jo-mel

Ditto on the Shredded Pork with Sichuan Pickle. One of my favorites. What is in their Shanghai Casserole? I'll go long with whatever you all come up with, but just a comment on duck. Peking Duck is always a treat. Who doesn't like it if it is well done? But Shanghai has their own version of that famous dish. The duck is braised, dried overnight, then roasted in a hot oven. It is served with steamed buns and the braising liquid. I see Braised Duck on their on-line menu, but I don't know if it is the same/or about the same. At any rate, I'm looking forward to going there. Shanghai foods are my latest fancy. Good, stick to the ribs food. There aren't that many places. (that I know of) Before Joe's Shanghai came long, in NYC, there was "Say Eng Look" that had wonderful Shanghai food, but they closed long ago.

I can't remember when I've last been to an Indian restaurant. {{{{{{hiding face in shame}}}}} I've been to a couple of Indian weddings, but the cilantro wasn't that apparent. Also, it's not as tho I 'hate' it ------ I just don't go ga-ga over it. I do use it in Chinese cooking, and when I do, the dish is lifted --- as compared to substituting plain flat leaf parsley. It's that little "Je Ne Sais Quoi" thing, as in the Tortilla Soup.

About the Sichuan peppercorns, ---- In Dunlop's "Land of Plenty", she said that the numbing effect of fagara allows people to eat more chilis than they normally would. I had never thought of them in that way. I like them for their fragrance. The aroma of a dish with them in it is, to me, wonderful. Simoond's "Food in China" has a smallbit on another quality about their use with other spices: "This may derive from its oft-noted ability to enhance flavors, as in peanuts cooked with salt and fagara which are said to open the eyes of persons who have not had them prepared in this manner." I can take or leave them when it comes to the numbing, but ground as a dip, I love their aroma. Pork Ribs with a salt/fagara dip are wonderful - if just for the scent.

Ginger. I love the stuff, but when it is in a chunk -- like pea size, it tastes like soap. My DH brought this to my attention, so I tried it, and he was right. I've heard others draw the same conclusion, when the ginger was in a chunk. However, when the ginger was minced or finely shredded, it didn't bother him, or others. Fermented black beans. To me, a single bean tastes like unsweetened chocolate. People laughed at me. But one time I was doing a class for a pile of Middle School kids, and I gave them each one to eat. and asked them what it tasted like to them. Aside from the 'yucks'. 'eeuuus' and other kid comments, one boy said it tasted like unsweetened chocolate!! I was vindicated! Cilantro is not my favorite flavor. As others have found, it seems to be an acquired taste. One tiime in the Yucatan, a Mayan chef made a wonderful, memorable Tortilla Soup. I got his recipe, and tried it at home. It contained cilantro, so I put in just a hint of the stuff. The soup, while OK, was nothing special!! The cilantro was the difference! I was sold on it from then on. The cilantro flavor did not dominate, but its addition added to the depth of flavor.

Guess that wasn't me. I've never been to Toronto, am 5'8", and don't use a cane ------but it COULD have been me!! LOL! My peeve is when the music doesn't suit the place. I want Chinese music in Chinese restaurants, and Andrea Bocelli in Italian. In a donut shop? How about nothing? It would distract from the aroma.

SOOOOOOO glad you did, Ian!!! Good going! I can't even count how many people have told me that they want that book. It is a treasure!

Sounds good to me! (actually any time for Chinese food is good for me!!)

THANK YOU!!!!! Thank you for that information! My copy, which long ago fell apart, is being held together by an elastic band! What a wonderful little book. I am so glad it is being reprinted, and will keep my eye on Amazon to catch it when it comes out. I will buy half a dozen copies, this time! How did you find about this? (I'm sure glad you did!)

What time on Sunday the 25th? I should say --- about what time? I am coming back from a political thing in DC that morning, but I will hightail it back in time, if need be. I wouldn't miss it for anything!

His charisma and showmanship have done much to bring Chinese cooking into Western kitchens. His recipes are safe. Meaning -- that they are good, easy and (I guess) authentic ---just not daring. I was on an on-line Q&A with him a couple of years ago. I had a specific question for him ----- "How did he feel about the interest, by diners, for dishes like General Tso's, and Sesame Chicken, etc. His answer was not an answer at all -----he simply gave me his version of General Tso's Chicken!! LOL!

May I come, too?

The add-in I had was ?win-star? or something like that, and as you said --it wasn't compatible with Windows XP. I just added all the Chinese language selections in the 'tool' list, and it worked when I tested it in my own e-mail. Let me see if it works here: (it worked in the preview) 西瓜 - Xi gua -- watermelon (I know of the 'fan' (fan cai) and 'yang' (yang bai cai). I guess 'xi' can be added to the list. Fascinating language!!!)

I bookmarked that "Yellowbridge" site. Fun stuff! This is another explanation for 'Ketchup/catsup': (too long to type or copy/paste) http://www.nickyee.com/ponder/ketchup.html Anderson's "The Food of China" mentions that "Tomatoes were introduced from the West in the 1500s and promptly named fan chieh(barbarian eggplant), their similarity to eggplant noted from the start. Anderson also goes into the 'catsup' word. The search sources on this subject abound. I love it! There are also links to the history of American Tomato Ketchup: (this is just one) http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/pickles/ketchup.html (What do you use to get your Chinese characters to transpose? When I bought this particular computer, I tried to carry over my old programs, but they wouldn't work. I'm looking for something to download so I can get the actual character and not the internet version.)

Not as the Tomato Ketchup as we know it. In the Amoy dialect, the word for fish brine was something like 'koe tsiap'. It came to be used as a word for sauce other than fish brine in other areas of the world. In England, for centuries, the word 'ketchup' was used for a spicy mushroom sauce, acording to "The Scrutable Feast" by Lapidus. Other books have similar explanations, all stemming from the original words. Tomato Ketchup is an American concoction --- and completed the circle when it is used in Chinese recipes, where it is often referred to as 'tomato sauce'.

Except for the brined turkeys (2 small ones) that I've been doing for a couple of years, I have had the same menu that I've eaten since I was a kid. Traditional one that I am! However, this year I changed the butternut squash from plain mashed, to Butternut Squash with Apples, that I found on-line. Nothing difficult or exotic or even 4* --- just tasty. It was great! Usually the crowd I have takes one little spoonful of the regular squash. This year they just about finished the dish. That recipe will now be my new tradition!

I can't remember the brand. Next time I'm in an Asian store I'll see if I can recognize the jar. Curry powder has been around for a long time in Chinese cooking - but probably limited to border provinces. I just checked one of my Chinese Food Culture books, and there is an old Malay connection. As far as curry dishes are concerned, the first one that comes to mind is a stewed potato dish with a definite curry flavor and color. I've seen it on many menus and in those 'prepared food steam table' stores in Chinatowns. Singapore Noodles has curry as one of many flavors.. Hugh Carpenter is into fusion cooking and has good taste sense in his combinations. I think that 'fireworks sauce' is an example of it.

The shrimp are stir/fried just till translucent, then combined with the sauce. There are a few types of Curry Paste -- some Thai and others Indian. There are red, green and yellow. I don't use the Thai ones----too hot. Hugh Carpenter recommends Koon Yick Wah Kee made in HongKong. He says that if you don't have a paste, double the amount of prepared curry powder. The paste itself is robust and pleasant. The first brand I had was my favorite (not the Koon Yick) but I haven't been able to find it for a long time, and I even forget if it said Madras or Vindaloo on the label. As you see from the recipe, the curry is not dominant --- just one of many flavors, so you can add the powder and it will be fine.

A sauce for Stir Fried Shrimp (adapted from a recipe by Hugh Carpenter) TOMATO FIREWORKS SAUCE 1 Tbsp. oil 2 tsp. minced garlic 2 tsp. minced ginger 2 scallions sliced into ¼ inch pieces ¼ cup sweet red pepper cut into ¼ inch pieces 2 Tbsp. sherry 2 Tbsp. tomato catsup (a bit more to taste) 1 tsp. curry paste 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce ½ tsp. sugar ½ tsp. sesame oil Heat the oil. ---- Add the garlic and ginger and cook just till fragrant. ---- Add the scallion and sweet pepper and stir/fry 15 seconds. ---- Add the rest of the sauce and bring to a boil.

WOW! That WAS a memorable meal!

Not being Chinese, so of course, not being Toisanese, I can only relate what I've read. The origin of Chop Suey is mentioned in my books on food in Chinese culture. With my two typing fingers, this is what Anderson says in "The Food of China" (a terrific book!): "Last of all, chop suey is not --- as many would-be connoisseurs believe ---an American invention. As li Shu-fan points out in his delightful autobiography, HONG KONG SURGEON (1964), it is a local Toisanese dish. Toisan is a rural district south of Canton, the home for most of the early immigrants from Kwangtung to California. The name is Cantonese 'thap seui' (Mandarin tsa sui), "Miscellaneous scraps". Basically, it is leftover or odd-lot vegetbles stir-fried together. Noodles are often included. Bean sprouts are almost invariably present, but the dish varies according to whatever is around. The origin myth of chop suey is that it was invented in SanFrancisco, when someone demanded food late at night at a small Chinese restaurant. Out of food, the restaurant cooked up the day's slops, and chop suey was born. (The "someone" can be a Chinese dignitary, a band of drunken miners, a SanFrancisco political boss, and so on.) Before this paragraph on Chop Suey, Anderson wrote of 'three dishes' that define Cantonese cuisine outside of China that are more authentic, but are not the height of the true cuisine ---- Fried rice, chow mein , and chop suey. He continues: None of the above dishes ranks high with Cantonese gourmet, since all are mixtures of a lot of things and none demands fresh fixings. In fact all of them are in the nature of hash ----cheap, quich, easy ways to get rid of less than desirable leftovers and other scraps. Their popularity with restauranteurs is easy to explain -----all the stuff that would otherwise have to go to the animals can be fed with people. As a matter of fact, they can be excellent dihes in their own right and are widely popular, but their avatars in traditional cafes and homes in Hong Kong are very different from those one encounters in restaurants catering to Westerners. OK! (Pardon any mispelled words.) As I typed this, I could smell the aroma of chop suey as I walked thru the exotic streets of Boston'e Chinatown when I was a little girl. Fancy, it may not be, but it started a life-long fascination and love of China and Chinese food.

Better step on it before the Joyce Chen people do it first. Her teflon wok already has a flat botton. All they have to do is make it in cast iron, and add a lid. Get movin'!! ----- I'll buy one!

Atlanta must have Asian groceries or supermarkets. I would think that any cosmopolitan city would - I think, I think. For information, you might ask at a Chinese restaurant just where to go. Unless you know your knives, I would hesitate mail-ordering one. You would want to see what 'feels' right in your hand. If you find a store, a manager or a passing housewife, might give you some help.

"Fired Rice" could join these, but it looks like something I, myself, would type!

About the skate/scallop problem------- I'd read somewhere that you can tell the scallop from the skate by the little 'nudge' where the scallop was attached to the shell. In Loomis's Seafood Cookbook, she says that the skate grain is horizontal while the scallop is vertical. I don't believe I've ever had or tasted skate.

There are Chinese cleavers and there are Chinese cleavers. (IMMHO.) I have 8 of them --- all different, all purchased in NYC's Chinatown. Some are cheapos with an exposed stud, 2 are fruit cleavers, one smallish one is all stainless, the first has a split handle (I've had it for about 30 years), most all carbon, a couple are a combo of carbon coated with stainless,etc --all different. Some people with small hands like the smallish stainless. Men seem to like the heavier Dexters, women the lighter ones. (I'm not being sexist -- it is just what I've observed over the years. The people who do a lot of cooking and cutting like the Dexter. It's not the heaviest cleaver, or the best cleaver in the market, but it gets the job done and it is my favorite. I have cut thru bones with it. The two pictured look like great knives. I like the Japanese one with the round handle. The site didn't say what the composition was, but I would guess it is stainless covered carbon steel. Anyone know? One of my sons wanted to buy a cleaver. I cautioned him ---not to buy one with the metal handle. (the ones where the handle and the blade are all one piece.) Well----- being a son who doesn't listen to his Momma, he bought the metal handled one, and found what was wrong with it. The handle gets slippery. It is neat looking, but can be deadly. I see workers in C'town using them, but they usually have a rag wrapped around the handle. Maybe someday I will buy the ultimate cleaver ---- maybe. But I'm happy with the Dexter that I have. It does what it needs to do. I don't even remember its cost, but it was worth the price at the time.