I’m the newest guest author at my friend Elise’s blog at Simply Recipes!

My first recipe is Chinese Shrimp Fried Rice.

Come on over and read the secrets to light, fluffy and flavorful Chinese Shrimp Fried Rice — secrets that my Mom taught me.

New friend, Deb Puchalla, who is Editor in Chief of Martha Stewart Living Magazine, is hosting a Zukes and Cukes party and this is what I’m bringing!

Instead of just stirring in basil leaves at the end like I normally do, this time I deep fried the basil leaves to create airy-light, brittle-crisp basil that elevates this dish to another level.

Describing Perfectly Cooked Shrimp

Previously, I asked you guys to describe the TEXTURE of perfectly cooked shrimp. In Cantonese, my Mom uses the phrase that’s pronounced “song chuy,” Japanese “puri-puri,” Singaporeans “QQ.”

There’s no English equivalent. Bummer.

The texture of perfectly cooked pasta is “al dente,” and we need to come up with a concise way to describe the texture/mouthfeel of perfectly cooked shrimp. Read the full story

Cooking Chinese for the Olympics! This is the 2nd recipe in the series…see the end for links

Oh…and there’s a contest in the middle of this post!!!

***

Last fall, my parents treated Scott and I to a 10 day group tour around China. Our first stop was Beijing, and first thing I noticed was how clean the city was. I literally could eat off the streets, as there was an entire team of sanitation engineers whose sole job was to scrape gum off the streets and sidewalk. I’m so not kidding - they wore white gloves and could scrape even crusty, 2 week old Bubbalicious in one quick motion.

Read the full story

from Steamy Kitchen food column in Tampa Tribune

If I had to just choose one thing, “my killer app” in the kitchen, it would be salt. It doesn’t matter what cuisine I’m cooking, salt is the basis of flavor in a savory dish. Call me a salt snob, but I stay away from the regular table salt, mainly because it tastes like crap! The granules are way too fine, the anti-caking agent just sounds gross and added iodine is sooooo 1920’s. The taste reminds me of…um…getting smacked in the face with a salt lick dipped in a vat of bitters?

Normally, I use kosher salt in the kitchen, mainly because of the texture and cheap price. I really like the feel of kosher salt in my fingers as I’m seasoning, and I’ve learned to season by sight, feel and taste. I’m just too lazy to bust out the measuring spoons, because each time, I have to wash and wipe dry the set of awkward, clanging, dangling spoons for fear of tainting the oregano with chili powder or powdered sugar with vanilla extract. How inefficient! Wouldn’t it be cool if spice jars came with twist lids that doled out the spice in teaspoon increments? What a great product idea. And if you steal my idea, at least take me out to dinner. But I digress. Read the full story

Martin Yan carves a chicken in 18 seconds! from Jaden Hair on Vimeo.

Come see his recipe, Pan Seared Steak Rolls