pcbilly

Fengyi: Wonderful recipe, I love jiaozi and this Northern one looks like a winner. I am surprise to see carrot here though, is it added for sweetness, texture or color? Just curious. Thanks William

Hi Seitch: Nope, Tian Mian Jiang is made from fermented wheat flour use mostly in the northern dishs. Hoi Sin Sauce is made from fermented soy bean and with flour added as thickener found mostly in Cantonese style cooking. Tian Mian Jiang use to be hard to get in the US, so many restaurants use Hoi Sin Sauce instead.

Jo-mel: The problem here is that different parts of China use theses terms differently. This is not a problem for local Chinese people because they learn to cook from their family or and they buy local products. But it is a problem people like us who are trying to learn by using different cookbooks and with different nomenclauture. So, let us look at how some of these cookbooks and manufactures use these terms. Before we do that, let us define the broader categories these pastes belong to: 1. Soy Bean based paste 豆酱: 黄酱,大酱,京酱, 磨豉醬, 磨原豉/原磨豉or sweet bean paste, brown bean sauce/paste, soybean condiment and yellow bean sauce/paste. 2. Broad /Fava Bean based Paste蠶豆酱: 豆瓣酱 or chili bean paste/sauce, hot bean paste and Sichuan hot bean sauce/paste (but these names do not guarantee real Fava Bean) I think the most confusing term is 豆瓣酱Toban Jiang. It is original a paste from Pixian, Sichuan made from broad bean and chili and it really should only be use for such paste. This is how Fuchsia Dunlop has used in her Sichuan cookbook - Land of Plenty , she defines 豆瓣酱 as chili bean paste on page 57. Notice that the chilliness is intrinsic part of the paste. Separately, she uses the term “sweet bean paste” for the non- spicy bean sauce as in dish like Jing Jiang rou si 京酱肉絲. (page 215). However, most of the pastes from Taiwan and HK do not seem to follow this convention; they use 豆瓣酱 to describe SOY bean based pastes that sometimes have chili and sometimes don’t. Cookbooks from Taiwan such as Wei-Chuan and Pei-Mei use 豆瓣酱 to describe regular SOY bean paste and 辣豆瓣酱 for spicy one. From HK, manufacture such as Lee Kum Kee use mochi jiang 磨豉醬 for regular bean paste and 辣豆瓣醬for the chili one ( http://hk.lkk.com/product/product_details_c.asp?cat=4 ). In Yan-Kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook, She pretty much follows the HK nomenclatures except her 豆瓣醬 is a chili soy bean paste. (pg13). Another name for soy bean paste is 磨原豉/原磨豉 which Irene Kuo uses on page 486 in her still wonderful Chinese cook book for English reader. I do not know about员 骰 豆支. So what should we do? I will read the label first, then consider your pastes' origin and also what school of Chinese cooking the cookbook belong to. For western school style of cooking, I will use 豆瓣酱 from Sichuan (which I know is hard to find) or use 辣豆瓣醬 from HK or Taiwan. For Northern(Peking+) and Eastern School of cooking, I will use 黄酱 or 豆瓣醬. For Southern School (Canton), I will use EXACTLY what Dejah or hzrt8w ARE using… I am NOT a cook, this interpretation is a subjective and bookish one, NO real experience here. I am hoping someone more knowledgeable will share their thoughts with us. William

............ I don't think this is unique to the Chinese though. Are there something called differently by Americans in the North versus South, East versus West? ← Ah Leung: You are right. One prime example will be the differeent names for a submarine sandwich for different parts of the United States: New Jersey: Hero, Hoagie, Wedge, Sub, Italian Sandwich..... New England: Grinder New York: Hero sandwich New Orlean: Poor boy Boston: Spuckie ? MidWest: Sub....(at least around WI Califonia: "Sub"? I am sure there are more. William

Sure, be glad to: Chili Bean Sauce: 豆板醬 Brown Bean Sauce: 磨原豉 Sweet Flour Sauce: 甜麵醬 Hoisin Sauce: 海鮮醬 ← To Hzrt8w and torakris: Brown Bean Sauce: 磨原豉 (also cab ce 原磨豉) is actually another name for Yellow Bean Sauce (黃豆醬) as Chinese call soy bean "yellow bean". It is a thick brown sauce made from fermented soybean, salt and flour. There was a discussion in this forum about it "Brown Bean Paste : Yellow Bean Paste". To make this even more confusing, some northern Chinese also call this 豆板醬 and call the Chili Bean sauce 辣豆板醬. There is a need for a standard nomenclatures for all these Chinese Sauces and preserved vegetables because differnt part of the country use different names. William

Ah Leung: Another great pictorial ! I can smell the shirmp sauce just by looking at these pictures. Can you tell us the brand of shrimp sauce that you use ? Also, this dish is similiar to one of my favour Cantonese dish - sour pickled vegetable squid (酸菜炒鮮鱿). Can I make 酸菜炒鮮鱿 by substituting salted balck bean and sour pickled vegatable for the shrimp sauce ? Thanks William

Ah Leung [hzrt8w]: Another great cooking demonstration! This dish is what I always order when I go to Cantonese Noodle shop. Now that the cold and wet fall weather is here in the east coast, a warm bowl of congee with pickled vegetable will be heavenly. Thanks William

Jason: Thanks you for the friendly link.

I have to agree with Rosie on this one. But I probably should move my comments about hunan cottage to its own thread.

Soft shell crabs must be in season. Over the weekend, I had the same dish in Hunan Cottage down in Fairfield and it was delicious. They listed it as a special for $18.99 and there got to be five crabs in the dish. It is cheaper than cooking at home. Anyway, I got to go to check out China46 again, it has been for a while.

Tommy: You are right about the name of the dish. Normaly, Sha Cha Beef is a dish made of beef and green vegetable(such as spinach) saute in Sha Cha Jiang. ("Jiang" is sauce or paste in Chinese). Chinese also use Sha Cha Jiang(or Sha Zha Chinag) as a dipping sauce for Mongolian Hot Pot. It is made of soy sauce, chilli, garlic, shallot, dried fish and many other spices and is similar to Satay sauce. Use it with beef in a hot clay pot is a new one for me. Bill

Good job, Fat Guy! It is ridiculous that a Manhattan restaurant chain will want to pick on a family owned "mom and grandma" noodle shop in Jersey. And how can someone trademark the word "Republic" is beyond me(I guess I am not a lawyer) Hopefully the publicity from The Times will also help Ms.Tran and her restaurant. Bill PS Will the restaurant stay close for the time being?

Folks, I drove past Sansy's today and it looked closed. I saw couple of guys putting a new coat of paint on the shack. IMO, It took aways the rustic charm of the place. Tommy, fried chickens from Fireplace are hit or miss. I get about one good order out of four. But what can you do ? It still beats KFC/Popeyes. Bill

Rachel: I am glad you and Jason have tried Soochow; maybe I will get motivated and start a new thread on them. However, I will have to make another run for Sandy’s chickens before it’s all gone!! Does anyone have any suggestions on alternatives now that Sandy is out of north Jersey? I used to go to The Fireplace in Paramus for fried chicken but they are inconsistence. Bill

I was there on Saturday and COULD NOT believe that they are moving; just when I am getting hook on these fried chicken!! Sandy’s son mentioned that they would have a web site setup soon with their new address. Hope someone will post it here. I also meet Rachel and Jason Perlow there when Jason was busily taking those delicious pictures shown above. I have mentioned to Jason about SooChow, a real “hardcore Chinese restaurant” that is just a couple miles away on the same side of route 46. Hope they will try it. Bill

Tommy: You are of the post I enjoy reading not just because of the good taste but also the sharp wit. Bill

Has anyone else tried a dish called "Lemon Fish" here? It is off-menu and I only have learned about it because the people next to us had ordered before us. The waitress/host told me it is “lemon fish” but did not give me the Thai name for it. The whole fish (Striped Bass ?) is poached in a sour and spicy broth and heated by flame in a metal fish shaped dish. It was fresh, spicy and delicious. I highly recommend it. Bill

Rosie: Thank you for the welcome. This forum is fun read for me. Here is a list of restaurants that I frequent in north Jersey. Chinese: SooChow in Saddle Brook; Hunan Cottage in Fairfield. Thai: Wondee’s in Hackensack. (more authentic than Bangkok Garden) Japanese: Tawara in Paramus/Rmsey. East in Teaneck but Korean: Light House in Fairview. (Tofu soup is the specialty here not. Vietnamese: Saigon Republic in Englewood Burger: White Manna in Hackensack. Hot Dog: Goffle Grill in Hawthorne. Pizza: Kinchley in Ramsey. Brooklyn’s Brick Oven in Hackensack. BBQ: Finks Funky in River Edge; Mason Jars in Mahwah. Fried Chicken: Sandy's Fried Chicken" in Garfield. Indian: Namaskaar in Paramus. Mexican: El Gran Mexicano in Bergenfield. (when it was first opened). Fancy: Café Panache in Ramsey. Bill

For Chinese food lover, another Bergen county restaurant worth checking out is Little SooChow in Saddle Brook. It is on Route 46 a little bit after the Wal-Mart shopping mall. The location is not ideal but the food is quite authentic, everyone from the restaurant comes from Queens everyday. The food is usually better than most Chinese restaurant in New Jersey and when the cook is in good mood, it can be as good as the best from China 46 or Hunan Cottage. One thing special here is the soupy bun/steam bun that is IMHO the best anywhere. The lady makes it fresh and stam it in an open area on one corner of the restaurant. The style of cooking here is Shanghainese and is similar to China 46 and Hunan Cottage. The Location is not attactive but the food is worth a try. 165 ROUTE 46 W, 201-368-2899 Saddle Brook NJ PCbilly