Dejah
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Posts posted by Dejah
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Heh, the luncheon meat made in China is much better than Spam.
So, what's in Chinese luncheon meat?
I've never had the experience.
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Disadvantaged prairie woman must pay $5.98 per lb. of crab.
And that was on sale! Usually it's $6.98.
The fish tank at our local Superstore, is usually filled with lobsters, at $12.98/ lb.
I'm glad I prefer crab!
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Bought 3 dungeness crabs today. Usually I have lulled them to sleep in the freezer before I cut them up. However, I met up with "auntie" at the store and she said I should cut them up live just before I cook them for the freshest flavour.
I tried. . . but they were pleading with me for 2 hours! Finally, when my mom arrived for supper, she told me to stick a chopstick into the mouth cavity, jab and pry to separate the shell from the body. I felt so bad, but once I got the hang of it, the remaining 2 were a "snap"
How do you approach your lively snappers?
What's your favourite recipe? Black bean garlic sauce stir-fry? Ginger/green onion steaming?
Do you eat that goo inside (can't think of the term for it at the moment...been traumatized! )
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SPAM fried rice
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Jiaozi. . . deep fried? What is the dough like after deep frying?
I have only had them boiled.
Won ton wrappers would end up bubbly and crispy. But with this dough?
The filling sounds great. I'll have to try that sometime.
Thanks Jason!
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trillium,
Sounds like you have great friends.
When Bill and I got married, 1966, there were very few bi-racial marriages, except perhaps in Vancouver or Toronto. I didn't get nasty remarks, but lots of rude stares. I was in university at that time, and the Chinese students from abroad would ignore me...until they found out I could cook "real Chinese food".
If you have children, which parent do they resemble? To me, it seems that if the father is mongoloid (is this better?
) the kids seem to resemble the father more than the mother. My sons are more like their dad, "go bay", whereas my daughter has a "bean bay". They all have round eyes.They are all very good at eating everything when Po-Po is here. Other times, they will turn their noses up at herbal soups. They do like bitter melon soup with oysters and ginger. Go figure!
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Laksa said:
"In Australia, "chow mein" means fine wheat noodles deep fried to a stiff and crunchy bundle, kind like instant ramen but not as tightly packed, over which you pour a melange of seafood, chicken or pork and vegetables cooked in a thick soupy gravy. I've always thought of this as Cantonese chow mein. Do they serve this dish in Hong Kong?"
This was what we served in my restaurant as "Cantonese Chow Mein". My version did not have a "thick soupy gravy". I did add a little stock to the meat/seafood/veg. mixture and thicken with slurry just before scooping onto the crispy noodles. The sauce stayed on this mixture, not soaked onto the noodles. I used thin dry egg noodles that we put into boiling water to soften, drain and kept cool until needed.
"And what is American chow mein?"
Not sure if prairie chow mein is the same as American, but our version is coasely shredded green cabbage, Spanish onion, celery, mushrooms and bean sprouts. This was stir-fried, thickend with cornstarch slurry, then topped with deep fried egg noodles.
We used to make the noodles in house, just eggs and flour. The dough is rolled out to about .5 cm thick, then into strips about 8 cm wide. Several strips were stacked together, then cut into .5 cm strands, dusted lightly with flour and deep fried. They were so good that we had a hard time keeping the staff from grabbing handfuls whenever they are close to the noodle bin.
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Thanks, Jack for a great week!
That saddle of venison looks wonderful. Local? What seasonings?
Haven't been to Cambridge since 1979...Seeing the great pictures may just put the firs under me.
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They, as well as my wife, suffered since childhood from bland homemade CANTONESE cooking.
I think this should have been edited to "bland home cooking"
What is it about water crackers?! Is it because they are bigger?
crisper? holds a big hunk of cheese and not break apart like a soda cracker? I love these for snacks.
In our house, we eat about 75% Chinese and 25% other. If I give the choice of prime rib or Chinese.... it would be prime rib with rice au jus.
How about your children and non- Asian in-laws? Do they enjoy traditional fare such as herbal soups, shark fin soup? fish maw? bull frog sechuan?
My mom loves Bill because he will eat and appreciate everything., except fish eyeballs.
I appreciate all your posts to my question. What prompt me to start this was an e-mail from a young Eurasian lady, from Brooklyn, who is presently teaching ESL in China. This is what she wrote:
"grew up savoring trips to visit my grandparents and eat Chinese food. But though I love the food, I find myself at age 25 without the language skills, vocabulary, and context to fully appreciate the food that I love. As such, I have decided to learn about more about China. One month ago, I moved to Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province to teach English. I have been here one month, and am just now beginning to expand my food vocabulary (albeit in Mandarin). My food adventures are chronicled on my own blog: http://www.wrappedindough.com "
I think it's great that our children have these opportunities and take the initiative to explore their roots, especially through food!
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For those of you who can't read Chinese, laoshu bing means "rat cookies". I kid you not. Doesn't sound appetizing to me, but that doesn't mean Laksa got the name wrong.
Did any of you eat "pig in a poke" jui jie bang cakes as a kid? My Po-Po always made sure I received one. Usually it just hangs in my room. I don't think they had any kind of filling in them, just sweet pastry?
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aren't there also people from one part of asia with partners from other parts?
Good point, mongo_jones
Pick this up and run with it. I was having a h#&* of a time phrasing this question, but I am really inquisitive about bi-racial partnerships and food!
Gary, my m-i-l is of Scottish descent, married to Anglo-Saxon, living and farming on the Canadian prairies. Everything was well done meat and potatoes. But Man! Nana used to make the greatest shortbread and custard pies.
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Just curious, as I seem to think there are several Asian posters in this forum who have a non-Asianpartner, and Caucasian posters with Asian partners.
If you are Chinese, with a caucasian partner, did he or she know about and enjoy Chinese food before they met you? Was Americanized Chinese food their main experience? Did it take time before they tried traditional foods? Do they help in the cooking of same?
Gary, were you "experienced" in Chinese cuisine before you met your wife from Shanghai? You've been singled out due to your expertise.
Those of you who are Caucasian with Asian spouses/s.o., what are your experiences with traditional Chinese food?
My husband is caucasian. He had this first taste of Chinese food when he left home for college. Every prairie town had its Chinese restaurant, all serving the same chop suey of that time. He thought it was great. Then along came me;-). Peasant fare was a totally new experience for him but he loved everything. He does not cook!
His parents, a different story. Gramma and Mom only liked rice in rice pudding. Chop suey and sweet 'n' sour was ok...with potatoes , but authentic Chinese...peking duck...steamed chicken... steamed whole fish,... My father-in-law was more adventurous. -
I should have posted this earlier... oh well.
Any ideas on something I can make at home? Have access to most, but not all Asian ingredients. Any and all suggestions welcome... recipes and links to sites with recipes especially appreciated.
TIA
So, mudbug, tell us how your bday party turned out.
What did you make for dessert?
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Incredible blog!
I have seen outdoor ovens at living history sites, old forts, etc. But to have one in your backyard!
Looking forward to pics of your apple press gathering.
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Dejah, looking for something to make by hand instead of fruit, which is a given. Tiny glutinous rice flour dumplings.... please point me to a recipe.
Mudbug,
For the tang yuen (glutinous rice dumplings): The basic recipe is one lb. of glutinous rice flour to 2 cups of cold water. OF COURSE you won't need that much, so use maybe 1 cup of the rice flour to 1/2 cup or less of cold water. You should be able to roll small pieces of dough between your palms into balls that will hold their shape.
When I make the red bean (aduki beans), lotus nut, peanut soup, I just throw in a handful of this, and that. Tonight, I thought I'd try and do some measuring. I have 3/4 cup red beans, 1/2 cup lotus nuts , 1/2 cup blanched peanuts rinsed and soaking in about 8 cups of water overnight. I also have a piece of tangerine peel soaking with the ingredients. This may well make a huge potful!
You can do this on Friday night. Saturday morning, bring all of the above to a boil. Add 1 1/2 bars of Chinese brown sugar. Lower the heat to a simmer until all the nuts are soft. The red beans may break up but that's ok. You can add more water if it seems too thick. Just adjust the sweetness accordingly.
Make up the rice flour dumplings and add them to the soup when it is ready. Bring to a gentle boil until the dumplings rise to the surface. It is ready to be served.
You can buy bags of these dumplings pre-made and dried in some Chinese stores.
Instead of dumplings, you can also add "long life noodles"
I apologize that I don't have a real recipe for you. I cook like my mom...a handful of this, a bit of that. . .
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I should have posted this earlier... oh well.
Any ideas on something I can make at home? Have access to most, but not all Asian ingredients. Any and all suggestions welcome... recipes and links to sites with recipes especially appreciated.
How many people are expected at this party? If you are pressed for time, you can make a dessert soup with red beans, lotus nuts, Chinese almonds or peanuts, and long noodles or tiny glutinous rice flour dumplings.
AND
plates of fruit wedges.
OR fortune cookies...
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Yuri, thanks for listing the ingredients.
Anyone have a recipe for this (sauce and dumplings)?
Thanks
Percy
Check out my recipe for wontons in the "Dejah's foodblogging this week" thread in this forum.
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Snowangel: "I love this waffle maker. Recovery time is great, there is no power cord to misplace, doesn't take up a lot of space, and it's really reliable. I don't think it would work very well on an electric stove."
Snowangel, Thanks for a great blog! Will be interesting top see how you'll divy up your next load of venison.
I have a waffle iron exactly like yours. During my blog, I used mine at my s-i-l's on her gas stove. I found it was easier to control on my electric range. Imagine it is whatever we are used to. We dueled with her electric iron, and my waffles won hands down. The electric one made thin crispy waffles, but mine had deep indentations (all the better to hold that syrup), crispy on the outside, but pillow soft on the insides. Great with bacon and fresh peaches!
We get our peaches from British Columbia. The freestones have been wonderful. As you said: Juice running down your arm"!
Your marble counter top. . .
It must be great for making pastry. -
Sue-On, please come back and tell us what you got, ok?
From my trip to Winnipeg, I picked up dragon fruit, rambutan, dragon eyes, star fruit, and a can of tamarind drink.
The colour of the dragon fruit was so gorgeous! I hated to cut into it. It was amazing how the skin peeled back on each slice. The texture was a real surprise. I thought it would be soft like a kiwi as it looked like a "white kiwi" with all the little black specks. But it was firmer. It was sweet and yet not sweet. Perhaps it wasn't ripe enough? How do you tell? It was pretty expensive . . . $2.99 per lb Canadian. But my mom loved it so it was worth the price.
The rambutans were fun to have. My grandson thought they were aliens. My son cut one in half, ate the insides, then used the "shells" to cover his eyes. That grossed the grandson out!
They were sweet, but I found them too much work to eat.The star fruit, according to my mom, was of the "sour tree". It was about 6" in length and the segments were large. This was an indicator of the kind of trees they came from. Didn't have much taste, but the texture was nice. My mom used to have a sweet how gaw and a sour how gaw tree in her garden in China. She used the sour tree ones as a pickled fruit. Again, she enjoyed it more than we did.
The dragon eyes were the favorite, sweet, juicy and easy to get into. They are available locally.
Haven't opened the tamarind drink yet.
Thanks Yetti for introducing this thread. With information in hand, I finally got to taste these beautiful and unusual fruits!
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Will have to take a look at the Grace Young book. I'm putting Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen on my Christmas wish list. May have to add this new one. lkm
eBay has 5 copies of Wisdon listed at the moment...ranging from $10.00 to $21.00.
There are 2 new copies listed for $19.00 and $21.00 US.
I just purchased a nearly new copy for $7.70 from eBay.
Breath of a Wok will be on my Xmas list.
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It's "hong you chaoshuo" in PinYin, but you aren't likely to encounter that name in the US. As other posters have mentioned, it's usually called "dumplings in chili oil", "wontons in chili oil." or something like that on menus.
So the dumpling is a wonton? with pork filling? Instead of submersed in broth, it is in chili oil? It must pack quite a wallop!
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That's a lovely dining table. Could the wood be camphor and teak? I have one quite similar, except mine has a centre pedestal leg, with 4 dragon heads at the bottom. You have a nicer lazy Susan than I do. The table scratches easily, so we had a glass top specially cut for it. A bottle of H&P fell over and it cracked!
The table didn't suite our present dining area, so it is still in our house in the country.I just had snake beans stir-fried with fermented tofu for supper. Love that stuff. What will you do with your bean bounty?
Everyone here is having bad luck with tomatoes this summer.
Excess deer meat? How about venison jerky?
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Had a nice browse through Chapters on the weekend. I took a rest in one of their chairs with Grace Youngs's Breath of the Wok. I checked out the section on seasoning a new wok. I may have to stop using my wok for steaming, just so I can achieve that beautiful patina in one of the pictures!
I tried to find B. Tropp's Modern Art on Ebay, nothing . . . But I did win the bid for Grace Young's Wisdom for $7.70 US. Looked in good shape "like new". Just what I needed; another Chinese cookbook!
Went to a friend's daughter's wedding last night. We gave them a carbon steel wok, a rice cooker and a coiled binder book " 365 Ways to Wok". It had more than just Chinese recipes. It had been sitting on my shelf, never used, and I thought it would show them that there's more than one use for a wok.
The bride's father was our karate sensei. She is now a second degree black belt. I hope her husband never complains about her cooking!
Bi-racial partnerships
in China: Cooking & Baking
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