Even more stuff to eat with rice. | Chinese Cooking Demystified

Over rice dishes! Part three in our now... ongoing... series of some easier weeknight dishes to eat with rice. Like the other two, all of these dishes can be made within 40 minutes (and actually, with today's dishes, you could really do all three within the context of a single meal... all within that same 40 minutes).

0:00 - Intro
0:17 - Fermented Bean Curd with Sesame Oil
1:54 - Yunnan-ish Spicy Pickle Fried Potatoes
4:14 - Chili Fried Eggs
7:13 - Mise en Place and Making a Full Meal

FERMENTED BEAN CURD WITH SESAME OIL

Not really much to go over here. One big thing to note is that it seems like online red fermented bean curd seems much more common than the white one. You're looking for something like this：
https://www.amazon.com/Szechuan-Fermented-Tofu-10oz-Pack/dp/B00LIBHBVG/

The sort that're in chili oil are also the white fermented tofu sort, and are also fantastic with rice:
https://www.amazon.com/Szechuan-Fermented-Beancurd-Tofu-Spicy/dp/B073SLCQZC/

But right, just add some toasted sesame oil and 1/4 tsp sugar to that plate, steam it in your rice cooker ala 0:57

YUNNAN-ISH SPICY PICKLE FRIED POTATOES

Quick sourcing bit - from what we've heard, some supermarkets in the west carry this specific Lao Gan Ma product (IIRC T&T in Canada does?), some don't. It's available online too, under the name 'spicy salted cabbage' or sometimes 'salt chili vegetable':

https://www.amazon.com/GanMA-Salt-Chilli-Vegetable%E8%80%81%E5%B9%B2%E5%A6%88-2-11oz/dp/B089TZK533

https://www.walmart.com/ip/NineChef-Bundle-Lao-Gan-Ma-LaoGanMa-Chili-Sauces-Chili-Oil-Chinese-Cabbage-2-Pack-1-NineChef-ChopStick/493900931

As always though, don't buy this stuff online. It's overpriced, support your local Chinese grocer instead.

* Potatoes, 300g after peeling (~350g before peeling)
* Lao Gan Ma's Spicy Salted 'Cabbage' (香辣菜), one pack, 60g
* Garlic, ~2 cloves, minced
* Baijiu liquor (白酒) -or- Liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒) -or- your liquor of choice (bourbon might be nice), 1 tbsp
* Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp
* Seasoning: 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, pinch (~1/16 tsp) of MSG (味精)
* Dark Chinese vinegar (陈醋/香醋), 1 tsp.

PROCESS: Cut your potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes (2:32), then give the cubes a good rinse to get off that surface starch (2:49). Let them soak in the cool water until you're ready to fry, at least 10-15 minutes, then drain and pat dry.

To stir fry, first longyau with about 2 tbsp of oil (2:56) and fry the potatoes over a medium low flame (3:10). Frying the potatoes will take a bit, about 6-10 minutes - you're looking for them to become soft and a touch translucent. Scooch the potatoes up the side of the wok, then add the garlic and fry for ~15 seconds til fragrant (3:18). Then add in the spicy salted cabbage, fry for 30-60 seconds until fragrant, mix it all together (3:25). Up the flame to high. Swirl in the liquor, quick mix (3:36). Swirl in the soy sauce, quick mix. Add in the seasoning, quick mix. Swirl in the vinegar, quick mix, out.

CHILI FRIED EGGS

For this one, we used a local fresh chili where we lived (simply called 青辣椒), but use what's available to you. Poblanos, anaheims, jalapenos, whatever (jalapenos would probably be a bit of a pain re knife work, though).

* Fresh mild chilis, 300g. If I was in the west, I'd probably choose poblanos.
* Eggs, 5.
* Seasoning for the eggs: 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), optional 1 tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), toasted sesame oil (麻油)
* Soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp
* MSG (味精), ~1/8 tsp

PROCESS: First remove the stem, ribs, and seeds from your chilis and julienne into 2 inch strips (4:40). Toast them in a hot wok, fry wok - no oil - for about three minutes until blistered, then shut off the heat and continue to stir them for another minute to cool down a touch (5:19). Lay them in one even-ish layer on a plate - you do not want the chilis to steam and over-soften.

Crack five eggs, season them, and beat them thoroughly until no stray strands of white remain (4:56).

Longyau with about 1.5 tbsp of oil (6:05), then over a high flame add in the eggs - the edges should puff up a bit. Swap the flame down to medium-low (6:20). Swirl the egg around to cook (6:30) - once only ~1/3 of the egg remains as liquid, sprinkle over the chilis (6:37). Once there's no liquid, cut them into ~4 pieces and flip (6:44). Up the flame to high, add in the soy sauce and the MSG (6:50). Quick 30 second fry, out.

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Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg