Chinese-American Cooking Pioneer's Recipes

If you go to Chinese restaurants for the Crispy Orange Beef or General Tso's Chicken, among so many other dishes, you're eating creations of Michael Tong, owner of New York City's Shun Lee restaurants.

They've drawn roughly 10 million customers, and counting.

Tong revolutionized the way we eat Chinese food in the United States, and his first book, "The Shun Lee Cookbook," enables you to make his high-end cuisine in your own home.

He is responsible for introducing Chinese cuisine from all regions of China, not just Cantonese cooking, which is what was available in the U.S. before Tong entered the business.

Tong visited The Early Show Wednesday with recipes for some delicious dishes:

BEAN CURD SALAD

All you have to do is buy those individual boxes of bean curd. I prefer medium-soft, not very firm. Just cut into 24 cubes, cut horizontally, then in half. Then, on-hand, you have some sesame oil and soy sauce; if you don't eat spicy foods, don't use the Sichuan hot bean paste. All you need are chopped scallions and pickles, and if you don't have the pickles, it's OK. Then, if you have some walnuts, cashews or peanuts, you can sprinkle them on top; if you don't like nuts, then fine. You can put some greens or vegetables underneath; you can do spinach, tomatoes, anything. I don't want to set a vegetable, I want people to pull out whatever they want from the fridge. You can boil the bean curd in hot water for 10 seconds, if you don't want to eat it raw. Then, when it's cooked, you toss it with the sauce. You can even do it in the morning and serve it at night, if you want. It's so easy.

You can eat this dish as a summer delight salad, or as a meat. You can garnish it with sautéed bean sprouts or string beans, or you can toss it with spinach or endive or tomato. Whatever you want. I want people to feel like it's easy. And, there is NO MSG involved. It's easy to follow and looks very nice.

The Chinese use bean curd in all its shapes and forms — silken, soft, firm and dried — for appetizers, soups and main courses. This dish, which combines silken bean curd with a crunchy topping of cashews, scallions and Sichaun preserved vegetable, is actually a traditional breakfast dish that accompanies jook, the rice gruel that many Chinese eat in the morning. It is also a perfect summer lunch dish.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.

Bean Curd Salad:

3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese black or balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons hot bean paste
1 tablespoon minced Sichuan preserved vegetable, rinsed
2 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed and minced
1/4 cup roasted salted cashews, lightly crushed into tiny pieces (see Note)

1. Place the bean curd on a serving plate. Cut it in half horizontally. Cut each half into quarters crosswise, then in the other direction into thirds, so you have 12 cubes in each layer, or 24 cubes in all. Pour off any liquid.
2. To make the sauce, mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, rice wine, hot bean paste, and sugar in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the sauce over the bean curd. Sprinkle the preserved vegetable and scallions over the bean curd, and then the cashews. Serve immediately.

Note: To quickly mince the cashews, close them in a self-sealing plastic bag and then crush them very finely with an empty bottle or a rolling pin. Of course you can use a knife, but this method contains the nuts and keeps them from jumping all over the chopping board.

For more of Tong's recipes, go to Page 2.POACHED SEA BASS

For this dish, we use 10 cups of water in a wok, but if you don't have a wok, you can use a pot. Put the water in and, when it's boiling, you hold the fish tail and gradually put it in; don't put it in too fast, because you don't want the fish sticking to the bottom. Then, let the water boil for 10 seconds and stop the fire, and cover the wok and let simmer for about 7-8 minutes (for a two-pound fish). Then, take the fish out and put it on a plate. You already shred your ginger and scallions, and you can use any oil and splash it on the fish and add cilantro or some red pepper for a little color. And you can get the fish from anywhere. We serve the whole fish with the head and the tail because we're approaching the Chinese New Year, and the whole fish means abundance, so you can't chop the head or tail off. You don't have to eat the head or tail, but you keep it on.

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare a whole fresh fish: poached, with a sauce drizzled over it at the last moment. Poaching is an ancient cooking technique that is also perfect for people who want low-carb, low-fat dishes. Here, it results in a silken fish that isn't overcooked.

Makes 4 servings.

Poached Sea Bass Cantonese:

One 2-pound sea bass, scaled and cleaned, with head and tail intact
4 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed
Three 1/8 -inch thick slices peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
6 scallions, trimmed, white and green parts separated and cut into
thin 2-inch-long strips (1 cup)
Six 1/8-inch thick slices peeled fresh ginger, cut into thin strips
6 cilantro sprigs

1. Bring 10 cups of water to a boil in a large wok over high heat. Starting right behind the gill, make five evenly spaced cuts on each side of the fish, cutting down to, but not through, the bone (this will help the fish cook evenly).
2. Holding the fish by the tail, slide it gently down the side of the wok into the boiling water. Cover the wok, and return the water to a boil for 10 seconds. Turn off the heat, uncover the wok, and add the whole scallions, sliced ginger, and rice wine. Cover again, and let the fish stand in the hot water until the flesh flakes easy from the bone when prodded gently with a chopstick, about 7 minutes. If necessary, cover again and let the fish stand for another few minutes until the flesh flakes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small saucepan over high heat until it shimmers. Mix the soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl.
4. To serve, use two spatulas or shallow scoops to transfer the fish to a platter. Sprinkle the white scallions strips over the fish, then sprinkle with the green strips and the ginger strips. Pour the hot oil over the fish, and then drizzle with the soy sauce mixture. Garnish with the cilantro and serve immediately.

RED-COOKED BEEF SHORT RIBS

This dish may sound complicated, but it's really very simple. Red-cooking is like French red wine stew: They make the short ribs and oxtails and duck comfit; it's all slow cooking. For this, you pan-sear both sides and cut the short ribs to 3/4 inch thick; two-to-three pounds is one serving. Pan-sear a little bit and add ginger, garlic and scallions. Pour the ingredients and put in the ribs and boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours; you don't even have to look at it! You can do a pressure cooker and set a timer and go back once in a while to stir a little. Then, just boil the sauce until it's reduced to about 3/4 cup, and that's it. Once finished, pour the sauce over the short ribs.

When it comes to side dishes, it's all the same thing. I don't want any garnishes with vegetables. I put fresh vegetables on the table. Add a little ginger and chicken stock to the bok choy, and that's your side dish. We don't put vegetables in the main dishes because then you dilute the flavor of the beef and it would create more liquid. Better to cook a crunchy vegetable and have it on the side!

Inspired by chef Daniel Boulud's short ribs braised in red wine, I experimented using the traditional red-cooked technique that is popular in the ancient cities around Shanghai: Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and Wuxi. Red-cooking uses soy sauce and sugar and, traditionally, the technique means braising the food, usually meat, until meltingly tender. The ribs are nestled on a bed of spinach. The meat is taken off the bones to enable diners to use chopsticks.

Makes 2 to 4 servings

Red-Cooked Beef Short Ribs:

2 1/2 pounds beef short ribs, cut by the butcher into 8 pieces about 2 inches long
5 cups dry sherry or red wine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 scallions, white and green parts, trimmed
One 1 1/2-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, flattened with a cleaver
Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks
3 dried small hot red chilies
3 whole star anise
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 pound spinach

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the short ribs and cook for 1 minute to remove some of the surface fat. Drain in a colander.
2. Combine the sherry, sugar, soy sauce, scallions, ginger, cinnamon sticks, chilies, star anise, white pepper, and 3 cups of water in a flameproof casserole. Stir to mix. Add the short ribs, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the meat is fork-tender, about 2½ hours.
3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the short ribs to a chopping board. Cut the meat from the bones, transfer the meat to a bowl, and discard the bones. Remove the scallions, ginger, and whole spices from the sauce. Boil the sauce, uncovered, until it is syrupy, glossy, and reduced to 3/4 cup, about 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spinach and cook until tender, about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain in a colander. Place the spinach on a platter.
5. Return the short rib meat to the casserole and cook to heat through. Spoon the meat and sauce over the spinach, and serve immediately.