Dejah

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?

There was a discussion of this in another thread? or forum? I believe we talked about olives in the candy thread in this forum: preserved olives with licorice flavours, or salt and vinegar, etc. They are probably used more for snacks in China. I also remember eating them fresh; these were green. I hadn't eaten them for years when my dad on a visit to HK brought some back. I had wonderful memories of them so I gorged myself. Man! Did I have a stomachache. Will look froward to your report, divina.

Okay, I have had deep fried chicken wings from Chinese take-out places here in NY that have a thin and crispy coating of batter, but I don't recall tasting in the chicken any of the marinade ingredients you mentioned. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. My mum makes a deep fried chicken dish that uses the "Kentucky" brand seasoned flour coating , so I don't think anyone would think of that as being Chinese style. It's nothing like KFC either. I guess you're talking about Chinese take-out places in LA? Let's wait for what Louisa has to say. ← Helen Burke's book Chinese Cooking for Pleasure (one of my first books) gave a recipe for stuffed chicken wings. I wonder if you used her "batter" if it would be close to what you are looking for. She dipped the pieces in beaten egg then into self rising flour flour before deep frying. That should produce a lighter and crispy batter. I use a half and half of flour and cornstarch with some baking powder and a touch of oil. The mix is activated with a tbsp. of vinegar then mixed into batter with water. I suppose you can marinate the chicken in a number of different ways...wine, soya, ginger, five-spice powder, etc...

Perhaps we need to revive the thread on Toisanese Soups? Let's see what comes up? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=62746

agog: Check out my site for joong. http://www.hillmans.soupbo.com/soos/joongzi.html I soak my bamboo leaves for acouple of days, then boil then in vinegar and water to keep them pliable. They are kept in water until I am ready to make the joong. Someone on the forum accused me of using alot of "lieu"! I use pork butt as one of the fillers. This is cut into 2 finger-size pieces and rubbed with coarse salt to "yeap-marinate" at room temp. for 3-4 days before they can be used. I only make about a dozen of the sweet ones for my Mom for "boi seen". She uses gon suy and a piece of red stick in the middle - called doong slem (here's where Ben's explanation of thl sound comes into play) or doong heart. Other times, she may use red bean paste. I am not fond of it, but I love the savory one.

The recipe that I've learned and have tried calls for marinating the inside of the chicken with salt and five spice powder. Then par-boiled in straight red vinegar to about half cooked. (5-10 minutes) Hung up to chicken to dry for half a day. When ready to eat, deep-fry the chicken to fully cooked. I think the vinegar (acid) extracts the water out of the skin, and hunging up the chicken helps to drain the excess moisture under the skin. So the result after deep-frying is a very crispy skin on the chicken. BTW: This is my 500th post. A big mark. What prize do I get? ← That seems like a lot of red vinegar? Would it not flavour the chicken? I have used about 1/4 cup of vinegar to enough water to cover the chicken for the first step. The vinegar does make the skin crispy. I add a couple tablespoons of honey to the water also. This helps to produce a nice golden colour without having to deep fry for a long period of time. Welcome! agog! Speaking of fan noong, did your parents ever scrape it up, then gently squeeze it into a ball so your little hands can hold it and nibble on as you leave the table to go and play? Or, cook fon see (sweet potato) chunks with the rice, then mash acouple pieces into the fan noong before adding water to make fan jeu? Or, in lap mai fan, cook taro with lap yook, lap ap, then eat the meat sandwiched between slices of taro? GuangdongRen = here comes your Cantonese and Mandarin, hzrt! And I get my Cantonese and Toisanese mixed together! Guangdong YUN...Gongung geen...people of Canton (Guangdong). Right? Ben Gaw Gaw? You really explained the Toisanese sounds well, Ben. I knew the sounds but never tried to express them in writing. You did say when you were visiting that you have made the study of our culture a lifetime effort. It really shows in your sharing of information. Thank you! I noticed that, although many of us speak "Toisanese", there are also variants within this dialect. It all depends on where your village is in Guangdong. I must ask my Mom when she comes on Sunday for the "exact description" of our home. LAKSA et all: Do you often cook with clay pot? I got a new one for Xmas and haven't used it yet. Any suggestions on how to prep. it for the first use? and how to keep it from cracking? No high heat...etc

← That's before she knew the real punchline of the story. ← That is so funny! My face is still red. I can't read any Chinese... But I like romantic stories,regardless of the "punchline"!