Laksa

May I suggest "chen pi ji"? It may be just me, but I don't like to see "pee" in any way associated with food. When I think of sweet Chinese food outside of the US, Cantonese "ku lou yook" comes to mind. As for the theory that Chinese food is sweetened for American palettes, I find it interesting that other foods that can be found in the typical American shopping mall food court don't feature sweetness as prominently. (I'm conveniently ignoring desserts for the purpose of this argument.) Hamburgers, pizzas, subway sandwiches and tacos/burritos/enchiladas are not sweet. One could argue that the hot dog relish and bbq sauce are sweet, but I see them as condiments that play only a supporting role. What struck me most about American food, when I first arrived here, in general (very general terms), is the overwhelming saltiness. So it puzzles me why Chinese food should be sweetened, if that is really happening, to appeal to Americans? Maybe adding more salt might work better?

Now, I'm guessing the picnic invitations are strictly speaking going only to the international students? Just checking... wongste: If you can make it...Wed, July 14, noon, Flora Cowan centre courtyard Was it that obvious that I was fishing for an invite? I have no idea where Flora Cowan centre courtyard is, but I'm guessing getting there may involve crossing timezones and international borders. So seeing that I can take an hour off for lunch... uhmm... let's assume there's light traffic on the roads... ok, I'll be there!

Actually, I think the second picture that I posted earlier shows what most Westerners would call turnip. The Western radish has a red skin and looks like this:

Look what you did! And yet you ask again about mushu pork?

Now, I'm guessing the picnic invitations are strictly speaking going only to the international students? Just checking...

I've seen those referred to as "love letters" also. Do Love Letters refer just to the brown variety that are lined with chocolate on the inside? That was always my impression, while just plain "egg rolls" are the yellow kind without chocolate. Oh, that explains why whenever I asked for love letters, they give me those with the annoying chocolate coating, which I had to nibble around. I'll ask for egg rolls next time...

The most fascinating thing I find about the chiko roll is that it is marketed and perceived as an entirely Australian food. It is not sold in any Chinese restaurants in Australia, as far as I know, but in typical Australian "milk bars" (equivalent to delis here), and in fish and chip shops (equiv. to a fast food/hamburger joint), along with classic Aussie cuisine like meat pies, sausage rolls, pasties (not what you stick on your body, but the Cornish variety) and fish cakes.

Words can have so many different meanings it's a wonder we still use them to communicate. What I meant was this, what I know as Chinese white radish, or daikon: I think the turnip is this: I think lo bak gou is more commonly made from the former, but the latter may be substituted.

Americans have their egg rolls, and the Australians have their chiko rolls. Here's a link to a picture. Could the spring roll be the most adapted and well-traveled Chinese food?

I've seen those referred to as "love letters" also.

dougery and Bond Girl, you know what? I've been known to make mistakes - very often. When I said that my mum has a recipe for lo bak gou, I actually meant wu tau gou. lo bak gou is made from radish, wu tao gou from taro. My mum's asleep, and 10,000 miles away so I can't ask her now. But here is a lo bak gou recipe, and a wu tau gou recipe I found on the Internet. The wu tau recipe is a little fancier than my mum's. She doesn't put dried scallops, chinese bacon, or dried shiitake. I think this must be some fancy-schmancy city folk recipe.

You don't like cuttlefish? You've obviously never had Joo Hoo Eng Chai (Cuttlefish Kangkong), a Malaysian specialty. I don't know how they do it, but the cuttlefish becomes so tender, almost like jellyfish, that even a toothless granny would have no problems. Okay, maybe I exaggerate re: granny but it's still tender.

I've always wanted to know, but have been afraid to ask until now. What is Taiwanese? Is this the language spoken in Taiwan before the Chinese arrived there? If not, why isn't the language called Fujianhua or Xiamenhua? Or has it evolved so much in Taiwan that it justifies a new name? Just curious...

My mum makes a kick-ass lo bak gou. In her version, you can actually bite into pieces of taro. And being Sarawakian, she adds lots of pepper and dried shrimp. Nobody makes it like she does. It'll put hair on your chest!

I believe they only take reservations up to 1 month before the date. So I think it was one month before my birthday dinner, to the day, that my wife started calling at 10 am, but by the time she got through at 10:30am, they were already fully booked. I have no doubt that if you happen to be Tom Hanks, or Catherine Zeta-Jones, they could accommodate you. However, we had a very nice meal at Nobu Next Door on my birthday. Apparently, the menu is identical (we had the omakase), and the chefs rotate between the two restaurants. NND doesn't take reservations, so you have to get there early, say 5:30pm or so, as the line forms pretty quickly. We got a seat at the sushi bar, and it was great to see the chefs at work. We sat in front of a very friendly chef, who was happy to answer any of our questions. He personally prepared most of our cold dishes. He also explained the correct way of eating some of the sushi, e.g. pointing out the pre-seasoned sushi so we don't dip it in soy. I didn't quite catch his name, but he was an older guy with a moustache. Hope you and your boyfriend have a good dinner there.

I know we all love the "parts"... but let's be honest - they are objectively speaking not the "best" parts of the animal. They often have an odour that needs to be treated with spices, and they are often tough, so requiring a long cooking time. Kudos to our poor ancestors who invented, through necessity, ways of making meals from scraps and discards. I think anyone who comes from a culture with a tradition of eating the "parts" should be duty-bound to uphold this tradition. Whether you like it or not!

Masked as scrapple? I don't know anything about scrapple, but I think the name itself is a clue. The first five letters of the word doesn't exactly convey to me "fine dining"

aprilmei, where is Yung Kee?

Just curious. That and I also like to "get" the joke... what is it that she finds funny about 港币?

I see, so the proper etiquette in New Jersey is to avoid using chopsticks altogether.

Are you talking about "foo yu", little 1 inch cubes of fermented tofu in a chili/sesame liquid? I like to eat it stirred into congee, or as an accompaniment to it. I think it goes well with lamb stew as well, and I've also had it stir-fried with "eng chai/kang-kong" or chinese water spinach.

I knew you were kidding. The reason I was posting pictures at 1am is because I am now a slave to eGullet. It's all I live for!

Michael, sorry about the picture. Here's one taken at Relax Tea Room, and you look to be wide awake! me, Pan, ankomochi, megc, Doreen (she's going to sign up for her own egullet user id) We go down to Manhattan pretty often. Would love to meet up with you next time we're down there!

Actually, my favourite dish was the tilapia. I thought it was really fresh. The flesh was sweet and delicate, and the sauce wasn't overpowering. I avoided the chilies in this dish entirely so didn't have the same problem as Pan. I loved the duck too. Nice smokey flavour, and very succulent. Let me share a secret with you guys... when the waitress was recommending the three additional dishes, she remarked, in Chinese, that "foreign folks" really like the smoked tea leaves duck. I think she's forgetting she's in Flushing, NY, and not Sichuan, China!! Well, thinking about it a little more, maybe the non-Asians are the foreigners in Flushing! Doreen's fav. was the jellyfish. Incidentally, I believe the waiter told us that the green flavouring was scallion oil.

I got pictures, lots of pictures... Tendon: Clockwise from top, chicken, noodle, jellyfish Eggplant: Lamb: Chicken with peanuts: Shrimp: Duck on the left, cellophane noodles Ma Po Tofu (Bean Curd) Tilapia: String beans: =Mark, megc, ankomochi, Banh Cuon + 1. marscapone + 1, Pan, my +1 Doreen and I had a fantastic time and a wonderful meal. Thank you Pan for organizing this get-together, and for showing us around Flushing! I hope you guys have no objections about my posting your pictures. If you do, let me know and I'll take them out.