1961 replies to this topic

[peony]

sorry , how come my pic still so big ? I edit it at photobucket.

[C. sapidus]

Somehow, I'll have to learn how to use Sechuan peppercorns. I'm not sure I like them yet - maybe it's the grittiness that bothers me.

Dejah: Thank you for your kind words. Yes, Sichuan peppercorns have fascinating properties. For some dishes, the peppercorns are toasted, ground, and sifted to remove any gritty pieces. Perhaps that procedure would enhance your enjoyment?

Teepee: Your dinner looks delicious, especially the leeks and yellow peppers – so colorful and cheerful. I would like to learn more ways to prepare quick and interesting vegetable dishes.

Peony: Your meal looks wonderful. What is tung chai?

[Kent Wang]

Sheetz: Very nice flaky crust on those tarts.

Sichuan dry-fried chicken (gan bian ji).

Beautiful! Do you have a recipe?

[C. sapidus]

Beautiful! Do you have a recipe?

Kent: Thanks! The recipe is from Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty. I can send you a PM this evening, if you like.

[hzrt8w]

Sichuan dry-fried chicken (gan bian ji).

I always associate gan bian with beef. Typically shredded beef. I never thought of making gan bian chicken. I gotta try this!

Looks very good Bruce! You must like the gan bian style quite a bit as you have both beef and chicken (in the same meal?).

[hzrt8w]

This thread is coming along very nicely!

You must be thrilled Da Ga Jeah! Just 2 days this thread is already on the 2nd page. Let's play catch up and try to match the "Dinner!" thread, huh? It has *only* 599 pages. Com'on, show us more what you got!

Where are the rest of 1.3 billion Chinese when you need them?

Edited by hzrt8w, 27 November 2006 - 03:23 PM.

[Dejah]

This thread is coming along very nicely!

You must be thrilled Da Ga Jeah! Just 2 days this thread is already on the 2nd page. Let's play catch up and try to match the "Dinner!" thread, huh? It has *only* 599 pages. Com'on, show us more what you got!
Where are the rest of 1.3 billion Chinese when you need them?

Where's my gai mo soh! Dah say na lah! Ah Leung.

C. Sapidus actually posted several meals, Ah Leung. I'm glad to hear the recipes are in Fushia's book. I have it and will try the chicken soon. It looks like the Korean buldak (fire chicken). I saw that in the Elsewhere forum, and my Korean student brought me the spices for it. Man! We have winter now; snow is falling and staying. So, these firery dishes will serve me well.

Peony: The rice balls in your post with boiled chicken and beansprouts - are they solid balls of rice flour? I wonder if they are what we call rice cakes/balls - gau lan yuen. I have a package of rice sticks, and they need to be soaked to soften before stir-frying.

[Tepee]

Dai gah jeh, those are chicken rice balls. See recipe here and an article on chicken rice balls. A method of measuring how much rice you can eat.....by the balls!

Edited by Tepee, 27 November 2006 - 06:02 PM.

[Kent Wang]

Yes, I'd like to see a recipe for gan bian anything. C. sapidus, please PM me. Maybe hzrt8w can whip up a pictorial sometime?

[hzrt8w]

Yes, I'd like to see a recipe for gan bian anything.  C. sapidus, please PM me. Maybe hzrt8w can whip up a pictorial sometime?

This can be your pictorial project, too, Kent! You have been doing a wonderful job with duck gizzards and spring rolls!

[Tepee]

Hey! We can have a eG chinese forum iron chef challenge for a gan bian dish, lol. Iron chef Kent vs Ah Leung Gaw and, of course, C. sapidus, who started us all on this crave.

Edited by Tepee, 27 November 2006 - 07:49 PM.

[hzrt8w]

Dai gah jeh, those are chicken rice balls. See recipe here and an article on chicken rice balls. A method of measuring how much rice you can eat.....by the balls! 

Are these the same as the famous hoi nam gai fan [Cantonese] 海南雞飯? There is no picture in the web page.

Question: Why roll the rice into balls? This would compact the rice a bit, right? Why this extra step? Just to add to the presentation?

[Tepee]

Yes, it is hainanese chicken rice, Ah Leung Gaw. Ahh, we need Ben Sook to spin a romantic yarn on how the balls came to be....like some dutiful wife of some farm folk packing a dozen balls for her partner to take to the fields....etc...etc....but wait a minute...isn't it the women folk who work the fields??

I think it's just some genius marketing gimmick which worked. The chicken ball shops are really popular.

Edit: Found some theories.

Edited by Tepee, 27 November 2006 - 07:34 PM.

[mizducky]

My dinner tonight--vegetarian mapo tofu:



I didn't substitute anything for the meat--I just omitted it. Plenty of protein already with the tofu.

[hzrt8w]

My dinner tonight--vegetarian mapo tofu:
...
I didn't substitute anything for the meat--I just omitted it. Plenty of protein already with the tofu.

Ellen: you can put in pressed tofu to make the vegetarian version. Get some flavored or smoked pressed tofu... cut them into tiny cubes (e.g. 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch). This can be the "meat substitute". Then cook using the same recipe. This will give you 2 layers of texture: the harder pressed tofu and the softer regular tofu. Just a trick to please our taste buds.

Where are the firey fresh red chili slices? Oops... watched too many Kylie's shows...

[hzrt8w]

Yes, it is hainanese chicken rice, Ah Leung Gaw. Ahh, we need Ben Sook to spin a romantic yarn on how the balls came to be....like some dutiful wife of some farm folk packing a dozen balls for her partner to take to the fields....etc...etc....but wait a minute...isn't it the women folk who work the fields??

Wife... partner? Tepee! You applied the modern day Political Correctness to a story in the ancient backdrop!

I read the wikipedia stories. So complicated! To the Cantonese, this dish is just "white chopped chicken" (Bak Cheet Gai) 白切雞... reuse the stock or not, adding coconut milk or not...

Edited by hzrt8w, 27 November 2006 - 08:34 PM.

[mizducky]

My dinner tonight--vegetarian mapo tofu:
...
I didn't substitute anything for the meat--I just omitted it. Plenty of protein already with the tofu.

Ellen: you can put in pressed tofu to make the vegetarian version. Get some flavored or smoked pressed tofu... cut them into tiny cubes (e.g. 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch). This can be the "meat substitute". Then cook using the same recipe. This will give you 2 layers of texture: the harder pressed tofu and the softer regular tofu. Just a trick to please our taste buds.

Where are the firey fresh red chili slices? Oops... watched too many Kylie's shows...

Hi, Ah Leung--I remember seeing that suggestion about the pressed tofu in your tutorial. I just forgot to buy any the last time I was at 99 Ranch ... and I didn't have any ground meat in the fridge either ... but my mouth wanted some mapo tofu anyway so I had at it with what I had on hand.

No fistfuls of red chilies for this girl--but I did get it just hot enough for my tastes with one dried red chile (crushed), and a spoonful each of toban jan and crushed Szechuan pepper. My tongue is happily tingling.

[Dejah]

I think what mizducky used already has texture. The tofu cubes look firm, but I'll bet the inside is silky smooth.

The rice balls look inviting. What a fun way to eat: a complete mouthful (as in a complete meal in a dish). I think I may try that to entice my grandson to eat chicken again. He refuses to eat chicken of any kind!

I've got one pork shoulder picnic braising in the oven at the moment, a la Fushia Dunlop's Land of Plenty. The only thing I added was some white pepper. It proved a hit with the students last week, so I'm making lots this time so everyone will have more than one forkful! I have a shoulder blade roast with a thick layer of fat to braise tomorrow. The potluck is for Wed.

Here's what we had for supper tonight:

Guy choi soup with ginger and pork tenderloin slices.



and char siu pai gwut made with hoisin sauce, wine, 5 spice powder, and a sprinkle of sugar. The ribs were done in the oven. It's been snowing and blowing all day. Couldn't face going out to the BBQ!

[mizducky]

I think what mizducky used already has texture. The tofu cubes look firm, but I'll bet the inside is silky smooth.

I get a really nice texture in the tofu by par-boiling cubed firm tofu for about three minutes in a large quantity of water, draining the cubes well before proceeding with the recipe. I have found this step produces cubes whose outsides resist crumbling when you stir them around in the sauce (though of course you still have to stir them gently!), and whose insides are soft and almost fluffy.

Plus I chop my fermented black beans rather than mashing them, so there's texture from that too.

[sheetz]

I think I'll try that recipe for Ma Po Doufu. It's supposed to snow here this wekend and that should really help to keep me warm!

[C. sapidus]

Looks very good Bruce!  You must like the gan bian style quite a bit as you have both beef and chicken (in the same meal?). 

Ah Leung: Thank you! I love the gan bian style, but not chicken and beef in the same meal – I’m way too slow of a cook for that! The pictures were from the last several weeks.

Yes, I'd like to see a recipe for gan bian anything.  C. sapidus, please PM me. Maybe hzrt8w can whip up a pictorial sometime?

Kent: You should have a PM by now. A pictorial is a great idea – for you or Ah Leung.

Hey! We can have a eG chinese forum iron chef challenge for a gan bian dish, lol. Iron chef Kent vs Ah Leung Gaw and, of course, C. sapidus, who started us all on this crave.

Teepee: I will gladly step to the sidelines and watch the Iron Chefs battle, thank you very much.

[hzrt8w]

I think I'll try that recipe for Ma Po Doufu. It's supposed to snow here this wekend and that should really help to keep me warm!

Only if you use slices from 5 fresh red chilies.

I will be going up to the slope to see some snow in 2 weeks. Donner Pass here I come! (followed by music from "California Here I Come")

[Kent Wang]

Got your message. Recipe looks fairly simple, I'd love to give a try next week or so.

We could make it an Iron Chef thing but I'm not sure how we can make that interesting. We're both making the same dish.

[Tepee]

We could make it an Iron Chef thing but I'm not sure how we can make that interesting. We're both making the same dish.

One of you make chicken, and the other make the beef version?

[sheetz]

I think I'll try that recipe for Ma Po Doufu. It's supposed to snow here this wekend and that should really help to keep me warm!

Only if you use slices from 5 fresh red chilies.

I prefer using the dried ones.

[peony]

learn to cook these dry rice sticks about 2 weeks back...my daughter bought these tteokbokgi from Japan.

[Pan]

we have boiled chicken smeared with sesame oil
sauté beanspout
and those little balls are rice balls.

the soup is from the water used to cook the chicken in it. Just add  abit of sesame oil, tung chai and sping onion.

I'm really digging this thread!

Those look like what are called "Ipoh beansprouts" in Malaysia - would you agree, TP? What country are you posting from, peony?

[Tepee]

Peony is from S'pore, Michael. That's taugeh, alright, but it has to be from Ipoh before it can be labelled Ipoh beansprouts (which are nice and sweet and plump and crunchy).

Was supposed to be western nite...I usually alternate, but since hubby will be going out of town for the next few days, I thought I'd give him a simple homecooked meal...he eats fancy enough outside of the home as he's in sales and he entertains frequently.

Steamed egg/soya milk, garnished with tiny sweet crispy shrimps from Pangkor Island.


2-minute stir-fried cos lettuce with boxthorn berries (gei chee)


Shallow-fried ma yau fish (what's the english name?) with prawn crackers also from Pangkor Island.


I'm also enjoying this thread...I'm wondering why we never thought of it before. Dai gah jeh, nei hai taak geh!

Edit to add: Guess what we had for dessert? Durian buns! A new discovery by hubby on his way home. Delicious durian filling, more like the actual durian meat than custard. Don't like the soft bread, though.

Edited by Tepee, 28 November 2006 - 06:59 AM.

[peony]

thanks tepee for helping..
Ya, now I am in Singapore but I was borned and brought up in Ipoh ...

these dishes are cooked by a relative who made n sell chicken rice. He came to S'pore for hoiday. Knowing that I missed M'ysian food, cooked these for us.

C. sapidus asked what is ' tung chai ', it is a type of dried preserved veg. Used commonly as in - steamed minced pork with tung chai.

[Tepee]

Wah! You are so lucky to have a relative who not only is a chicken rice seller but who cooks for you during his holiday. Envy.

Did you tau si, heh heh....look over his shoulder as he made the chicken?

Edited by Tepee, 28 November 2006 - 07:14 AM.