Taiwanese food recipe

Some of the most famous and popular dishes you find in Taiwanese Recipes are the delicious Three Cups Chicken, Red-Cooked Pork Trotter, Taiwanese Beef Noodles and Tea Eggs. Most people associate all Taiwanese food with beef noodles, but there is more to it. Taiwanese cuisine is actually a blend of many different regional cooking styles from mainland China. In the 40s, the Nationalists fled to Taiwan from mainland China after a bloody struggle with the communists. These Nationalists, from all over China, brought with them their regional tastes. Taiwanese cuisine is a rich blend of Shanghainese, Beijing, Hunanese, Szechuanese, Cantonese, Teochew and Hokkien styles. There is also a strong Japanese influence in Taiwanese cooking, such as a fondness for seaweed. Seafood is also popular as Taiwan is an island. Taiwanese food, like Chinese cuisine generally, is characterized by its emphasis on the freshness of the ingredients and simple cooking styles. Ginger, garlic, soy sauce, scallions and Chinese wine are essential. A distinguishing factor in Taiwanese cooking is its wide use of fermented bean paste. Black bean sauce, fermented and then dried, is coupled with fish and shellfish. Fermented yellow bean paste is also popular. Sold in jars, and sometimes added with chilies, they last for a long time. Some of the most popular dishes are the simple, everyday fare enjoyed in common Taiwanese homes. Typical of Taiwanese cuisine is the great number of soup stocks, resulting in it being referred to as a "soupy" cuisine. Taiwanese food recipes also places emphasis on lighter flavors and natural sweetness of foods.

 Basic Stewing Broth Recipe
Ingredients:
Five-spice ingredients as needed that is, 5 star anises, 10
sichuan peppercorns,
5 cardamom, 3 cloves and 1 large piece of tangerine peel
Scallions, trimmed and cut into 3 inch length
garlic and ginger, peeled and smashed with the back of a knife
3 red chili peppers, washed and leave whole
2 tablespoons cooking wine (Kaoliang wine)
3 tablespoons thick dark soy sauce
1.3 oz (40 g) rock sugar
1 level tablespoon salt
15 cups soup stock
Method:
Stuff all the five-spice ingredients inside a cotton pouch and seal the opening tightly. Use approximately 3 tablespoons of cooking oil to stir-fry scallions, ginger, garlic and chili pepper until fragrant. Drizzle in the wine (Kaoliang wine is the best because of its aroma), then add thick dark soy sauce, rock sugar, salt and soup stock. Bring to a boil. When preparing stewing broth, simmer the five-spice pouch in the liquid over low heat for 20 minutes to release the flavor of the spices, then add the cooked ingredients and stew


 Bitter Gourd with Beef Recipe
Ingredients:
5/12 lb tender beef
1 bitter gourd (bitter melon)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 red chili peppers

Marinade Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Seasonings:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
½ tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons of water
Method:
Cut beef into slices and marinate with the marinade ingredients for about 10 minutes. Rinse well the bitter gourd and halve it lengthwise. After bitter gourd is opened - do not wash it anymore, instead use a spoon to thoroughly scrape away the inner flesh before slicing. This will make the bitter gourd taste crunchier. Cut halved bitter gourd horizontally into 1-cm thick slices. Halve chili peppers, discard seeds and cut diagonally into sections. Blanch beef through smoking oil rapidly and remove. Blanch bitter gourd through the oil rapidly and remove. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to stir-fry minced garlic until fragrant. Add bitter gourd and beef as well as red chili pepper and seasonings. Sauté rapidly over high heat until evenly mixed and remove. Serve.
Note: Select bitter gourd with coarse lumps on surface, as it is less bitter. Blanch through oil first to give the bitter gourd a smooth texture.

 Spicy Hot Crab Recipe
Ingredients:
2 blue or sea crabs
½ cup flour
1 chili pepper
1 scallion, sectioned
½ tablespoon minced ginger

Seasonings:
A 1 tablespoon cooking wine
½ teaspoon salt
B 1 tablespoon cooking wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons water
Method:
Open the crab shell, remove and discard lungs and other internal organs, then rinse well and cut into small pieces. Add seasoning A and let sit for some time. Drain well and coat the crab flesh surface with a layer of flour. Deep-fry in smoking oil and remove. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil to stir-fry minced ginger and chili pepper sections until fragrant. Return crab pieces and season with seasoning B to taste. Add scallion sections, mix well and remove to plate. Serve.

 Carp in Chili Bean Sauce Recipe
Ingredients:
1 common carp (about 1.3 lbs)
1 package tofu
3 scallions, trimmed
2 ginger slices
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped scallions
½ tablespoon cornstarch mixed with about 3 tablespoons of water
Seasonings:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hot chili bean paste
1 tablespoon Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon vinegar
pepper as needed
1 cup water
Method:
Scale, clean, remove gut and rinse fish, pat dry; heat 2 tablespoons oil, stir-fry scallions and ginger until dark brown and soft, discard, put fish in and fry until slightly brown on both sides, remove. Stir-fry minced ginger, garlic and bean paste until fragrant, add the seasonings and bring to a boil. Return fish, reduce heat to low and cook. Cut tofu into squares, add to fish and cook for 12 minutes. Wait until the liquid is slightly absorbed, thickened with cornstarch mixture and some chopped scallions. Remove to a serving plate when the liquid is slightly thick. Serve hot with steamed rice.