Tepee

Ahh...another convert! My 2 sen: 1) Shaya, my dough was more wet than dry...which goes to show that one cannot religiously follow the precise amount of flour stated in the recipe. Different flours different properties. Don't add all the flour at once. Like making bread, I guess it's up to you to feel the consistency. 2) Make sure oil from the filling don't get in the edges where you'll be pinching...won't seal. 3) It's easier to pleat in a pattern. For me, a right-hander, I go anti-clockwise. After the last pleat, pinch real tight. However, baos do not necessarily have to be sealed tight. Some people like their baos to 'smile' (open up).

...so that their dead and lifeless wormy bodies can float up and away from the veg. Yup, I hate surprises of the creepy kind in my veg.

I made bak kut teh in hubby's cousin's home in Orange County, LA, a couple of months back. It's true...the pork (spareribs) were odourless compared to the pork we get here in our markets, even when fresh. Don't mind jasmine tea without its flowery bouquet...because I don't like jasmine tea.

臊(sao in mandarin, so in cantonese)..to me, that means the inherent meat odour, not necessarily in a bad sense, as in rancid, for instance mutton is more 'so' than pork.

Hmm....oh-kay....a miss it is! So.....where does an un-tourist-ty visitor ISO some local rustic food scene go to while away some time?

I'll be on a flying visit to London in a week's time. Got a full-day class with Dan Lepard on Saturday, so, I can't do Borough Market on that day. The only time slot for a visit is 3.00 to 4.30 pm on a Friday afternoon. Question: Should I just forget it and give it a miss? Or, is it worth popping in (...as a offering to pick-pockets)?

Nope, not a hijack at all. Tks for posting your pix. One thing though, (...and I hope it doesn't offend too much...) Although there's some truth in the above quote, there are a LOT of differences in both our fare. For instance, this cendol that you posted....I've a major problem with the noodles being so artificially coloured. Cendol noodles in Malaysia are naturally flavoured and coloured with real pandan juice.

Cendol Austin, did you have the nutmeg juice in Penang? Never tried that before, but it sounds good. More details, please. Any pix?

Do you mean cloves or do you actually use a bulb or two when making a meal? I always throw acouple cloves of garlic into the hot oil before any other ingredients, and one bulb will last about a week. ← Hmm...sniff..sniff...don't think I reek of garlic, but I use up a bag of garlic a week. Typically, I'll use one whole bulb (if big) or 2 small bulbs to stir-fry vegetables. LOL, I can just imagine Dai Gah Jeh's look of horror. I love garlic for its properties (detoxifies, kills fungals/infections, friendly to our blood, increases protection against infectious diseases) as well as in the taste department. Give me garlic any time, raw (can't eat them by the bulb though...prefer them finely chopped), stewed till soft or fried.

Gosh, Austin...great pix! You make me miss Penang food so much. Hubby goes on biz trips to Penang so often that he has scrapped it off potential local holiday destinations for the family. Did you drink cendol? I once visited 3 stalls consecutively. How about the seafood? That's it! I must stop torturing myself!

Even if it's not for shanghai dishes, whenever we go to a chinese restaurant, we'll request for a small dish of raw finely-chopped garlic. Love its bite. Ah Leung Gaw, envying your tasting trip......BIGTIME!

Okie dok...I think at this point, we can compile a not-so-cut-n-dried list of foods according to their inherent properties, bearing in mind that transformation of properties can/will happen depending on how they are treated. Would appreciate if you have any new food to add, to just copy and paste in your post, then add on from there, so that at the end of the day, there's a nice list for posterity...er hem. Oh...if you don't agree with what's on the list, do give your say, I ain't an expert. Yang Foods Ginger Spicy Food Deep-fried Food Roasted Food Durian (lol!) Lychee Nuts Mutton Beef Coffee Chocolate Dong Guai/angelica sinensis Yin Foods Oong Choy/water spinach Sai Yeung Choy/watercress Water chestnut....Say? Do you notice the 'water' trend? Cabbage Cucumber (green or old) Most melons Mangosteen Pineapple Citrus fruit Coconut water Grass jelly drink Tea Barley drink Chrysanthemum drink Beer Your turn....

uhm...for instance, chinese medicine dates back 5000 yrs ago?

You bet I'm going! I've half a foot in already....got the plane tickets. Worry about accomodation later. Sign Crazy Caker

Gee, I don't know either. I do know I've to travel over 2 hrs.....oh...actually...over half the world....to get to Farnham.

Anyone going to this world class exhibition? The likes of Alan Dunn, Tombi Peck, Lindy Smith, Geraldine Dalhke, and etc.. will be giving classes and free demos. Guess who's going?

My first ice-cream-making attempt (no ice-cream maker, freeze, whizz, freeze, whizz)...Black Sesame Seed Ice-cream. Recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of ground seeds...I added 5 tablespoons, and yet I think doubling that would make it perfect. It was still delicious...we finished everything off in 2 sittings.

There you go...that's listening to your body crying out for balance. BTW, beer is aka Gwai Lo Leung Cha (er...politely translated as caucasian's herbal tea).

Just give me a buzz when you're thinking of visiting the area. Puchong Jaya is the area opposite IOI Mall. Really lots of good eats there. Another place a bit further down is Bandar Puteri Puchong, on the same side of Jalan Puchong....at least 2 good restaurants there.

Time to spice up the thread. Had Indian Muslim Rojak/Mamak Rojak for a light lunch today. RM2.50. Bought this from a van vendor nearby. The peanutty sauce was a bit sweet, and one of the crunchy stuff lacked crunch...but overall, it was good. Ever since I saw somebody eating this, I had been coveting it. Curry Laksa from the famous OUG Penang Laksa (go figure) coffee shop. This curry laksa is the real deal...it has even got pork skin in it on top of the regular cockles, ribs, bean sprouts and tau kwa (fried bean puffs).

Amen! Well, mizducky-who-appreciates-quackiness-in-all-forms, I shouldn't put the blame on the older generations, for naggingly controlling the what's and why's we eat, because I, myself, have unwittingly taken over the task of feeding my family with such 'balanced' meals, explaining to my children the effects of some foods over and over again. I bet they roll their eyes when I do that, but I (and, they, in future) can't help it, we're chinese!

Oh...good, good, the ball's rolling. Like Ah Leung Gaw mentioned..about adding ginger to cabbage...cooling food can indeed be neutralised. Such is the transient properties of food. Another example of zapping out the undesirable cooling properties (symptoms being coughs and dampness) is barley drink and old cucumber soup. Both are considered cooling if boiled for under one hour. However, they will produce neutral, even soothing effects, if you continue to boil it (over a slow fire) for up to 3 hours. The wind in most vegetables is tolerable for most people, except, for cabbage and oong choy/water convulvulus (sp?)/water spinach. Women approaching their menses and those who are within the confinement month, should approach the aforementioned veg with caution, lest they suffer abnormally severe cramps/bleeding. Even women who are not in that state, and who are going about their everyday merry way, can experience unwelcomed dampness...(er...discharge).

Well-spoken on the yin-yang concept, Ben-sook...indeed, like a chinese sage. But, before I go any further, I would like to indemnify myself...my 'quacky' knowledge of this fine balance of food effects is based on old wives' precipitation, no scientific/mollecular-whatnot-basis at all. And, as such, Michael, I'm sorry to say I am unable to be of much help on the humors connection (Ben-sook helped). Also, I'll just be contributing on and off - please help, people! - as my SAHM day-schedule is suffocating. I'll just lump Item #1 above with #3. Generally, a person who has a lot of energy, feels hot easily,and, is extroverted, is said to be more Yang. They are susceptible to Heat conditions, ie. fever, swellings, thirst. They need to take food which are cooling, calming to tone down their Yang. A Yin person takes life at a slower pace. A person with too much Yin suffers from chronic problems which develops and drags over a period of time. They need warming food to rid the Dampness. Let's welcome our very own eG fine example (of a man)...Ben-sook. Here, in the same Lychee thread, he tells of his resistance to the heaty effects of the lychee. That's because the Yin in him is clearly dominant. Because of the relative state of transition of YY forces, you may not know for sure if you're more a Yin or a Yang person; you may find at times you're more a Yin and at others more Yang. This will only be more apparent as you age, which helps, because you will then know how to maintain the YY balance by consuming the right herbs/foods for you. Gosh...hope I haven't lost y'all in the YY circle so far. I'll save the food discussion for later. I'm sure Ben, recharged from a good Yin sleep, will stimulate our appetites.

I'll tackle this (easier) question first, having gone through 3 (and a miss) childbirths and the default confinement diet....though, this can be a whole 'nother topic. No...no...I'm not going to be swallowed into that. Just quickly, the purpose of eating certain food after childbirth is: 1. To cleanse the womb of 'dirty blood'; 2. During cleansing, not to be opened to 'wind'...which will result in lots of aches in old age; 3. To strengthen the weakened system (loss of blood). Consuming copious amount of ginger (for eg. in the date/ginger drink, ginger tonic chicken) helps in purpose #2, as ginger is very warming for the stomach as well as the spleen. Moreover, it helps to open up the pores to ease toxin release. Heat vs Cold/Wind....Heat wins with ginger. The measure of how full of 'wind' you are is that a postpartum mother is able to take the heat of ginger without feeling the usual after-effects of consuming it. Some fathers who can't resist pinching partaking in the wife's confinement food suffer the consequences of losing their voices from the ginger's heat and having a face exploded in pimples.

Consuming too much rambutan will result in Damp-Heat, of which a common symptom is purging. Counter that with Durian....which gives Real Heat (wink wink).