• Home
  • About
  • Recipes
    • Savory
    • Sweet
    • Tinned Fish
  • Contact Me
  • Nav Social Icons

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Day With Mei

Chinese-American pantry recipes

Mei

Recipes, Sweet · May 2, 2025

Bastani Sonnati (Persian Saffron Ice Cream)

If you’re Persian, this flavor needs no introduction. For everyone else: welcome to a dreamy trio of saffron, rosewater, and pistachio—a combination known as Bastani Sonnati Zafrani. Bastani sonnati means traditional Persian saffron ice cream and zafrani means saffron. What’s…

Read More

Recipes, Savory · April 28, 2025

Mushroom “Rice” with Yacai Stir-Fry 菌米芽菜

This stir-fry is my plant-based take on a Sichuan homestyle favorite, built around yacai, the savory, craveable Sichuanese pantry staple. This recipe is inspired by jimiyacai (鸡米芽菜) chicken “rice” with yacai, a traditional Sichuanese homestyle stir-fry made with pieces of…

Read More

Recipes, Sweet · April 10, 2025

Pandan Ice Cream

What is pandan? Pandan is a tropical leaf with a unique flavor that originates from Southeast Asia. The key question here is what does pandan taste like? To me, pandan tastes like coconut and sweet corn with someone mowing their…

Read More

Recipes, Sweet · March 21, 2025

Strawberry Sichuan Peppercorn Syrup

This 3 ingredient recipe is an accessible way to explore flavor pairings like this juicy strawberry and sichuan peppercorn combo. Strawberry and sichuan peppercorns may seem like an unlikely pairing, but the citrusy notes and tingly sensation of sichuan pepper make the strawberries taste extra juicy.

Recipes, Sweet · March 17, 2025

Buckwheat Black Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies get an upgrade with the addition of buckwheat flour and black sugar, creating a perfectly balanced treat that’s rich, nutty, and deeply satisfying. Whether you’re looking for a more nutrient-dense cookie or simply want to experiment with…

Read More

Sweet · March 10, 2025

Black Pepper Blueberry Crisp

This Black Pepper Blueberry Crisp is an intriguing twist on a classic dessert. Juicy blueberries meet a toasty oat topping with a subtle kick of black pepper for a complex yet easy-to-love dessert. Easy to make and even better with…

Read More

Uncategorized · March 10, 2025

Black Pepper Ice Cream

This Black Pepper Ice Cream balances velvety sweetness with a subtle, peppery kick that pairs especially well with fruit desserts yet is delicious enough to scoop on its own. I highly recommend making my Black Pepper Blueberry Crisp to go…

Read More

Recipes, Sweet · February 28, 2025

Bamboo Toasted Rice Ice Cream

This bamboo and toasted rice ice cream is a nutty, creamy, earthy dream perfumed with subtle woody notes from the bamboo and a popcorn-like warmth from the toasted rice. Ingredients + Sourcing Tips Want more ice cream recipes? Check out…

Read More

Recipes, Tinned Fish · February 3, 2025

Tinned Smoked Salmon Dip

This tinned smoked salmon dip comes together in minutes with pantry staples. Salmon dip is a staple in Alaska, with limitless variations. I adapted this smoked salmon dip recipe from Rico Worl, a Tlingit-Athabascan artist who collaborated with Wildfish Cannery…

Read More

Savory · January 30, 2025

How to Season A Wok (+ Tips to Maintain)

Woks need seasoning—not the salt and pepper kind, rather the protective layers on the surface of the wok built up over time. Seasoning not only protects your wok from rust but also enhances its cooking performance over time by making…

Read More

Savory · January 27, 2025

Chengdu-Style Spring Rolls & Homemade Spring Roll Wrappers

These Chengdu-style spring rolls are a light and fresh street snack that don’t require messy frying. When you think of spring rolls, the first image that comes to mind might be golden, crispy shells hot from the fryer. But these…

Read More

Savory · January 22, 2025

Miso Garlic Clams

If you love savory flavors you’ll love this recipe for miso garlic clams. The whole recipe comes together in one pan in less than 15 minutes. Clams might look intimidating, but they’re arguably the easiest type of seafood to cook….

Read More

  • ← Previous
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 6
  • Next →

Primary Sidebar

About Photo
Hi! I'm Mei, a Chinese-American recipe developer seeing familiar foods from a new perspective.

Search

Popular Posts

Trending Now

daywithmei

cooking to change your mind
💫 2x james beard & iacp nominated
📨 mei@daywithmei.com 📍nyc
👇 recipes and links

Tinned Fish Talk 🎣 King Salmon Cheeks from @wildfi Tinned Fish Talk 🎣 King Salmon Cheeks from @wildfishcannery 

King salmon cheeks are a cut you can’t get anywhere else in a can, it’s rare to even find at a fishmonger, much less a restaurant. Fish cheeks are rare because they are so small and labor-intensive to harvest. There’s only two per fish so you can imagine how much it takes to fill a single can.

The good news: this is one of the most uniquely pleasurable experiences I’ve had from a tin of fish. The bad news: there is a very limited quantity that sells out almost immediately each year (sorry!) For transparency, they sent me this tin ($44) but know i’ve been a continued customer and all opinions are my own.

I chose to warm up the unopened tin in hot water so the natural fat and collagen are even more luxurious—like a fatty, unctuous scallop. King salmon has a relatively mild flavor and richer texture compared to sockeye or coho. Wildfish Cannery is a one-of-a-kind operation here in North America with a tight-knit supply chain that hand-packs fish caught locally in Southeast Alaska. I hold a special respect for their culinary approach, the cannery is a direct opposition to the category’s commodity reputation.
2 weeks later, we have Sichuan larou! In the pre 2 weeks later, we have Sichuan larou! 

In the previous video, I cured pork belly in salt and spices for several days then set it outside to dry. I smoked it with apple wood pellets and cooked off a piece to taste.
How do you keep traditional foods alive? Sichuan How do you keep traditional foods alive?

Sichuan bacon season is back! Larou (Sichuan bacon) is a cured pork belly process similar to pancetta. It’s first seasoned with spices and salt in an equilibrium cure, hung outside to dehydrate, then (optionally) smoked. The earliest records of this wind-cured meat date back to the Zhou Dynasty roughly 3000 years ago. 

In Sichuan you can buy larou everywhere. In the US no one really makes it at scale. I grew up in the US making it with my family every winter season out of that necessity. Funny enough I’m the only one from my generation still carrying it on, and I’m the one farthest from home.
saved the best for last the suburbanite mall rat saved the best for last

the suburbanite mall rat in me is clawing to get out help me
Follow on Instagram
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2026 Day With Mei · Theme by 17th Avenue