Ben Hong

I have not heard of anyone cooking a whole pig's head in Chinese cooking, unless it was a byproduct of roasting a whole pig. Why would they want to and waste all the possibilities that can be realized from all the disassembled parts?? The pig's head is an opportunity for the creative cook to strut his/her stuff, for from it there are so many parts with different textures and tastes...ears, snout, cheeks, tongue, brains.....Each of these parts can be treated with several different recipes and styles. Headcheese in Chinese style? Please... (But I love headcheese, scrapple, cretons, etc. in context)

Torture, sheer torture. BUT I LOVE IT Great pics TP.

"What impressed him the most was the Pigeon/Squab Restaurant over the tracks in Shatin that he visited several times both trips in awe of the volume of business and quality served consistently". Can't remember the name of that squab place in Sha Tin, but my cousin took me there on my first visit in 1968. He was forced to take me there three more times during my stay. I have tried to duplicate the squab served there about a dozen times, but I have never even come close. (Sha Tin nowhere near as densely populated then as it is today. In fact, it was like going back to the old villages in my memory.

I have been there, and done that. Many, many times. A note of caution though, I was warned by many people after I told them that I had shellfish (clams, cockles, perriwinkles...) on the streetcorners not to do it any more. Hepatitis is a constant worry after eating shellfish.

Well, I pulled another "Ben Hong", late as usual to the party (Ihope there's a bit of rice and ham yeu yoke beng left). I have just arrived home after a quickie out of town trip. Irwin at this late hour, in my time zone, I have no flowery prose or exalting paens to pen in your honour. Suffice to say that you are one of the most knowledgable Toysan "geezers" and one of the most articulate GENTLEMEN that I have read in any medium. To parrot the inimitable style of a previous well wisher, Happy Birthday Dude (sounds more appropriate coming from me as I am almost catching up to you in age)

There is documentary evidence that the Chinese had established very profitable trade with the immense region that includes Indonesia, the Moluccas, East India, etc. as far back as the late 14th century (1380s). By the early 1400s huge fleets of Chinese vessels would call regularly on the region's ports. You can imagine all the cultural and trade intercourse that resulted. Which means that the Chinese were at least 100 years ahead of the Portuguese and Dutch in "discovering" the spices of SE Asia. As a child I remember some pepper plants that some of my Aunties planted. The chili and green peppers, etc. are NOT a pepper (piperis) as they are capsicum. Pepper originated int the east, capsicums came from the new world.

Ohhh Yums Wonderful pictorial, Ah Leung. I can't show my wife this made with all white meat, as I have been telling her that traditionally the dish is made with dark meat (my preference)

Ah Leung, 10,000 apologies. Indeed you are right it does read "tsp" (teaspoon). (I should be wearing my glasses after midnight).

Um...err.. uh..Ah Leung, beggin' your pardon, but did really mean 2-3 tablespoons of shrimp sauce in your dish, or was it 2-3 teaspoons? I would find that 2-3 tablespoons of the stuff in a single dish would not be palatable. ...too salty. Again, no effrontery meant.

Well, given that I have only eaten at the Washington place, Mr. K, which was OK, you have burdened them all with a reputation which I don't think they can live up to. Funny how none of these "Best in the World" places are in China, HK, Toronto, SF, Taiwan..... And where the heck is London, New York??

I personally love ma la dishes, but a few years ago when I cooked a meal for my Mother and her sisters, I caught particular old hell from the old ladies. So many reasons were given why one should not eat such fiery foods: an affront to Confucian principles, too yang, too much "yit hei", upsets the balance of the body, and the real topper "leave that to those uncivilized people from the north, we are Kwangtung people." Whew!! I may be slow, but am not stupid, so I never did anything like that again, as I absolutely feared my "Dai Yee Ma" my eldest aunt.

When I was a very young kid, about a thousand years ago, I had the habit of hanging around the local Chinese restaurant in the small northern Quebec mining town where we settled after immigrating to Canada. Two of the regulars who came in the kitchen door were elderly Japanese gentlemen who drifted into the area after their liberation from the Internment Camps of WWll. Each time they visited, almost before the usual greetings were said, they sat down with a pot of Chinese tea and read the Chinese papers that the proprietors had sent in from Toronto. I asked how come they could read Chinese, but my adult Chinese friends could not read more than half of the written Japanese. Then someone proceded to explain to me how the Japanese were able to do that. It appears that "ganji" or the Chinese written language was "the" working language" of Japan and as such, every schoolkid had to learn it, besides their own sets of words -hiragana and katakana (Kris, what are the proper names?). As Ah Leung said, it was brought over by a Buddhist monk/missionary about 800 years ago. That Buddhist monk is a very famous figure in Japanese history and folklore. Before his advent, Japan had no written language, according to my understanding. Please don't hold me to the facts of this story, because I am repeating a story that I heard 53 years ago. Another story (this one more fanciful) that I heard was that even earlier than that, there was a successful attempt to civilize the Japanese Islands by China. The tale recounts how the Chinese Emporer on hearing that those islands were inhabited only by wild men (Ainu) decided that it would be good for the Empire to civilize the region. He sent a colonizing expedition comprising of 500 young men and 500 young women, the most beautiful to be found in China, each one with a special skill, craft or learning to the "new land". Those were the seeds of Japan as we know it. Believe it or don't. Regardless of fanciful tales, there is that indisputable fact that Japanese culture, literature, art, music, etc. is heavily influenced by China. One of my dear friends, a retired Japanese diplomat, said it best: "Japan looks on China as the west looks upon Greece and Rome".

Hmmm . Smallmouth/black bas and white bass are two of my favourite fish and they're prevalent in plentiful numbers where I live. As an angler, I get to eat them right after being caught sometimes. Ah Leung, in keeping with you becoming a food stylist or artiste, you should have stacked the fish high for presentation.

After seeing this thread of Kris' and what touaregsand has put out on these pages, all I can say is I got to get a life and start cooking Korean. Fantastic, Ladies.

When I was involved in our family restaurant in the very early 60s, it was one of the busiest restaurant of any type in New Brunswick. As such my first cousin, the head cook, was really interested in being a trendsetter. He saw or heard about the usage of sizzling platters when serving steaks. Wow! The news of this attractive flourish spread like wildfire and we sold more steaks over the next 6 months than we had ever sold before. (until copycats stole a bit of our thunder). Then my cousin got the bright idea to serve premium Chinese dishes in the sizzling platters...salt&pepper shrimp, beef kow, chicken & black beans, etc. Knocked them dead, he did. Was he the first to use the sizzling platter for Chinese food (1964)?? Probably not. But he was first in Atlantic Canada.

Inspired by A Leung's wonderful thread, I am waiting for my morning jook to cool as I type. There is a fillet of basa, a lovely white fleshed fish from Vietnam fish farms that I got from Costco sitting at the bottom, a few sprinkles of scallions on top with the ginger and when I am ready to eat, I will add white pepper and a dash of soy sauce or fish sauce. My jook is made the old fashioned way, on top of the stove with a heavy bottomed pot that is stirred every 5 minutes at lowest setting after the boil. My preferred rice for jook is plain unscented long or short grain, and for a bit more smoothness, I will use half glutinous and half plain rice. Ratio of rice to water is 1/7 at least, depending on consistency desired. Although I have heard of people using a little bicarb to cook jook, I have never used it. It is believed that it speeds up the softening process of the rice. Anyone heard of such a thing?? Leftover jook tastes smoother after being reheated the next day. Everybody has listed most of the toppings that I normally use but I will also use fuyu as a topping. I love jook, maybe that's why in my youth I was called jook sing

Irwin:

Recent media headlines all over have shouted the discovery of a 4000 year old bowl of noodles in China. There should be no more questions as to who made noodles first. But if I were Italian, I would wonder how many discoveries my ancestors really did make. Chris Colombus did not discover the new world because the Chinese and the Vikings did. Surely the Sistine Chapel was not painted by a Greek house painter, ...was it?

The age-old debate (never in my mind though) as to who "invented" the noodle has been definitively, irrevocably and finally settled. In all the news media of the past several days, headlines were proclaiming that an inverted bowl filled with long strands of fine noodles was found in China after being excellently preserved under a mud layer for over 4000 years. Italian cuisine second only to Chinese cuisine in greatness is still number two in the pasta realm.

It mostly has to do with the meat. Blade, chuck, shortribs, etc. are well marbled and has a lot of connective tissue which gives stew that richness and texture. I find that the lean cuts cannot give you the mouth feel and taste. Round steak is absolutely the worst in this regard, as it gets a "powdery" texture when cooked with stew times. Agreed that s-l-o-w cooking is the best way.

Great summary of recent HK history, Irwin. I have heard the HK's population today is about 7 million. Shenzhen in 1980 was a small fishing town of 7-8,000 people. Today the city and immediate environs has over 10 million.

Aww gosh, For the first time in a long time I'm am at a loss for words. Irwin, and everyone else, those are the kindest words I have heard spoken about myself and as such, I really don't know how to reply. sO I'll be true to my Chinese and Canadian upbringing and say THANKS

Pan, yes and no. To explain, I am a birdhunter (mostly ruffed grouse and woodcock) and being in New Brunswick in October is like being in woodcock heaven. So, every year I take my annual leave at this time of year when I play caveman and cosy up with my two bird dogs at the lakeshore. I normally get some flatulent, sweaty, and profane "guests" (my boyhood friends) clamoring to accompany me . Now, being that this is a Chinese food forum, I am guessing probably not many have had the exquisite pleasure of eating the aforesaid birds. Whatever style you use to cook such wild birds with, they taste much better than chicken or turkey. Normally I just broil grouse, but my mother used to make "san guy gook fan" or rice pot with grouse meat, a bit of Chinese sausage, black mushrooms, bit of wine, oyster sauce, etc. Similar to that dish made with chicken. Woodcock, done rare or medium tastes sweeter than squab or chicken but it takes three to make a good meal (for me). You could cook it a la the Cantonese fried pigeon or make rumaki with them, or fricasse, or broiled or.... So, back to the question whether anyone gave me a banquet? No, not in the traditional sense, but my three buddies and I had a feast that was priceless and available to only a select few.

HZRT8W. Right you are You Sir, are as scholar and a word sleuth.

Welll!! Glory be!! A birthday banquet in my honour. Sheesh, I gained 5 lbs. just looking at the dishes, . Thank you, thank you, thank you. I keep saying that I don't feel like 63. I have never met internet folk as warm and as friendly as you all are. I think that will be my future retirement project, to travel and meet with some of you. ( I think Dejah survived my visits OK) My Chinese name Ben is written with two symbols for man side by side with three angled slashes on top of each other on the right of them. Again thanks all. Cheers.