Dejah

If it's fresh I love lad nha, using large rice noodles. Usually they are sold here in the State refrigerated so they are hard. Then I will make sure to have HIGH heat and seperate them a little in some lukewarm water before stir frying. The only problem then is that they are TOO wet. You have to be careful of that too. But only if using fresh IMHO. ← ETA my response! Whether using fresh/refridgerated rice noodles - hor fun - I presume, bring the package out of the fridge a couple of hours before you cook them. Unwrap the package then cover the noodles loosely. Letting the noodles come to room temp will separate and soften them - making stir-frying easier. If you forget to take them out early, open the package, warm them for a short period of time ( 1 minute?) in the microwave. I like to separate the noodles before toss them into the wok. If you rinse them with water, you will rinse off the oil that already coats the noodles. Then you must drain them really well so they would cook up "dry" and not gloopy. With egg noodles, I really watch to avoid over-cooking. Then, I rinse them quickly under cold running water, drain and chill before frying. This cooling firms them up and keeps them separate rather than goopy, even when I add sauce to them

Been to the Clay Oven on Inkster. I thought their meat entrees were REALLY skimpy on the meat. Did it used to be a donut shop or some other fast-food chain? What's your recommends for Indian? Only other place I've been to was IVORY - for the buffet. Quite a large selection, but I'm not experienced enough to know if it's good - poor quality. Good way to try different items.

My daughter recently took me to Asahi Sushi on Broadway. The owner said they were moving this month - June - to where...I can't remember close to Assiniboine Park area? My kids seemd to enjoy the food there and had become regulars. Daughter's BF works close-by so he will miss his frequent sushi lunches. I don't know much about sushi, but what I had what really fresh and yummy. THE BOY ordered deep-fried salmon head - to test my bravery: "Will she eat the eyeballs?" I did.

Spent the weekend in Winnipeg with the kids after I dropped hubby off for his flight to LA. Daughter and bf took me to Victoria Seafood for dim sum. We had 13 items: shark fin dumplings, seafood special siu mai, har gow, sticky rice, VS special pork siu mai, bean curd wrapped veg, shrimp and scallop dumplings, curried baby octopus (we argued squid or octopus), tripe (just for me), BBQ pork buns, HK rice rolls? (crueller wrapped with rice noodle), one other dish I can't remember, and their new item: xiaolongbaos! I'm not sure what the xiaolongbaos are supposed to be like, but I think they should have had more soup inside. The dough was very soft and the meat was substantial and tasty. Everything was well done and hot. I think we all had burnt tongues as we were hungry and had a hard time holding ourselves back. The only disappointment was the HK rolls. They obviously had no idea how to do these. The crueller must have been wrapped with the rice noodle then the whole thing steamed! It was a crueller that didn't puff up. It was flat, hard, and chewy. The kids said Kam Ho topped VS in this item. Three-people was the perfect combination for one dish of everything. I really liked the texture of the shrimp in all the dumplings containing shrimp. It had that "crunch".

Fu yu is cubes of tofu aged in rice, wine, salt brine and spiced with chilis. It's also called "Chinese cheese". They are sold in jars in Asian stores.

The Chinese red melon seeds must be hulled like sunflower seeds before eating. The hulls are harder than sunflower seeds. They are a pain to eat, but they are a traditional snack during lunar new year, weddings, etc . The red symbolizes good luck, joy, happiness, and the seed themselves symbolizes fertility. The meat is often used as part of the filling in moon cakes. Other than that... I would be interested to see other suggestions. Don't think I've ever seen them hulled as with bags of sunflower seeds. Can't imagine trying to collect enough to add to a dish. In the recesses of my mind, I seem to remember seeing young children and women using little hammers, cracking the seeds, collecting the meat. Not sure if it was one of the many "cottage industires' or for personal consumption.

I prefer to add just fu yu with regular green beans or long beans. It is kinda saucy with the smashed fu yu sticking to each bean, but not wet. The chili in the fuyu adds a bite as well.

THAT is my favourite breakfast - with President's Choice mango dressing. No bread or lardons. Good for weight watchers diet.

← Dinner was my version of Dejah’s Tangerine Beef All crunchy and good: I didn’t bother posting any pictures of the orange sauce because they all just looked like an empty pan, but here is the finished dish: This was fantastic. Plated Meal: Yes, I do have pink chopsticks. ← Absolutely PERFECT! Hun How! I'm glad to see you didn't drown the crispy beef in sauce. The deep fried scallions look great! Looks like I'll add that to my version. I was going to comment on your purchase of tangerine peel from the Asian supermarket. That packet is exactly the kind that we buy for a salty, sweet, and sour snack.

The daughter and "The Boy" went for sushi last week. A new item for them was deep fried salmon head. They were amazed at how big the eyes were! Daughter managed acouple of bites as she was full, but "The Boy" ate up every little bit of the head. My Mom's favourite way of cooking salmon head is to split it down the middle, season it well with cooking wine, salt, pepper, a sprinkle of light soya, a bit of cornstarch, and lots of fresh ginger and scallions. She'd steam it, then pour some hot oil over the whole thing before topping it with fresh scallions. She slurps!

Enjoying every bite virtually! Those onion rings look fab. I just replenished my panko supply. Must make - for the grandson, of course.

Poor me...I have only the Jenn-air electric countertop burners. I DO miss my restaurant wok burners. No flames in my house. I'd been a "must get that order out quickly" kinda person, and it's taken me 5 years to slow down to "it's ok. I'm no longer a restauranteur" person. I do cook in smaller portions now and turn out decent food on my electric stove with 14" carbon-steel woks. I let my flat-bottom wok sit right on the element. I can put it on to heat up while I finish prepping (prep. area right behind me). By the time I finish, the wok is hot, ready for the oil. It only takes seconds then for the oil to come to a "haze", ready for the salt and garlic before the main ingredients. I think someone stressed before, that your vegetables must be dry before adding to the wok. And, I certainly agree with Jo-mel on the meat issue. I'd love to have a gas range, but compared to my s-i-l's, I'd much rather my Jenn-air. It takes longer to heat up (1982 - came with the house), but it gives me good heat if I'm patient. The only complaint I have is the embedded elements modual. It takes longer (not like the newer models) and never gets as hot. I'd love to change the modual, but it's very expensive. So, I will contend with what I have as long as I don't get any complaints.

THAT was an amazing "first blog dinner" post, Kim - right from your collection of cooking tools, to the finished dishes that Mr. Kim will be eating for several lunches if "your portion" is an indication, to the final shot of your microwave. Seems Mr. Kim has a sense of humour I've always been interested in the ceramic knives, but have never used one. Do they ever need to be sharpened? I am amazed at your apple slices!

Good on you, Kim, for doing what you thought was best for your health! Having corresponded with you acouple of times, I'm really looking forward to your blog - especially if you're going to be trying out new recipes!

That cross section of the finished PB&J is absolutely amazing! Now I'm craving chocolate, peanut butter AND jelly!

Hey Chris! I'm glad you had the adventure! I now know to put parchment paper under my pizza so that it can be easily moved to the stone. Thanks! great looking pizza.

Mulligatawny soup - a favourite in our house! Did you make it from a recipe or just used whatever in-season vegetables? I love lots of cilantro and slices of lemon in mine. What cut of pork did you use in the vindaloo? I have the same problem with the meat being on the dry side. Might have to use a cut with more fat for that melt in your mouth texture. Did you mix up your own vindaloo paste?

Oh boy! Should have paid more attention to the little details in avatars As to the other half of the pork belly - at least three of us thought it was to end up as siu yook, so perhaps you can do something Asian with it? Being an engineer, you'd be right up there with Prawcracker and Origamicrane in figuring out the most complicated method of getting that specific crispiness to the skin. Looking forward to your blog.

I'm with prasantrin. I think it's one of the experimenting young'uns in Chinese forum: Prawncracker or Origamicrane doing siu yook.

Mmmm that looks perfect, bravo! How many ears can you fit in your terrine, how big was the mould and how many portions did you get out of it? Probably depends on the size of the ears of course but a benchmark would be handy. Looks so good might have to try one this meself. What was that you were saying in the salty egg thread about them young 'uns Dejah? ← I expect you will wade in to experiment?

You young'uns are great! Ask a question and you answer with an experiment: salty eggs, char siu, siu gnap...

Rona, I'm so proud of you...soldiering on bravely...eating and photographing for "our sake"... Thanks so much for all your effort!

I think duck eggs are the kind with "oily yolks". For supper last night, I whipped some lean ground pork with seasoning, a little oil, cornstarch and water until it is a little soupy. Then I whipped in 4 fresh eggs followed by 2 salted eggs. I cut the salty yolk into 4 pieces so they were distributed throughout the mixture. This was poured into a shallow dish and steamed for 30 minutes. It was light and fluffy, the best I've ever made. Often, I will cook the eggs in the shell on top of the rice as it cooks. Throw in a couple of lapcheung, stir fry some choi, and supper is ready. Of course, there's always the gow gai tang (wolfberry leaves soup) with the addition of a salted egg at the end for gow gai dan fa tong.

Dare I ask how the HK Victoria Seafood restaurant compared to the Winnipeg Victoria Seafood?

They are entirely worth it Fengyi! It's the absolute highlight. I am not exactly sure I'll ever visit Beijing so this week's foodblog is a mighty big treat for me, and others too I'll wager. Thank you so much for your efforts. ← I'm of the same mind as johnnyd! The lamb feast wouldn't be quite as delicious without the photos. Everything looks so incredible. Thanks, Fengyi.