Dejah

Same here! And it's also slightly thicker than the normal soups I usually have. ← Crab meat is good in the soup - texture and complementary mild flavour. The soup is usually thicker because a light cornstarch slurry is often added at the last minute.

Ahem...Not ALL Chinese restaurant food is "obviosuly msg-laden oil-swimming". That's stereotyping. And, chilis ARE healthy. Any of the regions will have healthy and not-so-healthy choices. Thick layers of juicy scrumptious melt-in-your-mouth fat on pork belly can't be that healthy!

Chicken stock is more subtle and complements the delicate flavour of shark fin. Pork is ...too porky and will overpower the shark fin. Don't add Chinese mushrooms! The soup should be simple - shark fins, chicken. I don't even want ham in mine. Sometimes, egg white is swirled in just before serving.

Pickled chili garlic?

My CBC kids loved McD's when they were small. I think this is because they had Chinese food everyday at our restaurant and often at home. I remember when we took a trip across the four western provinces, we hit every McD's along the TransCanada highway. There's also the playstructure and toys attraction. Now, it's dim sum, Chinese everytime. My 9 year old grandson loves dim sum and especially joongzi. He'll go to McD's once in a while for a cheeseburger, prefers A&W for their onion rings, but given the choose, he'd choose dim sum (siu mai) and joongzi. He stayed with us last week while the parents were away. For supper, he ate 2 of my full-sized joongzi!

Sheena, Ah Leung has a pictorial on tofu puffs with minced fish: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=74885 As you mentioned you only had pork on hand, you could mince the pork with some waterchestnuts, green onion, seasonings, a little oil, cornstarch to bind, then stuff the tofu puffs. Pan fry according to Ah Leung's pcitorial. Or, I like to add the puffs to a sandpot recipe (chicken, mushrooms, etc) so it can soak up the juice and flavours.

Guess I won't be trying that place! ETA: My mother said she talked to someone there, and it's true that the cooks are the same, plus two new ones. The original owners sold because they wanted to retire. And the place was packed Friday at lunch. ← Well, I can't imagine taro spring rolls - powdery, dry... I imagine Kam Ho will be back in business now that they've had their holiday. My son's gf lives around that area and they are going to try it soon, as well as VS. As you enter Chinatown, the New Canton was the first of the restaurants on the left hand side of the street, before Shanghai, the now Golden terrace and Kum Koon. The building is still there, but I don't know how it is used. It was owned by my uncle Chan Bak. They had 2 sons, both named James! (James and Jimmy, actually) James owns Universal Enterprizes who produces beansprouts for Superstores, etc. I am ready for dim sum in Wpg!

Terrific show, Peter! I am still staggering from "visual foodfests" of your other blogs! Great job, Serena! Beansprouts and rice is one of my comfort foods, as are Panni potato dumplins. I use them as dumplings in stew - the only kind my family likes. I always have acouple of pkgs in my pantry - but a case!? I guess accessibilty is the problem. Your lamb looks great. Must get a tangine...must get a tangine... Congratualtions on your anniversary!

Ce'nedra: Beautiful looking shrimp! No pictures, but Chinese forum's Venerable Uncle Ben Hong from New Brunswick was here tonight. He and two American buddies are in the area upland bird hunting. He warned me about their coming, but I wasn't sure exactly when! Grandson is staying with us this week while his parents are in Las Vegas. Luckily, he requested joongzi for supper tonight, so I had pulled out a bag of 10 from the freezer. I was in the process of heating some up for supper when Ben called from a lake resort an hour away. So, we introduced his American buddies to homemade joongzi, gai lan and oyster sauce, Chinese beef meatballs, AND MOONCAKE! For first-timers, his buddies licked the bamboo leaves clean! We drank "Go San Cha" with our meal.

Holy Smokes! Was that Chan's Moon Room on Main Street? I remember seeing the place but never went in. What is now KKG was the restaurant New Nanking. Shanghai is still there, but does your Mom remember the New Canton? That was my uncle's restaurant. When I was "banished" to live with them (because I had a Caucasian bf - a no-no in the 60s - I married him!), I used to work there on the weekends. I don't remember any dim sum in those days. I think we had cheung fun at Double Greeting. I have gone to Foon Hai - for their hot'n'sour soup. Haven't been for some time. Creatures of habit, we are. We have been loyal to Ken's. He died a few years ago now. They have his picture at the front desk. I must try some of their dim sum items next time. Must also check out the frozen dim sum at Sun Wah. They have quite a selection, but I didn't realize Mrs. Chan? made them. One of the ladies who used to help her make them was a Mrs. Goh. She was from Brandon before she moved into the "new apartments" in Chinatown. When Grand Garden was still in operation,. Peggy used to have fresh cheung fun for sale. Frankly, I don't mind the ones shipped from Vancouver - Yeo's? Reheated in the microwave, splash of sweet soya, chili oil, and it'll do in a pinch! ETA: I want to meet your mother!

I don't think Ken's really serve dim sum - more like a few items a la carte. Can't remember how we found it, but it used to be on Edmonton before they razed everything to build Portage Place. We were blown away by the hot'n'sour soup the first time, and we've been going there ever since. Kitchen and wait staff have changed many times, and Ken has since died. But, Mrs. "Ken" is always there watching her TV, reading the newspaper, and eating melon seeds at a table at the entrance to the dining room. Next time in, I must check for the elusive xiaolong bao.

Yes. It was the Double Greeting on McDiarmid. It must have been around the late 70s when we used to go there with the kids. I think it was there that we first had fresh made-on-premise Chinese cruellers with jook. We were so thrilled to find them that everytime we went to Wpg, we'd make sure we'd stop there to buy a dozen to bring home. I remember the young woman who served us there. She had a little baby, and her mother would look after it while she served. You are right, they didn't have a large selection, but I think that was even before the larger restaurants served dim sum? But I could be wrong. I know they had rice rolls, jook and cruellers, but what else I can't remember. We went to HKSH acouple of times years ago, and we were not impressed either. Do you remember the little shop that made dim sum for sale in bulk? It burnt down when the Turkish baths caught fire. When we first started doing dim sum, we used to order from that shop - a tiny store front, 4 large freezer display cases, and 4 little old ladies gossiping and making sui mai, har gow, etc around a high counter in the "kitchen". We used to order sui mai, har gow, BBQ pork buns, warteep. I think she even had xiaolungbaos! The fire forced us to recruit our own little Chinese po-pos to help make our supply. Just thinking that Kam Ho should be opened again this week. I'll have to send the daughter there for a taste test! One item I wish someone in Wpg would make: xiaolungbaos. I heard that Ken's on Ellice made them, but I haven't been there for dim sum items. Do you know if they do? That was our usual restaurant for hot'n'sour soup at one time. I still like it there.

I didn't even realize the old Marigold had dim sum! Or do you mean the new restaurant in the old Marigold location? Daughter was at Victoria Seafood last weekend for dim sum. She said the flavours in the dumplings (didn't say which one) were better, but the rice rolls were sloppy and not great. Being a med student without Ah Momma's credit card, she liked the prices at VS better than KK. Can one of you ladies list all the places that do serve dim sum in Wpg? How about Hong Kong Snack House? Or Double Happiness on McDiarmid? We used to go there years ago and got to know the owners quite well. Then the change of owners turned us off when they served stale simmered chicken over rice. ETA: Rona. Can you ask your Mom if she thinks the wrappers on the potstickers are commercial? Does your mom mjake potstickers...with her own wrappers? I bought some Shanghai dumpling wrappers, but they are so small! I had a hard time making them with the amount of meat that I like in them, but they blistered and fried up nicely.

The taste of gai lan and oyster sauce goes very well with congee and century egg. They add crunch and saltiness. I also like chili radish with my congee, again for the crunch, salt and spices. But, gai lan is more substantial if you want to make a bigger meal without devouring 3 or 4 large bowls. As for pickled vegetables, I prefer the salty kind because congee is basically bland (the rice component) unless you add a lot of savory type ingredients: rehydrated dried scallops, oysters, etc) Somehow, sour doesn't seem right to me, but then, that might be the Toisanese/Cantonese influence. For our family, like yesterday's brunch with friends, we had congee (made with leftover rib bones from siu yook) with Chinese crueller, siu mai, har gow, potstickers, and a stir-fried mixed vegetables lettuce wrap. I guess that's like having salad with a meal.

It's their way of showing newly gained wealth, I suppose: "See! I can afford to throw away food 'cos I'm rich." I like the way some buffets are handling "overloading and waste: "Take what you like. Eat what you take. What you don't eat, you take it home, but you have to pay for it!" My mother has a slice of bread every night before she goes to bed. The crust is trimmed off, but she saves it to make bread crumbs. Funny thing tho'. I would use one tea bag to make 2 cups of tea ( dunk in one cup then the other), but she always insist on using one for each cup, not even saving it for refill.

Tallin is beautiful - like a story book town. Thank you for a great blog.

I like "real fresh" vegetables like gai lan and oyster sauce with my congee. And, Of course, Chinese cruellers! You can add dried shredded pork as well - jook see, and lots of cilantro, green onions.

I am usually pretty good about leftovers - lunch for next day. This is working out well this term as I stay at school everyday over lunch hour. I "try" to use up all the vegetables I buy. During the summer is difficult because I want to buy everything at the farmer's market. DH is not much of a veg. eater other than corn, so sometimes, I just cook all the bits of vegetables and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. healthy, I guess. But, tonight, like acouple of other functions I have been to lately, I was appalled by the wanton waste of food - by newly arrived Chinese immigrants. Tonight was the Harvest Moon Festival social at the university. The food was cooked by volunteers, and served by our students. I saw men and women loaded down with platefuls of food. Some of them have little children - age 3, 4 and they were given huge plates of food - baos, dumplings, meat, veg. I thought, ok, it was just another plateful really for the parents. If they are THAT hungry, fine. BUT, I saw plates of food thrown into the garbage because both the parents and the children couldn't eat that much. How can one explain that, yes, this country offers many opportunity for plentiful, good, healthy food, but not to waste! I am sure they never did that in China. ETA: Just so readers don't think I am bashing Chinese people, I am Chinese. The non-Chinese guests didn't throw away any food. Is it just the newer generation?

Whoa! You like to start your day off with "Chinese rocket fuel!"

June: I didn't brown the beef at all. I just blanched and rinsed it to remove any scum, bits and pieces. The recipe I followed used 1/2 cup of soy, but I didn't measure as I had more meat, different size pot, etc. I used as much dark soy (mushroom soy)as needed for a dark colour, then some light soy if it needed more salt. Added the star anise, ginger, orange peel, cinnamom stick, Sechuan peppercorns, Chinese rock sugar and a slab of Chinese brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sherry, red wine, or Chinese cooking wine, and about 4 cups of water. Brought all that to a boil, then added the meat. I put the clay pot into the oven at 275 and let it braise for hours. If I were doing a whole piece of meat, such as a pork shoulder butt roast or leg of pork, I usually turn it after about an hour so the top is immersed then to cook evenly. You can put your spices in a cheese cloth bag. That would keep all the bits out of your liquid. Have never used the braising liquid to make soup It WOULD be might strong! I would have used another pot with water, then added enough of the marinade for flavour.

My Mom used to always say" Eat the last few pieces. There's no point leaving it for tomorrow. There isn't enough for a meal!". So, whenever she had meals with us, she and I used to clean off whatever was left on the communial plates. It's not so bad when it is just vegetables, but a couple of mouthfuls of rice, a few pieces of meat. That played havoc with my weight. Now, at age 99, she's saying that one should cook smaller amounts, eat only until 80% full so as not to gain too much weight. In the past when food was scarce in China, you would eat as much as possible because you were not sure if there will be a "next meal". And, being fat was beautiful. Now, everyone wants to be slim, so maybe 80% full is the way to go.

I add the sliced / julienned lapcheung just after the rice comes to a boil. It is definitely cooked by the time the rice is ready.

After seeing your "haggis tower", I am motivated to bid at the next annual Robbie Burns dinner where they always auction off several haggis (s? es?) at the end of the evening. Yours looks like a great way to serve haggis!

Why thank you! I've just uploaded the recipe here in case anyone is interested http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2029.html ← Just read thru' your recipe, Ce'nedra. I'll have to wait until the weekend before I make my clay pot rice. A little suggestion for you to consider: Instead of cooking the lapcheung separately in a pan of water until the liquid is reduced, I would suggest cooking the lapcheung - whole - in with the rice. That way, the flavour is cooked into the rice. You can slice and mix when the rice is cooked and you're adding the other ingredients in. Sometimes, I just make chicken claypot rice - chicken meat - bone in or boneless, marinated with ginger, salt, oil and cornstarch. Cut some lapcheung into slivers and add to the rice just after it comes to a boil. You will have to reduce the rice cooking water just a little or the juice from the chicken will make the rice too mushy - unless you LIKE mushy rice.

Looks VERY comforting. YUm! What all did you have? chicken, lapcheung, carrots, scallions, medium grain or short grain rice? Did you use stock to cook everything or just water? I have lap gnap, lap yuk, lapcheung and was thinking of claypot rice myself. You just pushed me over the edge.