Tepee

Love this thread. My chinese food world has been rather small...mainly cantonese, with a bit of hakka and teochew thrown in. My eyes (and stomach) have been opened to so much more 'other' chinese food thanks to you guys sharing your dinners. What are your plans for gaw dong (midwinter solstice)? We're probably doing pot-luck at my parent's home. Haven't decided what to make...

Thanks for the link! I really feel like attacking a piece like they did at the end. For me, the problem is the richness of the pithivier. I can eat half of one. I'll stop when I see the scale going over 2 kgs.

A delightful blog!

I wish I lived in Seattle. A great attempt! I'm also closely following this very helpful thread. Wish my next pithivier would be as nice as this one.

Don't be silly! You have to know how to speak chinese to cook authentic chinese.

Here's the banana leaf wrapped tempe... and here's the garlic tempe which I shallow-fried (delicious! I can just imagine it with the sweet sambal) with sticky ribs, and, of all things, brussel sprouts.

Thanks, all. When you do find ferns in your neck of the woods, you MUST make this, or, at least cook with it. I don't see it much over here too, I've a feeling they are all snapped up by restaurants. I always order a plate of stir-fried ferns when I see it on the menu....lovely. Sue-On, these are very young ferns, the stems are thin; the tender parts are just 2 inches plus. I've seen bigger plants with larger heads, must be another species. Bought some tempeh. Sigh...won't be able to cook the chilli recipes...hubby has a bad throat. Think I'll just do the garlic one. Cook on!

I've got a red dragon fruit plant growing in our garden. The ugliest plant you ever did see. Looks like a cactus without support, all droopy. So, are you out of your post-binging stupor yet?

My copy of CoF arrived last Wednesday. First of all, I'm not quite as good a Msian cook as Sue-On makes me out to be. I grew up with 80% chinese food, 20% msian food at home. Now, I cook 45% chinese, 45% western and 10% msian. For Msian, we normally pack home as the children have not yet developed the tolerance for heat and it seems too little to cook. However, my eldest is showing signs of interest in spicy food, which is a good thing; I'd love to start cooking them myself. I'm here to join you guys on this journey...as a student. James Oseland has done an amazing job with his book, with much research, and the recipes are as authentic as they can get. His love for our region's food shines through. Thank you, James. Looking forward to a sequel. However, I think the book will sell better outside our region (good for you, folks! sad for us) as the majority go for books with a picture/a recipe, and the simpler the instructions the better, at the expense of clarity. Besides, this book (although worth every single sen) costs more than 5 times the price of the 'usual' cookbooks people here go for, or, can afford. Hubby came home from Kuching, East Malaysia, with 3 bunches of pucuk paku...it's not as easy to find them in Peninsula M'sia where we live. I confess I've only cooked with ferns once a long time ago and didn't quite know how to handle them....couldn't figure out James' instructions of preparing the ferns. I sort of heard my husband telling me to snip off a lot...I ended up snipping not enough. So, when he came home, we fished the cooked bunch out and did another bunch, and, because the 2nd time around, the ferns weren't cooked as long as the 1st bunch, it was still bright green and was really tender and delicious. Most of the time, I prefer my veg still having some life. Right...you can put Fern Curry as 'done' on the list, lol. Picture of the 1st attempt. Didn't take pix of the 2nd. Some changes I made, include, putting minimal chillies and using dried shrimps (soaked, washed, and fried to fragrant)...I didn't have fresh shrimps. It's different from using fresh shrimps, but I think I like it this way. Has a deeper flavour. I think the next time I do this, I'll add both. Sorry for the rather lengthy post. Edited for clarity.

I did buy some kaya, but the family got to it first, eating it with my sourdough wholemeal bread and some butter, toasted. Hubby came home tonight looking very pleased with himself for buying some great durians (the season's here, yay!) for a bargain. I took half of it and made filling (2 durian: 1 whipped cream) for a roll. Decadent! But, I suspect this is not going to be as enthusiastically received here as my family. Everyone took more than one helping each. For the roll, I used this recipe, my go to base recipe for a ton of desserts. I was crossing my fingers, as I didn't have any cornstarch left in the house this evening...so I used tapioca flour...and, happily, it worked. OK...hold your noses.... Edited for grammatical (sp? now) error.

Gosh. I just followed the links. From, for eg., this link and others I looked at, which recipe shows the slightest chinese influence? I'd like to see some of her recipes from My China. I guess that would be her translation of the food she experienced in the old country. I don't know how chinese you and your mother are, and, how chinese cooking has been passed down from generations. I'd rather not comment. I don't concur. My bad for getting my maths wrong and getting myself into the oft-sensitive 'authentic' issue. There are too many things I want to say on this subject but I'm biting my lips. Peace.

Are you saying authentic chinese food = fatty oily dishes? My two sen, but I think there's more to it, how a dish is cut, prepared, cooked and combined. Sure, traditionally, chinese food uses oil to give a dish some sheen...to look 'alive', but good chinese food doesn't go overboard in that respect. I come from a family who is averse to food which is too oily, and even my mother (who only cooks chinese) think nothing of leaving lard cubes out. I've nothing against Kylie Kwong's recipes, really. Power to her for creating flavourful dishes. But, I just hope people who buy her books don't think her recipes are authentic chinese.

Haven't seen My China, but I took a look at the above recipe links (I know, they are not from My China). Chinese food? Nah. Good (australian) fusion recipes? I'd give her the benefit of doubt.

Yum, Prawncrackers! Great meals where you can taste the meat without being distracted too much by sauces. Yep, plain rice just won't do for 'chicken rice'. The only thing I might add is a plate of lightly fried bean sprouts. Love overnight rendang.

Well done, DG! You've created instant nouveau joong.....what a time-saver!

The fruitcake cookies Jaymes posted are delicious. Ones I made. 1. Play with the ingredients to suit your criteria. 2. Presoak the fruit with some orange juice to moisten them and to plump them up so that after baking, they don't cause any grief. 3. Make the dough and freeze till required. Cheers.

Click here and follow all the links, and the next time you post, you're going to 'wow' us.

Great to see this thread kicking off. My copy of the book will take some 3 weeks to arrive. Thanks, moreace01, for sharing your cooking in such a helpful way. The tips and notes (of the others too) are most appreciated.

Can I hope to see pix of said throwing and bashing dough around? Great bread you have there!

I often bake it in what amounts to a large ramekin, but still do not get the crust I am wanting. ← Did you have a relatively wet dough? It's basically the no-knead method, of throwing the dough into a heated pot, cover it, then remove the cover for the last 15 mins. I was reading all about hearing bread sing and couldn't believe my ears when it actually happened for my 'pot' bread. Gorgeous crispy crust. Ahh...I missed the pale part. That could be due to over-proving your bread...the sugars are depleted.

Yep, that's the pandan roll. Variations are plain/pandan-flavoured roll with kaya/pandan-flavoured kaya. To make smooth kaya, one is especially pantang (er...paranoid/superstitious is the closest translation I can think of) about getting steam or any water in it. Here's a recipe for the roll. I'd omit the food colouring (artificial) and essence (even more artificial). And, here are recipes for pandan-flavoured kaya and palm-sugar flavoured kaya. If you can't get hold of pandan (screwpine) leaves, I don't know whether you should go ahead to make it because the pandan essences I've come across in the process of buying for an american friend all seem to smell too far from the real thing. But that was 3 years ago...perhaps, they've come up with better ones. I've only made kaya twice. I don't have the time any more to stand over the stove and stir it over a double-boiler for 2 hours. But there's nothing like licking off the spoon and pot of hot homemade kaya. Mmmm..... Here's a great write-up by ecr (our egullet member) on kaya; comes with 2 recipes. Even if you don't have any intention of making it, it's a very good read...at least, it tells you how the real deal is so different from the canned stuff you find on your shelves. If I go to the pasar malam (night market) this Sunday and get some kaya, I'll jump in this bake-off. I'd spread not only kaya on my roll but also whipped cream. Yum.

Bake it in a pot, and hear your bread sing and the crust crackle.

What do you mean you need to improve on your photography? Your kangkong belacan has got my keyboard wet. While waiting for a tripod, you can rest your camera on something ( a box, a jar etc...) to prevent shakes. As for your belacan, quick! go make some noodles. Belacan goes very well with sweet soy-sauce based noodles or braised/roast duck/chicken. If it's too fire-y, you may want to remove some chilli seeds next time. For local stews/braises, I've taken to cook it LTLT (long time low temperature), for that drop off the bone texture. Yes, your meat will definitely become more tender given more time.

Not Doodad, but, like I said above, I don't deep-fry (doesn't mean I don't eat deep-fried food when I'm eating outside) and I'm chinese. You can shallow-fry your chicken chunks to brown all sides. If it takes too long, help it to cook faster by covering it...steam-cook. Just make sure you cook the individual ingredients separately, then throw in everything and give a quick hot fry to finish. Terrasanct: The thread is still young, I'm sure other ways of making things healthier will surface. Had less time earlier for a more lengthy reply but other things I do: * Haven't had white table salt in my home for a long time. I use celtic sea salt or himalayan rock salt. * I use Bragg's liquid aminos to replace soy sauce sometimes. * Have more raw ingredients dishes. * Reduce sugar in desserts a third to half. * Fry cod fish and salmon in their own fats. * As for fats intake, I cook with grapeseed oil and consume healthy doses of olive oil. I do need fats as I've mild eczema. Transfats are a no-no. * hubby used to do the grocery-shopping and you can't believe the stuff he buys home....canned sodium-loaded soup, fruit juices and drinks in cartons...eek! I've taken over the shopping now. I make my own soybean drink (out of non-GM beans) and like it unsweetened. * have gone organic whenever I can. Especially, flours (unbleached). Ain't cheap in our neck of the woods. I'm not going into the yin and yang of eating, but, I consciously put together the day's menu so that the body feels harmonious....a chinese thing.

Oh, but we must have a Cook Through. I just ordered the book...hope to get it by Monday. Over the past 2 years, with us getting richer in years and girth, I've consciously tried to cook/eat healthier too...at least from Monday to Friday....we eat out during the weekends when I 'let go' a little. I don't deep-fry in my kitchen, instead, I shallow-fry. I also use the oven and steamer more.