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His Nibs

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  1. Hmm.. my mom makes her own "wong zhao" (lit. Yellow wine in cantonese) by taking the "zhao bang" (lit. wine biscuit in the same language but it's actually a dry yeast starter) and steamed glutinous rice.

    Makes for a very nice chicken stew (famous hakka dish "wong zhao gai")

  2. You can find most of these in your local asian supermart (or should I say chinese supermart).

    Do note that prices are comparable to european liquor (a good mao tai runs about $20-30) and some do contain higher concentrations of alcohol by volume (eg Kaoliang about 55% abv)

  3. Yes yes yes! That's what makes the simple ingredients so good - the contrast between the crisp yau ja gwai and and tender noodle.

    But the soy sauce soften the yau ja gwai a little bit.

    Yeah, it does. It's still good when it's softened a bit, but not when it's too soggy. Just gives you an excuse to eat it faster :biggrin: .

    Here in Hong Kong, they usually serve it with three sauces and then sprinkle it with sesame seeds.

    I think it's thinned down 海鲜酱 (hoisin sauce) and/or soy sauce , 芝麻酱 (sesame sauce... AWESOME!) and 辣椒酱 (chili sauce)

  4. I also recently started with the French Press and have a couple of questions. 

    The first time I tried it, I was pressing down and there was a lot of resistance, and then suddenly it gave way and splattered coffee everywhere.  Why? 

    It says on the thing to use a coarse ground coffee.  What would happen if you used on that had been ground more finely? 

    Is Espresso grind ok to use in a French Press? 

    I am beginning to remember what coffee is supposed to taste like.... 

    Thanks

    If you have trouble pressing it down, your coffee is ground too finely. Espresso grind is definitely way out!!!! :biggrin:

    It splattered because your filter got clogged with small particles of coffee and does not allow the separation of the solids (aka coarse ground coffee) and liquids (aka the good stuff). Since you pressed it down, the liquid can only escape through any openings (aka the spout).

    Anyway, hope you have fun with the press and remember the 5 rules to good press coffee:

    1) use the proper amount of coffee

    2) coarse grind

    3) water must be around an off-boil

    4) stir with a wooden implement (1 chopstick works really well here)

    5) wait for 4 minutes, press slowy and give praise to the coffee gods!

    PS: I totally enjoy your food blogs :laugh:

  5. You could have some good Dou Fa (soy bean curd) in shamsuipo (near the wet market) and don't forget the fresh egg tarts from the local bakeries (dirt cheap and piping hot!).

    If you are going to be in the TST area, there is this little hawker centre off the side of Hankow Road. It kinda grimy looking but has a decent offering. It's across from the HMV and Yue Hwa (sorta near canton ave if memory serves me correct).

  6. Those mangosteen stains are a pain to clean! But the fruit is so good to eat (like it so much more than durian). Eating it is kinda a messy proposal. If they are ripe enough, I usually place one between my hands and squeeze till it cracks. This takes some skill as you usually don't want to squeeze that hard that you mush up the fruit and spew purple badness all over yourself.

  7. in all fairness.... Tiger is definitely better than Budweiser (US). But then we all know that the fresher the beer, the better it tastes! (Fresh budweiser not withstanding... I'm talking about brew-pubs here! :wink:)

  8. Urghh.... Tiger......

    Brings back bad memories of too many SAF (singapore armed forces) labelled cans consumed (hey US$ 0.25/can!)...(smells like you know what, tastes like you know what).

  9. in response to: Same applies to Japanese restaurants in the US, they all insist on serving Suntory or Kirin which are some of the worst Japanese beers that can be had.

    Maybe I'm spoiled working in NYC and living in the metropolitan area, but most good to great Japanese restaurants around here have Sapporo, Yebisu, various Asahis, and other Japanese brews, both large and small.

    I would agree that Suntory and Kirin are pretty lame.

    However, the Kirin special reserve is exceptionally good (esp. when you consider it is brewed under license by Bud). Very malty, slight hoppiness and almost like a good Czech pilsner (yes... I've been to Prague and tried most of their pilsners. I like the Gambinius which can't be found in the states :sad: )

    edit: or should i say anheuser busch instead of bud :laugh:

  10. Hmm....

    Just finished a delicious dinner of steamed Dungeness Crab.

    Bought it alive and kicking at Ranch 99 ($2.99 a pound! with membership of course!)

    Butchered it and then steamed it with a ginger/cognac infused solution.

    Delish!

  11. Will be taking a trip to SD and SF (we will have a car) at the end of Februrary-beginning of March.

    (Questions were also posted on another website)

    Here's the San Diego side of it:

    I am hoping to find some good Mexican food, as well as seafood.  What would be ideal is a little Mexican seafood hole in the wall, the kind that serves ceviche tostadas and the like.  Is there something like that in the San Diego area?

    I would also welcome recommendations for other styles of cuisine, since I don't want to burn out on Mexican food.

    Also, I want to check out a Chuao Chocolatier store.  Apparently there's one store in Encinitas and one in La Jolla.  Anyone know if there's any difference between the stores, like one being bigger than the other, or one offering a more diverse selection of chocolates?

    I've heard praise of Cantina Panaderia, but I don't know what kind of food is served and what the prices are like.  Can anyone tell me?

    So far I'm considering:

    Nacho's Taco Shop in La Mesa

    Bahia Mexican Restaurant 

    Boo Cho Korean

    Emerald for dim sum

    Mama’s Lebanese

    The Fishery

    El Porvenir

    Gelato Vero

    Carnitas Urupan

    Berta's

    Khyber Pass

    A final consideration:  one of our potential dining companions has a very low tolerance for chili heat.  She loves Mexican food so long  as there's one thing on the menu that she can order that won't blow her head off.  If any of these places are for fire-breathers only, please let me know.

    Tip: Try Pearl (Rancho Bernardo) for Dim Sum [it's owned by the same resturant group as emerald. Heck the manager was the assistant manager at Emerald] instead of Emerald. Less lines and the food is better imho. About a 20-30 min drive from downtown SD (you'll wait at least 45 to 60 min at emerald). Khyber Pass is a good bet too!

  12. Ah... Kaoliang.... Brings back the memories of harsh hangovers.

    It's like a high proof vodka and Taiwanese drinks it as such (usually in the form of a shot).

    There are some high end stuff in Jin Men that the military makes (and they are aged in the aforementioned caves).

  13. Quick trick to splitting them disposable chopsticks easily and evenly is to use the wrapper to split them.

    Fold the wrapper into a a wedge (by folding into halfs, then half again and then half again)

    Place the wedge in the middle where the split is.

    Move it up along the split.

    It should split almost evenly.

    Then clean the edges by rubbing the splitted edges together.

  14. Hmm... going with a old family tradition.

    Drunken Steamed Chicken,

    Some sort of buddhist vegan stew (most likely using some dried shitakes, wood ears, cabbage and black moss aka fat choi with foo yu)

    Yee Fu noodles with mushrooms (if i can get the good HK style ones, not the fried ones... the flat ones)

    And....

    Salmon Yu Sheng! :biggrin:

  15. The snake gall bladder was easy. They skinned it, expertly extracted the gall bladder, add it to a small wine cup containing some chinese rice liquor, pierced it and you shoot it down like taking a shot. And slime of the snow frog has no taste. Well... it depends on what stuff you add to the crock pot (usually rock sugar and chinese herbs) and it has a texture like jello.

    Cat on the other hand...... can we say street side stall in provincial china? :blink:

  16. OMG, fried chicken skin.  *drools*

    I could never understand people who DON'T like chicken skin.  I love chicken skin...it's-just-so-delicious!

    When I was a kid, I would eat two Wonderbread slices slattered with butter or margarine and sprinkled with white sugar.  Funny thing is that I learned how to eat this at my dad's Chinese carryout!  :biggrin:

    When I worked at an Italian restaurant with a lot of a lot of Cambodian kitchen help, they all did the same thing --only with the dinner rolls - and warmed them up in the pizza oven. Maybe it's an Asian thing.

    Nah, I did the same thing but on Jewish Rye. In fact I spent a summer at sleep away camp where I had one at least once a day, but that is another thread.

    Chicken skin, turkey skin, duck skin. If I was really lucky I got the tush of the chicken on Friday nights (I can't remember the Yiddish word for it).

    Actually, all my other Asian friends (and non-Asian friends) think I'm off my rocker when I do my bread-butter-sugar bit. Before this forum, I've only met one other person so far (until now!) that did this and she was from Scotland!

    Wow, I didn't know that non-Asians enjoyed the chicken tail! My father and I love that part of the chicken. Growing up, I never liked it until one day I saw the light. :biggrin: I get flack from my relatives for liking it. OK, would it be strange to admit that I would like to have a meal of salt-roasted chicken tail au jus with rice? :blink:

    It must be an colonial holdover. Toast with butter and sugar is pretty commonplace in singapore and malaysia. Hmm.... nice warm crunchy white loaf with a generous spread of planta (a margarine made with palm oil... bad for you but tastes so good!) and white sugar! Top that off with a nice cup of kopi-o!

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