-
Other than Cantonese radish cake, I’ve always deeply missed taro cake. To be honest, I prefer radish cake slightly more. Restaurant taro cake can sometimes lack the taro taste, after all, it’s a very mild flavor, and a bit firmer, even slightly drier compared to the soft, savory radish cakes. So I want to see if I could make a taro cake that tastes better than the ones from the restaurants.
-
Claypot fuzzy melon with vermicelli was once a classic in traditional Cantonese restaurants back home, yet it’s a dish I rarely see on Bay Area Cantonese menus. At first, I assumed this was because ingredients like fuzzy melon or red fermented bean curd were hard to find. But over time, I noticed that this dish has also been quietly disappearing from restaurant menus back home, so that theory didn’t quite hold up.
-
When I was growing up in Guangzhou, every now and then my mom and grandma would bring home Teochew (4hr drive from GZ) meat loaf from the market. These cylinder-shaped loaves would be sliced thin and pan-fried, or cut into strips and stir-fried with noodles or vermicelli. Simple, comforting, and very much a taste of home. The recipe turned out to be much easier than I expected and now I can recreate a beloved childhood delicacy anytime and share it with friends.
-
It genuinely hurts me when my partner orders a $20.99 salt-and-pepper pork rib dish at a restaurant and the plate arrives with… eight tiny pieces of ribs. Eight. Altogether barely the size of two palms. That disappointment, combined with my love for anything fried, salty, and peppery (pork ribs, chicken wings, you name it), pushed me to recreate this classic Cantonese dish at home.
-
Enoki mushrooms and fatty beef have always been a favorite from my parents’ home-cooked menu. It’s a simple dish, but the bold black pepper sauce enhances the delicate enoki, while the glossy, starchy coating locks in the beef’s rich flavor. Charles may think the photo doesn’t do it justice, but I’m sharing it anyway—for easy home cooking and my own future cravings!
-
If you’ve been following my recent posts, you might have noticed—I’m definitely obsessed with red yeast rice fermented tofu! I’ve been using it on everything from wings to short ribs to pork jowl, and I can’t get enough. Since it’s a bit harder to find than regular fermented tofu, I treasure every jar I can get my hands on. I first tried red yeast rice fried chicken wings in Teochew/Swatow while visiting home earlier this year, and honestly? My version tastes even better—and it’s way healthier thanks to the magic of air-frying!
-
A classic Cantonese dish, paper-wrapped garlic & fermented bean curd ribs have long been a restaurant favorite. While parents often hesitate to order them due to the traditional deep-frying, kids dive in whenever they get the chance at a banquet—I know I always did.
-
For the 2025 CNY eve potluck, I learned to make this traditional Cantonese dish for the first time—and it was a hit! Everyone loved it, so I’d call this a successful trial!
-
Different areas in China dry pork belly differently, but we have one thing in common — always dry pork belly, sausage, wings, other meat in the cold and dry winter and enjoy them during and shortly after Chinese New Year. Cantonese dried pork belly is so versatile and can be used in many dishes like Clay Pot rice, stir fry veggies, etc. When mom dries pork belly back home on top of her balcony, I was really jealous as I do not have a rooftop, even I have all the Cali sunshine mom is jealous of. I decided to sneak up my apartment rooftop and dry just 2 slices of pork belly. Let’s see how they turn out!
-
inter (more or less) equals lamb as I mentioned previously in “Lamb Three Ways”. This time sharing lamb stew with tofu skin recipe, another typical Cantonese winter stew to bring the heat in body.
