Appetizers & Snacks

My mom used to make these 'fresh' Taiwanese spring rolls (albeit only once in a blue moon) when we were kids and they really are da bomb. They're not the typical fried spring rolls that most folks are familiar with, but rather an almost burrito-like rendition that uses fresh and delicately thin dough wrappers filled with a mixture of pork, pickled radish, assorted veggies (bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, etc.), sliced hard tofu bean cakes, c

Jellyfish salad, a refreshingly light dish tossed with fresh cucumber, carrots, daikon radish, red chilies, and a dressing of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and garlic, was a staple in my childhood in Taiwan. Oddly enough, I never knew I was actually eating "jellyfish" (yup, not a euphemism for some mysterious marine plant, a la seaweed, but the real deal) until I was an adult and living in LA. As kids, my sister and I were both stung by these suckers while t

Wontons are not hard to make but are slightly labor intensive because they are on the small side and you have to make so many of them (2 lbs. of filling will yield 50-60 wontons, which is about the number of wrappers you'll get in a typical package of wonton wrappers). If you have an hour or more to spare though, it's totally worth the effort. Come to think of it, that's probably why my mom decided to have kids. I have 'fond' memories of my sis and I back in the day having oo

For years I've been obsessed with the idea of cooking up and hosting a grand Chinese New Year banquet in the tradition of those 10+ course feasts that my grandparents used to make for the occasion back in Taiwan. Both my grandpa (Ah-Kung) and grandma (Ah-Ma) were fabulous home cooks, so emulating their dishes has always been a totally daunting task. Their main courses always included steamed whole fish with scallions, ginger and garlic, sautéed jumbo prawns in a sweet and sou

This is my take on a recipe made famous and ubiquitous by the PF Chang restaurant chain. I prefer to use ground pork rather than ground chicken in this preparation and the sauce is a tad less salty than the PFC version. The fresh lettuce leaves are perfect wraps for the flavorful meat filling.