Mexican Ingredients, Chinese Dishes

Steph (a Chinese home cook) goes to a Mexican supermarket in the USA... and sees what Chinese food she can cook with it.

CHORIZO HONGSANDUO

* Fresh chorizo, Mexican style, 300g

* Tomatoes, ~3 medium, ~400g. Diced into ~1/2 inch cubes.

* Medium chilis, e.g. Serranos ~150g. Seeds removed, diced into 1cm pieces.

* Habanero, ~1/2 -or- Thai bird’s eye chilis, 7-8 -or- some sort of spicy chili to supplement. (optional). Also diced.

* Garlic, 2 cloves. Minced

* Ginger, ~1/2 inch. Minced

* “Alcohol” (see note above), 1 tbsp. For stir frying.

* Soy sauce, 1 tbsp. For stir frying.

* Final seasoning:

Salt, ¾ tsp

Sugar, ¾ tsp

1. MSG, ¼ tsp (available in US supermarkets under the brand name ‘Accent’)
2. White (or black) pepper powder, 1/8 tsp
3. Remove the casing, mash the chorizo, and then fry it with a touch of oil (~1 tbsp) over a medium high flame. Once it’s rendered out some lard, add in the garlic and the ginger. Once those are fragrant (~30 seconds), add in the chilis. Fry for ~30 seconds, then swirl in the alcohol and add in the tomatoes. Mix, add in the soy sauce.
4. Quick fry, and if it is as liquidy as the video, let it reduce down into a sauce (~5 minutes, high flame). Add in the final seasoning, and if still a little liquidy, also add in a slurry of a ½ tsp cornstarch mixed with a ½ tbsp of water.

LIANGBAN NOPALES & CUERITO

* Nopales, 400g

* Boiled pork skin (Cuerito), 150g

* Scallion, 20g, minced

* Cilantro, 20g, minced

* Garlic, 2 cloves, minced

* Dried chili (e.g. Guajillo), 1 pc, cut into sections

* Salt, 1/4 tsp. Plus more to taste

* Sugar, 1/2 tsp

* MSG (味精/味素), 1/8 tsp

* White/black pepper (胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp

* Soy sauce (生抽), 2 tbsp

* Vinegar (陈醋/香醋), 1 tbsp

* Lard (or any other good quality oil with a high smoke point), 2 tbsp

1. Blanch the cactus and rinse with cool water, strain and set aside. Do the same with pork skin.
2. In a big mixing bowl, add in everything except the garlic and dry chili, quick mix. Put the minced garlic and dry chili sections on top, heat the oil up to 180C, splash it over the garlic and chili, mix everything well. Then serve.

STIR FRIED PACAYA & BACON

* Pacaya 400g

* Bacon (or any cured/smoked meat), ~3 strips or 50-60g

* Garlic, 2 cloves, sliced

* Ginger, half inch, sliced

* Dried chili (e.g. guajillo), 1 pc, cut into sections

* Sichuan peppercorn (花椒), 1 tsp

* Optional: fermented black beans (豆豉), 1 tbsp

* Liaojiu, aka, Shaoxing wine (料酒), 1 tbsp

* Soy sauce (生抽/酱油), 1 tbsp

* Salt, ~1/4 tsp

* Sugar, 1 tsp

* MSG (味精/味素), 1/8 tsp

* White/black pepper (胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp

* Cornstarch (生粉), 1 tsp

* Water, 1/4 cup

1. Cut the pacaya into smaller strips lengthwise. Blanch for 2 minutes, strain and set aside.
2. Heat up the wok, add in 1 tbsp oil, fry the bacon on medium heat till it renders out some fat and starts to get lightly golden brown. Add in the aromatics, fry till fragrant. Add in chili, huajiao, and black beans, fry till the oil is slightly tainted red.
3. Splash in your cooking wine. Quick fry, then add in the pacaya. Fry for about a minute or two, swirl in 1 tbsp soy sauce to the side of the wok, mix.
4. Give it a taste, then add in the seasoning. Give it a final mix. Incorporate the slurry, then out.