Chinese Southern Belle » Fusion Fun

Taste of Atlanta: Rice Rollies for Kids!

Chinese Southern Belle — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:04:29 +0000

We did this fun kids workshop at Taste of Atlanta. I think they had as much fun making them as eating them! We also did a mini-Mandarin and chopsticks lesson.

Sticky Rice Rollies are lunchbox treats and a favorite snack of Chinese kids. In Asia, many students eat at their desks so Rice Rollies are easy, neat to eat, plus healthy! Chinese kids do not leave one grain of rice uneaten, or else they are throwing their luck away! Add a seaweed sheet wrapper and you have a sushi version. Options are endless!

STICKY RICE: Cook Japanese sushi-type rice in rice cooker or stovetop. (Not extra sticky “sweet” dessert rice) Kokuho Rose or Nishiki are good brands. Mix 1.5 c rice and 2 c. water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered 20 min or until liquid absorbed. Remove from heat; let stand covered, 10 min. Fluff with fork or rice spatula.Makes 4c cooked rice.

FILLINGS: Almost anything that’s not too wet or leaky, or else it may not stick together well. Be creative!

Salty favorites: Cut into 3” strips: cucumber (de-seeded), steamed green beans, green pepper, seasoned egg crepe (season w/salt, garlic powder), red pepper, cheese, tuna fish and corn, turkey ham, smoked/baked tofu.

Sweet adventures: banana & honey, jam, chocolate sauce/chips or cinnamon. Strawberries or peaches with cream cheese. Sauces: “Special sauce” (mayo & ketchup mix); BBQ Teriyaki (bbq sauce and hoisin sauce or soy sauce

Asian Pesto Pasta!

Chinese Southern Belle — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:44:40 +0000

We love combining the best of East-West and my mom was the original Panda Express in Atlanta.

The Asian Pesto we grew up with has extra cilantro, green onions, garlic, ginger and garden-fresh Chinese garlic chives (say that 5 times fast!). Lot’s of G’s! I like it over whole wheat linguini (or brown rice). Delizioso!!

Here’s a good recipe for Asian Pesto from Simply Ming.

Ciao!

Crowd Favorite: Margaret’s Chinese Spaghetti

Chinese Southern Belle — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:44:59 +0000

Mom’s Chinese Spaghetti

We did a Chinese Chili Spaghetti version of this (adding beans) and served it up at the Dunwoody Chili Cook-off. Needless to say, it was the popular winner among kids and adults! This is one of our family’s all-time favorites.

Noodles represent long life so traditionally we eat noodles at birthday celebrations and don’t break our noodles! This is our adaptation of Shanghai Spicy Noodles. I have done a tofu or all-veggie version, too. You can use Asian egg noodles, regular or whole wheat spaghetti/linguine. For a special treat, enjoy with fresh Asian egg noodles.

2 T veg (canola/safflower) oil

1 T minced garlic

1 T minced fresh gingerroot

1/4 t. crushed red pepper

1 1/2 c. chopped onion

3 T. hoisin or 2 T black bean sauce

2 T soy sauce

1 T sugar

Finely chopped veggies – 3 cups: cabbage, celery, yellow squash/zucchini

1 lb. ground turkey (or beef)

2 T water

2 T oil

½ t black pepper

16 oz. Spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained

2 T sesame oil

1/2 c. sliced green onions

Sliced cucumbers, cilantro for garnish

Mix water, 1 T oil, pepper in raw meat to “thin.” Heat wok. Add 1 t. oil, ½ 3G’s, red pepper flakes, onions, sauté. In small bowl combine hoisin/black bean sauce, soy, sugar. Stir into meat mixture. Cook until meat is done. Simmer. In separate pan, heat 1 T veg oil, sauté veggies. Mix with meat sauce. Serve noodles, top with meat/veggie mixture. Garnish with cucumbers, cilantro, scallions.

Asian and Southern traditions: Black-eyed Pea & Ramen Noodle Ham Soup

Chinese Southern Belle — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:12:07 +0000

Black-eyed Pea and Ramen Noodle Ham Soup

Bone soup is very traditional and many Asian households keep a regular pot of bone soup simmering on the stove. At Thanksgiving, we look forward the most to getting not the breast or the leg or thigh, but the turkey bone to make soup! This soup can be made with any meat bone but ham hocks are best with the black-eyed peas! I have adapted a veggie-version of this by using miso or a vegetable bouillon base. It turns into a different dish but still tasty.

Put enough water to cover ham hocks in a soup pot
Boil and simmer over low heat for 1-2 hrs
Put in fridge and skim off fat
Bring to a boil and taste for saltiness. Add ½ tsp black pepper and salt (if needed)
Heat oil in soup pot and stir-fry chopped collard greens, 2/3 of the green onions, garlic for 2 min (don’t over cook, still green)
Pour hot ham broth (about 6 cups) over collards, add ramen noodles and beans, bring to a boil, cook until noodles are soft (only a minute since these are instant noodles). Garnish with green onion, fresh cilantro and serve.

1 tbs vegetable oil

2-3 ham hocks

2 cups of chopped fresh (or frozen) collard greens (“collies”) or chard

1-2 cups cooked black-eyed peas

1-2 packages instant ramen noodles

2 chopped green onions

1 clove chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

Cilantro for garnish

Article/Photos by Atlanta Ethnic Foods Examiner

Chinese Southern Belle — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:47:16 +0000

Nice article (with pics) on our Eat, Learn and Shop Series at Buford Highway Farmers Market by Beth Robinette, who came with smiles and her camera to all of our new classes. Great meeting you and thanks for your enthusiasm, Beth! Thanks for the wonderful essays and beautiful slideshows!

Beth is the Atlanta Ethnic Foods Examiner, Atlanta Ethnic Restaurants Examiner and Atlanta Ethnic Foodies meet-up group.

Eco-Friendly Gifts, Thai Twist Chili, Fast Asian Slaw

Chinese Southern Belle — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:32:41 +0000

Demo Handout featuring Asian Eco-cookware, gift ideas and Fusion Favorite recipes, including Thai Twist Chili and Fast Asian Cole Slaw!

My Mother: My Favorite Country Asian Chef & Teacher of the Year

Chinese Southern Belle — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:18:00 +0000

My mother was born in Hunan, China, grew up in Taiwan, and immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1960’s, first to Houston (“where I have a Jewish mother”), then to Atlanta where my dad was studying at Georgia Tech.

As a fourth and fifth-grade then a gifted program teacher, she was beloved by her students. She was a creative sparkplug in the classroom, incorporating multidisciplinary or complex subjects like aviation, bridge-building, world trade and/or Chinese literature when other teachers stayed with more traditional topics, and even more popular on the playground, as she taught (and played) sports like Chinese dodgeball and Double Dutch jump-roping. More than once, she was selected Teacher of the Year. Reflecting wistfully,”Under today’s bureaucracy and policies, I probably couldn’t teach or do half of the things I did back then.”

My mom invented fast food Chinese long before Panda Express ever came along. She told friends, “I worked full-time as a school teacher, had three kids, and they didn’t sell tofu or soy sauce at the local Winn-Dixie grocery store back then. Who had time to make dumplings for dinner!” She also preferred a cast iron skillet to a wok. After 40 years, she still uses the same skillet which is a permanent fixture on the stove. “Woks are wobbly and didn’t work well on the electric stoves popular back then.”

My favorite dishes included: “Pepper Steak n’ Fries,” Scrambled Eggs & Grits w/Preserved Radish,” “Five Spice Rutabaga” and “Hot Hunan Catfish.” Instead of soda, we drank honey water and made honey popsicles. Baked items, like bread or pastries were virtually nonexistent. Fruit was dessert. Kind of like Atkins pre-Atkins. According to my mom, she was “not really a great cook, but fast.” And she cooks fast “because I’m hungry and recipes make me dizzy!” But don’t ask her to bake. “I prefer to cook a 5-course meal than make a cake!”

At the urging of her friends (and frequent dinner guests), my mom taught the first community school Chinese cooking class in the area. Even though I was only ten, I helped her and we did it together. The hardest part was creating the recipes since there were none. I sat perched on a stool beside her and the blazing cast-iron skillet with ingredients flying, trying to scribble “pinch of this, pinch of that” on an index card while my mom created. After teaching school for 17 years (and a divorce, unheard of for a Chinese couple at the time), she made a mid-life career change and became a successful businesswoman doing international consulting and now real estate. For fun, she still loves to fish and has taken up tennis, ping pong and biking!

Making sushi with Uncle Danny "I'm an Old-timer and Chinese Redneck!"

Curry Chili & Green Gift Ideas – Saturday, Dec. 12!

Chinese Southern Belle — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:50:53 +0000

Check out a wonderful, newly-renovated Asian Supermarket, do your shopping, get unique Asian holiday gift tips (including Eco-cookware) and taste Thai Twist Chili–in one trip!

This Saturday, Dec 12, from 1pm to 4:30 pm, drop in and say howdy! More info here

Look for new cooking classes coming in 2010…

Fusion Favorites & Asian Eco-Cookware

Chinese Southern Belle — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:29:36 +0000

Come out to Eat, Learn & Shop–this Saturday, Dec. 12– for Fusion Favorites and Asian Eco-Cookware with Chinese Southern Belle at Buford Hwy Farmers Market

15-minute demos, drop-in 1:00pm – 4:30 pm for free samples, shopping list, product and cooking tips, and holiday gift ideas…plus innovative energy-efficient cookware!

Look for new cooking classes coming in January 2010!

Thanksgiving Tips: Asian Turkey Twist, Fusion Favorites

Chinese Southern Belle — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:14:19 +0000

A few ideas to give your holiday dishes a little CSB fusion touch!

Give your turkey a little Asian 5-spice rub while it’s roasting (or add 1/2 tsp to brine)

Wasabi Butter Mashed Potatoes – YUM!

Color your stuffing: mix in 1/2 cup of Wild Sweet Black or Red Rice

Glazed, Gingered Sweet Potato or Ginger Pumpkin Pie (just grate in 1/2 tsp fresh ginger)

Curried Collard Greens! (Add 1/2 tsp curry powder or 1 tsp paste)

5-Spice Rutabaga, Parsnip and Carrot Stew (soy sauce, garlic, onion, water, 5-spice powder)

A toast to homecooking, fall vegetables and family gatherings!