Dejah

Maybe I have misunderstood something. Are we talking about the fermented bean curds? They are heavily salted. And you need to add salt to improves its flavor? ← Yeap. Trust me, it was soooooooooooooooo bland. It was like eating a "phay" as my mom says. ("Ho chee sec a phay". Oh so unladylike of her but it's funny as hell.) To a very small 2oz jar, I had to add like a tablespoon of salt. The next day, it was soooo good. ← Maybe being sick has affected your tastebuds? Different parts of your tongue senses different tastes. I can't imagine adding salt to fuyu! Remember, Gastro: fermentation - and it ain't going to smell like wine!

Ben is correct. Nam yu has red rice added, thus the red colour. The flavour is different and I believe it is usually cooked with food. Fu Yu can be cooked with food also, but you can eat it without cooking - as a condiment on rice, jook, any bland food for that kick. My Mom uses nam yu to braise daikon, pork belly, but I'm not a big fan. Give me that jar of fuyu instead!

Those are the basic flavours of fu yu, right?

Ack! Not you too! Is what Gastro Mui got infectious?! (Dejah Jeah gets out the surn fung cha!)

Oddly, enough, my girl friend swears by this as well (minus the sake.) Whenever she feels a cold or fever coming on, she goes to the best hot and sour soup making restaurant and buys a huge helping. ← I too agree this is a wonderful remedy for colds, flu, even hangovers Some former customers still phone me for "a favour" when they are sick. However, I am concerned about the spiciness on gastro's sore throat. Mind you, if she has strep throat, it'll kill and clean out any bacteria as it passes through!

Pan: This is a technique of putting liquid and ingredients such as ginseng in a special ceramic container, which in turn, is set in a large pot filled 3/4 ways with boiling water. The ceramic contain of food is set to low boil for sometimes 4 hours to condense all the nurtrients. We were discussing this in another thread" Chinese cooking techniques?

WINO!

Fu yu would be delicious in jook, especially when your tastebuds may be affected by the flu/cold. Childhood memories always taste better! Maybe ask your mom what brand she used to buy. I don't think you'd want fermenting tofu in your apt.

Hot jook will make you sweat, so it will help reduce temperature. H'n'S soup: You have a sore throat, so I would stay away from too much spice. A cool shower, or even a cool wet towel on your head, in particular, on top of your head will reduce fever. That's where you lose heat from your body the quickest. We always tell newcomers to NA to cover the head in cold winter weather, otherwise, they will lose a lot of body heat.

No, I wish I had them! Maybe someone more knowledgeable can chime in and tell me what it's really called, so I can buy some to keep on-hand. ← Try "hap jie cha" "surn fong cha", or "wong low gut cha" with added slices of fresh ginger. I couldn't copy and paste the picture of the box, but it's shown here: My Webpage post #80. YEA! I just discovered how to link to a URL! Coke is boiled with fresh ginger slices. I don't know if the Coke actually does anything. It was probably concocted by some devious mother to get her kid to drink ginger tea. Salt water solution is good for gargling - disinfectant for the throat. If you gargle, you'll feel the relief right away, but it doesn't last long. You have to keep doing it, several times a day.

Interesting! I remember trying to convince my childhood friends that the purple-coloured Smarties tasted very different from the others, (with the other colours still tasting different, but not as much so.) My friends were convinced I was crazy and kept trying to "test" me by feeding me Smarties blindfolded, but I could always pick out the purple ones. It made for a good game at recess... ← And more M&Ms for you!

How many dishes are you planning to serve? Is this for a party or a simple family meal? Some suggestions: a simple soup such as wintermelon (with Chinese mushroom, little bits of ham, in flavourful stock), stir-fried mixed vegetable, or single vegetable like baby bak choi, Shanghai bak choi, pea tips, with beef or chicken slices, and fried rice or noodle dish (chow mein, mung bean thread, rice noodles). For sweet tong yuen, in addition to Gastro's suggestion, you can add fresh or rehydrated bak hap (lily bulb), leen jee (lotus seeds), hung yun (Chinese almond or whatever else they were called in another post! )

Is there a recipe for the broth? ← Maybe just beef bones or shank with some ginger slices? It really depends on how you want to use the broth. For Vietnamese pho, that's a whole different story. Ask c. sapidus!

Is crocodile meat readily available in Singapore? My mom used to "oon'd" a specific kind of dried lizard/salamander with yeuk toy (herbs) for my grandfather who was asthmatic. These lizards are dressed, stretched out and dried, and I have seen them still in Chinese herbal shops.

I know what you mean. This is especially a problem when I test new recipes because I hate to throw away my failures. It's just so un-Toisanese! A professional? Oh, that's a good one! I'm just a self taught amateur who loves to cook. I've never even worked in a McDonalds. ← I love that term: un-Toisanese. Well, sheetz, you're a good teacher!

Does using Coca Cola add a distinctive flavour to the chicken? Would diet Coke work the same? ← Dejah -- I would think that Diet Coke would not work because it contains aspartame, which breaks down in cooking. ← Thanks SuzySushi. Didn't think about that. But then, I don't think "diet" with ingredients when I cook. I'm supposed to cook chicken for Po-Po's supper tonight. Still trying to decide whether I want to braise with mushrooms, chestnuts, wood ear and lily buds, or Coca Cola chicken and the rest in stir-fry with lotus root. Maybe it's time for something different - like Coca Cola chicken! Sheetz: When I made the baos, I made the dough quite thin, to cut down on "WW points". Usually, they are bigger/fluffier dough-wise. I was glad they were ear-marked for others or we'd eat them everyday, all day long! With all the beautiful food you've produced, are you a professional in business? or a professional home-cook?

Only if I can come to your "open house"! I really think we need to have a cookboree/jamboree. Can you imagine the food we'd have? Irving Berling:

Ah Leung, Silow, A job well done! You've done the China and Chinese Cuisine forum proud. Now, git back in that kitchen and cook up more pictorials!

Is blanching a popular technique in a Chinese kitchen? I've never seen it, but I've noticed some Chinese cookbooks that utilize it. ← I didn't blanch when I was in the restaurant because the heat from the big burners shorten the time needed to "cook" the vegetables. I do now at home because my hubby and elderly mother prefers their vegetables, such as gai lan, to be on the more tender side.

I'm double posting the following images - in the chat siu bao cook-off and here. I made 5 dozen last week, for the grandson, and for my international students as a snack after their first skating adventure. I saved and dried the tangerine peels for later use. And now, who will get the other half?

Yum! Just what the doctor ordered for this weather. How cold was it in Brandon today? ← It was actually balmy today: -25F. This curry wasn't nearly as hot as the Fiery Lamb Curry - East Indian recipe we had last night. Whew!

Made these for my grandson and Chinese students last week. I made 5 dozen! The filling: Our eight year old grandson Soulin, and our dog Atticus. Who got the last bite?

Finally had time to process and post some of the dishes we've been eating at home: Mui choi jing gnow yook( beef and "fermented/preserved guy choi)with fresh mint cooked in the dish and extras on top. First had this in Durham, England - with the mint and hot chili peppers, that is. Dow see fu gwa gnow yook (fermented black soy beans/bitter melon/beef)and Shanghai noodles with chili peppers: Curry chicken stew - Chinese style. Yeah, yeah, I know. There are those red chili peppers AGAIN! We love heat.

Welcome to our home! Some mah-li goh for tea time before supper? Some of the dishes we had for supper: Summer rolls, siu yok, char siu, fuzzy melon fun see Siu gnap (purchased) Vietnamese lemongrass grilled ribs, clams in brown bean sauce, and a corner of the beef and mixed vegetables: Spicy shrimp in tamarind sauce Dessert was mango pudding. The picture was too blurred to post. Must have been because I was too full!

At last, a prime rib I am happy enough to post! Along with Yorkshire pudding, tri-coloured baby potatoes, and peas, both with fresh mint.