Wok in the new year

Chinese cooking teacher goes shopping to get the best fixings for a tasty celebration.

By Kitty Crider
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FOOD EDITOR
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

When we heard that Dorothy Huang was in the Austin area visiting her twin granddaughters, we called her up.

"Will you go grocery shopping with us?" we asked.

Not your usual greeting to a stranger. But Huang, the queen of all things Chinese in Houston, understood. The vivacious cookbook author of "Chinese Cuisine Made Simple" and a longtime cooking teacher who has taught thousands of students, she gives dim sum/supermarket tours in Houston.

With the Chinese New Year approaching, she was definitely up for a grocery-store excursion to the new MT Supermarket in Chinatown Center, a 55,000-square-foot store. (We call it new because it is only a year old. However, its owners have had other Asian market locations on North Lamar Boulevard since 1983. "It was called My Thanh and started by my father and grandfather," says Lan Ly, MT store manager.)

Located at 10901 N. Lamar Blvd., the market is especially festive this week with dragon heads, gifts and foods as it celebrates the Chinese New Year, which begins Thursday. The red decorations at the entrance are symbolic, explains Huang (pronounced Wong). "Chinese want happiness, luck, prosperity." Red represents luck. Gold or tangerines signify prosperity in Cantonese. Shrimp bring happiness.

"The word for shrimp in Cantonese is 'ha.' For happiness, say it three times — ha, ha, ha — like laughter," says Huang, who was born in Canton but grew up in Taiwan. In Chinese culture, years are named after a rotating list of 12 animals. This will be the Year of the Rat. In China and Taiwan, everyone comes home for the new year celebration, which may last up to 15 days, Huang says. But in this country, Chinese families come home more for Christmas.

Still, in U.S. cities with Chinatowns, there usually are celebrations with parades, fireworks, dragon dances and much festivity. (Chinatown Center in Austin will have many of these activities on Saturday and Sunday. See ChinatownAustin.com.) Families and close friends give gifts such as chrysanthemums or candies, coconut shreds and lotus seeds. Parents and grandparents give red envelopes of money to the children.

Food for a Chinese New Year's celebration, Huang says, will be a multicourse dinner of dishes such as duck, chicken, shrimp, fish and vegetables. "Dumplings are a very traditional New Year's dish, too. In the northern part of China that is all they eat."

Because of the new year, Huang focuses on Chinese ingredients during our tour, although the store stocks ingredients for many Asian cuisines. Some of the highlights of the ingredients she spotted are on E1 and E8. Her recipes are at left.

Huang will offer such tours to the public in Austin. When she discovered that Kim Son, the new restaurant and banquet hall in Chinatown Center, has begun serving dim sum, she got out her calendar and started planning a dim-sum/supermarket tour like she does in Houston. (And the fact that she has family in Round Rock is extra incentive.) Already, the energetic teacher has scheduled three dim-sum/supermarket tours, plus five cooking classes for Austin (at Williams-Sonoma and Central Market) in February, March and April.

kcrider@statesman.com; 445-3656

Dorothy Huang's Chinese cooking classes

Williams-Sonoma at the Arboretum (338-4080)

• Chinese Dinners Made Simple, Tuesday, 7-9 p.m.

• The Best Chinese Restaurant Dishes, March 12, 7-9 p.m.

• Quick and Easy Stir-Fries, April 8, 7-9 p.m.

Central Market Cooking School(458-3068)

• Chinese Cuisine at Its Best, March 28, 6:30- 9:30 p.m.

• Spring Rolls Workshop (hands-on), March 29, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Dorothy Huang's Dim-Sum/Supermarket Walking Tours

Feb. 16, March 15 and April 5, 11:30 to 2:30

Registration ($40): 281-493-0885 or e-mail to

chinesecuisinedh@aol.com.

What to buy? Notes from touring MT Supermarket with Dorothy Huang

Fresh snow pea leaves, not the peas but the leaves complete with tendrils, are good in stir-fries or soup or a firepot, Huang says.

Half a dozen kinds of bok choy, some big, some pear-size, some as petite as Brussels sprouts, catch Huang's eye. 'Choy means leafy green' in Chinese, she says. Baby bok choy is used mostly for stir-fries, but it is also good in soup and salad or steamed. Cut bok choy vertically and wash it well, because it tends to be sandy inside like a leek. If you blanch or steam it, it will be a vivid green color and make a nice garnish on a platter or plate.

The lotus root, which has a nice crunch, grows underwater in links like sausage. Slice it crosswise to show the pretty design inside and use in salad or soup.

Always visit the seafood department of a Chinese market. It is usually less expensive (prawn-size whole shrimp were about $6 a pound) with high turnover and several varieties of live fish or crab. You can often buy whole fish, such as flounder, tilapia or bass, prized in Asian cuisine. (Many Americans are intimidated by fish heads and tails and prefer boneless fish fillets, Huang says.)

Dried shark's fin, said to be an aphrodisiac, is used for soup. At $24, a package of the dried, separated fin fibers is one of the more expensive ingredients on Huang's tour. Another pricey one is abalone, a mollusk used in soup, that goes for $35 for a 15-ounce can.

Chinese or napa cabbage is good in soup or eaten raw. Paler heads are more traditional than dark green leaves.

Condiments are the most important part of cooking because 'they make Chinese food taste like Chinese food,' Huang says. Her favorite brands: Kikkoman soy sauce for all-purpose use, China brands for dark soy sauce. (On many Chinese labels, turn the bottle around to see English on the other side.) For sesame oil, which is used for flavoring, not frying, select a small bottle of a brand such as Kadoya. Lee Kum Kee Premium (she stressed premium) oyster sauce is her choice for beef broccoli and meats. It does not taste like oysters and is a good all-purpose seasoning. Koon Chun hoisin sauce is excellent for spareribs, Chinese barbecue and Kung Pao chicken. It can be used as a dipping or cooking sauce or spread on mandarin pancakes for Peking duck or mu shu pork. For sweet and sour dishes, Huang likes Koon Chun plum sauce. And for heat in dishes, she uses red chili garlic sauce but says Tabasco could be subbed. Refrigerate all sauces once opened.

Chinese broccoli, sometimes called cai lang, is very popular in restaurants. Stir-fry it, steam it or blanch it. Rarely used in soup.

Noodles come mainly in three kinds: rice noodles, mung bean thread or cellophane noodles, and wheat noodles. Because noodles are long, they are a symbol of longevity and frequently served on birthdays, but they are daily fare, too. Noodles vary in width, with the wider ones taking longer to cook. Huang prefers the smaller bunches of rice noodles because they are easier to separate.

Flowering garlic chives stir-fry nicely, adding a hint of garlic flavor. Cut them in pieces like green onion to stir-fry.

Use frozen wrappers for dumplings, pot stickers, wontons and spring or egg rolls. (Spring roll wrappers are thinner than egg roll wrappers. The latter also looks more bubbly after frying.) Dynasty is a good wrapper brand for wontons, whether for soup or frying. Gyoza is her favorite wrapper for dumplings and pot stickers. It's a pot sticker if you pan-fry it, a dumpling if you steam it.

Daikon, a root vegetable, carves nicely into roses for garnish. Very versatile, it tastes a little spicy like a radish and is good in soups and stir-fries.

Bittermelon looks like a ridged squash or cucumber. Although it is common in Chinese cooking (cut in half and stir-fry), it is bitter and an acquired taste.

Bamboo shoots used in Chinese cooking typically come from a can and may be long and slender or conical-shaped.

In the meat department, ground porkis usually very fresh and popular for dumplings. Pork tenderloin is one of Huang's favorite cuts because it is easy to slice and stir-fry. She likes flank steak, marinated, for beef stir-fries, but cautions that you have to cut it across the grain to make it tender. She favors the convenience of boneless chicken breasts for stir-fries.

Among the more exotic ingredients are preserved duck eggs, also called 1,000-year or 100-year eggs. They are not really that old; more like weeks or months. The preserved eggs start as raw duck eggs and are coated in ash and chemicals that 'cook' the egg over time, turning the yolk dark green and the white dark brown. It is an acquired taste.

Recipes to ring in Chinese New Year from Dorothy Huang

Snow Pea Leaves

in Crabmeat sauce

1 lb. snow pea leaves

3 Tbsp. cooking oil

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

1 tsp. minced ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

1 lb. lump crabmeat

1 green onion, chopped

Seasoning sauce:

11/2 tsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp. dry sherry

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

1 tsp. sesame oil

Rinse and drain snow pea leaves. Cut them into 2-inch lengths.

Combine seasoning sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

To cook: Heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a wok over high heat, add garlic, ginger, snow pea leaves and salt. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove to a serving plate. Drain off excess liquid.

Bring seasoning sauce and crabmeat to a boil in the wok over high heat while stirring. Ladle over snow pea leaves. Sprinkle chopped green onion on top. Serves 2 to 4.

— 'Chinese Cuisine Made Simple'

Seafood Delight in a Noodle Basket

1/3 lb. spaghetti, cooked according to the package instructions

10 cups cooking oil for deep-frying the noodle basket

3 Tbsp. cooking oil

1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms, drained

1/2 cup baby corn, drained

12 snow peas, strings removed and v-cut on both ends

10 peeled slices of carrot

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

1/2 Tbsp. shredded, peeled ginger

1/2 lb. medium-size shrimp, shelled and deveined

1/4 lb. sea scallops, cut in half crosswise

3 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

Garnish: green-leaf lettuce leaves

Seasoning sauce:

1 tsp. cornstarch

3 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. dry sherry

1 Tbsp. oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Fold 4 strands of cooked noodles in half over your index finger. Drape them into the strainer basket, with the loops hanging over the edge of a strainer basket. Spread the ends of the noodles over the bottom of the strainer. Repeat this step until the whole strainer is covered with noodles.

Place another strainer basket of the same size on top of the noodles. Heat oil to 375 degrees in a wok over high heat. Submerge the strainer baskets and noodles in the hot oil carefully with the help of two long-handled Chinese strainers. Deep-fry until noodle basket is golden brown. Remove the noodle basket from both strainer baskets. Drain on paper towels.

Combine seasoning sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

To cook: Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a wok over high heat. Add straw mushrooms, baby corn, snow peas, carrots and salt. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove to a plate.

Wipe the wok with paper towels. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil; add garlic, ginger, shrimp and scallops. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add green onions, vegetables and seasoning sauce. Stir until thickened. Transfer the contents to the noodle basket.

Arrange lettuce leaves on a serving platter. Place the basket in the center. Serves 4 to 8.

Tip: Use 2 special strainer baskets to make the noodle basket. Use one to drape noodle strands on, the other to put on top of the noodles, so the noodles will stay in place when submerged in hot oil. The strainers are about 1 quart in size with flat bottoms. If you do not have the strainers and want to skip the basket, serve the shrimp mixture over rice or cooked noodles.

— 'Chinese Cuisine Made Simple'

Bok Choy with Mushrooms

1 lb. baby bok choy

3 Tbsp. cooking oil

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

1 cup canned straw mushrooms, drained

1/4 tsp. salt

Seasoning sauce:

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. water

2 Tbsp. oyster sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Cut baby bok choy in half lengthwise. Rinse thoroughly under cold running water.

Combine seasoning sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

To cook: Blanch baby bok choy in a pot of boiling water for 40 seconds. Remove and drain well.

Heat 3 Tbsp. cooking oil in a wok over high heat. Add garlic, straw mushrooms, bok choy and salt. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in seasoning sauce. Stir until thickened. Remove from heat. Arrange some of the baby bok choy around the edge of a serving platter. Place the rest of the bok choy and mushrooms in the center of the platter. Serves 4.

— 'Chinese Cuisine Made Simple'

Pot Stickers

1 lb. lean ground pork (or ground turkey)

10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

12 oz. pkg. frozen Gyoza (dumpling) wrappers, thawed

2 Tbsp. cooking oil

11/2 cups chicken broth

Dipping sauce:

1 Tbsp. shredded ginger

1 tsp. Szechwan chili sauce

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Seasoning ingredients:

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 Tbsp. chopped green onions

1/2 Tbsp. minced ginger

To assemble: Combine: pork, spinach and seasoning ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.

Put 1 Tbsp. of filling in the center of the wrapper. Wet all around edges with water. Fold into a crescent shape by pleating the outside of the dumpling. Press the edges together firmly.

To cook: Add 1 Tbsp. oil to a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Arrange half of the dumplings in the skillet. Turn heat to high. Cook uncovered for 1 to 2 minutes or until brown on the bottom.

Add 3/4 cup chicken broth. Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

Transfer dumplings brown side up, to a plate. Repeat with the other half of dumplings. Serve with dipping sauce. Makes about 45.

— 'Chinese Cuisine Made Simple'