Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce 110
Sichuan String Beans 111
Clay Pot Tofu 112
Chapter 8
Noodles and Rice
Fried Rice Vermicelli with Shrimp 117
Classic Shrimp Fried Rice 119
Yangzhou Fried Rice 120
Seafood Chow Fun Noodles 122
Beef Chow Fun Noodles 123
Shanghai Fried Noodles 125
Homestyle Chow Mein Noodles 126
Crispy Pan-fried Noodles 129
Chapter 9
Desserts and Drinks
Sweet Peanut Nuggets 132
Fresh Mango Pudding 133
Shaved Ice with Fresh Fruits 134
Sweet Boba Milk Tea 135
Flaky Sweet Egg Tarts 136
Red Bean Pancakes 137
Acknowledgments 138
Resource Guide 140
About Food Styling and Photography 141
Index 142
Foreword by Jaden Hair
I am absolutely thrilled that you’re holding this cookbook, because that means you’ll be discovering the secrets to authentic Chinese home cooking. I’m also delighted because you’ll have a chance to get to know one of my very favorite “blog-sisters,” Bee Yinn Low, and her kitchen stories. Bee and I first met just about four years ago, when I first started blogging at SteamyKitchen.com. Back then we were a little shy online (and a little cautious), keeping our real names on the back-burner. Everyone called her “Rasa” and I was “Steamy” and you can imagine the funny looks we would get when inadvertently referring to ourselves by our blog names in real life situations.
The anonymity soon gave way to the discovery of our mutual passions, not just for Asian cuisine, but figuring out how to turn a fun, little hobby blog into a successful business and making it the best job ever.
We’d spent late nights on the phone talking SEO, Wordpress, CSS and HTML. There was so much to share and learn, and if you can imagine two grown women giggling about a new plugin, well, you can pretty much call us soul sisters.
We started trickling family stories into our conversations and it wasn’t before long that I realized that I knew more about Bee and her family than I did some of my neighbors, even though she was in California and I was in Florida, and we had never met in person. At our first meeting we were like little chatty, giggly schoolgirls, it was non-stop talking. Bee is like a sister to me, she’s the first person I turn to when I have a cooking question about Chinese food or when my blog breaks down.
She’s a generous, happy spirit, and I think you’ll experience that on each and every page of this book.
Happy Cooking,
Jaden Hair, author of The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook
Author's Preface
Words can’t begin to describe how elated I am to be the author of this book. Writing a cookbook has always been a dream of mine, and I can’t help but feel utterly blessed, humbled, and above all, thankful, to have such a wonderful opportunity.
This cookbook has been a labor of love. I worked on it during the pregnancy of my beloved son—one of the most exhilarating and life-changing phases of my life. What you are holding now is indeed my other baby—my culinary baby—one that I had carried alongside my adorable baby G.
This cookbook is a compilation of my favorite recipes: Chinese classics, all-time favorites, dim sum, dumplings, and more. Some recipes reflect my many travels in Asia, especially in China and Hong Kong. Others are my interpretation of popular Chinese dishes, perfected through years of preparing them at home. A selected few were passed on to me by my friends, who firmly believe that great recipes are to be shared and enjoyed.
Reading through this beautiful cookbook, I know that my family—G, baby G, my aunt, uncle, siblings and the entire family back home in Malaysia—and my beloved ones, dear friends, loyal fans and readers of Rasa Malaysia (http://rasamalaysia.com) will be exceedingly proud of me and this accomplishment.
Thank you ever so much for your support. I hope you use and enjoy the recipes in this cookbook and I wish you all “Happy Cooking!”
Bee Yinn Low
Growing Up in a Chinese Family
Someone once asked me: What is your favorite sound in the world?
“The sizzling sound of Chinese food, when the ingredients are added into a hot wok and that distinct aroma fills the kitchen.”
I grew up listening to the musical rhythms of Chinese cooking in my home. Even though I was born in Penang, Malaysia, with a Nyonya (local Chinese in the Malay Peninsula who have adopted local traditions) grandmother, I am, ultimately, Chinese. I grew up eating mostly Chinese food, speaking a Chinese dialect as my mother tongue, and attending Chinese school until college. My late mother was the designated cook in our family; watching her cook was a significant part of my childhood. As a little girl, there was something inherently attractive about what was going on in the kitchen.
Every morning, my mother headed out to the local market, scouring the stands and vendors for the freshest ingredients. Upon her return, she would be busy with the preparation work: shelling shrimp, cleaning fish, cutting vegetables, chopping chicken,
