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Wow... I think this restaurant is new. I worked in Irvine for years and years and did not notice this name. The location used to be another restaurant... not TGIFridays's but something else... can't remember the name now. They are next to a MacDonald's, right? May be I will try it next time I go down. Did you go to Sam Woo Seafood or BBQ (Culver and Irvine Center Drive). Especially Sam Woo Seafood. Excellent service, great food, reasonable price. And there are plenty of good Chinese eateries at Walnut Ave X Jeffery Road.

So the Chernobyl green color is from pandan? Do you like the added taste? Typically people don't like the dull green color (looks like it's moldy). Their coloring in the picture is not helping.

Thanks for the link to the dictionary, Suzy. That's very handy!

That's my feeling exactly too. A 15-year old would more likely look for McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut! There are plenty of these outlets in China/Hong Kong now... (Except Taco Bell...) Having said that... besides dim sum and dan tart/pineapple bao... I think a couple of things definitely worth having while in Hong Kong are: Jook (rice portridge), cheung fun (steamed rice noodles) and wonton noodles. It's extremely hard to find Chinese restaurants who make these items well in the US/Canada - unless you live in cities highly populated with Hong Konger immigrants such as San Gabriel Valley, Vancouver and such. Those items are available everywhere in Hong Kong. And most of them would not disappoint.

I have been on a mission to make the green-jelly like substance they put in a "three color shaved ice" in some Vietnamese restaurants. The shaved ice is composed of red beans (red), mung beans (yellow), and this green-jelly like substance (green). In another thread, I learned that this green-jelly like substance is made by boiling pandan leaves and adding sugar and agar-agar (leaves discarded before cooling). I tried shopping for fresh pandan leaves in a local Vietnamese/Chinese grocery market. I could only find one package that does resemble the picture of pandan leaves that I saw. The packet does not have English nor Chinese label. It does have a Vietnamese label: La Dua. I did also find some canned green extracts labelled "La Dua" and the picture on the can does resemble pandan leaves. Question: Does La Dua (Vietnamese) mean Pandan in English? Is this what I can use to make the green-jelly in 3-color shaved ice?

Thanks for the suggestion, Laksa. I would love to visit Fuzhou/Xiamen some time. But under my current circumstances it might be easier to make a trip to Penang than Fujian. I will definitely have to taste the CKT in Penang to experience the "real" thing. And, of course, I have to taste the famous "laksa" too!

In the subject of Dim Sum, I just want to mention this webpage: (Mudbug: are you ready for more drooling pictures?) http://www.koipalace.com/menu/dimmenu_gallery.html It's by "Koi Palace" Restaurant in Daly City, California (a bit south of San Francisco). I went to that restaurant once on a Saturday afternoon. Unfrotunately the waiting was way too long (which is an indication of good quality typically). Mostly Asian patrons. I did not have the patience to wait and therefore have not tried their dim sum. I did hear good reviews about them. This web page presented some pictures of the dim sum they offer. Quite authentic - speaking from a Hong Konger...

Well, using peanut oil or sesame oil is a personal preference. My father taught me to marinate in peanut oil only (Cantonese home cooking). Somewhere along my life, I picked up using sesame oil to marinate from (I can't remember whom). I like it every since. (And got Dejah and Ben mad at me... ) It is up to you. As Ben said, use sesame oil, if you do, sparingly. Unless you are like me. I use it liberally. But don't ever try to fry anything using sesame oil. It has a very low boiling point and can easily fume your kitchen. The smell is not all too pleasant. Using it as a final touch (a few drops on top of whatever dish you are having) will enhance the dish. But if you are not fond of it, just skip it. Green peppercorn is more for European cooking (e.g. the Germen like to use it on steaks.). Chinese typically use white peppercorn (in powder form). Occassionally black peppercorn (e.g. Cantonese style steak with black beans and bell pepper). Not sure what pink peppercorn is. Note that Peppercorn is not considered the "spice" in five-spice. 1 cup of soy sauce is way too much in any cooking... unless you are cooking for the whole village. Typically you use it in teaspoons of measurement. Typically 2 to 3 teaspoon to 1 lb of meat ratio (to marinate) should be enough. You adjust up or down according to your personal preference. Typically, if you order "see jup pei gwat" [Cantonese] (steamed spareribs with black bean sauce) in Hong Kong, the meat is not browned first. The whole dish is just steamed. So is the family style cooking of this dish. May be in Toisan the meat is browned first in this dish. You can try both styles and see which one you like. I usually have my meal with a glass of iced boba milk tea! (yeah, right!)

Is the term "Char Kuay Teow" specific to the Hokkien Malaysian way of stir-frying rice noodles? If I go to visit Fujian (may be Fuzhou), does anybody know if I will be able to find "Char Kuay Teow" over there (and made in a similar way?). (For example, the term "chop suey" is mostly understood by the Americans and is associated with Chinese food. If you go to China/Hong Kong and try to order "chop suey", you will draw some blank faces!)

I think I have mixed up on my terminologies. Jeet Cho (The Chinese dark vinegar)... I first thought it was the "black vinegar" that mudbug asked about. Then during the conversation, the term "red vinegar" and "brown vinegar" came up. I got a little confused. I went to look up the label on the bottle of vinegar that I used for cooking (for hairy crab as a dip). It does say Jeet Cho in Chinese. As for the English translation, it only said "vinegar". Oh, go figure. The other bottle of sweet, thick, dark vinegar used for cooking pig trotters: the label said "sweet black vinegar". Chinese is Teem Cho [Cantonese] (meaning sweet vinegar). So... black vinegar for making pig trotters, red/brown vinegar for a dip and for cooking (certain dishes such as General's Chicken), and white vinegar for cooking sweet and sour dishes and "po choy" (the pickled vegetables used as appertizers).

I have deleted "MSG" from my cooking vocabulary since college days. May be besides "wok hei", this is what separate home cooking from food in the restaurants. But, many of the sauces and canned ingredients would contain MSG anyway...

I assume that you were referencing the ribs: I, like thousands of other Chinese who cook, don't use any measuring instruments (such as measuring spoons, measuring cups, etc.). And do it by trial-and-error. A pinch of salt here, a dash of sesame oil there. Very often I found it difficult to follow recipe books because there are always things lost when transforming from actions (how to cook, the process) into words, measurements included. When I read a recipe, I note the ingredients and the preparation and cooking processes, and pay very little attention to the quantity/measurement because I always replace what they printed with my own quantity based on my experience and my taste. Having said that, I am trying my best to convey my way of making "steamed pork ribs with fermented black beans" (I hope this is what you were asking): - Chopped spare ribs 1 to 1.5 lb - Ground white pepper 1 teaspoon - Sesame oil 3 teaspoon - light soy sauce 3 teaspoon - salt (optional, to taste) - Xiaoxing rice wine 3 teaspoon - corn starch 2 teaspoon - fermented black beans about 2 to 3 table spoon: rinsed, drained, and smashed - garlic 2-3 cloves peeled and smashed and finely chopped - ginger a few thin slices, shredded - chili pepper 1/2, thinly sliced Combine all these ingredients, marinate the pork spareribs for at least 30 minutes (or a few hours in the frig). Steam for about 10 to 15 minutes, test the pork to see if it's fully cooked.

This Lo Wah Kueh now thinks that I have trouble with my Chinese! Take a look at my original post. I said "Dry-Fried" for "gone chow", not "Deep-Fried", for the lack of better translations. I accept that Dry Stir-Fried may be closer. I know Deep and Dry look very close. Time to put on your glasses that you have stored away, Dejah...

Dejah: you didn't use "night soil" to fertilize your garden, did you?

I have seen them in the Asian grocery market before. Is there a Chinese name (or translation) for this vegetable?

TP: when you get your mooncakes from Kam Lun Tai, does the filling of the mooncakes (especially the Pearly Jade flavor) look that green like the one in the pictures?

I wonder who got fed the first 39,999 har gow...

I thought it was the part where the mother's milk came out of (very specifically) . Looks like... ← Even more specially, what you described is only the "Bo" part in Boba. The "Ba" part means "top-ranking"...

Yeah... first we have Boba, now we have uterus... This board is going R-rated very soon.

When I first saw "Dong Gwai" posted by Origamicrane, I thought he was referring to winter melon (Benincasa hispida) too. But now I understand he was talking about "Dong Quai" (there are different spellings), or Angelica sinensis. Here are some pictures from Google Image search. I have input the Chinese name: (Google images of Dong Quai) A Chinese herb that looks like Ginseng.

I have seen this web page before. Look at the colors of the mooncake pictures. I believe Gary Soup once described that they look like mooncake from Chernobyl! I'll say the pictures are produced by the same computer animation artists who created CG figures in the movie Mars Attacks!. You would have thought they would change the pictures by now...

Can these moon cakes be kept long (because they contain meat inside)? Is the pork more like pork-jerky or the real moist freshly cooked meat?

Now wait a minute! Where did this come from? I happen to like "wa mui" since childhood! My father liked it too. Where did you hear such a statement?

Who are you calling "old man"???? This term is reserved for me to call myself! LOL... can you imagine me, a 40some year old guy, biting on a 1/2 inch diameter straw chasing after the "pearl balls" in the tea, sucking them up one by one - to score.... Seeeeeeppp... Arrrrrrr... [head shaking... i don't understand this...]

Then CKT really is the same as Cantonese "Dry-Fried Beef Rice Noodle" (Gone Chow Ngau Ho) - if you use soy sauce. Perhaps you use shrimp/fish/seafood other than beef. Hong Kong chefs may be all wrong... If you walk into a restaurant in Hong Kong and order Char Quay Teow, you will get rice noodles cooked with curry powder.