Dejah

Bruce, I'm amazed how often you have "coconut milk"/ Thai/curry/Malaysian/etc, etc in your meals - and breakfast to boot! Every one of your dishes look delectable. My usual breakfast is a toasted high fibre (6 gms. in 2 slices/180 cals/ sprout grain/no flour) sandwich with tomato, salad greens and fresh basil. I'm as addicted to this as I am to curries. When the kids are all home, we have buttermilk Belgian waffles, bacon, eggs and homemade peach/apricot/pineapple conserve. I have an old NordicWare stovetop waffle maker and they are the best! Morning always starts off with a cuppa homebrewed Tim Horton's mixed with Starbuck's House Blend coffee.

potato flavoured butter. Gotta love that. Happy birthday! But then, what birthday wouldn't be happy with that feast! I hope you didn't have to cook it yourself.

Randi: I'm reading. I identify with Oliver's mess. Our dog gets into the garbage whenever he can - with great determination. It's a flip top garbage can, and he's able to knock off whatever heavy jug I set on top to get at the "forbidden flavours". He's got a touchy tummy, so you can imagine the aftermath. I was looking at the Manuka honey and thought about picking some up - mainly because I liked the sound of the brand. Did you taste it? How does it compare to some of the older established brands like Bee Maid? I'm reading with great interest in your use of the PC brands. Do you find their quality at par with well-known brands? Is it better quality than their "no name" brand?

Bruce: You said: I want to know if you roasted/toasted/whatever the shrimp paste IN the HOUSE! I did that once in the house, and I don't think I will attempt it again. I have a side burner on the BBQ, so THAT'S where I'll be roasting the shrimp paste. better wait until the weekend when the neighbors go to their cabin.

My husband does the website for this bison ranch. I usually have NY strip loin steaks, so I can't give any specifics on sirloin. On the BBQ, I brush on BBQ sauce, sear them on high briefly, then lower the heat to med. to cook the steaks slowly until med. rare. I have done a rib roast - again seared then slow roast until med rare. Delicious stuff. Here is the website with some info on cooking bison. Hope this helps. http://www.bisonspiritranch.com/recipes.html

I caved after reading and looking through this thread. My copy is on its way.

I know we have posted about this soup, but I can't find it. The "aunties" in town gave me the first spring harvest of gow gai - for soup. This is the leaves from the same family as wolfberry bushes. I make a soup with pork breast bones and salty egg yolk. At the end, I sometimes swirl an egg into the broth: gow gai dan fa tong. Couldn't make it for supper tonight, but will be enjoying it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

The equivalent to La Choy for me were the cans of chop suey and chow mein put out by China Lily. Back in the mid 70s, our band performed shows for a national grain elevator company called Federal grain. These were in conjunction with summer agricultural fairs. Every community that had a Federal Grain elevator, we played at it. The elevator agents always treated us royally, with BBQs, big spreads, etc. My most "memorable dinner" was in a small town in Saskatchewan. This one particular agent's good wife was concerned that I, the lone Chinese female member of the band, would be missing "her kind of food". In my honour, she served Chinese food by China Lily. Now, we all know that the vegetables are already well done before you open the can. Can you imagine what it would be like heated up then kept warm in the oven because our show ran late? The rest of the band members were not allowed to partake, just so I would get my fill. They could hardly eat their delicious homemade cabbage rolls, perogies, baked ham and turkey while trying to contain their laughter. I felt honoured, but I also felt sick.

Would the bulb from an edible variety of tiger lily qualify as a vegetable, or is it still a flower? I make a sweet dessert soup with the bulbs, rock sugar, lotus nuts and noodles. Green tomato slices as "apple pie'.

I think this is like the Japanese chrysanthymum. It has a distinct flavour and odour - one that I don't care for. My mom and brother love it. The "aunties" in our city all grow this in their gardens. I can also find it in oriental markets for my mom. ETA: I just googled, and in this website: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/...-033.htm#greens

Kent, It's great to see you "take up the torch". To provide regular pictorials as Ah Leung did is quite an undertaking. The ribs look very meaty. I try to get ribs labelled as "sweet 'n'sour ribs", or I'd have to bring out my cleaver to cut up the bigger slabs. Was the meat tender after braising for 30 minutes? I guess the marinating overnight with baking soda would act as tenderizer.

We have had pigs (a nod to Rachel the Pig at Pike Place Market) and carosel horses (can't remember what that was for) ← Our provincial capital - Winnipeg has Bears on Broadway, "a signature project that commemorates the 75th Anniversary of CancerCare Manitoba in a unique way." http://www.pbase.com/pwh/bears_on_broadway_winnipeg Of course, we also have Winnie the Pooh.

Thanks, Susan. I'm going to do that next time I get a bunch. In fact, son is making a quick trip back to Winnipeg and back here again this weekend, so I'll get him to pick up a bunch for me. I love the way you said"wack off a hunk" as that's exactly the way to do it.

Basmati for fried rice? I'll have to try that. I love it at our local Indian restaurant. Their basmati is full of flavour, and each grain is separate and almost "dry". Takes experience to cook it properly, as with any rice, I suppose. We have been eating jasmine for years and enjoy the aroma as it cooks. I particularly like the "fan jieu" at the bottom of the pot. I think most Chinese restaurants still use "low wah kieu fan" for the general public, but cooks jasmine for themselves. Selffish lot! Jasmine is probably more widely used in restaurant now as the price has dropped since its introduction. ETA: I'm with you on the brown rice, muichoi. I've tried to like it because it's supposed to be better for you, but I still prefer my white rice.

I would agree with both of you. The various times I've tried perilla, I've been disappointed. I prefer the stronger flavoured Thai basil. I need to plant some as it's only available if I go to Winnipeg. My local Chinese store has stopped bringing in fresh vegetables because of gas prices, and most families grow their own vegetables in the summer.

I didn't cook at home last night, but did finally make it to a typical "Mom and Pop" Chinese restaurant in a small community of 2000 people. All my Chinese students go there and highly recommend it as "authentic Chinese". It's about 30 miles from Brandon in Souris. The main attraction besides the food is "its 582-foot suspension foot bridge - the longest in Canada" http://www.ruralstress.ca/articles/spotlight/Souris.pdf We started with hot 'n' sour soup. There were lots of ingredients - everything that I put in except for the carrot strips. It would have been great, but it was sweet and hot, definitely sweet, not sour. I have never had it like this. We also ordered deep fried squid with Sezchuan sauce. The squid was lightly battered squid rings. There was no sauce but a sprinkle of hot chili flakes. The squid was good tho'- lightly battered and tender. The second main dish was beef shortribs hot pot. The pieces of boneless beef was really good - braised with star anise, ginger, soya, wine, sugar. The flavour was right on, the meat tender. There was a good amount of beef ladled on top of lots of broccoli spears and cauliflower. Being in small village, I think the beef was prepared, kept in the fridge and put together into a metal pot as ordered. As the menu didn't describe contents, I thought we'd need to order vegetables. I always make this mistake! They had "choy sum", so we had that as well. It was too much food, but I'm glad we tried them all - with leftovers for the son when he got in late last night. I have some beef shortribs in the freezer, so I'll be making my version soon if this lousy frosty weather keeps up!

Keep bowing, Peter, as the accolades will continue. This is a fascinating blog. I am curious as to what's in the bottles beside your camera box. They remind me of "flu pills - gam mo lean". And the knife at the top of the picture? I will anticipate with bated breath to see what recipes you will reproduce from the trip.

As mentioned up-post, I had some "fresh" bamboo leaves from the Chinese grocery in Wpg. (My local grocer said they had to have been frozen for shipping.) On our May long weekeend, I got brave and invited 2 of my female students up for a joong lesson. One young lady is from China, the other from Mexico. I had all the ingredients prepared as I figured they'd have enough to cope with in the wrapping. The girls had a blast, and did pretty well. I did take some pictures, but they are on the handycam, so must wait for hubby to have time to download. I did boil the leaves in vinegar water. They smelled like lovely green tea, and the colour was a beautiful green. However, we found they split easier along the grain than the rehydrated ones. The drying process must toughen them up! We used half jasmin and half glutinous rice. Boiling took 2.5 hours. The joong leaves retained that brilliant green - so pretty. I had cured some pork belly (SO GOOD! ), salted duck egg yolk, peanuts, mushrooms, ha mai, lapcheung, onion. Yeah, Yeah, I know, so much lieu but they were delicious. We made about 40 packets, and I sent 30 home with the girls. They shared with their classmates for lunch next day. Inspite of them splitting, I've asked my son to pick up some more fresh leaves for me. I'm going to be doing my own batch soon. I'll use fresh and rehydrated ones. Have a lot of relatives coming this August for my son's wedding, so they'll come in handy for lunches.

My brother brought me three cans of Bailing mushrooms and a package of fresh oyster mushrooms. I've been waiting to do a side by side test for flavour and texture, but the mood and motivation is not cooperating. I did stir-fry a few of the oyster mushrooms and found the stems quite tough. The caps were fine, but not like the firmer texture of the bailing. I also wanted to steam the pickerel, but it's been pouring rain for 3 days. I need to go outside to scale the fish!

It was many years after her escape to Hong Kong before my mother would eat sweet potatoe and taro. We were a family who was persecuted for being landowners. Our land, house, and anything of value were all confiscated except for a small plot half a day's walk away. On that plot, my mom grew as much sweet potatoes and taro as she possibly could. The stalk and leaves were selectively culled as a green vegetable, leaving enough for tuber development. When the tubers were harvested, they were sliced, diced, dried, then stored in big crocks. A handful of these would stretch the decreasing rice supply. Because of the fibre and nutrition in these tubers, she said they held off hunger longer. I remember my grandfather saying that if she wasn't so diligent in cultivating and hoarding, the family, and some neighbors, would have starved. Meat? If and when there was a little, the elders ate that. She said they ate a lot of ham ha. It was expensive, but at least you only needed a small amount each time. She had two dogs. They disappeared during those hard times. Someone was hungrier than she was.

I make the version of steamed beef balls from Chinese Dim Sum, part of the Wei-Chuan series. It combines ground beef and fat pork. They are by no means bland. I use regular ground beef and omit the fat pork. These are like the spongy ones served at dim sum. Muichoi is correct in saying a strong arm and baking soda are what makes them smooth and spongy. I use my KitchenAid and the paddles when I make these. The mixture is pretty squishy to work with, but an hour or so in the fridge seems to help in the formation process. When I make these, it's an all morning session. The balls are formed by hand, placed on baking sheets, and froze individually. Once hard, I put them into freezer bags and containers. I love having these on hand. They can be steamed up in 20 minutes from the frozen state. Put several on top of a plateful of vegetables, add rice, and it's supper. I add them to Chinese noodle soup if I'm too rushed to make wontons. Pearl balls are great to have on hand too. Not sure if it's the meat balls I like, or the rice on the outside FLAVOURED by the meatballs.

Peter, This has been a most educational and entertaining blog. Thank you for your excellent writing and photography, and to Yoonhi and your delightful vermin for their endurance and entertaining antics travelling across three kingdoms. Now, I would love to see you blog - and reproduce some of the dishes that impressed you the most!

That steamed bass looks delicious! I was given 2 large pickerels last week. Tomorrow may be the night for steamed pickerel with ginger and scallions.

It wasn't so much the taste, but the texture that really caught my attention. I will have to look out for fresh ones now.

I picked up a can of "Bailing mushrooms" on one of my jaunts to Winnipeg. I hadn't seen this type before and was curious. Opened it last night and the mushroom was huge! It was cut into chunks and looked like abalone. It sliced like abalone and had a similar texture when you bite into it. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and didn't take any pictures. I had stir-fried it quickly with some asparagus - thinking to have a quick supper with the mushrooms and rice. I googled it today and it is "abalone-like". My brother went to Wpg. this weekend, and I've sent him in search of more. Anyone familiar with this fungi?