A Taste of Home

Ingredients

• Whole chicken (free-range if possible)1, about 1.2 kg / 2.5 lb
• Old ginger1 large piece, smashed
• Scallions3
• Saltto taste
• Ice watera large basin

• Rice2 cups
• Chicken skin and fat (trimmed from the bird)a small handful
• Garlic and shallots4 cloves each, minced
• Chicken poaching brothin place of water
• Pandan leaves (optional)2, tied in a knot

• Calamansi (small green lime) juice2 tbsp
• Minced garlic and ginger1 tbsp each
• Salt and sugara pinch
• Bird's eye chili (optional)1–2
• Hot chicken broth or hot oil2 tbsp

Method

1. Rinse the chicken, pat dry and rub with salt inside and out. Trim the fat near the tail and a little skin and set aside for the rice.
2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the ginger and scallions. Holding the chicken by the head, lower it into the water and lift it out three times ("three dips, three lifts") so the cavity and skin come to the same temperature and the skin tightens.
3. Submerge the whole chicken with the water just covering it. Turn the heat to its lowest so the water barely bubbles, never a rolling boil, and poach for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for another 10–15 minutes.
4. Pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a chopstick; it is done when the juices run clear. Plunge at once into ice water for 10 minutes for crisp skin. Lift out and brush with a little sesame oil to keep it from drying.
5. Chicken rice: render the chicken fat over low heat, fry the garlic and shallots until fragrant, add the rinsed and drained rice and stir until slightly translucent. Transfer to a rice cooker, replace the water with poaching broth, add the pandan leaves and cook as usual.
6. Sauce: combine the garlic, ginger, salt and sugar, pour over the hot broth or oil to release the aroma, then add the calamansi juice and chili.
7. Once the chicken has cooled, chop into pieces, arrange on a plate and serve with the rice and sauce.

Bay Area shopping: 99 Ranch stores carry whole free-range chickens (about 2.7 lb), and Weee! sells frozen free-range chicken. Search for pandan leaves under "香兰叶"; both 99 Ranch (Pegasus brand) and Weee! have them frozen. Weee! sells fresh calamansi; 99 Ranch carries bottled calamansi juice, which can stand in for fresh.

Ingredients

• Muscovy duck1, about 2 kg / 4.5 lb
• Old ginger1 large piece, smashed
• Scallions4
• Saltto taste
• Ice watera large basin

• Calamansi juice (or lime juice)2 tbsp
• Minced garlic and ginger1 tbsp each
• Bird's eye chili1–2
• Salt and sugara pinch
• Hot duck broth3 tbsp

Method

1. Thaw a frozen duck in the refrigerator the day before. Remove the gland at the tail, rinse inside and out and rub with salt.
2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil with the ginger and scallions, give the duck the "three dips, three lifts", then submerge it whole.
3. Keep the water barely bubbling over the lowest heat and poach for 35–40 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 15 minutes. A Muscovy duck is bigger than a chicken and needs the extra time.
4. Pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a chopstick; it is done when the juices run clear. Chill in ice water for 10 minutes, then lift out and drain.
5. Sauce: combine the garlic, ginger, chili, salt and sugar, pour over the hot duck broth and add the calamansi juice.
6. Once cool, chop into pieces and arrange on a plate. Keep the broth for noodles or rice.

Bay Area shopping: Muscovy duck does not show up online at 99 Ranch or Weee!; ask in store or look for farm-direct sellers (Amazon only sells it by the case). If you cannot find one, use a frozen whole duck from 99 Ranch or Weee!, but ordinary duck is fattier than Muscovy, so adjust the poaching time by weight and trim some of the fat under the skin before serving.

Ingredients

• Young Thai coconuts (white, trimmed)3–4
• Free-range chicken, choppedabout 1 kg / 2 lb
• Water chestnuts6–8, peeled
• Corn on the cob1, cut into pieces
• Red dates and goji berriesa small handful each
• Saltadded at the end
• For the hot pot: bamboo fungus, tofu, yam, lettuce, etc.as you like

• Soy sauce3 tbsp
• Minced sand ginger (or ginger)1 tbsp
• Calamansi or lime juice, bird's eye chili, cilantroto taste

Method

1. Open the coconuts and pour the water into the pot. Scrape the flesh into strips with a spoon and add it too.
2. Add the water chestnuts, corn and red dates, bring to the boil and add the chicken.
3. When it returns to the boil, skim the foam and simmer over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes, just until the chicken is cooked. Do not overcook.
4. Ladle out a bowl of soup to drink first, then add a small pinch of salt and eat the chicken with the dipping sauce.
5. Finally add the goji berries and the vegetables. Top up with more coconut water as the broth reduces.

Bay Area shopping: Young Thai coconuts are at 99 Ranch, Weee! and Amazon; a case of 9 at 99 Ranch is the best value. Bamboo fungus is not listed at 99 Ranch, but Weee! and Amazon sell it dried. Fresh sand ginger is hard to find; 99 Ranch has dried slices and Weee! has sand ginger powder, which is fine for the sauce.

Ingredients

• Bone-in goat, choppedabout 1.5 kg / 3 lb
• Old ginger1 large piece, sliced
• Garlic1 whole head
• Red fermented bean curd (nam yu)2 cubes
• Chu hou paste1 tbsp
• Star anise and dried tangerine peel2 pods / 1 piece
• Rock sugar1 small lump
• Light and dark soy sauce1–2 tbsp each
• Rice wine or cooking wine3 tbsp
• Water chestnuts and dried bean curd sticks (optional)as you like

Method

1. Put the goat in a pot of cold water with a few slices of ginger and a tablespoon of wine. Bring to the boil, skim, cook 3 more minutes, then drain, rinse and dry.
2. Heat a little oil in the pot, fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then add the goat and sear until lightly browned and aromatic.
3. Add the mashed bean curd and chu hou paste and stir to coat. Splash the wine around the edge of the pot, then add the soy sauces, rock sugar, star anise and tangerine peel.
4. Add hot water to just cover the meat. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 1.5–2 hours, turning a few times.
5. When the goat is tender, add the water chestnuts and bean curd sticks and simmer 10 more minutes. Uncover and reduce the sauce until thick.

Bay Area shopping: 99 Ranch sells frozen "black goat", and Weee! has skin-on, bone-in goat pieces; halal butchers and Mexican carnicerías (look for goat, chivo or cabrito) carry it too. Nam yu is in 99 Ranch stores (Double Carp or Pearl River Bridge), and Lee Kum Kee chu hou paste is at both 99 Ranch and Weee!. If you cannot get goat, use bone-in lamb shoulder and braise for about 1 hour.

Ingredients

• Pork trotters, chopped2, about 1.5 kg / 3 lb
• Rock sugar30 g
• Sliced ginger and garlica handful each
• Star anise, cassia bark, bay leaves2 pods / 1 small piece / 2 leaves
• Light soy sauce3 tbsp
• Dark soy sauce1 tbsp
• Cooking wine2 tbsp
• Eggs4, hard-boiled and peeled

• Steamed rice, pickled mustard greens, blanched greensper person

Method

1. Put the trotters in a pot of cold water with the ginger and wine, bring to the boil, skim, cook 5 more minutes, then drain and rinse.
2. Heat a little oil, add the rock sugar and melt over low heat until amber, then add the trotters and toss quickly to colour.
3. Add the ginger, garlic and spices and fry until fragrant, then the soy sauces and wine, and hot water to cover.
4. Bring to the boil, cover and braise over low heat for 1.5 hours, until a chopstick slides in easily. Add the eggs for the last half hour.
5. Uncover and reduce the sauce until slightly thick. Serve over rice with the eggs, a spoon of sauce, and the pickles and greens on the side.

Bay Area shopping: 99 Ranch stores and Weee! both sell pre-cut trotters; pata de puerco from Mexican markets is fresh and cheap. In a pressure cooker, 35 minutes is enough.

Ingredients

• Thin dried rice noodles400 g
• Pork bone broth3 cups
• Light soy sauce3 tbsp
• Dark soy sauce1 tbsp
• Brown sugar1 tbsp
• Minced garlic2 tbsp
• Sweet potato starch (or cornstarch)3 tbsp, mixed with water

• Fried peanuts1 bowl
• Pickled mustard greens (chopped and stir-fried)1 bowl
• Beef jerky or char siu, shredded1 bowl
• Fried shallots and fried garlicto taste
• Sesame seeds, chopped scallion, cilantroto taste
• Yellow lantern chili sauceto taste

Method

1. Soak the noodles in warm water until soft (about 20 minutes), blanch in boiling water for 1–2 minutes until just cooked, rinse in cold water, drain and toss with a little oil so they do not stick.
2. Gravy: fry the garlic in a little oil, add the broth, soy sauces and brown sugar and bring to the boil, then stir in the starch slurry slowly until the sauce is thick and translucent.
3. Prepare the toppings: fry the peanuts until crisp; chop the pickled greens, dry-fry to drive off moisture, then add a little sugar and fry until fragrant; shred the jerky finely.
4. Put the noodles in a bowl, spoon over two big ladles of gravy, pile on all the toppings, drizzle a little of the shallot oil and toss to eat.
5. Halfway through, add a ladle of hot bone broth or pickle broth and you have the "soup noodle" version.

Bay Area shopping: Jiangxi or Guilin rice noodles (Xianbao and others) and sweet potato starch (Jinbao and others) are at 99 Ranch and Weee!. Yellow lantern chili sauce is usually not in 99 Ranch stores; order it from the 99 Ranch website, Weee! or Amazon, or make your own from the recipe on this page.

Ingredients

• Live crab (Dungeness or mud crab)1–2
• Ginger slices5
• Perilla leaves (optional)a few

• Zhenjiang black vinegar3 tbsp
• Minced ginger1 tbsp
• Sugara pinch

Method

1. Put the live crab in the freezer for 15–20 minutes to calm it, then scrub the shell and legs clean with a brush.
2. Place the crab belly-up on a plate and lay the ginger and perilla on top (belly-up keeps the roe from running out).
3. When the water is boiling, steam over high heat: 12–15 minutes for a mud crab, 15–20 for a Dungeness, until the shell is fully red.
4. Stir the ginger and sugar into the vinegar and dip as you eat.

Bay Area shopping: Dungeness season runs roughly from November to spring. Live crab stock varies between 99 Ranch stores; check your store on the website before you go. Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco also sells live crab.

Ingredients

• Mature coconut (brown, hard shell)1
• Glutinous riceabout 1 cup
• Coconut milk (canned)half a can
• Sugar1–2 tbsp
• Salta pinch

Method

1. Rinse the rice and soak in water for at least 4 hours, then drain.
2. Tap or saw a small lid out of the top of the coconut and pour out the water, keeping it.
3. Mix the rice with the sugar and salt and fill the coconut about three-quarters full, leaving room for the rice to swell. Pour in the coconut milk and coconut water to just cover the rice.
4. Replace the lid, stand the coconut in a bowl and steam over medium heat for about 1.5 hours, topping up the steamer water as needed.
5. Split the coconut open or cut it into wedges and eat the rice together with the flesh.

Bay Area shopping: Mature brown coconuts are on Weee!; 99 Ranch does not list them online. Easy version: if the coconut is too hard to open, steam the soaked rice with coconut milk and sugar in a bowl for 40 minutes and top with freshly grated coconut.

Ingredients

• Yellow habanero or Scotch bonnet chilies300 g
• Carrot (for a milder flavour, optional)100 g
• Garlic50 g
• Salt15 g
• White vinegar60 ml
• Sugar1 tsp

Method

1. Wear gloves and keep your hands away from your eyes. Rinse and dry the chilies and remove the stems; for less heat, remove some of the seeds and white membrane.
2. Cut the carrot into small pieces and steam or boil until soft.
3. Blend the chilies, carrot, garlic, salt and sugar with the vinegar into a smooth paste.
4. Pour into a pot and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring, with a window open: the fumes are strong.
5. While hot, spoon into glass jars that have been scalded and dried completely. Cool, refrigerate and leave for 3 days for the flavours to settle.

Bay Area shopping: Fresh yellow habaneros are not listed at 99 Ranch or Weee!; look for yellow or orange habaneros in the chili section of Safeway and other American supermarkets or at Mexican markets. Storage: keeps about a month in the refrigerator; always use a clean, dry spoon. Good with Hainan rice noodles, poached chicken or duck, and fried noodles.

Coconut base

• Coconut milk (canned)1 can
• Coconut water2 cups
• Milk or water1 cup
• Rock sugar or white sugarto taste

• Red beans, mung beans, pearl barley1/3 cup each
• Diced taro or taro balls1 cup
• Sago1/4 cup
• Quail eggs (boiled and peeled)6–8
• Diced watermelon and pineapple1 cup each
• Red dates, grass jelly, fresh coconutas you like
• Crushed iceas needed

Method

1. Soak the red beans, mung beans and barley overnight. Cook separately until soft but not mushy (about 40 minutes for red beans and barley, 20 for mung beans), drain and toss with a little sugar.
2. Steam the taro. Boil the sago until only a tiny white dot remains in the centre, turn off the heat and let it finish in the pot, then rinse in cold water.
3. Base: stir together the coconut milk, coconut water, milk and sugar and chill thoroughly.
4. Fill bowls with the toppings and fruit, add crushed ice and pour over the cold coconut milk.

Bay Area shopping: Frozen taro balls (Jinbao, Wufu), sago and coconut milk are at 99 Ranch and Weee!. Canned mixed beans for Filipino halo-halo save you cooking the beans; both 99 Ranch and Weee! sell them.

Dough

• Glutinous rice flour300 g
• Warm waterabout 250 ml
• Sugar1 tbsp

• Grated coconut (fresh or frozen)200 g
• Brown sugar or palm sugar100 g
• Toasted sesame seeds or crushed peanuts (optional)2 tbsp

• Banana leaves16 palm-sized pieces

Method

1. Filling: melt the brown sugar with two tablespoons of water over low heat, add the coconut and stir until the syrup is absorbed and the coconut glossy. Mix in the sesame or peanuts and cool.
2. Dough: mix the flour with the sugar and add warm water a little at a time, kneading to a dough as soft as an earlobe that does not stick to your hands.
3. Divide into 16 pieces. Roll each into a ball, press into a little cup, add a spoon of filling, seal, roll round and flatten slightly.
4. Wash and dry the banana leaves, brush with a thin layer of oil and set a cake on each.
5. Steam over medium heat for 12–15 minutes, once the water is boiling, until the dough turns translucent. They are softest eaten warm.

Bay Area shopping: Frozen banana leaves (Pegasus) and frozen grated coconut (Masagana) are at 99 Ranch and Weee!. Thaw the leaves before use; a dip in hot water makes them more pliable.

Dough

• Glutinous rice flour300 g
• Brown sugar80 g
• Hot waterabout 200 ml
• White sesame seeds1 bowl

• Toasted crushed peanuts and sesame seeds1 cup total
• Sugar3 tbsp
• Grated coconut (optional)3 tbsp

• Oil for deep-fryinga potful

Method

1. Dissolve the brown sugar in the hot water, let it cool a little, then pour slowly into the flour and knead to a smooth, non-sticky dough. Rest for 15 minutes.
2. Mix the filling. Divide the dough into about 20 pieces, wrap each around a small spoon of filling, seal and roll round.
3. Wet the surface slightly with your hands, roll in the sesame seeds and press gently with your palm so they stick.
4. Heat the oil to about 140°C / 285°F (small bubbles around a chopstick). Add the balls and fry slowly over low heat, pressing and turning them constantly with the back of a spoon; they will gradually puff up.
5. When golden and about twice their size (about 10 minutes), turn the heat up for 30 seconds to drive out the oil, then lift out and drain.

The secret: if the oil is too hot the outside sets before the ball can puff. Patience over low heat and constant pressing and rolling are what make them round and big.