My name is Chen Jing. Welcome to my Chinese Home Kitchen!
Cooking in a Chinese home kitchen, the best comment about a dish is “this dish can make me eat a lot of rice!” Eggplant with minced pork is a delicious, simple, home-cooked dish that belongs to Sichuan cuisine. It’s easy to make, bright red in color, and the eggplant is soft and delicious, perfect for serving with rice.
Dry-braised carp with doubanjiang has a drier texture than braised fish and a sweeter flavor. With rice wine this has a special taste.
Spicy Boiled Chicken is a Sichuan dish, using hot pot soup base and mild er jing tiao peppers. This recipe also works for beef, lamb, or fish.
Cassia bark is also called Chinese cinnamon (肉桂 or Ròuguì). There are several varieties of cinnamon, which are cousins of cassia, but have unique differences. The Chinese variety is the variety most commonly sold in the United States. The other varieties include Ceylon cinnamon, Saigon (or Vietnamese) cinnamon, and Malabar […]
Star Anise is a spice used in Indian, Vietnamese, and Chinese cuisines. It is also used in French mulled wine and can be steeped in coffee to enrich the flavor. The primary use of this sweet, licorice-flavored spice is to enhance the flavor of meat. It is also one of […]
In the cold winter, we always like to eat hot food. If you’re cold after only half the meal you will lose the mood to continue eating. This nutritious, red-braised beef pot has tofu, noodles and cabbage, and will warm you on a cold day.
Toasted, ground Chinese Chili peppers are used to make Chili Oil. Laoganma is a popular brand of chili oil, and we use it in may of our recipes. If, like me, you prefer homemade, there are two approaches.
Sichuan Dipping Chili Powder is a common condiment used with Hot Pot for dipping the pieces of food. I have found it’s a good, general purpose seasoning for several dishes, such as Jing’s Fried Chicken recipe, her Homemade Potato Chips, and other dishes that call for Chili Powder as a condiment.
Sichuan Peppercorn is not really a pepper at all. Combined with chili peppers they produce the “mala” flavor of authentic Sichuan cuisine.
Caiziyou is roasted rapeseed oil. Canola oil is made from GMO rapeseed, and chemically processed. Authentic Chengdu caiziyou is made from low-erucic-acid rapeseed, roasted, and expeller-pressed for a wonderful taste and aroma.
Light soy sauce is the one essential ingredient in almost all of our recipes. Do not use the mass market brands in US stores. Instead, spend a little more for a premium soy sauce. You may have to order this online, but the results are worth the trouble.
From Jing and I to all of our followers, wishing you good fortune, success, and much warmth in the Year of the Tiger.
I was born in Guangxi. As long as I remember, I have liked cooking. When I was a child, my dream was to become a gourmet and travel the world to taste the food of various countries. My ambition is to become a chef. The kitchen is my partner. There are many kinds of Chinese cuisine, there are 8 kinds, reflecting the richness and diversity of Chinese geography and history. I am very happy to share with you Chinese cuisine and cultural traditions.