Napa cabbage au gratin

Years ago, I asked Husband-then-Boyfriend to pick up a head of cabbage on the way home from work. I thought this would be fairly straightforward for an Irish lad. He came home with cabbage alright, but rather than the green or white variety that's commonly found in Ireland, he presented me with a head of napa cabbage. When I asked him how come he picked this 'exotic' variety, he said, rather logically, that he assumed I'd want it as I was Asian ...

So years later, whenever I see napa cabbage in the shops, I'm reminded of the incident and would enjoy an inner chuckle.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a beautiful head of napa cabbage and smokey cubed pancetta. For dinner, I made a dish that my mum used to make when I was a kid -- napa cabbage au gratin, complete with homemade, wheat-free Bechamel.

Napa cabbage au gratin

Taiwanese stir-fried rice vermicelli 炒米粉

Taiwanese stir-fried brown rice vermicelli

Mala soup base 麻辣湯底

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching a course on Chinese history, culture, and business and in the last class, I talked about Chinese cuisine. As I went through the Eight Culinary Traditions and explained the different flavours and textures, I was hit with a serious craving for Sichuan mala spices that demanded to be satisfied. So after class, I promptly visited Asia Market and got the necessary ingredients to make my version of mala tofu hot pot (麻辣豆腐鍋).

Mala tofu hot pot with mung bean sheets

Spicy beef & cabbage soup

I had a yen for a nourishing soupy dish for the past week. I think it has something to do with the weather, which has been wet and chilly. So I picked up some stewing beef from the butcher's last week and a big head of savoy cabbage earlier this week and prepared to make spicy beef and cabbage soup. Even though today turned out rather warm, showing the first sign of spring, I still went ahead as planned.

Spicy beef & cabbage soup