Dejah

Hey, Dejah, when's the Moon Festival this year? ← It's September 25th (lunar calendar 15th day of the eighth month).

Bought my box of 4 mooncakes last week. There were 4 varieties: Lotus paste with double yolk, green tea lotus paste and egg yolk, sea coconut, and 5-nuts egg yolk! This last one is my favourite. I wish I could just buy this variety as I could do without the others. It's nutty, chewy, yummy carbs and cholesterol!

Daughter said Asia City is on McPhillip before Leila. She used to live by Seven Oaks Hospital and stopped there for their bubble tea. Said it was good stuff but hadn't tried their food. Since then, she's moved down to Notre Dame in the Medical Apts. by the hospital.

Grand Garden has been closed for at least a year. Apparently the original chef retired, and had refused to teach anyone his recipes and techniques. The quality must have suffered as the business closed. I was told this by the owner of the grocery downstairs who is a sister to the restaurant owner. I think KKG contributed to GG's demise - new and better facilities. The wait staff at GG was, as I stated in a previous post, arrognant, unfriendly, and did not appreciate a la carte orders during dim sum. KKG was always friendly whenever I've been in, except for Smiling Johnny at the front desk who, I am sure, has never cracked a smile. He is sombre-faced to everyone. Dim Dum Garden is small and I've only been there recently during Happy Hour when every item is 2.25 (used to be half price). They have many items on carts, but others, are ordered and they bring them fresh from the kitchen. The last time I had the tripe there, it was rubbery, so had probably been sitting for a while. The sticky rice was very good even tho' the filling was mainly meat and mushroom. I've only been to Victoria Garden once. I don't think we gave it a fair try because it was far out of our way and late in the evening. It was interesting listening to the older couple beside us. They had just returned from a tour of China, and after eating the food there, they just had to get to VS for their wonton soup and egg rolls! At KKG, my favourite dishes are the curry octopus and the shrimp wrapped with meat, shredded taro,and deep fried. Not sure about the ingredients, but I believe it's called phoenix shrimp. The recipe was presented by the KKG chef in the magazine Taste or some similar mag about Winnipeg. I'm upset 'cos I couldn't find it right now, but I DID find the 2003 issue that featured eGullet's Fat Guy: "Ethnic Food: A Critic's Tour". He said, Fellow egulleteer Ben Hong thought that KKG rivaled the best places in Toronto. I will definitely have to try Kam Ho next trip in. On St. Mary's Road, you said

Let me add a couple to your list: Short shelf life: dow gok - Chinese long beans. If left for a couple days, they will turn fibrous. Long shelf life:: fuzzy melon - I still have one large melon from last year's harvest! It is 15 inches long, about 13" around, wrapped in a double layer of newspaper, and kept in our cool basement. I made soup with the second last one last week. The fibres in the centre holding the seeds was a bit dry, but the melon itself still tasted fresh. It is known to be beneficial for health to simmer it for long period of time - low faw - with ginger, a piece of chun pei, and rehydrated dried oysters.

It took me 8 hours to render five pounds of beef fat. The crispy bits were very tasty, so I dump them before I was tempted to make myself sick. Then I used my old restaurant batter recipe and did up some cod, shrimp, zuchinni, carrots, and cauliflower. I wish I had some broccoli florets as they make the best battered vegetable. The flavour from the beef fat took me back to the fish'n'chips we enjoyed at Whitby on the North Sea coast! The fat was cooled, poured into quart jars and into the fridge. I think I'll have to do up a roast and yorkshire puddings soon!

Guess I'll have to try it one of these days. My sister gave me some dried ones, and they've been sitting in a jar in a dark cool room.

That lovely tendon came from Burnaby, B.C, three provinces away from me. Ain't air travel wonderful? I do have dehydrated tendons and need to try cooking them myself one of these days. Do you have a good recipe? I go to acouple of dim sum places in Winnipeg, but neither has beef tendons. And I haven't had any razor clams either! Yummy post!

Thanks for your response on the pinot grigio vinegar. Your desseet figs look delicious! Wish I had saved some of the fresh figs my sister brought from BC. I was a piggie last week.

Both varieties have thorns. The ones for leaves only will have thorns after they've become really too mature and bitter for eating. These branches can be cut, stuck back into the ground to increase next year's crop. There is no other vegetable like it for flavour. The bush ones always have thorns, but then, you just pick the berries. These berries have been targeted as one of the ten Best food: MSN Men's Health: http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/slidesho...75&imageindex=9

Happy Birthday! What a cleaver lady to design and reward yourself with the beautiful ring. I love your fridge and freezer shots (and all those that came before). Is your husband a guitar player? I noticed guitar magnets on your fridge. Nice choice of beers: Newcastle Brown is a favourite of the family. (eta: Guiness too ) I remember your mention of pinot grigio vinegar. Is that a commercial vinegar or home-made with the wine? I don't know much about vinegars but I enjoy the wine.

Anyone know what the Chinese name is for purslane? I don't remember ever eating this plant.

Thanks for starting this thread! Spanish onions, shallots, garlic, I keep in paper bags in a basket on top of the air vent by the backdoor in the summer - air conditioner. In the winter, with the heat on, I just move them off the vent, over closer to the door (open closet there). They stay cool and in the dark there. Potatoes are in another basket. Scallions I wrap in paper towel and wrapped in Saran. They seem to keep well for about a week. Ginger, I just keep it in a plastic baggie and in the crisper. It gets used up PDQ and I just buy more when it gets down to the last nob. I was given an armful of rosemary branches. I can dry them but really prefer them "fresh". Can they be frozen and still retain flavour? The branches of kaffir lime leaves I also scored are sitting in a glass of water. I'm trying to use up as much fresh as I can 'cos I've got lots frozen already. I suppose I can make bunches of SE Asian marinades, etc and freeze in containers?

Yorkies is the other reason I wanted the fat. There never seems to be enough from the roasts.

Thanks, Peter and Marlene. The fat I got was trimmed from other cuts they prepared. It's mainly long pieces from steaks, etc - solid white waxy fat. There doesn't seem to be any membranes, meat or anything else on them. From google, some instructions said to dice the fat first. Is that necessary, or can I just stack them into a big heavy pot? Our former IGA stores were changed to Soby's. I like their meat, and always watch for their Sterling Silver sales. A couple months ago, they had a sale on prime rib. I ordered a 6 rib one, several 2 ribs, and single rib. Enjoyed the 6 rib last Sunday, and the single ribs are perfect for the kids cooking away from home. Last week was T-bones on for 4.99/lb. Good eats!

English friends tell me that the best fish'n'chips is deep fried in beef fat. I just picked up 5 lbs from Soby's - for free. Now, how do I render this?

Chris: That's the size of wok we used for fried rice only when I had the restaurant. Lapyuk fat to season - what a waste. With all that work in curing, I'd rather use it to make lap mei fan! My cooks used to season a new wok on the stove too. With the commercial gas stoves, it was much easier, especially when they did it for me. Will look forward to the seasoning report.

Looks great, Robin! When "aromas" stay in the house, I boil some vinegar in water (about 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water) on the stove. It seems to get rid of all kinds of smells. I use an old pyrex pot. A friend gave me branches of fresh kaffir lime leaves and basil, so it's back to Cradle and Thai cooking by the end of the week. It's been an insane 2 weeks of beef, bison, and lamb during our son's wedding. Need curry and spices to cleanse my system!

Ditto for me AND the nian goh. Amazing the amount of food one can pack in in an short time - when one has to.

Double posting this image in Weight Watchers ( because of the noodles = 0 points) and here (because of the tendons and yu choy): Shirataki noodles, chicken broth, bean sprouts, Thaio basil, yu choy, chili sauce, and dim sum style beef tendons that sister brought from Burnaby. I love it when she visits!

I would suggest using shallots instead of green onions. The fried bits of shallot is lovely to bit into. I used to make my own using fresh AND dried red chilis, even with habanero peppers for extreme heat. I have been using a store bought jar: Saigon Hot Sauce - Oil'n'Chili. It's a product of Vietnam and imported by a company in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I used to buy it in Chinese grocery stores, but I see it is also available in our Safeway stores. It's expensive, at between 3.50 - 4.00 /250 ML, but very tasty.

Regret not taking any pictures, but I just HAD to tell someone! I believe I cooked my best ever prime rib tonight following jackal's slow roast method. The roast was a 6-rib Sterling Silver from Sobys when they had a sale on 2 months back. It was saved for a "last supper" before family went back west after our son's wedding last weekend. I thawed the roast in the fridge for 3 days, brought to room temp, seasoned, then into the oven at the 200F mark in my oven. The process took 6 hours to reach 63F (med. rare temp on the thermometer), tented for 30 minutes, and it was perfect. It was med. rare from top to bottom!

When I have too many fresh tomatoes (is that possible? ), I wash then put them in freezer bags. Frozen whole, they add such a bright spash of colour to the freezer on a dreary winter's day. When I need tomatoes for sauces, soups, lasagne, I just thaw and smush. The skin comes off very easily if you need to peel them. Most of the time, they just decorate my freezer.

Check this link for conversions: http://www.foodsubs.com/ThickenGelatins.html

Chicken stew with vegetable chunks (carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, etc) served with soda biscuits.