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aznsailorboi: Welcome to eGullet! And Happy New Year! Well, the solar new year first... There had been a long threaded discussion on Chinese New Year banquet menu last year (and lots of fun ). You may find it here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=60810 I happen to like mooncake. But I wouldn't know what to do with "neen gou" (not that I ever received it as a gift...).

Ox Tail and Tomato in Clay Pot (番茄牛尾煲) This Chinese dish is made by stealing some techniques from French and Vietnamese cookings. The taste of the soft ox tail after 2 hours of simmering in tomato sauce with lemon grass and star anise/clove flavor is just wonderful. Recipe here.

#39, Ox Tail and Tomato in Clay Pot (番茄牛尾煲)

Ox Tail and Tomato in Clay Pot (番茄牛尾煲) This Chinese dish is made by stealing some techniques from French and Vietnamese cookings. The taste of the soft ox tail after 2 hours of simmering in tomato sauce with lemon grass and star anise/clove flavor is just wonderful. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 to 3 Preparations: Main ingredients: (From bottom left, clockwise) Ox tail, about 2 lb. 2 large carrots. 2 stalks of celery. 2 lemon grasses. 1 small brown onion. 4 small roma tomatoes. Garlic, use 6 cloves. (Not shown: 3 shallots.) To marinate the ox tail: Use 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of ground black pepper, 1 tsp of light soy sauce. Mix well in a mixing bowl. Trim the ends of the lemon grasses. Use only about 5 inches in the middle. Cut into 2 halves. Use a food mallet to bruise the lemon grass pieces. Also, prepare 4 star anises and about 2 tsp of cloves. Peel and trim the end of the carrots. Cut at about 1/2 inch thickness. Trim the ends of the celery. Cut into thin slices. Cut roma tomatoes into wedges. (Not shown: Trim both ends of an brown onion, wedge. Trim ends of 3 shallots, finely chop. Peel and mince 6 cloves of garlic.) Cooking Instructions: (Note: My clay pot is of a small size and would not hold all the ingredients in this dish. I use a regular pot to cook the ox tail first. If your clay pot is big enough, you can do the cooking in the clay pot.) Use a pot, set stove at high, add ox tail pieces. Sear both sides. About 3 to 4 minutes per side. Before removing ox tail pieces from pot, dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine and 1 tsp of light soy sauce. Add wedged onions, finely chopped shallots, minced garlic. Mix well. Sautee for about 3 minutes. Add 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste), 2 tsp of chili bean sauce, dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing wine (or you may use 1/2 cup of red wine). Add sliced carrots, sliced celery. Mix and continue to sautee for 5 minutes. Return the ox tail pieces, add roma tomato slices, 1 can (about 6 oz) of tomato sauce, bruised lemon grasses, 4 star anises, 2 tsp of clove, 2 tsp of dark soy sauce, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil. Make sure all ox tail pieces are immersed in the broth. Then change the stove setting to simmer. Simmer the mixture with lid on for about 2 hours. This is how it looks after 2 hours. Add some corn starch slurry (suggest: 2 to 3 tsp of corn starch mixed with 3 tsp of water) to thicken the sauce. For presentation, I transferred the mixture to a preheated clay pot. First, preheat the clay pot at high stove setting for 5 minutes. Transfer the ox tail mixture to the clay pot before serving.

JH: First of all, welcome to eGullet! I have been to that Mayflower restaurant in Milpitas too. (They have one in San Francisco also). Very good indeed. A brand name in Hong Kong and they opened shop in the USA. The dish name 'Foong Xia Ha' is Cantonese. Foong means "wind", Xia means "sand", Ha means "shrimp". But don't let the name fool you. "Foong Xia" can mean many different ways of cooking. Different restaurants do it differently and I have not observed any consistency. For example, one restaurant in Sacramento serves a dish called "Foong Xia Gai" (Gai means chicken in Cantonese) and all it is, is Cantonese Fried Chicken with shredded green onion and light soy sauce poured on top. From your descriptions, the dish you had is probably just "shrimp with pepper and garlic". It is pretty easy to make, but to make it well requires a high power burner (intense heat). You deep-fry (or fry) the shrimp (with shell on) first. Remove and drain oil. Then on a wok, use 2 tblsp of oil, wait until really hot, throw in minced garlic (5 to 6 cloves), chili slices (1 to 2 chili), add salt, a quick dash of cooking wine, then return the shrimp, toss and stir for 30 sec to 1 minute. That's it. In the restaurant kitchen setting, the garlic can turn crispy from the intense heat. Hard to do at home.

Can anybody tell the key difference between: Nanjing Beef Noodle Soup Shanghai Beef Noodle Soup Taiwan Beef Noodle Soup Are they about the same?

Busboy: I assume that you would have some interest in a Chinese recipe on how to cook these king oyster mushrooms... since this question was posted in the China forum. My latest post illustrated how to cook chicken with Shiitake and Enoki mushrooms. You may well use king oyster mushrooms instead (or add to the other 2 mushrooms). Chicken Stir-fried with Shiitake and Enoki Mushrooms (Moo Goo Gai Pan, 蘑菇雞片)

I found some lovely, fresh Shiitake mushrooms in the grocery market. I could not miss this wonderful treat. There is nothing like the wild, earthy taste of fresh Shiitake mushrooms. Here is my interpretation of the classical "Moo Goo Gai Pan" dish (a direct translation from the phrase "Mushroom Chicken Slices"), popularized by early Chinese restaurants in the USA. I cooked the fresh Shiitake mushrooms along with some fresh Enoki mushrooms. I found that they go very well together. Just mushrooms, no more. I found that many Chinese restaurants add all kinds of vegatables such as snowpeas, carrots, bamboo shoots, green peas, water chestnuts and celeries in making this dish. Doing so, in my opinion, only adds distraction to the true wonderful taste of fresh mushrooms. Recipe here.

#38, Chicken Stir-fried with Shiitake and Enoki Mushrooms (Moo Goo Gai Pan, 蘑菇雞片)

Chicken Stir-fried with Shiitake and Enoki Mushrooms (Moo Goo Gai Pan, 蘑菇雞片) I found some lovely, fresh Shiitake mushrooms in the grocery market. I could not miss this wonderful treat. There is nothing like the wild, earthy taste of fresh Shiitake mushrooms. Here is my interpretation of the classical "Moo Goo Gai Pan" dish (a direct translation from the phrase "Mushroom Chicken Slices"), popularized by early Chinese restaurants in the USA. I cooked the fresh Shiitake mushrooms along with some fresh Enoki mushrooms. I found that they go very well together. Just mushrooms, no more. I found that many Chinese restaurants add all kinds of vegatables such as snowpeas, carrots, bamboo shoots, green peas, water chestnuts and celeries in making this dish. Doing so, in my opinion, only adds distraction to the true wonderful taste of fresh mushrooms. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 to 3 Preparations: Special feature: A package of fresh Shiitake mushrooms, about 1/2 lb. Main ingredients: (From top right, clockwise) 2 chicken breasts, about 1 1/2 lb. Garlic, use 5 to 6 cloves. 3 small packages of fresh Enoki mushrooms. 1 package of fresh Shiitake mushrooms, about 1/2 lb. Trim fats from chicken breasts. Cut the chicken breasts into thin slices. To marinate the chicken meat: Use 1/2 tsp of ground white pepper, 1 to 2 tsp of sesame oil, 2 tsp of oyster sauce, 2 tsp of corn starch, 1 to 2 tsp of light soy sauce, 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, and about 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste). Mix all marinade and chicken slices in a mixing bowl. Set aside for about 30 minutes before cooking. Trim and discard the roots of the Enoki mushrooms. Separate the Enoki mushrooms (they cluster together) as much as you can. Trim off the stems of the Shiitake mushrooms. Either discard or save for making soups. Mince the garlic. Cooking Instructions: Use a pan/wok. Set stove at high. Wait until pan is hot. Add 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Velvet the chicken meat in oil until slighly undercooked (pink color has barely disappeared). Remove chicken from pan. Add 2 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until fuming hot. Add minced garlic. Add 1/4 tsp of salt (or to taste). Dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. It may induce a quick flame. Add Shiitake and Enoki mushrooms. No need to add broth or water because water will come out from mushrooms during cooking. Add 3 to 4 tsp of oyster sauce. Stir and toss, and cook the mushrooms for about 3 to 4 minutes. Return the chicken slices to the pan. Stir-fry another another minute or 2. Ready. Transfer to a serving plate. (Note: The quantity of food made in this recipe is about twice the portion shown in this picture.)

No. Different. There are a few threads that talked about the origin of Hakka.

Wow! Looks great! Why didn't I think of that?

miladyinsanity: I would love to see her chili crab recipe. Please take some pictures and share.

alvis: Welcome to eGullet! Beautiful picture! I can almost smell the beef...

That's my ultimate compliment, Kris. Thank you. Even better than my MIL saying "okay".

Thanks Ben and Irwin to fill in some history of the Hong Kong food development. For those of us who were born in Hong Kong and grew up there, we kind of take things for granted as what's Hong Kong food (not to be confused with "Hong Kong foot" ). Hong Kong is a melting pot of immigrants, much like New York. We are filled with immigrants from Mainland China since the end of WWII. Because we are mostly Chinese, rarely does anyone give a second thought of questioning the origin of any dishes popular in Hong Kong. I personally presumed that everything (or most of it) originated from Guangzhou (old name "Canton"). Some puzzling questions, though. Perhaps you both can fill me in. Many residents in Hong Kong associate Guangzhou as the major city and all other smaller towns/villages as suburbs. Hong Kong originally was just a small village populated by fishermen. It has an excellent harbor, which attracted the British to take over as part of the Unfair treaty from the first Opium War. Is Toysan seen as a suburb of Guangzhou? Or it has its own identity which would claim its fame equally as Guangzhou? Is Toysan style cooking distinctly different from those that are of Guangzhou? If so, in what way? I heard ham yu (salted fish) is used quite often in Ben and Dejah's meal. Where are these salted fish produced?

spaghetttti: Lick the screen... ha ha ha... LOL. Your words made my day! Irwin: Sorry I have misunderstood you. <<<Smacking my head>>> Of course! Crab with Black Bean Sauce and Chili. I had this at Zen Peninsula in Millbrae for the 8th moon 15th day dinner. Traditionally the Black Bean Sauce dishes in Cantonese cooking are quite saucey. This crab dish, however, is very dry. Almost no sauce at all. Kind of like "dry black bean and chili". We can make that too. Prepare the crab and velvet the pieces in oil as depicted in the earlier post. (Assume 2 Dungeness crabs.) To season: Heat up the pan/wok over high heat. Add 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Add 5 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced. 1 to 2 fresh chili, sliced or finely chopped. Grated ginger (or finely chopped), about 1 to 2 inch in length. 1/2 tsp of salt (go heavier on this one). 4 to 5 tsp of fermented black beans - no need to rinse, just crush them. Stir. Dash in 3 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. Add a little bit of chicken broth (not too much, unless you want this dish saucey. If you do so, use corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce.) Return the crab pieces and cook for a few minutes. Ready.

Thank you for the additional information about male/female crabs, divalasvegas and wesza. After reading that article, it is very obvious that the 2 crabs I bought were both males. And wesza's explanations made a lot of sense. I remember cooking Dungeness crabs bought from San Francisco China Town in the late 80's and remember having crabs with roes in the belly. But not in recent years. As for chili crabs: I had that dish in Singapore once (along with curry crabs). Both were excellent. I had tried to reproduce chili crabs only once. First prepare the crab and velvet the pieces in oil as depicted in this post. To season: heat up some cooking oil, add lots of minced garlic, a bit of salt. Add minced (or sliced) fresh chili, some Chinese hot chili sauce (a little bit sour based). Dash in cooking wine and a bit of white vinegar. Then add a bit of broth and 1/2 to 1 small can of tomato sauce (depending how dry/wet you want this dish). If needed, thicken the sauce with corn starch slurry. Return the crab pieces and cook for a few more minutes. Chili crabs are rarely offered in Cantonese restaurants. (Actually I have never seen it on the menus of the Cantonese restaurants that I had visited.)

This is when we Chinese show off our warriorship, Shalmanese! I am only kidding... Live crabs are not that hard to handle, really. Even when they are putting in their final struggle, we humans always have the upperhand - we have sharp knives. Just grab the crab from the back end so it can't hurt us. To make this Cantonese dish, we don't steam the crabs separately to preserve the flavor.

Thank you, divalasvegas. I was afraid that this question would be brought up. I don't know how to tell the "boy" and "girl" crabs apart. It does make sense. The only thing I left behind was the golden brownish/greenish substance. I don't know enough about the anatomy of exoskeletal animals and don't exactly know what it is. Perhaps someone can enlighten us. When I ordered crabs in Chinese restaurants (made the same way), I love to eat this greenish/brownish paste under the shell. When I made this dish the other night, I might have over-velveted the shells. The paste turned very bitter and I ended up not eating much of it. Handling a live Dungeness is not too hard, actually. Like Dejah said, you can slow them down - putting them to sleep - by putting them in the freezer for an hour before you process them.

Dungeness crab is in season. Live crab is on sale for only US$2.49 a pound. Can't miss this opportunity to make some crab dishes at home. Cooking live crab is a little bit of work, but the reward of eating fresh and sweet crab meat is well worth it. Pictorial recipe here.

#37, Crab with Ginger and Green Onion (薑蔥蟹)

Crab with Ginger and Green Onion (薑蔥蟹) Dungeness crab is in season. Live crab is on sale for only US$2.49 a pound. Can't miss this opportunity to make some crab dishes at home. Cooking live crab is a little bit of work, but the reward of eating fresh and sweet crab meat is well worth it. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 2 to 3 Preparations: The general rule for serving suggestion is 1 crab per person. Main ingredients: (From right to left) 2 live Dungeness crabs, about 3.5 lb. Garlic, about 5 to 6 cloves. Ginger, about 3 inches in length. Green onions, about 10 stalks (small ones). "... You want a piece of me? You want a piece of me??? Come and get it!" Live crabs are dangerous. Their claws can make a painful pinch on your fingers and their legs are pointy. You need to know how to handle them safely. You may want to ask the fish mungers to clean and cut them for you. I like to keep my crabs alive until cooking time. To hold a live crab safely, you need to grab it from the back so that their claws cannot reach you, as shown in the picture. Where my knife is pointing to is the tail of a crab. After you kill the crab, you need to unroll its tail and break it off. To kill a live crab, point your knife right underneath its mouth. Push the knief in by a few inches. Jiggle it a little bit. (You may need to use the left hand to hold down the crab while operating the knife with your right hand.) Remove the knife. Use your left thumb to poke into the hole cut opened by your knife and hold the crab bottom with the rest of your left palm. Lift it up. Use your right hand to grab the main shell. Tear the shell apart from the rest of its body. There are a few unedible parts (shown with red circles). The 2 circles on each side are the gills. Remove and discard. The lower circle around the mouth are also unedible. Use the knife to break some of the shells and remove the organs. The white curly part (upper small circle) are also some internal organs. Remove and discard. Anything that doesn't look like crab meat, remove and discard. Rinse under running water. If you like to keep the main shell for plating, use a small tooth brush to clean the crab hair underneath the main shell. Be sure you remove and discard the white cloudy substance inside the shell. Cut the crab body into 2 halves right in the middle. Then twist off the claws and legs. Use the knife to cut off the big piece. Use a kitchen mallet or the handle of your cleaver to crack the shells before cooking. Same treatment for the second victim. Prepare the other ingredients: Green onions - trim ends and cut at about 1 inch in length. Ginger: peel and cut into thin slices. Garlic: minced. Cooking Instructions: First: velvet the crab in hot oil. Use a pan/wok, set stove at high, add a generous 10 tblsp of cooking/frying oil. Wait until oil start fuming. Use a small bowl and add about 10 tsp of corn starch. Dust the crab meat with corn starch. Place the pieces on the pan and fry the crab pieces for about 3 to 5 minutes. Only need to use corn starch to dust the exposed crab meat outside the shell. When done, remove the crab pieces from pan and drain excess oil. I need to cook the crab in 2 batches. I tossed in the 2 crab shells (upside down) to cook. (It's optional. Only if you care to eat it or use it for plating.) Remove from pan when done. Start with a clean wok/pan. Add 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts fuming. Add minced garlic, sliced ginger and half of the chopped green onions (white portion only). Add 1/2 tsp of salt (or to taste). Dash in 3 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. (Can't go wrong with going heavy on the cooking wine with this dish.) Let it induce a quick flame. Stir well. Cook for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 3 to 4 tsp of oyster sauce. Stir. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the remaining portion of the green onions. Use corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce. (Suggest 2 tsp of corn starch dissolved in 2 tsp of water.) Adjust and make the sauce to the right consistency. Return the crab and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir. Make sure each piece is coated with the sauce. Finished. Transfer to a serving plate.

BC: If you follow some of the older posts, "gourmet" means "rotten".

I was skeptical too when I first learned of this technique. I think the key is to do the first boil very quickly to minimize the loss of flavor, yet enough to solidify the blood so it can be rinsed off. It does seem to work really well.