Dejah

Batali suggested soaking these "rubbers" with wine cork for several of hours. The wine cork will tenderized them. ← So, for dim sum they must marinade them with, perhaps baking soda before steaming them? I can't see them using Ben's "SUV" method. I'm going to make Javanese chicken curry tonight, so maybe I'll pull a few out, soak 'em in baking soda, then throw them in with some of the curry.

I bought a big bag of baby octopus today as I love the way it's served at dim sum restaurants: curried, tender... Anyone have a recipe they've tried? Octopus can be pretty tough if handled improperly. I don't want to be disappointed. Are they marinaded before steaming? Braised? I just know they come out in little dishes.

Regular water. The filling will flavor the rice. ← When I saw your question, echocolate, I thought you meant jook (Chinese rice soup)and not joongzi (sticky rice in bamboo or other kinds of leaves). As milady replied, use water. Broth would be a waste for boiling joongzi. You can, however, use broth to make jook. Sheena: Throw some bay leaves in with your bag of rice. They keep moths out of cupboards, so they should work in the rice.

I am very horrified by this. Why would you want to eat less glutinous rice? ← Sticky rice tends to be very rich when boiled for two and a half hours with pork belly, lap cheung, mushrooms, ha mai, peanuts, etc, etc. The richness is not as noticeable when you mix in the long grain. I use jasmin because I love the fragrance, the texture of the rice, and this way, I can eat TWO joongzi instead of one.

Long grain Jasmin rice with meals as I like how the grains stay separated. Short grain for sushi. Glutinous rice for leen yeep joong or lap mai nor mai fan. A mix of half and half glutinous and long grain for joongzi, and some with only glutinous rice. Basmati usually with Indian food. Brown rice -once in a blue moon. It doesn't go well with fu yu or ham yu.

Bruce, Pan, Thanks for the encouragement. The DD ("dear" daughter) ate the leftovers last night behind my back! I guess she liked it. I want to try the chicken satay tonight, but may not have enough time to pick up fresh chicken and marinade. Pan: I will definitely try something with belacan on the weekend as we have a 4-day long weekend - Canada's bday! The neighbors will have gone to the cottage, and I now know I can toast belacan in foil.

One of the earliest cookbooks in my cabinet is Gloria Bley Miller's The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. It's not one that I use the most, but I refer to it often if I need to know basics.

My first attempt at beef rendang from Cradle of Flavour: I didn't have fresh lemongrass, so I used frozen chopped. This may have given the finished product a bit of a grittier texture. Have not seen any candlenuts, but I had unsalted macadamia nuts. I liked these nuts after simmering in the coconut milk. First picture: oneless beef short ribs mixed with spice paste and coconut milk. After simmering for an hour: I forogt to take one at the end of 4 hours of simmering. The last two pictures are of beef rendang loaded onto a big platter with a stir-fry of sweet peppers, cauliflower, and sugar snap peas; the cucumber, carrot, and shallot salad; and jasmin rice. There was plenty for three of us with a small container of leftovers for my lunch today. We really enjoyed the deep coconut and lime leaf flavour in the beef. The whole dish floated "on a cloud of nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon." This was worth the hours of simmering and stirring. We'll definitely make it again and again. Next time, I will use more chilis, and hopefully, with fresh lemongrass. The salad was great. Even DH who is not a salad kinda guy liked it. Bruce: I'm glad I decided to have jasmin rice instead of Celebration rice. It may have been a bit heavy on the coconut flavour - altho' as you mentioned - that's not a bad thing!

I took the plunge today and made beef rendang from Cradle. Unfortunately, I didn't read thru' the entire recipe when I started this dish at 5 pm. Needless to say, I had to throw together something else real quick for supper at 6. The beef rendang is simmering on the stove, in a new pretty blue non-stick casserol pan. The smell is waffling into every part of the house. I love it already! The sauce has been simmering for the last 3 hours. I see the oil separating from the coconut milk, the liquid is thickening, and the colour is deepening nicely. I tasted it, and the heat is right there! I'll finish the dish and save it for our supper tomorrow. The celebration rice looks like a good accompaniment, along with the recommened salad. Will report back on the results tomorrow. I did take a picture at the beginning, at the stage right now, and will take the final picture tomorrow before we eat. I am excited!

My s-i-l has a huge minature orange tree. At harvest, she washes and brines them in quarter jars. We keep the jars in the fridge. Whenever someone gets a sore throat, acouple of these oranges are put into a cup, and boiling water is poured over them. The oranges are squished against the side of the cup so the brine, the OJ is mixed with the water. It's not the most pleasant drink, but all the salt and Vitamin C in these little suckers seem to do the trick of easing the sore throat and promote healing.

Toisanese say, "tui how/hi" - crisp/ crunch/explosive.

Welcome to the Chinese forum, TOFU And thatnks for an impressive first post! Every dish looks delicious, but I'm particularly drawn to the watercress - one of my favourite vegetables. I've never tried it with oyster sauce. Must remember that for next time. Can you elaborate on the mango filled dumplings?

My son's the only one who's done any dumpster diving - behind a retail computer store. I should have been checking behind Safeway down the street from me. I was looking for bananas, ones that are just ripening and ready to eat when I saw the stocker wheel a cartful towards the back. I asked if they were going on sale. He said, "No, they're going into compost." Apparently, as soon as "brown spots" appear, they are instructed to throw them out! I was too shocked to ask why these were not taken to the soup kitchen. I might have to speak to the manager next time I'm there. Safeway never puts produce on sale. It all goes into compost. I can't believe that they'd say that to appease customers. I'm sure everyone would be happier to hear about contributions to the soup kitchen.

Thanks! This is more like the solution I was looking for.

Mr. Oseland: Thnaks for your suggestion of toasting belacan in foil. I will definitely try that. I love Chinese shrimp paste ( ham ha) and salted fish (ham yu) steamed with pork, so I am quite used to strong aromas. It's the neighbors.

Pickled watercress?! I've never seen that. What does it taste like? Do the steams stay crisp? What goes best with this pickle?

Thanks for the input. I 'm not sure I want to precook the filling as the family prefers the rhubarb to still retain some shape. I do have vents - decorative slashes made by a knife - all over the crust with a circular one in the middle. The lattice crust will work, and I might try a cookie sheet on top for the first part of baking.

I know the question has been dealt with before, but I can't seem to find it. When I make fresh rhubarb pie or any fresh fruit pie, the filling cooks down, and the pastry is left as a high dome. I have tried starting the baking at 400 then lowered to 350F. I baked the last one at 350F for 60 minutes. The pastry looks great, the filling is fine, but there's still a big space between the crust and the filling. How can I get the perfect pie where the filling meets the crust?

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...