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#41, Pan-Fried Pork Chop (香蔥豬排)

Pan-Fried Pork Chop (香蔥豬排) This dish is very easy to make at home. The best is to marinate the pork chops overnight in the refrigerator. Cooking time is only about 15 minutes. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 to 3 Preparations: Main ingredients: (From top, clockwise) - 5 pieces of pork chops, about 1 1/2 lb - 4 cloves of garlic - 3 to 4 shallots Peel and finely chop the garlic and shallots. (Not shown): Use a fork to jab on the pork chops to create tiny holes. It will help the marinade to be soaked into the meat. Marinate the pork chop in the mixing bowl with: - minced garlic (4 cloves) - minced shallots (3 to 4) - 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste) - 1 tsp of ground black bepper - 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine - 2 tsp of light soy sauce - 1 tsp of sesame oil Mix well and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Cooking Instructions: Use a pan/wok, set stove at medium, add 3 to 4 tblsp of cooking oil. Lay the pork chop flat on the pan surface. Fry for about 4 to 5 minute. Peel and thinly slice another 2 to 3 shallots. Turn the pork chops. Add the thinly sliced shallots to the pan. At medium heat, fry the pork chops for another 4 minutes. If there is any watery liquid from the pork chop, drain it with a spoon. Turn the pork chop once again. Add 1 tblsp of cooking oil. Set the stove at high. Fry for another 3 minutes to brown the surface. Turn the pork chop one last time and fry for another 2 minutes or so. At the end, dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine and 1 tsp of light soy sauce. Finished. Picture of the finished dish.

One shop that I used to go to buy ginseng and herb and Chinese medicine is "T S Emporium" (I think, I might be off) in Alhambra when I lived in the area. I think they have dried conpoy too. They have pretty a comprehensive line of stuff with reasonable price. They are at the corner of Garvey Ave and Garfield, and to the south side of Garvey. They are next to a Bank of America. Can't miss it.

Laksa, where are you??? Burbur chacha, which I should have typed as "bubur cha cha", is a dessert popular in Malaysia. It is very close to our Cantonese red bean dessert soup. They use red bean, white bean, taro, sweet potato, coconut milk. In fact, we (Hong Kong)might have been influenced by them for using coconut milk. I had some red bean dessert soup in Guangzhou before. I could not taste a trace of coconut milk. The recipe has been posted before. It was discussed here. Sorry, I am not a dessert person. I cannot figure out the dessert that you described. I could think of 2 Cantonese (Hong Kong) dessert soups that have tapioca pearls added: almond and honey dew.

Sure, red bean dessert soup can be made in a crock pot. I did my burbur chacha in a 6-quart crock pot. If yours have a temperature setting: First set to high to boil the soup, then lower it to simmer. If not, then first boil the ingredients in a regular pot then transfer over to the crock pot to continue. If you want to do it all in one step, adjust the cooking time. e.g. set for 6 hours, simmer only. As for "white tapioca soup": I am not familiar with what that is.

#10 (make over), Red Bean Dessert Soup (红豆沙)

Red Bean Dessert Soup (红豆沙) This Cantonese style Red Bean Dessert Soup is often served as a compliment of the house after your meal in Cantonese style restaurants. It is very easy to make at home, with quality being just as good as the restaurant mades. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 8 to 12 Preparations: Main ingredients: (From bottom right, clockwise) - Red beans, 1/2 bag, about 7 - 8 oz - Coconut milk (canned), about 1/2 a can, about 7 to 8 fluid oz - Chan Pei (Dried tangerine peels), about 4 to 5 pieces - Ginger slices, about 10 very thin slices - Peen Tong (Brown sugarcane sugar in slabs), use 4 pieces - Tapioca pearl (sago), about 1/2 cup, use the smaller size you can find, about 1/8 inch in diameter Soak the red beans in a mixing bowl in water overnight. The beans will expand to twice their original size. Wash and drain. Soak the dried tangerine peels in water for about 30 minutes before cooking. Prepare fresh ginger slices. Cooking Instructions: Use a medium size pot, fill to 1/2 full with water (about 10 to 12 cups). Bring the water to boil. Add red beans, soaked tangerine peels and ginger slices. Boil for about 5 minutes. Cover the pot. Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 2 hours. Stir occassionally. Add tapioca and 1/2 can of coconut milk into the pot. Continue to simmer for another hour. Stir occassionally. After a total of 3 hours of simmering, the dessert soup is ready. Serve in small bowls. You may take out the mandarin peels and ginger before serving for better presentation. Or just leave them in. Picture of the finished dessert soup. Notes: There are many variations to this recipe. What listed above are the basics. You may use rock sugar or white sugar in place of sugarcane sugar slabs. Tapioca requires less cooking time than red beans. That's why this is a 2-step process. Do not overcook the tapioca or else it will dissolve into the soup and the soup will become a thick starchy paste.

Thanks for the info. Unless it has been changed recently, in Hong Kong THERE IS NO SALES TAX!!! LOL. How about that?? Most places typically charge a "customary" 10% gratuity though.

That's interesting! Soya bean milk will definitely make the egg custard even smoother.

I meant to ask you: how was the price at Chuen Kee Seafood Restaurant? Would you give us some idea? How does it compare to a comparable meal in Vancouver?

It sounds like you are talking about Fu Yue (fermented bean curds) as discussed in this thread. They are very common and readily available in just about any Asian grocery market. There are many different brands, with or without red chili added. My personal favorite brand is "Mei Mei". Not sure if it is available in your part of the world. They are fairly generic but I do notice some taste better than others.

Leung/Liang are the same in Chinese writing. In Singapore, my last name is spelled Leong. They probably don't need to pick which spelling while they are in China unless/until they go aboard to other countries. The sauce you described seems very close to oyster sauce with chicken broth. I have featured that sauce in some of my pictorial recipes. Take a look at the one on Crab with Ginger and Green Onion. The black mushrooms you described are called "wood ear fungi", a direct translation from their Chinese name.

This is the most amazing picture. An array of fish tanks keeping alive the precious live seafood. I can see the hugh Australian lobsters, geoduck clams, various groupers, and... wait... are those 3 round things live abalone??? They are hugh!

rlr222: Welcome to eGullet! Lee: Have you been to, during this or past trips, a small restaurant named "Law Fu Kee" in Central? It is blogged in Cha Xiu Bao's webpage: http://chaxiubao.typepad.com/chaxiubao/200...fish_table.html It is a tiny restaurant and very crowded. To me they are one of the best in wonton noodles and in particular their specialty of "deep fried dace fish balls" with the fermented raw clam condiment. They are excellent!

I think the Hunan restaurant that I have been to is "Hunan Garden Restaurant": Hunan Garden Restaurant

I attended San Diego State U for 4 years in the early 80's. Since then I have been back to SD a few times every year. While the Chinese population grew tremendously in certain Los Angeles areas, the one in SD did not grow as fast. Yes there are many more Chinese restaurants along Convoy now than 20 years ago. But nothing to the scale of what's considered a China Town. I guess if you want to shop for special items, your best bet might be to head north 100+ miles to LA or San Gabriel. Or what's closer would be Irvine, Garden Grove, Cerritos or Torrance.

rjwong: Would you happen to know any dried seafood/herb stores in LA Chinatown that you can recommend mizducky to drop by and shop for some dried conpoy and other Chinese goodies?

Well... "expensive" is a relative term. Remember we have participants here who dined at USD$1000 per head meals. I can share with you my experience shopping for dried conpoy in San Francisco China Town. I browsed in a dried seafood/herb specialty store on Stockton Street. I saw various grades of dried conpoy from US$40/lb to US$100/lb. What to look for? The whole ones are more expensive (more desirable) than the broken ones. The bigger size conpoy is more expensive than smaller one. There are some bigger than a quarter, and there are some as small as a dime. The ones I showed in these pictures were bought at a different store. I found one that sold these dried conpoys (mostly whole, about medium size) for only US$38.00/lb. I said I wanted one pound, and the owner weighed 1 1/4 lb for me(as usual, they always stuff in more than what you asked for to get more $$$). There are more than 100 dried conpoys together. So that makes each piece of dried conpoy about US$0.45 to $0.50. Is this expensive? While the Asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch may (or may not) carry dried conpoy, the best place to shop for them are specialty dried seafood/herb stores. You can tell who they are. They hang dried squids, dried shark fins and display dried conpoy, ginseng, dried black mushrooms and such at the store front. There probably isn't such a store in San Diego. There are plenty of them in Los Angeles China Town, San Gabriel Valley, and cities where new Chinese immigrants populated.

The ones which make it to the dining tables are not that pretty. I saw a few of them (the ugly ones) when I snorkled at Shek O and a few other beaches in Hong Kong. They were completely dark brown in color, about 6 to 7 inches long, lying on the sand floor at about 10 feet deep. They looked just like a piece of "you know what". I dared not to touch them.

I think the glistening comes from oil. Typically, in restaurants, after branching the vegetables (to slightly undercooked) are tossed in a hot wok with some oil coated. Or you can use a squeegee bottle to squirt some sesame oil on top of the vegetables.

Ocean Terminal was the first of its kind: a cruise ship terminal with shops and restaurants along the corridor. Even a Mercedes-Benz dealership! They placed an atomic clock in the big lobby area many years ago (not sure if they are still there). I grew up in Tsim Sha Tsui, just a block away from Ocean Terminal. Before its present form, it used to be a pier owned by Kowloon Godown where my father used to work. The company sold off the pier/warehouse and the developers turned it into a shopping mall/passenger cruise ship terminal. Since then (40 years ago), Kowloon Godown gradually sold off most of its real estate (used to be warehouses back in the 30's to 60's). They became the present-day Marco Polo Hotel, Ocean Centre and such. And the present-day Holiday Inn on Nathan Road... that piece of land was vacated for years and years (over 10 years at least) before they finally built the hotel. I don't know why. And the present-day Tsim Sha Tsui East, the whole district used to be a pier for cargo ships too. They reclaim the entire piece of land and built and built more hotels and business complexes.

When you come back, help us to put in your list of the best.

Lee: Have you gone to Po Lin Temple during this trip? Have you noticed the new cable car station and towers near the Chek Lap Kwok Airport? It is supposed to be near completion but not sure if there is delay. Also, did you go to Yuen Long / Lau Fau Shan / Sheung Shui?

This tea looks a bit watered-down. Is the look deceiving? How's the taste?

Cantonese "seafood type" means they make good seafood dishes, Cantonese style. Many have live fish, lobsters and such in fish tanks inside the restaurant. They do offer many beef, pork, chicken, duck, even lamb dishes as well besides seafood. Hunan... I don't usually dine in Hunan style restaurants. Their food style does not agree with the taste in my family. And I usually am disappointed about the quality/authenticity of American-Chinese Hunan style dishes anyway. There is one Hunan restaurant that I have tried. Forgot the name. It is located near Elk Grove on the east side of I-99. Exit either Laguna/Bond, or Elk Grove Blvd. It is located in a small shopping mall. Exit Elk Grove Blvd first. If you don't find it, drive along Stockton Ave to Bond Road. It's one of the two. It's the only Chinese restaurant in the mall. The food is not bad from what I recall.