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Irwin: Thank you very much for your testimonial! If you have a PDA, you can download the picture of the finished dish and keep it in your pocket.

Same as what I used on the other pictorial (steamed pork). It's mackerel (but this one is not immersed in oil). Here is a picture:

#28, Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice (咸魚雞粒炒飯)

Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice (咸魚雞粒炒飯) Salted fish and diced chicken is a wonderful combination for making fried rice. The finished fried rice is full of fragrance from the salted fish. Transparent: This pictorial is dedicated to you. I hope you like fried rice as much as you like pan fried noodles. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 1 to 2 Preparations: Main ingredients: (From top left, clockwise) About 2 to 3 bowls of cooked rice, 1 piece of chicken breast (about 1/2 to 3/4 lb), 1 to 2 stalks of green onions, about 2 leaves from a lettuce, ginger (about 1 inch in length), 2 small eggs, 1 small piece of salted fish (haam yu). Note: it is best to use one day old rice. If you use fresh rice, the fried rice tends to be overly moist and soft. Trim the fat off the chicken breast. Dice into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes. Marinating the chicken: Add the chicken cubes into a mixing bowl. Add 1 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine, 1 tsp of light soy sauce, and 1 tsp of corn starch. Mix all ingredients well. Set aside for 20 minutes before cooking. Break and scramble 2 eggs. Trim the ends off the green onions. Finely chopped. Grate the ginger. Bone the salted fish and cut it into small pieces. Cut the lettuce leaves into fine shreds. Cooking Instructions: Use a pan/wok, set stove at high, add about 2 tblsp of cooking oil, velvet the chicken meat until the pink color just starts to disappear. About 3 to 4 minutes. Remove chicken from pan when done. Drain the oil. Add 1 tblsp of cooking oil to pan. Cook the scrambled eggs. Add a pinch of salt. Remove. Add 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Keep stove setting at high. Add the chopped salted fish and grated ginger. Stir. Cook for 10 to 15 seconds and let the fragrance release. Note: one trick to speed up the cooking time is to pre-heat the day-old rice in the microwave. Add 3 tblsp of water to the rice. Set for high and heat for 3 minutes. Add the rice and shredded lettuce on to the pan. Stir well. Stir and fry for a minute or two. Use the spatula and keep breaking up the rice lumps into smaller pieces. Re-add the chicken and eggs. Add 2 tsp of light soy sauce to darken the color of the fried rice a little bit. Stir and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes. Finished. The finished dish.

That's very funny. I am glad you can find it.

I love to go and have buffet at casinos, especially in Las Vegas and Reno. The Indian casino buffet are good too. I think they offer great buffet at a very reasonable price to attract patrons. I think they probably have to subsidize for your meal. But they make the money back at the slot machines or black jack tables. We have no interest in gambling, but always like to poke our heads into the buffet areas at every casino. The last ones we had were at Pala Casino (near Temecula) and Thunder Valley Casino (near Lincoln). Can't recall the details, but both good.

Do they call it "chau" soey gau and not "zha" soey gau? In Hong Kong Cantonese, "chau" means stir-fried and "zha" means deep-fried.

That's very true. Taro by itself can crack easily. Lard... lard... My wife is going to smack me on the head if I try to make this. Lard... deep-frying... another divorce risk.

Good tips. I will try your method next time and observe the difference. I wish my stove burner can go from 0 to 60 in 1 second like the restaurant's. But as far as the chilis... I will for sure risk a divorce if I use more than 10.

Sounds like you are very determined to make this dish, Dejah. I have not made it before but I were to make it, here is how I would do it based on my educated imagination: Use one big taro, or several small ones. Peel. Cut in big chunks. Cook with some water (about 2 part taro 1 part water) for about 20 minute until soft over medium heat. Adjust for water. Don't let the taro burn or get too watery. Remove and let it cool to room temperature. Shrimp: remove head and shell, except leave the tail on. Devein. Marinate with a small amount of cooking oil, salt and corn starch. Pork: use some minced pork (very small amount would do). Soak one or 2 dried black mushrooms and dice into small cubes. Marinate the minced pork with oil, ground white pepper, light soy sauce and ShaoShing cooking wine. Maybe press 1 clove of garlic in the marinade. Use a bit of cooking oil, brown the minced pork with the reconstituted black mushroms. Add a bit of chicken broth, oyster sauce and dark soy sauce and sugar. Add some corn starch slurry to thicken sauce. Remove. You want to sauce to be paste-like because it's used as a filling. Use a mixing bowl, put in the taro. Use a potato smasher to smash taro into paste. To assemble: On a board, lay down a handful of taro paste. Form into a round flat disc shape. Scoop in a spoonful of the minced pork filling on top. Spread evenly. Pick one shrimp and lay it right at the center. Then roll up the taro paste into a football shape. Make sure to close out the top and bottom so that the pork filling would not spill out. Let the shrimp tail stick out. Break an egg in a small bowl. Scramble. Use another plate and add some breadcrumbs. To deep-fry: Heat up a pan/wok of frying oil to frying temperature. Take each piece of taro/shrimp football. Dip the football into the egg, make sure the egg spread evenly on the surface, then roll the football on the breadcrumbs for coating. Then deep-fry the football until the breadcrumbs turn golden brown. Shrimp cooks very fast. The heat from the frying oil through the taro paste should cook the shrimp.

I have not seen a pig head cooked by itself. The only kind of pig head I have seen is the one as a whole roast pig. Even then, I am not sure how people eat the head. Pig ear is popular though, both in Hong Kong and especially in Taiwan. What is one going to do with the eyes?

I don't know Japanese nor Korean. I think tobanjan and chili bean sauce (in Mandarin it is "Dou Ban Jiang") are the same or very similar. They may differ slightly in taste. Chili bean sauce is a very common cooking sauce for Chinese food. I hope you don't need to wait to go to Singapore to get it.

Anonymouze: It sounds like your question is very specific to the New Jersey region. I would advise you to post the question in the New Jersey forum. They may know the answer or give you some suggestions: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showforum=5

Really? Coincidentally I just shopped at 99 Ranch Market in Richmond yesterday. I saw a big pack of Sichuan peppercorns on the rack. But beware that they call it something other than "Sichuan peppercorn" in English on the package. Maybe it's a legacy reason - avoiding custom from checking during the ban? I am not sure. In Chinese it is called: 花椒 (Pronounced as "Hua Jiao" [Mandarin], or "Fa Jill" [Cantonese]) In case you don't have Chinese fonts installed on your computer, here is an image of the 2 characters: Print it and show it to the workers in 99 Ranch who know Chinese. They should be able to get it for you.

I cannot quite picture this dim sum item. How much taro paste was used? Was it deep-fried? Is this a variety of siu mai? Or a variety of deep-fried taro "cake" (for lack of better terms)? I have seen (though not tasted) shrimp (with a tail sticking up) wrapped by taro paste and deep-fried. I suppose there might be minced pork and juice inside. Is that what you had?

Yes. 2 kinds of tofu to have a contrast on the texture - one extra firm, one silken soft. You can treat the pressed tofu (dice into small cubes) exactly as the pork if you like - skip the corn starch and cooking wine in marination (taste better with it browned slightly). Or you may add it as is. Of course, you would use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.

Beautiful pictures, Ling! The abalone contributed a lot to the $600 price tag, I'll bet. Was the abalone chewy or melt-in-your-mouth soft? Would it be awkward to eat a whole abalone without it cut? Typically for this sauteed scallop and shrimp dish, the scallop/shrimp are velveted in oil and not blanched. I trust it that this restaurant would do it properly? This seems to be modelled after the "Gum Wah Yuk Shu Gai" (Chinese ham and chicken pieces laid alternately among green vegetables on the side). The ham usually is salty, the fish delicate and subtle. Interesting combination.

They are very generic. I have used chili bean sauce from different makes and they tasted about the same. Currently I am using a jar from "Master". Not a very well known brand. Hope you can find it. If not, just any brand you can find.

Tonight's menu: Ma Po Tofu. It is a Sichuan specialty. There are many versions of the Ma Po Tofu recipe. This is my interpretation of it. Marinated ground pork stir-fried with silken tofu in a sauce made from dried red chilies, chili bean sauce, hoisin sauce, chicken broth, sugar, Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped green onions. If you are interested in the recipe, click here.

#27, Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐) Ma Po Tofu is a Sichuan specialty. There are many versions of the Ma Po Tofu recipe. This pictorial is my interpretation of it. Dedicated to SuzySushi. Picture of the finished dish: Serving Suggestion: 3 to 4 Preparations Main ingredients: (From upper right, clockwise) 1/2 to 3/4 pound of ground pork, 2 stalks of green onions, 4 to 5 cloves of garlic, 5 to 6 small dried red chilies, ginger (about 1 inch in length), Sichuan peppercorn powder, 2 packs of silken (soft) tofu, 16 oz each. Note: You may use ground beef in place of ground pork, or use pressed tofu if you are a vegetarian. I like to use silken tofu for its soft and smooth texture. You may use firm tofu or regular tofu if you like. Roasting and grinding whole sichuan peppercorn is the best if you have time. I use Sichuan peppercorn powder for convenience. Marinating the ground pork: Use a mixing bowl. Add the ground pork. Add 1/2 to 1 tsp of ground white pepper, 1 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of corn starch, 1 tsp of light soy sauce, and 1 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine. Mix all the ingredients. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes before cooking. Meanwhile, trim off the ends of the green onions. Finely chop. Peel and mince the garlic. Grate the ginger. Cut up the dried red chilies into 1/2 inch pieces. Open the tofu packages. Use a small knief to make roughly 3x4 cross cuts. These silken tofu will break apart during cooking. No need to take them out of the box for cutting. Cooking Instructions: Use a wok/pan, set stove to high temperature. Wait until pan is hot. Add a generous 3 to 4 tblsp of cooking oil. Velvet the ground pork until cooked, about 5 minutes. Use the spatula to cut up the lumps of the ground pork. Try to break up the pork as much as you can. Remove the pork and drain the oil with a strainer. Start with a clean wok/pan, set stove to high temperature. Add 2 to 3 tblsp of cooking oil. Wait until oil starts fuming. Add cut dried red chilies. They will turn black very quickly. You need to act fast. Add minced garlic and grated ginger. Add 2 tsp of chili bean sauce, 4 to 5 tsp of hoisin sauce, perhaps 1 to 2 tsp of brown bean sauce too. Stir. Dash in 2 tsp of ShaoHsing cooking wine and 1 tsp of white vinegar. (Optional: add some chili sauce if you like it hot and spicy. No need to add salt because the chili bean sauce and chicken broth are already salty, or you may add a pinch of salt to taste.) Stir well and let the sauce/garlic/ginger cook for 10 to 15 seconds under high heat. Add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 2 tsp of sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Fold in corn starch slurry (suggest: 1 to 2 tsp of corn starch and 1/8 cup of water) to thicken the sauce to the right consistency. Add the 2 packages of tofu. After you put in the tofu, minimize the stirring. Silken tofu breaks apart very easily. Wait until the mixture boils again. Finally, re-add the ground pork. Add the chopped green onions. Add 1 to 2 tsp of ground Sichuan peppercorn powder. Stir and mix. Cook for another 2 minutes or so. Finished. The finished dish. The quantity of food made in this recipe is about twice the portion shown in this picture.

I really like this small eatery "Sam Woo BBQ Seafood Restaurant" in Cerritos, California (Los Angeles area). Food is great. Price is reasonable. Just found their online page: http://asianbizguide.com/website/s-z/s/samwoo/samwoo.htm I am not sure if they are under the same ownership as the Sam Woo BBQ and Seafood Restaurants in Irvine (Culver and Irvine Center Drive). Their logos look very similar. Or is this one in Cerritos used to be called "Luk Yu"?

Sorry this picture is slightly out of focus.

Picture: Chinese name: 蟹肉干燒伊麵 English name: Yi Fu Noodles with Crab Meat Category: Cantonese Rice/Noodle plates Description: Yi Fu noodles stir-fried with crab meat, yellow chive and straw mushrooms in premium broth and dark soy sauce. (Offered at: Yeung City Seafood Restaurant, Sacramento, CA, USA)

LOL! Really? Did you make that up to scare your 3 girls into not eating chicken breast? Wonder if I can use that on my wife? I agree that chicken thighs can substitute breasts in most Chinese recipes. White meat is more sensitive to timing and can easily get overcooked (turns rough). Dark meat is more forgiving. A wok is very nice for making Chinese stir-fried dishes. But I don't think it is an absolute prerequisite. I have been cooking Chinese food on flat frying pans (over 90% of my home made meals) for the past 26 years since moving to the USA. I think what's important is the understanding of the techniques, ingredients and the processes. Cooking with a wok is not an automatic ticket to gourmet Chinese stir-fried dishes if it is not used properly. Without a wok, you can adjust and compensate. Someday when I buy a 120000 BTU burner like infernooo, I would then buy a wok, season it properly and do the whole nine yard.