Chinese food Sunday

The boy and I went to a little Chinese restaurant on Mass Ave on Sunday called Qingdao Garden for brunch. (It's named after the same city as Tsingtao beer.) A Chinese friend of mine in my department recommended it for dim sum. It was a bit out of the way, probably a good 15 minute walk from the Porter T-stop. Mr. D was very hungry by the time we got there at 1 pm; unfortunately, as the restaurant was only staffed by one waiter, we had a wait before we could get the menus and order. We had two orders of dumplings, which were called "three delight dumplings" and "fried meat buns" on the menu. The three delight dumplings were steamed, whereas the fried meat buns were steamed dumplings that were then pan-fried, forming a nice solid crispy bottom. Mr. D joked that they were the opposite of me: crispy on top, but soft on bottom :). Being oinkers, we also had sweet and sour pickled cucumbers, fried cruller, spareribs with mushrooms, and an order of rice, all of which were pretty good. We felt that the restaurant had an "authentic" flavor, lots of distinctive tastes, unlike eating dim sum at some restaurants in Chinatown where many of the dishes have a homogenous taste to them. It's not gourmet food, but it's good food. It's a bit of the schlep to get there but we'd probably go there again.

After that huge meal I walked home (3.5 miles!) and lazed about in the afternoon. For dinner, we ate a dish that I make fairly often, mainly because it's easy for me to remember the ingredients when I'm at the store and also because it's easy to make:

Stir-fried Beef with Broccoli and Mushrooms

3/4 lb. beef, sirloin or chuck, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. sherry
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. sesame oil
3/4 lb. broccoli, cut into florets
4 tbsp. peanut oil
1 tbsp. ginger, cut into shreds
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 oz. white mushrooms, sliced into 1/4-inch slices
3 tbsp. oyster sauce
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Add the soy sauce, cornstarch, sherry, and sesame oil to the beef and marinate for 20 minutes. While the beef is marinating, cook the broccoli in boiling salted water for about 3-4 minutes. (Note: I like my broccoli softer than most people seem to, so maybe 2-3 minutes would be better.) Drain and set aside in a bowl.

Heat 2 tbsp peanut oil in a skillet over high heat. When hot, add the beef and stir-fry for a few minutes until the beef is brown. Remove the beef and liquids to the broccoli bowl.

Wipe the skillet clean, and heat the remaining 2 tbsp peanut oil in the skillet over high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, and mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the oyster sauce. Heat until bubbling, then add the broccoli, beef, and scallions. Remove from heat, and serve with rice.

A cross between recipes from Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food and Ken Hom's Chinese Cooking, so it's probably far from definitive/authentic.

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On a non-Chinese-food-related note, I made this Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli recipe today. As you can see from the picture, the results are pretty funky-looking; the red wine dyes the spaghetti a purplish color, and then for contrast you have the green broccoli. The taste? Not bad, tasting strongly of the wine used, which in my case was an $8 bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz. I think it would work better as an accompaniment rather than a main course.