Dejah

Oh Lord! I can't believe I spelled Chow as Cjow...been correcting too many ESL papers! Ok. Who knows how to edit topic lines? The Mighty Embarrassed Dej with fat fingers!

Here ya go, gus_tatory. Take it away! For those of you still contemplating sui mai/dan tart or the joong cook-off, it's ]NEVER TOO LATE TO PARTICIPATE. Threads can be revived anytime. It will be interesting to see exactly what Cantonese chow mein is. hzrt! I want to see some participation from you! You have so many good ideas and suggestions. Show us what you do!

The bamboo leaves I buy are dried. In the past, they have always been dirty as they were not in plastic bags. Now, they come in bags so may be cleaner. However, I will continue to boil them as I am sure of the results...supple, clean, easy to work with. I saw some information about boiling with vinegar somewhere... It mentioned that the process ensures the the joong will keep well and mold free because the vinegar makes them squeaky clean! I'll buy that! I don't remember ever being cut by the leaves. It could be worse than a paper cut! I run them between my thumb and the rest of the fingers...keeping the edge away from my palm. I am probably not as thorugh ny the time I am half thru' the batch!

Ben: Thanks for the info'. I was talking to s-i-l this evening. She said you can eat the leaves from the wolfberry bush, but they tend to be tough and a bit bitter...so best to leave that just for the berries. The wolfberries are very sweet when eaten raw and fresh. When China was small, she used to sit in the garden eating them right off the bush. My mom picks them WITH the stem intact. These are laid out and air-dried away from the sun. They keep their brilliant red colour when prepared this way. I planted bak hap bulblets this week. Hope they will grow so I can have fresh lily bulbs for soup!

The easy way to distinguish is that joong are tied with string and no mai gai aren't. ← And nor mai gai is wrapped in lotus leaves where as joong is USUALLY wrapped in bamboo leaves (Chinese) or banana leaves in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore? Did I see somewhere that pandan leaves are also used in SE Asia? I don't SOAK my rice. I just rinse them 3 times then drain to use immediately. I prepare 8 cups at one time as that's what my "traditional bowl" holds. One batch is being used while another is draining. I also have a special table used only for this activity. It's an old card table of my mom's. When she moved in with my brother, she gave me the table for making joong as it is the perfect height to work on when we are sitting down for the all day session. I wish I could get hemp for the wrapping. It looks so "authentic". I use a light gauge butcher's twine. The joong made with half sweet and half Jasmine, I tie 2 together. The sweet rice ones are left single. Traditions, don't cha know!

Great picture tutorial, Teepee! I will try and get some pictures of our session this Sat. My leaves are soaking now. The pork butt steaks are covered and curing in coarse salt. I will prepare the peanuts, dried shrimp, mushrooms, lapcheung, and boil the leaves Friday night. Is there any point cleaning house before hand? Ben: Leslie and Sija are coming for the day. Leslie said she wants to make at least 6 doz for her freezer!

I am waiting for my daughter to get tired of beef and tomato! Every Thurs. it's "Make beef and tomato!". Tomatoes on the vine is cheap at the moment and they are just right for this dish. I have used flank steak or sirloin for the beef. Nice flavour with either. I love lots of long pieces of green onions in mine also.;

So what IS silkened dou fu? I have seen dessert dou fu with almond syrup, sugar syrup, mango, peach. I have used soft and medium dou fu, deep fried dou fu...but what not silkened. Is this the stuff you see in tubes? We are taking our international students for dim sum in Winnipeg at the end of June. I am looking forward to the dou fu fa!

Hmmm... what happened to all my smileys? Sorry, my post sounded too serious. I was doing a tongue-in-cheek. It wasn't my assertion. I was doing an impression, and obviously did a very bad job at, of another poster who said that. ← I took your comments as "tongue in cheek", hzrt.

Careful, sheetz! hzrt will call it ketpick dofu...not sichuan Did you take pictures? Mine still looks very much like the one in my blog from last August.

<<<<< smacking my head by my wife >>>>> Yes, yes. Thanks for the correction. Toisanese is "doong". ← Add my smacks to your wife's. That's one smart lady. Funny how revered writer, Grace Young, deemed it ok to call them Savory Chinese Tamales. Cuts down on the explantion, I suppose. I always called them sticky rice in bamboo leaves if they want a definition. My Caucasian friends and customers all called them joong, and there are many Caucasians, even on the prairies, who eat and love joong. I don't know why the letter "z" is ever used... My Mandarin students never pronounce it with the z...but it is written everywhere with "z"...

What? No Szechuan peppercorn? You can make it however you want, as long as you don't call it Mapo Doufu Why? Is the name Ma and the term PO specific to Szechuan? I can't believe you used Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter? This is too Canadianized. No, too Manitobized. No, too Hillmanized. You gotta call this "Fapo Doufu" perhaps (Fa as in Fa Sung [peanuts]). Canadianized? Hmmm, I would have thought PB was very American: PB and Jelly sandwiche, Elvis's infamous PB/banana sandwiches? Don't knock the PB until you've tried it. Actually, the first time I had this dish was made by my s-i-l from HK. She used PB, fermented black beans, and chilis to make it as we didn't have the toban chili paste. We can call it "fusion"! Why brown the tofu? I think the essence of Mapo Tofu is the soft, silken texture of tofu in contrast to the "rough" ground pork, and the contrast of bland tofu to the rich taste of the meat. When you brown your tofu, most likely you are using the harder kind of tofu, or that the browning process will harden the skin of the tofu, and that you deminishing the attractiveness of this dish. Most Chinese Restaurants that worths the reputation of being "authentic" in the USA (which I had tried) that offer this dish invariably use silken tofu, no pre-browning. ← Dare you call my tofu "unattractive"!!!??? Don't think brown as in browning meat. This gave it a light tan colour and wok flavour. My main purpose for this step is to warm the tofu so that not much tossing is required to heat it. I used soft tofu and it didn't toughen the skin at all. The texture was silky and soft, but not mushy. The toban sauce added a golden tone to the tofu anyway...Who wants ghostly white tofu?! Call me a rebel!

The wolfberry grows into a bush with curved branches lined with berries in late summer. The gow gai never gets to grow into a bush as the stalks are cut each spring when the leaves are still young. Once the leaves are taken off for soup, the stalks are stuck back into the garden to produce more for next year. They do produce new shoots, but..I haven't grown them for so long...memory.... I DID stick these stalks into my flowerbed this time. Let's see if they will grow. I also planted some bulblets from my bak hap (edible lily bulbs). I love that soup!

I have a question about a Chinese soup green. It's called Gow Gai in Cantonese. The plant is from the same family as wolfberry, except you use the leaves for soup. The leaves of the wolfberry plant are longer and not good for soup. My students and other Chinese professors at the university are not familiar with this plant. I took some to school today to give to one of them for soup. They are all from Beijing, Shanghi, northeast, Mongolia, etc. So, is this a southern plant? Cantonese? Toisanese? I remember as a child , it was one of my fav. soups: Gow Gai Dan Fa Tong. It is made either with sliced pork or pork liver and swirls of egg.

My s-i-l gave me a big bundle of fresh cilantro, roots, dirt, everything in tact. However, the plants were pretty young so the roots were not big enough to really have distinctive flavour. Will keep trying, Pan!

Made quick Ma Po Tofu tonight for supper 'cos my son who's been away for a year requested it. I didn't use Szchuan peppercorns 'cos I was too lazy to roast and grind...I added chopped Thai chili peppers, along with toban sauce and a big dollop of crunchy peanut butter. I don't usually add PB, but hey! It added another flavour. That hint of PB was interesting...the flavour came thru' before everything else did. (My son's observation). I started using soft tofu again instead of med. firm I like this better...smooth and silky. I cut the tofu into 1" cubes and drained them in a colander for an hour or so. These were gently browned in the wok then put into a dish to keep warm. After I browned the onion, ground pork, chilis, PB and toban sauce, I added the tofu back and tossed it all together. The PB added another hint of flavour as well as thickened the liquid just enough to bind the whole concoction. I ate mine with lots of fresh cilantro.

by the way whats the official english name for zoong??? as i find it hard to explain to my non chinese friends ← Grace Young calls them Savory Rice Tamales. That's the first time I've heard them called tamales. I always say sticky rice in bamboo leaves. I think I will have you beat, origamicrane. My Mom and I usually make +150...This weekend, I will have 10 people for the session. 8 of my students want to come and learn also.

Hmm, I thought GY's instructions were pretty good, but then, that may be because I know how to wrap them! I couldn't begin to attempt an explanation. Why don't you soak some leaves, then practise by following GY's instructions until you can figure it out? GY 's method of soaking and cleaning the leaves is different from mine. I just sent instructions to my "students" and this is what I do: "Two to three days before using, separate carefully and soak these in a big tub. When they are pliable,wash each by running each leave between your thumb and other fingers to remove any dirt residue. Then boil in small batches for 5 - 10 minutes in big pot of water with 1/2 cup vinegar. You don't need to change water or add more vinegar with each batch. Some people don't do this step, but I find the leaves are easier to work with. Drain, lay them all in one direction and keep moist until ready to use.(big garbage bag works well) Never press down on the leaves at any time!" Also, I don't soak my rice for an hour. I just wash and drain, then season. And Lordy! I never boil my tamales for 5 hours! 2.5 hours is plenty long enough. Mine were boiled by mistake for 4 hours once...and once was enough.

June 11 is the date of the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, and I will be holding the first of 2 joongzi sessions at my house starting at noon! This time around, I will be "teaching" some friends how to make these. They are both in bi-racial marriages, one to re-educate herself, the other to please her Chinese husband, her family and herself! I'll take pictures! After the festival, my Mom and I will make our family and Ben Sook's supply. Anyone else making joong? Tepee? origamicrane? Herb? Yetti?

Pan, I only get the cilantro roots when my "Chinese aunties" bring them to me...in about another week or so. The plants reseed themselves so there is always a good supply in the spring. The cilantro I find in the produce sections are always just leaves and stalks. I've never thought to compare their flavour to leaves or seeds. I will try to do that next time. Usually I am just so pleased to get them, I just gorge. The medicinal "fact" is just what my qi-gong teacher tells me. I believe most of what he says. He also tells me that Chinese mushrooms reduce bad cholestrol.

I can't imagine these yummy meatballs without cilantro...Pulled some out from the freezer for supper last night after reading this post. I use my KitchenAid with the flat paddle to mix my meat mixture. Chopsticks are a bit useless when I am working with 4-5 lbs of meat! The root of the cilantro is believed to reduce and prevent high blood pressure. It seems to work in my family as I am the only one who loves and eats alot of this herb fresh, especially the root part. Of my parents and my 3 siblings, I am the only one not on high blood pressure medication.

dao fu fa....YUM! I finally had this delicious dessert again last October. It had been years since I used to get this treat when I went to the market in HK with my gung gung. I love watching the vendor use the thin scoop to ladle out thin slabs of dao fu fa into bowls, then topping it with a slathering of simple syrup.

The first time we served dim sum in our restaurant, batter sticky rice balls with pieces of salty chicken and peanuts inside were how we served them. They were a pain to make and quite rich from the frying, so we switched to the lotus leave ones. We were able to make up a big batch and freeze them. Resteam for 20 minutes when needed. I DO remember having the traditional way you described, sheetz...a long time ago.

When you deep fry the sausages, the skin gets a little crispy...yummy! We used to serve them as an appetizer...2 sausages for $4.00. Whenever I make bao, I always have some dough left over. Sausages are so easy to throw into a bowl of water, cover with wrap and microwave for a minute or so. Cut into 4 pieces, roll in dough and steamed!

I will probably make my supply around June...unless like tepee...I cannot wait...My freezer is empty of joong these days.