jo-mel
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Posts posted by jo-mel
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My favorite right now is "Fage" -- fairly new in the markets. It is a Greek yogurt and I find the 0% fat to be thick and wonderful. It has so much more body than Dannon By itself it is good, and when I want it sweetened, I add some SF orange marmalade or strawberry or whatever. Adding hot chocolate powder is good too.
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Xiao hzrt -- I want the cheeks? Hmmmm -- does a flounder have cheeks?
With everything all squished up front, on one side, I guess there is no place for a cheek -- the best part of any fish!! -
Pan --
"Middle English, from Old English spitu"
Is that where 'spitoon' comes from?
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9- 叉 燒 Cha Shao - (Spit Roasting) - A reduction of liquid followed by barbecuing or roasting. Often the process marinates strips followed by 'hang roasting'.
9- 叉 燒 Cha Shao - (Split Roasting)
(I really hope that this is Split Roasting and not Spit Roasting.
)The famous Cantonese BBQ:
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
蜜汁叉燒, BBQ Pork
There are many dishes and items that can be made with BBQ pork. It is very versatile.
叉燒酥, Puff Pastry with BBQ Pork Filling
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 2: 叉燒酥, Puff pastry with BBQ pork inside )
叉燒銀芽炒蛋, Stir-Fried Bean Sprout with Egg and BBQ Pork
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 3: 叉燒銀芽炒蛋, Stir-Fried Bean Sprout with Egg and BBQ Pork )
叉燒包, Steamed BBQ Pork Bao
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 4: 叉燒包, Steamed BBQ Pork Bao )
叉燒腸粉, Steamed Rice Noodle with BBQ Pork Filling
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 5: 叉燒腸粉, Steamed Rice Noodle with BBQ Pork Filling )
# 9 Cantonese - 叉 燒 -Cha Shao / Caa Siu
In the Cantonese 'Cha Shao' method, there is not only a process of reduction of liquid at the last phase, but in addition, the meat is placed over a fire or in the oven for a period of barbecuing or roasting. Often the 'Cha Shao' process involves cutting the meat (usually pork) into strips, then thoroughly marinating them before 'hang roasting' them in the oven. The strips of meat are brushed with a specially prepared marinade at regular intervals until cooked.
In the process of 'Cantonese Roast Pigling', the head and tail of the animal are subjected to a period of "Shao" (that is, cooking in the pan with the flavoring ingredients) before the whole animal is barbecue-roasted. (Kenneth Lo)
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Have any of you used the curry pastes? There are so many choices. Different colors and different potencies.
Years ago, in a local place, there was one I absolutely loved, but when that little store closed I never found it anywhere else, and even forgot its name. I've never found a good replacement that measured up to its depth, without heat.
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Do you know if he used regular supermarket style curry powder ---- of if he used one of the complex curry pastes? Big flavor differences.
Looking thru several books, I see that onions are sauteed with curry powder. When the dish is put together, a little dark soy is added along with chicken broth and a thickener.
Deh-Ta Hsiung mentions Chinese curry dishes usually contain potatoes, but said that they are usually omitted in Chinese restaurants and he doesn't include them in the recipe he gives. His recipe has marinated chicken, garlic, onions, curry, stock, dark soy and optional chili sauce.
Miller's "1000 Recipe" book has potatoes, but no soy. Just chicken, potatoes, oil, curry, water and salt.
Mai Leung's "Classic Chinese Cookbook" doesn't specify Cantonese (neither did the others) but she uses onions and potatoes AND a combo of curry powder and curry paste.
One last one from Lilah Kan's casserole book which uses onions, carrots, potatoes and celery. Thin soy sauce in this one as well as sherry, garlic, ginger, curry powder, chili powder, tomato paste and broth. It is a braised dish.
Any of them sound familiar?
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8- 燒 Shao - Similar to 'men' in that oil frying is followed by simmering in stock or water. But a reduction is achieved when other ingredients are added leaving a small amount of gravy. 'Men' has more gravy.
8- 燒 Shao
The most popular way is the Hung Shao (red braised) dishes:
紅燒大鮑翅 (Red Braised Shark Fin)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 1: 紅燒大鮑翅 (Red Braised Shark Fin) )
紅燒獅子頭 (Lion Head Meatballs - Shanghai specialty)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 2: 紅燒獅子頭 (Lion Head Meatballs - Shanghai specialty) )
紅燒甩水 (Red Braised Fish)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
#8 - 燒-Shao / Siu
Shao is one of the most commonly employed terms in Chinese cooking. The process is very similar to the preceeding 'MEN' in that it involves frying first in a little oil, then continuing by simmering in stock and water.
The difference lies in that in the second phase in the process of Shao, there is a period of conscious reduction of liquid (as in French cooking), when small amounts of fresh ingredients and seasonings are often added, leaving ultimately only a small amount of thickened gravy to go with the meat. In 'MEN' there is usually more gravy. (Kenneth Lo)
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The little I've read on this, is interesting:
One bit was that Buddha himself allowed eating meat --- IF-- the eater knew that the animal was not killed for the purpose of eating it.
But altho, vegetarian food can be bland, the Buddhist monks never lost interest in tasty food and since they cooked for hundreds of monks and nuns back in the medieval period, their dishes were many and varied.
Also, at that time, there were many travelers who stayed at their monastaries -- and were fed food that would appeal to even non-vegetarians. (I wonder if that was when the faux meat practice started. )
As other eating places opened up near the temples and monastaries, the monks , in Qing times, were known to add chicken broth or chicken fat to improve the taste of their dishes. In Sung times, restaurants started serving "temple food" which also found its way into royal kitchens.
(edited from Simoons "Food in China"
As Kent Wang said -- it varied from temple to temple and sect to sect. Some groups, it seems followed different guidelines for differing reasons.
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I have a 1972 'NittyGritty Productions" Vegetarian cookbook (Gary Lee) who describes mock fish as made by monks on the east coast of China - Monte Pu-tu. He said the monks would use bamboo shoots in a comb shape as the bones for a fish. The body of the fish was mashed cooked bean curd and potatoes, keeping the mix rather dry to make shaping easy. The skin, would be bean curd skin.
Aren't Buddhists allowed some shellfish?
Some author commented on Buddhists not eating animals, but didn't mind pretending --- as in the mock dishes.
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7- 燜 Men - Similar to stewing. A first fry in oil with seasonings. Stock or water is added, brought to a boil, lowered, and a long period of slow simmering follows.
燜
This is a popular Cantonese cooking method too.
紅燜羊肉 (Simmered Mutton)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
焖牛腱 (Simmered Beef Shank)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
(Sample 2: Simmered Beef Shank)
焖鸭 (Simmered Duck)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
#7 - 燜 Men / mun
Men is very similar to the Western process of stewing. The procedure is to fry the main ingredient first in a little oil, together with various seasonins and supplementary ingredients and materials. A reasonable amount of water or stock is then added, and the contents brought to the boil.
The heat is then reduced, and a long period of slow-simmering follows.
The apparent difference between "men' and Western stewing lies in the fact that the Chinese concept involves somewhat lower heat and a longer period of cooking. Hence anything 'men
tends to be cooked to almose jelly-like tenderness, and because of the use of soy sauce, an ingredient which does not seem to change character whatever amount of cooking it is subjected to, the chances of success here are much greater.
Again in contrast to Western stewing, in Chinese cooking of this type generally just meat alone is used without vegetables, at any rate to start with. Meat such as beef (especially shin), lamb, pork (pigs' feet, knuckles, etc.) is cooked in this way. In any case, because of the length of time involved in cooking, any vegetables cooked with the meat would mostly have disappeared by the end of 3-5 hours of slow-cooking, during which time their flavor-imparting qualities would have become negligible. Hence, in "Men", unlike stewing, when vegetables and other supplementary ingredients are used, if they are introduced at all, they are added only toward the last 20 - 45 minutes of cooking time.
The most frequent forms of 'Men' are Brown Stew and Red Stew (using brown sugar, red bean cheese or red wine-sediment paste in addition to soy sauce). Kenneth Lo
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WOW! What was the 'shark' made of? Gluten? Bean curd?
The stark modern dining room against the traditional painting is interesting. What are those chopstick holders?
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-3 or 4 strips bacon, or an equal amount of cubed block bacon
-1/4 head cabbage
-1/2tbs each minced garlic and ginger
-(as much as you like) old lady sauce
-a splash of shao hsing wine
-1 pinch salt
cut the cabbage into 1 1/2 inch squares and the bacon in 1 1/2 inch lengths. add the bacon to a very hot wok and allow some of the fat to render. Once about 1/2tbs of bacon fat renders remove the bacon and add the garlic and ginger and then immediately the cabbage. cook the cabbage for about a minute and then splash with the shao hsing and add a pinch of salt. add the bacon back in and cook until the shao hsing has evaporated. add old lady sauce in the last 30 seconds of cooking.
notes: thicker bacon is better. You are not trying to fry the bacon to a crisp, it will still be floppy. cabbage should maintain some firmness. you can substitute red pepper flake for old lady sauce.
Thanks! Sounds easy AND tasty! I understand about the bacon -- like using 5-flower pork 五花肉 - wu hua rou.
Cabbage is probably the most versatile vegetable there is, and this just proves the point.
I can probably use one of the hot sauces I have, but now I want to buy 'young chick' sauce ---- er --- old lady sauce!!
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6- 煲 Bao - Deep boiling (equivalent of deep-frying)in water 3 to 4 times the amount of food used. The heat is low and long term.
6- 煲 Bao - Deep boiling
There are many examples of this type of cooking. It is one of the most common cooking method.
萝卜煲牛腩 (Beef Stew Boiled with Daikon)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
鮑魚花膠煲雞 (Chicken Boiled with Abalone and Fish Maw)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
古法雞煲翅 (Shark Fin and Chicken in Clay Pot)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
The word 煲 is also a noun. When used as a dish name, typically it is referring to the clay pot used to make that dish. It is a Cantonese specialty.
梅菜北菇雞煲仔飯 (Chicken and Rice Clay Pot with Preserved Vegetables and Black Mushrooms)
Click through the Google image search page to view the picture:
#6 煲- Bao / Bou
Bao is the process of deep-boiling, the equivalent of deep-frying. The quantity of water used should be at least three to four times greater than the amount of food cooked. As a rule, the heat applied is low, and the process is one of 'time-cooking' --- a long term affair. In this connection, it might be mentioned that although the Chinese are reknown for high-heat cooking, as in 'Chow' - 炒- (quick-stir-frying), 'Zha' -炸- (deep-frying), and 'Bao' - 爆 - (high-heat stir-frying), they also possess extensive methods of low-heat cooking. (Kenneth Lo)
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You are a pro with that cleaver, Xial Leung! A good knife and good wrist action -- and bones are a piece of cake!
Do you plan to have a dip with your chicken?
I use a plain wooden cutting board, but after seeing that chopping block --- I WANT ONE! I've never seen one with a metal handle. Is that for hanging it up?
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~~~~~~~~~ one of my favorite dishes to make with this sauce is cabbage and bacon stir fry, yum yum.
Cabbage and bacon stir/fry? That sounds good to me. Got a recipe?
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Actually -- I was envisioning the beautiful Squirrel fish (松鼠魚 -song shu yu) on a platter with the head at one end and the perky tail at the other ------ but Squirrel fish really isn't the whole fish at all! If it is the one I am thinking of, then it is boned and the head is usually separated and cooked along side the intact unskinned fillets attched to the tail. That fits into a wok just fine.
I don't know why they call it Squirrel fish (松鼠魚 in Chinese). They do sprinkle pine nuts on top. But does it resemble a squirrel?
This dish is really challenging. You need to criss-cross the fish without severing the pieces, deep-fry, and in the end try to resemble it back to a fish shape.
When the hot fat hits the skin of the fish, the skin contracts -- pulling the flesh into a curl. With the fillets, held together by the tail, it is easy to place on the platter, and the scored, exposed, curled fillets look like a fluffy squirrel tail. Use your imagination! With names like Gold Coin Chicken and Dragon and Phoenix Fighting, Pork with Jingling Bells ---this one should be easy! LOL!
Separate filets with the skin attached, scored and fried in the same way, then placed on a platter without the tail and head, have been called a couple of things that have appeared on menus, in this area, as Lichee Fish or Grape fish.
I have several sized colanders. One is about 8 - 9 inches and is very useful when I want to scoop everything out of the wok all at once. Especially when velveting, and I want to get slices out before they are overcooked.
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John --Just how old are you? The picture of the 'old lady' on the sauce jar looks pretty young to ME!!!! LOL!
Xiao hzrt --- Does my favorite Lan Chi brand Chili Paste with Garlic measure up to any of those sauces?
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I wouldn't be allowed to do that! Cutting a whole fish in half is a big no-no at our house, bad luck and all that. Hmmm, if Ah Leung can convince his spouse to eat dark poultry meat, could I convince mine that cutting a whole fish in half to cook is ok?
regards,
trillium
Is that because of the fish/wealth symbolism, a disected fish would mean that abundance would be cut in half?
Actually -- I was envisioning the beautiful Squirrel fish (松鼠魚 -song shu yu) on a platter with the head at one end and the perky tail at the other ------ but Squirrel fish really isn't the whole fish at all! If it is the one I am thinking of, then it is boned and the head is usually separated and cooked along side the intact unskinned fillets attched to the tail. That fits into a wok just fine.
It is a whole unboned fish that is -- er -- 'fixed' to fit into the frying oil that I was describing.
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(My computer is playing games on me. I hope this isn't a double post)
I love that particular dish, but I always wondered about the use of the word Chuan in a Chiu Chow dish. So I did a little research and found this from Eileen Yin-Fei Lo:
"This traditional Chiu Chow dish uses 2 ingredients that these southern people dote on: "chinjieu", their term for Sichuan peppercorns, and green leaves, shaped quite like small maple leaves, which the Chiu Chow call 'jun jiu choi'. or 'pearl vegetable'. These grow wild and are fried as garnishes, with many of their dishes. These are simply unavailable outside of their region, so large leaf basil is usually used in their stead".
I'm aware that the dish is mostly made with spinach or basil leaves, but since the recipe I've used in the past called for coarse ground black pepper, the "Chuan" escaped me --- till now. Yin-Fei Lo's recipe uses SiCHUAN pepper. Ken Hom, whose recipe I used, used black pepper.
But the dish I make uses dark meat chicken -- the same used in a now-closed Chiu Chow restaurant in NYC. Yin-Fei Lo calls for chicken breast. I'd prefer the dark meat myself.
Maybe a dish for your pictorial Xiao hzrt? Deep fried spinach to help season your beautiful wok?
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Please, please PLEASE make Squirrel Fish ---- and invite ME!
That is probably my favorite fish dish of all! One time I demonstrated, in my cooking class, how the whole fish could be deep/fried in a regular wok, and completely submerged in the oil. I forgot where I learned the technique, but the fish is simply cut in half across the middle, with a slanting cut "\". When the fish is put on the platter, the two halves simply fit together, and the sauce conceals the sneaky deed.
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Pan braised endive halves are nice.
I especially like sauteed zucchini and thick mushrooms with a little oyster sauce flavoring.
Good old homey baked beans ( even from a can, and dressed up with onion and bacon) go with grilled steak, too.
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Does anyone dare try those numbers?
I've only used the burn method so can't compare, but the top of the stove seems easier. (to lazy me)
About the wok rim --- I see you have the wok sitting on the smaller opening, so that it sits higher over the heat. If you invert it, so that the wok sits on the wider opening, the wok will be closer to the heat source -- if you want hot heat. The smaller opening is good when you want a lower heat. Some cook-book authors have mentioned this, but one says to use the wider opening on an electric stove.
Any thoughts on this anyone?
I have several wok rims and don't use any of them. The grates that my stove uses over the burners are slightly concave if I turn them over. So the wok sits nice and close to the flame. Check yours.
The bamboo brush I have now sits gathering dust. I've used it, but now I just use my plastic Tuffy mesh thingie. I get better pressure on tough spots with it.
Any pictures of the cleaver?
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5- 川 Chuan - Allied to 'Jin'. But a second or third re-boil is used, as for a large cut of meat. . Similar to parboiling, but more refined in that it has precise timing and can be an independent form of cooking.
5- 川
Examples:
竹笙川鸡片 (Chicken slices with bamboo pith)
Sample picture (click through Google image search):
火腿川鸡片 (Chicken slices with Yunan ham)
Sample picture (click through Google image search):
蜜川鸡 (Honey Glazed Deep-Fried Chicken Legs)
This is a Yunan specialty dish. Sorry, couldn't find a picture for this.
#5 - 川 Chuan / Chyun
Chuan is another process of water-heating or stock-heating which is allied to 'Jin'. Here the technique is to use re-boiling as the measure of the length or extent of the heating. Stock or water is brought to a rolling boil, and the foor to be cooked is then introduced.
At the next re-boil, or the following re-boil (after a short perid when the container is removed from the heat), or else at the third re-boil, the food will be cooked and ready. Again, only young and tender fresh food can be cooked in this manner. For thicker or larger cuts of meat, two or three, or even four re-boils might be necessary before the food is well-cooked.
Again, this form of cooking is frequently used in conjunction with other forms of heating. In China both meat and vegetables are often cooked in this manner first before being subjected to other forms of heating, such as quick-frying, deep-frying, or deep-frying-and-steaming. In Western cooking this process, when used in conjunction with other forms of heating, is sometimes loosely called parboiling. Chuan is, however, a much more refined process, in that it has perfect timing and, unlike parboiling, can be used as an independent form of cooking. (Kenneth Lo)
Looking for some American Chinese recipes
in China: Cooking & Baking
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C'mon -- we're friends! What's the 'secret rib juice'??