itch22

I picked up a dozen quail's eggs. Besides soft boiling them, what other methods suit these eggs well? (EDITED to fix a typo.)

On Sunday I went to the new Galleria Supermarket in Vaughn. It is a large, upscale supermarket dedicated to Korean food.

Now this is VERY important Dave, are there any berries out there that look very similar that are poisonous?

Depends on what you mean by "Asian." For example, for Japanese (and only Japanese) no store in DOWNTOWN Toronto is as good as Little Tokyo on Augusta Ave, in Kensington Market. Mind you, the best place to go is either Markham and/or Vaughn north of TO. Sometimes that place feels like it IS Asia.

Anyone know of a good source of Ontario grown juniper berries?

I'll add the neck to the stock, but what should I do with the liver? Too small to make a meal out of it. Add to the stock, or use for a different dish?

Exactly! Since the duck was stuffed with scallions and anise, plus shao xing, I want to keep those flavours prominent in the soup. I also just made (yesterday) a 16 quarts of chicken stock, flavoured with shao xing, scallions, and ginger. Should I suppliment the duck soup with the stock, or not? Anyone have any paticular recipes they'd like to share for duck soup? I have never made duck soup, though I have made soup from turkey carcasses but with a very American flavour.

Well it's done. The skin was, as you probably expected, no where near as crisp as desired but the duck itself did taste good. I served it with the pancakes, hoisin, shredded scallions, and julienned cucumber. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, though of everyone present I'm the only one whose had Peking duck before. All in all, I don't think I'll try it again, at least not for awhile. If I do try it again I need to get a whole duck (neck, head, etc... all attached) and setup a better cooking method.

Well the duck is in the oven. This picture is crude but it shows how I've tried to rig up the duck to cook vertically. One problem I had was that I could not get the duck to retain any liquid. I stuffed it with the white ends of the scallions, a couple star anise added a bit of shao xing, and then boiling water. I tried several times to seal the neck cavity but it kept leaking. In China the duck's necks are left on, which would solve this issue. I may have to look it longer at a lower temp. to make up for the lack of internal steaming.

Well last night I made the Mandarin pancakes. Here is the flour and sesame oil for the pancakes. It is acctually a Japanese brand of sesame oil but I enjoy its taste. Working alone it is hard to take pictures and work. Here the dough has just finished resting. I layered two pieces of dough, with a bit of sesame oil in between, and then roilled them out flat. I've cut the ball of dough from Step 2 into 24 pieces, rolled them each into a ball, and slightly flattened with the palm of my hand before rolling them flat in pairs. I cooked each one for about a minute on each side in a French steel crepe pan on medium-high heat. I added no oil or other lubricant to the pan. Each pair peeled apart rather nicely. They were about 8 inches in diameter and thin enough to see the shadow of my hand through each one. Again, it is hard to take pictures and cook at the same time so a few steps are missing. I lossened the skin, which was a lot harder to do with a duck then a chicken. I required the assistance of a sharp 3" paring knife to cut the sinew that connected the skin to the meat in several places. I tried inflating the duck but it wouldn't retain any air. There must be a process in Chinese butchery that I am missing. Here, the duck is hanging to dry after being par-boiled for about three minutes then glazed with a honey-water solution. I'll post more latter today after I cook (and eat) the duck.

That's the one. Was it just me, or did that reporter sound a little out of shape at times?

It's sad when people like Christina Cushing are more of a houshold name then those who'd rather cook then host a show such as Michael. Off topic, did anyone catch the interview with him on CBC Radio 1 a few months back? It was great to here him talk about how he arrived at his current farm/restaurant, his cooking experiences in Germany before moving to Canada, and when he acctually taught cooking here in Canada. I bet you those students had a leg up on Toronto's George Brown grads.

Another Japanese cookbook I recommend (for beginners) is Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko. From sushi to dashi stock to ramen to home-style stews this is a great book for those new to cooking Japanese food.

Well I don't plan on learning directly from the dictionary, I'll be taking lessons. The English-Cantonese dictionary would be a resource I could access. That's why I want one with traditional Chinese characters because memorizing them would be the hardest. When I took Japanese, as long as you can remember the hiragana and the katakana, you could get by because they are phonetic alphabhets. I know Mandarin is the official language of the PRC and the simplified script is being instituted to increase literacy, but I need to pick up Cantonese to get along better in the local Chinese communities here in Canada. And here everyone speaks Cantonese. I don't think I could even find a teacher for Mandarin. To be honest, south-eastern Ontario is turning into one large Chinese community. Even in towns as small as Belleville (pop. 45,000) the most basic grocery stores carry pomello, chinese broccoli, daikon, bok choy (standard, Shanghai, AND baby!), and bitter melons yet do you think you could find an artichoke? Hell no! My fiancee is a teacher in a "non-asian community" of about 500 and four of her students are Chinese who speak little-to-no English. At the farmers market, in the summer, you can find locally grown chilies, Asian basil, daikon, and napa cabbage. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the great selection and competative prices.

Sounds good, check back Sunday night or Monday morning!

First, let me say I know this is not a food topic but I really need help with this, so to the forum host(s) I beg that you at least leave this topic here for a couple days before deleting it. I am starting Cantonese lessons soon and I need a GOOD English/Cantonese dictionary that contains traditional/orthodox Chinese characters, not a strictly Romanised/phonetic dictionary. I have done some searches but all I'm coming up with is phonetic dictionaries for Cantonese. The ones that contain Chinese characters are limited to the offical or "simplified" script with Mandarian pronounciation guides. Can anyone recommend a good Cantonese-English dictionary that contains traditional/orthodox characters? Remember, recommended books need to still be in print. Thanks in advance!

I pretty much swear by the Dictionary of Japanese Food by Richard Hosking. It covers nearly all ingredients, tools, and techniques of Japanese cookery with entries in both english and Japanese (with Japanese characters). No recipes per say though...

Should be, at least in south western Ontario. Here is a web resource, though I don't know how accurate it is. Beyond the Morel

Thanks for all the tips. No, I am not doing it for anyone else. I wanted to try it and home... well, just because I like to cook and I've never tried it. It may be an utter failure. I think I am going to try it this Sunday. I've gotten the pancakes technique down flat. (Get it? Flat! )

I also use a light, clear chicken stock flavoured with a little bruised ginger, scallions, sesame oil, and cilantro. I don't like a strong soup broth as it might over power the often subtle flavours of the wontons.

And now I know. Looks like I'll have to call off Robert Rack. Thanks!

I know this is an embaressingly simple question, but what is the technical definition of a torte? I have seen countless recipes, ranging from frozen to baked. The only common thread is the presence of nuts. I checked my Larousse and there is no entry for Torte.

I'd be hanging it. What do you suggest for the steaming liquid?

I was thinking of trying to make Peking duck for the first time at home. Now I know it won't be as good as at a restaurant, but I'd like to try. One problem I've run into in my planning, is finding a way to "plug" the duck's cavity. I understand the duck's cavity is filled to about 2/3 with water and then "plugged" to keep the flesh moist. How are they "plugged" in restaurants?

Well I went to Ni Hoowa, which was a little confusing at first because by looking at the exterior one would think they wre no longer open. (Boxes and furniture stacked up against the windows.) Around back, in the "take out restaurant" I found the entrance. In size it was comparable to ones near here in Belleville (population 47,000), ON. I didn't find anything paticularily interesting, compared to here. I also went to Sung's, which had a great selection of Japanese and Korean foods that could even give Little Tokyo in Toronto, ON a run for its money. It did have very little in the way of "gifts" but the proprietor apologised for that saying the Christmas shopping season wiped her stock out. I went to Pho 99 for lunch as suggested. The place was packed, and people stood in the doorway waiting for tables. I parked in a pay lot around the corner, and the gentleman who ran it seemed very apprehensive about us using it. I conviced him to rent me his last parking spot after I told him I'd be less then an hour. He asked about why so many people were headed to Pho 99, I guess other people parked in his lot were headed there. As for the food, I had the Pho Tai and a pork skewer. The pork was alright. The Pho was pretty good, not the best I've ever had though. I was pleasently surprised that I got saw tooth with it (in addition to the basil), but was disappointed that there was no cilantro. Service was slow, but there were only three staff members. Our waiter was very apologetic about it, saying he'd never been this busy before. When he told me that, I wondered if others in the Buffalo area saw your recommendation and decided to drop by. Anyway, I didn't mind the wait and I kept telling him it was fine. If I find my self in Buffalo again, I'll certainly go back.