This is one of my favorite foods
to snack on.

Long time ago in Szechuan, there
would be these small street
vendors who sold this type of
turnip salad to kids.

I used to buy it all the time. For a
few pennies, I could buy a handful
and munch on them. When I had no money, Id search high and
low in my house for pennies.

Too bad these vendors arent around anymore I guess you cant
really make a living selling food for a few pennies these days.

Now Im going to show you how to make this turnip salad. I
hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients:

Salted turnip 400g (1pack)
Sugar 4 6 teaspoons
Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon (optional)
Green onions 3 4
Chili oil 3 5 teaspoons
Grinded peppercorn 1 2 teaspoons
Sesame oil 4 6 teaspoons

1. Rinse the turnips under water first to wash of any salt.
2. Cut the turnips into 2inch long, thin strips. After you cut it,
run it through cold water one more time, and drain it well.
3. Cut the green onion into 1 inch long, thin strips.
4. In a bowl, mix sugar, soy sauce, chili oil, grinded peppercorn,
and sesame oil.
5. Mix the green onions with the turnip.
6. Pour on the sauce, and mix well with the turnips, and serve.

Note: After youve mixed in the sauce with the turnips, I
recommend you store this dish for several hours first before
eating.

Why? This is because allowing it to sit for a few hours lets the
flavors really soak into the turnips.

Also, you can refrigerate it. I like eating it colder.

This dish uses bean curd sheets,
various spices, and bamboo shoots
to create similar flavors and textures
to ducks. The tofu skins are used
primarily for the duck meat, and the
bamboo shoots are used as duck
bones, giving it a somewhat crunch
texture.

Ingredients:

Bean curd sheets 150 200g
Bamboo shoot halves 270g (half of a can)
Starch 5 6 tablespoons
Salt 1 teaspoon
Light soy sauce 2 tablespoons
Dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon
MSG 1 teaspoon (optional)
White pepper powder 1 teaspoon
5 spices powder teaspoon
Szechuan peppercorn 1 teaspoon
Ginger 6 slices
Sugar 4 teaspoons
Vegetable oil 3 tablespoons
Vegetarian broth 1 tablespoon mixed with 1/5 cup of water

1. Separate the bean curd sheets, leave one full sheet uncut, and
finely dice up the other sheets.
2. Cut the bamboo halves into 2 3mm thick slices. Then soak
the slices in boiled water for 1 minute. Dry well after.
3. In a bowl, mix the starch, salt, MSG, white pepper powder,
light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, 5 spices powder, sugar and oil.
Then mix this sauce with the diced tofu skins.
4. Spread out the full bean curd sheet, and wipe several times
with a damp cloth to soften it. Then place the sheet on top of
a thin cloth.
5. Spread half of the diced tofu mix onto the tofu skin into a
section of about 6cm long by 3cm wide by 2cm thick. Lay the
bamboo shoots on top, and then spread the rest of the tofu
mixture on top.
6. Roll the bean curd skin from one end to the other. Roll as
tightly as possible. Now spread the peppercorns and the
ginger slices on top of the roll you just created, and roll it in
the cloth to tighten it more.
7. Place 4 chopsticks at the four sides of the roll, and tie tightly
with a string. See image.
8. Place in a steamer, and steam for one hour. When done,
unwrap the cloth, slice up, and its ready to serve.

Note: It is crucial that you try to roll the tofu skin and the cloth as
tightly as possible, and it is just as important to tie the strings as
tight as possible. This allows for the fillings to stick together
during steaming to create a nice, firm texture.

This dish tastes wonderful when done. It could be served hot or
cold, and makes an excellent snack!

Ingredients:

Potato 2 3 medium size
Green onions 2
Dry chili 4 6
Salt 1 - 1 teaspoon
MSG teaspoon (optional)
Szechuan peppercorn 10 12
Oil 4 5 tablespoons

1. Peel and cut potato into 2mm thick strips.
2. Cut green onion into 1inch strips.
3. Heat oil to smoking point and add peppercorn and dry chili.
4. Add in potato, and stir quickly.
5. Add salt and MSG.
6. Stir until the potato is cooked.
7. Add in green onions, and stir for 10 15 seconds. Dish up
and serve.

Tip: After you finish cutting the potato, soak in cold
water until youre ready to stir-fry. If you just let the
potato sit without soaking in water, itll turn brown.

Quick and easy home cooking is the focus of the many recipes I
have in this chapter.

It is so true that nothing beats home cooking.

Some of the recipes I have here are traditional Chinese home
cooking dishes, and some recipes are my simple creations that I
cook often for dinner.

When it comes to home cooking, were talking about simple,
quick and easy to make items. Most of the recipes I have here
probably take you less than 8 to 10 minutes to make from start to
finish.

Thats the beauty of home cooking.

A lot of people fret over what to cook for supper thats both
simple to cook, and enjoyable. I hope that the recipes here will
give you many ideas.

If you love simple and tasty cooking, youll love the recipes in this
chapter.

Almost everyone has heard of
Ma Po Tofu sometime in his
or her life. Its one of the
most popular and well-known
dishes of Szechuan cuisine.
This dish is named after a
smallpox-scarred wife of a
Qing dynasty restaurant owner.
She cooked and served this
dish to the laborers.

I have tried imitations of this
dish dozens of times in different Chinese restaurants, and none
even came close. The main traits of this dish are the Ma and the
La or spiciness and numbness.

The spiciness and the numbness is what this dish renowned for.
Yet, all the imitations I tried were neither spicy nor tongue
numbing.

Aside from the chili and peppercorns used during cooking, more
chili oil and grounded peppercorn are spread on top once the
cooking is finished.

The original dish is prepared with ground beef. I will show you
how to make true, authentic vegetarian Ma Po Tofu using
steamed dough. Youll be laughing the next time you try this dish
in a Chinese restaurant.

If youre wondering what onion
heads are

Theyre just the top half of the
green onions. (The white part.)

Onion heads are popular
ingredients used in Chinese
cooking. Although green onions
are not normally used as the main
ingredient in cooking, however,
green onion head could be used as a main ingredient.

You want to pick the largest green onions possible when trying to
cook this dish. Those larger ones have more flavor and bite in
them.

Ingredients:

Green onion heads 15 20
Pressed tofu pack (175g)
Salt 1 teaspoon
My secret hot sauce 1 tablespoon
MSG teaspoon (optional)
Oil 4 tablespoon
Szechuan peppercorn 10 12

1. Cut the onion heads diagonally into 5cm long sections.
2. Cut tofu into 4cm long, 1cm wide, and 2mm thick slices.
3. Heat oil to smoking point, and add peppercorns.
4. Add in the tofu, and add salt, hot sauce, MSG, and stir quickly.
5. Now add in the onion head, and stir until theyre cooked.
6. Dish up and serve.

The name triple slice tofu here
doesnt mean the tofu is sliced three
times; but rather, there are three
ingredients, which are cut into thin
strips. The ingredients are eggs, tofu,
and green onions. Although this dish
involves some frying, it is a cold dish,
and is served cold.

Ingredients:

Grinded Szechuan peppercorn 1 teaspoon
Tofu 1 piece (350g)
Eggs 2
Ginger 6 8 slices
Light soy sauce 3 tablespoons
Vinegar 1 tablespoon
Salt 1 teaspoon
Sugar 2 teaspoons
MSG teaspoon
Green onion 3 4
Minced garlic 1 teaspoon
Chili oil 2 3 teaspoons
Oil for frying

1. Cut the ginger and green onions into 5cm long thin strips.
2. Beat the eggs well, and add teaspoon of salt.
3. Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil and heat to
medium. Slowly pour in the eggs to form a thin sheet see
image. (Only cook one side, hence use only medium heat and
let it cook slowly.)
4. When done, take out, and cut the egg sheet into 5cm long, and
thin strips.
5. Cut the tofu block into cm thick slices
6. Heat oil in a frying pan, or pot to medium-high. Put in the
tofu slices, and fry until golden. Then cut the tofu slices into
5cm long strips.
7. Mix the tofu and the egg strips, and spread the green onions
on top.
8. In a bowl, mix: soy sauce, vinegar, teaspoon salt, sugar,
MSG, garlic, grinded pepper, and chili oil.
9. When you are ready to serve, add the sauce to the tofu dish.
Mix well, and serve.

Note: Cooking the eggs is quite simple in this dish, however
frying the tofu takes a little effort. Because the tofu retains water,
it will take a little time before they become golden. Its a good
idea for you to first cut them into slices, and let them sit for a
while to let some of the water out.

I grew up eating this dish. My mom loves
to cook eggplants this way.

Its very spicy.

After eating it so many times, Ive become
an expert cooking it. Even though it
doesnt involve much cooking.

The only thing you need to learn is how to make the dipping
sauce. The dipping sauce used in Szechuan cooking is very much
like the salad dressings: Such as Ranch, French, or Italian
dressings.

Ingredients:

Eggplant 4 5
Light soy sauce cup
Black vinegar 1 tablespoon
Chili oil 2 3 teaspoon
My secret hot sauce 1 2 teaspoons
Garlic 2 3
MSG teaspoon (optional)
Sesame oil 3 4 teaspoons
Salt 1 teaspoon
Sugar 1 teaspoon

1. Cut the eggplants in half. So they fit in the steamer.
2. Put them on a steamer, with out a plate. If you place them on
a plate then on the steamer, the eggplants at the bottom will
not be cooked thoroughly.
3. Steam the eggplants until soft throughout. (15 20minutes)
4. Finely mince the garlic.
5. In a bowl, mix: soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, hot sauce, garlic,
MSG, sesame oil, salt, and sugar.

6. Serve.

Note: When youre eating the eggplants, just tear off small pieces
and dip in the dipping sauce.

Be careful that it could be very spicy.

Instead of steaming, you could also choose to boil the eggplants.
I prefer to steam them, since this preserves their natural flavor
more.

Ingredients:

Zucchini 1 2 (350 450g)
Salt 1 teaspoon
My secret hot sauce 1 tablespoon
MSG teaspoon
Szechuan peppercorn 10 12
Oil 4 5 tablespoons

1. Peel zucchini and cut into 4cm long, and 2mm thick slices.
2. Heat oil in a wok to smoking point. Add in the peppercorn.
3. Add in the zucchini, and stir quickly.
4. Add salt, hot sauce, MSG, and cup of water.
5. Cover with lid, stir once awhile, and let it stew until cooked.
6. Dish up and serve.

Youll notice that many of the braised
dishes in this recipe book involve fish,
although no real fish is used. Fish is an
important and large part of Chinese cuisine.

Youll also find that eggplants are the
ingredients of choice when it comes to
cooking fish dishes in Chinese vegetarian
cooking. The reason is that when prepared
properly, eggplants are the best for reproducing the flavors and
textures of fish.

Ingredients:

Eggplant 1 2 (150 250g)
Chinese mushrooms 4 5
Black fungus 12 15 pieces
Green onion 2
Egg 1
Flour cup
Ginger 4 6 slices
Garlic 3 coves
Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon
Vinegar 1 tablespoon
Salt 1 teaspoon
My secret hot sauce 1 2 tablespoons
Sugar 3 teaspoons
MSG teaspoon (optional)
Water starch
Oil 3 4 tablespoons
Oil for deep-frying

We need to prepare the ingredients first:

1. Cut the eggplant along the middle into
2 halves. Then cut diagonally into
1inch long and cm thick slices.
2. Soak the Chinese mushrooms and
fungus in hot water until theyre soft.
Then finely mince.
3. Finely chop the green onion, and finely
mince the ginger and garlic.

Now we prepare the eggplants:

4. In a bowl, mix the flour, egg, and 1/3 cup of water. Mix this
well.
5. Coat the eggplant slices with the flour mixture, and deep-fry
on medium-high heat until golden. (I always place a paper
towel underneath to absorb excess oil.)

Finally, we make the sauce to pour on top:

6. Heat 3 4 tablespoons of oil to medium-high. Add in the
ginger, garlic, hot sauce, minced Chinese mushrooms and
fungus. Stir quickly.
7. Then add in 2/3 cups of water, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar,
MSG, and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 10 15 seconds.
8. Slowly add enough starch water to thicken the sauce. Then
add in the green onions. Mix well.
9. Pour the sauce on top of the eggplant fish and serve. (Of
course remove the paper towel underneath.)