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I am not sure what kinds of restaurants you'd been to in Hong Kong (they have different kinds). But in dim sum restaurants bringing a small dish of hot mustard, or chili sauce, and sometimes a mix of the 2 in a ying-yang shape is almost like a standard. Soy sauce is poured on a small dish as a "service". In a lower-end restaurant, it's placed on the table. Unless you went to those that geared towards tourists... Or that the waiters didn't know whether they should bring you the mustards/soy knowing that you were a tourist... XO sauce? I really doubt it they "give" this away for free. I think they will provide you with some upon request but would add extras to your bill. Mustard for sui-yuk, char siu I understand. But shark-fin soup? Hmmmm, that's unusual. Typically what some would use is a bit of vinegar, which really brings out the taste. Any other condiment may overpower the delicate taste of shark-fin. Worcestershire sauce is not usually brought out automatically unless accompanying dim sum dishes such as steamed beef balls, and egg rolls.

I think they are talking about "Lap Yuk", "Lap Cheung", "Lap Aup" and such. Those are Chinese preserved meats (Chinese sausages, Chinese dried bacons, Chinese dried ducks). Much like salami or pepperoni to the Italians. (Did they learn it from us, like the pastas? )

Hong Kong? Maybe. I grew up eating it. West Coast? Shouldn't be. You should be able to find it in the Chinese grocery stores in DC or Philly. New York for sure. In the snack section. Don't pick those with sugar glaze on surface or sesame. Dan San looks plain, and also has 2 sheets twisted together from the inside out. Looks sort of like a double bow tie. The savory flavor with characteristic taste of Nam Yu is what makes it delicious.

Hmmm... In that spirit, the fish should be "whole" too.

Auntie spaghetttti? Auntie??? Did you see her picture? Maybe "sister" is more appropriate...

Jew bought a box of "Dan San" [Cantonese]. They look like fried wonton skins but with one big difference: When making the dough from flour, egg and such, they added "Num Yu" (red fermented bean curd). The savory flavor is already built in to the dough. Then they twisted the flat strips and deep-fried them. Delicious! I don't like the other variations of deep-fried flour-dough kind of snacks with glaze of sugar. The savory flavor of Dan San is the best.

Oh, that's great! When will it air? What channel? We would like to be there to cheer you on! <inc "clapclap.wma"> I would love to see how to cook chili crabs.

The 2 terms have a common word of "chop". In Chinese it means "gathering", or "together", or also "assorted". It is the "gathering" meaning used in "dai chop wui", and "assorted" in "chop suey". The term "chop suey" just means gathering the bits and pieces (implied raw food ingredients to make the dish). ------------------------------------ Sweet and Sour Pork: I agree that you will probably find this dish with different incarnations in different parts of China. It is a common dish in Cantonese cooking. I like the Sweet and Sour Pork prepared in Hong Kong. But in the States, it's a different story. It's the same story that while some of these dishes indeed originated in China, they turned into something quite different in the USA (or elsewhere around the world outside of China). Orange Beef (sweet sweet sweet), Chicken Chow Mein (where "mein", or noodle as we know it, is optional), and Egg Foo Young (can't stand that they put so much flour in the egg mix to make an omlette, and oh, with the terrible "gravy") came to mind...

Chili crab, I heard. What are the parameters of the competition? Is there a theme? Ethnic? Seafood? Are there any secret ingredients (like Iron Chef)? Anything goes?

I grew up in Hong Kong and had never heard of the term "choy suey" until I came to the U.S. for school. After learning the meaning of the term, and tasted it in some of the "Chinese" restaurants in San Diego, I have been avoiding it since. It sure is some "Chinese" dish born in America. I have never met a choy suey dish worth "to die for". Or for that matter, Chicken "chow mein", Egg Foo Young, Almond Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, Egg Drop Soup...

I see... show some respect for all life forms on the first day of the year. As for the rest of the year, anything goes!

I like the way Taiwanese make this as snacks: Soak the dried fish in water for a few hours, drain. Get some pressed tofu (flavored with soy already). Cut into thin shreds. Sautee some minced garlic, and slices of jalapeno/chili-pepper, stir-fry the dried fish and tofu shreds together. At last drizzle on sesame oil and soy sauce shortly before serving. You can add sesame seeds too if you like.

Do you make more than 1 plateful of cheung fun at a time? If you do, do you change plates or just scrape off the cheung fun and repeat? Do you have 2 pots of water? One warm and one boiling?

That goes to show that most Chinese are utilitarians! (ai ya, that's a big word for me. You gotta say it 3 times faster!)

You have loh bak goh with other dinner dishes? Just a bit unusual.

Why is the first day of CNY a vegetarian day? Where I came from (Hong Kong), tradition has it there's gotta be a chicken dish on the first day of the CNY. (Hoi Nin) [Cantonese] (let the year begin). I believe it is the third day that is vegetarian.

It seems that no food last too long at the Choy's residence!

Are you sure about that? If you are true to the Chinese tradition... The bride is to be back-carried by the Mui Yun (Mui Geen) (matchmaker) from home to the planquin, and then from the planquin to the waiting groom where the wedding takes place. Uncle Ben would you do that? (We already broke the tradition to allow a male to be Mui Yun.)

Sure they do! Recipes that had worked for hundreds of years, why change? There are just good ones and there are not-so-good ones. I had tried quite a few brands. So try out different brands and pick the one(s) you like. I like the Mei Mei Foo Yu. Very soft and tasty.

I don't think the dress in the picture is a Kay Po. Kay Po doesn't buckle up in the front. Rather, it's on the right hand side. Also, Kay Po is a one piece dress. You can, of course, wear a coat or mink or leopard skin or something on top. This one is Kay Po. "gai mo sow": which end of the gai mo sow are you holding?

In Cantonese, Cheongsam (or Cheung Saam) has already been referring to men's cloths, and not dresses. Not sure what two piece dress you are referring to. Kay Po, I believe, is only one piece. Of course, I have never worn one so I am not sure.

It is true. Unfortunately, sadly. Hong Kongers are renown to be arrogant and impatient especially towards "immigrants" from Mainland China. The native, Hong Kong-born discriminate against others from ChowZhou, Hakka, Shanghai, Beijing, Szechuan, Toisan, Taiwan, even India, etc. who speak Cantonese with heavy accents. They only kowtow to "Gwai Low" (westerners). *sigh* Colonial legacy. Some waiters discriminated against my wife in Hong Kong during one of her visits because she spoke very broken Cantonese. Then she got mad and told them off in fluent English, and they conceded.

Dejah was close, but missed by missing one word. In Cantonese it's called Ham Shui Gok (Literal translation: Salty Water Puff). Don't feel bad. It's a typical Chinese response to their children on something that they don't know, or they don't know how to explain well. Just brush off the question either with a question ("why do you want to know?") or with a circular logic ("I am therefore I am"). Here is an online map of GuangZhou (the major city in province of GuangDong (a.k.a. Canton). Actually Canton is the old name for GuangZhou (the city), not the the province. Hong Kong is on the lower right. Toisan is somewhere to the south of GuangZhou. I can't tell exactly where on this map. If I find my map printed in Chinese, I might be able to tell you. On-line map of GuangZhou I also heard that Toisan is actually refering to the general vincinity of 4 villeges: Sam Yup (three rivers), See Yup (four rivers), and ?????? (I forgot).

Wait, wait, wait... Are you really a Dudette or a Dude? CheongSam (long cloth) is worn by males. The traditional cloth worn by females is called Kay Po [Cantonese]. Those one piece suit from neck to slightly above the knees, with an inverted V opening one on each side. You may have seen Nancy Kwan wearing it in "The World of Suzie Wong (1960)". Or Drew Berrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz at the beginning of "Charlie's Angels", disguisted as waitresses in a Chinese restaurant). As for games, how about doing gift exchanges like those you do during Christmas at work? The twist is the gifts are in the hung bao (red pockets). And they can steal from each other, max twice for any gift.

Having watched the video, I agree that it is an ingenious and practical way of making cheung fun and ????? (the Vietnamese term is for rice flour wrapping the minced meat). But I think a lot of skill is needed to pour the rice flour slurry onto the drum surface. The drum "skin" will warp when there is weight on top. So you have to do it very quickly, try to spread the rice flour as evenly as possible on top of the drum. I have an idea that if you have a metal plate/dish you can spare, ask a handyman (read "hubby") to drill many 1/8 inch holes at the bottom. Make a look like a giant coffee filter. Grind away the shape edges from drilling. Then place it in the steamer, lay a wet cheese cloth on top. Then you can pour in the rice flour slurry on top and let it form. Have a few wet cheese clothes so that you can separate the rice sheets while the other one is being steamed. This may just work!