Egg Fu Yung - It's what's for dinner

Tonight I had to come up with another creative dinner to use up pork roast.  I was leaning towards Chinese, since we went Mexican last night.  It popped into my head that I remembered seeing an Egg Fu Yung recipe in my Mom's recipe box, and I remember her making this on occassion and really enjoying it as a kid.  So I went about searching for her recipe, and somehow, somewhere I have lost it.  I really hope it shows up, because I'd like to try her version.  Instead I proceeded to search the internet for inspriation.  I discovered that this is a great recipe to use up leftovers, and there's a great sauce to disguiese all those leftover flavors you're tired of eating. 

Egg Fu Yung (there are many different spellings) is pretty much an American food created by American Chinese chefs.  I've read that it's based on an authentic Chinese dish, one of which is called Fu Yung Egg Slices which is from Shanghai.  The name itself is Cantanese.  (I just love the Chinese, their food has so much history - I think they should start teaching food history like they teach art history).  My personal history with the dish, is it was something my Mom would make when I was a kid, and I remember loving it.  When I think back, I think it was one of those easy fast food dishes she made when she didn't feel like cooking, and it was a great way to use up the leftovers from the Chinese take home food we occassionaly had.  A great way to use up her leftovers, and a kid friendly dish, and dad would eat it too. 

Since I couldn't find her recipe, I did some research and came up with my own Egg Fu Yung.  I scrambled together 8 eggs (for 4 people, intending to have leftovers for lunch).  Then I cut up about 1/2 cup of leftover pork roast (you could use shrimp, chicken, ham, steak, etc) 1/2 cup of bean sprouts, 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, 1/2 cup onions, 3 scallions, and one garlic clove.  I sauteed all the vegetables except the garlic for just under a minute, then added the garlic.  Then I added a mixture of 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of corn starch, and the meat,then sprinkled it all with 1 tsp white pepper and 1 tsp salt. 

Then I made the sauce.  4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp saki, 2 tsp corn starch and I cooked until thickened.  Then I stirred in a couple tsp of oyster sauce. 

I put about 1/2 cup of the scrambled egg in a small pan and added about a 1/4 of the vegetable/ meat mixture.  I cooked until it was pretty much cooked through and browned on one side, then flipped it and cooked it long enough to brown on the other side.  I served it with a small smear of the sauce (it's pretty strong - it's good, but a little goes a long way). 

A little side of raw sugar snap peas, and we had a quick, easy and healthy dinner for the night. 

Vacation Wrap Up

Okay, let's finish this vacation story up. Now comes one of the coolest segments. The Oakland segment.

We have a very dear friend (he was our best man,not just my husbands best man, but ours)who lives in Oakland. Since it's such a long drive from Monterey to our home with two kids we decided it would be nice to stop part way and visit Josh. One of the things we have in common with Josh is he loves to eat and cook. He appreciates good food and will try just about anything. He's almost as adventurous as Andrew Zimmerman, which makes going out to dinner with him fun.

I had mentioned to Josh that I'd never had dim sum and would really like to try some. So our first night in Oakland we ate at a little place called Old Place Tea House.

I can't even begin to tell you everything we ate, because we tried so many things. Some sweet some savory, all very good. And this is where we tried jelly fish salad, which was surprisingly good. The texture was like nothing I'd ever had before. Chewy and crunchy at the same time. It was mild and pleasant. The only thing I didn't try, and I'm sorry I didn't, was the chicken feet. I'd really like to say I've eaten them. The one caveat I'll put out about eating dim sum. Don't eat too much of it like we did, or you'll be spending your next day close to the bathroom. It is rich and a bit greasy, so it can cause digestive issues. The food wasn't bad, because our girls ate it too and they were fine, we just ate far too much.

The next day Josh took us to Oakland's Chinatown. This place is nothing like San Francisco's Chinatown. It's not touristy, this is just where people live and work.

We hit up all of the grocery stores and I bought all the dried ingredients I need to make Buddha's Delight, or Jai, a soup that is traditionally made by the Chinese on Chinese New Years Day. I found the recipe in my cookbook The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen by Grace Young. I'll post the recipe and how it turns out after I make it.

After quite a bit of shopping in the various markets. We decided to go eat at a place I had read about on the internet called Restaurant Peony.

Our biggest mistake here was we showed up right at the end of lunch service, and we didn't realize they close between lunch and dinner. They were very gracious and accommodating to the silly white tourists. We did get to try some of their dim sum which was excellent! Even better then what we had had the night before. But, we wanted more then dim sum, but we couldn't figure out how to order more, or even who to order from, since virtually no one spoke English and the menu's were all in Chinese. We finally found one very kind waitress who with broken English and hand gestures suggested we order the special like the Chinese family behind us was eating. We couldn't really see what it was, but said OK. This is what we were served:



Isn't that cool? I couldn't help but wonder if it was the same chicken I saw hanging in a window in one of the markets earlier. It may look creepy to you, but it was some of the best chicken I've ever eaten. Juicy and tender. The sauce was mild, salty and slightly sweet. And very difficult to eat with chopsticks. It was served with steamed rice and a side of Chinese Broccoli, which is nothing like our Western broccoli. All very simple and delicious. It all turned out very good, for showing up at the wrong time and not speaking the language. As I walked out after a very satisfying lunch I snapped one last picture.

Those tanks you see in the background are full of live fish, lobster and crab that you can order up for your dinner. I hope to come back to this place for dinner some day.

The next day we headed home. We decided to venture through San Francisco and get some breakfast. We stopped down by the wharf and ate at this little place.
Beach Street Grill



Everything was homemade, not out of cans or jars. The service was prompt and very friendly. The food was good enough to keep me going until we got home. And now home we are and back into the grind of things. It was a great trip and I can't wait to get back to Monterey and to go see Oakland's Chinatown again, what a blast! But for now, it's back to work, tending the garden, chickens and goats. Time to focus on the harvest.
Bon Appetite!

Pepper Steak

Well, it's been a while since I've written. That's because the nasty flu bug has come down upon our home. Most of the family members, including the dog, have been sick. It's hard to write about food, when you can't keep it down, and you're cleaning up after every one around you who can't keep it down.

Thankfully that is over.

After getting past all of that I started thinking about what has inspired me to love cooking so much.(Obviously my appetite was returning) I really didn't consider myself much of a cook, or interested in cooking as a kid. Then I had a flashback of Chun King Pepper steak.

Why did this come to me? Well, I was craving beef after being drained by the flu. I probably needed vitamin B. I happened to have some carne asada meat in my fridge and thought that a stir fry would taste better than Mexican food right now. All of a sudden, pepper steak popped into my head. Then I remembered how much I loved pepper steak as a kid, and then it came to me. That was one of the first dishes I ever cooked, and I cooked it for the family. It was just meat, and a packet of Chun King spices and bell pepper if I remember correctly. It tasted good and I made it, all by myself. My parents ate it! Mom didn't even criticize my cooking. I think that was where it started for me. I found out I could make something yummy and others would eat it and enjoy it.

So I made my adult version of pepper steak for dinner. Actually it was tomato beef enhanced. I have a wonderful Chinese cookbook called The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, by Grace Young. Many of the recipes are complicated and difficult to make because I can't find the ingredients where I live, but I discovered the tomato beef recipe. A very simple and delicious recipe. I of course messed with it and added my own things, bell peppers being the main addition, since I felt the need to relive the "pepper" steak meal I had made as a kid. The main difference from my childhood dish was the salt. Far less salty then the Chun King version. But it was beautifuly simple and so soothing to eat. The sauce was a subtle reminder of my pepper steak dish from 30 years ago, but so much better. Less salty, smoother and simple. The bell peppers were a good addition. The only thing missing were the crunchy egg noodles on top. That would have really taken me back to my child hood meal.
So, now that I'm feeling better, and I have recalled my first official cooking experience, I am excited to be planning a trip to Oakland's Chinatown. We're having a little family vacation, and on the way home we're stopping to visit a good friend who hopes to take us to Oakland's Chinatown. I am so excited. I'm pulling out my Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen cookbook, and I'm making a list of all of the ingredients I can't get here, and I hope to get as many of those ingredients as I can while we're there. My other big hope is to visit a truly authentic Chinese restaurant. A place that serves the true Chinese food that they would eat in China. Not the over salted, sweet and sour, Americanized stuff we usually get. I'm talking the real thing. The scary stuff, the suckling pig, the Shark fin soup (yes I know that's not eco groovy), the roast duck, jelly fish and octopus. You can't find any of that in a Chinese Restaurant where I live.
This is the place I hope to dine at:






And they serve this:

Yummy! Suckling Pig and Dim Sum! I can't wait!!!!!

So, somehow the flu has taken me to my original cooking experience, which was Chinese influenced, all the way to planning a trip to enjoy real Chinese food. I've always loved Chinese food. My mom use to tell me she thought I must be part Chinese the way I loved it. Now, to have the opportunity to try "real" Chinese food is so incredible! I can't wait! I'll be letting you know how it goes.