Pork

Inspired by a dish which my aunt's husband (a Laotian refugee who grew up in Macao) made years ago. He liked to add salted duck egg yolks to ground pork with a light soy seasoning and then steaming it, making this dish more Cantonese than Taiwanese in character.

Almost forgot about this one, but another fav dish from childhood. I haven't been able to find any recipes online that approximate what my mom and grandmother used to make back in Taiwan, so after consulting with mom and some experimentation in the kitchen, I came up with this version which is as close as it gets!

Another fav Taiwanese dish that I grew up eating. It's super easy to make - in fact, the only thing you can do wrong is to add too much soy sauce, rendering the dish too salty. That's why I like erring on the side of less soy to begin with, 'cause you can always add more later. This is not a dish meant to be eaten on its own: it should be served over hot fluffy white rice (preferably the CalRose type of short grain white rice) or noodles. The last time I cooked this, I tried

Ok. The name of this recipe is not exactly inspiring and, in fact, sounds kinda generic, but the the end product is actually addictively delicious. Although not a staple ingredient, Madras curry powder or some iteration of it is used occasionally in Chinese, Japanese, and SE Asian dishes.  I came across the original recipe in Wei Chuan's 1993 cookbook  Chinese Cooking: Favorite Home Dishes , and this is my version which uses fresh tomatoes and tomato paste instead of tomato j

Taiwanese pickled cucumbers are soy flavored with a touch of sweetness and delicately crunchy. At home mom often served them as a side with plain rice porridge. However, their addition to ground pork is a classic combination rendering them even more delicious. Sooooo good!