Dennis Mong's Cooking Page

🥢 HOW ADVENTUROUS IS YOUR PALATE? 🥢

When it comes to authentic Chinese food, are you willing to try almost anything—or do you stick with fried rice and chow mein? 😂

Chinese cuisine has an incredible variety of flavours, textures and ingredients. Some may look unusual if you didn't grow up eating them, but many are traditional favourites and absolutely delicious when prepared properly.

How many of these have you tried?

🐓 Chicken feet
🥩 Beef tripe
🦑 Curried cuttlefish
🍖 Beef tendon
🥒 Bitter melon
🫘 Fermented black beans
🍖 Pork spare ribs with black bean sauce
🪷 Lotus root
🥬 Bok choy and other Chinese greens
🐂 Oxtail
🥢 Stuffed tofu
🍚 Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf
🥟 Siu mai
🥟 Har gow — shrimp dumplings
🥠 Steamed BBQ pork buns
🟠 Sesame balls
🍜 Chow mein
🍚 Fried rice

LET'S SEE HOW ADVENTUROUS YOU REALLY ARE!

0–4: I think I'll stick with chicken fried rice! 😂
5–9: You're getting adventurous!
10–14: You definitely know Chinese food! 🥢
15–18: You're coming to dim sum with me! 🏆😂

For me, many of these aren't “adventurous” foods at all—they're simply foods I grew up knowing and enjoying.

So tell me your score out of 18! And which one would you absolutely NOT try?

Better yet… which one is your favourite? 😋🥢

🥒 Bitter Melon Stir-Fry with Beef, Shrimp & Black Beans

Ingredients

1 large bitter melon, seeded and sliced about ¼-inch thick

½ lb (225 g) beef, thinly sliced

8–10 large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1–2 tbsp preserved black beans, rinsed briefly and roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ small red pepper, sliced

2 tbsp cooking oil

Beef Marinade

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

½ tsp sugar

1 tsp oil

Pinch of white pepper

Mix with the beef and marinate for 15–20 minutes.

Sauce

½ cup chicken broth or water

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp cold water

Prepare the Bitter Melon

Cut the bitter melon lengthwise, remove the seeds and scrape away most of the white pith. Slice diagonally.

If you prefer it less bitter, sprinkle with a little salt and let sit for 10 minutes, then rinse. You can also blanch it in boiling water for about 1 minute and drain well.

I wouldn't over-blanch it—you want the melon to keep some crunch.

Wok Cooking

Heat your wok until quite hot for Wok Hei Add about 3 tablespoon oil.

Add the beef and stir-fry quickly until about 80% cooked. Remove and set aside.

Add a little more oil if necessary. Add the garlic and preserved black beans and stir-fry for about 15–20 seconds to release their aroma.

Add the bitter melon and red pepper. Stir-fry over high heat for 2–3 minutes.

Add the shrimp and toss until they begin turning pink.

Return the beef to the wok. Add the chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Toss everything together and let it cook for another minute or two.

Stir in the cornstarch slurry a little at a time until the sauce lightly coats the beef, shrimp and bitter melon. Finish with sesame oil.

Dennis's Cooking Tip

The trick with this dish is not trying to eliminate all the bitterness. Bitter melon is supposed to have that distinctive bite. The savoury beef, sweet shrimp and salty fermented black beans balance it beautifully.

🥒 Stuffed Bitter Melon with Pork & Shrimp

This is a classic Chinese-style steamed bitter melon dish, very similar to what you made in your photos.

Ingredients

For the bitter melon

2 medium bitter melons

½ lb (225 g) ground pork

6–8 raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green onion, finely chopped

1 tsp finely minced ginger

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

¼ tsp sugar

¼ tsp white pepper

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp water

For the sauce

¾ cup chicken broth or water

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp cold water

Optional: chopped fermented black beans for a stronger traditional flavour

Preparation

Cut the bitter melon crosswise into 1 to 1½-inch rings. Scoop out the seeds and white pith from the centre.

For a milder bitterness, sprinkle the rings lightly with salt, leave for about 10 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. You can also blanch them for about 1 minute and drain.

Combine the ground pork, chopped shrimp, garlic, green onion, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, sugar, pepper, salt and water. Mix vigorously in one direction until the filling becomes slightly sticky.

Pack the pork-and-shrimp mixture firmly into the centre of each bitter melon ring, mounding a little filling on top.

Arrange in a shallow heatproof dish and place in a steamer over boiling water. Steam covered for approximately 15–18 minutes, or until the pork is completely cooked through. Ground pork should reach 71°C/160°F internally.

Sauce

Pour the liquid collected in the steaming dish into a small saucepan. Add enough chicken broth to make about ¾ cup, then add soy sauce, oyster sauce and sugar.

Bring to a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook until lightly thickened. Finish with sesame oil and spoon the sauce over the stuffed bitter melon.

Add a teaspoon or two of finely chopped fermented black beans to the pork-and-shrimp filling. That combination of bitter melon, pork, shrimp and black bean is excellent.

Thank you for all your questions about why I use tapioca starch in my chicken-ball batter AND the differences in other thickening starches and flour.

The SECRET IS HERE!

Rice flour, tapioca starch, cornstarch and potato starch may look similar, but each produces a slightly different texture and level of crispness. They also behave differently when used to thicken sauces, creating different consistencies, clarity and shine.

Baking soda also has an important place in the batter. It helps the coating brown and become lighter and crispier during deep-frying. However, only a small amount is needed, as too much can affect the flavour. Also this helps tenderizing your proteins and make them juicy and tender when use velveting.

Choosing the right flour or starch depends on the result you want—light and delicate, chewy-crisp or extra crunchy. Cooking is about understanding what each ingredient contributes!

For Chinese stir-fry sauces, I usually prefer cornstarch because it gives that familiar restaurant-style gravy and clings nicely to beef, chicken and vegetables.

For fried foods such as your chicken balls, tapioca starch is excellent because it contributes a lighter, crisper shell. Mixing tapioca with flour also helps prevent the coating from becoming too bread-like.

For your chicken-ball batter, the ¼ cup tapioca starch in your recipe is doing something important: the flour gives the batter its body, while the tapioca helps make the outside crispier and lighter, particularly after your second fry.

You can also combine them. A 50/50 cornstarch and tapioca starch mixture makes an excellent coating for Chinese fried chicken: cornstarch gives structure and tapioca gives extra crunch.

Self-rising flour is basically all-purpose flour with leavening and salt already mixed in. Typically it contains:

Wheat flour
Baking powder
Salt

The exact amount varies by brand, but a common homemade equivalent for 1 cup self-rising flour is roughly 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1½ teaspoons baking powder + ¼ teaspoon salt.

For your chicken-ball batter, that means your 3 cups of self-rising flour already contain a fair amount of baking powder. Since you also add ½ tablespoon baking powder plus ½ teaspoon baking soda, your batter is getting quite a bit of leavening, which is what helps it puff into those round chicken balls.

🍍 Dennis’s Crispy Chinese Chicken Balls

The batter recipe everyone has been asking for!

Here it is! The secret is a thick batter, plenty of chicken, and the double-fry method. I like my chicken balls with more chicken than batter—not a big ball of batter with a little piece of chicken hiding somewhere inside! 😄

Chicken Balls
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
3 cups self-rising flour
½ tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup tapioca starch, potato starch, or cornstarch
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp MSG
Approximately 2 cups cold water
Extra starch for coating the chicken
Vegetable oil, canola oil, or beef fat for deep frying

This makes approximately 40 chicken balls.

The trick to getting them round
Cut the chicken breasts into triangle-shaped pieces 🔺️. When they're dipped completely in the thick batter, the batter naturally forms around the chicken into a ball.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, starch, salt, sugar and MSG. Gradually add about 2 cups of cold water and mix it with your hand. The batter should be quite thick—not runny. Add a little more or less water as necessary.
Let the batter sit for about 5 minutes.
Coat each piece of chicken lightly with starch first, then completely cover it with batter.

Deep-fry at 350°F for approximately 5–7 minutes, until cooked and lightly golden. Remove and allow them to cool.

When you're ready to serve, fry them a second time at 400°F until beautifully golden and crispy.

That second fry is the secret! I use this double-fry method with many of my deep-fried foods because it gives you a much crispier finish.

🍍 Simple 5-Ingredient Sweet & Sour Sauce
4 cups water
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
⅓ cup cornstarch slurry
Combine and cook until the sauce comes to a simmer and thickens.
Optional: Replace some of the water with about 1 cup pineapple juice, or add pineapple chunks for extra flavour.

Pour that sweet-and-sour sauce over the freshly fried chicken balls—or serve it on the side for dipping.

Crispy outside, lots of chicken inside—that's the way a chicken ball should be! 😋🥢🍍

— Wok into my Kitchen with Dennis Mong

Stir-Fried Yellow Beans, Cucumber
and Beef with Black Beans

Ingredients
4 oz. beef, thinly sliced
2 cups fresh yellow beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 medium cucumber, cut into thick slices
½ sweet red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed and lightly crushed
1 tablespoon of fermented black beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
½ cup water or beef broth

Steamed white rice, for serving

Beef Marinade
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
½ teaspoon sugar
Pinch of black pepper

Sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Combine the sliced beef with the marinade ingredients. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Heat a wok over high heat until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the beef until it is lightly browned but not fully cooked. Remove it from the wok and set aside.
Add the remaining oil. Stir-fry the garlic and fermented black beans for about 20 seconds, until fragrant.
Add the yellow beans and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the water or broth, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes, or until the beans are nearly tender.
Add the cucumber and sweet red onion. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, keeping the cucumber slightly crisp.
Return the beef to the wok. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and sesame oil. Toss everything together until the beef is fully cooked.
Stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook briefly until the sauce thickens and coats all the ingredients.
Serve immediately over hot steamed white rice to soak up all that delicious sauce.

Dennis’s tip: Do not overcook the cucumber. A little crunch gives this unusual combination its fresh texture and makes the dish especially enjoyable.

Wok into my Kichen with Dennis Mong

Beef with Tomatoes, Shrimp and Sweet Red Onion

A quick and comforting meal served over hot steamed rice.
Homegrown tomatoes make it even better!
Ingredients

4 oz flank steak, thinly sliced—or more as desired
Beef marinade for tenderness
A few raw shrimp, peeled and deveined—optional
2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
¼ sweet red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
Cooking oil
Hot steamed rice

Method
Marinate the sliced flank steak using your regular beef-tenderizing marinade.

Heat a wok until very hot, then add a little cooking oil.
Quickly sear the beef until nearly cooked. Add the shrimp and cook just until they begin turning pink. Remove both from the wok and set aside.

Add the sliced red onion and tomato wedges to the hot wok.

Stir-fry until the tomatoes soften and begin releasing their natural juices.

Add the sugar and salt, stirring gently to form a light tomato sauce.

Return the beef and shrimp to the wok. Toss everything together until fully cooked and evenly coated with the sauce.

Serve immediately over hot steamed rice.

Simple ingredients, plenty of flavour and true comfort food—yum!

Wok into my kitchen with Dennis Mong

Stir-Fried Shanghai Bok Choy with Shrimp
上海苗炒蝦

A simple, colourful stir-fry with tender shrimp, crisp Shanghai bok choy and a light, savoury sauce.

Ingredients
1 package mini Shanghai bok choy, washed and cut in half lengthwise
12 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined — 30/40 size works well
4 fresh garlic cloves, chopped
Garlic powder may be substituted
4 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of MSG, optional
A small splash of light soy sauce
A little oyster sauce
Approximately ½ cup water
Cornstarch slurry:
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 2 teaspoons cold water

Directions
Wash the bok choy thoroughly, especially around the base of the stalks. Drain well and cut each one in half lengthwise.

Heat the wok over high heat until it is very hot and beginning to smoke.

This high temperature helps create the flavour known as wok hei.

Add the oil, followed by the shrimp. Stir-fry until the shrimp are partially cooked and beginning to turn pink. Remove them from the wok and set aside. Do not fully cook them at this stage.

Add the chopped garlic and stir quickly for several seconds, being careful not to burn it.

Add the bok choy. Stir-fry over high heat, tossing constantly so the vegetables cook evenly.

Season with a pinch each of salt, sugar and MSG. Add a small splash of light soy sauce and a little oyster sauce.
Add approximately ½ cup of water. Return the shrimp to the wok and cook briefly until the bok choy is tender but still slightly crisp and the shrimp are completely cooked.

Stir the cornstarch slurry again, then gradually add enough to lightly thicken the sauce. Toss everything together until glossy.

Serve immediately over steamed rice or fried rice.

Dennis’s Tip
Do not overcook the shrimp. Removing them when they are only partially cooked keeps them plump and tender when they are returned to the wok.

Wok into my Kitchen with Dennis Mong

Quick Dinner suggestion

Who knew snow pea leaves could be so delicious?

I picked these tender young leaves and shoots fresh from the snow peas growing in my garden. They are sweet, crisp and full of flavour!

You can stir-fry them with shrimp, beef or chicken—or keep it simple with fresh garlic.

Heat your wok until very hot, add a little oil, fresh garlic, a pinch of salt, a touch of sugar and a little MSG. Toss everything quickly and serve immediately.

The leaves should be wilted but still bright green and slightly firm—do not overcook them!

The same simple method works beautifully with spinach, choy sum, baby bok choy, Shanghai bok choy and many other vegetables.

Fresh from the garden, straight into the wok—simple food with amazing flavour!

Simple ingredients, quick cooking and amazing flavour—from Dennis Mong’s Kitchen!