Dejah

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!

Seeing some unfamiliar combinations in the Chinese soups posted by huiray and liuzhou. Learning something new everyday on egullet. One of my favourites is butter melon soup. I've never had it with mushrooms of any kind, but I love adding rehydrated oysters - seared in a hot pan with a shake of pepper and a big chunk of ginger before adding to the pot of pork ribs and stock. This is simmered for an hour of so before adding the bitter melon to simmer for another hour or so.

Needing salt...so...pork ribs steamed with brown soy bean paste and brined plums. Satisfied the need!

A friend pruned his kaffir lime tree today and gave me ALL the branches he cut. I've got 5 large Ziplock bags of leaves plus a couple dozen of the limes. Besides Thai cuisine and a Kaffir lime syrup cake : (based on a recipe from Mix & Bake by Belinda Jeffery), how else can I use these leaves?!

longroper is correct in his description of the Cornish / Rock hybrid. When I had my restaurant, we did not buy frozen chicken parts, battered chicken parts or breaded parts from a supplier. We bought our quick frozen whole chickens from a local Hutterite colony, who raised these chickens especially for our use. These chickens were kept around 10 lbs each, and we'd buy 1000 lbs every 2 weeks. These chickens were cut up by my kitchen staff, 20 each week day and more on the weekends. The breasts were huge but still tender. The legs were pretty meaty too. We cut the meat up according to our dishes. Our customers were happy because they always got good sized pieces of meat in their chicken balls, which were breaded and never battered.

Robirdstix: Happy to see the chicken marsala. It's been quite a while since I made it! Scubadoo97! Want to lick the screen...that sauce! Homemade BBQ sauce? Care to share the recipe? I made Brazilian Chicken in Cococnut Milk last week, but gave most of it away to my Brazilian students. So tonight, I made a double batch, and we really enjoyed it. Hubby prefers breasts but he got a leg as well: his plate I prefer legs and wings: my plate

Liuzhou: Did you use fresh duck or Chinese BBQ duck? I have seen a couple of recipes using the BBQ duck and wondered how that would taste.

Toliver: Yes. I used my Cuisinart food processor, with the grater blade. Cut the cauliflower into chunks. Feed into the shoot and grate. One head fills up the bowl pretty good. The cauliflower is microwaved for 4 minutes in my corningware dish with a lid on. Do NOT add any liquid. Beat eggs with salt and fry up into a pancake. Chop and set aside. Meanwhile, dice sweet bell peppers, Spanish or green onions, really, any veg that you'd have on hand or want, along with a bit of garlic and fresh ginger. Stir-fry the vegetables with a bit of oil and seasonings. Take the vegetables out; rinse out the wok. Heat up the wok and add just enough oil to give the wok a light coating. Add the "rice". Stir and toss which air dries the cauliflower a little bit more, but leave it in contact with the HOT wok just enough to allow a bit of scorching.. This gives it a bit of "wok hei". Season with a sprinkle of salt. Add the vegetables and egg back in. Mix well and eat. The yellow colour may have been from the vegetables, egg as well as the frying in the wok. NO soy sauce or curry was added to this batch. You can add diced cooked meat to this as well as curry powder for a change. I sometimes add Chinese chili oil. This really is a good substitute for rice if you are on a no carbs diet. This keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days. I have tried cauliflower "mashed potatoes" and cauliflower rice. This adaptation is much more appetizing. Here's another one that I made earlier in the month.

[Host's note: This topic forms part of an extended discussion which grew too large for our servers to handle efficiently. The conversation continues from here.] Supper: Yeem Gok Gai: Mock Fried Rice - grated cauliflower Baby Shanghai Bok Choy and ginger

I have both bamboo steamers and steel pot steamers. My Causasian s-i-l uses the bamboo ones. I think may be he thinks it's the thing to do...Bamboo = Chinese . I use them for decor. I've always used my steel steamer because of the sheer volume whenever I cook. Inspite of having retired from being a restauranteur, I can't get away from cooking for 2. I DO have students who appreciate the extras. I steam a dozen baos at a time, and these are not small ones. I am careful to take the lid off and wipe away the condensation at the half way point, so the baos are never soggy. But, I DO agree that there is more moisture delivered onto the food being steamed in a metal pot. That has happened a couple of times when I've forgotten to reduce the liquid in the dish before steaming, as with black bean garlic ribs, fish, etc. If there is lots of rice, no one complains.

The feijoada I posted up above is for tomorrow. Tonight, we had Brazilian Chicken in Coconut Milk. The chicken was rubbed with spices: cumin, tumeric, coriander, cayenne pepper. These were browned and cooked through, then set aside and kept warm. Made the coconut milk sauce: browned chopped onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers, ginger, chopped tomatoes, in the same pan with the chicken drippings and brown bits. Added the coconut milk, simmered, then poured over the chicken. Eaten with black beans and rice

It's been an all day Brazilian adventure in my kitchen today! My first attempt at Brazilian feijoada. The students will have this either for lunch or supper tomorrow. May be for supper as I don't want them falling asleep during my writing class in the afternoon! I am pleased with the results, authenic or not. Made a black bean and rice dish as well. All simmering happily in the pot.

I like Romaine, especially the heart, which I split length-wise. No pre-blanching is needed really, expecially with iceberg, which I also chunk. After sauteeing a couple minutes, I spash in a bit of stock (or water, then add oyster sauce. I could make a meal with just that! There ARE rows of black bean sauce at the larger Chinese supermarkets, but usually, I just like the simple make-at-home stuff.