Dejah

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=59538&hl= The URL above is a whole thread in the COOKING forum on making char siu baos. It's under "cook-offs" I use only baking powder in my bao mix. Cake flour seems to produce whiter and lighter dough.

This is a version that I will make! I can get all the ingredients listed. These will be a surprise for Po-PO. Can I use canned cooked black eye peas or will they break up when boiled with the rice?

With dried conpoy, make sure you soak them well and shred before using. My s-i-l uses them instead of dried shrimp. She made her batch yesterday - some with half long half sticky rice, some with just sticky rice. She doesn't use as much liu as I do. I will be making my joong sometime after June 10. My "special joong" table is on display at a Chinese Restaurant Concept display at our art gallery. As with last year, I will use BBQ duck, salty egg yolks, lap cheung, dong goo, Spanish onion, peanuts, chestnuts, dried shrimp meat, salted pork butte...oh...and...some rice. Ah Leung: 30 joong? And you're going to share?!

Can you imagine if all the shrimp used in a Chinese restaurant had to be de-veined! AAAAGGGRRRR! I always tell people that if you devein, you lose flavor. ← Well, my staff used to devein all the shrimp we used in the restaurant. They would use sharp paring knives, cut along the back down far enough for "butterflying", and pull out the black if it is visible. This chore was completed during down time after lunch.

The only time I devein is when I peel shrimp for hubby. He doesn't handle shells very well. But, I think if you cut the shell at the top, it may add to the cripiness. I seem to remember my head cook saying that the drier the shrimp shells are, after rinsing, the crispier the shells will be when you deep fry them. Same principle as air-drying the duck when making Peking duck, I suppose. I wonder if this process will work: Deep fry the garlic and chili peppers in the hot oil first. Take them out when crispy; toss together with coarse salt. Heat up the oil again and deep fry the shrimp so they will pick up the garlic flavour and chili heat. Drain then toss together with the garlic, chili, salt mixture to coat. Serve immendiately. Of course, there will be a small plate of special salt on the side for dipping.

A common mistake is to have the meat in a wok in constant motion. The meat will tend to be "boiled" in its juice rather than stir-fried. I didn't know you are supposed to put the meat onto a cold pan?! You mean all these years I've been ruining my meat by putting them onto a hot pan? As sheetz said, velveting is an important step. Also, by coating a hot wok (whether SS or carbon steel)with oil will keep the meat from tearing.

Exactly.

In my youth living in HK, these beetles were roasted and sold in little bags like roasted peanuts. I vaguely remember eating them. You are supposed to nip off the "rear end" of the beetle, then pop them into your mouth. Can't remember what they tasted like other than crunchy.

Having seen Ah Leung's pictorial on ong choi, I ordered it here in New York yesterday. It was stir-fried with fu yu and lots of garlic. The thin stalks and leaves were fine, but the hollow stems were tough. There wasn't enough fu yu either, but then, I like lots of it when I cook green beans. The Chinese food we've been eating here hasn't been spectacular. Cheap, homey, and way better than the over-priced food at our hotel. One place was called Ollie's. I wanted to buy a T-shirt there " Noodles is my life". But I forgot. It was very busy, and both times, we had a table overlooking the kitchen. I wanted to go in and roll up my sleeves!

From my experience with family members (nieces, nephews), they limited the tea service to the elders: grandparents, parents, uncles, aunties, special cousins. Young single relatives were not expected to participate, especially in large families. I remember that the man, whether receiving or serving, was always on the right. In this arrangement, the man always serves to woman - son to mother or m-i-l. I don't know if it was to save time, or a departure from custom, but each received only one cup of tea. There was a great accumulation of Li See and beautiful jewelly on the tray.

Congratultions, Kent! What a wonderful gift from you to your family! Not only did you provide them with special new foods, but you also shared the cooking experience with your Mom and aunt. WELL DONE! I'm sure your Grandmother was very proud of her grandson.

I can only get frozen banana leaves here, and I don't imagine they will hold up the same. The Asian store I frequent has been getting packaged bamboo leaves the last couple of years. I like to buy them early, more than I need each year if I can find long wide ones. So far, I have been lucky. The few small leaves I find, Po-Po makes into "yurn gok" shapes (goat horn)for the little ones. aznsailorboi: I'm glad you found the seasoning proportion worked out well...but salt and sugar? I think mine were salt and MSG. But, if they tasted good, that's fine!

Please do! Those sound really good! ← For me, Please do too! I have never had time to make joong in May. It's always been June.

Funny... this is EXACTLY what I crave. These are the zongzi I grew up eating and I love 'em to death -- don't like all that egg and peanut mucking up my rice and meat! ← Just pass the egg and peanuts onto my plate, please.

nessa, Do you boil the joong that you wrap in banana leaves? aznsailorboi: I always put dried shrimp in joong, and I've never been accused to being frugal. I usually buy the larger ones, so they retain their shape even after 3 hours of boiling. A consolation, Ben Sook: You plan on coming west in 2007 for hunting, so I will have another batch waiting for you then.

I have Ms Dunlop's book, and been enjoying the read. Just haven't had time to cook from it yet!

You have plenty of time to salt your eggs for joong. At my local Safeway store, I can buy double yolk chicken eggs. This way, I can "kill 2 birds......" Make sure the brine is strong enough. Test this by floating an egg in it. If it floats, it's strong enough. Let the brine cool completely, then add the eggs. Place a plate on top to keep the eggs submerged. The yolks should be ready to use in 3-4 weeks. Test one at 3 weeks. I've had good luck with store bought salted eggs, so I won't bother brining my own. So little time, so much to do! I am down to my last 6 joong in the freezer. Po-PO is already talking about "how much slower" she will be this year at age 98.

Not too much leftovers in the fridge usually... My wife refuses to buy food from the cafeteria at work (I am more easy-going on that). She usually consumes all the leftovers while it forces me to make fresh entrees almost every night. ← Want to see your fridge anyway...before tidying or cleaning up!

Why?

So right, muichoi. Gotta change your "theory" again, jhirshon.

Several times now I have seen rehydrated sea cucumbers in the fridge section of the Asian store I go to. One of these days, I'll have to buy some. I've only had sea cucumber in soup whenever my s-i-l makes it, or at banquets. The clay pot looks good! Me thinks this young pup called Ah Leung is teaching this ole' "puppy" new tricks. As in the weekly blog posts, I want to see the inside of Ah Leung's fridge! I want to see how many plates of leftovers are in his fridge after a pictorial...or in his freezer! Come on, Ah Leung. 'Fess up!

I ignored jhirshon's use of "siu mai" in his recipe title. Figured it was just his "theoretical mind" playing tricks on him. You are right, sheetz. Siu mai is the open faced pork/shrimp scallop, whatever dumplings. I think jhirshon is using a "mandarin" pronunciation rather than the Cantonese. Instead of putting the tapioca starch or cornstarch with the marinate, I would suggest working all other ingredients into the ribs THEN working the starch in. The reason being that the starch tends to "seal" the meat, so the absorption of liquid and flavouring ingredients would not penetrate the meat as well. The cornstarch is to give the pai gwat the "silkened" texture. Come on Ben Sook, we know you want to say "see jup pai gwut" with this after it.

RE: Some people have told me to soak black beans, other people do not soak them. RE: Do you use the liquid from soaking dried scallops or other ingredients when cooking? ← I use the soaking liquid from most dried ingredients other than the black moss, wood ear and lily buds. With the liquids that I do use, I make sure I wash the ingredients first to remove any dirt, etc. before soaking. Then it's good to use. With the stronger flavoured ingredients, if you throw out the soaking liquid, you lose the flavour, especially with items like oysters, dong goo. I usually stir-fry fishy items like oysters with ginger and a little pepper to remove any fishiness, but retains the flabvour before adding to a dish.

That small amount of baking soda would give you the texture the restaurants achieve. I don't think the red bell peppers are meant for flavour; rather, it is for colourful presentation. The small amount of chili pepper flakes could be increased according to your taste. It's just to add a hint of a kick, but I don't really want my pai gwat dim sum to be spicy. I just want them to be tender, juicy, garlicy and blak beany.

Good call, Tepee. And I, for one, like to eat the flowers with my tea.