Chinese Chive Flowers and Salted Black Beans Stir Fry - Wait till You Find Out This Dish's Real Name

This recipe calls for Chinese chive flowers, which is basically the same thing as Chinese chives but come with flower buds at the tips. The flower version carries a lighter aroma compared to Chinese chives. These two are interchangeable. However, the salted black beans (蔭豆鼓) cannot be substituted in any way.

Chinese chive flowers and salted black beans stir fry -

Ingredients?

• 0.7 lb ground pork
• 1 medium bundle Chinese chive flowers
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 sprigs Chinese basil (optional)
• 2 red chilies
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• 2 1/2 tablespoons salted black beans
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon homemade chili sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Traditionally, this dish doesn't use any Chinese basil, but I happened to have some in the kitchen. Figured just a small amount of finely chopped Chinese basil would add more depth and aroma to the stir fry, why not?

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Discard the chili stems and finely chop the remaining. Take the Chinese basil leaves and finely chop them. Also chop the Chinese chive flowers into small pieces.

Drizzle enough oil to evenly coat the bottom of the pan and turn to medium heat. Add in chopped garlic and chilies. Cook till the garlicky aroma comes out but not burning them, lower the heat a little if necessary. 

Turn the heat up a little and add in ground pork, give it a quick stir, about 30 seconds. Add in salted black beans and mix well.

Pour in the soy sauce from the side of the pan along with Shaoxing wine. Also add the sugar and chili sauce. Keep stir frying for another minute or two.

Transfer the chopped Chinese chive flowers and Chinese basil into the mixture and cook for one more minute. Taste and adjust the flavor with salted black beans. Using more salted black beans can bring up the saltiness and sweetness levels.

On a side note, this dish actually has a not-so-tasty name in Chinese. Its pronunciation "tson yin tou," 蒼蠅頭, which literally translated to "flies' heads." The salted black beans somehow look like flies' heads and that's how this dish was named. I didn't want to mention it in the beginning in case some of you got scared away before even get a chance to see how delicious flies' heads actually are (wink).


Other Asian stir fry recipes:

• Taiwanese dried radish and salted black beans stir fry - 辣炒豆鼓蘿蔔乾
• Chinese side dish recipe: spicy cabbage and Matsuzaka pork stir fry
• Bento side dish recipe: chicken and corn stir fry
• Pickled small gai choy and ground pork stir fry - 雪裡紅炒豬肉
• Let's team up - cauliflower and broccoli stir fry
• Spicy stir fry with thick cut Matsuzaka pork and salted black beans 辣炒松阪豬
• Simple Chinese stir fry using bamboo shoots and asparagus
• Stir fry bamboo shoot cubes with marinated pork belly

Savory Muffin Recipe: Jalapeño and Cheddar Cheese Muffins

More cheese please! 

First time trying out this recipe and was very happy with the oozing result. These savory muffins make a great weekend brunch item or afternoon snack. The use of heavy cream seemed to add even more moisture to the flour mixture. The leftover muffins were stored in the fridge and later heated up in the oven using medium low heat before serving. The texture wasn't dry at all even after days storing in such dry and cold environment. 

Confession time, I actually ate two in a row because the oozing cheese inside and the crunchy edge were too addicting. Do not attempt this recipe if you're on a diet. 


Jalapeño and Cheddar cheese muffins -

Ingredients (for 6 large ones or 8 medium ones)?

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons pickled jalapeño plus additional slices for the topping
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

How?

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line the muffin tray with paper muffin liners. Melt the butter and let it cool down a little bit before mixing with other ingredients.

Chop the pickled jalapeño into tiny pieces and save a few slices to decorate the muffins. This recipe uses Cheddar cheese so the muffins are on the slightly salty side. Reduce the amount of salt by half if preferred. 

In a big bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

Take another big bowl, mix together heavy whipping cream, egg, and melted butter. Blend till fully incorporated. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two batches and blend well. Lastly, fold in diced jalapeño and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Scoop the batter into prepared muffin cups. Top each muffin with one jalapeño slice and press it down gently.

Into the oven and bake for 22 to 25 minutes. It can be hard to remove the liner from hot muffins. Just wait till it cools down a little and the liner should peel off easily.

Simply store the leftover muffins in the fridge and reheat in the oven before serving. 150 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes, make sure the center is warm in order to get the best oozing effect from the Cheddar cheese.

Check out the oozing cheese in the center -

I should start baking more savory muffins, these are just too addicting.