jo-mel
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Posts posted by jo-mel
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There's an old Imperial dish, from the Mongols or Manchus, that has a creamed sauce paired with napa cabbage or bok choy. I would think that Shanghai bok choy could also be used.
Slice some cabbage into bite sized pieces and briefly stir/fry in some oil to coat the pieces, then add a cup of chicken broth, cover the pan and let cook two minutes. / You then make a sauce using a couple Tbsp cornstarch, a cup milk, a couple tsp. light soy, 1/2 tsp. sugar and also 1/2 tsp sesame oil. Mix in white pepper to taste. Add to the cabbage and sprinkle with some minced ham.
Not the usual take-out dish. But I've had it at banquets both here and in China. AAMOF, it was one of the dishes that finally made me buy my first Chinese cookbook in the early 50s. The recipe wasn't in that book! But I see creamed vegetables in other books.
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You have to keep in mind that a carbon steel wok is porous. The method I use is simply to clean/scour it as others have said, then dry it on the stove. The heat opens up the pores of the metal. Pour some oil in the HOT wok, and rub it around the whole wok with a wad of paper toweling. Let the wok cool -- closing the pores and entrapping the oil. wipe well. Repeat the heating, oiling, rubbing, cooling 3 times. Wipe the wok well, not letting any pools or slicks of oil remain. That should do it. Never, ever, scrub with soap again.
One time, my favorite wok was encrusted all over. I took off the wooden handle and put it in my self cleaning oven. When the cycle was finished, I had a wok with a pile os sooty dust all over it. So I scrubbed it and started seasoning it from scratch
Years ago, in NYC's Chinatown, there was a hardware store with an old sign by the counter. The sign explained how to season a wok: (or words to this effect)
"Heat a pound of lard in a wok. Add a bunch of bean sprouts and heat to high. When the sprouts turn color, throw the whole thing out and wipe the wok. The wok is now seasoned"
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We visited DS.There were 3 Fathers present. My DH, DS and his DFIL . I wasn't in charge of the cooking, but the flank steak DDIL cooked had a soy based marinade. Does that count?
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By myself? Packaged chocolate pudding. I was about 8 or 9, and as it thickened on the stove I yelled for my mother. I didn't expect it, and can remember to this day how it felt.
My first meal was at 16. My Mother had remarried and was on her honeymoom. She bought 1/2 a turkey, and told me what to do. I roasted it over stuffing and had all the fixin's. My 2 brothers and sister ate it, so I guess I did OK. As with big meals now, I couldn't taste my own cooking.
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Doc -- ME? Post pictures?? HAH! I can bone and stuff a duck, but posting images on a forum is beyond me. That is why I don't have an avatar --- whatever an avatar is!!
When I hold the clove of garlic with my fingers, the pinched tip is against the grater and as my fingers approach the grater I flatten the fingers, holding the rest of the garlic with the flat side of my fingers. The flesh goes thru, the 'paper' stays.
About Ben and his 20 seconds --he is using his Chinese 'food processor' -- his cleaver. Fantastic knife!! Always does a great job with garlic or ginger. Smash! Spread! Chop! Mince! and then scrape it all up with the blade! I show my students the cleaver method -- a method everyone has seen on Yan Kan, but most people are timid about it, and so I show them the cheese grater way. As with Ben, my chopping board is always at hand as is my cleaver. BTW -- my cleaver is neatly stowed in the tiny slit of a space between my counter and stove. All my chopping/slicing knives are there, always at hand. I also keep my knives sharp and use one against the other, with a few swipes, to give a keen edge
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For years I've minced my ginger by hand or grated it on the fine holes of a cheese grater. The cheese grater has worked satisfactorily: juicy ginger bits go through the holes, fibers stay on my side. .
I've used a cheese grater for years, also. The one I use has a wooden handle and holes about 1/8 round. It is fantastic! As with you, I don't peel the ginger. When I finish with the grater, I simply run it under water, and give it a shake. All clean!!
In the past I have tried the ceramic ginger grater and also a wooden one. Fageddaboutit! My tried and true cheese grater is my choice. I do a lot of Chinese cooking and use the cheese grater for garlic as well. I don't peel the garlic. I simply pinch the very tip of the point of the garlic, with my fingernails and run the garlic up and down the grater, holding it with my fingers and when I get to the bottom, I flatten my fingers out. In a instant, the flesh goes through and the skin stays on the top side.
In my Chinese cooking classes, this tip is the one all the students love best.
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About the naming of Moo Shu Pork.
I understand naming the dish because of the egg/cassia connection. So why aren't the characters for 'gui' (cassia/osmanthus) used instead of mu xi -- wooden rhino (literally) but meaning 'sweet-smelling osmanthus' or 'scrambled egg' in De Francis? I've sometimes seen the 'gui' on a menu, but more often it is mu xu-- wooden whiskers, ---I guess for the shredded bamboo and lily buds resembling whiskers.
'Tis a puzzlement!
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A refrigerator contains some chicken, celery, onions, and noodles. The cabinets have the usual household condiments.
So what will a Chinese or a Caucasion cook do?
Chances are chicken noodle soup or a fricassee will be made by one and the other will do a noodle pancake or the like.
Why? Habit? Tastes? Tradition?
The thing is --- I would do the chow mein thing or a lo mein or a pancake with the chicken/vegetable topping ----and I'm not Chinese!
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I haven't been out for Chinese in so long as I've had to watch the sodium, but now I'm getting restless!
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Now I want to go to Sesame's just for that duck dish!!!!
There was a place I went to several times, and one time, the staff was eating together in the dining room. I asked if they would ever serve the public what they ate, as I would be interested. The manager said -- sure!. But they closed down before I had a chance to go back. Darn!
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Could that vegetable be bamboo shoot with Red-in-Snow, or salted Mustard Green?
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A funny story about tree ear mushrooms and cholesterol.
I had a friend in one of my cooking classes - a surgeon, who used to kid me about my interest in whole food and medicinals. and all that natural stuff We were using tree ear mushrooms in the class and I told him about something I had read ----about a man in Sichuan Province who had a very low choesterol, in spite of what he ate. His history included his love for wood/tree/whatever mushrooms, and they found thru his blood studies. that the mushrooms did , in fact, affect his cholesterol levels.
My friend scoffed at the whole idea. But shortly after that , there was an article about the health effects, in the New England Journal of Medicine ----- the physicians Bible! My friend shut up!
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Apple v
White v
Chinese Red Rice v
Chinese White Rice v
Chinese Black Rice v
Balsamic v
Balsamic White v
Red wine v
White Wine v
Tarragon v
Raspberry v
That coconut vinegar sounds interesting. I think it will be the next in my collection.
(Gone are the days when white vinegar was for cleaning and apple for cooking!)
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I've read package ingredients on yellow wrappers, and have seen 'food coloring' on them.
Is the Yangzi the unofficial dividing line between north and south? I'd
been told that homes across the river from Nanjing had central heating, but in Nanjing, homes didn't have it. Any truth?
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I've done many 'banquet' type meals, over the years. Even tho I've had plenty of experience, I still end up catering my own dinner! It is very difficult to put on an impressive meal without constantly going to and from the kitchen. Even with pre-prepared foods, if you serve one or two dishes at a time, you have to be on the go. Putting 8 to 10 dishes on the table at once needs more than one person cooking. (IMMHO)
If you want to have your dinner at home, and if you have a roundish table and if you have the proper heat unit, you could do a Hot Pot with ease. All the preparation is done well ahead, you can sit for the entire dinner and it is wonderful ice breaker. Also, if you want, you could have American style desserts with coffee/tea in the living room when the hotpot is finished.
Just a thought.
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Cold rice, mixed with scallions and enough egg to hold the rice together ---- then fried in little pancakes. Yum!
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While shopping in the Montclair WF last night, we noticed a large sign posted by the cashiers and the exit: "Whole Foods has NO plans to close the Montclair location, it will be remaining here as will Starbuck's; there are plans for a new WF in West Orange by Pathmark, as well as the potential for a new location in Paramus."
End of story.
They must read Egullet!!
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I was born just barely post-depression, but it sure didn't rub off on me. Last night I over-ordered take-out for 2 of us and now, very happily, have breakfast for the week ---all to myself! (DH is a cereal/toast guy)
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The word on my street (Bloomfield Ave, right across from Whole Foods) is that WF owns the building, is kicking out Starbucks when their lease expires (pity, seemed a marriage made in, err, purgatory), knocking down the wall & expanding their space.
Doesn't quite jibe w rumors of their closing.
Of course anything can happen, regardless of what a corporation says at any point in time.
LOL! I was just going to say that if I lived across the street from Montclair's WF, I sure wouldn't want them to move!! I'm not a Starbuck's fan, so I would be delighted to see WF expand. At times, trying to navigate the produce section at WF sends me to Kings.
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I'd like to see them stay in Montclair. Parking up at that Pathmark isn't so hot, either.
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(Steps forward to say)
I actually did do a search of this board, and produced these notes:
*Laohanzi Kejiacai - hakka
*Tianjin Baijiaoyuan (near Marco Polo) - dumplings
*3 Guizhou Ren - south / Cantonese
*2 Kon Yiji's
*Uigurville (near Teacher's College SE of Tiananmen) - mutton sandwich
*Quan Ju De - duck
DO NOT: *Gourou Dawang - "Dog Meat King"
Any updates / comments?
Thanks for the help!
(Retreats)
Wo bu xi huan chi gourou! Isn't that a standard 'da bizi' phrase?
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Dejah--- I've steamed diagonal slices, and served them with a dip ---- as an appetizer. but never thought of deep/frying them after steaming. Sounds interesting. A better taste?
When I steam them, I use a smallish bamboo steamer and arrange them in a spoke, several slices deep --- leaving a space in the center for the dipping sauce dish. It is always a hit.
One of my favorite dishes is dark meat chicken and sausage in sandy pot (or regular casserole)
Another is to use the ground up sausage meat and mix it with my regular mix for pearl balls.
I'm getting hungry!
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I am very disappointed to see that others on this board are not taking this article seriously. I for one will be discussin the ramifications of this issue today with some colleagues, over some har gau, dan tat and char siu bau.
LOLOL! I had to read your post twice to get it! Very good!
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OK -- so this is a "government's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department" research report. Who is the underlying sponsor or who paid for it? Someone with a PC agenda?
Sure a plate of jelly fish has this much this and a plate of beef balls has so much that, but who eats the whole plate of any one thing? I know I mix and match and usually have only one bite of what ever is on the plate. I balance out the choices and even if I had one or two bites of each thing that comes by, it is pretty balanced because whatever comes by is pretty balanced.
I can think of a couple of meals that are high fat, high sodium, high whatever and something eaten to excess. How about Christmas or the American Thanksgiving dinner? How about any festive Chinese banquet. Do they dare tackle that!
A pox on them all!
Before you know it, there will be a study of a bowl of congee saying it doesn't have enough fiber or protein, or the condiments on top are too high in sodium.
Nuts to them!!
Woks - Buying, Care, and Use
in Kitchen Consumer
Posted
One thing you should do is to get another steaming utencil. I have a couple of 'stainless' woks that accomodate my steamers, so that my seasoned woks don't lose their patina.
If that 'crusting' is loose, scrape it off. Then just heat/oil/wipe etc. the wok again.