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Tepee: Excellent pictures. Thanks for sharing. The bamboo leaves that are sold here (in the US) are not as wide as yours. I found that it's easier if I add a third leave on top after putting on the liu (fillings). As a result, mine are elongated tetrahedrons. Yours look a lot prettier, of course. Pan-frying joong... must be a different regional culture. In Hong Kong, most joongs are taken fresh off the boiling pot, peeled and straight on to the dining table. Drizzle on some pork fat and soy sauce, we are in business.

P.S. I still am not sure about the PB version...

Hmmm... what happened to all my smileys? Sorry, my post sounded too serious. I was doing a tongue-in-cheek. It wasn't my assertion. I was doing an impression, and obviously did a very bad job at, of another poster who said that. Sheetz: I took a look at Martin Yan's Mapo Tofu recipe. I was surprised by it. Overly simplistic it seemed. I have seen his China Town show. His techniques seemed good, but I would not think him as the top chef of real culinary arts. In fact I learned a few things from that show. But the Mapo tofu recipe posted seemed so unlike his style. Maybe he needs to fire his assistance. For one thing: Marinating pork with just soy and corn starch... hmmm... no wonder your dish tasted bland. Sauce: soy and water, and some sesame oil.... hmmm no wonder your dish tasted bland. My philosophy: The marinade for your meat is very important. You need to "par-cook" your ground pork first. (Brown the meat) Taste your meat after you brown it. If it tastes great as is, your dish will taste very good. If it doesn't taste like much, no sauce or other methods would revive your dish. So, first start with marinating your meat properly. Taste it after you brown the meat. Learn through feedback and repetition. Try my recipe: But I don't have time to write a full-scale one. So... use your Chinese food cooking experience for your judgement: Marinade for your pork: sesame oil, ground white pepper, light soy sauce, xaoxing wine, corn starch, oyster sauce. (This is very basic)... Mix and marinate for over 30 minutes if you can. Brown your meat first. Remove. No need to wash your pan/wok. Kind of like the French technique of deglazing the pan. Add oil, high heat, add chopped garlic (generous), ground ginger (if you like), chili bean paste, brown bean paste, hoisin sauce, dash in white vinegar. Stir. Add chicken broth. Add a bit of soy sauce. Wait til boiled. Add corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce. Then add the silken tofu (criss-cross, about 1 in by 1 in. Just use a small knief to criss-cross it. Let it be rectangular like thick fries. It will break apart anyway. Cook til sauce is boiling again (with tofu). Stir very gently. At last re-add ground pork. Stir. Add chopped green onions or cilantro. Finishing touch: sprinkle peppercorn powder and drip in some sesame oil. (if you use the whole peppercorn, you need to roast it first, and add to the pan while sauteeing garlic at the beginning.

<<<<< smacking my head by my wife >>>>> Yes, yes. Thanks for the correction. Toisanese is "doong".

What's stopping you from making zoong? You know all the ingredients and where to get them. You have the knowhow to make them. (If not, we'll help you. It's much easier than you imagine.) Added bonus: you can turn around and sell some to her!

It is time the rest of the world gets baptized with some international food culture. Can you imagine a world where the English insist on calling "long thin yellow noodle" for spaghetti and "baked dough topped with cheese" for pizza?

I haven't been to a Chinese banquet outside of Canton. Speaking of the Cantonese banquet experience, especially those popularized in Hong Kong, what you described totally defied my experience. 1) Yes the first one (appertizer if you will) is usually a cold (room temperature, not chilled) dish, mainly composed of roasted suckling pigs, "bak jum gai" chicken, jelly fish, BBQ pork, etc.. 2) Arranged from lightest to the heaviest? Hmmm... if that is the case, steamed fish should be the second course but it never is. The second one is typically dried scallop with mushrooms or something similar. It is "heavy" right off the bet. Shark-fin soup is not until typically the fifth course. 3) Vegetable (non-meat) dish is almost never used in a banquet. Cantonese (maybe Hong Kongers) think all vegetable as not-worthy of serving at banquets. ("Cheap") 4) The carbo's are usually in the form of fried rice and fried noodles (especially yee-mian), served at last (when everybody is 90% full). Most of the time these dishes are wasted. They are not counted as a course. 5) Desserts... well, only kind of... some bao with lotus seed paste as fillings, or dessert soups like red beans, honeydew/tapioca, kind of thing. Fruits... almost invariably oranges. Having no repeated items in the menu is just kind of common sense. In a Cantonese banquet you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a Zha Zi Gai (Fried Chicken) and no chicken wing (again: "cheap"). Typically this is course # 8 after the steamed fish (#7). I had posted a typical Cantonese banquet menu in this forum somewhere some time ago. Can't find it any more.

Unlike other Italian herbs, with cilantro (coriander), growing them at home is very impractical because you need to use so much of them for cooking in just one dish. And it is relatively cheap to get bundles of them in grocery markets.

Why? Isn't "zoong" official enough? I very much resist the so-called "Chinese Tamale" (though I must admit I had used it before for convenience). Why don't we call it what it is? Zoong = Cantonese/Toisanese Zongzi = Official Chinese (Mandarin) = 粽 [zong4] 子 [zi3] If we can maintain Tamale as Tamale, Croissant as Croissant, Crepes as Crepes, Sushi as Sushi, Parfaits as Parfaits, Fondue as Fondue, Souffle as Souffle, Spaghetti as Spaghetti, Kim Chi as Kim Chi, Pho Tai as Pho Tai, then what's wrong with using Zongzi in a standard English sentence? Do you call "Kim Chi" Korean pickled napa cabbage? Pho Tai "Vietnamese rice noodle soup with sliced of raw beef"? (If they don't know what Parfaits, Fondue, Zongzi are and seek for explanations, that's a different situation.) After all, do you call: Tamale (Mexican): Mexican Zongzi?

Hmmm..... I don't think so. I think you were thinking of "Nor Mi Gai" [Cantonese], which is wrapped with lotus leaves (sticky rice, pieces of chicken, black mushroom, dried shrimp, lap cheung). This is a standard dim sum item. Joong, which is wrapped with bamboo leaves (sticky rice, mung beans, salted pork, salted egg, black mushroom (maybe), dried shrimp (maybe), lap cheung (maybe), - that's only one version of it... or other ingredients) is offered more commonly in dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong, and very rarely in North America (well, in the ones that I've been to anyway).

To use only 2 leaves, you gotta be: 1) Making a small size zoong 2) An expert in wrapping zoong most of us amatuers use 3 leaves. Much easier to wrap. 2 for holding the "liu" (ingredients), 1 for covering... sort of.

Be really careful running your fingers down those bamboo leaves, especially when they are dry. They cut easier than thin papers. It costed me a few scratches making zoong last yeat. Is there really a benefit boiling the bamboo leaves before wrapping? I just soak the leaves in water overnight, no boiling.

What? No Szechuan peppercorn? You can make it however you want, as long as you don't call it Mapo Doufu. I can't believe you used Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter? This is too Canadianized. No, too Manitobized. No, too Hillmanized. You gotta call this "Fapo Doufu" perhaps (Fa as in Fa Sung [peanuts]). Why brown the tofu? I think the essence of Mapo Tofu is the soft, silken texture of tofu in contrast to the "rough" ground pork, and the contrast of bland tofu to the rich taste of the meat. When you brown your tofu, most likely you are using the harder kind of tofu, or that the browning process will harden the skin of the tofu, and that you deminishing the attractiveness of this dish. Most Chinese Restaurants that worths the reputation of being "authentic" in the USA (which I had tried) that offer this dish invariably use silken tofu, no pre-browning.

I make Penang curry from time to time. Mine will be an American influenced Chinese rendition of Thai versions of Malay versions of Indian curries!

When my wife and I eat out in our favorite Chinese restaurants, we always - purposedly - order the dinner for 3 or 4 or 5. And in fact many people do it like us. We sample every dish when they are served fresh and warm. Then we take the rest home. The left overs will be our lunches/dinners in the next 2 days. Especially when restaurants offer family packaged dinner for a US $5 to $6 a dish on average, who can resist? Hell beat cooking at home! Chinese food is always meant to be eaten hot. With the advent of Microwave ovens, this is pretty easy to achieve. I don't eat left overs cold. Especially rice. When it is cold, it's hard and powder-like. I will never appreciate the joy of having cold fried rice, especially for breakfast. I resist anything *cold* for breakfast.

Yuki is right on! That's exactly how I do mine too. Cook the mixture (meat + sauces) just about 1/2 way before it boils (judged by experience), then add the silken tofu (soft tofu) - sliced into big cubes (they will break apart anyway). Bring the rest to a boil but keep the stirring to a minimum. Sprinkle a bit of chopped green onions on top before serving. (Optional: a dash of sesame oil and some white pepper on top - or powder peppercorn if you believe in authentic Mapo tofu must contain peppercorn).

In the Chinese Dan Tart recipes, what's called "oil skin" (oil dough) is really made from butter. Butter in Cantonese Chinese translation is Ngau Yau (Cow oil, a misnamer), which is where the "oil" dough picks up the "oil" from. The butter should be cold (hard) when making the dough. You just cut the butter into small cubes to mix with flour. I don't think melted butter would make good results. Also, placing the dough in the frige to chill it before baking is also essential. To archieve the "flaky" result, many fold the dough, roll it down, fold the dough again, and roll it down many times (a lamination effect, I think). Some recipes call for rolling the "oil" dough with "water" dough (one that does not use butter) in an interleaved fashion. Probably use just egg-york, right? If you didn't, try so.

I think the sausage jokhm was talking about is not lap cheung. And in that case, these recipes may not apply. Xiang Chang is definitely not the name for lap cheung. I may be wrong without seeing a picture, but I think he's talking other kinds of sausages popular in Hong Kong. One that is orange/red in color, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and 8 to 9 inches long? (never seen lap cheung that big) One that we like to slice up diagonally and lightly fry in oil? This is more like luncheon pork kind of sausage?

You can order Tomato and Beef over rice in most restaurants in Hong Kong. I thought it's a Hong Konger's thing!

Where do you find the clay to do beggar's chicken?

That's rather interesting. It is totally different from the Chinese custom. In formal Cantonese banquets in Hong Kong, the "soup" is usually shark-fin soup which is the 4th/5th (I forgot) course. The eighth course is usually fried chicken, right after steamed fish, followed by the "starch" like fried noodles/fried rice and such. In Cantonese banquets in USA, things are altered a bit. They usually bring out "soup" (such as West Lake beef soup, crab-meat asparagus soup, etc.) as the first course. In casual dining in USA, they would bring out the "house soup" before the main course arrive. I have not seen soup seved at the end, unless you are talking about the "dessert soup" such as red bean dessert soup, or cantaloupe soup with tapioca, etc..

Jaymes: I agree with you that Popcorn should test the water and see what meal the guest of honor prefers before deciding on the best dinner arrangement. However, we Chinese have a different viewpoint about eating in a foreign country. While your example illustrates how some Americans travelling in China would prefer to have local Chinese food. Chinese who are touring in America may not think in a reciprocal way. Most Chinese prefer Chinese meals wherever they travel - even with the understanding that what the Chinese food they get in a foreign country may be inferior to what they can get at home. (Of course, Chinese food is the best! ) Seriously, most Chinese prefer to stick to what they are comfortable with and are less adventurous in food sampling. You can see that most Hong Kong based tours traveling in European countries (or USA/Canada) would emphasize "dining in Chinese restaurants every night" throughout the whole trip as a marketing point (rather than "trying out the exotic local meals every night"). Since Chinese restaurants are pretty much everywhere, so it is not too difficult to arrange. And... being that Chinese are more implicit, Popcorn you probably don't want to ask the guest directly. As if you do, he will say "it's up to you, I'll eat anything". (mostly for being polite). So the burden is back on your shoulder to figure this out. You probably want to check indirectly and ask those who knows him well, or ask the organizer of the trip what your guest prefers. Popcorn: It is admirable that you think of cooking a full Chinese course at home. But to do it well, this is a major undertaking. Mostly because: (1) you need special equipment to cook Chinese food well (high-heat burners, wok, steamers, etc..) and (2) timing is very crucial. See, Chinese do not like eating food cold. Stir-fried dishes have to come right out of the kitchen and go quickly to the dinner table. With a typical of 8 courses in a banquet-style Chinese meal, and each entrie should be served within 5 minutes of each other, it challenges even the most experienced Chinese chef doing by him/herself, let along doing this in a home environment. Besides, if you spend most of your energies preparing and cooking the meal, who does the hosting? Unless you just want to serve 2 to 3 entries and along with some BBQ/fried-rice/noodles take-out items as supplements, your best bet would probably either hire a caterer or treat in a Chinese restaurant. I would opt for the former choice if I have a nice home and I want to entertain with more than just a meal. (e.g. with live music or Tai-Chi demonstration or something)

Ben: you are a man eater? (or girl eater)? Gastro: nice work. It would be really helpful if you have a picture of the finished product. Have you fried your Gai Loong yet?

It can't be. It didn't exist in Chinese cooking more than a couple hundred years ago. Since (I heard) it is imported from the Portugese via Macau to Hong Kong, the Portugese gotta be the master of these Custard Tarts. I learned through another forum the following recipe of Pastéis de Nata (Cream Custard Tarts) Looks about right.

Oh my goodness... an egg roll that is 2 inches in diameter and 6 inches long! What is this? A burrito? A chimichanga? But... I know I know... it is true. In many American-Chinese restaurants, that's what customers buy. When you have an egg roll so big, invariably the skin could not be made crispy. That's what you see in the earlier picture: soft egg roll skins with brown dots all over. To make the egg roll crispy, you must use dry fillings, thin egg roll skins and less filling in each roll... and high temperature deep-frying. Spring roll, egg roll... yeah, some restaurants use the name spring roll (closer to the Chinese translation). But just the naming does not dictate what it is. When I used to work as a waiter and I mentioned the name "spring roll", most of the customer would say "Huh???" Many restaurants got with the game and named the item "egg roll". Spring roll, egg roll, what it is... depends on how the given restaurant makes it really.