Ben Hong

Chris, you are pickin' a good bunch of nits.

Thanks, Jo-Mel. You, like most experienced cooks, have shown that you understand what I am talking about. I am disappointed that some board members here have a tendency to scoff at techniques and procedures that they themselves have not seen or are adept at, without trying to learn more about it. Like most, I don't come on this board to brag, but to learn and maybe contribute a little culinary knowledge to the generally civilized pool of members.

Now is a great time to really clean the wok with all the abrasive and wire scrub pads that you want to use. Really, really give it a good going over, and when you're done, rinse well and dry. What you have now is a wok that is clean and has some shiney metal showing. The next steps are rather easy, but time consuming. Turn on your largest stove top burner up high and place the wok on it. (Turn on your exhaust fan now). As the burner (electric) gets red hot, the bottom of the wok starts changing colour a bit . Pour in a couple of ounces of clean oil and swirl around. You must also tilt, and rotate the wok over the burner so all sides are equally heated hot and oiled. After a few minutes or when you can't stand the oily smoke any more, turn off the burner, remove the wok drain the oil and let the wok cool thoroughly. Wipe clean and repeat twice. From now on the wok is seasoned and should never see a wire scrub pad, abrasive cleansers, soapy detergents ever again. Hot water and a nylon or bamboo brush should do 99% of future cleaning. I don't cook tomatoes or other acidic dishes in my good carbon steel wok as that stuff destroys the seasoning. The oven method works almost as well, except if your wok has wooden handles.

What a bunch of Doubting Thomas'!!!. O, ye of little faith!! Chris and Cakewalk, I am a total klutz when it come to things digital, but I am willing to travel to show you personally. Here's the deal; if I am successful in proving that you are misguided in your assessment of my knife prowess, you pay. Plus a meal cooked by you to prove your culinary prowess, I will judge whether these abilities match your posting abilities. If I can't deliver what I claim, I pay my own way and chalk it up as an interesting vacation. My 20 seconds is rather slow, and I didn't mention anything about knife sharpening and cutting board preparation. My board is always clean and on the counter and my knife is always sharp, when I am cooking. Cleaning and sharpening is always done after the meal is done, and is not considered to be part of the cooking process. What do you do, rewire the kitchen and scrub out the oven before you cook and count that as part of the meal preparation procedure??

A few questions: Why is Marco Polo generally accepted as the first traveller between China and Europe. He may be the best documented, but certainly not the first. The silk road was a link about a thousand years before old Marco made his trips. Don't you all think that those travellers and traders could at least have a hand in early intercontinental communications? Chinese civilization predates the Roman Empire by oh, say, 2500 years. Any civilization, during those early days, that could develop the ability to accurately forecast eclipses and comets, create an accurate calendar, and observe other natural and scientific phenomena, surely could develop something as plebeian as noodles/pasta. No? Pasta or noodles, makes no never mind who or where it was developed, it all tastes great. Another great Chinese invention that is being usurped by the revisionist running dogs of the imperial west.

Whatever happened to good old knife skills - a sign of the good cook?? Slice ginger "see through" thin, stack slices, slice thin again, so you have tiny, thin slivers. If slivers are what you need, stop here. If you need "minced", then slice across again to get a pile of tiny bits. Total elapsed time=20 seconds, or about 5 minutes less than getting the grater out, setting up, grate, wash grater, put it away. Or, to go straight to the minced stage, take a lump of ginger, use the flat side of a Chinese cleaver, smack it firmly to mash it and mince. 5 seconds flat. Gadgets are preventing people from learning the basic skills.

I have neve made any joong, but I am a connoisseur and a glutton of them. But doesn't "gan sui", lye water play a role?

Susan, here you go.

HOLD ON Sue-On, I am coming to Brandon

Straight up cheating? I think not. Jaz got it right when he says that it is no more cheating than a pinch of salt or a dash of vinegar, etc. Sanctimony does not become you. Everybody has experienced umami. Repeat, EVERYBODY has tasted and experienced umami on a daily basis. If you've drank mother's milk, cow's milk, eaten cheeses, any meats at all, soy products, products of the sea, etc. Umami is that ethereal mouth feel and pleasurable taste in foods that, like constituent sugar in foods, distinguishes a good tasting food from something that we would not want to eat again. It keeps us coming back. Why do you think that flavoured potato chips outsell the plain variety by many times? I can abso-freakin'-lutely guarantee that people would not be eating hot dogs if umami (msg) were not present. Yeah, you've experienced it.

Sacrilege, I say!!! Lychees should only be eaten fresh out of hand. Period, end of discussion.

Ditto, molto DITTO. Right on. A long time ago (early 1950s) while growing up in a northern Quebec mining town, there were no fresh veggies except carrots, turnips, onions, celery, cabbage and potatoes. It's amazing how "aythentic" everything tasted with the addition of a few Chinese flavouring agents like soy and oyster sauce, pickled vegetables, black beans, bean sauces, 5-spice, star anise, etc. etc. to various preparations of those dreaded "veggies".

MSG is to be found in all flavoured snacks like chips, corn snacks, totilla like chips, , pepperonis, beef jerkys...and most of the canned and ready made meats and meals. I believe that some of the so-called sliced "roast" beef, turkey breast, hams, commonly called sandwich meats have the highest concentration of msg. known to man. They have to add flavour back after they boil the stuff into submission. In fact one would have to search very very hard in order to find a savoury snack that doesn't contain it. Besides fat, msg gives any food that very desirable tastiness and mouth feel. Like I, and others, have said before, mushrooms, soy sauce, soybean pastes, bonito, concentrated seafood products and extracts like oyster sauce, kelp, etc. all have natural msg and would enhance most recipes where they are used. Yes, I do use Accent (msg), but not as often as one would think. I am still boiling chicken parts and beef and pork bones for stock. However, a half a teaspoon of msg in a quart of stew or soup makes all the difference in the world, if I did not have enough meat stock.

Sue-On, that's exactly what we used to do. After the noodles have been "floated" in water, drain and quickly dunk them in the deep fryer until they firm up again, and turn a light golden tan colour. Leave it to drain while you chow the toppings. The deep fry oil has got to be clean and fresh, and the noodles must be well drained. For those who think that chow spaghetti or linguine is odd, I love it as much the thick Shanghai or udon noodles. I think that al dente spaghetti makes for a great noodle dish. BTW, noodles, pasta, etc were invented by the Chinese. Even "ramen" is Chinese. The word is a corruption of "lo mein" by the Japanese who have difficulties pronouncing the letter "L".

The joong stands alone.

Now, dontcha go pulling those Oriental, dragon lady, wiles on me, girl.

Umami is "meat taste without meat". That je ne sais quoi taste sensation one feels/gets when eating any animal protein, certain vegetable products like fermented soy, seaweed, etc. To paraphrase Lao Tsu; Search for it, you will not find Feel for it, you can't touch. Smell, it has no scent. IT IS.

We in Atlantic Canada always fried a bunch of the medium thin egg noodles semi crispy on both side, to form a pancake like shape. Whatever veggies are at hand and fresh, char siu, chicken and shrimp or a few chunks of lobster are stir fried with regular seasonings and oyster sauce. Plate the noodles and scoop the saucy topping over them. That's all.

Touaregsand, where ya been?? It took a tangential mention of Korea/dou fu to draw you out, huh?

Can also be called "tomalley" as in the lobster. The Japanese refer to it as "liver" in English as heard on the "Iron Chef".

Dejah, silken dou fu is the dessert dou fu that you are familiar with. We can buy it labelled as such in those sealed plastic tubs from Loblaws or Superstores. The dou fu fa is similar to silken dou fu but it is a wee, tiny bit softer (more watery). To satisfy my cravings for dou fu fa, I will warm up a tub of that silken dou fu and add a little simple syrup or maple syrup. YUMMMMMM

"You Can't Always get What You Want" The Stones. or "Spoonful" by Howlin' Wolf

But...I thought this thread was about beef and tomato!

Dou fu fa, silken dou fu, hard dou fu, stinky dou fu, dou fu sheets, dou fu puffs, they are all dou fu or variations on the same theme. Dou fu was first created by the Chinese. Draw your own conclusions. Like so many other things in Japan, Korea, Vietnam etc. dou fu came from China. There is no question in my mind. Anyhoo it all tastes great.

The people who invented dou fu did (the Chinese). Silken dou fu (dou fu fa) is the stage of dou fu before the water is pressed out to make regular or firm dou fu. Dou fu fa is a favourite dessert treat or snack in the Chinese teahouse/dim sum restaurant.