• 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

Savory · November 21, 2024

Salt Fried Pork 盐煎肉

Salt Fried Pork is a flavor-packed Sichuan dish perfect for weeknights, since it takes just 10 minutes to make. Juicy pork, aromatic green garlic, douchi, and Pixian douban are fundamental flavors of Sichuan cuisine: deeply complex but simple to enjoy,…

Read More

Savory · October 28, 2024

Tofu Skin, Celtuce, and Wood Ear Mushroom Salad

This Chinese cold appetizer is quick to execute while delivering big on flavor and nutrition. Tofu skin lends protein while celtuce and wood ear mushroom provide fiber and micronutrients. Sichuan peppercorn oil ties the dish together with its signature tingle….

Read More

Savory · October 15, 2024

Mapo Tofu

This is my take on 麻婆豆腐 mapo tofu, the iconic tingly-spicy Sichuan tofu dish. It’s a version fit for weeknights, slightly abbreviated but not at all short on flavor. Ingredients Tofu – Soft, medium, and firm tofu all have a…

Read More

Savory · September 26, 2024

Chinese-American Dutch Baby

This puffy pancake combines an American brunch favorite with Chinese breakfast flavors of soy, pork floss, and pickles. What is a Dutch baby? A Dutch baby is essentially a large, puffy, oven-baked pancake. It’s incredibly versatile since it can be…

Read More

Savory · September 13, 2024

Okroshka

Okroshka is a refreshing cold soup from Russia. It’s filled with crisp vegetables and protein for a light meal that comes together in just 30 minutes. I have been eating this on its own as a light meal during summer….

Read More

Savory, Tinned Fish · September 1, 2024

Tinned Calamari and Roasted Red Pepper Salad

This 10 minute recipe requires no cooking thanks to tinned calamari. Get all the ingredients from Trader Joe’s while you pick up their tinned calamari.

  • ← Previous
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 12
  • 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