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I found a very good web page (produced in Taiwan) that shows how to wrap a joong. The page is written in Chinese. Click on the link at the upper left corner to view the video (about 7 minutes I think). The video was narrated in both Mandarin and English. They wrap a small joong with only 2 leaves, but form a perfect tetrahedron shape. Perhaps I should do that next year. http://edu.ocac.gov.tw/culture/chinese/cul...ml/vod14_09.htm

Take a look at my pictorial recipe postings: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=75962 They would get you a starting point. It might be hard to go cyber-learning when you get started since it may not be easy to ask questions and there is no "show it in front of me" kind of effect. As for the ingredients I would try to answer any question that may come up. I think many places offer introductory Chinese cooking classes in the USA: either private or in adult schools/community colleges. Though I have never taken one myself (since I don't think I would need it), I tend to think they would be adequate for beginners. And jo-mel teaches these courses, she might be able to tell you some of her experiences. And if you live in New Jersey, you can probably take a class from her. (If you live in Sacramento, I can give you private tutoring! ) I don't produce videos. Just snap-shot pictures. If you want a continuous show from start to finish, then I found Martin Yan's "Yan Can Cook" is good for beginners (though I think from time to time he mixes in some Thai/Vietnamese or other Asian styles of cooking ). You can learn the basic techniques from watching that show. PBS I think carries his programs. Free. These, you can do without leaving the United States. If you are looking to enrich your Chinese cooking techniques after you have practiced the basics, then I think you can maximize the benefits of your trip(s) to visit the country to further your culinary quests. Many of the chefs who work in restaurants go through apprenticeship. They learn from the masters little by little through doing hard work in the kitchen. Edit to add: P.S. Missed your profile saying "Union City, CA". A bit far from Sacramento... sorry

I am just curious: What level of instructions are you looking for? Beginner? Intermediate? Advanced? And do you want to learn home cooking dishes, or restaurant/banquet dishes?

Happy Birthday to Dejah Dai Ga Jeah!!! I am sorry, this birthday cake is just too beautiful to not share with all: (Can you believe that it *is* a cake?) Thank you to our queen of beautiful cakes... Tepee! This is a small dish I made in Dai Ga Jeah's honor: Braised Abalone, Dried Conpoy and Black Mushrooms:

Do you know what the jelly matrix is flavored with, if anything? ← (Referring to this dim sum item): I searched some Chinese recipe sites and their recipes on this "Ma Tai Goh" are similar. Here is one recipe (in Chinese, but there is one picture): http://www.leisure-cat.com/frm_1122.htm The jelly mixture is basically brown sugar dissolved in boiling water and mixed with water chestnut powder. Some add coconut creme/milk and skim milk. Mix that with chopped or shredded water chestnuts and 1 tblsp of oil. The mixture is then steamed for 40 minutes. Let it cool down, slice it up and lightly fry each piece.

Thanks Seitch. I will just follow your instructions and experiment with some. I don't use salty eggs too often. But I really had it with these markets/manufacturers carrying bad products. Once I take the eggs out of the brine, how long do you think I can keep the salty eggs? A few months? Possible? Any longer? Or they have to be consumed right away or else they turn bad?

April: these salty eggs are sold in packages and cannot be picked individually. The eggs were all sealed in small plastic bags then inside a styrofoam case, then shrink-wrapped. It's a leap of faith in buying each package (of 6). I think if you feel a solid movement inside an egg that is a good sign because the yolk is solid and is bouncing around. If the yolk bursts (I said "dissolved"), then you would not feel the solid yolk bouncing around.

I am really disappointed at the salty eggs sold in the local Asian grocery markets. Even 99 Ranch, the salty eggs they sell are bad. I haven't had any good experience in the past few years. For example, I just bought 3 packages of salty eggs from one of these markets a week ago (6 eggs in each package) to make joong. 18 eggs in all. After I opened each egg, there were less than 50% of them containing a good yolk. Only about 20% of them have perfect yolks - big, round, bright orange, perfectly formed. The rest? Either deformed (half an egg yolk good, half "dissolved"), or the yolk was entirely "dissolved" in the egg white. "Dissolved" mean you can no longer distinguish between the yolk and the white. 1 turned out to be stinky! Just how hard is it to make salty eggs? This is not rocket science. Is it really that difficult to make good salty eggs? These eggs had all gone through the same process and preserved for the same period of time. Why were the results so different from one egg to another? What makes a salty egg go bad? Is it the source duck egg? Is it the timing that is crucial (remove them from brine)? How can a package of 6 salty eggs have 2 good ones, 1 so-so one and 3 bad ones? I am tired of this non-sense. I need to learn how to make my own.

These are called "Ham Shui Kwok" in Cantonese. The wrapper is made of sticky rice flour. Deep-fried. Since you mentioned a large shrimp inside each, it may be a variation of Ham Shui Kwok which traditionally use minced pork as fillings I believe. It may be called "Har Kwok" (Har means shrimp in Cantonese). I believe these are called "Zheen Zhang Goh" in Cantonese, or literally means "Thousand Layer Cake". A sweet item. Since I don't have a sweet tooth since I was a kid, I am not sure if I ever had one of these before (as so many Chinese sweet stuff in dim sum restaurants)...

eGullet thread on XO sauce ← Aaaah. Well, that solves that mystery. I couldn't tell you what the meat inside the noodle was. The XO certainly could be a problem for somebody with a shellfish allergy, and our server was in no way capable of conveying that info. Of course, if I had a shellfish allergy I wouldn't come anywhere near a dim sum restaurant. ← If the worker drew the "XO" figure on her hand, it might probably mean XO sauce and definitely not oxtail. LOL! This dim sum item is called Steamed "Cheung Fun" (Cantonese). "Fun" means rice noodles. "Cheung" actually means intestine. It just means the rice noodles that look like an intestine. Typically Steamed Cheung Fun is served with 3 different fillings: Beef, Shrimp or BBQ Pork. I have not seen any XO Sauce as a filling on Cheung Fun. There is another style, which takes plain steamed rice noodles (chopped) and fry it with XO sauce. They do call that XO Cheung Fun. But that is not what's shown in the picture. What's shown in the picture looks more like Steamed Cheung Fun with BBQ Pork to me. The mystery may still remain.

Nice pictures (again), Kent! Is this one sweet or savory? Is it considered an appetizer (if savory)?

This is called "Cha Siu So" in Cantonese (BBQ Pork Puff Pastry). The filling is made from BBQ pork + onions and typically oyster sauce/soy kind of flavoring (thus savory). The crust is made with skin dough quite similar to the crust of the egg tarts you had.

Dried WHAT? There's a FACE in there!! ← I'm reasonably certain that the left picture is abalone, but I've no idea what's the stuff in the right bottle. Great blog Therese! ← I agree with Pan that the one on the right is bamboo pith, or "Jook Shang" in Cantonese. And dried abalone on the left, of course. Bamboo pith is not particular expensive, nor is it particularly tasty. Actually it has no taste of its own. It does have an interesting texture (like cloth but very crunchy) and it soaks up the flavor of whatever sauce it is cooked in. We use it to add texture contrast in a dish, usually braised dried seafood of one kind of another (oyster, conpoy, abalone, etc.).

Help identifying the other items I photographed would be welcome: ← I can try...the first one is "sert yee" (snow fungus in English?), the second one I see all the time but I don't remember what it is. I was going to guess shark fin but the pieces look too small. The third is just Chinese dried black mushrooms...you use them in soup or you can braise them in sauce and serve them on a bed of Chinese greens, and the fourth one I'm also not quite sure about, but it looks ike "fish maw" or "fa gao" in Cantonese (fish stomach? fish bladder?) and it's used in soup. Fish maw soup is one of my favourite Chinese soups, but only if it's of excellent quality. I like it even more than shark fin. ← Is the second one fu chuk (sp)? It's like sheets of dried tofu-ish. Things. ← I know what you are talking about, but I don't think it is. Foo Chuk is usually more crinkly. I think it's snow fungus and fish maw too. ← I don't have a blown up view so it may be hard to tell. It is customary for Chinese to showcase the most expensive/hard-to-get dried ingredients at the restaurant. It is highly unlikely that it is foo chuk (beancurd sheet), US$1.50 a bag. I believe those are shark fins, albeit small ones, which are typically showcased in Cantonese seafood restaurants. So from left to right: - Shue Yee [Cantonese], white/snow fungi - Shark fins - Dried black mushrooms - Fish maw (fish bladder blown up and deep-fried and dried) Hey therese! Is this one of the spongy desserts? I noticed you got the daikon cakes as well. Did they have a sautee cart for those and some of the other dumplings? What was in the egg roll sprinkled with sesame seeds? ← That's Chestnut cake, the fried one. You can get it steamed too. ← I believe these are called "Ma Tai Goh" in Cantonese, made with water chestnuts not chestnuts.

Coinciding? 5th day of fifth month (lunar calendar) = Tuen Ng Geet [Cantonese]. It *is* the Dragon Boat Festival (Hong Kong's translation).

(Thanks for the spelling correction. I couldn't spell Spanish to save my life! ) You know me... I aim to eat well! The food in these 2 restaurants are fine. May not be the die-hard authentic kind (with tongue and all) but are decent nevertheless. There are some hole-in-the-wall types in SJC. But they might be similar (or less as good?) than those in Santa Ana.

I made my entry last Saturday. I ended up making 40+ joongs. Took me 3 batches. The pot was used non-stop for 8 hours. Imagine the foggy windows at the kitchen... (sounds familiar Dejah Dai Ga Jeah? ) The liu included: - Mung beans - Pork butt marinated in five spice powder and soy sauce - Salted eggs - Laap cheung (Chinese sausage) - Chestnuts - Raw peanuts - Black mushrooms - Dried shrimp - Dried conpoy I did use a little bit of soy sauce, oil and salt to mix with the soaked sticky rice before wrapping. They didn't turn out as dark as Tepee's MIL's. I poured boiling water into the bin with bamboo leaves already soaked in water overnight to soften the leaves before wrapping. They were pretty soft and easy to work work. My MIL said I should have boiled the leaves in a pot. I don't know if that is really necessary. P.S.: I am still looking for the perfect way to wrap a joong the size that I want to make. I didn't do a very good job in forming the shape. Joong still in bamboo leave wraps. Joong ready to eat. (I broke it in two halves so everybody can see the fillings.) And a few drops of soy sauce added.

I read the story. I came across the following passage: Setting up a restaurant with the thought of benefiting the Chinese mainlanders who came to UK to live, work and STUDY. How noble a goal! But at a pricing like £70-£120 (meals for two), who are we kidding? I don't know what demographics they are after, but sure ain't those who came to work and (especially) STUDY in the UK. I was a poor foreign student here once. I needed to work 7 nights a week to support myself. My college roommate ate nothing but chicken wings for dinner at home for 2 years so he could afford to study here. Maybe in the last decade every Chinese family has become millionaires because of the economic growth and I just didn't know about it.

Kent -- the pork looks like a dish at China 46, a restaurant that specializes in Shanghainese food. They call it Ruby Pork, but these are the characters. 醬汁圓 蹄 jiang zhi yuan ti. ← I think tí páng is: 紅燒蹄膀 (Hung Shao Ti Pang [Mandarin]) Tí páng just means pork legs.

If you would like some Mexican restaurants with romantic setting, I would like to mention: 1. Tortilla Flat, Mission Viejo Patio setting facing the Lake of Mission Viejo. The view is fantastic. Food is good. 2. El Adobe De Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano http://www.eladobedecapistrano.com/ Very famous locally, cozy setting. They offer champaign brunch on Sundays and have live Macchiata (sp?) band. (I hope they still do. )

You live in Vancouver, you probably wouldn't miss Chinese food in your trip. If you want to stay with Asian, then I would say Vietnamese food is great in Little Saigon (Garden Grove/Westminster). I have tried many Vietnamese restaurants in LA and San Francisco Bay Area/Sacramento. So far I have not found any that impressed me as good as the ones in the Little Saigon area. Pho Bun Hoi BBQ pork/beef Sugar cane shrimp Vietnamese egg rolls (etc.) Unfortunately, even inside the Little Saigon area the Vietnamese bakeries did not impress me...

This is fantastic! They sure had gone through the trouble of keeping the different pieces together to look like one.

It looks like the honeycomb tripe was in one piece? Was it? How does one eat the tripe with a pair of chopsticks?

#62, Fried Bass with Tofu Sheets (beancurd sticks) (枝竹炆鱸魚)

Pictorial Recipe Fried Bass with Tofu Sheets (beancurd sticks) (枝竹炆鱸魚) This is my family's hand-down recipe. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 Preparations: Main ingredients: - 1 fresh farm-raised bass, about 1 1/4 lb. - 4 stalks of green onions - Garlic, about 4-5 cloves - Ginger, use about 1-inch in length - (See next picture) Tofu sheets (beancurd sticks), use about 3 sticks - (See next picture) About 12 dried black mushrooms This is the featured ingredient: Beancurd sticks. There about about 8 sticks in this package. Use about 3 sticks for this recipe. Use 3 of the beancurd sticks and about 12 dried black mushrooms. The beancurd sticks are very brittle. Break them apart at about 2 inches in length. Use a mixing bowl to soak the beancurd sticks until soft, about 1 hour. Soak the dried black mushrooms in warm water for about 2 hours until soft. Trim and discard the stems off the black mushrooms. Slice each mushroom in half. Trim the ends of 4 stalks of green onions. Cut the white portion into about 1 inch in length. Finely chop the rest (for garnishing). Cut the ginger (1 inch in length) into fine slices. Peel and mince 4-5 cloves of garlic. Rinse the bass thoroughly. Pat dry. Gently rub about 1/4 tsp of salt on the body (both sides). Cooking Instructions: Start by pre-heating a wok with high stove burner setting. Add about 4-5 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil is hot. Gently lower the bass onto the wok. To ensure the fish doesn't stick to the wok, try to hold the fish for a few seconds once its skin touches the hot oil. Let the skin brown slightly before letting go the fish. Turn down the heat to low/medium. Fry the fish for about 3-4 minute. Take full advantage of the shape of a wok. Don't move the fish. Instead, tilt the wok at different angles to fry near the tail. Tilt the wok the other way to fry near the head. Use 2 spatulas to gently lift the fish and turn it over to fry the other side. Try not to break off the skin. The second side takes less time. Remove the bass from the wok. Set the stove at high again. Wait until wok is hot and oil starts fuming. Add minced garlic, sliced ginger and chopped green onions (white portion only). Add 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of chili bean sauce and 1 tsp of ground bean sauce. Stir well. Stir-fry for 20 seconds. Add reconstituted black mushrooms. Add about 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water. Add 1-2 tsp of sugar, 2 tsp of oyster sauce and 1 tsp of dark soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil. Drain the soaked beancurd sticks well. Add the beancurd sticks to the wok. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Stir well. Return the fried bass to the wok. I wanted to keep the fish whole for presentation. I left the fish on top of the bed of beancurd sticks. You may braise the fish among the ingredients if you like. Cook with the lid on for another 5-10 minutes. Let the heat from the steam to finish cooking the fish. This is how it looked after 10 minutes of braising. Transfer the fish to a serving plate. Scoop the beancurd sticks and lay them around the fish (but not on top of it) for presentation. Line up the black mushrooms along the edge of the fish. Use corn starch slurry (suggest: 2 tsp of corn starch and 2 tsp of water) to thicken the remaining braising liquid to make the sauce. Pour the sauce on top of the fish. Picture of the finished dish. Sprinkle some finely chopped green onions on top for garnishing. Serve immediately.