苔蘑真菌烩豆花 Mixed Mushrooms and Tofu

Pinyin: tāi mó zhēn jūn huì dòu huā

Two of the most widely used and staple ingredients of Chinese cooking come together in this dish to form a savory dish great for a cold and blustery night.

Everyone knows about the relationship between Chinese and tofu, it's a huge thing here and comes in all shapes and sizes. In this case it's a very very soft almost pudding like substance that has a very mild flavor. The other major ingredient used here are mushrooms. The Chinese, no doubt through trial and error have discovered hundreds of kinds of edible mushrooms and this dishes uses at least three varieties, all of which you aren't likely to see at your average American grocery store.

This dish comes together nicely, it's fairly mild in taste, neither the mushrooms or tofu come on too strong and a bit of salt/MSG was added for flavor. The sauce/broth was thickened up quite a lot and really holds the heat nicely so it's sure to keep you warm throughout your meal. It's vegetarian but your carnivorous friends are likely to enjoy it equally well.

玉米烙 Fried Corn Pie

Pinyin: yù mǐ lào

For all the corn lovers out there this dish is a must try. It's quite simple as you can see. The corn is fried somehow that it sticks together and turns out a lot like a cookie. A few peas are added just for good measure and the chef tops it off with a little mayonnaise or salad dressing.

The dish is most certainly vegetarian but its hard to say it's healthy. It's not really an appetizer but its not really a complete dish either. I order it from time to time just cause I like it. Its got the sweetness of the corn with a rather unique form factor.

I highly recommend this dish if you've got company coming from out of town who might not appreciate some of the more authentic Chinese food but still want local food. It's safe both cause it's vegetarian and you can see it's only corn and it's sweet so most Western palates will appreciate it. It's also relatively easy to eat with chopsticks, or even hands if chopsticks prove too difficult. I'm guessing kids will love this one too!

素八仙 Snow Peas, Sesame Oil, and More

Pinyin: sù bā xiān

At one time I really was not a fan of sesame oil, but those nutty flavors have really grown on me. Sesame oil is used a fair bit in Chinese food so you have the opportunity to encounter it in a variety of dishes.

In this case the dish is primarily fresh uncooked snow peas and a few other vegetables including green and red peppers and bean sprouts. It's an all vegetarian appetizer served cold and crispy. Sesame oil is really the primary spice added so it's got a strong presence in the dish but isn't overwhelming.

Overall I like it a lot. I'm trying to eat healthier and this is an excellent vegetarian dish to help that along. Snow peas are uncommon enough to add nice variety and get you warmed up for the rest of the meal.

臭豆腐 Stinky Tofu

Pinyin: chòu dòu fǔ

A common street food in Shanghai that you may not be able to see, but you can certainly smell from a mile away. The premise behind the dish is that the tofu has been aged much like say brie cheese. The moldy tofu is then deep fried and served. Dipping sauce, almost always spicy and often times sweet is provided. When served on the street it cost a couple of Kuai for about four pieces, restaurants are of course more expensive.

The key to this dish lies in the name though, because it is stinky, stinky and nasty smelling is more accurate. Think rotting gym socks, or boiling sewage, or very strong well aged cheese. If you aren't careful and can ruin your appetite. Shanghai locals rave over the stuff, in my opinion it's just OK. If you are in Shanghai it's a must at least once, but eat it fast and then get it off the table so you can enjoy the rest of your meal.

豆腐干芹菜 Tofu and Celery Stir Fry

Pinyin: Dòu Fu Gān Qín Cài

A combination crunchy and stringy with mushy almost makes me feel like this dish is half chewed when it enters my mouth, but with that in mind I still like it and think it is worth talking about. The celery that you see here is actually Chinese celery which is a skinny counterpart to the more common variety found in the west. It tastes a little richer and ends up being less stringy than your standard celery. The dish is quite simple using a dried firm tofu and stir frying it with celery. A dash of red peppers are thrown in to add color, the dish is kept light and tasty, the flavors of the tofu and celery are really allowed to come out and make quite a nice combo. It's an all veggie dish, and is simple enough to be made at home so it really has a lot of potential.

马兰头香干 Minced Tofu and Vegetables

Pinyin: mǎ lán tóu xiāng gān

A classic Shanghainese style dish. Tofu, and a green vegetable minced together, throw in a bit of sesame oil, and presto, a pretty decent vegetarian dish is created.

Every time I've had this it's always been served cold, and is one of the first things out on the table. Also most of the time they serve it molded into some shape, either a cup or some fancy bowl.

It's quite a kick to actually watch somebody mince vegetables. I've often seen young chefs standing outside of a restaurant with a big plastic bowl full of vegetables and two butcher knifes just whacking away at the vegetables in the bowl. Seems to work better than a blender, lol.

Oh ya BTW, this is one of the few vegetables I haven't figured out the English name for. It's something that's native to Shanghai, but that's about everything I know about it.

富贵卤三样 Soy Sauce Soaked Tofu and Quail Eggs

Pinyin: Fù Guì Lǔ Sān Yàng


There's a lot of tofu here, and that's great if you are a vegetarian. Of course you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy this dish, and eggs are included to spice it up a bit.

With that in mind though, those chunks of tofu, lean on the large size, which can be a little daunting. Luckily this isn't the mushy tofu you might be used to, rather it's the rubberized version that is the primary component of fake meat.

I know you might not be thrilled about this dish yet, but really it isn't too bad. The tofu is a bit salty flavored thanks to the soy sauce and the quail eggs are fun just cause they are a bit unusual. If you weren't aware quail eggs are also a little chewy.

The chewy eggs and rubbery tofu all soaked in soy sauce end up making a decent but not great appetizer.

香菜云丝 Tofu Skin with Cilantro

Pinyin: Xiāng Cài Yún Sī

Sesame oil is one of those things that can make or break a dish with just a drop or two. It's amazingly potent stuff and should be used with caution. But damn when you mix it with Cilantro it just becomes friggin great.

The cilantro sort of balances out the sesame oil and then the tofu skin adds the substance. Since I've never seen tofu skin in America the closest thing I can relate it to would possibly be a crepe.

Oh ya this is an appetizer, and it's neither served hot or cold, just sort of room temperature, and it's vegetarian, and it's got tofu in it, so it's "gasp" healthy for you.

手播笋 Sweet Pickled Bamboo

Pinyin: Shǒu Buō Suǎn

China is known for their bamboo, it really does permeate all aspects of life and as pictured it permeates into food as well.

You are looking at pieces of bamboo that have been sweet pickled, or something pretty close to that. I ate this at a Shanghainese restaurant and I have reason to believe it is in fact a Shanghai food. As most Shanghai food goes, it is a little sweet. This isn't like an American sweet pickle though, it's not as sweet and of course the flavor is a bit different, better, honestly.

Served cold as an appetizer, you only eat the insides, the hearts, so to speak. Everything that you see in this picture, you don't eat. The stuff you are looking at is tough, and as soon as it is in your mouth you know it isn't for eating.

Oddly enough I went to the grocery store last night and found this same stuff for sale in the refrigerated section.

脆皮豆腐 Sweet and Sour Tofu

Pinyin: Cuì Pí Dòu Fǔ

This dish could almost be mistaken for American Chinese food, except that it's made of tofu and not meat.

It's the classic sweet and sour style, it's just that it uses chunks of tofu that have been battered and fried. The tofu isn't overpowering and it's a refreshing change to find a dish so close to the American imitation.

Seems kind of funny actually that the USA would imitate something made in China. It's the 180 degree opposite almost all the other times.

酸辣白菜 Sour and Spicy Cabbage

Pinyin: Suān Là Bái Cài

A way way spicy version of a classic dish. This dish normally is a bit less red and has a bit fewer peppers.

But the fact of the matter is, nearly every take on this dish is good. It's so basic and as such is more or less a staple of home style Chinese food.

I've actually made this dish a few times so I'll attempt a recipe here:

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups of cabbage cut into pieces
• 10-12 peppercorns
• 3-4 dried chili peppers
• 1-2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
  
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• pinch of julienned ginger
• salt

Steps:

1. Sprinkle salt over the cabbage and let it set for about ten minutes. It's important that the salt touches as much of the cabbage as possible, it's intended simple to extract some of the water from the cabbage.
2. Mix the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and cornstarch together in a small bowl with a bit of water.
3. Pour the excess water out of the cabbage
4. Put a few tablespoons of oil in a wok and set it over high heat.
5. Add the peppercorns and dried chili peppers to the hot oil and cook for about twenty seconds.
6. Add the cabbage to the hot wok and stir the cabbage in with the oil.
7. After several minutes and the cabbage is cooked, add the mixture in the bowl to the wok and continue to stir.
8. Remove from heat and place into a bowl for serving.

You'll notice right away that your mixture looks significantly less red and significantly more brown. That's the lack of chili sauce and the addition of soy sauce.

So give it a try and tell me what you think.

皮蛋豆腐 Tofu with Century Egg

Pinyin: Pí Dàn Dòu Fu

Raise your hand if you wanna munch down on six month old eggs, OK how about three month old? Well ya even I wouldn't raise my hand, but that's exactly what you get when you order this dish.

Century Eggs have been cured and aged for over one month, they've turned green and smell of ammonia. Wikipedia has an in depth article on them here.

Honestly in a dish like this they aren't all that bad. They add a slight flavor, but it's good, I usually steer clear of eating too much of the actual egg pieces and I thoroughly enjoy this dish.

It's an appetizer of sorts served nearly everywhere, it could be considered vegetarian, and asking a vegetarian to eat a three month old egg might be amusing. This dish is actually interesting because it's one of the few dishes actually served cold, the colder the better IMHO.

糟毛豆 Wine Soaked Soy Beans

Pinyin: Zāo Máo Dòu

This is a beer food if ever there was beer food in China. It's quite simply soybeans soaked in Chinese wine and then served up cold.

Now of course you don't eat the pods, you just suck out the beans inside and spit the pods onto the plate. Flipping them around with your chopsticks can be a challenging feat and fun too!

The term Zāo actually refers to foods being soaked in Chinese wine and is a traditional Shanghai style of cooking. It's also possible to find chicken, chicken feet, and sliced meat in this same style.

I've heard that people from outside of Shanghai aren't too fond of this style of cooking, and I must admit the first time or two I had it I wasn't impressed, but since then it's grown on me a bit and I rather enjoy it now.

松仁玉米 Corn with Pine Nuts

Pinyin: Sōng Rén Yù Mǐ

A lovely concoction of corn (with accessories, peas and carrots) and pine nuts. That's right pine nuts, they might rarely be eaten in the West, but in China where everything is fair to eat, pine nuts are fairly normal.

I'd have to say this could almost pass for a Western dish, and certainly it's a safe dish for almost everyone to eat. I will say though that eating corn with chopsticks is quite the challenge and even chopstick experts eventually revert to using the old fashioned soup spoon.

青椒豆腐干 Green Pepper and Tofu Stir Fry

Pinyin: Qīn Jiāo Dòu Fǔ Gān

I used to consider green peppers in the same category as brusssel sprouts, and that's the category of absolutely disgusting vegetables to be avoided at all costs, but lately I haven't been so repulsed by them.

For instance this dish is vegetarian seeing as how it's just got peppers and tofu, and I actually like it. It's got some spicy red peppers in there, but that's just for a little flavor it's not sweating spicy.

The particular tofu used in this dish is called dou fu gan (豆腐干). It's basically pressed and dried, or dried and pressed. This tofu isn't "mushy" like some people think of tofu and it's really quite useful in stir fry dishes and the like.

凉拌金针菇 Golden Straw Mushrooms with Sesame Oil

Pinyin: Liáng Bàn Jīn Zhēn Gū

This one's good, but you've gotta know I'm a fan of mushrooms (even if they aren't magic).

I've only ever had this dish at one restaurant and I'm sure it's widely available. It's basically these long white stringy kind of mushrooms called Jin Zhen Gu (金针菇) with diced scallions and mixed cooked in sesame oil. The few times I've had it, it's always been served warm, not hot yet not cold. I'm not sure how they cook it, once in the morning and then left out all day or cooked on demand and then cooled before served or some other method.

I looked up the mushrooms on Google or Wikipedia and turns out they have several English names, but looks like the most common is Golden Straw Mushrooms. They may look like straw but are more white than golden. One thing they didn't mention on Wikipedia is that these things are stringy and a little chewy, more than once I've tried to eat them too fast and nearly choked on them. It seems to me the most popular place to find these mushrooms is either in hot pot or soup, actual food dishes seem to be rather rare.

香菜拌素鸡 Chopped Cilantro and Suji

Pinyin: Xiāng Cài Bàn Sù Jī

I've only ever eaten this dish once, but damn was it good. It's so simple its stupid. It amounts to sliced suji, cilantro, and sesame oil all mixed together, no cooking involved.

When I had it, it was served not cold, but not hot either, just sort of room temperature. It was one of the first dishes on the table and was just an appetizer.

Suji is something I've only ever seen in China and if you want it you'll probably have to hit up an Asian grocery store, or just come to China. It's a sort of tofu and you'll sometimes see it translate as vegetarian chicken or duck. Suji is made by tightly rolling layers of tofu film together and working a little magic (I don't know the full process and it's damn hard to find on Google).

酸辣黄瓜 Sour and Spicy Cucumber

Pinyin: Suān Là Huáng Guā

This is one variation of a classic Chinese dish which you can order at nearly every Chinese restaurant. It's simply chopped up uncooked cucumbers, but it's not just that, it's got lots of diced garlic and in this case lots of spicy oil.

Chances are if you've been in China very long you've undoubtedly eaten this particular dish. It's usually the first dish that comes onto the table and is eaten almost like an appetizer.