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Ben Hong

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Everything posted by Ben Hong

  1. Interesting note about the new mothers confinement and the eating of black vinegar chicken soup. The Cantonese/Toisanese term is "toe yuet", which can sound like either "vinegar" month or "sitting" month. Both meanings are , ahem, very appropriate.
  2. A few thoughts on this thread: I agree with hzrt about buying dau si. I never, ever go near the Yang Jiang brand, they are of very, very poor quality and the only time I bought a container, I opened it at the store counter and both the clerk and I were shocked at the infestation of weevils contained therein, so much so that the contents were a writhing mass. Mudbug, Toyshan, Toisan, Hoisaan, Taishan (Mandarin) are all pronunciations used to designate a "region" of Guangdong province, a short distance from Hong Kong/Macau. Taicheng , Taishing, Tois Shing, Hoi Seng are all pronunciations used to indicate the regional centre of Toisan (capital?) Toyshan or in the local dialect, Hoisaan, was the source of 100% of the Chinese in North America, before 1970. So, if your parents came to North America before that period, I would hazard a guess that they came to the new world from Toisan via Hong Kong. Toisan was the source of the labour that built the railroads, opened the lumber camps, and participated in the 1849 goldrush. From that goldrush, North America was given the nickname of "Gam Shan" or Gold Mountain by the Toisanese '49ers. If you read the whole thread that I started, referred to in post #8, you will get a quick snapshot of what Toisan is.
  3. Teepee's post of the delectables that she just enjoyed has me working hard to get myself over to K.L. Brace yourselves! I am a dedicated "eater".
  4. I spent the past few days in Toronto suffering through a heat wave from hell. NO COOKING anywhere by anybody of my family, so we spent a few evenings lingering over excellent Chinese meals in air-conditioned comfort. Both my kids love fu yu like a cat loves catnip, so for three suppers we had pea shoots, ong choy and even amaranth cooked with garlic and fu yu. Even my kids' caucasian SOs grew to love the stuff.
  5. Dejah, the fates were conspiring to thwart my enjoyment of your joong. When I arrived back in Toronto, good old Air Canada had lost my bag(s) which caused me to wail, rail, and assail the company once again. My precious joong were in that luggage!! The attendants assured me that usually missing luggage shows up within 24 hours. Sure enough, the next day the bags were delivered at noon. I eagerly opened the bag with the joong in it and was despairing that all was lost in this heat wave from hell. BUT, the joong were still half frozen, halleluia Clean clothes, dirty laundry, bath towels, etc. make great insulators. And, they didn't detract from the taste. Which was SUPERB
  6. Once upon a time I had sliced white bread in a cello bag that is commonly available in all of the North American supermarkets. Don't know whether I want to try that again!
  7. Silken dou fu makes the most luxuriously decadent, and smooth ma po dou fu.
  8. I have one of those 80K btu things next to my propane BBQ on the deck. Talk about cooking with gas . Crank it up and it sounds like a Saturn Rocket. I love it!!
  9. And when you have enough money to buy one, make sure that the biggest and hottest burner is at least 15,000 btu., otherwise, stick with an electric stove. Anything less is almost useless.
  10. I'm DROOLING in anticipation.
  11. if you know this, you should try to be more understanding of the people who say these things. I respectfully disagree with that attitude. It's all nice to be civil when faced with insulting behaviour, but that way will NOT show the offender the error of his/her ways...that those kind of remarks are hurtful. If that attitude is so ingrained, how in hell are the offenders going to know that they are being offensive unless someone gently (maybe not, if it were me) shows them that they are??? After 55 years of being the meek "Ornamental" (touaregsand's word), I have found that most ignorant people are ignorant because they know no better and most will accept an explanation or a mild correction of their offensive behaviour.
  12. Not to force too sharp a "virage" to the thread, but J-Y you've discovered what I myself discovered a long time ago and that is the so-called "experts" are experts only at selling their little bit of knowledge to the uninitiated populace. I have had my share of run-ins with that kind of montebank and it is always gratifying to mash arrogant practitioners of false demaguogery into the ground. I also find offensive, people who though not of a particular culture become "experts" in that culture simply because of their tangential or incidental association with that particular culture. That's not to say that a person not of a certain culture can't be knowledgable and expert. But, he's got to earn his chops and rspect people who were born and raised in the medium.
  13. An inexpensive Chinese cleaver works wonders. Just don't get those thin very sharp ones meant for slicing.
  14. Give it a try? I value my self respect and am thankful for my upbringing. Thanks anyway. On the subject of materials for chopsticks (not drumsticks), silver and ivory were reputed to be indicators of a poison in food...or so the Chinese say too.
  15. I agree with Trillium on this one. The process of seasoning a wok is in fact adding microscopic layers of oil to the steel surface. The adherence occurs when the wok is heated, oil added, cooled and wiped off. The physical properties of the oil changes in the superheating and then cooling, I believe, making it more adherent. In simpler terms, the oil adheres in a "baking on" process. It's that baked on oil residue that makes a wok "seasoned". I am NOT a chemist nor a physicist, but I know that NO kind of solid steel can be called porous. That is my opinion only
  16. I am curious, do you play percussion at the dinner table with knives, forks and spoons too??
  17. Again, that depends on your needs. A bone chopper need heft (weight) and thickness. A slicer needs to be light, thin bladed and sharp and the blade doesn't have to be wider than 2.5-3". A general purpose slicer and light chopper should be about 3-4" wide, some good heft and sharp. Characteristics to look for in any knife: -good balance -good edge retention -easily sharpened -enough heft to suit the purpose -very comfortable and safe handles I find that carbon steel is better than stainless steel in easiness of sharpening and edge retention. Look like hell, but they are effective. Oh, an absolute essential is a whetstone and a sharpening steel. If you want to have a good sharp edge, you should learn how to use both. I don't use electric sharpeners or other gadgets for sharpening my knives. Nor do I subject them to the dishwasher.
  18. Your choice of knives largely depends on your cutting method and the foods you want to break down. For instance, you are a slicer and cutter you might want a whole slew of "western" style kitchen knives. However if you are a speed chopper in the main, like me, then you would want Chinese cleavers. Chinese cleavers come in a variety of weights, thicknesses, widths and lengths. I have three different ones, for bone chopping, vegetable chopping and meat slicing. They meet about 95% of all my knife needs, from deboning chickens, to mincing meat, to chopping mushroom slices, slicing meats, deconstructing a quarter loin of beef and with a cleaver in each hand I can mince 8 oz of beef to make REAL chopped sirloin in about a minute...But I do have great use for an 8" chef's knife and a paring knife too. Member Jo-Mel calls the Chinese cleaver the Chinese food processor. In the proper hands, it is the ultimate kitchen utensil...bone cracker, mincer, slicer, chopper, spatula, carver, hamburger maker, etc. And, they are extremely cheap as the best and most expensive Chinese cleaver in Toronto's Chinatown costs about 20% what an average German brand knife does. BTW, I have discovered a perverse truth in Chinese cleavers and that is price does not reflect utility.
  19. Shanghai bok choy is too tender to "cook" with. I just blanch, drain, a few drops of oyster sauce, heat up some garlic and oil, and sizzle on top.
  20. Suzy, do you deliver? My Gawd that looks good.
  21. Ben Hong

    Basa

    A fish by any other name would taste so sweet. It's absolutely delicious.
  22. I am not of the younger generation, except in my own 63 year old mind. And, how many people go around eating in stiff formal fashion any more? My few "born in Korea" friends are from the diplomatic community in Ottawa. My last "lowbrow" Korean Formal Dinner was at the Ambassador's residence where I did see a lot of people eating rice with chopsticks. Perhaps, I should refer them to you for a lesson in Korean formal dining etiquette.
  23. Hmmm. Whenever my (few) Korean friends and I sit down to a meal, they ate like I did, ie: picking up rice with chopsticks, and even lifting the ricebowl close to their lips. No one made any comments whatever about being rude or even different. Was it because they were hungry? or deferring to my technique? or the style was more efficient? or...
  24. Uncle Ben: Is that a "Hoisanese" method you would recognize? I'm not really sure about the chemistry behind it.
  25. Thank you Sencha. I equate the loss of basic kitchen skills with the use of calculators in the class room. Kids are allowed to use the calculator before they can multiply 2x2. I have nothing against gadgets, but people should learn basic skills first. On a further note, I am willing to wager that if you check out the kitchens of 100 Asian/Chinese restaurants, you would be hard pressed to find one ginger grater or garlic press, and they use a LOT of ginger and garlic.
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