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August 7, 2014

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Home 禄 City specials 禄 Hangzhou

Simple cold dishes can be prepared at home

By Xu Wenwen | August 7, 2014, Thursday | Print Edition

LIGHT and healthy dishes are popular to beat the heat during the summer. Hangzhou cuisine has its fair share of cold dishes that, like Western cold hors d’oeuvre, are served as starters. They can be made with meats, seafood or vegetables.

Of course, they are usually served on small plates as they are designed to whet the appetite and not fill people up before the main courses.

Locals tend to favor crispy vegetables that can be made into salads. And unlike most Chinese cold dishes, the “soul” of the dish is rarely the main ingredient, it’s usually the sauce. A sauce that is a combination of salty, sweet, sour and spicy is considered truly sublime.

Take a look at these three homemade Hangzhou cold dishes that are easy to prepare. One does not require any cooking while the other two are cooked and allowed to cool before serving.

Liangban tofu

Since gas cookers heat up the kitchen quickly during the summer, liangban tofu is popular among housewives. It’s also easy to make since liangban, literally meaning “cool stir,” does not require heating.

Several crunchy vegetables like cucumbers and lotus root can be used in this tasty dish.

It takes less than five minutes to make and requires only a few ingredients.

First, prepare a box of soft tofu (the common kind you can find in any supermarket), soy sauce, vinegar, shallots and garlic.

Dice the tofu, but don’t make the pieces too small or it will be hard to pick up with chopsticks. Add soy sauce, a bit of vinegar, sesame or olive oil and top with cut shallots and mashed garlic. Fresh coriander is also great. Add salt to taste. Done. Adding pepper and chili oil is also nice depending on your tastes.

For those looking to make the dish more complex, try adding a “black egg” or “century egg.” A traditional ingredient, CNN once called it the “most revolting food in the world” due to its earthy smell and weird color. Many Chinese love its pungent flavor.

It’s made by preserving duck or chicken eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt and quicklime for several weeks to several months. The yolk turns dark green and has a creamy consistency, while the egg white becomes a dark brown, translucent jelly. It is mostly used in cold dishes and soups.

Boiled green soybeans

This classic cold dish is found in many restaurants, snack booths and even bars. Boiled green soybeans is also a simple homemade dish that goes well with beer.

First wash and scrub the soybeans to remove the “fuzz” then cut both ends, which allows them to absorb flavor.

Soak the soybeans in cold water with salt (more salt than you usually put in soup) and then boil. After the water comes to a boil, wait five minutes to ensure the beans are thoroughly cooked.

Then put all the beans in cold water to cool. If you prefer colder ones, store them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Garlic, ginger and pepper can be added if you like.

Hangzhou smoked fish

If the above dishes are too easy, try this one. Hangzhou smoked fish is made by most Hangzhou mothers and is crispy and tasty.

Prepare the sauce first. Boil some water, add soy sauce, rice wine (other alcohol is ok too), sugar (about half the fish’s weight), and salt. Chili is optional. Make sure the sauce isn’t too salty. Cool the sauce.

Now chop carp/grass carp into big slices (2 centimeters wide), or buy some from the supermarket. Heat the oil in pan and fry, remembering to first mop up the water on the meat’s surface.

After the meat is fully fried and turns golden, marinate in the sauce (cooled already) for 12 hours.

To save some labor, make a big plate of smoked fish to save for meals for several days.

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