Stir-Fried Beef and Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce

Beef Marinade:

1.5 to 2 pounds flank steak
3 tablespoons Soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons rice wine
1..5 teaspoons sesame oil
1.5 teaspoons garlic
1.5 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup vegetable oil

1..5 pounds Chinese broccoli, stems and leaves cut into 3 inch pieces
2.5 tablespoons rice wine
1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
2.5 tablespoons oyster sauce
.5 teaspoon sugar
.5 teaspoon salt
.75 cup water
1.5 teaspoons minced ginger
1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
3 teaspoons corn starch dissolved in 5 teaspoons water

Trim away any fat or gristle from the meat..  Cut lenthwise with the grain into strips about 2 inches wide.  Cut the strips, across the grain, into thin slices about 1/16 inch thick.  Place the meat in the bowl with the rest of the 'marinade' ingredients, toss to coat and let marinate for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the rice wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, salt and water..

Heat the wok, add 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat until very hot.  Stir-fry half the beef until the meat changes color and separates.  Repeat with the rest of the beef.  Wipe off the wok, add 2 tablespoons oil and reheat until very hot.  Add the ginger, garlic and stir-fry for 15 seconds until fragrant.  Add the Chinese broccoli, tos well, and add the oyster sauce mixture.  Cover and let the Chinese broccoli cook, 4 to 5 minutes, until crisp-tender.  Add the cooked beef and cornstarch mixture.  Toss and cook until sauce thickens, 30 seconds.

Steamed Eggplant with Sesame-Shallot Sauce

1.5 pounds Chinese eggplant (5 to 6), stems removed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
.5 cup plus 4 tablespoons minced shallots
1.5 tablespoons sesame seed paste
.33 cup water
1.5 tablespoons rice wine
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoons vinegar
.75 teaspoon pepper flakes

Green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Partiallly peel the eggplants in strips and place into a steamer.  Steam for 5 minutes or until tender.  Test by inserting a fork into the flesh; it should go in easily.  Remove from heat.  With a fork "cut" along the length of the eggplant and open to create strips.

While the eggplants are steaming, heat wok and add the vegetable oil until very hot.  Add the half cup of shallots.  Lower the heat to medium and cook until soft, 3 minutes.  Add the sesame seed paste and water and mix well.  Add the rest of the ingredients except the 4 tablespoons of shallots.  When the sauce boils, take it off the heat and pour over the eggplant strips.  Sprinkle with remaining shallots and sliced green onions.

Sauteed 'mystery vegetable' with garlic and fermented tofu:

1.5 pounds vegetable
3 teaspoons garlic
..5 to 1 teaspoon fermented tofu
3 tablespoons oil

Heat wok with oil until very hot.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant then add the fermented tofu and vegetable.  Cook until vegetables are just cooked through.  Season will salt to taste.

Twice-Fried Long Beans with Black Bean Sauce

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons fermented black beans, mashed
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
soy sauce to taste
a couple pinches of sugar
chili sauce to taste

2 bunches long beans, cut into 2.5 inch sticks
3 cups vegetable oil

Heat oil in wok to 350F.  Place long beans in a strainer and flash fry for 1.5 to 2 minutes until softened.  Drain over towel.  Remove oil from wok leaving a few teaspoons.  Add the fermented black beans and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.  Add the beans and toss.  Add soy sauce, sugar and chili sauce to taste.

Chinese table manners

Many of these rules concern the use of chopsticks. Generally, Chinese table manners are more informal than the West, although there are more rules concerning interactions with other guests due to high levels of social interaction as a result of the communal style of serving.

Chopstick usage:
-Chopsticks should always be held correctly, i.e. between the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand.
-When not in use, chopsticks must always be placed neatly on the table with two sticks lying tidily next to each other at both ends. Failure to do so is symbolic of the way a dead is placed in a coffin before the funeral and is a major faux pas.
-Chopsticks are traditionally held in the right hand only, even for the left-handed. Although chopsticks may now be found in either hand, a few still consider left-handed chopstick use improper etiquette. One explanation for the treatment of such usage as improper is that within the confines of a round table this may be inconvenient.
-Never point the chopsticks at another person. This amounts to insulting that person and is a major faux pas.
-Never wave your chopsticks around as if they were an extension of your hand gestures.
-Never bang chopsticks like drumsticks. This is akin to telling others at the table you are a beggar.
-Never use chopsticks to move bowls or plates.
-Never suck the chopsticks.
-Decide what to pick up before reaching with chopsticks, instead of hovering them over or rummaging through dishes.
-To keep chopsticks off the table, they can be rested horizontally on one's plate or bowl; a chopstick rest(commonly found in restaurants) can also be used.
-When picking up a piece of food, never use the tips of your chopsticks to poke through the food as with a fork; exceptions include tearing apart larger items such as vegetables. In more informal settings, smaller items or those more difficult to pick up such as cherry tomatoes or fishballs may be stabbed, but this is frowned upon by traditionalists.
-Never stab chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice, as this resembles incense sticks used at temples to pay respects to the deceased. This is considered the ultimate dinner table faux pas.

Communal chopsticks
-When there are communal chopsticks, it is considered impolite to use your own chopsticks to pick up the food from the shared plate, or to eat using the communal chopsticks.
-It is considered impolite to use the blunt end of one's own chopsticks to transfer food from a common dish to one's own plate or bowl; use the communal chopsticks instead.
-An exception to the above can usually be made in intimate settings such as at home.

Other eating utensils
-If noodle soup is served, many consider a more elegant way to eat by picking the noodle into a serving spoon first, and eating from the spoon, rather than slurping directly from the bowl into the mouth using chopsticks.
-Chinese traditionally eat rice from a small bowl held in the left hand. The rice bowl is raised to the mouth and the rice pushed into the mouth using the chopsticks. Some Chinese find it offensive to scoop rice from the bowl using a spoon. If rice is served on a plate, as is more common in the West, it is acceptable and more practical to eat it with a fork or spoon. The thumb must always be above the edge of the bowl.

Eating from common dishes
-Pick the food on the dish that is at the top and nearest to you in distance. Never rummage through the dish or pick from the far side for your favorite food.
-In general, more conservative Chinese frown upon the practice of picking more than one or two bites of food in your bowl or serving plate as if you were eating in the Western way. Most Chinese would understand the practice during infectious disease epidemics, or if the person is from the West.
-If both a serving bowl - separate from rice bowl - and plate are provided, never put any food items to be eaten onto the serving plate. This rule may be relaxed for foreigners.
-If a dish is soupy, pull the serving bowl near the serving dish and reduce the distance the chopsticks need carrying the food. Spilling plenty of sauce on the table is a major faux pas.
-After you have picked up a food item, do not put it back in the dish.

Seniority and guests at the table
-The elderly or guest(s) of honour are usually the first to start the meal.
-The youngest or least senior may serve the eldest or most senior first, as part of the Confucian value of respecting seniors.
-The youngest on the table addresses all of the elder members at the table before starting, perhaps telling them to please "eat rice" as a signal to help themselves.
-The best food in a dish should be left to the elderly, children, or the guest of honour, even if they are one's favourite.
-The eldest person present, or the guest of honour, is given a seat facing the door.
-When the hostess says her food is not good enough, the guest must disagree and tell her it is one of the finest foods they have ever tasted.

Drinks
-The host should always make sure everyone's cups are not empty for long. One should not pour for oneself, but if thirsty should first offer to pour for a neighbor. When your drink is being poured, you should say "thank you", and/or tap your index and middle finger on the table to show appreciation, especially when you are in Southern China, e.g. Guangdong Province.
-When people wish to clink drinks together in the form of a cheer, it is important to observe that younger members should clink the rim of their glass below the rim of an elder's to show respect.
-Strong alcohol, called baijiu [pronounced "by joe"], is often served throughout the meal; and it is customary for the host[s]/hostess[es] to insist that guests drink to "show friendship." If the guests prefers not to drink, they may say, "I'm unable to drink, but thank you." [in Mandarine: "Wo bu neng he jiu, xie xie." {whoa boo nung huh joe}] The host may continue to insist that the guests drink, and the guests may likewise continue to insist upon being "unable" to drink. The host's insistance is to show generosity. Therefore, refusal by the guests should be made with utmost politeness. Beware: If a guest drinks alcohol with a subordinate at the table, the guest will be expected [if not forced] to drink a glass of the same alcohol with each superior at that table, and possibly at other tables too -- if the guest has not passed out yet.

Smoking
-Smoking is customary when dining, and the host will often pass out cigarettes to all [men] around the table. If the guest prefers not to smoke, she/he should just politely refuse.

Miscellaneous
Some people sit at least 1 metre (3 chi) from the dining table so they will not be literally rubbing elbow with other guests.
When eating food that contains bones, it is customary that the bones be spat out onto the table to the right of the dining plate in a neat pile.


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About the Chinese Greens Workshop:

by Linh Phu, former Chef at Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco. Please note that this workshop will begin in the grocery stores of Oakland Chinatown to see and talk about the greens and then move to OACC.

Take a walk with Linh Phu through the bustling streets of Oakland's Chinatown to unearth the mysteries of Asian summer vegetables.  Students will learn to identify less commonly known and used vegetables and herbs, learn their flavor profiles and usage.  They will then head back to the kitchen to cook up a few classic Cantonese dishes. 

Linh Phu began cooking at an early age where she spent her childhood tinkering around in the kitchen with her mother whose culinary influences include Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Cambodian cookery.  During her teenage years she became a staunch vegetarian and began experimenting with different ingredients and cooking styles.  Though she is no longer a vegetarian, it was this act of being aware of what and how we eat that was the driving force behind her cooking regardless of style and cuisine.  This love of cooking and passion for sharing it will others lead her to pursue a career in the restaurant industry.  She has worked at several restaurants in the Bay Area including the celebrated Millennium Restaurant and Delfina.

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The Seasonal Dishes series is made possible, in part by grants from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Wells Fargo Foundation, Alameda County Arts Commission, City of Oakland, East Bay Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, U.S. Bank, NCB, and other donors.