Ben Hong

Karen and Joyce: Heed well the advice and knowledge that you are gleaning here and from your female elders(especially). The continuity of the "old ways' depends on your generation, especially here in North America. Such Chinese wisdom as conserved and practised by 150 generations of Chinese (women) comes with some validity and merit.

Irwin, last time I was in HK, I ate at a very busy place on a street corner in Kowloon. It was a "supersized" dai pah dong and served so many varieties of seafood that it took me a half hour to make my selections. After eating my fill of 4 different types, I met my friends who, when told of the magnificent supper I had, all literally blanched. It was revealed to me that shellfish of any kind was not to be eaten because of the danger of hepatitis and other sorts of unpleasant diseases. Thankfully, I did not catch anything, but I was on pins and needles for a year...waiting...waiting. Food for thought. Knowing that HK pumps all its raw sewerage into the harbour and environs...yechhh

Just the standard black bean, garlic, ginger style. If I have perilla or coriander, I would use some of that as a garnish.

MizDucky, you shouldn't be surprised at how concentric and parallel our repective civilizations are. Two societies as old as ours are, are bound to discover and evolve along similar paths. In the hippie-dippy sixties, it was my good fortune to share an apartment with a Jewish medical intern whom I had known for a long time before we became roomies. There's a saying that you really don't know a person untoil you live with him, well we got to know each other very well, because he and I challenged each other by discussing our respective cultures daily and became better people for it. (We lost our other two roomies on the way, philosophically ) Sailorboi: Your respect for us "elders" is much appreciated. But Ben-sook as Tepee and others call me is already "Uncle Ben". Koo or kiew is redundant in this case. Petite tete de chou: (love the handle). Be careful not to go overboard with the whole Yin/Yang thing. It is far, far away from panacea. That whole concept was developed by the mythical "Yellow Emperor " (not really by Lao Tzu, although the Taoists co-opted it) and his muse to use as a "guideline" for people to live in harmony with nature. This concept is represented by the tai ji, the familiar circle with two "fishes" head to tail symbolizes "balance". Even though we think that the two parts of the Yin/Yang dyad as distinct and separate, nothing could be farther from the truth. It is a continuum. Every traditional Chinese family subconciously eats a balanced diet over the long term, if they weren't caught in another famine. One should strive for balance, and moderation. Practically, the cook of the household, is bound by tradition, more than his or her knowledge of any high falutin' philosophy. The Chinese family dinner, with all the sung in the middle of the table and each diner with a bowl of rice, has evolved over the years with the Y/Y principles in mind . There is usually a soup , a stirfried dish, a moist cooked dish and a steamed dish, at a minimum depending on the number of diners. (Did you know that there are over 35 terms in the Chinese lexicon to describe various methods of cooking with heat?) Foods whether they be Yin or Yang, are cooked by various methods to achieve an overall balance. You will see any number of lists segregating all foods into yin, yang and neutral columns. No two are exactly alike. That's because over the years, the people who kept track of such things added some "editing" and personal prejudices to those lists. But, not to worry. There are ways to moderate any food, be it yang or yin. refer back to those 35 cooking methods for the answer. for example, a neutral potato can be converted into a horrendous pile of Yang by deep frying. The more I learn of these philosophies, the less susceptible in slavishly adhering to them I am. As with everything I do, I take these precepts in moderation. Once the Taoists got corrupted away from the One Truth, that religion (teaching) became less than strictly pure. But that does not mean to say that I am not a believer, nor do I mean to scoff at anything that my mother, aunts, grandmothers, Tepee, Dejah, etc do. Being a true Chinese Mama's Boy, in my childhood I was surrounded in a house jammed pack full of Yin people, and I dearly and deeply loved them. Besides, I loved being catered to.

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! ← But Tepee, that is what I was driving at. I will state here in plain view and in complete control of my senses that THE CHINESE WOMAN IS THE MAIN REPOSITORY OF CHINESE CULTURE. As such, all the folklore, the keeping of rituals, the observation of festivals, the regulation of the family wellbeing, the direction of the family path, family continuity, etc., etc is laid squarely on her strong shoulders. Therefore, Tepee, you are just carrying on what is "only" your duty. Sometimes these "duties" are so ingrained that they are second nature, almost genetic. What you are saying and doing now with your daughters, they will in turn, do and say with their families, unless of course they become so "bananafied" that they chose to ignore these things. Where does the Chinese man fit in a TRADITIONAL household? Well, if he were wise he would keep his mouth shut and do as he's told and eat what is put on the table. Chinese men are basically Mama's boys...who are cared for and catered to by their mothers, until such time as they marry and their wives take over. (Hhmm, leads to another topic which may or may not reappear). To be continued....

Tepee, sweet Moi Moi, I was leaving my "humor(s)" out of it, that is not laughing. Just setting the stage for what I believe will be a great discussion. The whole idea of the yin-yang dichotomy is based on the concept of balance as the ancient Taoists saw it... dark/light/, male/female, hot/cold, etc. In that concept, neither part of each equation should be predominant over the other, otherwise you create imbalance with leads to all kinds of troubles with the harmonious flow of chi, or life forces which drives nature, including our bodies .The concept of yin/yang also gives the founding theory to feng shui. Ever since the days of Lao Tzu, 2600 years ago, the Chinese have tried to live life in balance, or in harmony with nature and within themselves. Some old PoPos still won't let their grandkids or any other young children sleep on the ground, advocate against exposure to the evening mist, and most importantly advise against eating too much of one type of food (a good thing) because of their interpretation of the yin/yang "rules" and their ideas of balance. For certain, the average Chinese family dinner is subconciously, but rigidly guided by the old Taoist principles, in food selection and the variety of cooking methods. This is about all I can stay awake for, so tomorrow we'll discuss food, the real head of the Chinese family and other quasi religious beliefs that guide 1/4 of the world's population.

OOOoooooMMMmmmmmmmm.

A kilo is a nice starter.

Uh...err... guys, lychees are deadly yang. Being young and full of the essences of life in delicate balance, I agree that you shouldn't eat too many lychees . Whereas I, being old and dried up can withstand anything dat ole debbil yang can throw at me. Sooo.. I will e-mail my address to you so that you can send me all that fobidden, evil, prickly, yang-y stuff. I know how to deal with that toxic stuff.

HOLD ON. Before anyone rushes off to start making wire coat hanger hooks, be aware that all of them are either painted or varnished. Now, do you know what happens to paint and varnish under high heat?? Better idea is to go to a hardware store or a wire fence dealer and get some aluminum "ties" . They are about the same or heavier guage as the wire hangers and they are not coated. they come in various lengths. If you don't want to spend a few cents at a hardware store, then burn off the paint or varnish off the hangers before using.

Ahh, you'll not only have to keep up, but "catch up" also.

Mainly for show. But I am glad that they have preserved and expanded the skill. 20 years ago, there may have been 50 places in all of China that had pulled noodles. Then there was a travelogue done by a British team that showed the procedure, and overnight the pragmatic Chinese realize that they had an attraction that they could draw the "big nose" tourists with. Now there is a restaurant or a stall on every block that has pulled noodles. Back in the old days, they were all rolled and cut...which was more expedient. Point of fact is that the vast majority of noodles sold in eateries is not pulled. Tell me this, did everyone go home to try the "flying blades and spatulas art" of the Japanese teppanyaki restaurants when they first showed up? Did the juggling skill and showmanship of the Japanese grill cooks improve the flavour of the food by flahing and flipping their knives through the air?

I really admire all the people who are trying to attain the high art of pulling noodles, but other than saying that you can do it, is there any economic, taste, or aesthetic reason that hand pulled noodles are better... or worth the effort? Not many of us has the time to develop the skill to make noodles that are as consistently good as the pros do. A better way to get hand made noodles is to do what almost 200 million Chinese housewives do in the noodle eating regions of China, as a daily necessity. They roll out the dough in thin layers, stack them and cut into thin strands. Presto! Noodles. So simple and more hygienic. Myself I use the pasta machine if and when I actually want homemade noodles.

[quote You added more sugar into the bread dough when making the pork buns, and then re-kneaded once to distribute it in the dough, Yes.

I can remember the discussion, but I don't remember who started it. I have often used bread dough for mantou and bbq pork buns (too damn lazy to knead). For the latter I add some sugar to make it slightly on the sweet side. If I want dim sum restaurant style buns, fluffy and sweet dough, I will make it with cake flour and baking powder.

Not at all. A bit of ketchup is what I use all the time. And I am authentically Chinese.

MMMmmm...mmmm. At least one is.

That's about on a par with what we would pay in a large city like Toronto, only we pay in Canuck dollars.

RJ, just for interest and comparison, please give some of the prices of the dishes you had.

Hmmm. going to Shanghai to find French cuisine? Why not France?

No, it is an individual style, as I said. Black beans don't normally add that much bitterness to a dish such as this, only if you go overboard with it. I find that it just adds more contrast and mellowness to beef and tomatoes. And as I said before, I don't normally use black beans myself in this dish.

That's good, but different strokes....Chinese cooking reflects the size and wide diversity of the country and some people have a problem understanding that Vietnamese cuisine is more akin to Cantonese cooking than the latter is to Szechuan. Strictly speaking for myself, I can only take the sledge hammer approach to flavouring in Szechuan cooking only so much. Subtlety and nuance are difficult states to achieve and whenever I am faced with a powerfully spiced Szechuan dish my inward question is, what are they trying to cover up with all the peppers and chilis? Nevetheless, I enjoy all foods well prepared and even though I can, I just don't prefer to cook certain cuisines.

That's Szechuan restaurant food cliche'. I am merely a Toysan (Cantonese) home cook nowadays.

Grittiness is not a big problem to me because I can only think of two occasions where szechuan peppercorns are used...stews (whole in a spice bag) and in a dry dip. For the latter, pan roast and grind with a mortar and pestle. Not a popular spice for us Cantonese.