Chinese Smashed Cucumber Salad

Tonight, we ‘threw together’ a meal that, like always, left me in awe of my grandmother. Not because the meal was particularly complicated or unusual, but just seeing my nai nai in action is inspiring. She can barely walk a block without sitting down for a rest (she’s 90 – it’s cool), but get her in the kitchen, and she will take a cleaver to a bunch of cukes like nobody’s business. Lucky for us, that means we often get to enjoy her cucumber salad dish – particularly delightful on an indian summer day.

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Chinese Cold Noodles Recipe

Happy Summer Solstice! Chinese cold noodles or Liang Mian (涼麵) is a deliciously savory yet refreshing snack or meal that’s perfect for hot summer days. It’s a great dish to take to picnics, barbecues, camping…

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Soba Noodle Salad

Mom has been away on vacation, so in her absence, I’ve been taking a page out of her book and experimenting with some dishes I’ve always wanted to reverse engineer. In this case, we’re tackling Soba Noodle Salad, a Japanese or Asian Fusion dish, depending on who you ask.

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Zha Jiang Mian (or Chinese Spaghetti)

There are many names for this classic Chinese dish – Zha Jiang Mian, Chinese Fried Sauce noodles, Spicy Pork noodles, 炸醬麵, etc. Growing up in the Jeng family, however, this dish was most commonly known as Chinese Spaghetti.

Noodles and meat sauce? What’s not to love?!

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