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Shrimp Ball Fu Yong (Fu Rong Xia Qiu)

There are many ways to cook the "Fu Rong" of the Shrimp Ball Fu Rong dish in different places. People generally use the traditional cooking methods from Beijing and Jiangsu cuisines which is well known for being fastidious about making this dish look white and tender. The dish resembles hibiscus rising out of water (Fu Rong out of water) after it is freshly and beautifully cooked. The colorful embellishment is gorgeous, and the taste is scrumptious.

]]> Ingredients:

a) For step 1-2:

600g (21oz.) shrimps

1 tablespoon cooking wine

1 tablespoon salt

100g (3.5oz.) pork fat

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 egg white

b) For step 3-8:

1 slice ham (optional)

parsley (optional)

50g (1.8 oz.) chicken fillet

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup (200cc) soup stock

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cooking wine

dash of monosodium glutamate

2 cups soup stock (for step 6)

Method:

Clean and shell shrimps. Remove black veins. Mince. Mince pork fat.

Mix and season. Add cornstarch and egg white. Mix well. Set aside.

Remove tendon from chicken fillet and grind.

Add cornstarch diluted with water and soup stock gradually to chicken

Beat egg whites. Blend with chicken

Form shrimp into balls and drops in boiling soup stock. Cook over medium heat. Remove scum.

Add seasons. Add chicken mixture.

Stir gently with wire whip. Remove from heat when color turns white.

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Nutritional information:
Each serving provides:
Calories: 119
Protein: 18.5g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For gifts and shopping, visit holidays.news-blogs.com

Sauted Eggs with Pork (Mu Xu Rou)

Mu Xu Pork is a kind of dish served by rolling it into very thin pancakes (Mu Xu pancakes) after frying eggs, pork and other Chinese vegetables. This is a very tasty Northern dish in China and favored by most families. It tastes the best when served with pancakes along with the special sweet seafood sauce (known as Hoysing (Cantonese) sauce in America, though it really should be called Hai Xian sauce you meant to say it in Chinese); it is also favored by many people as a side dish when eating with rice or congee. It is full of unique fragrance. Adding enough chopped raw scallions when you eat can bring out the best flavor.

Of course, depending on your preference, you may replace the pork with other meats like shrimps, chicken, beef, etc., or cook it without any meat to make it a vegetable Mu Xu. But traditionally when we talk about Mu Xu Rou in China, pork is always the king.

]]> Ingredients

a). For step 1:

120g (4oz.) pork

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon cooking wine

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 stalk green onion

2 dried mushrooms (soaked)

6 cloud ears

1 slice ginger

1 bamboo shoot

1/3 bunch spinach

b). For step 2:

3 eggs

dash of salt

3 tablespoons oil

c). For step 3:

3 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon cooking wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

dash of monosodium glutamate

Method:

Shred meat, marinate and mix with cornstarch. Shred mushrooms and bamboo shoot. Cut spinach in 4cm (2") pieces. Slice green onion. Soak cloud ears in water.

Fry eggs - Beat eggs slightly, add salt. Heat oil until hot and quickly scramble eggs. Set aside.

Heat oil. Add and fry in order: green onion, ginger, meat, bamboo shoot, mushroom, cloud ears, and spinach. Blend in seasoning. Pour in scrambled eggs, mix quickly and serve hot.

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Nutritional information:
Each serving provides:
Calories: 301
Protein: 13.2g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For gifts and shopping, visit holidays.news-blogs.com

Braised Assorted Vegetables (Luo Han Zhai)

"Luo Han Zhai" (Luo Han means arhat in Buddhism) has become a regular vegetable dish on every Guangzhou family's dinner table since it served as the "food for monks" in Song dynasty. Not only does it carry the delicate fragrance of Buddhism, but also has the joy of the mortal world.

Guangzhou's Luo Han Zhai is known by the "Eighteen Disciples of Buddha Zhai", or the "18 Luo Han Zhai". It wins the reputation from people being fastidious about the rich ingredients, but this dish is rarely seen today. It is too luxurious and does not carry on any spirit of Buddhism, and it simply cannot stand well with the intense competitions under the current Chinese market economic principles.

]]> The cooking methods of any ordinary Luo Han Zhai are approximately the same among Guangzhou's several large vegetable restaurants, and there are also not much differences comparing the nation's main cuisines. But in the folk, people cook the dish in their own ways and the procedures can be very different. Rich families, of course, will always have "three mushrooms & six ears (wood ears)" (the phrase implies "rich" in China), and everything else needed. But it is also called "Luo Han Zhai" if cooked with just three or five main ingredients in low income families. Such spirit comes from the Buddhist for sure.

Ingredients:

1/2 turnip

1 carrot

1 bunch broccoli

soup stock

salt

3 bamboo shoots

2 dried mushrooms (soaked)

15 champignons

20 gingko nuts

4 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup (100cc) soup stock

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cooking wine

dash of monosodium glutamate

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Method:

Cut turnip and carrot into 2.5cm (1") pieces and scoop into balls with baller. Boil in soup till tender. Drain.

Boil broccoli in soup with salt added till tender.

Drain and cut broccoli into pieces. Slice mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Shell gingko nuts and boil in salted water.

Heat oil. Add and sauté in this order: mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and champignons. Add soup, turnip, carrot and seasonings.

Sauté and mix well. Thicken with starch mixed with water.

Add broccoli. Server while hot.

Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Nutritional information:
Yield: 4 servings
Each serving provides:
Calories: 197
Protein: 7.3g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For more information and articles about fine living, visit fine-living.news-blogs.com.

He Bao Eggs (Small Bag Eggs)

He Bao egg - or small bag egg, must look like a small bag or wallet just as its name implies. Of course, it is not like the wallet we have today. It is referred as the kind of bag sewed with fabric and embroidered outside in the old days.

Cooking He Bao eggs requires solid skills. You may start from learning fried eggs first. The duration and degree of heating is the biggest test when cooking fried eggs. It gets burned easily when over heated, but the white part would be too soft if the fire is adjusted too low. You simply have to practice till you get it.

Once you feel comfortable with cooking fried eggs, you are ready to cook He Bao eggs.

]]> Here are the basic steps to cook He Bao Eggs:

Ingredients:

6 eggs

4 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon vinegar

1/2 tablespoon sugar

dash of monosodium glutamate

Method:

Heat the 4 tablespoons oil. Fry eggs sunny side up.

Fold eggs in half. Fry until both sides are light brown. Remove to plate.

Fry remaining eggs one by one, adding more oil as needed. Add seasoning and simmer lightly before serving.

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Nutritional information:
Yield: 3 servings
Each serving provides:
Calories: 184
Protein: 15.6 g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For more recipies, visit Recipes

China Culture: Beijing Hutong

By Jacklyn Chen
Entering the modernized Beijing, what interest people the most often are not those row upon row of sky rises, nor are the wide streets extending in all directions. What really attract travelers are the deep and quiet winding Hutongs full of warm, beautiful Siheyuan, or quadrangles. Therefore, the ancient capital culture has been named as "Hutong culture" and "Siheyuan culture", this indeed is not over said.

In the past, Beijing was largely formed by tens of thousands of Siheyuan that were aligned back-to-back, face-to-face, and side by side. For the convenience of coming in and out, a walking passage must be kept between each row of Siheyuan, this is what we call Hutong.

]]> In the Yuan Dynasty, gaps between Beijing's Hutongs were much wider. Therefore the descendants chose the open areas to construct more Siheyuan, created narrow passages between rows of Siheyuan courtyard houses, this resulted in massive small Hutongs among many well known big ones. Hence the proverb: "Famous Hutongs are 3600, nameless Hutongs exceeded number of ox hairs".

Until 1949, there were 6074 well known streets and alleys in Beijing's city areas. Out of which were 1330 Hutongs, 274 streets, 111 alleys, 85 Dao (small streets), 71 lanes, 37 roads. Traditionally, people classify all the small streets and alleys as Hutongs.

In Beijing, crisscross networked large and small Hutongs weaved the capital city with distinguished people and exquisite objects. Deep in the Hutongs are innumerable warm families, this is why ordinary Beijingers have special sentimental feelings towards Hutongs.

The narrowest Hutong in Beijing is the Qianshi (money market) Hutong in the Dashalan area of outside Qianmen, the narrowest space is merely 40 centimeters. There are also some winding deep Hutongs assumed zigzag shapes, like the Jiudaowan (nine-zigzag) originally at Beixinqiao (north new bridge), it actually had more than 20 zigzags, it was later divided into 5 Hutongs; There is another Hutong also named Jiudaowan outside Qianmen, it in fact has 13 zigzag turns. The name of Hutongs in Beijing is like an encyclopedia, it reflected the historical evolution and demonstrated the social characters and styles, it has been discovered as a hard to come by traveling resources in recent years.

Presently, those big worn-out courtyards in Beijing are being replaced by the modern buildings, the old Hutongs are also losing the base they once relied on to exist. But, to maintain Beijing's ancient capital styles and features, many famous Hutongs have been reserved as the cultural relics, it preserved certain ancient colors for our emerging capital.

Now, Beijing's Hutong culture development has already opened up a new travel program - visiting Hutongs. Foreign travelers from all over the world take Beijing's old-fashioned pedicab as transportation, by pass the west line of Shuchangshahai, come to Gu Lou (the Drum Tower) through Yinding bridge, go up to Gu Lou to look down at Beijing's old city areas and Hutongs that extend in all directions. They then go to the Houhai area, visit the city's ancient Nanbeiguanfang Hutong, Daxiaojinshi (big and small golden lion), and Qianhoujing Hutong, walk in Siheyuan, chat with residents, get to know the life of ordinary Beijingers, go to the Gong Wang Fu (Mansion and Garden of Prince Gong in Qing Dynasty) to experience the living environment and Emperor's gardens in the old times.

Beijing's Hutong has a kind of eternal charm as a carrier of the ancient culture.

Note: You may freely republic this article hereby given author bio and active hyperlinks are kept active. Thank you.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com and a full time mom with two lille kids. Working very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For more articles and information about travel, visit her travel blog

The Badaling Great Wall

By Jacklyn Chen
Located in the south of Yanqing county, the Badaling Great Wall is a distance of 75 kilometers northwest of the center of Beijing. The Badaling Great Wall is part of the Great Wall which symbolizes China's ancient civilization as one of the world's most renowned projects for defense. Construction of the Wall initially began during the period of the Warring States (476 - 221 BC). Walls were built by different kingdoms to protect their northern territories. After the first Emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified China in 221 BC, he decided to have the walls linked up and extended. The Badaling Great Wall was constructed during Hongzhi 18 years (in 1505) in Ming Dynasty, it was rebuilt during Ming's Jia Jing and Wanli years. The topography of this section of the Wall is precipitous, occupying a commanding position, and was the important military mountain pass and the capital Beijing's critical barrier.

]]> The Badaling Great Wall was built flanked by mountains and it traverses mountains and gullies, it rises and falls, windingly extended continuously. Badaling is situated outside the Juyongguan Pass. There are two strategic gates, the east one is called "outer town of Juyong", the west one is called "lock and key of the north gate". It is narrower in the north and wider in the west. The Wall was built leaning against the mountains from the "lock and key of the north gate", the height of the Wall changes at different points, it averages approximately 7.5 meters high, the top surface is approximately 6 meters wide, spacious enough for five horsemen or 10 people to ride abreast.

This section of the Great Wall is paved with three or four layers of regular shaped gigantic rocks, some of the slabs of rock reached 2 meters in length and weighed several hundred catties (catty is a weight unit used in China and it is half of the kilogram. The internal of the wall is filled up with soil and rocks, the ground is fully paved with square bricks and made extremely smooth. 1.7 meters high crenels were built externally, there are observation holes above and firing holes below, the internal wall was built with space walls. At strategic points along the Wall, square shaped beacon towers were constructed at different height. The higher one is called blockhouse, which was used for defense as well as the living space for the soldiers; The low one is called wall platform, it is about the same height as the wall itself but is sticking out of the wall, there are crenels all around it, and it was the place for patrolling and standing sentry. Blocks of woods were set up at all commanding points, hence the name beacon tower. Whenever the enemy was sighted, bonfires were lit on the towers to signal warning messages.

Since October 1st, 1995, within the distance of 1200 meters from south to north of Badaling Great Wall, 650 colorful floodlights get turned on simultaneously with enchanting light on every weekend. It's open to tourists between 6:30pm to 9:30pm at evening.

Note: You may freely republic this article hereby given author bio and active hyperlinks are kept active. Thank you.

The Temple of Heaven

By Jacklyn Chen
The Temple of Heaven was initially built in Yongle year 18 of the Ming Dynasty (in 1420). Situated in the southern part of the city, it covers the total area of 273 hectares. With the additions and rebuild during the Ming, Qing and other Dynasties, this grand set of structures look magnificent and glorious, the dignified environment appears solemn and respectful, it is the place for both Ming and Qing Dynasty's Emperors to worship Heaven and pray for good harvest. The northern part of the Temple is circular while the southern part is square, implies "sky is round and earth is square" to better symbolize heaven and earth. The whole compound is enclosed by two walls, dividing the whole Temple into inner and outer areas, with the main structures enclosed in the inner area. The most important constructions are the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, the Circular Mound Altar, Imperial Heaven, The Imperial Vault of Heaven, Heaven Kitchen, Long Corridor and so on, as well as the Echo Wall, the Triple-Sound Stone, the Seven-Star Stone and others of historic interest and scenic beauty. The Temple of Heaven is a comprehensive expression of the unique construction techniques from Ming and Qing Dynasties, it is China's most treasured ancient architecture, it is also the world's largest architectural complex for worship heaven. In 1998, it was included in the "list of the world heritages" by the United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

]]> Do you know? There are four wonderful sounds in the Temple of Heaven! It's worth your time to study the four wonderful sounds.

1. The echo from the Echo Wall - There is a circular wall around The Imperial Vault of Heaven, this is the famous Echo Wall. One person's mere whisper at any point close to the wall can be heard clearly on the other side if you draw your ear close to the wall, it is so clear that it is like talking on the phone. Do you want to know why? This is possible because the wall is round and hermetically constructed with smooth, solid bricks, so the sound wave can transmit to the other side via the extremely smooth inner circle.

2. The sound of the Dialogue Stone - If you speak while standing on the 18th stone in front of The Imperial Vault of Heaven, the sound can clearly pass to the northeast corner of the north side hall and the northwest of the west side hall that are both 36 meters away. The sound can be heard just as well on the stone when speaking from the corners of these two side halls, this is what we call the "Sound of the Dialogue Stone".

3. Repeating sounds of the Triple-Sound Stone - In front of the steps leading away from the hall is the Triple-Sound Stone. If you stand on the first stone and call out or clap your hands, the sound will echo once; on the second stone, the sound will be heard twice; and on the third stone, the sound will repeat three times. Hence it inherited the name. This is because the distances that the sound wave reflected from the round wall to the stone are different, the number of echo is also different. Take a guess which flagstone is at the center of the Echo Wall's? The third one. The echo actually gets repeated more than 3 times, it's just the sound is too weak to be heard after the 4th echo.

4. The hollow of the Heaven's Center Stone - There is a stone plate in the center of the Circular Mound Altar called the Heaven's Center Stone. Shouting aloud standing above, you will hear the reverberation of the echo. This is due to the refraction of the sound.

Note: You may freely republic this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept active. Thank you.

Entertaining in Beijing

By Jacklyn Chen
Today's Beijing is truly a "capital city of exhibitions and folk custom festivals", and a metropolis that is full of characteristics and styles of its ancient customs and modern vigor. In addition to the celebrations of the traditional festivals every year, there are also many national or even international exhibitions held here. For instance, the once a year Beijing international books exhibition, automobile exhibition, communication exhibition and so on, as well as performances and displays put on by the world's top level artists.

]]> During Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)l, traditional folk custom festivals such as temple fair, flower show, lantern festival are pretty centralized; additionally there are also Moon Festival, ice sculpture festival, Da Guan Yuan welcome spring festival, kite festival, watermelon festival, peach blossom festival, red leaves festival and various appealing food fairs or festivals that depict a picture of rich natural conditions and social customs. As a first time traveler to Beijing, your eyes surely cannot take in all those multitude of names of festivals, fairs, and distinctive exhibitions. Beyond having experienced Beijing's deep, distant character of being an ancient capital, you will also deeply feel the fast pace in this internationalized metropolis. Teach you a unique skill here: buy a Beijing Evening Newspaper or a shopping guide newspaper for high-quality goods, there is always detailed timely information about all sorts of exhibitions.

Where to go to kill time between 9pm to 5am? Sanlitun or Chaoyang park? The number of Beijing's bars, dancing ballrooms, and clubs is over thousands, needless to say there will be some difficulties if you want to check them all. It is wise to look for several entertainment centers that are of unique in styles. The happiest, the most mysterious, and the most romantic scenes will all be here for you to enjoy. But wait, there is one special rule to remind you: you have to be 18 or older in order to get in these adult recreation areas.

© Copyrighted: You may freely republish this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For more information and articles about travel, visit travel.news-blogs.com

Beijing Shi Du (Ten Ferry)

By Jacklyn Chen
The Shi Du (Ten Ferry) scenic spot is the most typical canyon full of karst, ridges and peaks and is the closest to the capital city, unique in the northern part, and the biggest in Huabei region. The canyon features 12 marvelous geological sites such as natural "Stone Buddha", "Flied over Stone", "One Line Sky", "Buddha" character of the dragon mountain, "Water Flowing Up", "Stone in the Stone" and so forth. It has enjoyed the fine reputation of being the "green mountain and wild ferry, decorated corridors of hundred miles" for years. The Juma river is just like a piece of jade ribbon winding circuitously, passing through the mountains, complementing each other with the peaks and forests. The scenery has North China's imposing character, it also carries the elegance of South of Yangtzi River. In 1986, Shi Du was evaluated as one of the new 16 sceneries of Beijing, and it was included in Beijing's first batch of scenic spots in 1999.

]]> Service facility:
10 scenic spots: Orphaned Mountain Village, Immortal Peak Valley, Ten-Thousand Scenery Immortal Ditch, Big Canyon of South, Pu Du Mountain Village, Martyrs' Cemetery of PingXi Resistance Against Japan, Immortal Dwelled Cave, Mountain of Pond in the Sky, West Lake Ferry, and Five-Star Gorge.

Entertainment spots: JuMa Paradise, Nine-Ferry Drifting, Eight-Ferry Boat Paddling, Six-Ferry Boat Paddling, and Qingjiang Nine-Dragon Deep Pond and so on. They provide extreme jumps, cliff parachuting, ropeway, crag climbing, sky gliding, drifting, boat pedaling, canoeing, vehicle surfing, motorboating, sand beach bathing, swimming, horse riding and many other programs.

Hotels: Including Shanguang Guesthouse, Buddha Gazing Mountain Villa, YanAn Training Center, Pen Holder Mountain Villa, the Bureau of Finance Training Center, and other middle scale or upscale guesthouses. There are also 11 travel focused villages such as Xizhuang Folk Custom village, Western River Fish Culture & Angling village and others that offer 5600 berths, provide coordinated services like travel, accommodations, food, shopping, and entertainment.

Riding route: 1. Go directly to Shi Du via bus 917 at Tian Qiao; 2. touring bus 10 is available during the official holidays and weekends at Qianmen, Fuchengmen, Xuanwumen; 3. Take train 7 from Beijing's South Station and get off at Shi Du; 4. There are mini buses and carriages inside the scenic area.

Contact phone: 61349871

Touring guides:
Spring:

Time: April 15th - May 30th

Activities: Sightseeing, living in the peasant families, eat local specialty foods, enjoy the natural beauty.

Shi Du Scenery Festival:

Time: June 1st - October 10th

Activities: Juma river bathing tour that features water diving bathing, sun bathing, boat drifting, angling, sand beach volleyball; summer cultural square activities that features singing, bonfire party, national dances, folk performances, as well as barbecue event that features savoring delicacies of every kind.

Note: You may freely republish this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Ma Po Tou Fu

By Jacklyn Chen
Ma Po Tou Fu is Sichuan's well known characteristic dish. Tradition has it that during the Tongzhi years of Qing Dynasty, there is a small inn at the WanFu (Innumerable Blessings) bridge outside the north gate of Chengdu, Sichuan. The woman owner Chen is pretty good at cooking. She uses bean curd, tiny sliced beef, hot pepper, Chinese prickly ash, thick bean sauce and other ingredients to cook. The dish tastes hemp (a unique flavor from the Chinese prickly ash), spicy, fresh, fragrant, and it is delicious, it is extremely well received by the people around the town. At that time there was no official name for this dish. Because Chen has pockmarked face ("ma" face with "ma" happens to be the same character as the "ma" or "hemp" flavor from the Chinese prickly ash), people then started calling it "Ma Po To Fu". "Po" in this case means woman, wife. So to translate accurately it means "wife of pockmarked face Tou Fu". From then on it became well-known around the entire nation. It is now a world-renowned Chinese cuisine 100 years later. All the Sichuan restaurants must have this dish. Along with the development of Sichuan cuisine, most of the overseas Chinese restaurants (Sichuan style or not) all carry this famous dish. Not too long ago, the Japanese merchants even imitated Sichuan "Ma Po Tou Fu" and produced canned "Ma Po Tou Fu" which sell quite well around the world.

Characteristics of the dish: light yellow, tender with gloss, tastes hemp, spicy, fragrant, fresh, and hot. The surface of bean curd is covered with a layer of light red spicy oil, which keeps the heat inside the bean curd so it won't get quickly lost. It always tastes better when you eat it hot, the unique hemp smell comes from the Chinese prickly ash greets the nostrils and that enhances the overall flavor. It is considered the best delicacy for cold winter season.

]]> Ingredients:

2 cakes of bean curd
120g (4.2 oz) ground pork
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1 slice ginger
1 clove garlic
2 red peppers
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup (100cc) soup stock
1 teaspoon corn starch

Method:

Pour hot water over bean curd, drain and cut into bite sizes.
Chop green onion, ginger, garlic and red pepper. Heat oil, fry and add meat.
Add bean curd gradually into pan. Stir and pour in soup stock. Simmer over low heat.
Thicken with corn starch diluted with water and add to ingredients. Serve hot.

Cooking time: 10 minutes
Nutritional information:
Yield: 4 servings
Each serving provides:
Calories: 198.5
Protein: 13.6 g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Sauted Family Bean Curd

By Jacklyn Chen
Family bean curd is Sichuan's famous characteristic dish. Its main ingredient is bean curd.

Bean curd began in Xi (West) Han Dynasty, became widely spread in Bei (North) Song Dynasty, and it is one of the Chinese most popular traditional food. Bean curd has four main merits: 1. It is fine and of excellent quality. Bean curd contains lots of protein, the nutritional value is pretty high, specially it is rich in calcium which is the essential element during a child normal growth. 2. It is moderately priced. Bean curd costs less than fish, meat, and fresh vegetables. 3. It does not contain cholesterol. Generally animalistic foods that contain high protein also have high cholesterol, only bean curd contains one without the other. This indicates great advantages and is highly regarded by those who cannot eat much meat due to the high cholesterol in their body. 4. It is available all season long and it is easy to prepare and consume. There are many easy ways to make bean curd a delicacy. Bean curd was first passed on to Japan, it then spread to the European and American countries. Now the "bean curd fever", " soybean milk fever" is on the rise. Some people predict that the most successful product with the most market potential for the next ten years by no means will be automobile, television and electronic products, it will be China's bean curd.

]]> Ingredients:

a). For step 1 - 5:

3 tablespoons oil

2 cakes bean curd

2 dried mushrooms (soaked)

1 bamboo shoot

50g (2 oz) sweet peas

1 stalk green onion

3 red peppers

1 clove garlic

1 slice ginger

b). For step 4:

200g (7 oz) pork

1 teaspoon cooking wine

1 teaspoon soy sauce

c). For step 6:

1 tablespoon bean paste

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cooking wine

dash of monosodium glutamate

Method:

Place cloth over sieve and drain bean curd

Cut bean curd into 1cm (1/2") pieces.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry half of the cut bean curd until light brown. Add more oil and fry remaining bean curd.

Slice meat, marinate. Also slice mushroom, bamboo shoot, green onion and ginger. Cut red pepper and garlic into half. Parboil sweet peas

Heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add and fry in this order: green onion, garlic, ginger, red pepper, meat, bamboo shoot, mushroom and sweet peas. Add fried bean curd.

Mix seasoning together, add to pan and mix gently so as not to break bean curd. Serve.

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Nutritional information:
Yield: 4 servings
Each serving provides:
Calories: 280
Protein: 23.8 g

Note: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.

Chinese Cooking: Sauces & Spices

By Jacklyn Chen

Sauces

Bean Curd Sauce (Dou Fu Ru):
Fermented bean curd, rish in proteins. May be kept for fairly long time. Comes in two types - red and white. Red is typically used to cook Braised Pork. White tastes spicy and is normally used as a side dish along with noodles, buns, or congee. Some like to serve with soy sauce and vinegar for meat dumplings, hot pot dishes, and others. Favored by north and west of China.

]]> Oyster Sauce:
Oil from oyster. Heavily salted. Use sparingly for sautéed dishes. Popular in Hong Kong, Cantoon (Guang Dong, to be exact), and some areas in south of China while not used at all in north and west of China except for hotels and some restuarants.

Shrimp Sauce:
Oil from salted baby shrimp dried and fermented. Use sparingly for sautéed dishes. Used heavily for dishes from south of China.

Sesame Sauce (Zhi Ma Jiang):
Ground sesame seed with strong flavor. Used for cold dishes.

Hot Pepper & Bean Sauce:
Hot sauce made from combination of hot spices and beans. Red or brown in color. Use sparingly in sauteed dishes or cold dishes. In north, people often mix this sauce to stir fried minced meat and serve with noodles (make it Noodles with Meat Sauce).

Hot Pepper Oil:
Made from sesame oil and red pepper. Serve with meat dumplings, buns, etc.

Sesame Oil:
Flavor is too strong for use in frying and sauteing. Use only for enhancing flavor of cooked and cold dishes, noodles, hot pot sauce, soups, etc.

JiangXi Vinegar:
A special vinegar produced in JiangXi province. Light amber in color with a distinctive fragrance. Use for meat dumplings and cold dishes.

Spices

Star Fennel:
Shaped like eight cornered star, brown in color. Use for cooking with chicken, meat, offal and fish.

Anise Pepper:
Dried brown round spice. Added sparingly in chicken and meat can remove the unpleasant smell (fishy smell). Can also be used for making pickles or even some deserts.

Five Flavored Powder:
A mixture of anise pepper, star fennel, clove, cinnamon, and dried tangerine peel. Sparingly used in cooking fish and meat.

Pepper Salt:
Mixture of anise pepper powder with salt. Serve with fried chicken, meat, and fish.

(c)Copyrighted: You may freely republish this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com, satellite info, and emobile-news.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites.

Chinese Cooking Utensils

By Jacklyn Chen
There are quite a few traditional utensils that have been used in cooking for thousands of years in China. Some of them are still seen in most of families, some can only be seen in rural areas, or may be disappearing in the modern world. But to cook authentic Chinese food that always tastes like grandma's, some of the utensils simply cannot be replaced by what you see in American stores.

Chinese Wok
Deep pan with round bottom used in several ways. Comes in iron, stainless and stainless with layer of copper on the bottom. Iron heats most evenly, but should be seasoned before using or food will stick.

To season: Fill pan with water. Add soap and soda and bring to boil. Pour off water, wipe dry. Place pan over strong heat. Add oil and rotate till pan is coated. Pour off excess oil. Place pan over weak fire and wipe with dry cloth.

To clean: After using pan, wash while still hot. Wipe and place over heat to dry completely.

]]> Knife
Heavy and wide. All purpose - for paring, cutting, slicing, chopping and carving.

Iron Palette
Comes in square or round front. Rounded ones are easier to use with Chinese wok. Use for frying, sautéing and basting.

Iron Spoon
Use back side for mixing food with minimum breakage.

Steamer
Used for steaming buns, chicken, meat, fish. Place over Chinese wok filled with boiling water. Buy one size smaller than wok. There are new styles of steamers on the market made of different materials. But Chinese believe that the traditional steamer works the best.

Slotted Spoon
Used for deep frying and boiling to get rid of excess oil or water.

Wire Sieve
With handle. Used for boiling noodles, dumplings, etc.

Steamers for Pastries
Small in size - about 15cm (6") in diameter. Used in same method as large steamer. Serve hot pastries in steamers. Typical foods served are small meat buns (small steamer meat buns, or Xiao Long Bao Zi), steamed meat dumplings (Shao Mai), etc.

Moulds for cookies
Made from wood with various carved designs. No longer popular in the modern society since people tend to buy cookies off the shelf. Some may still use the moulds for major holidays, or just Chinese New Year.

Bamboo Brush
Used for washing hot wok. Guess only people in some rural areas still use this type of brush. More people use regular washing cloth found on market.

Rolling Pin
Used for preparing noodles, dumpling skins, Chinese pancakes, and more. With the busy daily life nowadays, most of time people choose to buy ready to cook fresh noodles and dumpling skins from the small vendors seen on the street to save us time. Choose ones made from sturdy wood.

Copyrighted: You may freely republish this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com, satellite info, and emobile-news.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. She is seeking for success in singing career in China.

Electric Fan and Health

By Jacklyn Chen
Electric fan once was an essential heatstroke prevention item in summer for many families. Though the number of families that use electric fans has somewhat decreased due to the popularity of the air conditioner, staying in an air conditioning room for too long can cause the immunity of our body to drop, some can easily catch cold, get a fever, contract allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma, and more. These are all because of the bad air quality caused by almost no circulations in an air conditioning room, which in turn multiples the cause of disease microorganism. Since electric fan is convenient to use, it blows naturally, and does not pollute the air, from the environmental protection and health point of view, it should be the first choice when it comes to heatstroke prevention.

]]> The question is: how should we use an electric fan scientifically?

1. Do not get too close to the fan
When using an electric fan, some people prefer to stay very close to the fan and let the wind fiercely blow on them, especially after having strenuous exercises. This may cause the body get indisposed, feeling weary, sultry, incapable, hands and feet may feel aching and limp. In worse case, it may result in headache, fever, cold feeling, or even lead to other diseases. In summer time, the perspiration, radiation, and temperature adjustment of a human body are all mainly through the skin. When sweat evaporated, our body then cools down. But long time blowing in front of an electric fan will cause the surface temperature of our body to quickly drop. This will block the pore, which then causes heat to be kept in our body and makes us feel sultry.

2. Do not chill with the fan for too long
It is especially not healthy if you let the fan runs all night long. Skin surface temperature of any spots that are exposed to the blowing for excessively long time drops, while epidermis blood vessels are still diastolic, this will cause abnormal blood circulation, which in turn will affect excretion of sweat, result in the adjustment of nerve center to lose balance. The internal organs and nerve system must then strengthen their work, consequently fatigue and headache may appear.

3. Use middle or low speed as much as possible
Speaking of the usage of a fan, the bigger the fan blades, the higher the power it requires, then the more energy it consumes. Power consumption of a fan is in direct ratio to speed of its blades. The energy used in 1 hour at the fastest speed would allow the same fan to run nearly 2 hours at the lowest speed. Choose high speed only when necessary, turn to low speed after cooling down, this will reduce consumption of electricity. Use head turning, low speed, natural blowing options in general, choose "sleep" (if this option is available) at bed time.

4. Put fan at door or window if possible
In summer evenings, put fan at places near a door or a window when possible. This is good for air circulation by blowing cool outdoor air to indoor. Let the fan blow with the wind will increase the efficiency of lowering the temperature.

5. High speed to low speed
When turning on a fan, the switch should be set at "high speed" first, then change it to the "middle" or "low" after it runs at full speed. This is to avoid unnecessary longer motor starting time. Fans with manual tuning options are already set up in the way so the high speed has to be on first. But make sure it is at full speed before switch to lower speed. If you sense any burning smell, turn off the fan and unplug immediately.

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com, satellite info, and emobile-news.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites.

Chinese cooking: Special ingredients

By Jacklyn Chen
I have briefly introduced two most classic and expensive Chinese cooking ingredients (shark fins and bird's nest) in my previous article. Here I'll continue to introduce some other special ingredients that are more regularly used in our daily cooking. They are quite affordable, of course, not like shark fins and bird's nest, people can only dream about in China unless you don't know where to spend your money on.

]]> I have briefly introduced two most classic and expensive Chinese cooking ingredients (shark fins and bird's nest) in my previous article. Here I'll continue to introduce some other special ingredients that are more regularly used in our daily cooking. They are far more affordable. Not like shark fins and bird's nest, people can only dream about in China unless you have plenty of money and don't know where to spend.

Jellyfish

Jellyfish is preserved in salt and alum. Large, thin and translucent ones are especially good served as appetizer. It is produced in the South Seas and along seaboards of China, Korea and Japan. The South Seas product is considered to be of the best quality.

Method of Preparation

Soak jellyfish over night, change water and soak for one more day.
Roll the jellyfish up and shred
Dip in boiling water for a few seconds and quickly rinse in cold water and drain.
Season with vinegar, salt and sugar. Serve
Note: There are many other ways to cook jellyfish

Preserved Eggs

Duck eggs thickly coated with a mixture of salt, lime and rice husks are preserved in a cool, dark place for about three months. The interior becomes brownish black in color due to fermentation. Remove lime crust and shell, rinse clean, cut lengthwise into six pieces and serve wit shredded ginger, vinegar and soy sauce as an appetizer.

Dried Bêche-De-Mer

The best bêche-de-mer or sea cucumber when dried is black in color, as that produced in Hokkaido, Japan. It may be sautéed, stewed or braised.

To soften: Wash, cover with water and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Slit the middle lengthwise and clean inside. Rinse, cover with water and bring to boil again. remove from heat, place on lid, and let stand for three days.

Dried Shrimps

Dried shrimps after soaking in warm water for about 10 minutes may be used in soups and sautéed dishes, or served cold as an appetizer.

Dried Scallops

Dried scallops have a delicate flavor and after softening in hot water, may be used in soups or other dishes as with dried shrimps.

Preserved Szechwan (SiChuan, in mandarin) Vegetable

This vegetable is the bulb of mustard green preserved in chili, salt and spices, produced in Szechwan, China, and has a unique flavor. It may be used in soups, sautéed dishes or simply sliced and served as an appetizer. People from north of China normally eat it along with rice congee as breakfast.

Cloud Ears

There are black and white varieties of cloud ears and the white variety being much more expensive, is used only in special dishes. Most of the Japanese product is either black or dark brown in color. Softened in warm water, it may be used in soups and sautéed or braised dishes.

Bean Thread - Chinese Vermicelli

Chinese vermicelli made from bean starch is translucent in appearance and does not melt under long cooking. It may be used in soups or braised dishes after softening in warm water.

Variegated Mushrooms

The top of this mushroom is variegated with cracks resembling that of a turtle shell. This flavorful mushroom is used in many of the delicate dishes, and may also be served deep fried.

You may freely republish this article as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you!

Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com, satellite info, and emobile-news.com. She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites.