Dejah

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!

Since we're talking about fish, has anyone used BASA? We've been steaming fillets with whole dried black beans, slivered ginger and salted turnip, scallions, salt and fresh ground pepper. The flesh is firm for picking up with chopsticks, but has a nice velvety texture in the mouth. The flavour is very "fresh".

origamicrane, My recipe for bao is post #20 (page 2) of the thread titled Dejah's foodblogging this week in the Chinese Forum (page 7) Make sure when you add the baking powder, you mix it in well. I usually stir well with a spoon, then shift into a bowl before I add the rest of the ingredients. Make sure you add the 1/2 tsp salt as that seems to counteract the chemical taste somewhat. on't know if I mentioned it in the recipe, but adding a couple tbsp vinegar to the steaming water helps to keep the dumplings white. Don't ask why . . . just do it! There are also acouple other recipes in that thread: meat fillings for sui mai and wontons

That chili crab looks delicious! What recipe did you use? Or was it a "throw together'? Your dough for mantou and baos look very good. I haven't used yeast in my dough, just baking powder. Try using fewer "rolls" in your lapcheung bao. I roll the dough out in an oblong with the ends thinner than the middle. The length is just long enough to wrap around the meat and overlap the other end.I usually use lapcheung cut in half crosswise as my family like to "taste the meat" Try a filling of diced chicken thighs, onions, Chinese mushrooms and lapcheung. This is all stir-fried with oyster sauce. I usually make it fairly saucy so the baos will be juicy when you bite into them.

Aiyeeeeeah! Da say nay la! Where's the " gai mo sew"? And here my mouth was waiting for virtual food! What will this type of behaviour do to the bride price, Ben Sook?

Very much looking forward to this blog. Sorority life will be a whole new window into a different world for this prairie woman!

Ahhhhh....Ben, the hong yuen was VERY GOOD! I like the scallops much better than the dried shrimp. As for the wind dried duck: You don't need to keep it in the freezer. I usually put it in a Ziplock freezer type bag, then in the small meat and cheese drawer of the fridge with the lapcheung, lap yuk, dried shrimp, mui choy, etc. If you first wrap the wind dried meats tightly with plastic wrap, then in a baggie, it seems to keep the duck pliable. I also do this with cheese to keep out mold. OR, you can cut the duck up into pieces, put into a jar, then cover the duck with oil and keep in the fridge. I suppose this would be Chinese duck confitt?

Ripe papaya is very soft. I don't think it's good for making soup. The Pork Papaya soups I had used papayas that were pretty green. ← I always find the top half of a papaya to be green and firm while the bottom is soft and ripe, so I use the top for soup. It is sweet enough for soup and will hold it's shape after boiling. Make your pork stock, then add the chunks of green papaya. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. It's very good for you!