An apprentice's basic canape'(s) (三盤小菜- 油炸花生，炒酸菜，香乾馬蘭頭)

I'm still very much an apprentice, now that I am into my 8th month of learning how to cook, under adult supervision. Not sure if I'm anywhere close to being qualified when it comes to sharing my cooking experience. But it might be useful for me to say a word or two about what NOT to do in the kitchen, based on some of my failed attempts. This is indeed an old dog learning new tricks kind of experience. But it's fun and it's a practical thing to do in everyday life.

First thing first, some safely rules: (1) When cutting, the hand that is not holding the knife must form a perfectly tightened claw. Push the 2nd knuckle of the middle finger of the non-cutting hand lightly against the cutting knife (with all 5 fingers tightly tucked in and safely away from the knife). The non-cutting hand moves in a retreating manner (while holding the ingredient) with the knife advancing as you cut the ingredient (see picture below). I learned much to my chagrin that I often left my left-hand small finger out of the claw posture, i.e., a bit relaxed from that posture. Guess which finger was cut the very first time I was in a hurry :-). (2) When frying, use a splatter screen or guard. (3) When picking up a bowl or a plate from a hot steamer, simply don't do it until the steam cools down considerably. I have the burn mark from a over-heated steamer as witness to my mistake. (4) Try to do one thing at a time, i.e., don't try the fashionable multi-tasking thing, not as a beginner like I am anyway. (5) Watch the stove, pots, and oven consistently when cooking (use a timer or an alarm, and carry that gadget around with you wherever you go).



Now, here are some simple side dishes (or snack items), or more or less the items that are safe to try and tasty to eat on the side of some main dishes:

Part A- Pan-Fried or Roasted Peanuts (油炸花生)- a light snack or as added item in sour-and-spicy cold noodle (酸辣涼粉)

1. Pour a small amount of vegi-oil into a pan (enough oil to lubricate the bottom of the pan, any kind of cooking pan will do), add 1 tsp of salt in the oil while heating it up with medium heat; 
2. Pour in a full pack of raw peanuts (with skin); 
3. Use a spatula to stir the peanuts slowly and constantly for 20-25 minutes (5 minutes medium heat, 5 minutes low heat, alternately, till the peanuts are in cherry brown color). If you see blackened half peanuts, the whole batch is ready.  Note- 20 minutes is usually sufficient, i.e., [(5-min medium heat + 5-min low heat) x 2]. The added 5 minutes should be used sparingly (in low-heat, under close monitoring for the peanut skin coloring). We might also consider turning off the heat after 2-3 minutes, and use the residual heat thereafter. 
4. Let peanuts cool down completely, then serve.  Note- To roast peanuts:  Place 1 3/4 cups of peanuts (with skin) in a small mixing bowl, add 1-2 tsp of veggie oil and 1/4 tsp of salt and stir evenly.  Preheat oven to 350-deg-F.  Spread peanuts on a flat baking pan and bake for 18-20 minutes (20-25 minutes if roasting in a cast-iron skillet, as the skillet heats up slower and the results better).  Stir peanuts thoroughly at the halfway point with a heat-resistant spatula. If you double the amount of peanuts, stir and add half of the time used up to this point (i.e., half of 18-20 minutes for a regular pan, or half of 20-25 minutes for a cast-iron skillet).  Let peanuts cool down before tasting (won't be crunchy until thoroughly cooled down).

Part B- Stir-fried Pickled Mustard Green (炒酸菜)- use this with beef noodle (牛肉麵) or pull-pork rice (滷肉飯)

1. Get a pack of Pickled Mustard Green from any Chinese supermarket (see product package), wash the content slightly; and chop into small pieces (less than 1/4" square each piece); Note- Taste a small piece here to make sure the stuff is NOT Too Salty. I've tried the brand shown in the picture and Asian Taste (東之味), both are ok. If the product is too salty, let it soak in water for an hour or two and taste again. 
2. Pour a small amount of vegi-oil into a pan (enough oil to lubricate the bottom of the pan), break dry red peppers into pieces and place in the pan, stir for a minute or two under medium heat; 
3. Pour the chopped Pickled Mustard Green into the pan and stir fry for 3-5 minutes under medium heat. Note- No need to add any seasoning (the pickled stuff has enough flavors of its own).

Part C- Ma-Lan Veggie with Bean Curd (香乾馬蘭頭)

1. Get a pack of frozen Ma-Lan Veggie from any Chinese supermarket (see product package below, left-hand side), place the content in a bowl, add water, and let it defrost. Wash thoroughly, and chop into fine pieces.

2. Get a pack of flavored or baked bean curd (五香豆乾) from any Chinese supermarket (see product package below, right-hand side). Horizontally slice each piece of bean curd into 6 layers or more, and then dice into fine pieces.

3. Mix the chopped veggie and the bean curd together, season to taste (start with 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, and 1/2 tsp sugar). This is one of those rare Shanghai-style appetizers that do NOT taste sweet at all, so 1/2 tsp of sugar is used to bring out the flavors of other seasoning. Now, go easy on soy sauce (1/2 Tbsp a time, taste before you add again), as it is salted already, whereas sesame oil is pretty safe (1 Tbsp a time and taste). Once you are satisfied with the soy sauce flavor, stop adding it in the next round even if you still want to add more sesame oil. This is an apprentice's approach to "season to taste" (do it with a smaller-than-necessary increment a time, and do it in several iterations until you like the taste. Most importantly, be extra careful with salt, or any ingredient that is already salted (like soy sauce, rice cooking wine). The finished product is to the right here.

p.s.- I learned most of the recipes from two excellent online sources, xinshipu and douguo, along with several generous blogs found from Google search. But in the end I bear the responsibility of any mistakes in the posts here, since I am the one who tries to make edible food out of these recipes. By the same token, anyone who uses the recipes on this blog might have to bear the same responsibility.