| Hello Cookingrecipes, How are you doing? I hope every time when you open my email and see these great recipes, you can feel better even by just looking at them without cooking :-)
Here I want to thank you for your feedback on my inquiry a
few days ago about how many recipes I should send each time. I got 847 replies. Among them,
-- 48% of them say that they like what I am doing now
(about 6 recipes each time)
-- 47% of them suggest I send less recipes (3 - 4 recipes)
-- The others: doesn't matter
It seems that the results are very close. Well, It's really
hard for me to decide now! In order to make most people
happy, I may send 4 recipes today and 6 recipes next. How
does that sound to you?
Now we come to the recipes. Deep-Fried Crispy Peanuts
Ingredients:
1 lb (500 g) peanuts, shelled
2 tsp salt, or to taste
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups (200 g) cornstarch (cornflour)
4 cups (1 litre) vegetable oil; uses about 3 1/2 fl oz (100 ml)
* You can find popular Chinese cooking ingredients and cookware at ChineseFoodDIY online store at:
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/shopping.htm
Directions:
1. Place the peanuts in a sieve or colander and pour boiling
water over them, stirring constantly. Then marinate in a bowl
with 1 tsp salt.
2. Mix the eggs into a batter with half of the cornstarch and
the remaining 1 tsp salt. Add the peanuts and coat well, then
dust with the remaining cornstarch, shaking the bowl to separate the peanuts.
3. Heat the oil in a wok about 230 degrees Fahrenheit (110 degrees Celsius). Add the peanuts and deep-fry until brown. Drain well, cool, and serve.
*Recipes in this newsletter are from Nicholas Zhou's bestselling cookbook "Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking". 
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/cookbooks.htm Chiang Mai Steaks
Ingredients: Coconut Milk:
1 1/2 cup Water
1 cup Packed -- flaked coconut
Steaks:
4 Beef tenderloins -- cut 1"
2 tablespoon Creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoon Curry powder
1 Coconut Milk
Kiwi fruit -- peeled and
2 tablespoon All-purpose flour
Sliced -- if desired
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Flaked coconut
1/2 teaspoon Butter
Parsley sprigs
1/2 teaspoon Vegetable oil
Directions:
1. Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in small saucepan Add
1 cup packed, flaked coconut and simmer,uncovered,5 minutes.
2. Process in blender at high speed for 1 to 2 minutes or
until thoroughly blended. Strain coconut milk, discarding coconut.
3. Prepare coconut milk. Combine flour and salt; dust beef
tenderloin steaks.
4. Shake off excess flour and reserve.
5. Heat butter and oil in large heavy frying pan over medium
heat until hot.
6. Add steaks and pan fry 6 to 8 minutes or to desired
degree of doneness, turning once.
7. Remove steaks, keep warm.
8. Reduce heat to medium low. Add reserved flour to pan and
cook just until brown, stirring constantly.
9. Stir in peanut butter and curry powder until smooth.
10. Gradually add coconut milk and cook until sauce comes
to a boil and thickens, stirring constantly.
11. Return steaks to pan and turn to coat with sauce.
Serving Suggestions & Notes:
Place steaks on heated platter. Garnish with Kiwi and
parsley sprigs. Sprinkle with coconut and serve
Happy Union
Serves 4 Ingredients:
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 pound shrimp, shelled
2 slices ginger
1 clove garlic
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, sliced crosswise in 1/2" slices
1 bunch bok choy, cut in 1-1/2" pieces, blanched
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
Directions:
1. Combine first 5 ingredients for sauce.
2. Heat half the oil in a wok. Add shrimp and stir-fry until pink.
Remove.
3. Heat remaining oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry
until golden. Discard. Add chicken and stir-fry until opaque.
Add bok choy and stir-fry 1 minute.
4. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Return shrimp to wok and
mix well.
5. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to wok, stirring and
cooking to thicken sauce.
Mashed Eggplant
Ingredients:
1 lb (500 g) eggplants
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp sesame paste
1/2 tsp fresh coriander (or cilantro), chopped
1/2 tsp chives, chopped
1 whole garlic, mashed
Directions:
1. Peel the eggplant and cut into thin slices. Place in a
heat-proof dish and steam for 20 minutes, or until
very soft. Mash and let cool.
2. Mix well with the sesame oil, salt, sesame paste,
coriander, chives, and garlic and serve.
Szechuan Style Squid
(Larger-sized squid tubes with thick walls are best suited to this dish) Serves 6 Ingredients:
500 g/1 lb squid
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg white, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
1 red capsicum
4 spring onions (scallions)
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon bottled chilli radish
6 tablespoons chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon oriental sesame oil
2 - 4 cups peanut oil for deep-frying
1 tablespoon peanut oil for stir-frying
Directions:
1. Prepare squid, scoring the flesh and cutting into pieces.
Season with salt, pour over the egg white, oil and 1 1/2
tablespoons of the cornflour and mix well.
2. Cover and chill for about 30 minutes. Cut capsicum and
spring onions into bite-sized strips.
3. Heat peanut oil and when moderately hot drop in the squid,
stirring to keep pieces separate. In less than a minute
they will curl and become white. Either scoop out the
squid with a large wire spoon, or pour contents of wok
through a metal strainer over a metal bowl.
4. Return wok to heat and in the film of oil that remains
stir fry garlic, ginger, capsicum and spring onions for
1 minute.
5. Add chilli radish and toss, then add stock and bring to
the boil. Thicken with remaining cornflour mixed with
2 tablespoons cold water.
6. Stir in squid and sesame oil, toss well and serve
immediately with steamed rice.
Cooking Tips: Cooking Methods in Chinese Cooking: Smoking and Marinades
Smoking
Chinese cooking treats smoking and roasting as similar methods.
Smoking(xun)
In smoking (xun), foods are parcooked and then cured in smoke from burning wood or peanut shells.
Roasting (Kao)
In roasting (kao), raw ingredients are marinated in seasonings
before being roasted in an oven or barbecued over direct heat from a coal or charcoal burner.
Marinades 
Marinades are an essential part of many Chinese recipes and
marinating may take place before or after ingredients are cooked.
Ban
In ban, raw foods or those that have been cooked and cooled are cut into small pieces and mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil. Other seasonings, such as garlic, ginger,
sesame paste, sugar, or ground peppercorns, may also be
added to heighten the flavor.
Qiang
In qiang, the main ingredient in the marinade is peppercorn oil, mixed with other seasonings and poured over foods that have first been parboiled or partial fried.
Yan
The yan method of marinating uses saltwater brine, water, or
liquor. In salt-marinating, the food is soaked in brine, which
draws out the moisture from the food so it can better absorb
the seasonings in the marinade that follows. Wine-marinating
is similar to salt-marinating, but uses fermented rice liquor
instead of seasonings in the marinade.
Finally, the Chinese specially called "drunk-marinating" means
soaking live food, especially seafood such as shrimps, in a
clear liquor and then marinating them in salt. Then the food
is often eaten while still alive.
You may not know that Szechuan style dishes are usually very spicy. If you have been to a Chinese restaurant before, you might have noticed that there is a red pepper sign in front of each Szechuan (Sichuan) style dish. So think about it before you make the decision!
Cookingrecipes, please tell your friends about this list. They will thank you :-) Just click this link to send them an email:
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/recommend.htm
Happy cooking!
Nicholas Zhou - Author
Real and Healthy Chinese Cooking
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com | 
