Home Style Tofu is basically a homey Chinese concoction that comes in many iterations, depending on who the home cook is. The traditional Szechuanese version is spicy due to the addition of hot bean paste. My mom's Taiwanese version (with julienned pork, soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, sesame oil, and Chinese chives) is not. I like to straddle the line between savory & spicy, so this is my take.

I first came across this recipe in Weichuan's cookbook Tofu! Tofu! Tofu!  (published in 1994), then recently adapted it by using my own version of Kung Pao sauce and adding a few extras ingredients, such as sliced mushrooms, red onion, jalapenos, and cilantro. If you can Kung Pao chicken, then why not tofu, shrimp, or other stuff? They're all good!

If you gave me a choice between French fries or fried tofu, well the answer should be obvious. Even if you're not fond of tofu this fried version is, well, just really, really good. Two tips: it's best to use soft tofu for this dish (crunchy on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside) and also to serve it hot.

For this delicious Cantonese-style dish I tenderize the beef first in a baking soda-water mixture before marinating. The texture of soft tofu pairs beautifully with super tender beef and the delectable sauce consists of chicken stock lightly flavored with oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil. So good served over steamed white rice!

Sounds like a weird combo, but tofu and avocado actually go really well together. Not sure where this dish originated from, but I adapted my version from a recipe in Weichuan's Chinese Rice and Noodles with Appetizers, Soups and Sweets . The original used only soy paste for the sauce, but I added a bit of sesame oil and wasabi to spice it up. Bonito shavings are optional, but I think they really enhance the dish.

The best oyster omelette I ever had was at the Shihlin Night Market in Taipei. I'm speaking, of course, of the market I remember from my formative years in Taiwan. Back then, the night market was rustic, chaotic, and totally non-conforming to our modern hygienic standards, but the street food offerings were so incredibly good. I'll never be able to replicate those oyster omelettes of yore, but here's my best rendition. For the purposes of home cooking, I've found it best to d

So good and so easy, especially if you happen to have some braising liquid left over (i.e., frozen) from a previous pork belly braise-fest. If not, the below marinade recipe also produces delicious results.

Steamed egg is a simple yet luscious savory dish that comes out almost like a custard. Great for a cold winter's day. My mom didn't make this too often when I was a kid but it was a real treat whenever she did, and the addition of bacon made it even mo betta. Doesn't sound like a traditional Chinese combo, but then who doesn't like bacon and eggs? The ingredients are very simple, but the tricky part is in the steaming: if you let it cook over high heat for too long, the egg w

If you've made a ton of wontons or just happen to have some of the pre-made stuff in the freezer, why not digress and spice it up a bit? It doesn't always have to be about soup. Spicy Szechuan wontons are boiled wontons that are topped with a spicy sauce typically consisting of soy sauce, garlic, Chinese chili oil (layu), sugar, vinegar, scallions and ground Szechuan peppercorns. In this version, I use white pepper instead of Szechuan peppercorn since it's more readily availa

A Dim Sum favorite. In Taiwan we had "Jongzi," or "Ba Tsang" as we say in Taiwanese, which is sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves - traditional fare for Dragon Boat Festival. My grandmother made the absolute bestest, most delectable Ba Tsang ever! They were loaded with fatty pork, shiitake mushrooms, chestnuts, and fresh bamboo braised in soy sauce, and dried shallots - all seasoned with a touch of Five Spice powder. My first taste of this Cantonese version using lotus leave

If you like fried food (and, well, who doesn't?) then spring rolls are for you. Don't shy away from this dish if your experience with spring rolls has been those tiny, greasy, and almost filling-less abominations you often get as freebies with your meal at a Chinese fast-food joint. The real deal is deliciously savory, not greasy (if cooked correctly) and highly addictive. Deep-fried shrimp & pork spring rolls are one of the most typical Chinese iterations, although, dependin

This is the staple steamed pork and shrimp dumpling that you'll find at every and any dim sum restaurant around. In Mandarin it's called 'Shao Mai' and in Cantonese, 'Siu Mai.'  It's relatively easy to make, especially after your first attempt (aren't most recipes that way?). The fresher the shrimp, the better, and if you can find 'Shao Mai' wrappers at your local Asian market, well then, fantastic! Otherwise, regular square wonton wrappers will do - just trim off those squar

This recipe is my take on a very common Dim Sum dish, consisting of fresh shrimp wrapped in rice noodle rolls, which are then steamed and served with a light, sweetish soy sauce. You can make the rice noodle rolls yourself if you like, but it's a tricky proposition and time consuming if you're a novice, so I just buy the rolls premade from the 99 Ranch Market (most Asian markets will stock this in the same section where they have their other rice noodle products). Just make s

Stuffed bell peppers are de rigueur in the pantheon of Dim Sum fare. Oftentimes the stuffing consists of shrimp paste, but I prefer a combo of shrimp and fatty ground pork. The key to the filling is to have a paste-like versus crumbly texture, and I use a food processor in pulse mode to achieve this.

A popular dim sum dish and tasty appetizer. You can always use fresh shiitake mushrooms but rehydrated dried shiitakes have a distinctively earthy flavor which I prefer. The filling is a classic combination of shrimp and ground pork, a bit of fresh ginger and garlic, chopped napa cabbage, minced water chestnuts (for texture) and seasoned with sesame oil, black pepper, soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and rice wine.

I've had some version of these dumplings in a couple of Dim Sum restaurants over the years but can't seem to find a recipe for it in any of my cookbooks or online, so I decided to concoct my own. You can use Gyoza or dumpling wrappers for the wrappers, since they are readily available in most mainstream supermarkets.

Ahhhh...this dish makes me flashback to childhood memories of those times (and many there were) when me and my sis got conscripted by mom to fill and crimp dozens upon dozens of these delectable "water" dumplings. Didn't complain back then and won't do it now because water dumplings are a delicious and iconic component of Chinese home cooking. To clarify for those not in the know, water dumplings are boiled in water (hence their moniker) but they can also be pan fried (aka po

Another dim sum staple. Many moons ago (circa 1986), my grandmother did a test run of this recipe on one of her weekend cook fests at my apartment in Montebello. It was fantastic, and I've been striving, out of nostalgia, to duplicate her perfect rendition. After much trial and error, I've come to the conclusion that too much rice flour makes the radish cake one tough cookie. So here's the refined version.

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