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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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Crispy Shrimp-Stuffed Chicken adds a twist to the traditional hundred flower chicken dish:  tender chicken is stuffed with shrimp, then deep fried to a crackling finish. In the traditional recipe, “hundred flowers” refers to what is placed inside the chicken to make this signature dish, from shrimp paste to mushrooms to crab, depending on the regional variation. This version of the chicken dish is stuffed with shrimp paste to add texture and a mild, sweet, surprising flavor.

Ingredients:

• 15 shrimp, medium to large sized, peeled and deveined
• 2 chicken legs, boneless with skin
• ¼ Tbsp. chopped green onion
• ½ egg white
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp. rice wine
• 1 Tbsp. corn starch (or tapioca starch)
• 1 tsp. sesame oil

Instructions:

1. Chop shrimp into a paste, then add green onion, egg white, salt, white pepper, wine, and corn starch. Stir until the shrimp paste is well mixed, then blend sesame oil into the mixture until it is smooth.
2. On the chicken legs, make some light vertical and horizontal cuts on the meat side. Do not make cuts in the the skin. This will help the shrimp paste adhere to the meat.
3. Lay one chicken leg flat on a plate with meat side up. Sprinkle some salt on the meat first, then evenly spread a layer of shrimp paste (1/2 of what you have made) onto the chicken. Place the second piece on a plate and do the same. Cover each plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
4. Heat 3 Tbsp. of cooking oil in a pan or skillet. Place one stuffed chicken in, skin side down, and pan fry for three minutes under low heat. Next, flip over the chicken, and pan fry the other side three to four minutes, covered, until it is light golden brown in color.
5. Flip the chicken again and cook the skin side for another four to five minutes on low heat, covered, until the skin is also a light golden brown. Remove the cover, raise the heat to medium, and continue cooking for another one minute to make the chicken crispy, checking the skin occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove chicken to a plate when it is done. Continue in the same way to cook the other stuffed chicken piece.
6. Cut the chicken into pieces and garnish with greens. Sprinkle ground pepper as desired. Serve immediately. Make four to five servings.

Tip

You can also deep fry the chicken fillet by using enough cooking oil to cover the fillet. This allows you to avoid having to flip the chicken to cook both sids, but you will need to have a deep fryer and use a larger quantity of cooking oil.

Fresh asparagus shines in this healthy, make-ahead vegetable entree.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of green asparagus
• 2 lbs of white asparagus
• 2 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
• Any salad dressing you like

Instructions

1. Clean the asparagus and discard the tough base parts. Cut the asparagus stalks into the size you prefer. Three to four  inches is a good size for this dish.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and then boil half a pound of asparagus at a time, cooking each batch for 1 or 1½ minutes.  Then immediately remove the asparagus from the boiling water and place into a large bowl or pot of ice-water to bring down temperature. This will preserve the crispness of vegetable.
3. Arrange cooked asparagus on a big plate, then top with chopped eggs.  If desired, decorate with colorful vegetables or fruit, such as red and yellow peppers or cherry tomatoes.
4. Top the eggs with dressing before serving. Makes 12 to 15 servings.

Tips

This recipe is great for parties because it can be prepared beforehand and stored in the refrigerator. Keeping the vegetable crisp is the key to this dish. Sometimes it can be difficult to find white asparagus.  You can use Japanese or Persian cucumbers as an alternative or simply green asparagus alone.

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Guava is a round green fruit so common in Taiwan that it could be considered the Taiwanese pear.  We have a guava tree in our backyard, which yields small, sweet fruits with many seeds, in contrast with Taiwanese guava fruits which are larger and have a milder flavor. During Thanksgiving, my daughter shared with our family a recipe for guava tarts which we ended up baking in order to use up this year’s ripe bumper crop of guava fruit. I would like in turn to share recipe with you.

Ingredients

• 7-8 medium sized guava fruits, seeded and cut into small pieces. Note that the quantity of guava will depend on the number of tarts you are making, as well as the type of guava you are using.
• 3 Tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup of butter — half for the tarts, cut into pieces, and half for greasing the pan, melted
• 2/3 cups sugar
• Dash of salt
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• Tart pastry or pie crust dough made with your favorite recipe. My daughter generally relies on this Real Simple recipe to make crusts for both pies and tarts. For my batch, I made a slightly richer crust by mixing the following ingredients: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons sugar, a pinch of salt, 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, 2 eggs and 5 Tablespoons water.
• Lemon zest

Instructions

1. Use a pastry brush to grease a muffin tin with melted butter.
2. Line each cup of the tin with dough. One way of doing this is to cut out circles of dough using a cookie cutter or the lid of a jam jar. Please one circle of dough into each tin and then mold the dough to the shape of the cup.
3. Mix the flour, sugar and lemon juice with guava slices.
4. Place a dollop of the guava mixture into each dough-lined cup, then top each tart with a small quantity of lemon zest and a few small pieces of cold butter.
5. Bake at 425 degrees for three to five minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook until crust turns light brown. This took 15 minutes in our kitchen, but cooking time may vary depending on how quickly your oven gets hot.

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Seafood is an integral part of Taiwanese cuisine. This recipe for a slow-simmered savory seafood stew brings together fresh calamari, shrimp and scallop.

Ingredients

• 20 shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 20 scallops, medium size
• 2 calamari steak pieces, cut into strips. [As an alternative, you can also use squid, cut into rings.]
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 medium white onion, cut into small chunks
• 8 cloves garlic, patted
• 1 large or 2 small red peppers, cut into small chunks
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 can chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups water

Instructions:

1. Heat the butter in a large pot, and sauté the onion and garlic to bring out the fragrance.
2. Add red pepper, tomato and cook for two minutes.
3. Add the rest of ingredients except for the seafood and bring to a boil. Then turn the temperature to low and let simmer for about 40 minutes.
4. Add the seafood to the pot and bring the soup to a boil once again.
5. This dish makes 10 to 12 servings.

Tip

Fish can also be added to the recipe, but be sure to use the the freshest cuts to ensure that a fishy flavor doesn’t ruin the taste of bisque.

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These custard egg tarts are a common fixture at dim sum restaurants across the United States. They originated in Hong Kong in the 1940s and were eventually introduced to China and Taiwan. This recipe produces custard tarts which with a thin, golden crust and light, fluffy filling.

Crust Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1 stick of margarine (4 oz.)

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup (or 1/3 cup to taste) sugar

Instructions:

1. Mix crust ingredients and use the dough to line a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Beat the eggs with a fork and strain with a mesh strainer. Add milk and sugar to the egg mixture and mix well. Note: avoid creating bubbles in the mixture to ensure smooth consistency in the tart.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Pour the batter into the cups, filling 3/4 of each cup with the mixture.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.

Removal Instructions:

Cover the baking tin with a cutting board. Hold the sides of the board to the tin, flip the pan over and then lift the pan. The tarts will be face down on the cutting board and ready to move to a serving platter.

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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.

Many traditional and old-fashioned Taiwanese desserts feature sweet potatoes or yams as a main ingredient. In this recipe, we use yam to make the puffs. Deep-frying is a way of drawing out the fragrance of the sesame seeds as well as sealing in the sweet taste of the puffs. At Chinese banquets, such as those given for weddings, this dish is often served as dessert. The golden color of the puff symbolizes joy, good fortune and happiness.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb yam
• 1 bag of red bean paste (about one pound)
• 1 ½ Tbsp. ground sugar
• 1 ¼ cups glutinous rice flour
• ¾ cup white sesame seeds
• Cooking oil for frying. Note: Depending on the size of the pot, as long as you have enough oil to cover half of the puff, you can turn the puff over to ensure that both sides are cooked to golden brown.

Instructions

1. Peel yam and cut into chunks. Steam for 30 minutes or until soft.
2. Mash yam and add sugar. When the mixture cools, add rice flour, mix well and knead into a smooth dough. Divide dough into 20 small pieces and then roll these pieces into balls.
3. Cut a slit in the corner of the red bean package, squeeze paste out and shape it into a ball. (Note that the ball of red bean paste is for filling and does not have to be perfectly shaped.)
4. Take a piece of dough, press into a flat round shape and place a red bean ball in the center. Seal the dough and roll it into a ball, then roll the ball into a cylinder puff shape.
5. Place sesame seed in a shallow plate and roll the puff in the sesame dish. Gently press the sesame seeds into the puff to ensure that they stay on the puff evenly.
6. Pour frying oil into a deep pot or wok and heat over medium heat. Place the puff into hot oil and deep fry until both sides turn golden brown.
7. Serve piping hot or at room temperature. This recipe yields 20 puffs.

Yam Tip

Yam has orange flesh and reddish-brown or orange skin. It contains more water than sweet potato. For this recipe, using yam instead of sweet potato will enhance the color of the puff, as well as add flavor and texture.

This dish introduces cooked seafood, a staple of Taiwanese dishes, to the sushi roll.

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Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground pork or chicken
• 15 pieces shrimp, chopped into a paste
• ¼ cup dried shrimp, pre-soaked in water for 10 min., then minced (optional)
• ½ white onion, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 4 to 5 sheets nori seaweed

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients together except for the white onion and seaweed. Use a folk or spatula and stir in the same direction (e.g., clockwise) until the mixture is well-blended. This will take approximately three to four minutes.
2. Add chopped onion to the bowl and then mix well.
3. Lay the seaweed sheet flat on a table and then place approximately 3/4 cup of the mixture on the seaweed. Evenly spread out the mixture over an area that covers three-fourths of the sheet.
4. Roll up the sheet tightly from the side that has filling, as you would make a roll of sushi.
5. Use microwavable Saran wrap to wrap up the rolls and then use a steamer to steam rolls under at a high temperature for approximately 12 minutes.
6. Remove the plastic wrap and slice the rolls into 1 cm-thick pieces. Serve with chili sauce.

Tip

You do not need to wrap the rolls if you wish to cut the rolls into sections and deep-fry the pieces in cooking oil. Deep-fry shrimp rolls over medium heat until golden brown on both sides of the roll.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes or yams, cooked, peeled and cut into chunks. (Note: you can also steam the potatoes whole or boil them in water.)
• 3 cups broccoli florets ( about one big bunch)
• 3 cups king trumpet mushroom
• 3 cups Nagaimo, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1 to 1-1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• ¼ cup fresh shallot or garlic chopped

Ingredients For Sauce:

• 1 cup Nagaimo (in chunks)
• 1 cup cooked white rice
• 2 cups chicken broth or water
• ½ tsp salt, if using water

Instructions:

1. Boil a pot of water. Cook broccoli, mushroom, Nagaimo, and carrots separately for about 1 1/2 minute each.
2. Place all vegetables, including sweet potatoes, into a large casserole dish or other deep, ovenproof dish.
3. Heat olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat, then add shallot or garlic and cook until the pieces turn a light golden brown. Then turn off the heat and pour over the vegetables evenly.
4. Blend the sauce ingredients in a blender. Then pour the mixture over the vegetables.
5. Evenly spread shredded cheese over the vegetables.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F and bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 8-10 servings.

Tips

Do not overcook the vegetables, particularly the Nagaimo. The vegetables should retain crispiness even after they are cooked.

Feel free to substitute the vegetables in this recipe with your favorite vegetables.This is what the vegetables look like before cheese is added:

Where can I get Nagaimo?

You can purchase the Nagaimo from Asian grocery stores such as 99 Ranch Market. Nagaimo looks like this: