Cantonese Ginger Scallion Lobster

Zoe Yang and her mom, Iris Zhao, bring us this show-stopping recipe for their most beloved Chinese-American dish: Ginger Scallion Lobster.

"If you’ve never heard of ginger scallion lobster (cōng jiāng chǎo lóngxiā, 葱姜炒龙虾)," Zoe writes, "maybe you’ve heard of Cantonese-style lobster—they are the same thing. Yes, some version of this dish probably originated in the banquet halls of Guangdong or Hong Kong (the techniques involved are classically Cantonese), but I’d argue that the version most of us know and love was probably invented in Boston, Massachusetts."

You'll have to read the story to see how she proves this theory and to learn how to make the dish the way her family always did once they moved from China to Boston. The first, unnerving step is to butcher the live lobster, but Zoe provides clear instructions for doing so efficiently and humanely. And you know it's going to be worth it!
 

Chongqing Lobster With Chilies

Hunan Pickled Chilies With Garlic

Indispensable in Hunan cuisine, the fermented chopped chillies called duojiao are to Hunan what douban paste is to Sichuan, making frequent appearances in stir-fries and steamed dishes. Kathy Yuan tackled this recipe for us, and found it be quite simple:

"Named for the physical dicing action (剁, duò) you use to cut up the chilies, 剁椒 duòjiāo, literally “diced peppers,” are pickled chilies traditionally made from Hunan’s fresh, thin-skinned, typically red peppers. Pickling preserves the chilies’ sun-ripened redness for longer-term cooking, and the lacto-fermenting process results in a sour-and-spicy flavor beloved in Hunan. 

"In Hunan, making duojiao is a quick process from start to finish: Chilies are chopped whole, seed-in and skin-on, and the ferment is ready after a few days in such hot weather. At its core, duojiao is just chilies and salt, but for versatility, many home cooks also add garlic and/or ginger, as I’ve done in my recipe. More often than not, duojiao dishes also call for garlic and ginger; if you add them to the pickle from the start, you don’t have to mince them fresh every time. You can also run big batches of minced garlic and ginger in a food processor with a fraction of the effort it takes to hand-mince a single portion of these aromatics."

Now is the time to harvest some red chilies from your garden or the farmer's market and make some duojiao to get you through the winter! If you're a big fan of chili sauce, you can make a good-sized batch of it in the new 1.5 liter glass Chinese fermentation jar we introduced last month. 
 

How to Cook With Dried Chilies

I took this photo at the Chengdu wholesale spice market, Wukauishi, in 2014. Back then it was a wonderland of chilies and Sichuan pepper and spices as far as the eye could see, with hundreds of merchants servicing thousands of chefs and makers each day. 

I'm sad to report that 10 years later, it is but a shadow of its former self. When Fongchong and I visited in May, we were so happy to see the chili and spice displays as we entered. But as we continued walking, we realized that the entire inside of the massive shed had gone dark. The hundreds of vendors that had lined the aisles there are gone, leaving just an empty shell and a scattering of merchants around the perimeter. 

We finally questioned one, and she said that the ongoing construction of a skyscraper right next to the market had run off most merchants. It wasn't clear why, but I'm guessing they did not have enough good access points to operate efficiently. It also wasn't clear where they went, if anywhere. But we'll try to figure that out next visit. 

We don't buy our chilies or spices from the wholesale market because we source directly from the growing regions, but it is (was) a fascinating place to visit. 

See our guide How to Cook With Dried Chilies to read more about our chili varieties, find recipes featuring them, and learn how to use and store them. 

And guess what? We have two new chili varieties—from Guizhou and Xinjiang—coming later in the year!