Western food
Making ribs and potato salad on the Fourth of July!
Ah, the Fourth of July. The big holiday to celebrate our independence from the British – and I’m in China. Well, though I am far away from home, it is that distance that makes me go so far to learn how to cook! I was craving delicious BBQ ribs and potato salad, which is typical Fourth of July fare. I had never made it before, but I did a little bit of research online, made a few modifications, and came up with a couple delicious recipes! Here is the product of what I spent yesterday afternoon cooking:
The labor altogether probably took me about three hours, but it was well worth it! Here are what you need to make both the potato salad and the ribs.
Ribs Ingredients:
- 1-1.5 kg of pork ribs
- Bottled BBQ sauce (I used Heinz)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp Ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Ground red pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Salt
Potato Salad Ingredients:
- 5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 white onion chopped fine
- 1 bunch of celery chopped fine
- 1 big teaspoon of mayonnaise (The more the better usually)
- One big teaspoon of mustard
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp ground pepper
Let’s get to how you make these delicious dishes! Let’s just start with the potato salad:
Potato Salad:
To make the potato salad, start by peeling and chopping your potatoes into chunks. Next, boil the potatoes in a pot for 15-17 minutes. Drain into a colander and let cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, chop the white onion and celery fine. Once the potatoes have cooled a bit, combine the potatoes with the chopped celery and onion, the mustard, the mayonnaise, and the salt and pepper. Mix together until the mayonnaise is well distributed. I only used one big teaspoon for my salad because I don’t like excessive mayo – You can even double up on it though if you want it a little creamier. Put it all into a bowl and wrap it in plastic, and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes – 1 hour to chill it. Delicious!
Next, let’s move onto the ribs.
To make these mouthwatering ribs, start by combining the brown sugar with the salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic powder, and the brown sugar in a bowl and mixing it all together. Pour it out onto a tray or some kind of surface and spread it out. Wash and pat dry the ribs with some paper towels. Then start by dipping the ribs into the rub, and be sure to get each rib well coated on both sides with the rub. Cover your cooking tray in aluminum foil. Once all the ribs are coated, pop them into the oven at 150 degrees celsius (300 Fahrenheit) for 2 hours. When they are done, pull them out and remove the foil and then cover them with your bottled barbecue sauce. Brush them with a sauce brush to get them well coated. Place them in the oven for 5 more minutes, remove and brush the other side, and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Then remove the ribs, let them cool for a few minutes and enjoy this delectable Fourth of July treat! Feel free to check out the recipe video for both of these dishes from my YouTube channel below!
How to make Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwiches
Living in China, Chinese food can get quite boring. That is why I started cooking – before I came to China 2 years ago, I really had no prior knowledge to cooking. After two years of learning, I decided to take my experience to the internet. I like to try and come up with new things all the time, and recently I was really craving some good honey mustard chicken sandwiches. So I came up with a quick and simple recipe using only 7 simple ingredients to make this glorious sandwich you see below:
Ingredients:
- 2 italian bread rolls
- 1-2 tsp mustard
- 1-2 tsp honey
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tomato sliced
- 1 onion sliced
- 2 chicken breasts
To make this sandwich, start by boiling the two chicken breasts in a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes exactly. This will ensure they are not overboiled and are relatively juicy on the inside still. While the chicken is boiling, slice up your tomatoes and onions, and also slice your bread loaves into halves. To make the honey mustard, simply combine the mustard, honey and the mayonnaise into a mixing bowl and stir it until the mixture gets creamy like the honey mustard you are used to seeing.
After the chicken is done boiling, remove the breasts from the pot and slice the breasts into long strips, turning them and slicing them into smaller chunks. When both breasts are cut up into a nice pile of pieces, transfer all the chicken into the bowl with the honey mustard. Stir the chicken together so the honey mustard coats all the chicken pieces nice and evenly.
Now it’s time to make your sandwiches! Using a spoon, spoon out the chicken and honey mustard mixture onto the bread, spreading it out evenly. Cover the chicken with 2 tomato slices and a few sliced onions, and press the sandwich together with the other half of the bread. Cut the sandwich in half for optimal presentation.
I consider this recipe healthier than others because I didn’t use salt, and I didn’t fry the chicken. It’s simply boiled and mixed in with the sauce, and that’s it. I really think you’ll be surprised at how much flavor these sandwiches pack in there – they’re excellent! Check out the recipe on our YouTube video, below!
Cooking up some Chinese style carne asada!
Today is Sunday, our day of rest. Of course for me, it’s always a day of cooking, too. Using my new Canon G7X I filmed a recipe for tudou niurou, 牛肉和土豆, or beef and potatoes.
The recipe itself is very simple, and the ingredients are few:
- 5-6 medium potatoes with the skins included
- 350-500g cubed beef
- Garlic powder
- Red pepper
- Cumin
- Salt
- 1 whole onion chopped
- Cilantro (optional)
- 2 teaspoons Chinese lajiao (拉脚) OR
- 2-3 red chili peppers chopped with seeds
Directions: Cut the potatoes in cubes and cut the beef into smaller cubes, like the size of what you would see in a Mexican style burrito. Add olive oil to pan and let it heat up for 10-20 seconds. Add potatoes, stir to coat in oil, then leave for 10-12 minutes minimum. While the potatoes are cooking, slice the beef and the whole onion. Also, add 2 teaspoons of lajiao or 2-3 chopped red chili peppers at this time. After potatoes have been cooking for 12 minutes, add the beef and spices. Stir, and allow to cook for 5 minutes more. After 5 minutes goes by, add the onion and some more spices if desired and cook for 3-5 moe minutes. Add in chopped cilantro at the end and stir it in. Serve and enjoy!
Check out the recipe on my cooking channel below!
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