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If you are into strong spirits, then you getta try the number one spirit from China: Mou-Tai. It is very strong, both in alcohol content (53% = 106 proof) and aroma. If I remember it correctly, this is the stuff the Chinese officials used to serve Nixon when he made his historic ice-breaking visit to Beijing back in the 70's. A sip of it, I can feel that my head starts spinning. Here is a picture of it: Mou Tai It is relatively high-priced, though not as expensive as XO's. Here is a website about Chinese alcohol products. There are some articles about how they make alcohols. It's interesting. Click here

1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. I don't think it's entirely chili oil. It's soup/broth with a heavy doze of chili oil. Haven't had one for a while.

The Shanghainese pronounciation sounds so, arrr, foreign. So different from Cantonese and Mandarin.

Whether Lowfan or Gweilo, I don't think you should take it too offensively. Though "Gwei" (ghost) originally had a negative connotation, it is used in common place these days that it's comparable to "Yanks" for the Americans and "Brits" for the Britishs and "Aussies" for the Australians.

With that credential, she can *demand* dinner to be cooked and served to her satisfaction! Everyday... Til death do them apart...

I guess so. I know "lao" means old. I couldn't figure out which Chinese character is "wai".

In Hong Kong, they called it 肉骨茶 "yuk gwut char". Sounds slightly better. Laksa: from your picture, you look a bit different now. Is it the hair?

I would say that lowfan is a more polite term. Lowfan means "the old foreigner". Gweilo means "the ghost". Lo in Chinese is similar to saying "a guy".

pan: do you have an update for us regarding the tipping practice or expectation in China, circa 2004?

Guangzhou is the capital of Cantonese cuisine. It would seem to me that one should take the opportunity to taste what the best Cantonese cuisine has to offer. So why look for northern style eateries while in Guangzhou? It would be rather like eating steaks while in New England and lobsters while in Dallas. There is an old Chinese saying: 食在广州, which means when it comes to good food, you need to eat in Guangzhou. Obviously Cantonese cuisine ranks among the tops in regional Chinese cuisines.

I edited the original posting of this note on point (2). Simmering the pork for 1.5 hour (originally posted) may be a bit too long, as the pork still needs to be baked for 20 minutes or so. I changed it to 1 hour. Start with that and adjust.

Yes, whole grains. They are so small that measurement usually is done by the spoonful (or handful).

In Teochew style (or Chiu Chow style in Cantonese) congee, they don't boil the rice as long as the Canton style. Chiu Chow style retains the rice grains. In Canton style, all rice grains are dissolved into the congee.

Betty: some additional comments: 1. I forgot to mention: In the last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, turn the oven temperature up from 300F to 425F. You really want to have a nice brown (slightly charred) coat on the BBQ pork. 2. Another approach to make BBQ pork is do the marination overnight as said. Instead of baking the BBQ pork for 1.5 hour in the oven at 300F, first simmer the pork in a solution made of Chinese Marinade and Dark Soy Sauce and water. (About 1:2:5 ratio, as Chinese Marinade is really salty). Mix just enough of this solution to cover your pork. Make sure the heat is at the minimum to simmer the pork. After about 1 hour, then hook up the pork in the oven and bake it at 425F for 20 minutes or so (and baste while baking) to give it the finishing touch. The simmering method (instead of all baking) should yield the pork as tender yet juicy and with a crispy skin. Some restaurants make it this way. Note: you may save the simmer solution in a plastic container. Just freeze it until the next use. With each use, skim off the grease and replenish a little bit of Chinese Marinade and Dark Soy Sauce. 3. The Chinese Marinade itself is just a mix of five spices mixed with mostly soy sauce. I like to buy the ready-made Chinese Marinade because it's convenient. If you don't have it but have the five spices (not the five spice powder, the best is to use the original dry spices), you may make your own Chinese Marinade (we call it Lo Shui in Cantonese). Simply use a pan, put in 1 cup of water, 1 cup of dark soy sauce, then add: - 1 stick of cinnamon - 1 tbsp clove - about 5 star anise - 1 tbsp cumin - 1 tbsp corriander just simmer the solution with five spices added for an hour or so, you have yourself some "Lo Shui". Filter out the spices and keep the solution in a bottle for use. Since this home-made Chinese Marinade is not as salty as the ready-made one, you may need to add salt when using it to make BBQ pork. Use your judgement to adjust.

Great tip, Dejah! Never thought of doing it this way. Thanks!

Here is my BBQ pork recipe: Recipe for Chinese BBQ pork Use 2 lb pork loin (or any cut you like). Cut the pork loin into long, roughly 2 inch by 1 inch pieces. I use a fork to jab on to the pork to make many many tiny holes. When the pork is soaked in the marinade, the marinade will sip into the pork. To marinate, I use 2 to 3 tbsp of the Lee Kum Kee's "Chinese Marinade" (see picture), 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp five spice powder, 2 tsp brown bean sauce, 2 tsp brown sugar and about 3 to 4 cloves of garlic (pressed). Mix the marinade together in a mixing bowl. Lay on the pork and rub on the marinade. Leave the pork soaked in the marinade in the mixing bowl overnight (in the refrigerator). Before baking, skew the pork with some long metal skewers. I use two skewers for each piece of pork to make sure I can turn them easily. Here is the trick to make the BBQ pork moist: I place a pan of water on the middle rack in the oven. Use some gadgets to hold the pork pieces right above the pan of water when baking. (I use 2 narrow cake pans, one on each side of the pan of water, to hold the 2 ends of the skewers.) This pan of water will keep the BBQ pork moist during the baking process. Set the oven to 300F, bake for 1.5 hour. Turn the pork about every 20 minutes. About 1 hour into it, start basting the BBQ pork (see recipe for basting liquid). When finished, remove the BBQ pork from the skewers and slice them into 1/4 in pieces. Serve with condiments (see condiments). Recipe for basting liquid: - 2 tbsp of LKK's Char Siu Sauce (or similar product by other makes) - 1 tsp brown sugar - 3 tsp honey Mix together and use to baste the BBQ pork. If you don't want to use the ready-made BBQ sauce, you may make your own by mixing some hoisin sauce, brown bean sauce and a bit of Chinese Marinade. Condiments (separate): - light soy sauce - hoisin sauce - hot mustard (mustard powder mixed with water) Here is a picture of the LKK's Chinese Marinade: Here is a picture of the LKK's Char Siu Sauce:

If you post your pictures, we can probably help you remember the names.

Cantonese egg noodles and pasta in general use much more eggs than noodles from northern China (which give them the yellowish color). When you see a pack of noodles that are pure white, you know they contain no or very little eggs. The taste of "white" noodles is more plain but it is a good compliment to the more spicy sauces (e.g. Za Jiang Mian or Nanjing beef noodle) of northen style.

It is a fairly common Chinese cooking technique called 走油 in Cantonese. I learned that it is called velveting from this forum. Basically meats taste better if you brown them alone in oil first before cooking with seasoning and sauces. The key is actually that you should cook your sauces (brown bean sauce, hoisin sauce, etc.) in high heat along with the aromatics (garlic, shallot, onion and such), and dash in either some vinegar or xiaoxing wine -- get the wok/pan flame up would be even better. Then you add in chicken broth and sugar and bring to a boil. At last, thicken the sauce (corn starch) and re-add the meat (so it would not be overcooked) to finish. Then you drip on top sesame oil or shredded scallion. Most of the stir-fried dishes are cooked best this way. If you have a chance, try the 2 different methods side by side. You should be able to observe the difference in the taste. Also, forgot to mention previously: Zha Jian Mien is slightly hot/spicy. I use chili bean paste 豆板酱 along with brown bean sauce and hoisin sauce.

They are *all* authentic. Most noodle houses in Hong Kong and elsewhere offer the choice of thin (default) or thick noodles. I usually like mine thick. The fresh noodles are the best. If not available, the dry ones would be okay. My favorite noodle dishes are (in order of preference): Nanjing Niu Rou Mian (Nanjing beef noodle) Cantonese wonton noodle Cantonese beef brisket noodle Vietnamnese Pho Tai Malaysian curry mei (laksa?) Zha Jian Mien

Yes they certainly are. If the Asian grocer carries the fresh ones, they can be found in the refrigerator. Look for the wheat noodles that are powder-white in (usually) clear plastic bags. There may be thin ones (shape like angel-hair) and thick ones (shape like linguini). Both are okay. If you can't find fresh ones, they can be bought in dried form. (Just like pasta) They usually are sold in paper boxes.

I grew up in Hong Kong so I have a fairly "strong" stomach. My wife, on the other hand, grew up in the USA and she does not have the same immune system as I do. When she first visited Hong Kong, I took her out to sample lots of street food. The day after, she developed a severe stomachache. She ended up lying on the hotel bed for almost a week. From that experience, she would never touch any food from street vendors again. Last time we went to Beijing, we just went to Wangfujing to "look" at the food street. The food was highly tempting... but... she didn't have any. While there is no guarantee that what they cook in restaurants will be cleaner than the street vendors, which one would you rather trust? The ones in hotel restaurants or more established restaurants or the ones on the street? All it comes to is be aware of the consequences and take a more informed risk. Be aware of that if you grew up in a relatively gem free environment such as the USA, you may not have the same immunity to certain bacteria as people who grew up elsewhere. Would you be willing to risk lying on the bed for days during your limited vacation time in a foreign land in exchange for a "cheaper" or "tastier" local meal? Make sure you have the "stomach" (pun intended) for it. My wife and I choose clean as the number one criteria over taste in deciding where to eat.

You may substitute it with anything you want. Just don't call it Zha Jian Mian! [it's a joke... see "authenticity" thread.]

It seems that the linked "menu" might have been taken from a real restaurant who had gone through the trouble of translating the dishes that they offered. They included very realistic prices for each dish. I thought "stick cracked monkey head" might have been a "look-alike" name for a dish, such as "ants on a tree" or Shanghai's "lion head".

I have been away from Hong Kong for too long. They make moon cakes with such a varieties of fillings these days.