bang bang chicken

This recipe was the star of the show at my Chinese New Year dinner. Backstage in the kitchen, Bang Bang Chicken is an affable companion: easy-going in that it can be ready long before dinner since it doesn't need to be hot, and prompt in that it can be ready quickly. It's street food (from the Szechuan region of China)--hence the simplicity of the preparation. I can imagine shovelling this into my mouth on street corners--but it will be equally at home on your much more refined dinner table.

Chinese hot and sour soup

Happy year of the rabbit! In honour of the lunar New Year I am trying out some dishes from my Chinese cookbook. I was ecstatic to receive a basic Chinese cookery book for Christmas; I have sticky flagged about a dozen recipes that I think I can recreate. Meanwhile, I readied my "lucky money" packets for giving out later this week. These red envelopes say "blessed" (or "lucky") on the front and we add a monetary gift for those who serve us; our door staff and the dry cleaning ladies are my main conferrees. The Chinese character for "blessed" is made up of three parts: one man, in the garden, with God; and inside the envelope there is a little note about it in English and Chinese.


I feel very blessed to be living in Hong Kong and I'm hopeful about the year ahead. I intend to learn more about Chinese home cooking and Asian ingredients, and to develop this blog, sharing my adventures with you as I go.