Dejah

Ann_T: Love those lamb shanks! Will need to dig some out of my freezer soon... Basquecook: Where in China? We just got back also, 14 days preceeded by a month in Malaysia. Wish our 14-days had more of a culinary focus, but that doesn't happen on these "shopping tours". Next time... Meanwhile, I am experimenting with some of the dishes that we did enjoy in Malaysia. Tonight, it was Nonya Fried Chicken...really good. The recipe included a dipping sauce, but we thought it overwhelmed the flavour already on the chicken. Corn on the cob and broccoslaw dressed with Mango Chipotle, dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, and coconut flakes were good sides. I was quite surprised at how often corn was served in China - mostly stir-fried kernels with some sweet pepper bits.

Inspiring meals, everyone! I need to try my hand on many of Soba's recipes... Keith: Would Cornish game hens be a good size or still too much for one person? Still feeling lazy, so I fried udon noodles topped with black bean garlic pork, sweet peppers and a couple of serrano peppers for a bit of heat. FInaly getting up enough energy to make Singapore Coffee Pork Ribs last night. Actually, I used boneless pork shoulder instead of the ribs that we enjoyed while in Singapore in April. They turned out quite well. Also cooked up some rice in coconut milk and soybean sprouts with a serrano pepper, scallions, and a few pieces of chicken. Apologies for the steamy camera lense!

After a month in Malaysia and 2 weeks in China, having just gotten back on Wed, and now under the weather with a lousy cold , I finally got around to cooking a meal at home. Maybe it's the cold, but the lamb didn't have much lamb flavour or the cumin I rubbed on it. But, it was still good, moist and tender, along with mint sauce, jeera and cardamon basmati rice, carrots and asparagus.

Couldn't believe it, but the first "meal" we had in Beijing upon arrival was McD's! THat's only because we were tired out with the flight from Penang, Malaysia; it was very late in the evening and no street food close to the hotel, but McD was across the street. We had the chicken burger, and it was surprisingly fresh and tasty. Was it because we were tired and hungry? Don't know, but the bun was a little sweet, and the coating on the chicken was still crispy, AND spicy. The patrons were a strange lot - including us! One group of college-age young folks were playing cards, one couple asleep sprawled across the table, and a few couples obviously just coming in from a dressy party. Ice cream cones were 4 yuen each but I can't remember how much for the burgers. I was glad they had a picture menu as I can't speak Mandarin! Can't believe that's ONE picture I didn't take!

Been holidaying with friends in Malaysia since April 4th - enjoying lots of Malaysian home cooking kampong style! Our friends are Muslim, and we've enjoyed lots of fresh fish, shrimp (their home is in northern Kadah state, close to fishing village), chicken, beef, veg, nasi lamak, roti jalal, etc. Great stuff! I'm missing my kitchen but had an opportunity to cook Chinese food for 27 family members just before we left! Kinda sorry I checked in on this thread as I now really want to get back to cooking. We are now on a 14-day tour in China until mid-May. Not much planned in terms of food-quests, but we hope the guide will suggest some good eating for us. We are in Beijing until next Wed. Then it's off to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Souzhou, Wuxi, and Xi'an before heading home to Canada. We did go to an interesting local restaurant in the hutong area yesterday. The atmosphere was colourful and loud, as a Chinese restaurant should be! Most of the patrons were eating noodles, but we had Spicy lamb chops (crispy, fatty, cumin-flavour dominant, and just enough heat), and bitter gourd stir-fried with lily bulb and garlic.

Thai Lemongrass Beef Shortribs: simmered in slow cooker for 4 hours with lemongrass, onion, garlic, cinnamon stick, cloves, Kaffir Lime leaves, Thai pepper, fresh green peppercorns, fish sauce. Broth reduced then added coconut cream. Accompanied by Jasmine rice sauteed in ghee then finished off with peas, carrot, more Kaffir lime leaves.

Pulled out a Cantonese roast duck from the depths of my freezer - purchased a couple of weeks ago on a trip to the city. Made up some Singapore rice noodles with sweet bell peppers, julieen carrots, green onions, and bean sprouts to go with a couple of pieces of the duck for supper last night. Took 3/4 of the duck and made up 2 big containers of the noodles for my international students' lunch at school today.

huiray: Those "baby green tips" - young gai lan. We have them in our supermarkets at the moment - so tender and sweet. A quick blanch, fresh ginger and garli slivers, drizzled with hot oil and a drizzle of sesame oil - the whole lunch by itself!

Cumin lamb and cauliflower steak along with gai lan:

Salmon fillet sandwiched between a bed of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, lime slices, cilantro, green onion, ginger, Thai chili, olive oil, salt, fresh ground black pepper. I didn't have any banana leaves, so this was wrapped in foil and baked in a 375F oven for 35 minutes. Sides were steamed carrot with green cardamon and green beans steamed with fresh ginger.

Tried these Thai salmon cakes by Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen. I've been "off" salmon for the last while because no matter what I did, salmon tasted fishy. These were great! Loved the Thai flavours that came thru', and being finished in the oven made getting sides together more timely. I ate mine with squeeze of lime juice and warpped the bite with Thai basil leaf. Hubby had Mango Chili sauce with his, along with squeeze of lime.

JTravel: I'd be interested in knowing why the chicken was not to your liking. We will be in Hangzhou in May, at a tea plantation, so maybe I should avoid the chicken...

Patrick and Bruce: I am amazed myself that we can get fresh green peppercorns here on the Canadian prairies. Not sure where they are from, but they are available at only one of the Asian supermarkets in Winnipeg. And the supermarkets are not on the same scale as T & T or other big supermarkets I've seen posted on egullet. When I first found them, they were at least 5 times the price they are now. They are so addictive. I eat them fresh with everything, and tonight, I threw in a couple of "branches" in a pot of beef and vegetable soup. Added a nice flavour and bit when eaten

Fried rice can be a featured dish on its own. Then I think there's more planning for the composition - the vegetables, the protein. I can't imagine using leafy vegetables in fried rice - texture is just not right. Each component needs to maintain its shape, texture, thus celery, bell peppers, onion, peas, beans, etc. Sometimes tho', fried rice is a side along with other entrees or as "I can't think of what to have for dinner". Then it's "throw together". In that, I don't mean leftover cooked vegetables (proteins ok), but leftover bits of fresh vegetables in the fridge. Nothing wrong with that at all. I think Jason established that well. There is only one rule for fried rice - NEED RICE (tho' I've broken that with cauliflower rice). The whole idea is to add wok hei to the rice, so you can have just plain fried rice - no veg, no protein - and it'd still taste good! It kills me when I see people ADDING soy sauce to fried rice AT THE TABLE! Yers, I'm sure there are lots of regional varieties, even with tumeric. But I don't think that's used for colouring, probably more for a "curry fried rice" style. But I believe this thread was about CHINESE fried rice? To my shame, we used to do "plain fried rice" WITH soy sauce - for people who didn't want white rice but too cheap to buy a side order of real fried rice. This was on the prairies. I think diners are a little better educated now.,

HA! The eternal cucumber is back, eh...C.sapidus! Everything looks SO good in these posts. sigh........... Had a small rack of lamb left over from a weekend meal, so I cut it up and marinated it in kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, and THai red curry paste (Mae Ploy). It was in the fridge for 2 days, then got cooked for supper tonight. The chops were browned in the coconut milk / fat, and the marinade made a nice crust on these. Eaten with green beans, cardamon carrots, Thai basil, and fresh green peppercorns!

Tumeric in fried rice?! Not in Chinese fried rice that I know of...

Interesting info' on the URL posted by hongda. I always thought northern CHinese preferred the sweet version, and the southern preferred the savoury! Well, I'm a savoury kind of person, so THERE!

huiray: I've had students from various places in China, and they've all had tong yuen, but not in a savoury combination. They have all had the sweet version, and some have had ones filled with sweet bean paste or black sesame seed paste. I see them sold pre-made, dried or frozen. Took a big container of my savoury tong yuen to school for my students from Lauyang and Beijing. All enjoyed it, but all mentioned the sweet version. I think it's maybe more common to have the meat filled jiaozi dumplings for CNY. In Guongdong province, specially Toisan county, the savoury version for NYD, the sweet version for NYE - so said my Mom. And I, being the obedient daughter, followed the tradition...

rotuts: yes. That glob is the glutinous rice flour dumpling. I make them - just glutinous rice flour, a bit of salt, and small amount of hot water to make a dough. The dumplings are dropped into boiling water (broth in my soup) and are cooked when they float to the surface. It's all the other ingredients that make it delicious.

New Year's Day lunch: Savoury Tong Yuen - traditional in the Choy household when my Mom was alive. She'd make the sweet version for late night New Year's Eve. I ate minimum requirement on the sweet version. This one...I love! My Mom would also make this whenever she has a hankering. Glutinous rice flour dumplings, julienne daikon, dried shrimp, fresh shrimp, sliced pork tenderloin, lap cheong, sesame oil, ground pepper, cilantro. I always have a small dish of soy sauce with white pepper and chili oil to dip my dumplings. Most people don't know how to tackle these sticky blobs. Just chew a couple of times then let it slip down the gullet !!!. They're guaranteed to stick to your ribs...

Love braised tendons!

Lamb chops - pan seared and finished in the oven. Served with cardamon / brown sugar carrots and turnip tossed with pan stuff from the chops. Fresh mint sauce was served on the side.;

Made a batch of the Carrot-Ginger Soup posted by Frogprincess up post. I thought it needed "something". Maybe it was the carrots I had. Made a second batch and added the "lots of something" that I had - KAFFIR lime leaves and lemongrass. Added a little more than a pinch of curry powder at the end. Very nice! Loved the fragrance of the lime leaves and lemongrass. It didn't detract from the taste of carrot and ginger. I think the aroma enhanced my enjoyment. Thanks for bringing that recipe to my attention, Frogprincess.

liuzhou: I cut the bitter melon into quarters - big chunks, not slices.

patrickamory: No, these were a commercial product. I just pull a few out of the jar, pop the pit and scatter the pulp over the ribs.But I throw the pits in too.. There is always some pulp left on the pit and, like the dry salted plums sold as snacks, these are tasty to suck on - just as long as I remember they are in there!