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Who would like to eat monkeys, horses and rats?

#44, Pork Neck Bone Soup with Lotus Root (蓮藕豬骨湯)

Pork Neck Bone Soup with Lotus Root (蓮藕豬骨湯) Today is Chinese New Year. I would like to present a soup that is typical for the new year. Lotus roots and dried oysters are very common in dishes served around the new year. Lotus root symbolizes "continuous", while dried oyster symbolizes "prosperity". I wish everyone to have a prosperous year in the Year of the Dog. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 10 Preparations: Main ingredients: (From left, clockwise) - Lotus roots, about 3 to 4 lb - Pork neck bone, about 2 lb - 1 dried squid or dried octopus - 6 to 7 dried oysters - 5 dried conpoy (dried scallops) - 12 dried black mushrooms - A handful of raw peanuts (about 1/4 cup) - A handful of red beans (about 1/8 to 1/4 cup) - 3 pieces of dried tangerine peels (Chan Pei) - (Not shown in picture) About 20 dried jujube dates Use a mixing bowl, soak the red beans, dried tangerine peels and dried black mushrooms for at least 4 hours. (Drain before cooking.) Soak the dried squid/octopus. (Drain before cooking.) Use a small bowl, soak the dried conpoy (scallops) separately. (You can add the soaking liquid to the soup.) After the reconstituted black mushrooms turn soft, trim off the stems and cut into halves. Cut the reconstituted squid into a few big pieces. Trim and discard the connecting ends of the lotus roots. Cut into slices, about 3/4 inch thick. Cooking Instructions: The following is to illustrate the "double boiling" technique in Cantonese soup making. First, place the pork neck bones in a pot. Fill with just enough water to cover all bones. Set for a boil. Boil the pork neck bones for about 3 minutes. Use a strainer to drain off the hot water. Rinse the bones and cleanse off any suds. Clean the pot. Add about 15 cups of water (1/3 of this pot). Return the pork neck bones to the pot. Bring to a boil. Then turn down the heat to a simmer. Simmer the bones for 1 to 1 1/2 hour. Add the soaked red beans, reconstituted black mushrooms, squid, dried conpoy, dried oysters, dried tangerine peels, raw peanuts and dried jujube dates. Continue to simmer for another hour. This is what the soup looks like after 2 1/2 hour of simmering. Finally, add the lotus root slices. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer for another 1 to 1.5 hour. This is what the soup looks like when it's ready. Add 1 to 2 tsp of salt (or to taste). Stir well. Scoop onto serving bowls. Picture of the finished soup.

Dialect. Hokkien, to be specific. ← In Cantonese, "hung" in "hungbao" means red - referring to the color. Does "ang" in Hokkien mean red too? It sounds like "silver", or "money". Different dialects have different ways of naming the same item in Chinese. Gastro Girl: Welcome back! Kung Hey Fat Choy! It's been a year since you organized the CNY dinner. Are you doing it again in the year of the Dog? Are you going to wear the cheung sham again?

But congee is glue if you look at it from a different angle. The lantern that you play with in Mid-Autumn festival. How is the paper binded to the bamboo stick skeleton and other paper? Glue that is made from rice + water. The old paper umbrella, kite... all need glue.

That seems to make sense. Never thought of that. It is a great trick! I saw some documentary programs on Discovery that they discovered that workers used rice portridge (congee) as an agent to glue the stones together in building The Great Wall. When dried and harden, congee is really strong.

Sorry to hear that, Portia. Hope your hubby is doing well now. Food poisoning is a real bummer when you are on a trip. Before we got married, my wife visited me in Hong Kong a few times and one time she ended up lying on the bed for a good 4-5 days. So I can relate to your incident. Since that experience, she is very alert of what to eat/drink while on a trip. Different individuals have different tolerance to bacteria and other things in the food. Some can get violently illed and some... nothing happens.

Friend of the farmer: Welcome to eGullet!

They usually put fried tofu and a few pieces of Cantonese roast pork in the oyster clay pot. And they use more broth/oyster-sauce to make the sauce. I have made this clay pot dish that sounds like what you are looking for: Oyster with Roast Pork and Tofu in Clay Pot (火腩生蠔煲) Take a look.

Can do! I was thinking along that line too. I need to brush up on my BBCode skills to create tables. I have tried to post a table before. It worked okay. But when I wanted to take it one step further to include a thumbwheel picture in each line, I got myself into trouble. Perhaps I would post just the text links for the time being. I will discuss with Kris about pinning it up. I just need to be able to refresh it from time to time. Originally I was kind of thinking that I would wait until I get to 100th before creating an index... The index table will be designed like a typical Chinese restaurant menu.

Perhaps you can make this dish for your mom to surprise her, Lorna!

Thank you very much for your kind words, Lynn, jo-mel, gas_tatory and Chris! I wonder why your friend said cilantro and minced pork is a no-no? That's how I do my potstickers. (Your post made me itchy to make it again, and take some pictures along the way...) I think they put cabbage and a bit of leek in making potsticker filling. Well... different recipes put in different things.

#43, Oyster with Ginger and Green Onion (薑蔥生蠔)

Oyster with Ginger and Green Onion (薑蔥生蠔) Oyster with Ginger and Green Onion is a very popular Cantonese seafood dish. It is very easy to make at home. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 Preparations: Main ingredients: (From left, clockwise) - 2 jars of fresh oyster, about 12 oz in each jar - 7 to 8 green onions - ginger, use 2 to 3 inch in length - 5 to 6 cloves of garlic Pour the fresh oysters from the jars to a colander. Rinse under water to clean off any sand. Drain. Trim ends from the green onions. Cut at about 2-inches apart. Peel the ginger with a small spoon. Cut into very thin slices. Peel and mince the garlic. Cooking Instructions: Use a pan/wok, set stove at medium. Add 4 tblsp of cooking oil. Use a small bowl and add 1/4 cup of corn starch to coat the oyster before frying. While the oysters are still in the colander, sprinkle about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of salt evenly on top. Lay each piece of oyster on the bed of corn starch. Use a spoon to evenly coat both sides of the oyster with corn starch. Shake off the excess coating. Add to the frying pan and fry the oyster at medium heat. Quickly coat the remaining of the oysters (about a dozen) and add to the frying pan. Fry until the coating turns brown, about 2 minutes for each side. Remove oysters from pan and drain off excess oil. (You may put a piece of paper towel to absorb the excess oil.) Start with a clean pan/wok. Set stove at high. Add 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts fuming. Add minced garlic, sliced ginger, and the white portion of the sliced green onions. Add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of salt (or to taste). Quickly dash in 2-3 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. Let it induce a quick flame. Stir the mixture well. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1 tsp of sugar and 3 tsp of oyster sauce. Stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then add corn starch slurry (suggest: 1-2 tsp of corn starch, mix in 2 tsp of water) to thicken the sauce to the right consistency. Return the oyster to the pan. Add the remaining green portion of the green onions. Stir and toss. Cook for one to two more minute. Make sure the sauce is coated evenly on the oysters. Finished. Transfer mixture to a serving dish. Picture of the finished dish.

Thanks mizducky! It's nice to have a publicist. In my recipe, I use 2 of those small cups of rice, which is equivalent to 1 1/2 US cup. 2.5 quart of water (roughly) is 10 US cups. So, that makes a 1.5 to 10 (rice to water) ratio by volume. That's only for the Cantonese style congee. In Teochew style, their congee has a better grain to water contrast instead of being sticky-soupy. In Shanghai and Beijing, their congee is a bit different too. In Mandarin they call it "xi fan", which literally means "diluted rice". I use long grain rice (jasmine rice), as seen in the picture. I think short grain is more glutinous.

You can try. In Chinese cooking we don't use brown rice. I have never seen the salted pork browned first in congee. I like to add it later so that the pork does not turn too rough and dry.

That's exactly how it's done by hawkers in Hong Kong. They put bean threads, shredded chicken in broth with soy sauce added and call it "shark fin soup" (with quotes ). On the street selling at <US$0.50 a bowl, who are we kidding? And I cannot tell when Ben is speaking the truth or just telling a joke...

I wonder how the person first cooked and ate shark fin discovered such a complicated procedure.

I find myself reading Ken Hom's book once again on this questionable recipe. And the more I got frustrated. The title is "Pan-fried beef with oyster sauce". The noodle, while shown in the picture, is not mentioned in the recipe. You can lay your beef slices over smashed potatoes or hamburger buns for all he cares. His method: First, marinate the beef fillets with light soy sauce, sesame oil and salt and pepper. Discard marinade. Then pan-fry the fillets for 4-8 minutes each side. Finally, slice the fillets and pour 2 tblsp of oyster sauce over each piece. No, I did not misinterpret his recipe based on my memory when I first posted my comments. I am sad to see such a cook who, according some posters' comments (as I have no knowledge of his previous works), has so many years of Chinese cooking experience under his belt, one who has "paid his due" and has written many Chinese cookbooks, would present such a dish and toute it as "Chinese cooking". I just want to restate once again: using soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce to cook does not automatically make a dish any more Chinese than using olive oil, tomato sauce and red wine to cook would automatically make a dish Italian. I read some more of the other recipes in the same book. They are also disappointing though to a lesser extent.

I just finished browse-reading Ming Tsai's cookbook: Simply Ming : Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals I like about 30% of his recipes. His style is blending East and West, and his food presentation (at least in the pictures used in this book) is very good. I would like to try some of his fusion recipes, instead of always be an "orthodox" Cantonese cook. Someday if I travel by his restaurant(s), I would definitely want to dine there for the experience.

Primarily minced dried shrimp and seasoning I think. JH's recipe looks interesting. I want to try it when I find myself in the mood of experimenting... I also want to know what amaska is and whether I can find it in the USA.

I agree. That's my favorite brand too. Not all sa cha sauce are created equal. In fact they differ quite a bit. I have tried the brand called "Kim Lan" I think... it tastes bad!

I don't recall my father ever smashed the lotus root. He always cooked it whole, just with the connecting bottle neck portion trimmed. He always cooked it with skin on too, never peeled.

What do you mean by that? We Chinese always eat mediocre food???

Thank you, Karen. You should have a few more good eat recipes "under your belly" to please your spouse.