I’ve really been exploring some dishes from my childhood, and this is a simple summer dish that just goes deliciously with some white rice. It’s a chilled side dish that’s really quick to put together! I don’t really have much to say about it other than it’s a dish my mom and grandmother made as I was growing up, and it doesn’t really require anything special other than a bit of chopping. Do use some nice sesame oil and a good soy sauce! Mix it together right before serving.

My mom also has been adding cubes of avocado as well, which is a delicious twist.

Ingredients

• 6 ounce block of silken tofu, sliced
• 1 century egg, diced
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon scallions (or cilantro)
• Cracked black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 ripe avocado, cubed, (optional)

1. Assemble the ingredients and drizzle the sesame oil and soy sauce on top. Garnish with scallions (or cilantro) and cracked black pepper.
2. Chill and combine well before serving.

Traditionally, pork and century egg congee (Chinese rice porridge, also called “zhou/粥”) is made with pork chop and not pork belly, but it is 100000% better with pork belly (as many things often are). This porridge is normally served at breakfast or dim sum, and I will almost always order it if I see it—I can’t easily describe the flavor, only that you can taste both the ingredients individually and enjoy the way they compliment each other. I had been craving this particular congee (I do like others, including fish, egg and beef, frog, and liver) and so decided to buy some century eggs when I went to the grocery store this past week.

How thick you like the porridge portion is based on the water and rice ratio. I prefer it thicker since I feel it’s more satisfying, but you can easily change it by adding more water.

A lot of people are freaked out by the way century eggs look, but they don’t taste nearly as strange as they look. If I have to liken them to something, brie cheese comes to mind for both flavor and yolk texture, but milder.

I use leftover sushi rice for this, but you can use raw sushi rice too.

Ingredients

• 1 century egg/Pi Dan, chopped
• 1 slice of pork belly, about quarter inch thick, matchsticked
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon shao xing wine (or sake)
• 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 cup cooked white rice
• 2 cups water
• Scallions, sliced for garnish
• Ginger, julienned for garnish
• White pepper powder, to taste
• Salt, to taste

1. Combine the pork belly, soy sauce, wine, corn starch and sesame oil in a bowl. Allow to marinate while you prepare the congee.
2. Bring water and rice to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, stirring often so that the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. Once it is thick (about 20-30 minutes, less if you use a stick blender), add the pork belly and cook for another 5 minutes, until it is cooked thoroughly.
3. Stir in the century egg and garnish with scallion, ginger, and white pepper and salt to taste. Serve hot.

Drunken chicken (zui ji/醉鸡) is a popular Chinese cold dish that usually whets the appetite before the main course comes on—tender poached chicken is marinated in Shaoxing wine, delicious and juicy and oh so easy to eat a lot of (or too much of) before food is served.

While the use of chicken meat is the most well known, it isn’t the only thing that is cooked in this way—chicken and duck feet, pigs feet, chicken and duck wings, pig ears etc. are all the kinds of drunken cold meats that you can find… but the latter is less often found in restaurants, and more often in a Chinese grandma’s fridge. My favorite of these is drunken chicken liver, which as far as I know is only found in my mother’s fridge. Delicate, with the consistency of pate and the sublime flavor of shaoxing wine permeating through, I have to be careful not to eat far too much of it in one sitting (but it’s tough when it’s right in front of you while you’re watching your favorite show!)

My mom has left for Costa Rica again (she and my dad switch every few months in order to keep an eye on their farms and their newly build mall/hotel thing where my sister will be opening her own restaurant) which means my unlimited supply of drunken chicken liver has come to an end. It’s not difficult to make, but still tastes better when someone makes it for you—I was craving it and so I endeavored to make it myself. The recipe is from my mom, although she gave me no measurements but I suppose measurements are unnecessary in this case—you’ll see why in a minute.

Shaoxing cooking wine is already salted, so I found cutting it with brine kinda unnecessary, but if you don’t have shaoxing, a close substitute in flavor is a very dry sherry, which you’ll have to dissolve salt into. Make sure you choose a good brand of Shaoxing as that makes all the difference.

Ingredients

• 1lb chicken livers, washed, trimmed, and discolored portions discarded.
• 1 pot of water, brought to a rolling boil
• 2 slices ginger
• Enough shaoxing cooking wine to cover the livers during their marinade

1. Place the chicken livers and the ginger slices in the boiling water, bring back to a boil, cover the pot, and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 2 hours, covered so it poaches. The water will be somewhat red.
2. Cover with shaoxing cooking wine and place in the fridge overnight. It will be ready to eat the next day.