Sichuan pickled vegetable and minced pork

 中文：超下饭的四川泡菜炒肉末

Sichuan pickled vegetable is comfort food for a lot of Chinese people.  It is also the key and soul in Sichuan cuisine.  I learned how to make Sichuan pickled vegetable years ago.  But I haven’t been quite successful until I brought back a Sichuan style pickle jar from my last trip back to China.

Making Sichuan pickled vegetable is like making Korean people making kimchi.  Every family has its own secret and special flavor and taste.  I learn from the best one I know: my mother-in-law who has been making them for dozens of years.  Well, I will write another article on how to make Sichuan pickled vegetable at home.  Today, I just want to focus on this popular minced pork dish which is quite popular on my family’s dinner table. O(∩_∩)O~ 

Ingredients：

1 bowl of pickled cabbage (about 1/5 to 1/4 head cabbage)
10 to 12 red pickled chilies
200 to 250 minced pork
2 gloves of garlic
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
8 to 10 dried chilies (yes, I know, we love spicy food)
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 to 4 tablespoon cooking oil

Directions：

Dice the pickled cabbage, pickled chilies and dried chilies.  Peel and slice the garlic.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, dried chilies and pickled chilies.  Sautee for a minute, add minced pork, black pepper, cooking wine and soy sauce.  Stir fry them over high heat until the pork is golden brown.  It is time to add diced pickled cabbage, sugar and salt.

Stir fry everything together on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes; remove from heat and serve immediately. 

This dish goes really well with cooked rice.  Remember to prepare extra rice when making this dish because the rice will go really fast! O(∩_∩)O~

Steamed Beef and Buttercup Squash

 中文：南瓜盅粉蒸牛肉

My favorite squash is Kabocha squash, but unfortunately it is seldomly available in the city I live in.  So I always go with buttercup squash, which can closely resemble a Kabocha squash.  When cooked, the flesh is a little bit dry, sweet, and mild; and tastes like something between sweet potato and chestnut. 

I like to steam a buttercup squash whole with skin on.  The tough skin can keep the steam moisture out so that the flesh doesn’t get soggy.  I also like to steam it with meat.  The mild squash flavor goes well with pork, beef or chicken. 

Ingredients：

1 medium sized buttercup squash
1/2 lb chuckeye beef
1/4 cup rice
1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 to 1 tablespoon spicy bean sauce (available in Asian grocery store)
1/2 teaspoon rice cooking wine
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 piece of fermented bean curd (available in Asian grocery store)
1/4 cup chicken stock
salt to taste

Directions：

Thinly slice the beef.  In a bowl, add beef, white ground pepper, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sesame oil, fermented soy bean curd and salt; mix well and let the beef marinate for at least 20 minutes. 

Cut off about 1/5 of the squash.  With a spoon, take the seeds and any inside squash tissue. 

Heat a wok over medium low heat with rice and Sichuan peppercorns in it.  Stir occasionally until the rice turns slightly brown.  Grind the rice and Sichuan peppercorns in a coffee grinder for 5 to 6 seconds. The rice should be coarsely ground now.  The Sichuan peppercorns will add a bit of kicks to it.

Add ground rice and chicken stock to the beef; mix well again.  Make sure each piece is evenly coated with ground rice. 

Stuff the squash with marinated beef. 

Steam it for 50 to 60 minutes. 

Cut the squash into 8 or 10 slices.  Serve immediately.  

Fire-grilled Burgers

中文：自己在家做汉堡包

Ok, we were kind of disappointed last time when we went to the burger shop in Ann Arbor, which was supposed to be great according to FoodNetwork and Travel Channel.  (see here ) So we decided to make burgers at home the way we like it. 

I made the sesame buns and beef patties from scratch.  It might be easier to just buy them from store, but it would take the fun and pride when you make your own burger, wouldn’t it?

I posted the bread recipe before.  Here it is again.

Ingredients for bread:

300 g bread flour
165 to 180 g whole milk
1 large egg
20 g butter, softened at room temperature and diced
30 g sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1/8 teaspoon salt
egg wash
white sesame seeds

Directions：

Microwave the milk on high for 30 to 45 second.  Stir in yeast and let it sit for 5 to 8 minutes.

In the bread machine’s mixing bowl, add milk with yeast, flour, sugar, salt and egg.  Start “dough” cycle.  My machine will knead for 20 minutes and proof the dough automatically for 60 minutes.  When it finishes kneading, stop it completely.  Add diced butter, and start “dough” cycle all over again.

This time, let the machine do the kneading and proof for you.  All you need to do is to check if the dough is double in size at the end of “dough” cycle.  Sometimes the dough is ready before it ends.

Transfer the dough to a well-dusted wood board.  Punch it down and knead gently just until you eliminate all the big bubbles.  Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 equal parts.  Roll each of them into a round shape ball.  Place them on a baking pan lined up with parchment paper or baking mat, about 1 or two inches apart from each other.

Cover and let them sit at room temperature for another 25 to 35 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F/204°C.

Brush the dough balls with egg wash and sprinkle white sesame seeds on top.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes.  You might need to cover them with foil for the last 4 to 6 minutes if the bread brown quickly.

Hot and fresh out the oven!  Aren’t they beautiful?

Now we are ready to make beef patties.

Ingredients:

(The ingredients listed here are enough to make 6 to 8 burgers.  I can freeze the extra patties so that I can simple thaw them next time I make burgers at home.)

2 pounds ground beef (80/20)
2 eggs
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon McCormick grilling seasoning
1 to 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
salt to taste

For 3 burgers：

1 to 2 onions, grilled
6 slices of bacon, grilled
cheddar cheese
3 eggs. fried
lettuce or other leafy greens
mayonnaise / ketchup

Directions:

In a large bowl, add beef, eggs, onion, bread crumbs, black pepper, sugar, paprika, garlic powder, grilling seasoning, werstershire sauce, rosemary and salt. 

Mix with hands just until everything is well combined.  Do not over mix.  

Divide into 6 to 8 parts. Round each of them into a big meatball and press them down with your palm.  And with your thumb, make a dent in the center.  It helps to cook the patties evenly. 

Preheat the grill to 450F/232°C.  Brush the grill with oil.  Place the beef patties in the center and grill for 2 minutes. 

2 minutes later

Grill another 2 minutes.  Top them with cheddar cheese.  I prefer thick cut. O(∩_∩)O~

1 or 2 minutes later, the cheese melts beautifully.  Transfer them to a cooler zone on the grill.

Turn the heat to minimum and toast the sesame buns for a couple minutes. 

Ok, finally it is time a grab a plate.  Pick your bread and top it with grilled beef patty with cheese.

Top it with grilled bacon, grilled onion, fried eggs, leafy greens, mayonnaise or ketchup.  

Time to enjoy the burger you work so hard for.  Yum! 

Blimpy Burger & Mighty Good Coffee in Ann Arbor, MI

 中文：安娜堡的BLIMPY BURGER 和 MIGHTY GOOD COFFEE

Although it is only two hours drive away, we don’t go to Ann Arbor as often as other people do.  If we go there, we go there for one clear purpose: food!  

As a college town, Ann Arbor has a wide variety of restaurants to offer.  Among them, there is a burger joint called Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger which I always want to try.  It has been featured in FoodNetwork’s Diner, Drive-ins, and Dives, Travel Channel’s Hamburger Paradise 2 and Man VS Food shows.  Last time when we were in town, it was closed for renovation. So I have to try it this time.

It is just a block away from Main Street, not far behind Starbucks. 

Menu on the wall

Ok, here is how to order your food properly…….

Looks like this burger joint has been featured in food magazines too.

I remember this funny cook from TV shows.

This is a open kitchen.  You get to watch how your burger is cooked when waiting in line. 

What makes the burgers here special is that the never-frozen-beef is freshly grounded in store.  And you can choose between double and quint patties plus grilled items and condiments.  You can have as many as 2,147,483,648 different flavors burgers here, wow!

He ordered triple plus American cheese, grilled onion and bacon.

The beef is juicy and tender.

I ordered double plus American cheese, grilled onion and fried egg.

The egg is a little bit beyond well done.

We shared an order of fried mixed vegetable. It is crunchy and crispy, not bad. 

Burgers are between ok and good.  Not as good as what they say on TV.  When we were eating there, there were only a few people, barely a line up.  We probably will not go back again.

According to the cook, it is all because they moved away from the original spot.  

After lunch, we spent a couple hours in the downtown area, window shopping those cute and interesting stores.  And then it is coffee time. 

I picked Mighty Good Coffee because they have quite a reputation online. 

There isn’t much decoration inside the store, but it still makes you feel quite cozy.

We ordered two cups of cappuccinos. What a perfect ending for a short trip to Ann Arbor！O(∩_∩)O~

Stir-fried spicy pork and daikon

中文： 五花肉炒萝卜干

Pork belly and daikon, two of my favorite ingredients, can create such a wonderful flavor when they are stir fried together.  I air dry the daikon first, and then rehydrate it with water.  The dehydration and rehydration process makes daikon more al dente and chewy.  The daikon flavor is also more intense by doing so. 

Ingredients：

1 piece of pork belly (about 1 1/2pound)
1 1/2 cup dried daikon (also available in Asian grocery store)
2/3 cup dried red chili peppers
2 teaspoons Sichuan pepper corns
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 to 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
3 to 4 tablespoon chicken stock/ water
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
chopped onion
2 to 3 tablespoons oil for cooking
salt to taste

Directions：

Dried daikon is available in Asian grocery store.  You can also make it at home.  It is very easy.  All you need to do is to peel the daikon, cut it into string cheese size pieces and then air dry in a food dehydrator and under the sun.  I prefer to air dry daikon pieces under the hot summer sun.  It takes two to three days to get dried inside and out.

Keep any extra dried daikon in Ziplock bag and store in the refrigerator.  It should be able to last a really long time. 

Two hours before cooking, soak dried dakai in water.  After it is totally rehydrate, rinse a couple times under running water.

Thinly slice the pork belly.

Dried red chili peppers are sometimes covered in dust.  I like to rinse and drain them and then cut into pieces.

Heat a wok over high heat.  Add oil, and then add sliced pork belly.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.  Stir fry over high heat until the pork turns slightly golden brown.  Add garlic, Sichuan peppercorns.  Stir fry until the spices are toasted with pork fat.  Add daikon; stir fry for another couple minutes; add chicken stock/ water, oyster sauce, rice cooking wine and salt.  Continue to stir fry until all the liquid is absorbed by pork and daikon.  Sprinkle with chopped green onion and transfer to a big bowl or plate.  Serve immediately. 

It is the perfect combination. O(∩_∩)O~