hzrt8w

Not sure. Probably none (I couldn't taste it). I will look at the label when I get home. Yes I think that rock sugar would give the sauce some sheen. ← The label did list sugar as an ingredient, but did not say how much. I don't think there is a whole lot of sugar in it though.

I have a box of Thousand Year Old Eggs (pei dan [Cantonese]) stashed in the back of the cupboard. I didn't realize it until now. They must have been purchased a couple of years ago. I could not tell exactly when. I thought that Thousand Year Old Eggs can be kept for a thousand year! When I broke one opened, I found that the egg yolk had turned solid (no more liquidy yolk). The egg white had turned pale. The whole inside shrank in size by at least 20%. It no longer has the flavor. How long do you think pei dan can be kept?

I am not very clear... What is "lard" exactly? Is it the raw pork fat? Or the liquid oil extracted from pork fat (Gue Yau [Cantonese])? Or the oil solidified? (Gue Yau Goh [Cantonese])? Is there some lump of meat attached to the fat or pure fat?

Answer to the jigsaw pizzle:

Anzu: Thanks for the interesting report. A local Chinese restaurants that my parents-in-law frequent - yes, the same one that they visit twice a week in the past 11 years - has given my MIL some single yolk white lotus seed paste moon cakes. This is the moon cake from "Happy Garden" (Tung Hing in Cantonese - means to celebrate together). Can you see their restaurant name on the cake? Single yolk, white lotus seed paste filling. I have to say that my wife and I were disappointed. The yolk tasted okay (don't they all?)... but the filling... didn't taste like much. But we can't complain... It's free...

Wow... thanks Tepee. That looks lovely. Low prices and you have your choices from 40 some items? Such a food heaven! The Malaysian pumpkin doesn't look like the US pumpkin. The US pumpkin is bright dark orange and very sweet. More used as a dessert (pumpkin pie) than a side vegetable. Is yours sweet and soft? Or more crunchy and unsweet - like melon?

Yeah, I have seen slices of hard-boiled eggs in many of the Straight-Chinese dishes... May be this is a cultural difference? In Hong Kong, I don't usually see hard-boiled eggs with too many dishes. Of course we have the tea eggs (which are made in similar ways)... but we eat eggs for the eggs and not necessarily accompanying some other dishes.

I think you may say that. The term "red cooked" (Hung Shao [Mandarin]) is usually used on pork or beef but not on chicken. The method and ingredients are very similar though - except that in "red cooked" dishes, they typically don't use too much sugar. The sauce in soy sauce chicken is typically on the sweet side.

Thanks, Yuki. Yeah, that's the way I used to make it too. Frying the chicken first (with some garlic and ginger), and then add the soy sauce. But 2 draw backs: 1) You need to chop up the chicken in pieces to do it. Or else if you put the whole chicken in, the browning will be un-even. 2) With boneless chicken breast, you can fry it first. Without the skin protection, and that white meat cooks so quickly, the chicken breast will easily get overcooked. And I observe those see foo (masters) in the BBQ stores don't really fry the chicken. So I started skipping that part. (Yeah... right... if you buy the story... just that I am lazy... Oh well, both) I also want to add that I learned of a variation of this receipt which uses a 1-liter bottle of coca-cola in place of water. Yeah, you heard me. Coca-cola the soda soft drink. The taste of coca-cola is just so complimentary to the soy sauce chicken. When I first tasted that dish (about 30 years ago), I felt in love with it. I still make the "coca-cola chicken" every now and then.

We can change the title to "cook-off" if that would make you to try to cook it!

Not sure. Probably none (I couldn't taste it). I will look at the label when I get home. Yes I think that rock sugar would give the sauce some sheen. Yeah, I use a flat all-purpose grater (maybe finer than the cheese grater).

Soy Sauce Chicken Soy sauce chicken is a very common dish: both home-made or bought in restaurants. There are hundreds of recipes. The key to making it is the sauce ingredients and the timing. The sauce ingredients Dark soy sauce, lo shui (Chinese Marinade), 1/2 onion, chicken meat, garlic, and some brown sugar. Ginger and star anise - (not shown in picture) Chinese Marinade I like to use this ready-for-use mix from Lee Kum Kee. In Cantonese, it is called lo shui (master sauce). They translated it as "Chinese Marinade". It is a mix made of soy sauce and five spices and such. It is very flavorful. If you taste it, you will notice that it is very salty. You dilute it with water for use. If you cannot find this ready-for-use mix, you can also use the whole spice: Cinnamon, star anise, funnel, clove and corriander? Dark soy sauce Here is the dark soy sauce I use. I like the Peal River Bridge brand. You may use your favorite brand but I think this brand has the best flavor. Onion, garlic, ginger, pein tong: I like the taste of onion and garlic in my soy sauce chicken so I use them to prepare my braising soy sauce. Some recipes don't call for them and you don't need to use them if you don't care for them. But the ginger and brown sugar is absolutely essential for making soy sauce chicken. I normally use rock sugar (bing tong) but I ran out the other night. So I used pein tong (sugarcane sugar?), which is an acceptable substitute. White sugar is a bit too plain for the flavor. Wedge half an onion, mince the garlic, grate the ginger (I like it grated so the flavor is absorbed by the sauce, you can just slice it if you like.) Boil the sauce with all ingredients If you make the "master soy sauce" for the first time, add "lo shui", dark soy sauce and water in a 1 to 1 ratio on all three. If you re-use the master sauce from previous cooking sessions, you should replenish the "lo shui" and dark soy sauce but have no need to add water because each time you cook, the sauce will be diluted from the water content extracted from the chicken meat. Bring the sauce mix to a boil, add the wedged onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, brown sugar and add about 10 star anises. Boil the mixture for a good 15 minutes with the lid on. Put the chicken in and simmer. Add the chicken in the boiling sauce. I use a whole chicken sometimes, but this time I used boneless chicken breasts. Whole chicken (with bones and skins) is the best in flavor because the chicken skin protects the meat from overcooking (meat turns rough), and dark meat can tolerate overcooking more than white meat. Once the chicken meat is in, turn down the fire immediately to slow/medium. Put the lid on and simmer it. If you use boneless chicken breast like I do, be very careful with your timing. Breast meat can be overcooked easily (if you forget to turn down the fire). Dark meat is more forgiving. Chicken breast can be ready in just 15 minutes. Give or take. Just check the meat. The simple rule to tell is: NO MORE PINK. When chicken meat turns from pink to white, it's done. If you cook with a whole chicken, the sauce should cover at least half a chicken. You just simmer/braise the chicken on one side, then turn it and cook the other side. (The second side doesn't take as long). Maybe 15-20 minute for the first side and 10-15 for second? Finished dish. When the meat is cooked, take it out and slice it (or chop it with a cleaver). Use a strainer to filter out the onion/garlic/ginger/star-anise/etc. Discard them. Scoop some soy sauce and pour on top of your chicken. If you have left-overs, it's best to keep the chicken breast whole and only slice it up when you serve. I usually save the master soy sauce. When it cools down, drain all grease and other pulps. Keep in a plastic container in the freezer. Use it again for your next round.

hzrt, how many years ago was that? Were they still playing Teresa Teng on the radio? Now, for RM1.50, you can get a plate of plain rice, and maybe a piece of tofu. ← Really? Just 2 days ago. We IM each other frequently just for kicks. Let me ask her where she got it. Unless she's just teasing. Maybe it was just a very special promotion. She said she had rice, pumpkin (pumpkin????) and squid. ← Okay. Got a clarification. The "economy rice" was offered at RM2.50. But her company subsidizes RM1.00 so her price was RM1.50. Even at RM2.50 it seems a great deal!

That's my feeling exactly! Hong Kong is the capital city of the best Cantonese cuisine. So why try to find subpar Indian food, Italian food, steak, Korean, Japanese, whatever... during a limited-time visit? From my perspective, it's always like ordering a steak while in Boston and ordering a lobster dish while in Dallas. And the answer is always like: I want a variety! We can have dim sum for only so many days... (but Cantonese food is not just all about dim sum...)

A good friend of mine just made a trip last October (2004) and stayed at Prudential Hotel Hong Kong: Some info here for Prudential Hotel Hong Kong She paid only around US $70/night - but that was off-season rate. She also recommend checking out: Tatami Hampton Hotel Hong Kong on expedial.com. I just checked on Expedia and they offer standard room for US $58/night. Supposed to be a 19-story hotel. Should be okay. She said the rate is so low perhaps because they are grand-opening. When I looked around Expedia, most hotel rooms range from US$100 to $200. Anyway... Prudential Hotel is at a very convenient location along Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. It is not at the tip of Kowloon Peninsula but pretty close to it (10 minutes walking). It is on top of a MTR (Hong Kong's subway) station, very convenient. And it is very close to MongKok (2 MTR stations away) and the famous "Temple Street" where the night market is. If you want to do your tourist thing and experience hotel cafe, great view of the Victoria Harbor, excellent service and all that, go down to the tip of Tsim Sha Tsui (1 MTR station away or 10 minutes walking along Nathan Road). If you want to experience the real "local" stuff, head the other direction along Nathan road to Mongkok - the heart of the Kowloon central shopping district. You will find plenty of local eateries offering the common, day-to-day local food. Also, plenty of street food along the Temple Street area at night. Also bear in mind that in recent years, food courts inside shopping malls are in. They are kind of like the hawker centres in Singapore and the food courts in the USA. You can do your visual shopping around different vendors before deciding what to eat. Since I don't live there any more and my last visit was 6 years ago, it's hard for me, or anyone to make specific recommendation based on memory unless one lives there. Businesses in Hong Kong has a very quick turn over rate. In 3 to 4 years things can be totally different. Of course the good ones can last 10, 20, 30 (or longer) years... Yes, English will get you by. But if one knows how to order in Cantonese, it can be more specific.

That's what I love about this forum. Every few months or so, someone will prompt for recommendations on restaurants and places to visit during a trip to Hong Kong or elsewhere in China. We all got together and offered our experiences. And at times debated each other about the choices. And in the end, the persons requesting recommendations often ended up getting something entirely different during the trip. And what a fun exercise! Here we go again...

hzrt, how many years ago was that? Were they still playing Teresa Teng on the radio? Now, for RM1.50, you can get a plate of plain rice, and maybe a piece of tofu. ← Really? Just 2 days ago. We IM each other frequently just for kicks. Let me ask her where she got it. Unless she's just teasing. Maybe it was just a very special promotion. She said she had rice, pumpkin (pumpkin????) and squid.

Well... I am not that obsessed with uniform size. Size doesn't matter much to me. But I would sure like to have a simple trick to get the fish paste to form a "cake" - evenly flat, on both sides. The way I have been cooking raw fish paste: I scoop it with a spoon onto the pan, then quickly flatten the top with a spatula. But the edges will be all irregularly shaped. It's home cooking... Mo saw wai la (don't sweat it). It will be nice to form them in circular discs. Unlike bread doughs, I don't think we can "roll" the fish paste into a long tubular roll because it is very soft and very sticky. Yeah... I am cooking more once again. A few months ago I was really tied up with work and my study. Now my last project is over. It's just "study". I can cook and post days and nights. Just for a short while... hopefully. Tepee: may be give your DH a kick on the behind to shoot some photos while *you* are busy cooking!

Thanks infernooo. I was thinking something along that line. Use a pastry ring to form the fish paste into circular shape. If I use a ring (no top no bottom), the bottom of the fish cake will be flat because of the pan. But the top side can be irregularly shaped. Unless I can use a butter knife or something to putty the top. I also thought of using a very shallow tuny can (no top). Scoop the fish paste inside. Use a butter knife to putty the top. Then quickly flip the can on top of the pan, shake it and let the fish paste drop on to it. But the difficulty is the fish paste usually will stick on the can and will not fall out easily. If you use a knife to scrape it off, you would ruin the form. For those who have not worked with raw fish paste: they are very soft (like tooth paste). They harden quickly when cooked. And they are very sticky. They stick to the container, to your finger, to the knife... everything. That's one thing I don't like working with it.

Yes, Laksa. That's exactly right! Thank you! It is the root part. (I didn't know what the plant looks like until today.) There was no root in the soup that night. The waitress just didn't scoop us any. My wife doesn't care to eat it. But I like it (well... it's okay... I usually just chew on a piece or 2, no more). A bit tough. I sometimes need to spit out the fiber. Unsightly... Here is the best image of the pueraria lobata root I could find via Google: http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/images/..._var_lobata.htm

Chiu Chow (Teochew)/Thai Style Fish Cakes with Sa Cha Sauce I am trying to duplicate the fish cakes we had in a Chiu Chow (Teochew) style Chinese Noodle house in Richmond. They served the fish cake plain in the restaurant. I would like to add a sauce to pour on top. I bought this bag of frozen fish cakes from the 99 Ranch Asian market. They labelled it as "Thai fish cakes". They did put some kiffar leave chunks in the fish cakes. Taste pretty good. Lay some shredded lettuce on the bottom of the dish. It serves as a garnish. And actually for another practical reason: the lettuce will absorb the excess cooking oil from the fish cakes. Lightly fry the fish cakes to golden brown (or slightly blackened). These fish cakes are ready-to-eat. You may use some raw fish paste to make this dish if you like. Just add some kiffar leave chunks to the fish paste mix. Ready-to-eat fish cakes sure are much easier. Lay the golden brown fish cakes on top of the bed of shredded lettuce. Hmmmm... what should I make as a sauce? Worry not! There is nothing that a little bit of garlic, chili, sambal and black pepper couldn't do. I chose to use the Sa Cha sauce (Bull Head brand - the best) as a base. Heat up a little bit of cooking oil to red hot. Put in minced garlic, minced chili, 1 tsp of sambal (or chili garlic sauce), a pinch of salt, 3-4 tsp of sa cha sauce (you may use this in generous portion), grind in some black pepper, and dash in 1 tsp of white vinegar and 1 tsp of sugar. Add a little bit of water (I use chicken broth sometimes). Cook for just a minute or so. Pour the finished sauce on top of the fish cakes. Put on a few slices of jalapeno for garnishing. For my DW who could not stand the heat, I have prepared a small dish of hoisin sauce on the side for her. One question: Does anyone know if I want to use raw fish paste to make these fish cakes, how can I mold them to the disc shape?

My former coworker told me that she had some of these "economic rice" in Penang for lunch. Cost... only RM 1.50 (US$0.40).... my gosh...

I agree with Pan. Sorry if that scared you Tepee. The typical US dine-out price is around US$15 to $25 per head. At Denny's (one of the chains here, you can find them everywhere), you can order a dinner entry from US $8 to $10. But if you order drinks (e.g. beer/wine), appertizers, desserts and all that, they will add up. Because most Chinese restaurants offer dishes for only US $6 to $9 an entry, some Americans consider going to Chinese restaurants to dine as a "cheap date". The recent uprise of Chinese restaurant chains such as Panda Inn, PF Chang's and Fat's seem to want to break out of that mode.

Yes it is! I wouldn't trade it for those that they sell at $4.95 a bowl (wonton soup, egg drop soup, etc.) Pork neck bones and some kind of vegetables (ours was fun got [Cantonese] - don't know the English name (help! someone please help!), simmered for probably a good 4-5 hours.

Stay with the Chinese food and you will be just fine! That's what you plan to do anyway (or else someone will die I heard ). This protection envelop can only be found in the Los Angeles basin and San Francisco areas. Can't help you when you visit San Diego or Santa Barbara. Perhaps those nights would be designated as US cultural nights (MacDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Huts, etc.)... P.S.: Don't count on having lunch inside Disneyland. A hot dog would cost US $5.00 and a soda US $3.00. May be bring in some Man Tou...