Dejah

kew, you must forgive me but I'm one of those completely hopeless people who simply cannot tell what something is like by reading a recipe. So is cucur udang anything like a cheesecake? ← errr laksa ...Do Malaysians deep fry cheesecake? The key word in kew's recipe was "deep fry" But then, maybe you'd put cheesecake inside the batter in place of the shrimp on top. I am on the Canadian prairies . . .so I may be wrong at teasing you, laksa!

So looking forward to this West Coast blog, even tho' those %*&^$ photos of blooms are driving me crazy! We had a blizzard this morning... Hope you will hit at least one "great Chinese food place" on your food ventures, Daddy-A. Of course I want to see your kitchen more than anything!

Yes, you're on topic. First you cut off the head. Make your salty fish and pork with a piece of the body. Then, take the head and make soup with dofu!

Tepee, there's no reason why you can't go back for more! You can use me as an excuse to indulge again. From your pronunciation " yau char kwai", you must be Cantonese?

Poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was is cilantro found in cusines around the world more than any other? I can't think of one that is more common. ← That's Pan's borsht Mine has cilantro.

My neice was visiting and she was reminiscing about street vendor treats in HK when she was there about 10 years ago. She asked if I knew how to make yao t'ieu ( Chinese long donuts, yao ja quay, the ones you dunk in your congee) stuffed with "pork silk" then wrapped with sticky rice. The pork silk is the cooked dry shredded stuff sold in plastic containers. Often, I sprinkle this on top of my congee. In one of the threads, there was talk of yao t'ieu wrapped with rice noodle. Does anyone know of the ones with sticky rice? She said these were warm and wrapped in saran wrap. She couldn't remember if the sticky rice was savory or flavoured with anything.

Sue-On, that might well be tasty, but I think you get my point about the expectations of Northern Europeans. ← [/quote I understand what you're saying, Pan. I love dill almost as much as cilantro, but I wouldn't want it in my congee. Piers, Do you call fresh cilantro "coriander"? I thought coriander was actually the seeds from which cilantro grows.

The sesame paste you mentioned, is that the same as tahini? I bought a jar for something and it's still sitting in my fridge.

Ben is right about "everyone to his own" in terms of authenticity. There are lots of great recipe books out there, but I too just look for inspiration and a list of ingredients. I cook according to what I remember as authentic. Whether it was or not, I don't know! For example, with mapo dofu, I remember a fellow member( probably that hzrt whom you forgot to thank for your Oyster . . . errr... Oscar. ) saying that addition of Sezchuan peppercorns was essential for mapo dofu to be authentic. I have tasted these peppercorns by themselves and in the dish, and I don't care for them. So I leave them out. (Maybe there is enough in the toban paste for the flavour. I am not sure.) So, does that mean it's not authentic? To me, it is. BTW, I make mine with diced med. firm dofu, ground pork, chopped onions, and Lee Kum Kee Toban sauce. I brown the dofu first, then the ground pork with the onions and chili paste. Then I mix the dofu back in, add a bit of stock abd thicken slightly with a cornstarch slurry. Because I love cilantro, I top this with a handful! Others will say that green onions are more authentic

Who are you calling weird? Actually I want both dill and cilantro in my borsht.

Huh?... Egg disks? ← I had a hard time trying to describe this treat. It's a very thin, disk-like cookie? Imagine one of those egg roll cookies you buy in tins, rolled out and flattened some more. Hzrt: You'll probably have a name for them!

As previous posts indicated, cilantro is used mainly for garnish. But, it does have a distinctive flavour to complement whatever dish it decorates. I love lots of it in soups such as tong yuen, congee, wontons. I love it so much that I often use it in place of lettuce in sandwiches! The best part, however is the root. When I can get it, I will use the whole plant to make soup. This is supposed to be a remedy for high blood pressure. I remember a treat from my youth in HK. These were 8-10" paper thin egg disks with pieces of cilantro baked into them. I think it's more for garnish than flavour. These disks were so delicate that once I was caught by a gust of wind and my disk fell apart and flew away!

Ben, This is one of the best soups for colds, congestion and fever! ( o foi-lowering/decreasing fire) It's salty, flavourful and ....stinky! but so good for you.

Spaghetti: Yetti!!! I'm surprised at you . . . stealing candy from a child! My kids loved those when they were small. Now, my grandson and great neices and nephews search for them in my treats drawer when they come over.

Mussels steamed in a broth of sauteed Spanish onion, garlic, ginger, lime and orange zest, fresh chili pepper, orange and lime juice, coconut milk and lite cream. Just before serving, I added freshly cracked black pepper and chopped cilantro. The broth was incredible! Along with this, we had summer rolls, tandoori chicken, jasmine rice. We just drank ice water with the meal.

When I make dim sum beef meatballs, I use my mixer to mix it after all the ingredients are added. The traditional method is to beat it in a bowl with chopsticks until it is "thready". The KitchenAid works well and saves my hands. I have never found the meatballs to be tough, but they do develop that spongy texture that is required.

Jeeze, origamicrane, you look awfully young to have a restaurant. I am thinking you are a teenager! Does your restaurant have a website? Do you serve regional Chinese? BTW, where are you located in England?

Good show! origamicrane. The chili crab looks great. It's too bad the "judges" didn't appreciate good food nd something different. I hate it when people "play it safe" all the time. It would have made for a more interesting show for the audience if they had used their hands!

Thanks for this thread! I had a couple of Vietnamese sisters who cooked for me but they never cooked Vietnamese food. My knowledge and experience in this cuisine is nil, so I am really enjoying your pictures and posts. Keep going! I want to try my hand at this cuisine. The noodle sheets used in Bahn Cuon, would they be like the Chinese Hofun, except they are sold as a rolled up sheet ?

What's happened to char xiu bao and the recipe for gai jie bang? Do you also have one for ham sui gok? PLEASE???

I love the aroma of 5 spice. One of my friends like to sprinkle it on her ham yui and cook this on top of her rice.

You are correct, Toisanese here. I am in a quandry sometimes as I also speak Cantonese. We've flushed out quite a few from our region of Toisan. Are you also "one"? I think Seitch's link may be the explanation for the brown savory joongzi.

I wonder if it is "lye water", gan sui, that gives the joongzi the amber colour. We use this when we make sweet joongzi with the red bean paste. Perhaps it is use in the Taiwanese savory version.

Wonderful pictures, laksa. What a grand entrance after a period of silence from you! I was oogling the native free-range chicken. The colour of the skin is so appetizing...looks almost like "yeum sui gai" salty chicken even tho' it is raw. Can't really say the same for the grubs...

I've never heard of the soup as being beneficial to lactating mothers. I was taught that papaya soup was "gnoon fai", good for the lungs. My 95 year old mother insists on this soup especially in the winter. . . and she ain't lactating!