jo-mel
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Posts posted by jo-mel
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I'm chicken to eat any fiddleheads I see outside, so I wait until they're in little baskets at Whole Foods.
I had some from Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago. Over $14 a pound, but worth every penny, but I'm glad there were just the 2 of us eating!
Just nuked them till tender crisp, then finished them in browned butter. Wonderful!!
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Doesn't rock sugar leave a glossiness - a sheen - on foods, that cannot be produced by just sugar itself?
About the dried sweet potatoes - the first thing that came to mind was "How Chinese!" They manage to always think ahead, when it comes to food. Having dried 'anything' -- which lasts forever --ensures food down the road. Sweet potatoes are 'famine food', and even in a famine, there is food if you have managed to dry some of the sweets - for the next famine.
As an aside - The sweet potato has taken on quite a high value in the South Beach diet. It has a comparatively low glycemic count, compared to regular white potatoes, and so is used very often in meals. Even on regular menus, sweets are showing up all over the place, and not just as yuppy food. (not being disparaging, as there is nothing wrong with yuppies or their food - even from a geezer perspective!)
Sweet potatoes are not just for Thanksgiving, anymore!!
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The pictures all came out for me --thanks. And thanks for showing me what I missed ---- I sure missed a lot! I think I would have sat at both tables!
What was the pumpkin dish like?
I think the waiters must be pleased with Da Bi Zis ordering something beyond General Tso' whatever.
Did they give you a hint where they get their Sichuan Peppercorns?
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You can get the Chengdu 46 menu through google. I went there, but a link didn't show on my address bar.
I see that that fish dish is now listed as Pine Cone Fish. Same as Squirrel fish without the presentation.
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Which is better? Chengdu 46 or China 46?
Chengdu 46 - IMMHO has very good food, very well prepared, BUT a rather limited menu, fairly expensive, and the servings are not large. You rarely go away with a 'doggie bag'.
Years ago they had a wonderful Squirrel Fish, but last time I was there, it wasn't on the menu. They suggested "Lee Chi Fish" which was nice and crispy and had a tangy sauce. Good substitute.
Of the two, I myself like China 46 better. Stick to your rib food.
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Yellow Chives and Ham?? That sounds interesting! Regular ham or a Virginia type ham?
Jason -- have you had their Steamed Honey Ham? I plan to try it next time I'm there.
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I am reminded of another very popular Chinese salad, called "Yue Sang"
( literally, "raw fish") usually served during Chinese New year in Singapore and Malaysia, which uses finely sliced raw fish, and over 20 plus condiments and vegetables, as well as jellyfish....but I will probably need another thread to describe this dish.
I heard there are a few restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area
which occasionally serve this massive main dish salad, but because it is so hard to make, it has to be specially ordered in advance. The fish used in San Francisco is steelhead ( "soong yue") usually found swimming in tanks in Chinatown fish markets. One almost has to have the skills of a surgeon to carefully remove the succulent meat from this very bony fish.
The hard part is shredding so many ingredients in addition to the fish, from jellyfish, candied and pickled vegetables, crushed peanuts, etc.
Ugh, I think I am digressing too much and making myself hungry.
cheers
One of my books has a recipe for Sheng Yu Pian - Raw Fish Slices, but the very fresh and cold slices of trout are simple dipped into a sauce of oyster sauce, ginger, garlic, scallions and sherry. A note to the recipe says that in Canton, the slices would be coated with sesame oil first.
Ive never made it, but it is not as interesting as the one you describe.
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Chicken soup, with lots of garlic and a heavy sprinkle of cayenne.
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Danjou -- That salad sounds wonderful!!
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but non-the-less shows, to me- that this is a scallop and not a cut-out from a skate wing.
has this happened even in the last 10 years? i'm thinking this practice is pretty outdated.
i never quite understood it anyway as skate is much different than scallops. the indicators, to me, would be pretty clear.
I think the habit is generally outdated. The buying public is not easily fooled now. My DH was a kid when all this was going on, and it was a way to sell cheap skate as expensive scallops.
We know the meat of the scallop shreds/flakes top to bottom, but doesn't skate flake crosswise? I've had skate and it is fine, but it is NOT scallop.
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(OK -- So it is the Adductor muscle's little chewy thingy that holds the whole shellfish together. And it is this little thingy that we are talking about. Tough, flavorless, but non-the-less shows, to me- that this is a scallop and not a cut-out from a skate wing.
It has the same purpose as the little 'tendon' you must sever when opening a clam or oyster, I suppose.)
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I'm all wrong. I wrote the above, then did a little googling.
- From onhore/offshore fisheries ---Between the shells are the soft body parts which account for about 40 percent of a scallop's total weight. The large white muscle in the centre which opens and closes the shells is called the "meat" and is the only part of the sea scallop eaten in Canada.
That much I know. BUT--- on another site, someone asks what the little orangy thing is that is attached to the muscle (I guess this is what we are all talking about) The person answering that question seemed to think that it is a siphon.
Now I'm lost again.
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When I refer to a 1000 recipe Chinese cookbook, I usually mean Bley Miller. When I hear the term, I think Bley Miller. But that's just me.
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Rachel -- I now realize what your AVATAR is, but I still see it as a beautiful, wavy, palette of color.
I never take that abductor muscle off scallops. DH has a bias against scallops, going back to the time when he was a kid, and what were sold as scallops --- were actually skate wing cut-outs. I can prove that they are scallops when he sees that muscle. He still can't shake that bias, tho.
Your beautiful presentation of the scallops, along with the asparagus and couscous will be next Friday's dinner. (Always shellfish on Fridays) Thanks!!
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It's been years since I've had roast pig at NYNT, and that was at a banquet there with a group from The New School. But it was that banquet that brought me back, time and time again, because of their Casserole of Oysters and Roast Duck. I have kept the menu, and that dish has a big star beside it.
Once on a cold, rainy day, I sat near the cold, breezy, opening and closing door, but was warmed by that dish. I also love the Chicken/Sausage Casserole.
But my question here is of a different bent. I got to know one of the waiters (manager?) there, and if it wasn't busy, he would sit and talk. About a year before 9/11 he said that he was not happy with the owner, and was thinking of opening his own place -- over by Joe's Shanghai, and hoped we would follow as he thought he would be bringing some of the chefs, and the dishes, with him. Then came 9/11. In my visits at NYNT since then I haven't seen him, nor has the place he pointed out where he would locate, developed into a resturant.
Anyone else hear of this?
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Just wanted to make a comment on "Green Tea" in Farmington.
I go up to visit in the Farmington/Avon area (from Northern NJ) every once in a while and ALWAYS go out for Chinese food. I've been to the Green Tea restaurant on Farmington Ave, several times, and it has always been fine, but Friday evening I was pleasently surprised.
We ordered Duck strips with vegetables(forgot already what they were!!) -- good; Beef Filets with Black Pepper Sauce -- good, altho it could have had more black pepper; but the dish that I want to comment on is "Chicken with Garlic Sprouts".
I am a big fan of this vegetable (Suan Miao or Jiu Cai Hua , sometimes called 'flowering chives', but it is a sturdy stalk, not a flat leaf), and have often wondered why it is not seen in more places. It is not often on menus, and in places that have a large Chinerse clientel, you may see it it if there is a separate Chinese menu.
I asked the waiter if they had a separate Chinese menu when I went in, and they said there wasn't one, but there was a menu with a couple of interesting items ---- this dish being one of them. There were several other dishes that showed an eclectic Pacific Rim trend -- basil sauce, lemongrass, but the use of the garlic sprouts is just great plain old homey food. IMMHO.
In NJ, there are a couple of Shanghainese restaurants that use the sprouts, but most of the eaters are Chinese. I didn't see any Chinese at Green Tea, and all the tables were set with knives and forks, so I presume that it does not have that many chopstick-eating people.
Could it be that this wonderful vegetable is finally making its way from the markets into the restaurants? Has anyone else found it in other restaurants in that area?
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Years ago, a friend's Mother had a dinner of Flounder with a
White Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower. Totally white. I made the proper comments, as a guest would and should. My friend mentioned later that her Mother was not an inventive cook. It was good food ---- but totally white!! To this day we laugh about it, and say what a little pepper or parsley or paprika could have done.
When my mother was going to college in the late 40s -- a women's college -- every Thursday was "White Day" in the dining room. Mashed potatoes, steamed cod, and boiled cauliflower, with rice pudding for dessert. She still shudders at the memory.
Your Mother's classmate must have been my friend's mother ---- who liked the white combo!! LOL!
There was a time (?20s /30s/40s??) when 'colored menus' were supposed to be the 'in' thing --- like all red or brown. Wherever I read about it, a red meal was described and it didn't sound either appetizing or even pretty. Rare beef, beets and tomatoes on a plate?
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Years ago, a friend's Mother had a dinner of Flounder with a
White Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower. Totally white. I made the proper comments, as a guest would and should. My friend mentioned later that her Mother was not an inventive cook. It was good food ---- but totally white!! To this day we laugh about it, and say what a little pepper or parsley or paprika could have done.
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I don't care if it is hi-carb or lo-carb, as long as it is 'good carb'. (heehee)
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In Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty, They are titled "Pearly Rice Balls" -- Zhen Zhu Yuan Zi. For her sweet ones, she uses: Red bean paste or lotus seed paste is enclosed in a mix of a 2-rice flour dough, then rolled in soaked glutinous rice, and steamed. She doesn't have a recipe for pork ones.
Just saw that Yan Kit Martin calls them a Hunan dish!!
Some call them Zhen Zhu Wan Zi, Zhen Zhu Qiu, Zhen Zhu Rou Wan.
I think I finally found where I read the Shanghai connection. In Lin / Lin's "Chinese Gastronomy". In the Regional Cooking chapter, they write of: "The Chekiang-Kiangsu idea of eating was quite different. It was really a sampling of specialties made by experts" They then go on to give recipes for Juicy Buns and Pearl Balls. They go on to say: "It is typical of the region that rich, heavy pork and glutinous rice should be made into something dainty and attractive."
After all this, Gary ---you or DH are just going to have to make them to see what they are all about!!
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I wish there was a book about the origin of specific Chinese dishes!!
Eileen Yin-Fei Lo's Din Sum book says about Pearl Balls ---- This is not a Cantonese dim sum, but one found in Shanghai, and in Peking it would be served as a first course in a banquet."
Then in The Chinese Restaurant Cook Book - Barbara Meyers, ----- Pearl Balls originated in the central part of China in Hubei province next to Hunan. The appetizer often appears on Mandarin menus, is sometimes served at banquets, is part of the Cantonese dim sum (light snacks) and also appears on Hunan menus."
Chang / Kutchner's "An Ency. of Chinese Food and Cooking" has 3 recipes and gives the origin as Hupeh (Hubei).
Fuchsia Dunlop does have Pearl Balls, but she says that they can be sweet or savory, and her recipe is for a sweet one.
Enough research!! LOL!
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Pearl Balls -- Zhen Zhu Wan Zi. Top row:
http://images.google.com/images?q=Pearl+ba...G=Google+Search
I wish I had a photographic memory!! I have a son and daughter who do, but they sure didn't get it from me!! Somewhere I had read about a Shanghainese connection, but just now I looked in "Tropp's Modern Art, and she relates that a woman told her that they were a specialty in Kunming in the 40s. Since Eastern Chinese fled to that area during that time, could it have been-----??????
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What to do with them? Give them to me!
I like them steamed, (on top of the stove) slip off the skins and mix in butter, black pepper and orange zest.
Roasting them brings out their natural sugar and they are wonderful that way.
I think I'm going to try Carolyn's grated pickled ones. Sounds zippy!
Also, Mark's balsamic/honey/thyme/lemon dish. Mark --- Your stove is so clean!!
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Barbara Tropp's China Moon cookbook came out in 1992. I guess it would have taken a couple of years to write it. I'm not sure when she first discovered she was ill, but I would guess the mid 90s??
I was only at the China Moon Cafe once --- sometime in the 80s if my memory is right. At the time, looking at the menu,I thought it was part of the California fusion cooking that was beginning to take hold. The cookbook reflects it --IMMHO. Her short life was so full, and she was always reaching up. -- I guess the China Moon cookbook was the creative way to go, after her 'Modern Art' -- One of my bibles.
She signed my Modern Art book which I had with me. Her writing is very creative and covers the whole page. What really got to me was her ease in writing my name, as well as hers, in beautiful flowing Chinese. Not the writing of someone ith an illness.
As I had only been there once, I don't know what the food was like in later years.
It was only since I've been here at e-Gullet that I found she had died. I was shocked. Such a free spirit she was.
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I rarely see Pearl Balls and Scallion Pancakes in the traditional Dim Sum places, but then again, maybe I go to the wrong places -------But the pancakes will be listed in Dim Sum cookbooks or under appetizers on a regular menu.
Have I read somewhere that both are considered to have originated in Shanghai?
One ingredient from every country
in Food Traditions & Culture
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ROTFLMAOWTIMEWPIMP!!! The errant lily is everywhere!!