Dejah

If you're really interested in getting some Beaver tail, I'm sure my cousin still has some in the freezer or he just has to head over to the ranch and shoot some more. My understanding is that the Beaver problem isn't about to go away anytime soon. Interesting that it is prized in Chinese cooking. This could be a new economic boom for Rorketon, well actually, it's only economic boom Do you know if anyone has started a commercial operation for High bush cranberries? A picture of the plant and fruit. ← I'm definitely not interested in cooking up beaver tail soup! Rorketon...I know the community well. We used to play for their high school grad dances there! Glad we didn't get paid with beaver tails. Mind, I wouldn't have complained if they paid me with beaver pelts. Haven't seen any commercial high bush cranberries around BRANDON. Wanna start a biz? Shelora, beavers are NOT cute. They are downright vicious...and ugly without their fur coats. I have eaten in many Hutterite colonies. If you have a chance, visit their kitchen, their bakery, their chicken processing facilities, walk in freezers...etc etc. They are so organized and efficient. I used to contract one of the colonies for 10 lb chickens for my restaurant. When they deliver, there was always several blocks of cheddar cheese, bottles of dandelion or chokecherry wine. We took some American friends to visit the colony acouple of summers ago. The women were just processing raspberry juice. It was wonderful! Some of it will be used to make wine as well. One of the meals I remember most was a simple potato soup. It was delicious. To get beyond perogies, anyone make these with beet leaves instead of cabbage leaves?

Hmmm, wish I had known that. Beaver is prized for making medicinal soups by the elder Chinese. My Mom said it's because there is such strength in the tail that if you eat it, it will make you strong...increase stamina, etc. A friend of ours trapped one for her years ago. My neighbor butchered it for us. I couldn't look at it...She stewed the meat with herbs, gingsen, etc, but the tail was the prize. It looks like a huge piece of fat...but didn't taste fatty (So says my Scottish/English hubby). I didn't eat it; one of the few times I wouldn't eat something my Mom made.

Whoa! I've been away from this thread too long... Pickerel is wonderful, panfried or steamed. When my sister comes out from Burnaby in the summer, she always takes acouple dozens whole undressed frozen pickerel back with her. She says seafood is great on the West Coast, but nothing tastes as good as pickerel. Wpg goldeye is available once in a while in Superstore. I have shipped these to folks down east. The best time for a feed of incredible smoked fish is on Sept. long weekend when the towns Pine Falls and Powerview have their 4-P festival. The 4 Ps stand for pulp and paper, power, peas and pickerel. At the end of the Friday and Sat. night gigs, we'd pack up our gear, rush back to our hotel rooms and kick back with a basketful of smoked fish, lemon wedges, and ice cold beer. The peas they grow in this area is specifically for peas soup. Most of the crop is shipped to France for consumption. We usually have this for lunch with crusty bread slathered in butter. Saskatoon berries is another Manitoba specialty. There is nothing like going out picking berries off the bushes around our farm. It's hard at the first picking of the season to have enough berries left in the pails to make even one pie! There are cultivated bushes now for U-Pick, but it's much more fun and cheaper to find your own wild patch. Chokecherries and pin cherries: Are they available in other provinces? Maybe in Saskatchewan. They really make you pucker eaten hand to mouth, but they make great jelly and syrups. I ship chokecherry and saskatoon syrup and jams to my friends in California. Bison is gaining popularity here. Hubby worked up a website for one of the ranches in exchange for meat. We had the prime rib roast for Easter and it was incredible! Have a pile of tenderloin and New York strips steaks for the BBQ. How about rainbow trout? About 20 years ago, local farmers started to raise these in sloughs. I remember cooking up about 20 after a gig in our hometown. We had musician friends visiting from England and they loved it, even tho' they weren't made into "fish'n' chips. Let me see, what else? Our aboriginal students at the university often hold bannock taco sales. Talk about adding local touch to an "imported food"! When in season, we've enjoyed elk, moose, venison, in one of our local restaurants. Unfortunately, my friend sold the biz and I haven't been in since the new owner took over. Neil is a chef and I am sure he will feature some of the same on his menu. The "nip", I thought was just a prairie term for "burger". It is definitely associated with the Sals. but it was called "nip" in our rural Mb.restaurant in the 50s-70s. Pam, do you know Mitsy's? It's runned by a Mandarin lady. One of my friends was in there an evening before the Junos. Apparently it is one of Randy Bachman's favourite places to eat. He was at one of the tables while Lily was there. She didn't recognize him...He's lost so much weight.

This is quite popular for Chinese New Year...and some of us indulge more often. My Chinese students get together often on weekends for "hot pot". One of our supermarkets started carrying specially sliced and packaged meats for this. It is more expensive than preparing it yourself, but these kids have no real skills in the kitchen, so they need to have someone slice it for them. They just know how to dunk and eat.

bean sprouts are a lifesaver aren't they?! The week before payday sees me pulling out the dried and canned foods... As we saw with last night's dinner with the fu (wheat gluten) and wakame (seaweed). I also tend to avoid dinners that us too much rice, so we tend to have non-rice meals more often as well. I would hate to run out of rice right before payday. ← Pardon my ignorance...but is rice very expensive in Japan? Am just curious because of the statements above. Great blog, again, Kris.

My version is much like Ben's, except no ketchup or celery. I prefer flank steak to ground. I have finally got the sugar and vinegar balanced. There is still some adjustment depending on the ripeness of the tomatoes. I usually want them red but firm. I'll have to try the brown sugar method. The eggs are usually beaten then fried into a large pancake. Then they are cut into longish pieces and added at the last minute. Love lots of long pieces of green onions and julienned ginger. . On top of rice, it's gotta be "thickened" so it has that velevty mouthfeel. I swear my Mom used to add ketchup, but she's changed in the last couple years. Who's to argue with a 95 year old kitchen prima donna? Ben, is there anything you eat without fu yu?

Can't remember if this was the thread where durian was mentioned...BUT! Kind wesza, aka Irwin sent me a care package containing several durian moon cakes and candy bars! The icon is for Irwin...not sure about the treats as yet. I did have some of the moon cake and they were fresh, sweet, yummy and not at all like the offensive smell of fresh durian. I am saving some and the candy bars to share with family and friends visiting this weekend. This, of course, is all in preparation for my second try at eating the "frightfully freaky fruit"!

One of my daughter's favourite foods is tomatoes...in BLTs, salads, soup, but most of all, beef and tomatoes stir-fried with strips of fried eggs over rice. In fact, she doesn't even want rice! I love it over steamed rice. So, how do you cook yours? What do you use to produce the perfect balance of sweet and tanginess? Do you add Spanish onion? green onions? ginger? vinegar? sugar?

There are certainly variations of Toisanese spoken within the Chinese community here in Brandon. The older generation are able to tell which village newcomers are from once they start talking. To me, THEY talk with an accent. What Irwin said: "They both reiterated that the majority of Restaurants both European and Chinese in Hong Kong were staffed mostly by people who generally came from Towns where they mostly apprenticed with people or family, friends etc from the same area. " is certainly true with our family. We had sponsored many young cooks from our village. One reason is helping them to immigrate, but more importantly, they spoke the same dialect, so training is easier. These young men can cook REAL Chinese food; it was the westernized items and sanitation that they needed to learn.

Ok, Po-Po was over for her weekly supper. She directed me to cook "halibut trimmings" for supper. She said this is one of her favourite Toisanese dishes. First I had to "hok ah" the fish... in other words, season and brown in the hot wok. I had also pan fried some tofu squares. Then I cleaned the wok and fried up some slivered ginger, garlic and tangerine peel. Add the fish back on top of the aromatics, add fermented black beans, splashes of light soya and cooking wine. Top with green onion and simmer for about 10 minutes. It was delicious! Her only disappointment was "no fish head". While eating, I asked her for the exact description of our house in Toisan. She said, " Hoi Saon, Ngai Kui, Lungpan Toon, Oiy Gong Hu". Can anyone understand that?

I certainly agree with Shalmanese on the communal idea. 2 years ago, I was taking a Mandarin course (where I was the worst student! ). Our visiting professor and his wife, 10 classmates and their spouses all came to our house for Chinese New Year. Prof and Mrs. Bao taught us how to make jiao zie. We prepared the filling and the dough, then used 2 tortilla presses and 2 shifts to make the jiaozi. It made short work of the job and a lot of fun with some odd shapes while trying to converse in Mandarin! The kitchen was pretty steamed up with 2 big pots boiling. Can't remember how many we made, but there was none left over. My students often get together to make jiaozi. They haven't had any leftovers to bring for me either! That's a great idea to insert cubes of jelly with the filling! I will write that down on my recipe. That would probably work with potstickers too.

Are these the sweet pickled radishes malawry's recipe called for? I use these when I want to make a steamed dish with beef or pork. Toisanese call this "ham choy". The salted ones need to be rinsed off before using. The sweet ones are actually not "sugary sweet"...just not salty.

From another source, they used bok choi for this dish. Wash the bok choi and let dry. Using the leaves, roll it up like a cigar then cut into fine shreds. These are deepfried quickly. Don't let the bok choi turn brown in oil. Drained then sprinkled with sugar and chopped toasted almonds. Along this same vein, has anyone made deep fried spinach? I've heard people raving about it, but have not had the pleasure of tasting the real thing. I tried and got a mess of splatters and greasy spinach. .

Can't find where marinated egg is mentioned above but ... marinated egg (US version) is diferent from the 3 you mentioned. Marinated egg is cooked hard-boiled egg let sit in a mixture of salt, vinegar and some sugar. Sometimes spices are added to it too. Beetroot is also sometimes used to give color. ← That's what we call "pickled eggs"? Tangy. They sell a lot of those in bars...unfortunately, without the yau t'ieu and sticky rice.

Bison prime rib roast with peppercorn gravy. Roasted vegetables: brussel sprouts, carrots, turnip and baby potatoes. Pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. My grandson's Easter chocolates!

Thanks! Fluffy. It's great to have more varieties. Can you describe more about the marinated egg? Welcome to eGullet.

I have made large batches (3 dozens)to keep in the freezer for unexpected quick lunches. The baos have been steamed, cooled, frozen and stored in large tupperware cake carriers. When needed, just put them into the steamer in the frozen state. Steam for 15 minutes and they are just like freshly made baos. For lunch at school, I take them out of the freezer and let them thaw at work. At noon, I just zap them in the microwave for acouple minutes. Drives my Chinese students crazy. Then I'd feel bad and take the rest to school next day!

No problem transporting dan TaRt as she flies. They have always arrived intact, minus acouple from the package. She picks them up enroute to the airport. The whole family brings max luggage, but very few clothes. Their cases are usually filled with goodies from Vancouver. She even brings noi mai gai!

Thanks for the summary Dejah. The online version of the Winnipeg Free Press costs $5/month for us out-of-provinve types So does this mean you've accepted that Manitoba is part of Western Canada?? A. ← Ya knowsit! Daddy-eh Couldn't believe it when they grouped Blue Bombers as Eastern... I suppose the real question is: Do the three Westerners accept this middle child as part of the west?

There are a lot of Chinese bakeries in the GVA that make the chestnut cakes. I myself do not care for the texture of the chestnut paste in the cake, but my mom loves it and we always order it for her birthday. She likes the bakery in Richmond that is situated across from Richmond Centre (in the same strip mall as Staples). Hope that helps! ← Hmm, I'll have to place an order with my sister to bring some when she comes in the summer. This will add to her list of wife cookies, gai jai bang, pai dan so, dan tat, etc, etc. What's happened to member char sui bao? I thought he was going to give us a recipe for gai jie bang?

This was posted in the Winnipeg Free Press, March 23, 2005: Chef is Winnipeg Convention Centre executive chef Quentin Harty. And as Harty can attest, dinner for 1,300 requires a lot more than multiplying a few loaves and fish. Try 600 pounds of fish, 700 pounds of beef and a mountain of Manitoba wild rice and vegetables. 2005 Juno Awards Gala Dinner Menu Bread sticks, focaccia, lavash (large, flat Middle Eastern bread) & cocktail rolls Ginger and butternut squash bisque Gran Padano cheese straw, eggplant crisp and fine herbs Market greens set in a parmesan and asiago cheese bowl with roma tomato and bocconcini cheese and crostini roasted red pepper vinaigrette Canadian mixed grill Tarragon and blue cheese roasted filet of beef with Cafe de Paris butter and Marchand de Vin sauce Grilled marinated fillet of salmon crusted in pesto and glazed with fire-roasted tomato and garlic sauce Sweet potato galette with Manitoba wild rice Baby carrots with stems and butter-glazed asparagus Dessert Twin chocolate pillars with a duo of chocolate mousses served with Kahlua sauce and pralines The recipe for the dessert was also included in the article.

Please explain "stir fried milk". Should I know it by another name?

Thank you to BOTH TP and Nondual1! My neice and I really appreciate your efforts. The photos are great and I will attempt to make them (once I can eat rice and flour again - trying a diet to get ready for summer ). I will remain her favourite auntie because of you two! I've copied all the pictures to entice her.

I remember now that the green olives were sour when eaten fresh. They are great preserved, salted and sun dried.

Perhaps I can make the call for you, Ling. I am not that far from Ian's Mom. Can I say "I am an acquaintence of your son's ex? So, can I please have your recipe for Clodhoppers?" Have tried the Cookies and Clods?