Dejah

For someone who is convalescing, I would suggest beef, chicken, pork, ham yu on top or stirred into the rice. I usually marinade the sliced ( or diced)meats with seasoning, oil and cornstarch. Mix in some slivers of ginger and lay this on top of the rice just after it comes to a boil. The remaining moisture will blend with the meat juices to provide a wonderful flavour. It's not a sauce as one would see surrounding a dish, but a sauce that permeates every grain of rice. The rice will be softer than normal which is easier to digest for someone who is not as active as usual. Ham yu, and with the above meats, can be diced (make sure there are no bones), mixed with slivers of ginger and stirred into the rice after first boil is also wonderful. I sometimes add diced sweet potatoes as well. The sweet potato can be mashed into the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot, add hot water, and mmmmm The Chinese believe that shrimp is to be avoided for someone who's just had surgery. This shellfish is thought to prevent proper healing of incisions. Ginger will help purify the blood, and beef, chicken is said to build up strength.

Chris, I knew YOU wouldn't use a commercial sauce, but thought I'd throw that in just for anyone who might be reading the thread and DOES use prepared sauces. I mean, really! You, the guy who cures his own lap yuk ...

Chris: When you say you use black bean sauce, do you mean a prepared BBS from a jar? I can see where that might be diluted with the steam. I always smash my own fermented black beans with garlic, ginger and a touch of soy sauce. It's more "solid" than sauce but when steamed, the moisture combines with the smashed ingredients and cornstarch to produce the desired sauce. I wouldn't reduce the cornstarch because you might lose that silky texture. But then, I don't know how much cornstarch the recipe calls for. Even covering the dish with just the bamboo steamer lid will reduce the excess drips. Go to your local Asian store and buy the proper dishes for steaming. They look like pasta bowls and will fit in steamers better than dinner plates.The raised lips make removal easier also.

Try covering the dish with plastic cling wrap before steaming. I do that when I'm making ham yu if I want to keep the air "fresh" in case we have visitors. I usually add a bit of liquid into the dish to keep the ingredients moist, or if I DO want some sauce.

Hey Abra..."Thanks for noticing" Been cooking and eating SEAsian all summer but too lazy to post.

I remember eating goose intestines in HK. The BQ shops used to have these goose drumsticks made up of meat pieces, a chunk of liver and wrapped all around with goose intestines. They were then BBQed. My Po-po used to buy me one whenever I slept over and we go to the market.

Our Real Canadian SuperStore has a sale on deluxe roasted salted/unsalted mixed nuts for .98/100 gms. They are usually $1.58/100 gms. There were lots of pecans, cashews, almonds, hazlenuts and Brazilnuts, and a taste test told me they are fresh. They would be great for Xmas nibbles, and anytime, of course. I bought 3.5 kgs, hoping to keep most in the freezer to dole out. Will they keep fresh in the freezer? I know the nuts I buy for baking can turn rancid in the cupboard if not used in good time. If these salted ones keep well, I might buy more to make up for gift packs later. Would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Mighty fine looking lap yuk, Chris. Looks like you had a nice piece of belly to work with: a good balance of lean and fat. I love how the fat becomes transparent when cooked, and gives almost a crispness when you bite into it. I remember my mom curing her own when we lived in a rural community with no access to commercial lap yuk. Every day she'd hang out the strips of meat on the clothes line on the shaded end, and cover it with netting ( old crinoline ) to keep out flies. The line had to be high enough so that the neighborhood dogs can snatch them. I don't know what her recipe was other than Chinese wine, soya sauce and some spices. I must ask her this weekend. She'll just say "I used so much of this, a little of that..." Must be ancient Chinese secret. Thinly sliced lap yuk = Chinese prosciutto I like to eat it with pickled scallions, and enjoy it steamed with rice or in nor mai fan. But, I don't think I like it so much that I'd try to cure some myself. Would love to hear about other's efforts, of course.

I find I always need to steam mine for close to an hour, but then, it's often times when Po-Po comes for supper. She likes them melt in your mouth, so I will often braise them in the oven rather than steaming on the stove.

Which one (s), Chris? I have actual recipes for siu mai, and mango pudding, but nor mai fan and lap mai fan I just DO it. Lobak goh recipe is from Grace Young's Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. I made one and a half times the recipe. The specific pan I use is 10" x 3", and it was to the top! I'm just glad that lobak goh doesn't "boil over".

You young'uns are so ambitious. I watched my mom's labour of love making lap yuk and decided I'm too lazy for that. We don't eat a lot of it, and the only part that I really enjoy is the rind! I did buy a piece in the Asian grocery store, only because I bought a cast iron pot and now craving lap mai fan. I also made nor mai fan in lotus leaves for supper tonight, with left over filling and making joong. We had it with dou mew stir-fried with garlic, and BBQ duck. For brunch, we had chicken congee, cruellers, sui mai, and lok bak goh. Dessert was mango pudding.

XiaoLing, Welcome to eGulltet, AND to the Chinese forum.

Ham jeu bo jai fan... as baby gets used to firmer foods.

Not sure if it was coincidence or there IS cooling benefit even from the canned sugary rau ma (pennywort) drink, but I was having spotty nose bleeds on Friday from eating so much fried foods and curries last week. It was a good time to try the canned drinks that were in the fridge. In acouple of hours, and since then, I haven't had anymore problems. The canned drink had a definite flavour - not unpleasant. It had a "cooling" mouth feel. Not something I'd drink on a regular bases, but if it wors, I'll definitely keep cans of it on hand.

Hey! Tepee MuiMui: Good to see you. I usually add fu yue to quick stir-fry spinach, or really young bak choi (from thining out rows in the garden). May have to try nam yue next time! Got some peashoots, and I'll just stir-fry with garlic and drizzle sesame oil at the table.

Well, my attempt at using the pennywort (rau ma) was disappointing. I wonder if perhaps the plant was not mature enough, or picked too long before it reached my hands. When we tasted the leave raw, there really wasn't any distinct flavour: no mint scent, bitterness, just "something" very faint. My mom said it didn't quite look like the ones she remembered from China. She remembers it having a minty flavour, meaning that when you taste it raw, it had a cooling effect on the tongue. Anyway, her recipe was to boil it with diced sweet potato and slab of Chinese brown sugar for a "lueng tong sui". She said it should have had a distinct aroma, but there was nothing. All we could taste was a bit of "green" and sugar. We didn't eat it because it might NOT be the right stuff! As I am writing this, I feel a tingle and scratchy feeling on the tip of my tongue from when I tasted the soup and rau ma. Yikes! I hope it's not like poison ivy or nettles! So, sorry, gang, I'm a failure with bung dai wuan.

I just make a curry "gravy" with curry powder, diced onion, and chicken stock, thickened with slurry for french fries. We had this for the first time while touring England in the 70s. When you order fish'n'chips in the shops, you can have curry gravy with it. It is delcious! I like to dip both the fish and the chips in this.

Spicy thick curry sauce, or ketsup and cajun seasoning

Lumpia, egg roll wrapper, is different from the more common ones we see, the thick dough wrappers. These are very thin, white and fragile ones made from rice flour? These would be easier for a group project than the other rice paper wrappers that require pre-soaking in warm water to make them pliable. I'll have to remember that for my next group project!

How would they keep those soup cubes frozen in the hundreds of xiao long baos waiting to be steamed? If they are making the stock anyway, adding gelatin powder to set the stock wouldn't take that much more work...

Went browsing in Winnipeg today and first thing I saw and picked up was several cans of Rau Ma/Pennywort drink. They're in the fridge as I "speak". Will enjoy a can for you later, Ah Leung. Then I went searching for another Asian store I had heard about. It is smaller than the one I usually frequent, and caters more to Thai, Malaysian items. I found shiso, mint, Thai basil, Thai chilis, and lo and behold - fresh pennywort! I didn't expect to find it on the prairies! Now, what will I do with this herb? Won't know until I see my mom tomorrow. She might laugh at me and say why do I bother? Just buy the cans. I seem to remember mom making a sweet soup with pennywort, sweet potato and rock sugar in the summer. Look what you started! U.E

To us Chinese, Chinese food is... Food! ← Probably the most profound words to come from you in a long time. Totally agree. In the immortal words of the Immortal Lao Tse: Shit happens! ← You are BOTH hilarious, and I agree with BOTH of you!

This reminds me of the "broken bowl" plant my Mom used to make a cooling soup along with sweet potatoes: "Bung hao wuan chowh"

Your journals and pictures are tasty treats, UE. Thank you again for this armchair dining. All the salads are a revelation to me. Is it common in just these areas you visited? I am familiar with the cold plates of jelly fish, bak jam gai, duck, beef tongue, pei dan, etc, but not the salads of bean sprouts, pickled cabbage, do fu gan, vegetable type salads.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to bake more without the paper liners, and some with liners sprayed with non-stick spray. Frustrating as I thought the liners were to keep the muffins from sticking!