Seven Dishes for Seven Friends

I know, there are only six friends in this picture. #7 arrived later.

Top left going clockwise:

1. Green beans stir-fried with pork and hot pepper flakes

2. Red peppers stir-fried with ginger, green onion and blackish bean thingies

3. Tofu slivers stir-fried with pork, green onion, celery and hot pepper flakes

4. Duck, corn and woodear mushroom soup topped with chives

5. Baked seasoned preserved pork stir-fried with garlic shoots

6. Cucumber stir-fried with ginger, garlic and vinegar

7. Bitter melon stir-fried with pork in sesame oil

Ta-da! It took about 40 minutes to buy the stuff (including walking time), two hours to wash and slice it all, and one hour to stir-fry it.

Sometimes our friends expect and want us to cook Western food; they enjoy the novelty of international cuisine but pick at it cautiously. In my experience, our friends are much happier when I prepare Chinese food (as long as I don't completely botch it). The familiarity puts our guests at ease, and they dig in!