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Just something to think about... You probably won't find big fish in Shanghai. You have 15 guests. This would be more like steamed 2 to 3 whole fish to have enough to go around...

Kai: If you pass by SLO (San Louis Obispo), you are only 10 minutes North of Pismo Beach. We love Rosa's Restaurant (Italian). Family style. Has been around for 30 years(??). Great Italian food and reasonable prices (US$10-$15 or so for entrees). I love their Chicken Masala. Rosa's Italian Restaurant Address: 491 Price, Pismo Beach, CA 93449 Phone: (805) 773-0551 If you go by San Clemente, go eat at Fisherman's right at the San Clemente Pier. Dining right on the pier watching California West Coast sunset. Can't be better than that! Prices are reasonable. I love their ciopinno! Something like US$18? Their grilled fresh catches are very good too. Prices vary. Fisherman's Restaurants Address: 611 Avenida Victoria, San Clemente, CA 92672 Phone: (949) 498-6390

San Jose or Los Angeles. Your pick!

Cheesecloth? Oven? This is a modern interpretation of an age-old Chinese recipe? The thing with herb soups... there are so many different formulas. The "four thing" soup... Perhaps borrowed from jo-mel: like meat loaf... your meat loaf is different from my meat loaf. Four things can be different "four things" for different people. Further issues with herb soups: (I read Chinese descriptions) different people seem to disagree on the benefits of the same herb. Or people seem to describe the benefits whatever they feel like. I ended up not knowing what/who to believe. And this is the first time I heard noodles eaten with herbal soup. Typically herbal soups are consumed, because of their rarity, on their own spirit and not as a broth for noodles.

Milpitas: Mayflower. I have eaten there. Quality is top. Price is a bit high, but comparable to Koi Palace in Daly City (perhaps a tad lower). They are comparable I think quality-wise. I heard that there is an "ABC" just in the next mall from "Mayflower". They said "ABC" is even better. I haven't had the chance to try it. Next time I drop by, I will do an eval. I have not tried their dim sums (but had their dinners): Millbrae: Fuk Yuen Millbrae: Zen Peninsula Their dinners are top. So I have confidence about their dim sum. Just a few blocks from there, there is "Flower Lounge" in Millbrae. My last visit was about a year ago and I was greatly disappointed (they used to be better). The dim sum tastes were so-so. Prices were competitive to the neighborhood ones ==> not good value at all. (I don't know why still many people recommend that place.) Within the San Francisco city proper, I have tried: Dim Sum King (Skyline). I have to say it's just so-so. The price is reasonably but taste is mediocre. Hong Kong Restaurant (Noriega and around 34th). I really like this small outfit. Tastes are good (though not top). Prices are quite reasonable. In the North Bay: Emeryville: Hong Kong East Ocean. Taste: good (but not top), price: fair to high Richmond: Pearl Village. Grand opening. Taste: top. price: fair to high Richmond: Saigon Village. Haven't tried it but saw full house and long lines. Should be good.

Tasting menu... for group of X. That's kind of like back to square one: Chinese communal style? I am not sure about other cuisines, but it's hard to cook Chinese entrees in "individual" portion. For one thing, Chinese are big on "freshly" prepared - just right off the wok to the dining table within a minute or so. Unless for certain braised dishes where a big portion is pre-cooked in advance, most stir-fried entrees are cooked to order. Unless you can have all the dining parties arrive and eat at the same time (and who can control that?), or else it's really hard to spread the freshly prepared dishes among diners. Unless we are talking about Chinese food buffet... That is a kind of sampling too. But of course after the food has been shining under the heating lamp... tastes turn quickly.

There is an old Cantonese saying: Yang Mo Zhug Zhee Yang San Sheung (The wool came from sheeps). Interpretation: you pay for what you get.

Great! All 40 words... next challenge: name one dish using each of the 40 words!

Some of the modern, "upscale" Chinese restaurants train their stuff to serve the food to each individual at the table. For example, "Zen Peninsula" in Millbrae where I had the "8th moon 15th day" dinner last year (offering banquet dinners at around US$400 /10-persons). Whenever there was dish got brought to the table, the waiter would serve the first round to each individual. (That is a lot of work! But you pay for what you get...) They must have changed bowls/plates 6-7 times throughout the whole course.

I am reading an article about the Chinese dining experience in New York. In the article, it said: Oh, yeah, those stainless steel pedestal dishes in Chinese restaurants... It seems so... 60's? For 20 some years of my life growing up in Hong Kong, I had only seen those stainless steel pedestal dishes used in formal banquets (not in restaurants for the commons). Even then, food was served on top of some porcelain dishes, which themselves were seated on top of the stainless steel pedestal dishes (as if like a candle holder). Never once had I seen food served directly on stainless steel pedestal dishes. And, of course, I got a minor shock when I first saw that in California in the 80's. Does anybody know if the stainless steel pedestal dishes (or metallic pedestal dishes) were traditionally used in China? Or they are something that got started in the new world? Do you still see them used in modern day Chinese restaurants?

Thank you, Samuel. I knew there are better ways to open the critters. After all, I have seen on TV that someone opened a dozen oysters in something like half a minute during a competition. I didn't have the patience to do the research before dinner time! I certainly will try your instructions next time. And, yeah, I would probably pick up an oyster shucking knife...

Steaming is best done all in one shot. If you break down the process into 2 steps, I think the taste would not come out as good. Besides, it's hard to do in practice too when you have a dozen of steaming hot oysters to open - hard to hold on to the shell.

I think one thing that you should keep in mind is not so much what to cook but where you would cook. About ten years ago, I offered my brother to cook some live seafood dishes for dinner at his apartment during one of my visits to Hong Kong. When I finally got to his flat and saw how small the kitchen was - it barely allowed one person to work inside with very tight space to turn around - I had to withdraw my offer. Most residents in Hong Kong live in very small flats in high rises. That's one of the reasons why people like to eat out often. (The other reason is, of course, the low prices of eating out.) The situation in Shanghai may be better than in Hong Kong. Still, cooking for 15 people is no easy task especially if the kitchen is small. I hope this doesn't hit you as a last minute surprise. I know that for those of us who are used to living in the US, seeing the tight space in densely populated cities in China takes some getting used to.

See this old post for the differences between 4 grades of bean curd sheets: Seen Jook, Foo Jook, soya bean derivatives, Membranes of soya bean congee

The bean curd sheets used as wrappers for stuffed items or dim sum are mostly fresh bean curd sheets sold in refrigerated sections, not the dried sheets. The fresh ones are called "seen jook" [Cantonese], wich are very soft and have a sheen on the surface. The dried sheets are call "foo jook" [Cantonese]. You need soak them in water before using. "Foo jook" are not suitable for wrapping because they break apart very easily and lack the elasticity.

Thanks for your warning, muichoi. But it was too late. I already got a minor cut. Not a big deal, fortunately. I have slaughtered swimming fish, halved jumping prawns, and butchered fighting live crabs, and this has been my biggest challenge yet in dealing with live seafood. These are not styrofoam meat, you know!

Thanks Chris. I am just tapping into the wisdom of hundreds/thousands(?) of years of Cantonese cooking. In fact if someone ever visits Hong Kong and goes to places in Sai Kung or Lee Yu Mun to have the famous live seafood, Cantonese style, you would most likely encounter this style of cooking.

#52, Steamed Live Oyster with Garlic and Black Beans (豉汁蒸生蠔)

Steamed Live Oyster with Garlic and Black Beans (豉汁蒸生蠔) If you have access to live oyster, this is one of the best ways to cook them Cantonese style: steamed with garlic and fermented black beans. The taste is succulent and fresh. This is what Cantonese-style live seafood is all about. You can use the same method to steam live scallops and fish. Dedicated to rjwong. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 Preparations: Main ingredients: - 12 live oysters - 5-6 cloves of garlic (not shown) - 4-5 tsp of fermented black beans (not shown) - ginger, 1 inch in length (not shown) - 1 stalk of green onion (not shown) Hold the oyster with one hand. I don't have the proper equipment to shuck an oyster, nor do I really know what the proper way is to shuck an oyster. I just have a strong determination to cook live oysters for dinner! I only use a butter knife. I look for small crack openings in the shell, and very quickly jam the butter knife in through the crack. If I am successful in the sneak attack, then the rest is easy. Just jiggle the knife to sever the muscle that is holding the shells. Then I can peel off the shell. Remember to use the knife to sever the muscle on the bottom side as well to make it easier to pick up at the dinner table. The shells of these critters are very hard to open. I need to learn how to open them properly! For some, I resolved to using a pair of pliers to chip off part of the shells so that I can insert my butter knife into the shell. Lay all the opened oysters on a plate, get ready for steaming. Use a small bowl, add 3 to 4 tsp of fermented black beans. Slightly rinse the fermented black beans with water, then drain. Use a tea spoon to smash the bean into a paste form. Grate some ginger, about 1 inch in length. Peel and mince (or press) 5-6 cloves of garlic. Add to the bowl. Use the tea spoon to mix the fermented black beans, ginger and garlic to form a paste. Scoop 1 or 2 tsp of the black bean/ginger/garlic paste and spread evenly on top of the opened-shell oysters. (Not shown) Trim ends and finely chop 1 stalk of green onion. Set aside. Cooking Instructions: Place the plates in a steamer. Steam for about 15 minutes (counting from when the water starts boiling). Remove plates from steamer when done. Each half shell may have collected excess liquid from the steam. Tilt each shell to slightly drain the excess liquid. As a finishing touch: use a small pot and heat up about 4 tblsp of cooking oil until fuming hot (usually takes about 4-5 minutes). Sprinkle the chopped green onions on top of each oyster first. Then quickly dash in a few drops of the fuming hot oil on top of each oyster. Finally dash in a few drops of light soy sauce on top. Serve immediately. Picture of the finished dish. (Note: The quantity of food made in this recipe is about twice the portion shown in this picture.)

Buses in San Francisco are very convenient. You can take a bus from downtown SF to along Geary, where there are plenty of Chinese dim sum places (tastes great with reasonable prices). The buses run every 10 to 15 minutes? I have recently tried "Parc Hong Kong". I think they are pretty good. (Geary + 17th). US$25.00 for 2, about 6-7 items. Parc Hong Kong Restaurant Address: 5322 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121 Phone: (415) 668-8998 "Mayflower" should be good too. (Geary + 26th/27th) Mayflower Seafood Restaurant Address: 6255 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94121 Phone: (415) 387-8338 There are also a few more "down to earth" Chinese dim sum restaurants along Clement Street between 11th and 6th (e.g. "Lee Hou"). Plenty of Chinese eateries along this stretch.

It sounds like this is what Cantonese called "Gang Do Pai Quat" 京都排骨. "Gang Do" is the direct translation of "capitol". The sauce is typically dark brown or dark orange in color. It tastes sweet and sour. And yes I did taste a trace of Worchestershire sauce in it. I did this style once. I was not very successful at it but I had jotted down some notes. Though the name is "Pai Quat" (spareribs), restaurants typically use pork chops to make this dish.

It is not clear from the picture or the recipe which kind of bean curd sheets you have. Is it the fresh, froze kind (I think not)? Or the flat sheet kind? Or the kind that curls up into a stick? They are all called "bean curd sheets", but it's the third kind that is usually used in making "Buddha's Delight". Is that what you have?

Very good point. Conversion table: 1 Dungeness crab = 12 Shanghai hairy crabs LOL! No, don't use Shanghai hairy crabs for crab cakes. It would not do these crabs justice. Besides, the cost would be $$$$$. I just have a comment, take it for what it's worth: The menu: Soup: Miso soup with mushrooms Salad: Salad with black fig vinaigrette Appetizer/small entree: Crab cakes Entree: Wild mushroom risotto Entree: Undecided Dessert: Pudding Chinese banquets are different from Western ones. In Chinese banquets (Shanghainese or Cantonese), you would see many varieties of meats, poultries and seafood. You would find very few vegetables. No, don't get this wrong. Chinese love meats with stir-fries. But when it comes to banquets (the "face" factor again), you want to serve with the best you can afford (or even you can't afford for some). And the general mentality is "meat is worthier than vegetables". And Shanghai people are typically very generous in entertaining friends and relatives. Don't let you guests pound on the table and ask "where is the beef (meat)?" And I agree with Shalmanese that raw vegetable salad may be less palatable. Maybe the Italian antipasta (grilled green pepper, eggplants, etc. with olive oil, salt and garlic) is safer.

Picture: Chinese name: 金華玉樹雞 English name: Simmered Chicken with Yunnan Ham and Chinese Broccoli Category: Cantonese style entree, chicken Description: Chicken is boned and simmered in superior broth. Served with slices of steamed Yunnan ham and black mushroom interleaved with Chinese broccoli. (Offered at: Fook Yuen Sea Food Restaurant, Millbrae, CA, USA)

Sorry Irwin. This is the first time I've heard of this term (both in Chinese and English). What is it like?