A regular night at the stove

Last night was just a regular night at the stove. Being in China I try to cook the Chinese way, which is usually to cook four or five separate dishes (mostly meat, fish, vegetables and soup) with plain boiled rice, and I am an advocate of shopping in markets as much as possible and using fresh, local produce. Unfortunately, I also get in late most evenings so Chinese eating culture does not fit in with my work schedule. I could have chosen to cook something quick and simple for the guinea pigs, but no, I insisted on doing it the Chinese way as usual, which takes a considerably longer amount of time. I'm also a slow cook and like to saunter and take time over getting things right, often scrutinising Fuchsia's recipe book and following every word, which I later disregard to do everything my own way. We didn't sit down until gone 11 o'clock.

This was however a very simple, home style Sichuan meal. I cooked sweet and sour cabbage, a dish I discovered a few weeks ago at a Sichuan restaurant in Nanjing, stir fried eggs and tomatoes, chicken with vinegar and stir fried noodles with broccoli. The result was a satisfying and wholesome meal, which Ali and I both enjoyed (Trish ate later) and there was plenty left for dinner the next evening. I'll note the recipes below in a few days, with the exception of the stir fried noodles with broccoli, which was essentially exactly as the name entails. The chicken with vinegar is adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop's Sichuan Cooking.