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"Thousand Year Old Egg" (pei dan) is just a nickname. It doesn't take a thousand year to make them. Nor will they last a thousand year. As with most Chinese food items, the package does not include any suggestion on the optimal consumption date, nor expiration date or production date. I used to think Thousand Year eggs can last a long time in the cupboard. I obviously am wrong. Recently I discovered a couple of boxes of Thousand Year eggs hidden deep in my pantry. Maybe it has been over a year. Can't tell how long. One box: the eggs shrank and turned rubbery. Another box: the eggs turned "mouldy". The eggs are already fermented! I didn't think fermented food can turn mouldy. Not only dry, the taste had turned nasty. So my question... if anybody knows: what is the optimal "consumption" life for Thousand Year eggs (pei dan) once bought from the store?

I think it depends on the family situation (or dining situation). I cook for myself and my wife. No kid. So it is quite common to have only one stir-fried dish for dinner. Though I typically like to make some vegetable stir-fries (only salt and garlic). If the dinner party is any bigger, I would make 2 to 4 dishes. The cook of the family may make more, as an everyday affair, if the family size is bigger... e.g. 4 to 6 dishes or more. But... typically... wouldn't be all stir-fries. Likely some will be steamed dishes, some braised dishes, some cold-appetizers, or some BBQ items (chopped chicken, BBQ pork, roast pork, etc..) The reason is to try to have all the dishes ready at the same time. If you have to stir-fry 6 dishes, by the time the 6th dish is done, the first one is already cold.

Which Chinese style(s) are those recipes in her book, Chris? It seems to me, such as this one, it is Cantonese yet not quite Cantonese, Sichuanese yet not quite Sichuanese. Are those all the author's own creations? Sichuan peppercorn: The most potent ones are stored in whole, and relatively fresh. The numbing effect degrades over time in storage. Ground powders retain less potentness than the whole spices. I suppose you can buy and use the ground Sichuan peppercorn if you don't like the grits. Bean sprouts: if you have the soy-bean sprouts but the recipe calls for the mung-bean sprouts... just clip off the heads (the bean) and use the stems. The stems taste no different.

Historically, "Orange Chicken" is a Sichuan style dish in China. They use dried mandarin orange peel to make this dish. And have nothing to do with fresh oranges or orange juice or orange essence extracts. Somehow in the US or diaspora, it seems the name remained but the dish evolved into Kentucky Fried Chicken, extra crispy, coated with orange-juice or orange flavored sweet and sour syrup. Don't know how "real" you want to make. Perhaps start with not using any fresh oranges. Dried mandarin orange peel (pronounced "Chan Pei" in Cantonese), rehydrated... is what signify this dish.

I think it is because most of the Chinese restaurants in the US are Cantonese style. (Because of the migration history.) By and large, Cantonese style cooking does not use cumin or other "heavy" spices in stir-fries.

The Chinese characters for "jau yau" is: 走油 The purpose is to cook (slightly undercook) the meat, typically beef, chicken or pork, in hot oil before stir-frying with other vegetables and seasoning. I don't believe it is "low temperature" though. How low? It is not going to be simmer. The oil needs to be hot enough to cook (undercook) the meat within a minute or so.

Nope. That may be a diaspora Chinese thing. And carrots are rarely seen in black bean sauce dishes.

This is getting sticky... I don't know the origin of this "YangZhou Fried Rice". Did it really refer to the YangZhou in JiangSu province? Not sure. It can be a YangZhou influenced/style fried rice as made in Hong Kong. It is getting sticky when one seeks to root out the origin of a recipe. For example there is a popular dish "Chow Gwai Dil" (= Char Kway Teow in Cantonese pronounciation) in Hong Kong. Mimicing what's popular in Malaysia/Singapore. But the Hong Kong version uses curry powder and no soy sauce. So it is a Hong Konger's rendition of a Malaysian/Singaporean dish, which has its root back from Mainland China. Which one is "authentic"? It seems that if you order "YangZhou Fried Rice" from Chinese Diaspora - UK, US, Canada, Europe, Australia, etc., you may have many variations. Maybe anything goes, depending on the availability of ingredients on hand and the local tastes. And let alone any home cooking version of this recipe. But I can tell you this, based on my 20+ years of dining experiences in Hong Kong. If you order a YangZhou Fried Rice in any restaurant in Hong Kong, you can pretty much come to expect... and it's been very consistent: Shrimp, diced char siu (BBQ pork), eggs, green onions, a pinch of MSG Fluffy, not soggy. Bouncy. Rice slightly yellow. Not dark brown. No garlic. No vegetable except maybe green peas or small diced up carrots.

No need to wait. Here is a picture of the Yangzhou Fried Rice in Hong Kong. Circa early 2010 In Hong Kong, it is pretty consistent just about everywhere you eat: Shrimp, char siu, egg, green onions

Now wait... wait... wait... Are we still in a quest for specifically, as named in the title, YangZhou Fried Rice? I assume this is referring to the YangZhou ("Yeung Chow" in Cantonese) fried rice as known to be served in Hong Kong or Hong Kong style restaurants. Sure when you cook your own meal, you can do anything you want. Chinese sausage, vegetables, mushroom, ham, bean sprouts, oyster sauce, sesame oil, garlic or no garlic, chicken broth or chicken boullion powder. And I suppose you can cook it with chicken, fish, lamb, beef, oyster or whatever that strikes your fancy. But wouldn't you call it your own "something fried rice"? This is the original premise from the OP: So... is this still the quest? And when have you seen Chinese sausage used in "YangZhou Fried Rice" in a restaurant? If I make a Rueben Sandwich with chicken breast and ketchup and mayo... is it still called a Rueben Sandwich?

If you like Vietnamese style snacks and in the area of Little Saigon... I had the best Vietnamese style beef jerkies at: Van's Bakery 14346 Brookhurst Street, Garden Grove, CA (714) 839-1666 The one with lemongrass flavor is one of the best. And across the side street (north) is: My Nguyen Restaurant 14282 Brookhurst St # 9, Garden Grove, CA (714) 839-5541 Very good Vietnamese food. Sugar cane shrimp and BBQ pork banh hoi are among some of the best.

The recommendation for no salt is because: 1) you are already using light soy sauce, which is salty. If you use salt, need to adjust the amount so the fried rice will not be overly salty. 2) most ingredients for the fried rice are dry. There is no moisture to dissolve the salt. Salt will likely remain in grain form and scattered in the rice. (So is the MSG actually) Reason for cooking the eggs first or separately: - if you add beaten eggs to the rice already cooking in the wok, the rice will soak up the water content of the eggs before they turn cooked. Result would be lumps of rice. Good fried rice is fluffy. Individual rice grains are separated, and not lumped together. - eggs will not turn dead hard as you pour the cooked steamed rice in the wok. After that time the rice would take up most of the heat. Vegetables: - the issue is with cooking time and like CFT said: water moisture. Vegetable takes longer to cook than frying rice. If you want vegetables... advice is to cook them (undercooked slightly) separately and toss them in at the last minute. Sesame oil: - sure you can add sesame oil or any other ingredients to please yourself. It's a matter of whether you want to be faithful to the recipe/style. (And "Yeung Chow" fried rice is just a Cantonese's rendition of a non-Cantonese style anyway. LOL)

I think peanut oil is best. If not, corn oil is okay. Or vegetable oil. Or canola or others. Someone commented on the "brown stuff" thread to use sesame oil. It seems to be an Americanized version of Chinese food. They squirt sesame oil on everything. It seems as if sesame oil is synonymous to Chinese food. Some food show hosts especially. When they feel like making Chinese food, they would be obligated to squeeze in some sesame oil at the end.

My advice: Don't use Fresh garlic Don't use Oyster sauce Don't use Shallots Don't use Bean sprouts My advice: Cook the shrimp first. Remove. Eggs - be beaten in a bowl. A little bit of oil in a hot wok... pour in the beaten eggs... stir fast. Cook the eggs a little bit fluffy. You may remove the eggs and add them back to the fried rice later on. Or... at the restaurants... the cook would add the cooked steamed rice while the eggs are still in the wok. Stir fry until the rice is hot. Add all other ingredients (shrimp, chopped char siu, scallions, peas, etc.. (Not sure what your "assorted vegetables are". The Hong Kong style Yangzhou Fried Rice doesn't contain much vegetable. Diced cooked carrots yes.) Dash in the light soy sauce near the end. Advice: no salt, no wine. MSG if you like.

The baked char siu bao may be a Hong Kongers' creation? Combining the Chinese savory filling (traditionally using in steamed char siu bao) and the western/European/(English? Portugese?) bread making techniques. The doughs are different though. I think if you are going to do a baked char siu bao you should use the western bread (baked) dough instead of the Chinese bread (steamed) dough.

Is there something offensive about using paper as a liner for the bottom of these baozi's? Why go through using lettuce, and then oil the lettuce for making it non-stick?

I don't believe there is such a thing as "Chinese ketchup". The ketchup you find in the USA, e.g. Heinz, may just be a bit too vinegary and salty for use in cooking Chinese food. I think you can use something like Del Monte's tomato sauce instead of specifically the LKK ketchup. Del Monte's Tomato Sauce

Was that so in Shanghai? Or which city/region? I have not seen such in the streets of Hong Kong (grilling oysters/scallops/mussels/clams).

Those hairy crabs are meant to be taken home and cooked (steamed customarily). If one insists on eating it live: 1) It doesn't taste good. 2) I hope you have an iron stomach for it... with the bacteria and such...

I think: 1. Pizza Hut may be the only pizza outfit that made it to China (Hong Kong first). It is the only popular one anyway. In HK, I haven't seen any other US pizza chain. No Round Table, Straw Hat, Shaky's or anything like that. 2. They have the "one trip only" to the salad bar policy. I think that challenged people to "get as much food as you can on one plate". I had been to pizza huts and dined regularly in Hong Kong in the mid 80's. Same policy. And people played with the idea back them - to get as much salad items as you can on one plate. But nothing compared to the scale that we see in those pictures.

Every Chinese diner is a structural engineer...

Blue Ribbon is quite popular in Hong Kong, for whatever reason. Marketing? I was surprised to realize when I came to school in USA that Blue Ribbon was almost unheard of... Lovely can! I would save a can just for the collection... One day may worth thousands...

I don't think that is quite the case. Peking duck has as much fat as any other kind of ducks. Preparation-wise, Peking duck is blown up like a baloon so the skin is more expanded (gets thinner). Then grilled in giant ovens and the fat naturally melts and drains out. You may end up seeing less fat on the finished food.

Just passed by "Kee Wah Bakery" in Milpitas, CA. Famous Hong Kong brand name. They sell mooncakes in all kinds of packages now. The traditional ones are tin of four. (About USD $34 each). They now sell single, traditional size. Plastic bag wrapped and in a plastic tray. About $9 each. They sell "minis" - each is about 1/4 of the size of the traditional one. Really tiny. About $2 each. And boxes of minis, about $10 - $16. Really... all kinds of packagings. The ones carried by 99 Ranch are more traditional sized. Less choices than going to specialty shops like Kee Wah.

They do sell singles now. I just saw it. Somebody finally came to some marketing sense. I hope you can find them among the grocers at Convey.