ground pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cooking wine

Instructions:

1. Add marinade to the chicken strips and let the chicken marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Add flour, starch, baking powder and water into chicken. Mix well and coated chicken strips with batter.
3. Prepare a pot for frying and heat two cups of cooking oil in the pot over medium heat.
4. Use a fork to place all the chicken strips one by one into the heated oil, frying each side for two minutes, then turning each chicken piece over until both sides are a golden brown.
5. Place all of the fried chicken pieces on a plate lined with paper towels.
6. Serve chicken piping hot.

Some helpful tips

Serve this dish with chili sauce, or sprinkle some pepper on the chicken and serve. It also tastes great alone without additional spices. Boneless chicken leg can be substituted in lieu of chicken breast. Don’t discard the frying oil, as it can be re-used for other cooking within a short period of time.

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• 1 lb bean sprouts
• 1 lb cabbage, cut into strips
• 2 square pieces of baked bean curd, cut into thin, fine strips
• 1/2 lb snow peas, cut into strips
• 1 carrot stick, shredded
• 3 green onion stalks, shredded
• 1 cup cooked barbecue pork, sliced. Alternatively, you can use cooked pork strips
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup peanut powder mixed with 1/8 cup sugar
• seaweed powder (optional)
• 1 bag of spring roll wrappers [LINK]
• Salt
• Sweet chili sauce

Instructions

1. Beat eggs in a bowl and add salt to taste.
2. Heat oil in a skillet or wok and pour in half the egg mixture. Allow the contents of the skillet to cook over medium heat into a single, golden-brown, thin sheet of egg, turning over to ensure that both sides are cooked. Repeat once again with the remainder of the egg mixture. Cut the two sheets of cooked egg into thin strips.
3. Stir fry the following items for the filling separately and place into dishes: the bean sprouts, cabbage, snow peas with carrots, and baked bean curd. Add salt as desired for flavor.
4. Arrange the ingredients, including the stir-fried items, barbecue pork, peanut powder, chili sauce and egg strips, as well as optional items such as shredded green onions and seaweed powder, on a table for easy access and preparation.
5. Place a spring roll wrapper on a large, flat plate as shown in the photo below. Layer the items in the following order: dry ingredients first (such as peanut powder or egg strips), followed by the pork, the stir-fried vegetables, and finally some of the dried ingredients once again as desired. This will prevent the moisture from causing the spring roll wrapper to break.
6. Use the chili sauce to lightly moisten the edges of the wrapper and wrap the spring roll as indicated below.
7. Makes 6-8 servings.

Where To Buy Spring Roll Wrappers

You can find these in the frozen department at Asian grocery stores or order online.

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You might be familiar with these buns because they resemble char siu bao, the grab-and-go barbecue pork bun that is a Chinese street food staple. This version of the pork bun has more in common with the pork buns you mind find in the night markets or buy in bulk from a bakery in Taiwan. If you’ve never made your own steamed buns but enjoy making bread, you might enjoy the hands-on process of bun-making, perhaps the closest thing in traditional Taiwanese cuisine to baking bread.

PART I: THE FILLING

Ingredients:

Filling

• 2 lb ground pork
• 1 ½ large onion, diced
• 6 shitake mushroom, soaked in water until soft, then diced
• ½ cup dried radish, finely chopped (optional)
• ½ cup dried shallot

Seasoning
a) For the marinade use:

• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil

b) For the sauce use:

• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp of tapioca starch + 3 tsp. of water

Instructions:

1. Marinate ground pork with the ingredients listed under section (a) of seasoning ingredient list and mix well.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of cooking oil, add mushroom and stir fry for two to three minutes over medium heat. Then add ground pork and raise the heat to medium-high temperature. Stir fry until the ground pork has separated and begun to form small pieces.  This should take about four to five minutes.
3. Add onion and continue cooking for four minutes, then mix in the chopped radish. Cook for another minute, add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, and blend well.
4. Mix in dried shallots and pour in tapioca starch water. Mix well and then turn off the heat. The filling is ready to use.

PART II: THE STEAMED BUN

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1¼ cup water (use lukewarm water in the winter, cold water in the summer)

Instructions:

1. Mix flour, yeast, baking powder and sugar in a big bowl. Add water and stir the contents of the bowl until the mixture thickens into chunks. Next use your hands to knead the chunks into smooth dough.
2. Set the dough in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside until the dough doubles in size after rising.
3. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a board and cut into 16 to 20 pieces, sized according to your preference. Roll each dough piece into a round shape, with a thick center and somewhat less thick edges. Place 2 or 3 tablespoons of filling in the center of the dough wrapper. Using your thumb and index finger to hold the edge of wrapper and your left hand to hold the bottom of wrapper, turn while making folds counterclockwise. At the end, seal the opening at the top by pressing dough edges together. Note: I place each wrapped bun on a piece of wax paper for easy handling. If you decide to do this, I recommend cutting wax paper into properly sized sheets in advance.
4. Set the buns aside for about 10 minutes and then let them rise again.
5. Boil water and steam the buns for 12 minutes over high temperature. Your homemade steam buns are now ready. Note that this makes 16-20 buns.

Tips

Be sure to cover the dough during this process to ensure that it does not dry out. With practice, the aesthetics of your buns will gradually improve. Your first batch of buns might not be beautiful, but they will be delicious.

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Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 ½ lb cabbage, finely chopped
• 4 stalks green onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ginger root, minced
• 1 package dumpling wrappers (approximately 45 pieces)

Seasoning Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. sesame oil
• ½ tsp white pepper powder
• ¼ cup water (or 1/8 cup of water and 1/8 cup of rice wine)
• ½ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp salt

Dumpling Serving Sauce:

• ¼ cup soy sauce + 1 tsp. sesame oil + 1 tsp white vinegar + chili sauce (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix together the ground pork with all of the seasonings. Stir the mixture in the same direction until it is well blended.  This takes about two to three minutes.
2. Add one tablespoon of salt to the chopped cabbage and spread the salt out across the surface of the cabbage with your hands. Let the salted cabbage sit for two minutes. Use a mesh colander or your hands to squeeze the excess water from the cabbage.
3. Mix cabbage, ginger and green onion into the meat mixture and blend well with a folk. Alternatively, you can use your hands to mix the ingredients, but be sure to wash your hands first or wear gloves. At this stage, the dumpling filling is complete, but it is ideal to let the filling sit in the refrigerator for a minimum of one hour so that the ingredients will be well-incorporated.
4. Open the package of dumpling wrappers. Place one heap tablespoon of filling in the center of one wrap, moisten the edge of wrapper, and fold it in half. Press the edge of the dumpling wrapper at its midpoint, then make two folds on each side. Press along the circular edge of the wrapper to seal. There are many ways to make dumplings, and as long as you can seal it, you can make one, two or even more folds in the dumpling skin.
5. Boil plenty of water in a large pot, and then add 20 to 30 dumpling pieces to the pot. Stir gently while cooking and bring to a boil. When the water begins to boil, add one cup of cold water and continue cooking. When the water comes to a boil again and the dumplings are floating in the water, the dumplings are ready. Serve dumpling with sauce (recipe above).

Tip

You can add shrimp to the dumpling filling to enhance its flavor. You can also incorporate different types of vegetables into the mixture, as well as use different types of meat, such as chicken, pork, beef or seafood.  The dumpling making process offers many  delicious opportunities to express your creativity.

If you have ever enjoyed a traditional Chinese dim sum meal, you probably had an opportunity to try Siu Mai, the hearty, open-faced pork dumplings that come in a variety of regional variations.This recipe for siu mai incorporates common ingredients from Taiwanese cuisine such as water chestnuts, shiitake mushrom and white pepper.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs ground pork or chicken
• 10 pcs. shrimp, chopped into a paste
• 4 pieces dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water until soft, then finely chopped
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup water chestnut, finely chopped (optional)
• 1/4 tsp white ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp light color soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 package dumpling skins (siu-mai skin), round. Note: When selecting dumpling skins for use in this recipe, remember that thinner skins are better.

Instructions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients, other than the dumpling skins, until the mixture is well-blended.
2. Refrigerate the mixture for at least one hour.
3. Place about 2 tablespoons of the mixture on each dumpling skin. If you are using dumpling skins with a smaller diameter, use 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture instead.
4. Hold the siu-mai on your hand, then fold the edges as if you were creating a series of flower petals, using your thumb and index finger to gather the top edges of the dumpling skin. The top of the siu mai should not gape open too widely. Shape the top of the siu mai with one hand, and then the other hand to pat the bottom of the siu mai to create a flat bottom.
5. Garnish the top of each siu mai dumpling with green peas, slivered carrots or corn kernels.
6. Steam the siu mai dumplings at a high temperature setting for approximately 10 minutes.
7. Serve with chili sauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 cup, cooked white rice. I use a rice cooker to prepare the rice.
• 1-2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup ham, diced
• 1/2 cup of green onion, diced
• 2/3 or 1 cup of Kimchi, cut into small pieces
• 4 Tbsp. of cooking oil
• ½ tsp. of salt
• 3 Tbsp. of ketchup
• Pinch of seaweed

Procedures:

1. Add cooking oil to the frying pan and heat over medium high heat. Pour in the egg mixture and stir fry until the eggs are firm and separate. Then add green onion and stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add ham, rice, ketchup and salt, and stir fry until the fried rice is evenly coated with ketchup.
2. Add kimchi into the fried rice and stir fry for another minute.
3. Serve on a plate and garnish with a sprinkle of seaweed powder if desired.

Where can I purchase kimchi?

You can purchase Kimchi at any Korean supermarket. Kimchi is available in a variety of flavors and levels of spiciness.

Ingredients:

part (a)

• 4 pork chops, boneless
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cooking wine. Note: I used Taiwanese cooking michiu wine, not to be confused with Japanese sweet rice wine.
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1/8 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tsp Chinese barbecue sauce
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

part (b)

• 1 cup bread crumbs. Known also as Panko, a flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup tapioca starch or corn starch
• 6 -8 Tbsp. of cooking oil

Instructions:

1. Flatten the pork chop, then marinate with the seasonings and ingredients listed in part (a) for at least three hours.
2. Place the tapioca starch, beaten egg, bread crumbs in three separate plates.
3. Dip both sides of each pork chop into the above ingredients in the following order: first, tapioca starch; second, egg mixture; and third, bread crumbs.
4. Heat the cooking oil in a wok and sear the pork chop first. Then cook the meat over medium-high temperature heat until it turns golden brown on both sides.
5. Cut the pork chop into slices and serve.

What is Chinese barbecue sauce?

Chinese barbecue sauce, unlike the barbecue sauce you might find at KFC, doesn’t contain tomatoes. It’s a flavorful concoction of ingredients ranging from hoisin to black bean paste. You can pick it up in most Asian grocery stores, but if you can’t find it in a store near you, the classic barbecue sauce is readily available for purchase online.

Hint

Flattening the pork chop will increase the tenderness of meat. When dipping the pork chop slices into the bread crumbs, gently press both sides of the pork chop into the plate to ensure that the crumbs stay in place.

Taro is a primary crop in the Jiaxian Township of Kaohsiung, which is located at the southern end of Taiwan. In Jiaxian, you will find many taro root specialty items, such as taro ice, taro biscuits and taro rice cake. Though this dish is popular during Chinese New Year, I prepare it as a side dish year-round.

Adapted from a recipe shared by Kuo Cheng Wu/Arlington, TX.

Ingredients:

Part A

• 1 bag (1 lb.) rice flour
• 2 Tbsp. glutinous rice flour
• 1 Tbsp. tapioca flour
• 8 cups water (or one can of chicken broth + 6 cups of water)

Part B

• 3 Tbsp. cooking oil
• 3-4 cups taro, cut into strips about 1 cm x 1 cm x 3 cm (or in U.S. measurements, approximately 1/3 inch x 1/3 inch x 1 inch)
• ¼ cup dried shrimp, pre-soaked in water for 10 min., then minced
• 1 cooked salted egg, chopped
• 2-3 sticks Chinese sausage, diced into small pieces of about 1/2 cm (or in U.S. measurements, approximately 1/4 inch)

Seasonings:

• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 3/4 tsp. of salt
• 3/4 cup fried shallots

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients listed in Part A in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a stir-fry pan over medium temperature.  Cook the dry shrimp first for about one minute. Then begin to add Part B ingredients: first add salted egg and stir for another minute. Finally, add the taro along with the minced Chinese sausage to pan and stir fry for an additional two minutes. Add seasonings and mix.
3. Once the ingredients in Part A have been thoroughly mixed, gradually pour the mixture into the stir fry pan. Continue stirring while pouring the mixture in order to ensure consistency. Turn the heat off when the mixture has thickened and divide between the two foil pans.
4. Place filled pan into the steamer and steam for approximately 40 minutes or until done. (Insert a chopstick into the center of the taro cake. When the stick comes out clean, the dish is ready.)
5. One easy method of steaming the rice cake is by using a Ta-Tung traditional rice cooker. Place the steamer rack in the cooker and add one cup of water in the outer part of cooker , then place one taro pan on the top of the rack and cook. After the rice cooker switch pops up, add another cup of water to the outer part of cooker and continue steaming.
6. When rice cake is done, slice and serve.  For more flavor, add some oil to the skillet and pan fry slices of the cake. Serve with sauce if desired.

What kind of pan can be used to make this dish?

You will need two 8-inch or 9-inch diameter round aluminum foil pans. These can be found in most American supermarkets in the baking section or in the aisles of many 99-cent discount stores.

What kind of sauce goes well with this dish?

Though some prefer to eat taro rice cake plain, the dish is traditionally served with two types of sauces:

• Soy sauce paste with minced garlic, or
• Chili sauce  if you prefer a spicy taste

What kind of Chinese sausage should I use?

Xiang Chang is a fresh, plump sausage which consists of coarsely chopped pieces of pork and un-rendered pork fat. The sausage is rather sweet in taste. This is what a package of Chinese sausage looks like:

The taro didn’t change in color after it was steamed. Is this taro rice cake undercooked?

Because the dish is steamed, not baked, the completed dish will retain the color of raw taro. This is an example of what the finished product looks like:

However, to give the taro rice cake color as well as flavor, you can pan-fry the pieces. The taro pieces in this photo have been pan-fried.