Yellow Chive Chinese Recipes

(for my competitive cooking friend)

Martin Yan, gave a recipe, around 1996 or 1997, that appeared only one time on his TV programs. It was called Taxi Driver Noodles. Supposedly sold to Hong Kong Taxi drivers, it has never been published in any of his cookbooks, and I've written his website several times and never received a response about it. So, here I give it from my memory. If it had something not in the original, or something taken away, I apologize.

Below are links to Specialty Produces info on the three types of chives needed for this recipe. Briefly, they are: yellow chives, garlic chives, and regular culinary chives. But the regular chives, when grown in the Chinese manner, are almost triangular in the stem and are sold with the heads. This is considered too bitter for Western tastes. I politely disagree with that assessment.

Yellow Chives  Garlic Chives and Chives

Taxi Driver Noodles

serves 3 to 4

1 lb. flank steak

16 oz. rice noodle wide, fresh (only)

3 ozs. yellow chives

3 ozs. garlic chives

3 ozs. chives

1 onion, brown

1-2 scallions

2 cups bean sprouts

2 tsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. black soy sauce

2 tsp xio xing wine

2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp water for the cornstarch

3-4 cloves, garlic

1-2 inch piece of ginger

1 tbs. sesame oil

peanut oil for wokking

Plan ahead to separate the noodles. Place them in a large bowl with warm water. They need 5 minutes to separate. I chop them before putting them in the lukewarm water. Uncut, they are too long to eat. But if you like to cut with chopsticks, leave them long. They must be immersed in warm water to separate. Either way they need this time to not be clumped up. Clumped up, they make for poor texture. You can prepare the flank steak while waiting on the noodles. After the 5 minutes, drain in a colander in the sink. Shake to remove excess liquid.

If there is more fat than you like on the flank steak, remove it and the silver skin. Cut it into 3-4 mm (1/8") wide Chinese style bite size pieces. Marinate with the light soy, wine and cornstarch for 10 to 15 minutes. Then drain it. Slice the onions into Chinese take out restaurant style bites. Reserve. Slice the scallions for a relish. I toss the bean sprouts in, with their buds on whole, but it is more delicate and polite to remove them.

Heat the wok for 5 minutes on low to medium low. Make a garlic and ginger paste. (Garlic and Ginger Grater) 

When the wok is hot add the oil and garlic and ginger mixture. Chow for 30 seconds. Add the  beef and raise the heat to high. Brown the beef. Remove the beef to a warm bowl, covered. Add more oil and chow the onion until translucent and some of the edges, of some of the onions have browned. Return the beef. Chow all. Add the noodles. Chow to mix all well. Add the black soy and chow until the white of the rice noodles has turned a caramel color. Add the sesame oil. Dish the food, top with scallions and bean sprouts. Serve soy, hot sauce, sesame oil on the table for those who want more.

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By translating "yellow chives" into simplified Chinese and running a netsearch on those letters, I found some recipes and append them below. I have not made them. I do stand by my translations.

Title: Yellow Chives Scrambled Eggs
Yield: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Category: Breakfast
Cuisine: Chinese
Website: https://baike.baidu.com/item/韭黄

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Ingredients
---
5 eggs, whole
150 grams yellow chives
1 tbs oil - see Cook's Note
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp MSG

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Instructions
---

Preheat a wok or utensil and add 1 tbs of oil after 5 minutes of
heating.
While the wok is heating, break eggs into a measuring cup. Add the
salt and MSG and whisk to homogenize. Cut the chives into 3/4"
lengths.
Pour the eggs into the heated wok, add the chives. Allow to set for
1-2 minutes, turn once and continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes longer.
Turn out onto a warm plate.


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Notes
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Cook's Note: the quantity of 1 tsp of salt is quite a lot in the ratio of other ingredients by weight.
Try 1/2 tsp. of salt to start. This recipe used Chinese "cooked oil". When deep frying, strain the oil, and reserve. Cooked oil is used as a condiment in some Chinese dishes. The oil develops a flavor that cannot be beat in some dishes. 

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Title: Stir-fried Pork with Chives
Yield: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Category: Main Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Website: https://baike.baidu.com/item/韭黄

---
Ingredients
---
200 grams yellow chives
100 grams pork - See Cook's Note
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1 green chile - See Cook's Note
1 tbs water
1 egg - for it's white
1 tbs xio xing wine - in equal halves, that is 7.5 mL of wine by halves of 15Ml (1/2 oz.) total
2 tsp. chicken stock powder
5 tbs oil, peanut
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tsp cornstarch (optional)

---
Instructions
---

If you wash the chives, dry them a day before use. They wok best when dry. If the pork meat is moist, take a paper towel an dry it somewhat.

Shred the pork into slices approximately 2 to 3 mm (1/8") by 1 to 1.5"
inches long.

Marinade: break the egg white, add the salt and with a fork and whisk to a softer than soft peak. Add the wine. Mix the pork into this and rest 15 minutes to marinate. While marinating, cut the chives into 3/4 to 1 inch lengths. Reserve.

 Wearing gloves, split the chile, destem and remove the veins and seeds. Slice the chile into the thinnest slivers you can.

The Chinese recipe as given here: if there are flower heads or buds on the chives, cut them off and reserve. 

Preheat the wok and add 2 tbs of oil. Using a microplane, mush the garlic and reserve for immediate use. Wok the pork, adding the 1 tbs. of water and stir until the pork shreds turn white. Remove to a warm bowl and cover.
Add 3 tbs of oil and when hot, add the garlic and chile. After 30 seconds, add the chive buds if you have any and wok for 30 more seconds. Next add the pork and chives and wok until the chives become soft. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and heaping tsp. of chicken stock powder. Add the remainder of the xio xing wine and 1 tbs of sesame oi. Chow to mix and plate.

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Notes
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Cook's Notes:
If using pork shoulder, remove as much fat as practical. If using loin
or tenderloin, you can partially freeze to make julienning easier.
By green chile is meant anywhere in heat from a jalapeno to the tiny
Thai chile. The trick here is to use a razor blade sharp knife and
make shreds the thickness of a hair, figuratively speaking.
Salt is 2.5 grams, but don't measure, use the 1/2 teaspoon. The wine
can be a "dash" from the bottle. There are some sets of measuring
spoons that include a 1/2 tablespoon measure, but no need to buy such.
Optionally, use the cornstarch in place of the egg white.
In China, the chives are sold with the flower heads on and in this
recipe, the cook removes the heads and uses them at the end of
cooking. In the USA, yellow chives are sold less mature.
If using American chicken stock powder, omit the salt. The powder is
enough salt. The original recipe calls for 1 tbs of chicken stock
powder, but Knorr Swiss and USA equivalents would make this dish too
salty.

Title: Spring Rolls with Yellow Chives
Yield: 12 pieces
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Preparation Time: 1/2 hour
Category: Appetizers and Soups
Cuisine: Chinese
Website: https://baike.baidu.com/item/韭黄

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Ingredients
---
12 spring roll wrappers
150 grams pork, finely diced
150 grams shrimp, bay shrimp, diced
100 grams bamboo shoots
100 grams yellow chives, minced
40 grams shitake mushrooms, after reconstituting
40 grams pork, ground
40 grams flour, all purpose
50 cc water
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp pepper
1 tbs sesame oil
1 yolk, beaten for the wrapper sealant

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Instructions
---

Parboil the bamboo for 1 to 2 minutes to remove the sour taste. Rinse
under cold running water and drain dry. Use a paper towl to absorb
excess liquid. Julienne for spring rolls.
The shitake mushroom will weigh 3 to 4 times their dry weight, after
reconstituting them. They need 10 to 15 minutes in warm water if
whole, but only 1 to 2 minutes if sliced. Once reconstituted, squeeze
out the excess liquid. Reserve this liquid and strain it through a
coffee filter. Destem, and dice the 'shrooms.
If using larger than bay shrimp, split and remove the sand vein. Chop
the shrimp, leaving some toothiness. Add the ground pork, shrimp,
mushroom, flour and water. Mix and add the cornstarch, and salt. Mix
the reserved mushroom soaking liquid with the chicken stock powder,
sugar, pepper and sesame oil. Add all ingredient together to a sticky
paste. You can wear gloves if you prefer.
Put 50 grams (about 2 ounces) of filing in each spring roll. Moisten
the edges with a beaten egg yolk, wrap and reserve.
Preheat at least 2" of oil in a wok or deep fryer. Fry until golden
brown, drain on paper towels and serve with a dipping sauce.

Title: Carp with Yellow Chives
Yield: 2 servings
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Category: Main Dish
Cuisine: Chinese
Website: https://baike.baidu.com/item/韭黄

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Ingredients
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100 grams carp
150 yellow chives
200 grams peanut oil
1 red bell pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
8 grams salt
5 grams MSG
2 grams sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbs water
1 gram pepper
1 egg, for it's white
1 tbs sesame oil, scant

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Instructions
---

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees. This will be used to keep the fish warm while finishing the recipe.
Cut chives into 1 to 1.5" lengths. Reserve. Cut the bell pepper into mouthfulls.
Make a marinade for the fish of: 1 beaten white, salt, cornstarch and MSG.
Cut the fish into mouthfulls and add to the marinade for 15 minutes. Mince the garlic and shred the ginger. Add 1 tbs of water to the cornstarch. Stir well and reserve.
While the fish is marinating, heat 200 grams of oil in a skillet. When the oil reach about 200 degrees F, add the fish and cook until golden brown. Remove the fish to a rack over a sheetpan covered with paper towels to a warm place.
Add the garlic and ginger. Stir 30 seconds. Add the chives and bell pepper. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the chives soften. Return the fish to the heat. Stir the cornstarch to mix well and add to the skillet. Add the MSG, sugar and pepper. Lastly season with the
sesame oil. Toss to blend and plate.
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Notes
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Cook's Note

I do not recommend the 200 degree temperature. Again, I give this recipe, untried by me. I would use a temperature of 250 to 300 for cooking.
Carp is the ingredient given in the recipe, but any firm white fish will work.
The recipe says that the oil consumption is but 8 grams.
Keep cooked fish oil separate from other cooked oil, or use a 1 inch
cube of potato to de-fish smell the cooking oil while it is hot. For
this recipe, after the meal is removed from the cooking utensil, heat
to 350 degrees F. and cook the 'tater until starting to brown.

The Hangtown Fry

Myth and Lore. That's what whets my appetite. I had never heard of the Hangtown Fry until I read the recipe in George Herter's Bull Cook. Say what you like about Herter, he often captured what was missing in every other cookbook.

I'm going to quote the recipe and auxiliary text in full.

“HANGTOWN FRY

In the eighteen hundreds San Francisco was quite a town. The Barbary Coast which was a section of saloons and houses of prostitution, was known all world over as second only to similar areas in Rio and Hong Kong. It catered to sailors who came to haul California’s grain to Europe. In places like Little Egypt and many others on the Barbary Coast if a sailor walked into a saloon and didn’t see three or four nude  women lounging around he got mad and went to a more up to date spot. As time went on the reformers hung so many of the Barbary Coast’s citizens that San Francisco gained the name of Hang Town.

In 1853 a man named Parker opened a saloon called Parker’s Bank Exchange in the Montgomery Block, a famous building built by General Halleck. Parker invented and served a dish called Hangtown Fry. Its fame spread all over San Francisco and the surrounding areas. A few drinks and a Hangtown Fry was and is considered a gentlemen’s evening.

The original Hangtown Fry was made like this. This recipe is for two healthy people. At today’s prices [1960--MP] it costs 46¢ a serving to make.

2 small fresh oysters or 12 canned oysters.
Eight eggs.
One onion about two inches in diameter.
One clove of garlic.
Six ounces Of ham or a half can of Spam or similar product.
Celery salt.
Hot pepper sauce or Tobasco sauce.

Take a large bowl and break eight eggs into the bowl. Take one onion about two inches in diameter and grate into the bowl. Add six ounces of finely chopped up ham or Spam. Mix well together. Dip 12 oysters into cracker crumbs and add the oysters to the mixture. Take a large frying pan and put a heaping tablespoon of butter into it and melt it. Add the egg mixture, being sure to spread out the oysters so that they are evenly spaced out in the mixture. On a slow heat fry until the eggs are done on both sides. Remove and place on a plate. Salt all over with celery salt. Take hot pepper sauce or Tobasco sauce and put six drops on a plate. take your finger and dip it into the sauce and rub a little on one side of each oyster. Serve at once. This is the finest of eating for those who
like seafood.

Today the real Hangtown Fry is no longer to be found in San Francisco or anywhere else. It still is on the menus but when you get it you get nothing but an egg omelet with oysters and a couple of pieces of bacon across the top. The real Hangtown Fry is too slow to make and too expensive for our modern day restaurants.


My purpose in reproducing this old recipe, is that the Olympia Oyster has made a . . . almost a comeback. Andrew Beahrs, writing in the Smithsonian Magazine says that Olympia Oyster has made a comeback. But, unless you are in Oregon or Washington, I believe you won't find them at your fish monger. The author talks about the "coppery note on the palate" and I would describe that as a tincture of iodine. You don't really taste the metal or chemical. But it's there. In a good way. Full Disclosure: I've not had an Olympia Oyster, I have had a Dublin Bay oyster. It was on the plate with my Steak and Kidney Pie dish at Rules Restaurant in London. It had a distinct metallic taste, yet so ephemeral as to be pleasant on the tongue. Rules put one oyster on the side of the plate. Their style. I believe it and more should have been cooked in the pie. That's another post.

I have made myself a Hangtown Fry for dinner with fresh shucked oysters. Even with ordinary oysters it's a joy to eat. And now I've made myself hungry.

Potato Salad with Dijon Mustard, Horseradish and Dill

I cannot put up a picture of this dish. It does not look nice. But . . . ooooh! the taste.

2 pounds waxy potatoes
3/4 cup or more Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise)
1 bunch scallions, white only, minced
1 bell pepper, seeded, peeled somewhat and diced
3/4 cup finely chopped dill
4 tbs. Dijon mustard
2 to 3 tbs. horseradish (extra hot or not, your choice)
1/4 cup malt vinegar
1 fl. oz. dill pickle juice from a jar.
2 tsp. salt for the salad
1 tbs. salt for the 'tater boiling water
1/2 tsp. white pepper
6 hardboiled eggs, well chilled

The malt vinegar gave the 'taters a brown-ish cast. Not at all appetizing looking.

Using a sharp pin (I use a push pin) make a pinprick in the top (wide side) of each egg. Bring a pot of water to a boil that covers the 6 eggs by 2 inches. Add the eggs with a slotted spoon. Return the pot of water to a boil. Watch carefully. The moment the water returns, remove from the heat, cover and set a count down timer for 18 minutes. When done, remove the eggs with a slotted spoon run the eggs under a cold water bath (at the sink) for 5 minutes. Return the pot of still hot water to a boil. After the eggs have chilled for the 5 minutes, put the eggs back in the boiling water for 90 seconds. Again remove them to the cold water bath for another 5 minutes, whence crack the eggs under running water, put in a bowl and refrigerate overnight, covered. Alternatively, if you have cooked the eggs on the day you are making the salad, put the eggs in the freezer, having previously dried them individually in a paper towel. They won't be completely dry, but the moisture won't cause them to stick and break the whites, either.

Mix the malt vinegar, dill pickle liquid and salt in a cup. Allow to stand, reserved, to give time for the salt to dissolve.

Bring the 'taters to a boil in salted water, lower the flame to a simmer and cook them 25 minutes. Remove the 'taters with a slotted spoon and drain them in a colander so the skins dry. That takes but a minute or two.

In a large bowl, put one of the hot potatoes. Mash it with a potato masher and add the vinegar liquid. Stir well to make a puree. Add the remaining potatoes and mash them and stir it well to incorporate the vinegar into the rest of the mashed 'taters. Next, add the mayonnaise and stir well to mix thoroughly, add the mustard and horseradish and stir thoroughly to incorporate. Add the dill and white pepper, mix in thoroughly then add the scallions and bell pepper. Mix. Slice the eggs and decorate the top of the salad with them. Allow the bowl to sit on the counter until the bottom is cool to the hand, about 1 hour. (This is a judgment call, I don't put warm food in the refrigerator.)  Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Serve.

Goes well with barbecued meats and hamburgers.

Master Sauce Eggs - a Chinese Variant on Hard Boiled Eggs 鹵水

Yummy eaten alone.

Here is my second batch of Lu Shui eggs. They were given as a Xmas gift to my bicycle repair shop owner, Deborah Xu of Tender Loving Cycle.

Deborah is from Guangzhou China and I love the fact that she can give me an honest opinion about my Chinese cooking.

My Master Sauce recipe is here:

Lu Shui

This recipe is a blending of Julia Child's and Ms. Xu's Father's method.

Julia Child's Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

Rule #1: Water should cover the eggs by 1 inch, so use a tall pan, and limit cooking to 2 dozen eggs at a time.

Rule #2: Take the eggs, directly from the refrigerator, do not bring them to room temperature. It is not absolutely necessary for this recipe.

Set over high heat and bring just to the boil; remove from heat, cover the pan, and let sit exactly 17 minutes.

CHINESE Addition/Improvement:

Bring the Lu Shui and eggs to a boil. Turn off the heat. At the 6 minute mark, remove the eggs, recover the pot. Gently crack the eggs. They will be too hot to touch, so use the back of a heavy spoon, or similar tool. I use a pestle. A quick sharp blow is all that is necessary. The yolks will not yet be set, but the whites nearest the shell will be set. Return the eggs as quickly as possible to the covered pot of lu shui. Allow the eggs to cool in it until the lu shui returns to room temperature. Or overnight. In winter, here in California, where it does not freeze, I leave the pot on my porch to cool overnight. 

The next morning, or when the pot is room temperature, remove the eggs, allow the sauce to drain and return the eggs to the refrigerator.

Ms. Xu has said she likes the flavor of my eggs. By the bye, the men of Guangzhou Province, are the family cooks.