jo-mel

I MAY have eaten bugs in China, but didn't know it! LOL About those pictures --- aren't there any filleted ones? (just kidding!)

Where are you from originally? ← Could it be --------Liuzhou?

Dejah -- We have one more kid to put through university, then, look out world! There you go! Watch out China --- Dejah is on her way! LOL! I never went till 1984 when my kids were all out of college, but then I went 9 times ending in HK in 1997, and which was was China when I left. My experiences there were all varied, but aside from tourist hotel food I experienced, Chinese hotel. Chinese restaurtant, air,train, train platform, boat, dorm, teacher apartment, street, & tent food. The only thing I didn't have in China was my own cooking! Since its been a while since I was last there, things may have changed, but one thing stands out ----- unexpectedly great food in less than great places. Places that would never pass inspection here in the West. So many come to mind just thinking about it! The smartest thing I ever did was to keep my treasured food log. When you do go Dejah -- keep a log! You have to take time to write it out, but sometimes I just listed the dishes in my little mini tape recorder. That tape recorder was a wonderful way to keep a diary, also. I've never printed it out, but listening to it, I can hear all the sounds as I experienced it.

Is that the place not far from the school? If it is what I think it is ---- stick with Noodle Chu. When the Dim Sum place opened (aeons ago) I was all excited, but it was simply your usual take-out. Just the name is exciting. Their appetizers were no different than any other take-out. Maybe I'm not being fair, because the place may have changed since that first and only visit, but I was not impressed at all.

When I play with this wonderful simple salad I might: make it half mayo, half sour cream ---- or use sunflower seeds as DH has a nut allergy ----or add some celery seed. Not much is needed ---or add some McCormacks minced orange peel -----or halved grapes.

Canned pumpkin is superior. It has a more intense pumpkin flavor and a darker color. Fresh small edible pumpkins just don't make pumpkin pies/bread that are pumpkiny enough. At least not in my experience. ← Happy you printed this, as I thought it was only me who liked canned pumpkin. Maybe I have made canned pumpkin the standard for assessing mashed pumpkin, but when I have used fresh, I just don't get the texture, the density or the deep flavor.

Jo-Mel - I meant what tempurature do you recommend for the intital cooking you were suggesting in this post, to cook 'em en masse without having to turn them. NJH ← OOPS - I read it wrong! I have a convection oven. The broiler doesn't have a live fire, but when I have the heat up to 450 (that's as high as it goes)- and put the meatballs on a tray in the middle of the heated oven, they cook without turning. A little of adjustment to my statement ------I have the broiling tray in the middle of the oven and it heats along with the oven. I place the meatballs on Pammed, heavy duty foil, pick up the foil and place on that hot broiler tray. You have to watch that they brown and not burn. I can't tell you how long it takes -- a few minutes, but when they are firm, they are done. I do it assembly line style. While one batch is browning, I roll new balls and put on Pammed foil. You can't have the foil too big or you won't be able to lift it and still keep the meatballs from rolling together. Got it? Did we ever make these when you were here? No matter where I go , they are a hit. Mostly because of the very simple and tart sauce. The original meatball was plain meat with flavorings. I substituted a meatball with some crunchy stuff in them to give a nice texture. They are easy, but awfully good!

No matter the dialect, the printed character is understood. The words below are Mandarin, but I have found that most Chinese waiters, even those from South China, understand Mandarin. 請不要用糖或太白粉. 謝謝 Please do not use sugar or cornstarch. Thank you. To say it: Qing bu yao yong tang huo tai bai fen. xie xie . (Ching boo yao yong tang hwo bai fun. she(d) she(d) Anyone Chinese on this thread? Your original words come out like this on Alta Vista: 無法吃任何糖或任何種類太白粉, 我非常會讚賞如果我的盤能準備沒有這.

Mushroom/Barley is a good one. BUT-- it comes in second to New England Corn Chowder. I'll pass on the crackers and simply have another bowl of the chowder. It is also the soup I make when we are in a blizzard. Actually, I like the chowder better from a mug rather than a bowl. I commune better with the close contact!

Most Chinese dishes have sugar and cornstarch. The cornstarch amount would probably be 1 to 3 tsp. per dish. If you are sharing the dishes and if you have a variety of cooking, you wouldn't be getting that much. Even Dr. Agatston, the founder of SBD eats Chinese food, and he permits the use of cornstarch within reason. Cornstarch has a GI of 37. I don't know about flour. With the sugar, there is sometimes a tsp. or so to a dish (I guess the yin/yang thing to balance the soy) But if the dish has some oil, protein or even vinegar, it slows down the rise in blood sugar, and that is a good thing. If you want the sugar left out, ask someone Chinese to write it out for you, or if you want, I'll see if I can transpose the characters here. The simple stir/fries are the best. Look for things like Mu Shu anything - without the pancake, things with Black Bean Sauce, White Wine Sauce or Brown Sauce. This last one is made with a jarred Oyster Sauce and has no sugar added to the sauce itself. (or at least the brand I use has no sugar.) Beef with Broccoli is a good example. Another good dish is Gong Bao Chicken, (Kung Pao) or Chicken Almond Ding. Lake Tung Ting, Triple Delight and Happy Family are all stir/fries. Some dishes are labled 'Mongolian' or 'Peking" and usually there is hoisin sauce in it. If they use Koon Chun brand (my fav) that is god as it has 3 gms sugar to 2 Tbsp. Not bad! But there is another brand - Lee Kum Kee and it has a walloping 21 gms to 2 Tbsp! I don't want to know which one the restaurants use!! There's a variety of selections on the regular menus listings: Meat, poultry, or shellfish with snow peas, mushrooms, Chinese vegetables, bean sprouts, broccoli, etc. All good. The things to avoid are those Western favorites - Sesame Chicken, Crispy Beef, Tangerine anything, General Tso, Lemon Chicken, Sweet/Sour ---in other words, the breaded deep/fried dishes with the overly sweet sauces or glazes. I've seen some menus with brown rice listed. If so, you are in luck -- just keep the amount low. Otherwise, skip the white rice. Actually, I'm not yet clear on the rice thing. The converted rice is not bad as far as GI goes, it simple doesn't have the nutrients as brown. If it was my main starch, I might be more careful, but if it is only on occasion, I'll eat some. I really don't know what rice the restaurants use. Another problem area is with the Appetizers. Most are doughy (yum) &/or deep/fried. Lettuce wrapped chicken or pork would be good here. Grilled things on sticks are fine. The insides of the egg rolls are good. Dumplings are out, but I have them occasionally, or eat most of the insides and a little of the outside. (hard to do!!) However you can always start with soup. Hot/Sour, Egg Drop (ugh), Winter Melon, if they have it, or my favorite -- Shredded Pork and Pickled Cabbage. That's a treat if you've never had it. (to me, anyway) Wheat and rice noodles aren't good, but if the restaurant has Ants on a Tree, made with mung bean noodles, then you are fine. Some menus offer steamed dishes with sauce on the side. Those are OK, but I am a purist, and to eat that, I might as well eat at home. I want the oil, garlic, ginger and scallions mixed in during the stir/fry process. I want the Chinese experience. Are you concerned with MSG? It may not be ADDED - physically sprinkled on the dish. BUT it is sometimes already present in pre-made sauces. However MSG is found in so many things that are not even Chinese that you would be shocked. You can find it in soups, prepared foods, frozen foods, cold cuts and on and on. If you see 'flavor enhanser' or 'hydrolized protein' among others, ---think MSG.I don't get excited about MSG. It is a salt, but not at the levels that table salt is. Some chefs have a heavy hand with the oil. Since dishes are made to order, you might ask them to go light on the oil when stir/frying, if you want to keep it down. Most places use soybean oil, so that is good. One other thing ---- About Egg Fu Yong. I'd read somewhere that traditionally, in China, they were mostly fried as a pancake. But restaurants and take-outs deep/fry them. It is faster, and as we know, quite tasty. Perhaps passing them up would be better, unless you can just eat one bite. Does this help? Sorry to go on so, but Chinese food is a big interest to me. I'm no expert on its SBD relation, but these are observations I've come up with for my own needs.

The term 'low-carb' for SBD is really a misnomer. (?why isn't that word 'misnamer?) South Beach really is simply 'good-carbs'. I eat almost as may carbs as I did before South Beach, but I am now very selective. When I first started, it was before all the bread companies got into the act. Now you can get just about any type of bread that isn't refined wheat. Some use soy flour. I don't quite like the taste, but when it is just a raft, then it is OK. But the soy type bagels just don't do it. Nothing quite like a real old-fashioned bagel! I haven't had a dramatic weight loss, but it has been slow and steady, and a drop of a couple of sizes. My cholesterol numbers have come way down, and I can do this as a 'way of life' without problem. Maybe it is because I have planned cheating, so I don't feel deprived. For instance I planned to have Fried Clams when I was on Block Island this summer --- and I did. The weight still slowly, slowly dropped. When I eat out, I am selective. Chinese food is my thing but I can find plenty on a menu that I'm happy with. Italian is another thing. Everything comes with a side of pasta!! And garlic bread! There I do the 3- bite thing. Not easy! But if I have not had a carb overload, I don't crave it. I tried using the whole wheat tortilla or pitas for pizza and they aren't bad, but there is nothing quite like the SBD-adapted Pizza Quiche first put out by Atkins. It is not like a quiche at all. When I made it for a DDIL, she was poking the bottom to see what the CRUST was. No crust --- but it feels like there is one. Tasty and filling dish - and legal for SB if you make the adaptions. Am enjoying this thread. Thanks for starting it.

Hi Nance! Reheating is usually 350' for about 15 - 20 minutes. It depends just how cold they are or if they are frozen. Some things can just be nuked. It is important to remember that if they are cooked already, heating is all that is needed -- not over heated.

Aside from seeing the Bund (I liked the old one better) and the new museum, I would spend time with the old sites. Old Shanghai, and a visit to the Longhua Temple and Longhua Pagoda. Those ancient sites really get to me.

Dejah -- Those meatballs can be done enmass by cooking in a hot oven. Hot enough and you don't have to turn them as you would if you broiled them. I love chicken wings for pick-ups but they are messy -- especially for a crowd. How about using ground meats (turkey, pork, beef meatballs) in an appropriate sauce? Lemon or orange for turkey/ chicken, black bean or BBQ sauce for pork, oyster for beef ------- you get the idea.

Turnip cake squares? Lettuce wraps? Fried wonton or Egg roll skin strips with a dip? Shrimp chips? Honey walnuts? I've kept away from something like pearl balls -- which can be made ahead and reheated, but there is still the problem of re-steaming fo that many people.

Spiced peanuts? Steamed Chinese sausage slices with a soy dip? Stuffed mushrooms? Pickled cabbage? Quartered tea eggs? Scallion pancake wedges? Shrimp toast? (Deep-fried / frozen / reheated in the oven) Fried crab patties? (Fried / frozen or refrigerated / reheated in the oven.) Oven BBQ beef or pork or chicken on a stick? Cold poached chicken pieces with a ma la dip? Vinegar splashed sesame meat balls? Almond or Sesame cookies? Can I come?

{{{{{{{batting head!}}}}}}}} I forgot all about San-J Tamari! When I want a low sodium soy, I go to Kikkoman --- but when I found San-J Tamari, I was impressed with the full flavor, and use it often. It is a 'naturally brewed' soy and uses no artificial stuff or MSG. It does use more soybeans, so that may explain the depth of flavor. It comes in regular tamari and reduced sodium. Tamari is supposed to be wheatless, but that is rare. On the San-J bottle, 'wheat' is listed last. I like it as a dip, or when I want a soy between 'light' or 'dark'.

My soy sauce history: As a kid (aeons ago)-La Choy, or Chun King or whatever my mother bought was the soy sauce of choice, as it was the only thing in the store. (I can still taste it!) Then along came Kikkoman and I was a convert. But graduated to Koon Chun as they came in 'light' and 'dark' and I was living not far from NYC's Chinatown where it was available. But Koon Chun had some import problems, so I looked around, read a little more on the subject and---- TADA! --- Pearl River Bridge! It only got better when they had the Gold Label grade, and FINALLY put the words "light' or 'dark' on their labels. Before that, I had to shake the bottle to see which was Soy Superior or Superior Soy! I also use Mushroom Soy when I want a little more depth to dark, otherwise I use the other two. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Very good, Jason! Nice review! ( I like the title - "Tart au Teaneck" Was that their doing or yours?) Now I will have another reason for the Times -- the Crossword and any reviews by you!

A simple one for me ----- either made at home or enjoyed out. Zha Cai Rou Si Tang----- Sichuan Pickle and Shredded Pork. Tasty with a simple canned chicken broth, memorable with a truely good homemade chicken broth with depth.

HUH??

Other tales of Sichuan food? The airport at Chongqing had a Chinese dining room and a Western dining room that had Chinese food. Go figure. But the food in each was really good. My food log highlights Deep Fried Pea Sprouts that were spicy hot. The rest of the food at that airport (ate there twice) was as good as if not better than any restaurant. Also had Kung Pao Scallops in Chongqing. Where do the scallops come from, I wonder?

I have an awful lot of Chinese cookbooks and often people in my cooking classes ask me to recommend one or two. But one time -- someone mentioned her favorite ----- Betty Crocker's Chinese cookbook and asked me what I thought about it. I had no answer! The snob in me probably wouldn't give it a fair review! What are the recipes like in that Australian book?

That boxed Kraft Macaroni and Cheese was a staple for college students ---- especially guys. Cheap, tasty and quick. Question --- when did the term "Mac" and Cheese come out? I've been eating Macaroni and Cheese all my life, but it was only recently that I've heard the shortcut.

On the like side ---- Anything and everything --- but parsnps. On the don't like side ------ parsnips.