This healthy and colorful dish has been very popular when served as a cold appetizer at my Xiao Long Bao cooking class. The vinegar dressing, highlighted by two different types of rice-based Chinese vinegar, can be made in large quantity in advance and store in the fridge for up to two months. You can also mix and match by using any vegetables of your choice.

Serves 4-6

 Vinegar dressing

• 5 sprigs               spring onions, roughly chopped，香葱切丝
• 4 tablespoons    cooking oil
• 2 tablespoons    Chinese white rice vinegar 白米醋
• 2 tablespoons    Chinkiang vinegar镇江香醋
• 2 teaspoons        sesame oil 香油
• 1 teaspoon          table salt
• 1 tablespoon     light soy sauce 生抽
• 2 teaspoons        caster sugar白糖

• 250g           Bean sprouts 绿豆芽
• 250g           Golden mushrooms 金针菇
• 80g             French beans, thinly sliced，四季豆切丝
• 80g             Carrots, thinly sliced  胡萝卜切丝
• 50g             Chinese black fungus, roughly chopped， 木耳水发后切丝.  (dry Chinese black fungus is available in any Asia markets. Need to soak in the water for about 30 minutes before use. )
• 120g              Red bell pepper, thinly sliced，红柿子椒切丝

Method

1. Heat the cooking oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add spring onions and fry over low medium heat for about 5 minutes. Drain by removing the caramelized spring onions. This will yield 3 tablespoons of spring onions oil.
2. Place the spring onions oil in a mixing bowl. Add into rest of the vinegar dressing seasonings. Mix well. Set aside.
3. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Blanch all the vegetables by batches. Cool off the blanched vegetables under the running water. Drain. This takes about 8-10 minutes.
4. Add all the cooked vegetables into the vinegar dressing bowl. Mix well.
5. Chill in the fridge for a half hour then enjoy.

The most popular street snack in Shanghai. These golden-bottomed buns, known as shēng jiān mán tóu in Chinese, meaning pan-fried directly without steaming, are the heftier yet equally irresistible big brother of Shanghai Xiao Long Bao.

Yields about 20 Buns,

Wrappers

• 300g          plain flour 中筋面粉
• 1 tablespoon       yeast酵母
• 1 teaspoon     baking powder泡打粉
• 150g          lukewarm water (in 40 ℃ )
• 1 teaspoon                       black or white sesame seeds芝麻, toasted
• 3-4 tablespoons    minced spring onions (green parts only)葱花

Filling

• 300g           ground pork
• 3 tablespoons    water in room temperature
• 250g           pork jelly 肉皮冻 (click here for recipe), chopped
• 1 tablespoon    cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon    ginger (minced) 姜末
• 30g or 2-3 tablespoons   spring onions (minced) 香葱末
• 1 teaspoon      salt
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons    light soy sauce 生抽
• 1 tablespoon     Chinese cooking wine料酒
• 2 teaspoons      caster sugar 白糖
• 1 teaspoon     sesame oil 香油
• 1/3 teaspoon    white pepper 白胡椒粉

Dipping Sauce

• 2 tablespoon   Chinkiang vinegar 镇江香醋

Method

1. Resolve the yeast in a ¼ cup of lukewarm water in 40℃.
2. Place the flour, baking powder and yeast in a mixing bowl and gradually add in the 150g water
3. Use your fingers to bring the mixture together and make a dough. Knead the dough for about 6 minutes till it is smooth. Cover the bowl with a plastic bag. Rest for 30 minutes till the dough is doubled in size.
4. Now make the filling. Place the minced pork in a bowl. Gradually add water and stir in the same direction for 100 times. Add the cooking oil and stir in the same direction. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and stir all in one direction till all ingredients are well mixed. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge.
5. To make the wrappers, cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll one piece into a long cylinder, then cut off 10 pieces of dough the size of walnuts, about 30g each. Dust them lightly with flour. Stand them cut-side up and press down them into discs with the palm of your hand. Roll each disc into a circle about 9cm in diameter – edges are thinner than center. Now let’s assemble to make the buns, place a wrapper in one hand, put a tablespoon of the filling(25-30g) in the center of the wrapper. Use your other hand to pinch the edge of the dough to enclose the filling. Fold the edges to the center around the filling while twisting so the bun is completed sealed. Place the filled bun on lightly floured surface. Cover with a damp tea tower or cheese cloth and repeat until you have used all the dough. Leave the buns to rest for 20 minutes.
6. To cook and serve the buns, pour 2 tablespoons cooking oil into a nonstick frying pan and swirl it around to coat the surface over a high heat. When the oil is hot, take the pan off the heat for a moment. In the meantime, turn the buns upside down,  then arrange the upside-down buns in the pan. They should touch each other, so that the pan surface is covered. Return the pan to the heat for 2-4 minutes until they have toasty, golden bottoms, move the pan around to ensure even toasting. When the bottoms of the buns are colored, moving the pan off the heat and carefully pour 250ml boiling water around the edges of the pan, keeping your face out of the way as this will produce a burst of steam. Cover the pan and cook over low-medium heat for 8 minutes. Remove the lid to allow any remaining steam to escape, then drizzle another tablespoon of cooking oil around the edges of the pan. Keeping cooking the buns until the bottoms have crisped up again. This takes about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with the minced spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.
7. Serve the buns with dishes of Chingkiang vinegar to dip.

Adapted from Zhuang Zuyi’s recipe

Cooked this one-pot hearty dish for dear friend Darryl and other guests one night. Orange is the secret ingredient in this recipe. The fresh orange juice disappears during cooking, leaving behind complex and balanced flavors of sweetness, sour and saltiness.

Serves 4-6
* 800g-1000g        baby spare ribs 猪肋排
* 60ml                      orange juice (100% pure）鲜榨橙汁 （可用超市买的100%纯橙汁）
* 3g                         Chinese star anise 八角
* 60ml                     light soy sauce生抽酱油
* 30ml                      dark soy sauce (optional) 老抽酱油
* 2 tablespoons    brown sugar 红糖
* 2 tablespoons     Chinese cooking wine 料酒
* 2 tablespoons      minced ginger姜末
* 1 tablespoon        minced garlic 蒜末

Method
1. Wash all the ribs. Drain. Pat dry with kitchen towel.
2. Make the orange juice and place it in a pan or pot. Add rest of the ingredients except the ribs. Mix well. Place the ribs in the pan one by one and make sure each piece is well coated with the seasoning sauce in the pan.
3. Leave the pan in the room temperature for about half hour to allow the ribs to absorb the seasoning sauce.
4. Place the pan over medium high heat on the stovetop and cook for 4-5 minutes to bring it to a boil. Turn to low and medium heat, cover the pan and cook for about 60 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the ribs every 15 minutes to make sure the ribs are evenly coated with the sauce and keep from burning on the bottom of the pan.
6. Turn off the heat when you see the meat almost falls off the bone.
7. Enjoy the beautiful soy sauce glazed ribs with a bowl of rice or just a glass of red wine or beer.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s recipe

Spread the sauce onto prepared pizza dough, top with sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese then bake at 230 Celsius degree for 12-15 minutes. When it comes to pizza toppings, there are NO rules other than your imaginations!

Serves 3-4, (for two 12-inch pizzas)

• 2 tablespoons  extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves       garlic, thinly sliced
• I can                 canned plum tomatoes (net weight 400g)
• ½ bunch       fresh basil (or 1 tablespoon dry basil) 罗勒叶
• 2 teaspoons    caster sugar 白糖
• ½ teaspoon     kosher salt 粗海盐
• 1/3 teaspoon    freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 pieces       dry bay leaves月桂叶

Method

1. place a sauce pan or frying pan over small-medium heat and pour in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook it until lightly brown. This takes about 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and basil. Squash the tomatoes as much as you can by using the back of a wooden spoon. Add bay leaves. Cook over small-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Use the wooden spoon to stir to keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
2. Season the sauce with sugar, salt and black pepper. Stir and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
3. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a bowl, using your wooden spoon to push any larger bits of tomato through. Discard the basil, garlic and bay leaves that will be left in the sieve, but make sure you scrape any of the tomatoey goodness off the back of the sieve into the bowl.
4. Pour the sauce back into the pan, bring to a boil, let it simmer for 3-4 minutes over low heat to concentrate the flavours. It will be ready when it’s the perfect consistency for spreading on your pizza. 

5. You can store the sauce in a clean jar in the fridge – it’ll keep for a week or so.
6. Click here for Homemade Pizza Dough recipe