Dejah

Orangeblossom: What a lovely name! CFT is correct in suggesting bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). I would suggest soaking the stomach in a baking soda solution. If you purchase the stomach from a reputable source, they are usually pretty clean. The soaking will remove any odour that remains. I would also suggest a quick blanch after you rinse off the soda solution before actually making the soup. To be honest, I've never made just pig stomach with white pepper soup. I've always added slices to foo juk tong. Can you explain the white pepper soup more? Someone else mentioned it being their favourite. I just add a small piece of ham choi to the soup. I do it because my Mom does it. She says it adds flavour. The ham choi is rinsed before hand so it's not that salty. I also add ham choi to melon soups, but only in the last few minutes before the soup is cooked. Otherwise, it causes the soup to have a slight sour taste. I know what you mean about "a handful of soups". I remember my Mom making many different kinds, different ones for different seasons and needs. I only make a few favourites. I was hoping that more people would share here their recipes/methods here so I can be motivated to try more variety. With my schedule, I seldom make lo-for soups. My s-i-l does more of that, especially during hunting season when she has access to fresh venison, game birds with herbs. I need to go to a store and find out English names of some of these ingredients.

I used silkened chicken and Spanish onion in light oyster sauce for my potstickers. This offered a different meat and flavour from the other items we offered as a lunch combination platter: siu mai, char siu bao, sticky rice, har gow.

I am sure, if the chicken is to be served cold, that they must keep it refridgerated for health-safety reasons. Chicken cooked Chinese style tends to be "just cooked". If this dish is on the regular menu, the restaurant must prepare several in anticipation. These must be refridgerated, or as with BBQ chickens sold in places such as Safeway, kept under heat lamps at a specific temperature. There was one incident of food poisoning that I remember well. Many salty chickens were purchased from a Chinese BBQ shop in Winnipeg for an elderly lady's 80th bday. The city is 2.5 hours from Brandon where I live. We were invited to the early sitting. All of the guests ate chicken from the same purchase and were fine. The second sitting was 2 hours later, for guests who had to work late. The remaining chickens were kept on a counter in the kitchen where the room temperature was neither high enough or cool enough to prevent bacterial growth. Several guests experienced major food poisoning and spent days in the hospital. The hospital, by law, had to report these incidents. The health inspectors were called in and there was a major investigation. Eventually, it was established that the chickens were fine at their source. It was the inappropriate storage handling at the destination that caused the major outbreak of food poisoning. In the past, would the item be offered in the same extent as they are in today's restaurants? Perhaps this dish would be prepared only for special occasions, cooled immediately and served as soon as possible.

The little boy eating the sweet off the stick, is that like a taffy? I seem to remember eating something like that years ago What other cuisine would have a dish called "pissing shrimp"! Thanks for letting me share in your feeding frenzy.

Thanks Dejah! Season the chicken - with just salt? With soy sauce? Wine? Would seasoning the chicken the night before be enough time? ← I would just season with salt, and a little MSG (optional) Kay: I've never used the first step you mentioned. What is the purpose of that? Would it be to "shrink the skin" so it doesn't burst with boiling? Would there still be enough heat in the water to cook the chicken when you put it back in the second time?

Tonight, we are finishing off the last of the large pot of lotus root (leen gnow)soup: My family prefers the kind that is more starchy and has "strings" when you bit into each piece. "Strings" is an appropriate descriptor as my family, who cannot speak Chinese call the roots as "fiddle bridges" . When you cut a round slice in half, they look like the bridges on a violin or fiddle. It's hard to tell which roots are more starchy - round-shaped or elongated-shape segments. Anyone have a way to tell the difference? For the soup, I use a chunk of pork butt with bone attached, at least 3 rehydrated dried octopus (bak jow yu), fresh ginger, and a piece of ham choi (salty turnip). I like using the kind of ham choi that comes with the leaves. Wash and soak the octopus the night before. Make the pork stock by simmering the meat and bone(s)for at least an hour. Add cut up octopus, ginger, ham choi, and sliced lotus roots. Bring the whole pot to a boil and then simmer until the lotus root is tender.

all of Ah Leung's and Canucklehead's pictures. Have you posted all of your pictures from the trip, Ah Leung?

No soy sauce? Interesting. ← Ah Leung, Ce'nedra did say it was for dessert, so soy sauce would not be appropriate.

Anna: You can make the chicken as you described in "boiling". The amount of "sitting time" depends on the size of the chicken. For a 3 pound one, probably an hour or so. I would add a stalk of green onion and some slices of fresh ginger to the water. You can also steam it by placing the chicken in a dish then steaming. It might be easier to do the "boil" method as you wouldn't have to monitor the water level in steaming. Just make sure you season the chicken well ahead of cooking time.

I can see with the breading and deep frying that crispy would be the ideal way with this dish. Liuzhou: From which of Fushia Dunlop's books is the recipe for cumin beef?

Good description. No, the honeycomb tripe I had didn't completely break down either, but it did become chewed enough for me to swallow. I don't think it's supposed to be like tendons, which will break down in your mouth.

Were the bits really tough? Mine still had texture, not melt-in-your-mouth tender, but there were no really tough bits. I only braised mine for 2.5 hours. I like the bit of chewiness still in the tripe. Maybe the bicarb did some work. I didn't get around to do anything more with what I had. Will pick up some new stuff and try again when life settles down a bit.

"Sai mai" as "West Rice"? That is used in dessert more, and it is tapioca pearl. But I don't think that's what you were refering to. Did you mean what in Cantonese it is called "Yee Mai"? ← Sai may be should have been "say" with a long A volwel sound=4 may=flavour? taste? That's the soup with leen jee, hung yun, bak hap, sang day (raw earth), see goo, faka tam (American ginseng), look juk, etc. I wish I knew Chinese characters...other than you guys!

You are correct in your above statement sheetz. There IS definitely a "recipe" in terms of what ingredient must go with/or compliments each other. There is much thought given when combining certain "elements" - in the correct combination = for an ailment or as a tonic; in the wrong combination, causes problems with one's health; using complementary ingredients = delicious food. For myself, I am aware of what ingredients go into, for example, soups, but only because I was raised on and loved that "recipe" and not really conscious of the health factor, etc. That's just a side benefit. How many of you make the tonic soup called "Sai mai". Do you know the English names of the ingredients? Please post your lists so I can compare with mine.

Not in my mother's dish, but there's nothing preventing you from adding it...if it suits your fancy and tickles your palate. ← I might add ginger AND chun pei (rehydated tangerine peel). I think the need for ginger and chun pei may depend on how well the pig stomach was cleaned, whether there is any strong piggy odour remaining. The addition of pepper is also used to get rid of "sang mai/fishy taste" as with rehyrdated oysters in foo juk tong, or "sou mai" as in pig stomach. I was taught to sautee the oysters in a bit of oil and white pepper before adding them to soup.

Sheetz your term "exact recipe" is what I was trying to stress in the cookbook thread. There are no exact recipes in traditional home cooking. Remember 2-3 generations ago, most women in the villages were illiterate and being so deprived, they learned to improvise by approximation and taste and in doing so after a few times they (hopefully) would achieve the taste that their predecessor...mother, aunt, mother in law, produced. This obsession with exact recipes is the greatest encumbrance to creativity in the Chinese kitchen. ← I think that sheetz meant exact quantities when the term "exact recipe" was used. The list of ingredients yes, but not how many cups of this, that. I mean, how can you describe "yut jat" choi gon (one bundle dried bak choi)? Now of course one can buy prepackaged choi gon in Asian stores. The women 2 or 3 generations and more ago learned not by recipes but by being taught by the elders. I know my Mom learned from watching and doing with her grandmother, mother, mother-in-law, and other elder females. Pig stomach is definitely different from fish stomach. I have also been taught and still being taught by my Mom sitting and directing from her chair. I am trying to record some of her instructions as she is 99. At least my kids will have some kind of recipe to follow.

OH YES! Love pig stomach in this soup. This is my daughter's favourite WITH dried oysters. Dried oysters are a must in foo juk tong for Chinese New Year. On the hung yun: google says" apricot kernels" toxic unless they are blanched or roasted before consumption. Grace Young in The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen says: Ah Leung: I wonder if your father knew that cilantro is good for reduction of high blood pressure?

Night before, lightly score the racks, marinade them with a mix of hoisin sauce, 5-spice powder, a bit of sesame oil, salt, a couple tbsp of cooking wine, and sugar. Roast on a broiling pan at 400F for about 30-45 minutes depending on the meatiness of the ribs. I sometimes cut the racks into sections of 3 or 4 ribs, then hang them with S-hooks and roast that way.

Choi Gon Tong per Dejah's Mom - Choy Family It's best to grow and dry your own choi gon. My Mom used to take the large outer leaves from the bok choi grown in her garden. These were blanched, then hung out on the clothes line to dry. I like it best when she pulled the whole young plant and dried them with the root-end intact. This was always great to chew on. This practice is carried on with many of the Chinese elders in my city. We are often gifted with choi gon from relatives and friends upon return from visits to China. These are often considered best because it was produced in China, thus authentic. To get the soft yet chewy texture from choi gon, it is best to soak and wash the choi gon the night before. (soak a handful of hung yun too ) Next morning, rub them gently as if you were washing clothes by hand. Quickly blanch pork neck bones, breast bones, whole chunk of pork butt, or pork hocks with skin intact, then set the bones in clean water to boil and simmer with a couple of slices of fresh ginger. About 2 hours before serving the soup, I cut up the choi gon with scissors, add them to the stock, along with hung yun, whole peeled waterchestnuts, and dried honey dates. If I remember, I also add a couple of wind-dried duck feet. This is left to simmer for a couple of hours, then season with salt and enjoy!

Re- thread on "favourite Chinese cookbook": There is much discussion on what is authentic, recipes that are not found in any of today's Chinese cookbooks. Muichoi suggested starting a collection in eGullet. This may be a way for all of us to start actually recording recipes that have been passed down through generations. Muichoi requested a recipe for dried bak choi soup. I am sure there are many "recipes" for this favourite. I can recount the different ingredients, but not the amounts - just a bunch of this, a few of those, etc. Start your engines, folks, and let's get posting!

Thanks, Chefcrash and jackal10. When I did the prime rib for our daughter's bday early Dec, I asked the butcher for extra fat. I drapped these pieces over the meat as it roasted. There was loads of dripping, and after making the dozen I needed for supper, I had enough to make another batch for the leftover roast next day - much to the grandson's delight.

Please share your recipe for the beautiful Yorkies! They look very much like mine, but I just throw in milk, flour and 5 eggs. When someone asks me for a recipe, I don't have the proportions.

The cornstarch gives the meat a smooth velvety texture. You would really notice the difference if she didn't add it - the meat would be "hard" on the tongue. I like lots of jup/liquid from this dish as it is like you said" It's really good with rice!" Remember to not eat root vegetables for 48 hours after drinking goh lai tong. I find the taste very cooling on the tongue and throat. Yum! Trotters in vinegar, eggs and peanuts. You've got a good mummy!

If you are referring to Yellow Valley Cheese, then I can assure you that it is very good. ← Yep - it was the Cumin Flavoured (but in Chinese 茴香味..it wasn't fennel, so that was a bit misleading...). Made by Shanxi Windmill Farmhouse Foodstuff Co. It was really nice - a very young Gouda-type cheese with good flavour and the cumin seeds added a great zip to the flavour! ← I love Gouda with cumin seeds. A quarter of a 12" x 4" thick round costs me about $25.00 CDN. We enjoy it with apples, whole grain crackers, or shaved and melted over lentil soup, Hungarian mushroom soup, etc. Don't imagine it's work with jook.

prasantrin: To make the rice and filling more compact, you may have to cook the rice with just a tiny bit more water. The softer rice is more difficult to work with when mixing it with the filling, but it makes for a more compact/squished together bundle which I prefer. When I unwrap my joong, the surface is almost as smooth as the bamboo leaf ones. It's good your Mom was allowed to relax and be the supervisor and official taster. We moms need to be pampered. So far, my daughter is the official taster and cleaner-upper. I like that too!