Sugar Toad

Have any of you ever tried to grow them from the seeds that come out of them ? Any luck ?

Onetime we ran out of broccoli in the kitchen and I heard my boss tell the customers that the broccoli was out of order.

Eric, I think I might have some of the kind you are talking about, It is in a jar with mostly a bright blue lable and red lid. The only identifing English markings are "Har Har pickle food factory". I went to my favorite chinese groecry store and picked out 6 or 7 kinds of hot bean paste and asked one of the girls that has worked there a long time to show me the best one, and this is what she picked out. I like it better than the other, but you have to be careful about adding any more salt to your recipe or it will be to salty.

Just by chance I was making Ma Pao Tofu; I have since found a more suitable bean paste. It sounds to me like Ben needs to take a little culinary trip to my old stomping grounds, Beijing, where contrast and extremes are celebrated in food; and Szechwan peppercorns and chilies flow freely. I understand the Cantonese philosophies of delicate cooking and matching alike flavors; but that is only one philosophy and Chinese cooking has many. P.S. when I lived in Beijing I found many a restaurant and dishes that would bring a tear to the eye of even my chili headed ass, heat the likes of witch I have never seen in the states. Chengdude is right.

I have some Lee Kum Kee, hot bean paste (Toban Djan). It seems tierd and whimpy to me; does anyone know of a better brand that is easy to find. I was wondering if anyone has had any of the chin's family recipe hot bean paste that they are always talking about on the Iron Chef? Is it in his book? Do I need to make my own to get the real deal?

Tien Tsin chilis, as the name implies, are from Tianjin province, which happens to be quite far from Sichuan. But I don't think it really matters. Any dried red pepper with a high degree or heat will probably do. For appearance's sake (in some dishes), they should be around an inch long or less when dried. I'm sure there are dried red chilis in Toronto's Chinatown, since there are some well-stocked Chinese markets there. It's a far different matter if Fuchsia calls for Sichuan peppercorns (a.k.a. Fagara) since these cannot be legally imported into the US and there is no real substitute. I think he should be looking for Szechwan peppercorns. These can be hard to find sometimes, the Chinese name is "Fa jou" I don't know if this is the right spelling but it sounds right.

This translates to: Peking Roast Duck When my wife and I still lived in Beijing I asked her why do they have two names Beijing and peking? She said she never heard of peking before. That would lead me to beileve that is just another western misinterpretation.

Any luck so far? If yeast is the problem, this link may help: http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/encycl...70,1177,00.html As for covering or not covering the wine container, I'd at least use cheesecloth. I had that same question with my salty eggs recipe (I finally decided to tightly seal them, since I found ONE jar sealed that way at the Chinese supermarket. Usually, they're just packed dry in styrofoam). Yes my yeast did finally kick over but it took a few days. Is this the way this type of yeast is; or do you think my yeast is degraded a bit? I have some type of mold growing on the top; is this normal? I thought this would happen, I am used to brewing beer and you must have a sterile environment from outside containments. I was reading on some saki sites that they grow mold on the rice as part of the process. I want to make some type of muffin or cake from my wine rice, anybody got a good recipe?

I do believe I read in one of the Florence Lin books that she stated that the size of the eggs and the quality of the flour along with other variables made it impossible to have a recipe for noodles. I do not have her the noodle cookbook, but I know just like every other book I have read she skirts the issue of giving any kind of noodle recipe. I too feel your pain about this noodle thing. Even though my wife is Chinese it does not mean that she is forthcoming on the subject of noodles. Witch has lead me to believe that there is a universal conspiracy by Chinese persons to keep these noodle making secrets from us westerners

In Beijing it is called "Beijing ca ya", I don't know if that is the right way to spell it, but that's how you say it.

hanks everybody, I think I have found the cleaver I have been looking for. http://www.cutleryandmore.com/shop/details...683&src=BizRate

Huh??? I'm not sure what you mean by hot smoking but I could routinely smoke at about 225 chamber temperature with my New Braunfels. That is about optimum for brisket or pork butt. You leave the exit stack wide open and regulate the temperature with the air vent on the fire box. Sorry, I was not clear. I meant to offer the caveat that it's designed to cook in the temperature range you described, around 225 degrees, rather than cold smoking, which would be much lower, for things like bacon and cured fish. Oh... Now I get it. However, I have been known to have the temp drift into that range when I drink too much beer and don't pay attention to the fire box. Did you know that at 160-180 it will take days to do a brisket? My new Braunfel's leeks to much air into it and runs to hot. The webbers cost less and works better; just leave out the water pan and save it until your charcoal pan is all crapy and drill holes in the water pan and use it for a new charcoal pan.

I'm looking for a high quality Chinese veggie cleaver. Anybody know where to find them in the U.S. I paid 40 yaun ($5) for one in China and I can't come close to it with any of the cleavers I have seen for sale here.

The Wei-Chuan recipe calls for 3c. rice + 3c. water + 1.5g. of yeast. I weighed the rice and it was about 660g. 1.5g. of yeast is less than 1/2 a ball. My room temp is 78+/- and it is in the dark. I tried to bloom my yeast in a cup of warm water and I couldn't see anything happening. But I have never used this kind of yeast before.

Gary Soup, is right; I am trying to make rice wine, and I thoght the wine rice was a little use by-product. I pitched my yeast about 24-hours ago and nothing is happening yet do you think my yeast is dead?