jo-mel
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Posts posted by jo-mel
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In order to simplify further, perhaps I'm just a dim sum snob.
It is OK to be a 'dim sum snob'!! I am that way with Chinese food. I smugly look at my dishes, in a Chinese restaurant, and compare them with the fried rice and beef and broccoli (eaten with a fork) at the next table.
Not that there is anything wrong with FR and BB, but you know what I mean. (I hope)
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where on rt 46 is jasper?
46 West in Parsippany. Do you know where Top Quality -- the Chinese market that used to be Maxims is? It is the next building to the West.
On Route 46, going West, you pass under the double Rt.80 overpass, and go to the light .2 of a mile. go thru the light and .2 of a mile on the right (pass Arlington strip mall) you will see Top Quality and Dunkin Donuts. Turn in here, and Jasper is ahead of you on the left.
Coming from the West, going East, you pass Beverwyck Road. You will see the Dunkin Donuts on the left, but you'll have to jug-handle around.
Here is a map:
http://www.mapblast.com/(ez3kmw45ibxdurnn1...2c+NJ+07054|L1|
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Is this another place with a separate "Chinese" menu like Hunan Cottage? The online menu looks like typical Chinese American "fancy" fare.
I didn't see a separate Chinese menu, but then--- I didn't ask. The Chinese group was sitting too far away for me to see what they were eating.
But yes--- pretty general selections, but it was one of the best garlic eggplant I've ever had. Same with the scallops.
I will know more when I try the casseroles. One of my favorite sandy pot dish is Chicken with Chinese Sausage, and the manager said that is what the casserole is. There were others on the list -- but I forgot what they were. Lobster with vermacelli?
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So.. its.. Sichuan?
No. It really is a mix of regions. It doesn't have the earthiness of the wonderful food at China 46. A pretty general menu, but It had food that someone paid attention to.
Here is a link. You can click on 'menu' on the upper right.
http://www.ardore.com/listing.asp?r=jasper14&c=All&m=a&l=J
What really caught my attention was the casserole list -- but unfortunately, that is not included on the link's menu listings.
I will go again and try a casserole. Also, the lunch menu has Twice Cooked Pork, and I want to ask if the 'pork' is pork belly, or just lean pork. The choice will make a difference to me.
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A friend (Boston Babe ) and I had lunch at Jasper, out on 46 in Parsippany. They've only been there about 4 months (according to the very nice manager)
The dishes we had were great! Winter Melon Soup, Scallops with Black Pepper Sauce, and Eggplant with garlic Sauce. Not way-out stuff, but excellently prepared and the flavors were wonderful.
Because I ordered in Chinese, the waiter gave us pickled vegetables instead of those fried things with the duck sauce.
But what I liked was their listing of 5 or 6 Casserole dishes, which I'm going to try next time. Also the manager said that they will make whatever you want. They didn't have my favorite Sichuan Pickle with Shredded Pork Soup on the menu, but he said they could make it to order. Can't beat that!!
Visually, the place is beautiful! There were only a couple of tables of diners, but one was all Chinese.
It is right in the small group of stores where Top Quality Chinese Market is (formerly Maxims)
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I shouldn't confess this -- but I will.
One time I took a half package of frozen jiaozi from the freezer. I was going to put some water on and put the dumplings in the boiling water while frozen. They thaw singly in the boiling water.
BUT -- I was distracted and forgot all about the dumplings until they were half thawed and all stuck together. What to do. I wasn't going to toss them, that was sure. Sooooooo, I made one huge potsticker! I put oil in a frying pan, put in the thawed mess of stuck-together dumplings, flattened them out in the pan like a thick pancake, and browned the bottom. I then proceeded as with potstickers ---- added ome water, let them steam, and then let the water cook off and let the bottom crisp. Inverted on a plate, I used a pizza cutter to cut wedges and pigged out!
Not bad!
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It's an abomination.
It's like, tater tots.
Dim sum are supposed to touch the heart. Where's your heart if you're not gonna drive/travel/hike somewhere good for quality dim sum?
Frozen? I do not even think about it.
It fucking frightens the shit out of me.
I won't buy frozen foie gras, I won't buy bottled pasta sauces, or ready cooked tv dinners.
But I guess you're not after dim sum in its pure simplicity.
Contentious, but sometimes, the emotions are strong.
LOL! Tell us how you really feel!
There was a time that I wanted, and made, everything from scratch, but so many good things have come on the market that I have choices that are as good as my old recipes.
I have frozen dim sum in the freezer, ready for instant gratification when I want it. And I will (and do) travel for dim sum. But how do I know that some places do not use frozen dim sum? Do we know what goes on in a busy kitchen?
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I drove into the city today to meet some friends for Dim Sum. BAD day to do it! From the Holland Tunnel to Bowery -- 45 minutes!!
Anyway, we met at Jing Fong on Elizabeth St. I've been to two wedding banquets at Jing Fong, but never had their dimsum. I was pleasantly surprised! Great food and a variety of selections. It is nice to have familiar things with a different sauce from a different chef. I usually go to Triple 8 for dim sum, but I think my new place will be Jing Fong! We ate for 2 hours -- $20 a piece.
Moderator's Note: Two threads were merged here.
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Frozen no problem with me either. I make them and freeze them, and I buy them frozen from the Asian markets, and they seem fine. Even the soup dumplings (xiao long bao) from a restaurant in NYC, (which got the ball rolling on their popularity in the area again) sells them on the side, and I've frozen those -- successfully.
I'll take them any way I can get them!
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The last two times I had twice cooked pork (2 different restaurants) the vegetable was jiu cai hua -- garlic shoots.
Here is a link to a picture of the vegetable:
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Chinese restaurants may not ADD any MSG to their dishes, but it is present in many of the ready made sauces. There is just as much in Japanese cooking, but they never get the bad mark.
The list of forms of MSG is quite long. An ingredient list may not have the letters MSG on it, but it exists in other forms.
Ann the list of foods that contain MSG is amazing. To avoid it completely, you have to make your own soup, and just about eat only untouched, unprocessed foods.
I don't have a reaction to it, but I have heard that those with low levels of B6 often have an MSG sensitivity.
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Got it!! If I had seen the characters, I would have realized it. I know sticky rice, but think of it as nuo mi. The 'lor' threw me off, when the word sausage was mentioned. I'm still learning!
Thanks to both of you!
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He goes on to say that the stuffing is adapted from an old Chinese dish -- 'lor mei gai' - stuffed chicken with starchy rice and Chinese sausage. He says "As a matter fact my mother, like other Chinese, eat only the stuffing because she does not like turkey!"
Lor Mei Gai is chicken and Chinese sausage wrapped by sticky rice. Now is Chinese sausage and sticky rice stuffing the inside of a chicken. Interesting episode of trading places.
Mei=rice / gai=chicken. Why isn't it 'lop' for sausage, instead of
lor'??
Lee's Mother's dressing also had walnuts in it. It really was good!!
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I've made a Stir/Fried Turkey with Asparagus for a cooking class. It was years ago, and may have been in response to a request for a non-red meat dish. It was OK. Nothing special but adequate for the need at the time.
My first Chinese Cookbook (and it has a special place in my heart because it was the first of my many 'teachers') was Calvin Lee's Chinese Cooking for American Kitchens. He has a lot of homey anecdotal stories in it and the one for Thanksgiving is a fun one. He said that his Chinese-American home always had a traditional turkey with the usual fixin's. He says "~~~~but don't underestimate the power of a Chinese matron. On the surface everything looks normal. Baked potatoes, biscuits, peas and carrots, celery and a huge turkey. But the bit of Oriental cooking will not be found on the surface because on this day it is hidden inside the turkey, in the stuffing" He goes on to say that the stuffing is adapted from an old Chinese dish -- 'lor mei gai' - stuffed chicken with starchy rice and Chinese sausage. He says "As a matter fact my mother, like other Chinese, eat only the stuffing because she does not like turkey!"
I have made that stuffing a couple of times and it is good! One time I had a fun-raiser buffet for 40 people and instead of having a fried rice dish, I made that stuffing as a side dish. It was a big hit!!
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It is the night before Thanksgivng and since I have been cooking non-stop the past few days we decided to have dinner at Hunan Cottage. I LOVE THIS PLACE. Tonight we had three dishes we never had before.
Started off with Shanghai style wonton soup which had ethereal dumplings, seaweed and a green which may have been water spinach. Then we had fabulous pork tender with fried bean curd. This dish was addictive and we couldn’t stop popping the small chunks of pork into our mouths. Also had a very interesting, and would definitely order again, dish of snow cabbage, bean curd sheet and green bean. The bean curd sheet resembled noodles and the green bean was edamame. Fabulous.
Dinner was $34 with tax and tip.
Rosie -- I had been thinking about going out there next week -------but then I heard about "Jaspers" -- an 'upscale' Chinese restaurant out on 46 in ?Parsinippi?.
Someone had seen a write up about it in a Jewish paper.
Do you have any information on it? I couldn't find it in these pages.
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I had planned to go to that Hillside address on Saturday, but today's Star Ledger gave listings for several counties in NJ, and for Essex, there is a drop-off in my own town. Much easier,------- so I will drop off 2 turkeys and a ham on Saturday and RELEASE SPACE IN MY FREEZER!! LOL!
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Thanks, Dejah -- I went to "baking" and got the recipe. I had wondered about mixing Chinese with 'off topic' stuff. You were right to do it there.
That meatball recipe is a combo of several recipes and I forget where I got that meat mix from. Orange would be a natural for beef, wouldn't it seem?
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Thanks SO much, Dejah!! I plan to make it this week-end.
My Mother always loved apple pie with a slice of cheddar. I could never understand why, (?cold cheese on warm pie?) and thought it was just her Canadian thing. But melted cheddar is a whole nother taste sensation.
We don't get that brand of canned apples here, but Comstock should do. Actually, I'm a BIG fan of dried apples (from the soft packages) that I soak in very hot water until they are like soft sliced apples. But it is the topping that I want to try.
Thanks again!
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OK --Dejah------------
Canadian Cheddar Apple Crisp?? Please tell me about it!
Any apple crisp is my favorite. Anything Canadian is of interest because of my blood, and anything with cheddar is yummy.
I'm intrigued.
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Actually it is hard to say which cuisine 'sets the standard', as all cuisines must have learned by trial and error, just what works for their own particular style of food and what was available.
Foodies were foodies no matter when or where they lived, I guess.
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1-Chinese / 2-Chinese / 3.Chinese /and 4- Chinese
The reason for the choice is that I've read only books on Chinese food history development and culture --- not on any other cuisine.
Am I biased toward Chinese cuisine? Darn tootin'! (I'm not Chinese, I just have a love affair with their food)
Do I like other cuisines? Yep! German. Other Central European foods too, but not as much as German.
If I have to name four, then it would be Chinese - French - Italian - Mexican.
The one which set the standard would have to be French. While China was enclosed into itself, in the 1500s, the French were cooking up a storm in their courts, and with the help of Escoffier and others like him, Cordon Bleu types of French cooking schools, and up to our beloved Julia Childs --- what other cuisine has been more studied so and been compared to? From Haute to Novelle, French stands out.
But that is not to say that Chinese takes a back seat. The developments in their country were simple not known to the outside world until recent times.
(IMMHO)
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That's a fun place. I typed in the word "what" and got 65 explanations! LOL!
"Noodles" gave 16 anwers!
But I like the clear characters. Thanks for finding it.
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Why don't you all make your stuffings, and I will do a taste test on all of them ------and tell you which one is the best.
Make enough, because I might have to go back for seconds--- just to make sure.
Frozen dim sum
in China: Cooking & Baking
Posted
There's broccoli and there is gai lan. One is a wonderful vegetable either by itself or in a dish, and the other makes a dish look pretty! (IMMHsnobbishO! If you know what I mean. LOL!)
One time, while on a tour in China, we were served Sweet/Sour Pork, and you should have heard the cheers! They even insisted on seconds! (groan) If it had been a Hebei or Henan type of SS, then OK, but it was cloyingly sweet.