Serves 4

• about 400g 1 to 2 English or Japanese cucumber  
• 3 cloves                 garlic, minced
• 4                              red bird chili (optional)
• 4 tablespoons       cooking oil
• 4                              dried red chilies干红辣椒
• 1 teaspoon             Sichuan Peppercorns花椒
• 1                               bay leave月桂叶
• 1 small stick           cinnamon stick肉桂
• 1 slice                      ginger生姜
• 2 green onions (white part only) sliced                    

 Vinegar Dressing

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon    Chinese white rice vinegar 白米醋
• 2 tablespoons   Chinkiang vinegar镇江香醋
• 1 teaspoon         Sesame oil 香油
• 1 tablespoon     light soy sauce 生抽

Method

1. Place the cucumbers on the chopping board. Using the side of a cleaver or chef knife, smash the cumbers until they have cracked into several small long pieces. Remove the tops and bottoms and cut into small bite sized pieces. Place in a serving bowl. Finely sliced red bird chili and mince the garlic. Place garlic on top of the cucumbers.
2. Heat oil in a frying pan and add a slice of ginger, sliced green onions, dried chilies, bay leave, cinnamon stick and Sichuan peppercorns. Fry over low heat until the green onions and ginger release their fragrance and the chili turns bright red. Switch off the heat and remove all the spices. Pour the hot over the minced garlic.
3. Add into salt, sugar, rice vinegar, Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil. Mix well.

Tofu Skin Knots is widely known as bǎi yè jié (literally hundred-page knots) in southern regions of China.  Tofu skin is cut into strips, tied into knots and cooked with red-braised sauce resulting in a succulent, chewy and meaty texture of the final product. Inspired by a recent food tour to Taiwan, I gave the traditional recipe a twist by adding fresh and fragrant basil to balance the rich sauce of the hearty dish.

Serves 4-6

• 250g       frozen Tofu skin豆腐皮
• 250g       pork belly 五花肉, cut into strips of 5cm in length.
• 1 tablespoon     cooking oil
• 2-3 slices   ginger 姜片
• 2 and ½ tablespoons      light soy sauce生抽酱油
• 1 and ½ tablespoon        dark soy sauce老抽酱油
• 1 tablespoon     rock sugar冰糖
• 2 cups                   water
• 1-2 sprigs            fresh basil 罗勒

Method

1. Cut the tofu skin into strips of 15cm in length and 5cm in width. Pick a strip. Hold the ends of the strip with your two hands, roll it up then tie into a knot. Don’t worry about making it perfect. Your tofu skin knots are going to be irregular and deformed. Just be careful when tying into knots. You may break a few strips depending on the quality and durability of your Tofu skin. Don’t throw the broken pieces away. Just cook them together with the knots.
2. Place a tablespoon oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add into pork belly. Fry for a few minutes till meat turns white. Add ginger slices and cook for 1 minute. Pour into cooking wine and cook for another 2 minutes. Add into soy sauce, dark soy sauce and rock sugar. Cook for about 2 minutes. Turn to medium heat. Cook till pork is nicely browned. Stir into Tofu skin knots. Add 2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil. Then turn to low heat. Cover the pot. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes till it is soft to your taste. Stir every five minutes to avoid burning on the bottom. Stir into basil before serving.
   

   

It perfectly goes with your homemade Ciabatta or you could simply savour it as a salad dish. You will surely ‘wow’ your guests when serving it at your dinner party.

Serves 3-4,

4                           Large bell peppers, red and yellow
2 tablespoons     capers in salt, rinsed
12                          black pitted olives

For the dressing
3 tablespoons   extra virgin olive oil
2                           garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons   balsamic vinegar
salt and ground black pepper

Method

1.     Arrange the peppers in a preheated oven (200℃) for 20 minutes

2.     Remove the peppers from the oven and put in a plastic bag, seal the bag and leave for 5 minutes

3.     Peel the peppers, remove the cores and seeds. Cut the peppers into strips

4.     Distribute the capers and olives evenly over peppers

To make dressing,

5.     Mix the olive oil and garlic together in a bowl, crush the garlic with a spoon to release as much flavor as possible.

6.     Mix in the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

7.     Pour the dressing over the peppers, mix well and allow to stand at least 30 minutes before serving (or leave it in the fridge – it tastes equally good as long as it is consumed within 2-3 days.)

8.     Place all ingredients in a separate serving bowl by removing the excess juice.