little giant panda cub born at san diego zoo

The San Diego Zoo announced yesterday that a Giant Panda cub was just born healthy and strong. The mother, Bai Yun (White Cloud), is on a research loan to the U.S. from China. This cub is only the 14th panda in the U.S. and they don't know yet if it is a male or female.

I've been fortunate enough to visit the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan province in China on several occasions. Giant Pandas are the national animal of China (one of the mascots of the 2008 Olympics) and their well-being is very important to the country. This Chendu research/breeding center puts a lot of effort into breeding and caring for them. There's also a museum there where they show a film of a Giant Panda giving birth. If you can imagine it was kind of gross and I was shocked when the cub popped out. It was pink and hairless and no bigger than a dog puppy. Apparently it takes awhile for the cubs to get that cute and fluffy look.

Once I was lucky enough to see one year-old cubs pouncing on each other in their play pen and munching on bamboo stalks during feeding time. Of course everyone knows Giant Pandas are dangerous, but they sure are cute. They always look like they're smiling and any pictures they take look posed.

Welcome to the world little cub!

-Mary Kate

shrimp with chili soy dipping sauce

I went to a rooftop party for my friend Adam's 28th birthday over the weekend.  Rooftops are the city equivalent of suburban backyards: you can grill out, play paddle ball, get a suntan, and even grow sad little plants in pots.  Adam and Renee's apartment is in Brooklyn Heights near the Brooklyn bridge and their view of the Manhattan skyline is amazing (you can see from the Statue of Liberty all the way up to midtown). Everybody invited brought foods to throw on the grill. I brought shrimp skewers with a Chinese chili-soy dipping sauce.  I went grocery shopping in Chinatown earlier in the day to get a good deal on jumbo shrimp ($5 a pound!) and planned on going back home first to make the skewers and sauce but after waiting for 45 minutes on the sweltering JMZ subway platform I decided to take a cab directly to their apartment so I wouldn't be too late. When I got to Adam's apartment the coals on the grill were already hot and I had to hurry and make the dipping sauce and skewer the shrimp. It's a good thing it's really easy. The shrimp was a hit and the dipping sauce turned out great. It's a nice change from boring cocktail sauce.

Because it was a rooftop barbecue party I grilled the shrimp but when I had this dipping sauce at a restaurant on Hainan Island, it was with steamed shrimp. In China they normally prepare shrimp with the heads and shells still on which makes for a messy eating experience.  I was trying to be quasi-authentic so I kept the shells on but bought headless shrimp.  If I grill shrimp again I will forego heads and shells all together because the shells are hard get off after they're grilled.  The recipe below is for steamed shrimp. Leave the shells on while you steam them but make sure to peel the shrimp before dipping and eating.

 Steamed Shrimp with Chili Soy Dipping Sauce

1 1/2 lb medium size shrimp, shell-on and headless

1 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons peanut oil

6 dried chilies, roughly chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

Place a steamer basket in a pot with water just touching the bottom of the basket.  When the water begins to boil add the shrimp, cover, and cook for 5 minutes or until the shrimp is firm and cooked through.  

To make the dipping sauce, mix together the soy sauce, oil, chilies, green onions, and ginger in a bowl.  Let sit for 30 minutes to let the favors come out then serve in little bowls for dipping.

hot and sour cabbage (suan la bai cai)

My friend Renée made homemade barbecue sauce last weekend from a recipe she got from Giada De Laurentiis, the food network cook. Renée is a big fan of Giada, she's always making something she saw on her TV show, and lucky me I get to try it out when she invites me over. When I got to Renée and Adam's apartment,  the barbeque sauce was simmering in a pan on the stove and the whole place was filled with the wonderful sweet fruity smell of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, the main ingredients in the sauce.  Everybody invited over brought things to grill on their rooftop barbecue. There was chicken with rosemary sprigs, fresh sausage links from Whole Foods, and veggie burgers.  I brought Shrimp with a Chili-Soy Dipping Sauce. (See tomorrow's post for that recipe.) We slathered the barbecue sauce over all the meats and licked our fingers clean-- it was good!

Chinese cooking doesn't use balsamic vinegar but it does use black rice vinegar which is similar.  Balsamic vinegar is made from aged grape juice and black rice vinegar is made from fermented glutinous or sweet rice.  They both are dark in color and sweet and fruity in flavor. I love black rice vinegar on almost everything.  Dumplings, noodles, vegetables, salad-- it's all good. I was inspired by Renée's barbeque sauce to make Hot and Sour Cabbage (Suan La Bai Cai, 酸辣白菜) today for lunch today. Napa cabbage is a really popular vegetable in northern China and this is one of my favorite ways to eat it.  I was actually out of black rice vinegar so I used some balsamic instead and it turned out well but I still recommend making it with black rice vinegar if you have it.  I put in some szechuan peppercorns because I'm a fiend for spicy things but you can leave those out if you want it milder. 

-Nate

Hot and Sour Cabbage

1 medium napa cabbage

3 tablespoons Chinese black rice vinegar

3 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 dried red chilies, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

1/2 teaspoon szechuan  peppercorns (optional)

1 red bell pepper, diced

Separate the cabbage leaves and cut them lengthwise.  In a small bowl combine the vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and salt, then set aside.  Heat up the vegetable oil in a wok over high heat until it is very hot.  Add the chilies, ginger, and szechuan peppercorns and stir-fry for 10 seconds.  Add the bell pepper and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  Add the cabbage and stir-fry for two minutes, or until all the leaves are wilted.  Pour the vinegar mixture into the wok and let simmer for 1 minute, then serve.

chinese truism of the day

弄假成真

(nòng jǐa chéng zhēn)

Make-believe becomes reality

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chinese truism of the day

先到先得

(xīan dào xīan dé)

First come, first served

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