Chinese Recipes | Cooking Tips | Good Eats

Dried Sole

Dried Sole - The meat portion

One of my new readers asked what is dried sole, and since I have a couple of pictures on hand, I thought I’d post them. Actually, I didn’t know what’s the name of this ingredient in English until I read it in Rasa Malaysia’s Stir-fried Brussels Sprout with Dried Sole post.

I cannot find dried sole in the Bay Area so I had my mom bring them for me when she came over to help with the new baby a few months ago. Thanks mom!

She brought the raw ingredient just so as to educate me on how a dried sole looks like, since I was only familiar with the fried end-product, as in Rasa Malaysia’s recipe pictures, and in Teochew, we call it “tee po” (sounds about right). They are usually cut into squares and then fried with a good amount of oil. The bony portion of the dried sole is difficult to cut, so do use a sharp pair of kitchen scissors and be careful!

I use dried sole quite a bit, like in soups, stir fried vegetables, Minced Pork with Tofu and Wantons. It is packed with flavor!

I still have a bottle of pre-fried dried sole stored in the freezer for use whenever I need it. Mmm… what shall I cook with it next?

Fried potatoes with beef cubes - how difficult can it be to make this dish right? This recipe which requires approximately 45 minutes of preparation and cooking time took me overnight!! :D How can this be? Well, I can only cook when the baby is sleeping, else I feel guilty not stimulating my baby during every bit of his waking hours :O A is for Asparagus, B is for Broccoli, C is for Crazy mom…

I did the prep work the day before:
- During one of Baby J’s short afternoon naps, which ranges from 20 minutes to 45 minutes, I washed and cubed the potatoes. I had more potatoes than I needed, so I actually cubed all four white potatoes, although I needed only two. I deep fried them and put them on paper towels to drain off the excess oil, then portioned them into two bags - one to be put into the freezer for future use, and the other for the next day.

- Baby J sleeps from 7:30pm-10:30pm every evening, which gives me time to have dinner, wash up, take a shower and surf the net or prepare meals for the next day. I took this time to cube and marinate the beef and cut the onion wedges to the amount I want. This really makes the actual cooking a breeze as everything is really and I just need to throw them together for a quick stir-fry.

Ingredients (serves 2-3):
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 lb beef, cubed (buy those that are meant for stir-frying)
- 1/4 onion, cut into thin wedges (or thick wedges if desired)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables, or more if desired. (Frozen vegetables are really handy!! I used a mix of corn, peas and carrot)
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 2 white potatoes, skinned, cubed, deep fried and seasoned with salt. (I feel that white potatoes are firmer than russet potatoes so when deep fried, they don’t mush up as easily.)
- a few sprigs of cilantro (for garnish only)

Marinate for beef:
- 1/4 pc beef stock, broken into small pieces and mixed with beef (this can be replaced with 1/2 tsp salt)
- a few dashes of black pepper (quantity is up to your own preference)
- 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce (oyster sauce makes this a Chinese recipe. :p)
- 1 tbsp rice wine (optional, can also use any other type of cooking wine)
- 2 tsp corn flour (add to marinated beef last, so that the beef can be marinated with the rest of the seasoning first, before the corn flour is used to “seal in” everything.)

Cooking Method:
1. Heat up 2 tbsp oil then stir fry minced garlic until fragrant.

2. Add marinated cubed beef and stir fry until half-cooked. Set aside. If baby cries, turn off stove, and check on baby. Carry baby for a while if required and ask baby for permission for mommy to finish cooking.

3. Add onions and frozen vegetables and stir fry until the onions reach the desired softness. If baby fusses, just let him fuss a bit more or else you will never ever finish cooking.

4. Return beef to wok and mix well. Add oyster sauce to taste.

5. Add fried potatoes and mix well. Garnish with cilantro. Check on baby and oh thank goodness! He is sleeping :)

Cook’s Notes:
- Beef need not be marinated overnight. Just before cooking will do.

- Oil needs to be very hot for frying potatoes else potatoes will end up soggy.

Conclusion:
Fried potatoes with beef cubes - an easy Chinese recipe only when the baby is sleeping.