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Big Bunny

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Everything posted by Big Bunny

  1. There is no "general purpose stir fry sauce." You gotta relax! There is a classic Nitty Gritty book by Gary Lee, I think it is just called "Wok." Basically, he tells what is common sense about cooking, introduces you to "Chinese sensibilities" on the subject of cuisine, and encourages you to experiment. Chinese cooking is not "rocket science." Rocket science stops at perfection. The best cooking is more random, and exceeds "perfection" routinely. BB
  2. Or the opposite. Some places will add "heat" to a bland dish to satisfy a customer. But the pepper, or whatever, is tacked on at the end, not cooked into the dish in stages as it should be. BB
  3. I thought that was part of the definition. BB
  4. I used to show art in my apartment. It was a lot of fun - and a lot of work - to cater the openings. Tex-Mex is great. You can put out a vegetarian spread, and nobody notices. After all, it would be impolite to open the quesadillas. BB
  5. That's one great way to make a vegetarian meal more acceptable, even to non-vegetarians. If you serve a "bewildering" variety, some people will not even notice the lack of meat. On the other hand, some will do nothing but search for meat. BB
  6. A half-pound of pasta with butter and black pepper accompanied by a good, not necessarily expensive, red wine. The next morning, the best coffee I can find. But - as soon as possible, get on a sane diet. There are three things that wipe me out: 1) I don't eat right; 2) I need new shoes(I walk constantly); 3)I need new glasses(I develop software). Strangely, all three problems produce the same symptoms: vague depression, lethargy, despair. Indulge, but get back to basics soon. You know what your own basics are. BB
  7. I haven't done any serious cooking, thus haven't explored the flavor of "scallop sauce" further. However, I went to the local Chinese grocery yesterday and found an "abalone sauce" from the same manufacturer, bottled in the same format. This is getting interesting... Another person at the grocery confirmed that both products are brand new. When I asked how to use them he essentially echoed the bottle labels: i.e., cook with them, or use them at the table. Now the fun part: The ingredients of "abalone sauce" are abalone sauce [sauce=juice/extract in this context?], GANBEI SAUCE [caps mine], and corn starch. Now - "ganbei sauce" = "scallop sauce" and on the Chinese part of the label is written with the same three characters used on the label of the "scallop sauce" bottle. Of course, "sauce" probably means "extract" here too, i.e. I dont think that the product "scallop sauce" is an ingredient in "abalone sauce". I haven't opened the new bottle yet, but this might be promising. BB
  8. 1) Some capers are teaspoon-sized, others about the size of bb-s. I love capers and always use more than the rx calls for, anyway. 2) Label packages - always - not sometimes like I do. Almost any piece of meat that size will respond to being braised. 3) Freeze the wine in an icecube tray, then throw the cubes into a baggie. 4) I love Marion Cunningham's version of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. Get it and learn how to make almost anything "normal." TVP always falls apart. BB
  9. There is a real technique that I have seen used in carry-out places of doing a motion similar to a flip with a one-handled wok. It's hard to describe, but I'll try: 1) do a flip-like motion, sending the food away from the cook, up the side of the wok and into the air. 2) do a sort of forward thrust of the wok so that the center is under the food. This is a bit more "athletic" than the crepe flip. 3) do it again immediately so that the food sort of rolls in space, constantly falling into the hot wok, then being flung up. It is impressive to watch, and over "big heat" a very efficient technique. BB
  10. I become loyal to certain cookbook authors because of their style. I will buy almost any book written by Sri Owen, Patricia Wells, Paula Wolfert - and it looks like Fuchsia Dunlop will be on that list. There are others, too. I like books that are a sort of good reportage: "when", "where", "who", "why" just as much as "how". But mainly, cookbooks should have style. Let your personality come through your book and people will like you (not everyone, of course.) Beyond that, write recipes that work. We all know that recipes need to be coaxed into behaving and are not perfect. Still, some authors are REALLY GOOD at describing all of the processes of a cusine in a way that instills confidence in the reader/cook. BB
  11. I am not a vegetarian, but, being Buddhist, I go through vegetarian "phases." It is true that living as a vegetarian is a great way to explore alternative cuisines. Tofu and tempeh can be delicious when cooked in their many traditional dishes. Ususally, I am "mostly vegetarian", but get one meat "thing" a week - maybe some chicken legs, or a nice fish. This week I am in a summer holiday kind of mood, so the "thing" is some Knockwurst that I'll cook like hot dogs and serve with a big salad. BB
  12. I've become sort-of comfortable with flipping crepes, and more recently roti jala (much more fragile), but to save time I prefer to use two pans, and inelegantly flop the crepe into the second hot pan. This saves so much time - with the crepes cooking in parallel - that I am afraid I will never become nonchalant about flipping and using one pan. On the other hand, I really admire Chinese chefs who "stir-fry" by flipping food in a neat Ferris wheel using a Beijing (one-handled) wok. BB [spelling]
  13. Here is some manufacture data copied from the label: GUANGAHOU[sic] ZENGCHENG CAIGENCIANG FOOD MANUFACTURE CO., LTD ADD: MACHE, SHITAN TOWN, ZENGCHENG CITY, GUANGZHOU Above this, in the Chinese language section of the label: TEL:(020)82922913 FAX 82921338 Maybe this will help to find it. The front of the label is all Chinese, with bold characters. BB
  14. It's the other way around. The scallop sauce is light, sort of good, but cloying by itself. It would work nicely to "cut" the taste of oyster sauce. It was $1.95 for a small (12 oz. ?) bottle. I am at work now. It is made by a small(?) company in an industrial park, I don't remember where - not a known name brand. If I could find that mislaid cable I'd post a picture. This is completely new to me. I am no expert on Chinese food, but have been haunting Chinese groceries for over 20 years. This is something new on the condiment shelf, so I got it out of curiosity. The younger, English-speaking guy at the store didn't seem to know much about it, either. Maybe I can "bum" a digital foto someplace. BB
  15. Somewhere, I have a small paperback dictionary/word list. It is simply a list of 1000 words in 26 major languages. It would be useful to make such a book for food/cooking. There would need to be two sections: 1) All of the truly common culinary words (probably far fewer than 1000.) 2) Special words for each cuisine (ingredients, methods, implements.) It could all be done on-line. If a standard outline of the needed vocabulary, and guidelines for the special section were prepared, speakers of each language could fairly quickly add words from their language to the collection. Of course, this would do nothing for rare alphabets, difficult grammars, etc. BB
  16. so the scallop sauce doesn't actually have scallops? Aaaargh! Bad typo on my part. Scallop sauce contains SCALLOP extract. Sorry! BB
  17. First taste test. This morning I tasted scallop sauce and Lee Kum Kee premium oyster sauce with blanched asparagus, blanched celery and simmered and pressed tofu - all cut to finger size. Between tastes, I ate plain blanched celery. These are very different. The oyster sauce is "beefy" and complex - besides oysters there are sugar, msg and salt plus caramel color. The scallop sauce is light and simple - just scallop extract, yeast extract, and starch. It smells and tastes light, and sweetish - oddly like baked goods (the yeast?) The oyster sauce is agressive - it brings a lot of flavor to the tofu; but the scallop sauce is bland on the tofu, and seems to enhance the flavor of the asparagus. Of course, I don't know how the character will change when used in a cooked dish. I plan to try this with pork or some sort of fish. As an experiment, I mixed the two sauces half-and-half. I imagine that that blend would would work nicely as a lighter oyster sauce. Mainly, though, this is quite unique. It's time to ponder and browse my library for ideas. Scallop sauce is good, but doesn't fit easily into a niche in what Chinese cuisine I know - not, of course, that it HAS to fit there. It is light and flavorful, but by itself it is cloying. The trick seems to be to give it some "oomph" without overpowering the taste. BB [Changed "oyster" to "scallop" in a key sentence.] [spelling]
  18. There is an excellent Hippocrene book, "The Art of Turkish Cooking" by Neset Eren. I made one simple meal from this book a few years ago: - Yanissary Stew - Tomato Pilav - Cauliflower Salad with Green Pepper Sauce All of the dishes were very easy, but full of flavor. I definitely hope to explore this book again. BB
  19. That looks good! I might also try a Vitnamese recipe from Andrea Nguyen's site for asparagus with winter mushrooms and oyster sauce. A lot depends on what is at the grocery this weekend. Thanks, jo-mel. BB
  20. My mother really did wash my mouth out once. BB
  21. Even dyed-in-the-wool cilantro lovers don't eat it straight and unadorned, so far as I know. A more accurate approach might be to grate soap shavings into the dish, same as you would with parmesan. Especially convenient if it's a cooked dish because the soap would melt into it and blend smoothly; I don't think cilantro melts. A nice green Irish Spring, for instance - "cilantro-y, yes, but I like it too!" Maybe lemon-scented dish detergents could be used as salad dressings, too! BB
  22. They're even better on quesadillas - just a tortilla, jack or mozzarella, and tons of big, bland canned black olive slices. Another favorite of mine: sardines in Louisiana hot sauce over ramen (no "broth", just prepared noodles) with a good, cold beer. BB
  23. That is a good idea! Can you think of a recipe that sort of "stars" oyster sauce, or one where the flavor difference between scallops and oysters would be highlighted. Of course, until I actually open the bottle, I really don't know anything. See how much fun a $2 impulse buy can be? BB
  24. Malawry sums it up pretty well. It is important to know when to multi-task and when to "have the mice in place". A stir-fry is completely unlike a soup, for example. Cleaning as you go is BIG. As Malawry says, the goal is to have no "dirty" dishes except what is on the table. With practice, this is easy - and very rewarding. The paradox is that the "extra" work of cleaning dishes as you go seems to speed the cooking process, not slow it down. It is exhilarating to cook in a clean kitchen. Keeping it that way CONSTANTLY (if possible) is definitely worth the effort. On the other hand, I am not "quick like a bunny." Fast for me is relative, and I would never try to pass myself off as a pro. If your fastest is not as fast as some one else, don't worry about it. Find your optimum style - use it consistently - and you will develop speed enough. BB
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