Author: tao
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San Tung Fried Chicken Wings and Sauce
San Tung (山东小馆) is a restaurant in San Francisco that serves chicken wings that are just delicious. Ever since my first visit, I have been curious how they are made. After eating many orders, talking to insiders and reading a few books, I have uncovered their secret; the wings are actually a fusion of Chinese […]
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How Tao Cleans/Peels Shrimp
Peeling and deveining shrimp can be a time consuming task so here are a few tips that will help the process be a little less painful. 1. First, I remove the legs. I pinch the legs and then pull/rip them off by pulling to the side. 2. Next, I remove the shell. Sometimes when pulling […]
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Soy Sauce Chicken (or Brown Chicken) and Eggs
This is a childhood favorite of mine. Sometimes I make it with eggs, other times without eggs, or even eggs only. Ingredients: 1 cup wine 1/2 cup soy sauce 2 cups water sugar ginger 2 lbs chicken (6-8 drumsticks) 4-6 eggs (optional) Directions: 1. Place 2 lbs of chicken drumsticks into a stock pot. 2. […]
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Honey Salmon
Honey salmon is a recipe I learned from my mom. I usually make this with a large piece of salmon when I have guests over, but sometimes I just marinate a smaller piece in a bag and sautee it (see alternate cooking method in step 2). Ingredients: Honey, a lot of it. Most likely you […]
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Salsa
I make salsa all the time, even when I have only one tomato laying around; this recipe scales so easily. Once you become familiar with the ratio of ingredients and how simple it is, you’ll be making salsa all the time too. Ingredients: 5 – 6 Tomatoes 1/3 Onion (any color) 1/2 – 1 Jalapeno […]
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Steamed Yams
Steamed yams is one of those dishes that make people ask you how it’s made. The irony is that the recipe is so simple, it’s almost embarrassing to tell. Ingredients: Yams: There are more than one type and they have different flavors and textures. I recommend the orange yam; it’s skin is a reddish color, […]
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Green Onion Pancake – 蔥油饼 – cōng yóu bǐng
I always thought that green onion pancakes (蔥油饼 – cōng yóu bǐng) were beyond my capabilities and had accepted that I would only have this treat in restaurants until ellen’s 婆婆 (pópo – grandma on the mother’s side) taught me. The trick to the twisty layers of these pancakes is mixing warm and cold dough […]
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Pizza Dough
You will need: 3 cups of flour 1 cup of warm water 1 tablespoon of honey 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1 teaspoon salt 1 large bowl 1 small bowl A flat area to knead on Steps: 1) In the small bowl, mix the tablespoon of honey into the cup of […]
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Spaghetti Sauce
This is a recipe from my dad, modified to be a little healthier and cooked in a crock pot instead of over a flame. You will need: 6 tomatoes 1.5 to 2 onions 2 green bell peppers 1 garlic clove 1 lb of ground beef or turkey 1 pack of mushrooms olive oil salt optional: […]
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How Tao Cuts an Onion
I’ve seen people struggle with cutting onions before. I don’t claim to be the best or anything, but if you are interested, please read further on how I cut my onions… 1. Cut the onion in half, from tip to base, as shown below: 2. Cut out the base, turn it around, then cut out […]