Ben Hong

Ironic isn't it? We Toysanese (Cantonese) were first to immigrate to North America and introduce "Chinese" food to the gwei loh, food that is over battered and cloyingly syrupy. Now, regardless of some people's earnest quest for "authenticity", they still have ingrained in them the simplistic notion that Cantonese food is sweet and sour. It boggles!! Except for cooking other Chinese regional dishes, this Toysanese almost NEVER use sugar in his dishes. A greater irony is that while Guangzhou is one of the great sugar growing provinces in all of China, the Guangzhou people (Cantonese) generally do not have a sweet tooth when eating dinner.

Hey, it's the prodigal GASTROGIRL. Welcome back Sweetums. Where, what, how and who have ya been??? (Ah loves me pork fat in joong too) .

I have always associated kau fu with veg. cooking and I have NEVER had it sweet. But if a sweet-ish taste is desired, knock yourself out and pour on the sugar. Simple, No?

Kau fu is just another ingredient like dou fu puffs, bean sticks, etc. that you add to a dish to make it more substantial if it is a vegetarian dish . Just add to a base stirfried dish with a combo of three or four of snow peas, mushrooms, celery, sliced carrots, onions, asparagus, green beans, capsicums, woodear, etc. etc etc. Some call it a meat substitute. So just take a dish like scallops and veg., omit the scallops and use kaufu instead.

"Kau fu' is wheat gluten lumps. You can make it yourself if you have the inclination, but it is a l o n g process. It is avilable ready made.

Jeeze Chris, any more of these posts and we'll have to make you an honorary "Egg". (caucasian sinophiles). I love your efforts.

Listen Alycemoy, and I will tell you a story. A long time ago, there was this fellow who lived in an apartment over a fine French Restaurant. Although the fellow was well versed in the techniques and procedures of one style of cooking (he grew up in a Chinese restaurant kitchen), he wanted to learn the French way. Over a few months a well established aquaintanceship developed formed between the apartment dweller and the kitchen staff (and owner) of the restaurant. When the friendship was solid enough, the fellow started dropping hints as to whether he could "help out" in the kitchen. Everyone thought that was a great idea. So, for about a year, he spent a couple of hours a day in that kitchen observing and learning and helping. They even paid in meals. The apartment dweller was MOI. Take what you can and will from my fable, but the point is "go get greasy". PS: I totally agree with Ah leung's point that most Chinese chefs come up through long arduous apprenticeships...learning techniques more than recipes.

Huh? Wha'? Imissed another B'day party??? Happy B'day, Dejah, if indeed it is yours.

Kent, I have just taken the "trip" in China with you on Flickr. Absolutely gorgeous pictures of some amazing sights. Thank you.

*Sighhhh*

WAIT A DANGED MINUTE !! Before all you pseudo-sophisticates drag down Oolong and Jasmine teas further into the mud, let me state that oolong (and its variant, Jasmine) is a great tea. It was, and is still, the tea of choice of the vast majority of people in the old villages and it is the type of tea that allowed me to introduce many people to the great world of Chinese teas. In my experience, people generally liked oolong at first taste, unlike their reaction to po lei (puni in Toysan). I drink more of oolong than any other variety. So, ppfffttt......

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Baked stuffed shad , or atlantic salmon, and fiddleheads are a traditional St. John River Valley (NB, Can.) spring dinner. Fiddlehead collecting is a rite of spring for a lot of families in the Maritimes of Canada. Harvest sites are tightly kept family secrets to be passed on from generation to generation. In recent years, the upscale restaurants in large North American cities have "discovered " them and this has engendered a whole new "industry" with commercial collectors reaching far and wide raiding "secret" spots. So, for those people who are faced with fiddleheads on the menu, don't eat them; they taste absolutely disgusting, much akin to pond scum. Moreover, they cause food poisoning, hives, impacted follicles, ingrown toenails, and worse of all, penis inversion. I eliminate all the potential hazards by stir frying them with garlic and black bean sauce and beef. So many ways to do them ala chinois. Or to go simplistic, hard blanch them with mushrooms, top off with lemon juice and butter. remember, DON'T EAT THEM

YOU'RE ALL KILLING ME!!

Somewhat scatalogical, I think!

Only wimps devein. You would lose a lot of juice (flavour) while deep frying if you devein. Regarding the sequence of the cooking steps, one of our old cooks used to do it all simultaneously. He'd fire up the wok oil, plunge the shrimps into the deep fryer, stir the seasonings into the wok, take the shrimp out of the fryer and blend into the flavourings in the wok. DONE!!! The cooking only takes about a minute, usually less. This will ensure that the shrimps have what we Chinese call tui how, that is the shrimp flesh has that mouth feel that "pops" when you bite into it, never chewy.

In my recent travels to Toronto's Chinatowns I see that every Chinese "supermarket" carries vac packed prosciutto ham hocks. Speaking to the clerk, he says that it is very popular for soups because unlike most ham it is not smoked.

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Must be something I missed. You started off with a rack of side ribs and ended up with back ribs. You must let me know how you did that.

The "special" chicken is the common Chinese ringneck pheasant which after being transplanted to North America from their native western and north China origins multiplied in their millions, especially in the great plains of Canada and the US. We in our region of east coast Canada have our own population. It is the most hunted of upland game, and I have travelled all over the continent hunting them.

Crunchy, with a bit of peppery taste. As a very young kid in the village, it was a favourite treat. We called the sui kooui, water something or other.

If the tree is a very large one, above 2 feet in diameter, make sure that the heart of the trunk is good throughout. My preference would be to take a 4' section of one of the largest branches (min. 16" diam.) and put it away for a year to let it dry and age. After it's properly aged, slice off some 4" rounds, debark, grind and sand down the surfaces. get rid of the chainsaw oil, etc. In all probability, it will check and split, even with these precautions. Of course, my real preference would be to walk down to the store, pay my $30. and walk home with a chopping block.

Interesting thing about bones in cooked fish. It never ceases to amaze me that little Chinese kids as young as 4-5 years, develop that special knack the we all take as second nature, to roll the bits of fish in our mouths and extract the bones. Yet most western fish dishes involved filleted and deboned fish, because it is too difficult or "dangerous" for the diners. Buncha wimps As for cooking a nice piece of fish like what you have, there are many ways. Try red braising (hong shao) the whole piece, or cutting the flesh into slices, velvetting them and using them in stir fries (yu pen), or, my favourite - steaming with soy, ginger slivers and green onions. The list is endless. Fish is a delicate flesh, use as few seasonings as possible. Hmm I have said that before , I think.

My favourite is a smaller general purpose one made by Henckels of Germany.

Muinchoi, Loo for a long time. Kent, if you really want to try the best, creative, edgy, new dimsum, you have to come to Toronto (Lai Wah Heen).