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Day With Mei

Chinese-American pantry recipes

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Recipes, Savory · November 20, 2025

Fava Bean and Tofu Skin Salad with Mala Vinaigrette

Creamy, sweet fava beans meet delightfully bouncy tofu skin in this flavor-packed salad from Sichuan. The mala vinaigrette is flavored with chili oil and Sichuan peppercorn for a tingly spicy The entire dish comes together in just 15 minutes and…

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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.

Savory, Tinned Fish · April 5, 2024

Tinned Smoked Salmon with Crispy Rice and Sesame Sauce

Luscious smoked salmon meets crispy rice, bright watermelon radishes, tangy mandarins, and a velvety sesame sauce in this simple tinned fish recipe. This quick and delicious recipe comes together in just 20 minutes thanks to the smoked salmon, which is…

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Savory, Tinned Fish · March 29, 2024

Marinated Mussel Salad

What tin of mussels should I use for this recipe? This recipe was made for the Fangst Limfjord Blue Mussels No. 1, which is flavored with dill and fennel seeds. The vegetables and fruits work well with the marinade from…

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Savory, Tinned Fish · December 24, 2023

Tinned Tuna Ventresca with Citrus and Perilla Vinaigrette

This recipe was conceived and delivered during an all-fish supper party I hosted with my friend Sadie. Every course features a different fish, and yes that includes dessert! Get my recipe for Vanilla Panna Cotta with Passionfruit and Anchovy Granola…

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

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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
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