【菜脯蒸鱼】Preserved Radish Steamed Fish

几年前晒的菜脯/萝卜干熟成得特别棒，打开罐子就满室芬芳。今天刚好在Costco买了几条鲈鱼看起来很新鲜，取一条做菜脯蒸鱼，吸收了萝卜干香气的鱼肉鲜嫩美味，就连酱汁都特别下饭呢！

I have made a few batch of Preserved Radish/Chai Poh few years back, it has aged really well and is smelling so fragrance. It is perfect for this Steamed fish dish.

【古早味咸蛋糕】Traditional Steamed Sponge cake with Minced Meat

小时候过年过节的时候，我们会做传统的“鸡蛋糕”（Guay Neng Koh）吃，在电动搅拌机并不普及的时代，做蛋糕是一大家子轮班用大大的弹簧大力搅拌而成的。家里祭祀祭祖时，都要做这个鸡蛋糕，用村里人自己养的土鸡生的蛋，做出来的蛋糕分外香甜。

传统鸡蛋糕可以还可以变化做出精致版的这款加上肉臊的咸味蛋糕，虽然它叫做咸蛋糕，其实口味是葱香咸甜的，一种闽南人都钟爱的丰富味道，也是我忘不了的童年和家乡味。 

I made Traditional steamed sponge cake/Kuay Neng Koh for the Chinese New Year celebration few days back. The same recipe can also be use to make this "Salted cake", which has minced meat with fried shallot added to the cake as filling, a type of savory cake that also smell heavenly with the shallot added to the mix.

It is an upgraded version of the simple steamed cake, a heritage delicacy that carries in the family for generations, it is very tasty and has the taste of home and my childhood.

Scallion Crepe 葱花摊饼

The spring onion/scallion I planted this year is growing very well, some of them as thick as the size of fingers!

Since it is so healthy, I harvest them very often to make many different kinds
of dishes.

I have also made this crepe many times, my son A and hubby loved it!

我家后院菜园子里的青葱今年长得特别壮，长得都有手指头粗！我经常摘了做各种美食。

这款葱花摊饼我做了好几次，儿子和俊爹都很爱吃。

Homemade Preserved radish/Chai Poh 自制菜脯

Back home whenever mom/grandma makes porridge/congee, there will definitely be a plate of preserved radish  omelette.

A lot of the preserved radish/Chai poh sold in the market are imported, if you read the label printed on the packaging, the ingredients listed include -- “traces of nitrates”, “E211 (sodium benzoate)”, “E975 (saccharine)” and many other ingredients that I can't even pronounce. It is just making one wonders what is the implication of those chemical stuff and how they make their ways into this traditional treat.

The Radishes sold in the Asian market were really fresh and tasty around end April/May this year, with 29 cents a lbs and plenty of cold/dry air and sunshine.
I can't help but to bring some home to make homemade preserved radish.

小时候妈妈或外婆煮粥的时候通常都菜桌上都会有一道菜脯煎蛋。菜脯/萝卜干是一个非常平民的食材，可以拿来做很多不同的小吃和菜肴。

市场上卖的菜脯/萝卜干大多是进口的，如果你看菜脯包装上列出的材料的话，就会发现市售的菜脯用了很多的化学添加物，多吃还真的对身体不好哦！

过去农耕时代，菜脯是萝卜盛产时把萝卜腌制起来方便保存的一个做法，我想既然过去可以在家做菜脯，现在当然也可以在家自己制作菜脯罗！

四五月时我们这里的亚洲超市萝卜打折，一磅才两毛九。而且四五月的天气很适合制作菜脯，所以我就买了十几磅的大萝卜，自己制作好吃的菜脯。

Sugary triangle buns 糖三角

In the old days, when there is extra dough, while making meat/vegetable steamed buns, the housewives will use sugar as the filling. These buns are made into triangle shape to differentiate from the other buns with different kind of fillings.

The kids in the house normally liked the sugar filling buns much more than the meat/veggie ones. I have added some roasted black sesame powder in my fillings, it is much tastier than just sugar and flour!

包子是中国北方许多家庭喜爱的主食，以前做包子时如果有多余的面团，妈妈们会加点糖和面粉做内馅做这款糖三角。

糖馅的包子做成三角型是为了方便辨识馅料，这款包子孩子们很爱吃。

天热，俊宝没什么胃口，我就给他做了这款糖三角，加了点烤香的黑芝麻磨成的粉，味道更香。

Homemade Chinese Style BBQ Seasoning【烧烤撒粉】

My husband N and I love Xinjiang Style Lamb skewers. We have eaten the skewers on many occasions at bbqs with friends, at restaurants and at the roadside carts in flushing, NYC. 

I made rack of lamb from Costco the Xinjiang style at home couple of times, it turned out very tender and juicy that we could not even stop eating.

The first step of making a good Xinjiang style lamb chop is to have some good seasoning powder, this powder works as sprinkles during the BBQ process. When blended with grease releases from lamb, it gives a very spicy and delectable taste, it is very addictive though.

Since I have many spices at home, I decided to make my own seasoning, it took me 3 attempts to find the right ingredients and ratio, I am very happy with the result!

俊爹很喜欢吃烤羊肉串，夏天和朋友们聚餐时我们常做羊肉串吃, 也经常到餐厅吃烤肉串。后来我在家用Costco买的羊排做烧烤口味，味道非常好，肉嫩嫩的特别好吃。

要做好中式烤羊肉，就得现有好的烧烤撒粉，亚洲超市卖的一般都加有味精和添加剂，反正家里香料多，我就自己研究了几次，做出很喜欢的撒粉口味，每次做烤肉都要撒点才吃呢！